The Life Story Coach
by Amy Woods Butler, LIfe Story and Memoir Ghostwriter
Want to make your living as a writer? Love listening to other people's life stories? Tune in for advice on the craft and business of personal history, the growing field of recording memoirs and family histories for paying clients.
Episodes
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69: Sex, Intimacy, and Life Story Books
Karin Jones believes sex and intimacy are a big part of our lives, and she challenges personal historians to gently explore this topic with their storytelling clients. Links & Stuff Karin's controversial article appeared in New York Times' "Modern Love" column. "What Sleeping About Married Men...
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68: Audio Life Stories with Gloria Nussbaum of Real to Real, Part 2
Gloria's website: https://www.real-to-reel.org/ Gloria's Equipment List
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67: Audio Life Stories with Gloria Nussbaum of Real to Real, Part 1
Gloria's website:https://www.real-to-reel.org/
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66: Lisa Kagan of Family Heirloom Arts, Part 2
Illustrated Heirloom Books, and What Goes into Creating Them In this episode, we're going back to the first part of our conversation with Lisa Kagan. As an artist and writer, Lisa is fascinated by the intersection of visual art and storytelling. She brings all her gifts to bear on the illustrated...
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65: Workshops with Lisa Kagan of Family Heirloom Arts
Workshops serve clients and creatives, and help to build a personal history business Family Heirloom Arts offers the usual range of services to its personal history clients: interviewing, writing, editing, photo management. But its founder and owner, Lisa Kagan, takes things a step further by...
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64: Write a Local Column to Market Your Business, with Lisa Lombardi O'Reilly
Marketing with a local newspaper column and more Lisa Lombard O'Reilly of Your Stories Written joins us for a conversation about personal history. Listen as we discuss: Lisa's experience writing her dad's life story book using Kindle Direct Publishing for cheap proof copies and supplying friends...
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63: Lettice Stuart, Part 2
Part 2 of our interview with Lettice Stuart, Portraits in Words Join us for an insightful conversation about the business of personal history and the art of interviewing. In this episode, Lettice discusses: how much she charges for life story projects, and how that number has grown through the...
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62: Lettice Stuart of Portraits in Words
Lettice Stuart was a journalist with stories in the New York Times when she shifted to writing life stories. While her writing credentials helped give her credibility, it was good old-fashioned conversations with people that grew her business. In part one of the interview, we discuss: the...
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61: Family Legacy Video Founder Steve Pender
For Steve Pender, personal history comes alive in Legacy Video When Steve Pender started his legacy video company years ago, it wasn't to produce videos, but rather to teach DIYers how to make their own. Then technology changed. You still needed the know-how and the artistic flair to produce...
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60: Starts at 60 Founder Rebecca Wilson
In six short years, Starts at 60 has grown to a platform with a million and a half visitors per month. Now Starts at 60 is looking toward markets outside the US, and there's room for us life story professionals to leverage the systems they've already built. The idea I like best is starting…
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59: Mike O'Krent, Part 2
Running and growing a video life story business This is part 2 of our interview with Mike O'Krent (listen to part 1 here). In this episode, you'll hear Mike talk about public speaking and how it can grow the public's awareness of our services. (Hint: Check out Toastmasters for improving your...
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58: Mike O'Krent of LifeStories Alive
How volunteering for Steven Spielberg sparked a career saving stories Mike O'Krent was volunteering for an organization in Austin when he learned about Survivors of the Shoah, a foundation created by Steven Spielberg to interview and record the stories of Holocaust survivors. His training in L.A....
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57: Maureen Taylor, Photo Detective
Maureen Taylor talks about helping people solve the mysteries of their unidentified photos, a skill we as life story professionals can use to help our clients. Maureen Taylor's early career as a curator exposed her to lots of photos. But it wasn't until she opened shop as a photo historian that…
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56: Rich Polt of Acknowledge Media, Part 2
When he first started Acknowledge Media, Rich spent hours teaching himself Adobe Premiere Pro. But while he sees the need to have the skills that are foundational to the projects he creates, he recognizes that his team of videographers (including Jordan Freeman), editors, archival producers, and...
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55: Rich Polt of Acknowledge Media on creating legacy videos
Rich Polt started his legacy video company in 2016; three years later, it's growing by leaps and bounds. Rich Polt left a lucrative career as owner of a public relations firm to pursue his passion—helping people record their legacy stories on film. And he did it all without knowing a thing about...
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54: Christine Norton, Part 2
We continue our conversation with Christine Norton about her Writing Partners, business licensees who operate independently, but who get all the support they need to grow a thriving life story business. Listen as Christine gives a run-down of some of the many, many support systems she provides…
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53: Christine Norton Helps Life Story Writers Get Up and Running
Christine Norton is passionate about telling people's stories. And she knew others were, too. But not everyone is comfortable with creating a business from the ground up, and that's where her Forget-Me-Not Life Stories writing partner program comes in. In exchange for a business license fee, her...
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52: Life Stories for the Dying with Dr. Janet Bieschke
End of Life Coach Janet Bieschke on serving the dying Dr. Janet Bieschke has turned her retirement into a double career: She serves the hospice community as both life story gatherer and life coach. In her work with the dying, she makes room for a "sigh of relief"—the chance to share not only...
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51: David O'Neil from Story Trust, Part 2
This week, David O'Neil talks to us about how and why we should be developing relationships with financial advisors and wealth managers. Listen as we discuss: Who in the financial industry make good referral partners? Why they value helping their clients pass down wisdom along with their wealth…
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50: David O'Neil from Story Trust, Part 1
From Life Stories to Business Histories David O'Neil founded Story Trust in 2007; several years later, he recognized the natural connection between life stories for individuals and stories that recount the history of a business. His most recent book was an outgrowth of an oral history conducted...
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49: Beth Kephart, Memoir Writer and Coach
"It's all about the questions you ask." This is advice given by Beth Kephart to memoir writers, but it's just as applicable for those who ghostwrite memoirs. Listen in as we discuss: How we can use escalating questions to guide our storytellers to deeper and deeper stories How Beth teaches her...
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47: Creating (and Selling) a Community History Book, with Patricia Hamilton
Creating (and selling) a community history In today's episode, Patricia Hamilton, publisher at Park Place Publications, discusses a project near and dear to her heart: a curated community history with contributions from residents of Pacific Grove, California. "It's a community of people."…
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46: Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach
If you're a podcast fan who happens to write memoir—for yourself or for clients—you're probably familiar with the dulcet tones of Ann Kroeker, a writing coach who doles out advice and inspiration on her podcast, "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach." In today's episode, Ann talks about the role of a…
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45: Mike Oke and His Unorthodox Approach to Life Story Writing
Mike Oke of Bound Biographies doesn't write his clients' life stories; they do. Funny how we think our way of doing something is the standard approach. And then along comes someone like Mike Oke, a 27-year veteran life story writer, who says he can't believe everybody else isn't following the…
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44: Gwen Hernandez, Author of Scrivener for Dummies
Scrivener tips and tricks from the expert Gwen Hernandez is novelist who learned Scrivener the natural way—by using it. She shared what she knew with the online community, and her reputation as someone who not only used the writing software, but someone who could explain how to use it, took off....
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43: Rachel Brenke Livens Up the Legal Stuff
Going into business for yourself can be scary. There are forms to fill out, licenses to apply for, new checking accounts to set up. And then there's the whole business about contracts, services agreements, insurance—do I need it or not?—along with lots of other things that can send your head into…
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42: Cynthia Kyriazis with Tips to Get Organized, Get Focused, Get Moving
Cynthia Kyriazis, productivity coach and bestselling author of "Get Organized, Get Focused, Get Moving," shares her (well-organized) thoughts on doing business better. When I was a kid and my mom needed to send a check to school for some activity (or for my Scholastic Book order, remember…
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41: How I Edit Life Stories Using Scrivener
This one is a quickie! I give you an overview of how I use Scrivener to wrastle documents into order so that I can find them when I need them. You'll also see how the split Editor pane in Scrivener is a life story gal's best friend. Watch the screencast here. Links & Stuff Want to use Scrivener…
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40: How I Edit Life Stories, Part I
How I Edit Back in 2010, when I first started The Story Scribe, my memoir-writing business, I asked a man to sit down with me and tell me his life story. We met for a total of fifteen interviews over the course of many months. He was happy to just talk, but my goal was to shape his words into a...
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39: Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company
Jenny Doan talks about the correlation between family history and family quilts Jenny Doan and her family started the Missouri Star Quilt Company. A decade later, Jenny's quilting tutorials have been watched by millions, and her love of quilting has spurred people around the globe to create…
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38: My Life My Story with Dr. Susan Nathan and Thor Ringler
Saving veterans' stories, one patient at a time Dr. Susan Nathan, physician at the Boston VA, and Thor Ringler, therapist and poet in Madison, Wisconsin, talk about their experience with My Life, My Story. The VA program offers veterans the opportunity to record their life story—not only for...
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37: Lili Shank of Voices in Time
Voices in Time co-founder Lili Shank on creating life stories on audio Lili Shank is a life story professional who helps people preserve their stories as told by them, in their own voice. Listen as she discusses: the steps for each audio interview how to warm up the guest/storyteller with…
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36: Mindful Writing with Donna Strickland
Donna Strickland Helps Writers Add Mindfulness to Their Workday Donna Strickland knows firsthand how painful writing can be. When she started hating the book she was writing, she knew something had to change. That's when she discovered the principles of mindful writing, a practice she teaches in...
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35: My Life, My Stories with Brittany Bare
Brittany Bare, founder of My Life, My Stories, on running a life story non-profit Like a lot of us, Brittany Bare was inspired by a relationship with a close relative to make the jump into the life story business. Where she's different from most, though, is that she's set up My Life, My Stories…
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34: Charge What You're Worth with Sarah White
Change your Money Conversation Sarah White knows how important it is for us to charge what we're worth; more importantly, she knows how to help us over the obstacles that keep us from doing so. Life story work is "heart-driven" work, and like other service-oriented professions, it attracts people...
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33: Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, on Writing Creatively
Mark Bowden knows his stuff. Mark is the author of 13 books, including Black Hawk Down, Hue 1968, and the upcoming The Last Stone (due out in 2019). He's spent his career writing true stories about real people. He has a world of knowledge (literally! he's covered stories all over the globe) to...
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32: Tone Up Your Writing with Helen Sword of The Writer's Diet
The Writer's Diet—a book and companion website—won't spiff up your prose for you, but it will point you toward the flaws that can make writing dull and stodgy. Helen Sword wrote the book and developed the Writer's Diet Test after noting the uneven quality of writing by students and academicians.…
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31: Scrivener for Life Story Writing
How I Use Scrivener for Life Story Writing: a few helpful tips I made the change from Mac Pages to Scrivener over the past year or two, and now Scrivener is my go-to for creating all my life story books. I'm constantly learning new things it can do, but here are the essentials that make it an...
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30: Dawn Roode of Modern Heirloom Books
Before we jump into today's interview... I want to give a quick shout-out to my former coaching student, JoEllen Anklam of Story Canoe. A professional voice actor, JoEllen takes events from her storyteller's life to create an old-style radio show. Check out the sample that kept me on the edge of…
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29: Rutger Bruining of Story Terrace Talks Life Stories
Rutger Bruining of Story Terrace talks life stories Rutger Bruining thought about recording his grandparents' life stories—life in the Resistance during WWII, 20 years in the Caribbean—but he never got around to it. The regret he experienced at having missed the opportunity spurred him to start...
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28: John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing
John Jantsch shares marketing advice for life story professionals Turns out, marketing a life story business isn't so different from marketing any other kind of business. John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing explains some basic principles that will help you connect to potential clients. Among…
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27: Janet Kirkman, Part 2 | Pet Stories and More
Life stories aren't just for people In part 2 (listen to part 1 here) of our interview with Janet Kirkman, we hear her talk about the refined world of show dogs and why this can be a good niche market for life stories. [Hint: stories that focus on the dogs.] And then there are the "just regular"...
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26: Janet Kirkman on Life Story Writing, Teaching, and More, Part 1
Today's episode is part 1 or our interview with Janet Kirkman, a 15-year veteran or life story writing. She talks to us about writing life stories, clients who self-publish, teaching memoir classes based on Guided Autobiography, and how she learned to create legacy letters with Barry Baines.…
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25: Preserving Family Memories with Hilarie Robison of Legacy Tale
Who takes responsibility of documenting a family's memories? After becoming a mom, Hilary Robison also took on the mantle of "keeper of family memories." Her experience led her and her husband to found Legacy Tale, where they help clients "learn how intentional living, memory-making, and…
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24: Candus Kampfer on Bookkeeping and Quickbooks for Life Story Professionals
Bookkeeping woes? Keep it simple. Candus Kampfer wanted to make a difference. When her hair stylist cried with relief after Candus showed her how to pull her accounting reports, Candus knew she wanted to help others. She began making short, focused video tutorials about Quickbooks in 2014, and…
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23: Nitty Gritty on Rough Drafts and Client Expectations
Set your clients expectations before you give them the first draft If you're a writer, you know rough drafts are just that: rough. They're not meant to be polished and perfect. They're going to have mistakes. But your clients most likely aren't writers, and they're not going to know that. And…
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22: Reminiscence and Life Review for Life Story Professionals
Want to earn an online certificate in Reminiscence and Life Story Work? Then this episode is for you. Today we talk to Esther Gieschen at University of Wisconsin, Superior about the academic field of reminiscence and life review and what we as practitioners of life story work can learn from it....
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21: Erika Ettin Helps Clients Create the Perfect Online Dating Profile
Erika Ettin gives people A Little Nudge up in the dating world What does online dating have to do with life stories? A lot. If you've ever looked at a dating site, you've seen a user profile, that miniature snapshot, in words and pictures, of a person in search of a partner. And just like with…
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20: Nitty-Gritty on file naming conventions
Welcome to episode 1 of the Nitty-Gritty This is the first episode of a new occasional series within the Life Story Coach podcast. In the Nitty-Gritty, we'll talk about the practical aspects of our work. Today, we're going look at file naming conventions. Yep, it's dry and boring. But you won't...
About this show
Want to make your living as a writer? Love listening to other people's life stories? Tune in for advice on the craft and business of personal history, the growing field of recording memoirs and family histories for paying clients.
Hosted by
Amy Woods Butler, LIfe Story and Memoir Ghostwriter