September 9, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode of Empathetic Presence, I sit down with Christina Ferguson, founder and chief storyteller at Parable, to explore how words are "the primary vehicle in which we are human."
Christina helps mission-driven organizations and leaders tap into their true identity—not by branding something external onto them, but by letting what's already inside come out. We dive deep into why so many of us struggle with our voices, whether written or spoken, and how we've lost the art of self-reflection in our hyper-connected world.
What we explore:
- Why identity work must come before mission and vision
- How AI is removing the essential friction from our creative process
- The difference between branding (stamping something on) and authentic expression (letting what's in come out)
- How organizations can stay true to their values in challenging moments
- Practical ways to develop self-knowing through reflection and spaciousness
Christina shares her process of helping clients excavate their mission through questions rather than quick fixes, and why she believes "the process is the point."
This conversation will resonate with anyone who wants to express themselves more authentically—whether you're leading an organization or just trying to find your own voice in a noisy world.
Christina is a storyteller and meaning-maker. As the Founder and Chief Storyteller at Parable, she empowers leaders to put fresh, compelling words to who they are, where they're headed, and how they'll get there. Christina's expertise in communications, strategy, sales, and change management makes her a powerful partner for leaders and teams looking to scale more authentically. Christina has held positions in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, including nonprofit fundraising firm Graham-Pelton, Georgetown University, and Ashoka. Christina holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Villanova University and a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University. She is a graduate of the Leading Organizational Change program through Wharton Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome back to EmpatheticPresence.
I have been thinking so muchabout the power of words, and I
just had to have a conversationwith my colleague and client
Christina Ferguson, founder ofParable.
Christina talks about how wordsare the primary vehicle in which
we are human Christina is astoryteller and meaning maker,
(00:28):
and as founder and chiefstoryteller at Parable she
empowers leaders to put fresh,compelling words to who they
are, where they're headed, andhow they'll get there.
Christina's company supportsmany mission-driven
organizations, and I lovedhearing about her process of
helping founders and teamsexcavate their mission and their
(00:48):
message.
She sees storytelling as an actof self knowing.
I hope you enjoy thisconversation with Christina
Ferguson Welcome, Christina tothe Empathetic Presence Podcast.
Hi Lee.
Thank you so much.
I am so thrilled to talk to you,Christina, because you
understand the power of wordsand we are in a moment right now
(01:09):
where words are really soimportant.
And you and I have known eachother for so some time.
And you are the founder ofParable.
Can you tell us a little bitabout Parable?
Yes.
Uh, you know, we work withorganizations and leaders who
are looking to tap into theiridentity and really live it out
loud and tell the story aboutwho they are and what they do.
(01:31):
Um, I have yet to come up with areally good term for that'cause
I kind of bristle at the idea orthe term of branding or
marketing.
Because it seems to me to lack alittle bit of that inner process
that needs to happen in order toreally step into one's identity
as an organization or a leaderlike I mentioned.
Um, but that's what we do andit's so fun and there's so many
(01:55):
ways that then it comes intolife through different marketing
channels, through different, uh,communications channels for an
organization.
I love that you talk aboutidentity, and I really wanna
kinda dig into that word withyou because it can mean so many
different things and I know it'sso important, but I think a lot
of us struggle to find our voicewith writing, with speaking.
(02:20):
So what do you mean by identity?
I mean who or who a leader trulyis, or who an organization truly
is.
And.
When I think about the twoworlds of professional and
personal, there's usually somecenter of the Venn diagram where
this identity lives, where it'snot, not entirely, you know,
(02:41):
personal, my favorite color, oryou know, what I like to do on
the weekend.
And it's not solelyprofessional.
It's, it's that beautiful blendof just the self.
I think that carries over to theorganization as well of what was
an organization's very purposefrom the start of its founding.
How has it evolved?
And, but what core tenets andthreads just carry through no
(03:05):
matter what.
Strategic priorities change, nomatter how, uh, the moment is
changing, there are certainpillars that will always remain
the same.
And what I find is thatorganizations and leaders.
We can have a hard timeremembering what those are when
(03:26):
we're caught up in the day today of doing the thing of
running the business, runningthe nonprofit, advocating out in
the community.
Uh.
So the way I like to describethe process of, of finding and
reclaiming one's identity inthis way is like holding up a
mirror to to to point toclients, whether they are
(03:49):
organizations or individuals tosay, this is what you're doing.
These are the words you'reusing.
Uh, here's, here's what vibe,you know, you're giving mov.
And a lot of times we don'trealize that for ourselves
because.
We're just doing it all thetime.
(04:09):
We don't tend to stop and thinkthat how we might be doing
something is different or uniquefrom anybody else, and it's only
with an outside perspective thatwe can realize, oh, oh, this is
my identity, because yeah, noteveryone is actually doing it
this way.
Wow.
It can be such a differentiator.
(04:31):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yes.
And I, first of all, I wouldjust wanna go back to something
that you said, an uplift thatyou said you don't love the word
branding, and I'm alsostruggling with that word
because.
So many actually organizationshave been asking recently for me
to do like personal brandingworkshops.
Yeah.
And this is a term that I thinkgets really corporate and we
(04:53):
can't find our own identity init.
And so hearing you say thatidentity is about reclaiming who
you truly are, whether it's anindividual or an organization,
feels really refreshing becauseit is about truth and honesty.
Yeah.
There's a simplicity to that.
I agree.
(05:13):
Uh, now I might be fact checkedand proven wrong here, but, uh,
when I think of the wordbranding, what I, where I think
it comes from is to brand acattle or, or some, right, some
livestock, right?
That, that's the process ofimprinting something external
(05:34):
that wasn't there before.
And that's why it doesn't sitwell with me because.
What I think of true, authenticbranding is letting what's in
come out how.
Does that make sense?
Letting what's in come?
Of course it makes sense,Christina.
And you know, even thisdiscrepancy that you're talking
(05:54):
about between how we think we'reperceived versus how we feel
internally, that's somethingthat I see with my clients all
the time.
I work with people who are surethat people can see how nervous
they are or think they're beingperceived in a certain way, and
we have to eliminate thatdiscrepancy in order for them to
truly connect.
(06:15):
To their identity.
Yes.
Agreed.
It's, it's, it's thinking aboutwhere is the information or the
spirit or whatever inspiration,where is it, what direction is
it flowing in, like coming fromoutside air inside out.
And I think you and I would bothagree, like the magic happens
when it's coming from insideout.
(06:37):
Yes.
And when we stop looking forthat external validation.
Yeah.
And so what you're talking aboutmakes it sound like your process
with your clients is reallyabout a unraveling mm-hmm.
And right.
A revealing of what's alreadythere.
Totally, yes.
You know.
It's, it's about getting to thecore of, of, again, what an
(07:01):
organization or individuals isdoing, uh, and why, and those
things don't really change andthey've changed very little
from, from a founding or, youknow, from a historical context.
Uh, and I find the process toarrive at that is, is.
(07:22):
Figuring out ways for theorganization again, or the
leader to really just bethemselves.
Like, speak off the cuff.
Tell me what you actually think.
Tell me in your, just in yourown words, like, no one's
recording this.
Just tell me what you do.
Tell me why you love it.
Uh, if you could do nothing elsebut this one thing, what would
it be?
You know, really, we kind of,it's, it feels almost like a
(07:44):
therapy session sometimes tostart off because it's getting
to the heart of the individual.
And every organization is madeup of individuals.
And you know, even for me, I'vebeen doing this work for 10
years and it's only this yearthat I feel like I finally am
finding the language, the wordsto articulate what I do.
(08:09):
Yes.
And I wanna know like, what isit about words?
Because some of us feel.
More natural in the writtenword.
Others of us feel more naturalin the spoken word.
What is it about writing andwords?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's such a great question.
I, I, I can think of maybe fourkinds of human connection.
(08:34):
I could think of human touch,which is reserved for a very
small circle of people in ourlives.
I can think of art.
So music, painting, photography,dance, uh, usually absent of
words.
(08:54):
Uh, and I can think of sharedaction or experience.
So ritual, a meal, an act ofservice that even in silence
might bring people together andform some connection.
And then I can think of words.
And of those four, I reallythink words are the most
(09:14):
prominent and convenient.
And it's, it's, it's the mediawe use, uh, whether written or
spoken or sung or chanted.
Uh, it's, it's, it's the, theprimary vehicle in which we're
human.
It's the primary vehicle inwhich we're human.
(09:37):
I think, but maybe I'm biased'cause I write.
I agree with you though, and Ido believe that that's what sets
us apart from other mammals isour ability to communicate in
the way that we do, andinterpret and analyze and judge
and critique, you know?
And hearing you even say thatwords are the primary vehicle of
(09:57):
expression of humanity.
Yeah.
It makes sense to me then whythere's so much darn anxiety Oh,
around yes.
Words and our voices, whetherwritten or spoken, right?
Yes, absolutely.
And I think part of thatanxiety, if I had to guess, uh,
part of it is, is for sure thatfeeling of self-consciousness
(10:21):
that anyone or most people mightfeel in sharing a part of
themselves.
'cause there's a vulnerabilitythat's required there.
The other part that I do thinkplays into this is I think as a
culture, we have lost to someextent the ability to
self-reflect, and I thinkself-reflection is so necessary
(10:48):
to be able to use words, whetherin speech or in writing.
I was reading a book recentlythat is really blowing my mind
and I'm still reading it.
Uh, it's called Super Bloom byNicholas Carr, and I highly
recommend it, uh, for if anyonehasn't read it.
(11:09):
Uh, and in the book he talksabout just the evolution of how
we've communicated over the pasttwo centuries.
And, uh, he talks a lot aboutletter writing and how that was
an act of communication.
It, it was that there was a verypractical function to it, of
sharing information between twoindividuals when there was no
(11:29):
other technology to do so.
However, he also says it was a,a very strong exercise in
self-reflection because to beable to write a really
thoughtful letter, one had tosit down, gather one's thoughts.
Think about how they want toframe it.
(11:50):
Paper was a, a, you know, notsomething you could go to Office
Depot and buy.
It was, there was a limitedresource of, of a, of a sense
inst kind of similar, right?
And, and so you had to be reallythoughtful and turn inward and
think and wrestle through ideasand come up with how you wanna
(12:12):
structure them.
Who has time.
Like we, we don't have time todo that very much.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think we've lost, uh,the ability to flex that muscle.
Uh, and, and I think it's, it'swhen we can give ourselves maybe
a little bit of silence, alittle bit of space, a little
bit of encouragement, andreally.
(12:33):
Home, a practice of selfdeflection.
I do think we become bettercommunicators, whether through
writing or speech or, or someother vehicle, and it is so
fascinating just about the, youknow.
The change of the materials overtime and how they were less
(12:55):
available and how much thatwould change our ability to self
process.
Like is there an equivalent inthe digital age?
Are we self-reflecting when weprepare an email or are we more,
much more impulsive?
Are we not connecting in thesame way?
Uh, well, the book would arguewe are more impulsive.
(13:17):
And I think I, I do think peopleput thought, depending on the
communication, there's noblanket statement that would be
appropriate here.
However, I think overall wetrend in the direction of, I'm
just gonna put out like a streamof conscious, whatever's on the
top of my mind.
(13:38):
Without asking myself the hardquestions about why I think that
way or where is this comingfrom, or what emotional state is
bringing this about, or what,how can I connect this to
something else that happenedpreviously or let me understand
the reader what, what um, toneand voice words do they need to
(14:00):
hear for this to really.
Resonate with'em.
You know, we don't really, I,most of us, I don't think really
ask those questions or reallydig deeper beyond what's on the
top of our mind.
What's fascinating about whatyou're saying, Christina, is
that this stream ofconsciousness is something that
I see in spoken communication.
So many of the people who cometo see me find that they're
(14:22):
thinking and speaking at thesame time, they're speaking
unconsciously.
They're not feeling able toreally like put their own voice
into their unconsciouscommunication, and it really
feels powerful to think of thatas like a lack of.
Confidence, like a lack ofauthority in asking myself, what
(14:45):
do I wanna say?
Because I fear that a lot of usdon't trust our voices or don't
think we're good writers or goodspeakers.
And how do we develop thatmuscle if we feel unpracticed in
it?
Mm.
One way to do it is.
(15:06):
To develop a, a journaling habitor practice.
I found that to be reallycritical in my own
communication, I think to, towrite every day that in a way
that's not shared ever, uh, butthat just allows me a playground
(15:27):
in my mind to see what is thereand to make connections and.
Uh, to know myself andtherefore, when I am in a
situation where I need tocommunicate, I have a little bit
more to work with.
(15:47):
I really think that that'swhat's lacking right now is this
self knowing.
Yes.
Yes.
Uh, I think it was Socrates whosaid to, to know thyself is, is
the beginning of wisdom and.
Wisdom is kind of lacking.
We don't have a lot there.
(16:08):
Yeah.
And I also, I have a lot ofclients who teach on leadership
and who talk about, you know,self-awareness as the foundation
of leadership.
And of course we can talk aboutthe importance of communication
in that too.
And there's something reallypowerful.
(16:30):
I also think with social media.
Where so much of our writtencommunication, but even spoken
communication video is like forsomeone else, or if it's for
presentational.
Moments on social media.
It's not this self-reflective,it's not writing a letter to one
(16:50):
other person.
It's like a broadcast.
Yeah.
That I think has changed how wecommunicate too.
A hundred percent.
You sound like you have readthis book I'm talking about
because I need to read thisbook.
It sounds good.
Yes.
'cause in it he talks aboutsocial media as being the first
time that we ever had mass tomass communication.
(17:11):
There was always one to mass orone-to-one.
Now we're in this era of mass tomass.
And initially the thinking is,well, the thinking was, well,
when that happens, my goodness,we would never have a
disagreement because we're allable to talk and share our
opinions and perspectives andfind common ground.
(17:32):
And it's like this massivedemocratization of, of word.
And that's actually not how it'splayed out, obviously, it's just
become right, the noise and, uh,and, and the more, the volume
that is now possible because ofvarious technologies has further
(17:57):
limited our ability toself-reflect, to compose a
coherent, thoughtful message.
Uh, and we are overwhelmed byalso digesting at the same time
by like taking in with drinkingfrom a fire hose and then also
trying to spit back outsomething coherent.
(18:19):
And it just, it's kind of alosing battle.
Wow.
Especially because I think weare not all agreeing on what the
truth is.
You know, we, going back to thatword truth.
Yeah.
And this moment feels like a, areal pressure cooker for what
we're talking about here,Christina, and you help at
(18:39):
Parable, you help organizationsspeak their story and.
What are you seeing in terms ofthis moment where I imagine it
might be challenging for certainorganizations to be true to
their identity?
Yeah.
Given the constraints that we'reseeing on the federal level, the
authoritarianism, the silencing,the censoring.
(19:02):
So how can organizations be truein this moment?
Hmm.
That's a really good question.
And it starts with that innerreflection of.
What is, uh, what are theuncompromisable aspects of who
we are or as a leader who, whoone is, and, and then there's a
(19:28):
continuum.
There's going to be, you know,one side, there's the
uncompromisable aspects of, ofan individual organizational's
identity.
And then there'll be more layersbeyond that of, you know, other,
other ways of communicating thatin an ideal world an
organization could employ.
(19:48):
Uh, and right now I think someof those extra layers are kind
of, we're, we're thinking alittle bit harder about, okay,
do I wanna go out there?
Do I wanna go to that extent?
Uh, and yet I, I, what I'mseeing with clients is at that
very core of the uncompromisableaspects to one's identity are,
(20:09):
are unchanged and clients areleaning into them with more
conviction and we're just havingto get creative with how, uh.
And what I'm seeing as well is,is a bit of a splitting for
better or for worse, betweenlanguage that an organization
(20:36):
might use internally versusexternally.
And so I think now more thanever, there's an opportunity to
really have thoughtfulstrategies for both of those.
Arenas.
Yeah.
Uh, yeah, internalcommunication.
Uh, and, and the external one,and I can give you an example of
what I mean by this.
(20:57):
Uh, you know, there are, I workwith a lot of nonprofit clients
and some, some of them receivefederal funding and even on a
good day, uh.
An organization needs to usecertain words to be able to
qualify for federal funding.
(21:17):
I can give a more concreteexample.
One client I have is a schoolfor children with learning
differences, and this schoolrightfully so, sort of shutters
at the idea of using the worddisability.
However, to receive federalfunding, they need to use the
language that's.
(21:38):
Has been specified by thegovernment.
Yeah, right.
And so we then had to becomereally disciplined in what's the
messaging that we use in thosesituations versus what are we
talking just colloquially withour external community?
And then how are we talkingabout it internally?
(21:59):
And obviously there's gonna besimilarities, but having that
discipline is becoming veryimportant.
More so now than ever.
Yeah, absolutely.
And really having to think aboutaudience in maybe an even more
specific way and like, you know,you talked about this be social
media being the first time thatit's like many to many, and
(22:22):
that's really fascinating.
Yeah.
I'm really interested in how dowe speak one to many, whether
that's an organization or anindividual with this idea that
we have to speak to people.
I've always talked about publicspeaking as like we can't speak
to a group of 50 people.
(22:42):
We're actually only speaking toone person at a time.
So how do you think about makinga message resonate when it is to
so many diverse, different typesof people?
I think about a few questions.
I, I might pose the question ofwhat is so true that can't go
(23:04):
unsaid?
Uh, and, and more so, you know,what is so true that it must be
said by you or like theindividual or the organization.
And, uh, then I really encourageclients of all kinds to view the
(23:28):
process of getting to themessage as being the point in
itself.
The, the wrestling that has tohappen, that inner reflection,
the, the friction that has tohappen because it's not easy to
find a, a short few words thatcan describe what an
(23:50):
organization or an individualdoes that everyone's on board
with.
There's friction in thatprocess, and what I try to
encourage my clients to see isthat that's often the point.
I think, uh, that's where the,that's where we can also talk
about ai, to be honest, becauseAI, we're, we're, might be
(24:14):
getting to a very similaroutcome, but the process has
been totally removed.
Right?
The wrestling, the friction,the, of knowing, the
self-reflection, that's allcompletely moot.
Uh, and.
And, and I, I think we're remissif we, if we don't acknowledge
(24:37):
that I'm having a moment here.
I'm really just seeing so muchof our creative process and we
know that there is this tension,there is this friction and this
self knowing and AI taking thatout.
Is it a less interesting result?
(24:58):
Certainly I, I think the answeris yes.
Yeah.
But I also can think of this interms of when I was in art
school and the people who didn'thave to work day jobs and were
fully supported by family, youknow, even after art school, I
have to say, I don't think thatthe art was as good.
(25:20):
Oh, interesting.
Because there was no friction inhow they created.
Aha.
I am a big believer that likeour limitations breed
creativity.
As a theater person, I alwayswas like, give me less of a
budget because we're gonna havemore resourcefulness and
scrapiness.
(25:40):
Totally.
A hundred percent.
Yes.
Yeah.
What you're talking about oflike that, having to kind of
edit and choose.
It's a painful process ofexcavation almost, is what it
sounds like.
Yes.
Yeah.
And, and I think in this day andage we tend, people can tend to
(26:03):
think of communication as, youknow, more is better.
Just like put it out there andput something out there and.
The more I do this work, themore I think there's a mastery
that's required, a reallyserious discipline, a message
discipline, uh, with, with whatwe say and how and when.
(26:25):
And yeah, that, that's humanstuff.
Like that's not ever gonna be acomputer business.
Wow.
So can we talk a little bitabout ai?
Because I think what you weretalking about before with that
like vulnerable self-reflection,AI kind of cancels that out and
(26:51):
how can we continue tostrengthen our own voices with
these tools that are like reallybecoming so.
It's disruptive.
Even in our every day, they feelalmost like you have to use
them.
How can we keep strengtheningour voices?
I think just because one can usethem doesn't mean that one
(27:13):
should.
Honestly, I, I think a lot,there's so many parallels I can
think about.
I can think about fast food.
It's like just because we couldgo through, go to the drive
through and get some frenchfries and a Big Mac, it doesn't
mean that we probably should dothat every day.
Our taste buds will change.
Our bodies will change.
(27:34):
Eating slow, thoughtfully cookedfood is part of being human.
Just the same way as lookinginwards.
Composing a message andcommunicating it is human.
Yeah.
And we have to move away fromall of this efficiency and
productivity and you know.
(27:57):
Just getting to the end resultwhile really negating the
process, like you said.
Yes, I think there's gonna bemany organizations that say we
don't care about the process.
We want, we want just like areally cool outcome and AI is
great.
Uh, and you'll probably get thatreally great outcome and you
(28:18):
don't need a marketing teamanymore.
Hmm.
There's also gonna beorganizations and leaders.
Who say, well, I want theprocess.
I don't wanna phone it, phone itin.
I don't want the fast food.
I think ease and efficiency havea true cost on humanity.
(28:39):
You know, I mentioned the fastfood, but also texting the
prevalence in zooms of.
Cheap fast shipping of goods,you know, like the list goes on
and on.
That that efficiency actuallybrings about a cost that often
we don't realize until a littlebit further in.
(29:01):
Yeah, I actually left socialmedia, most social media except
for LinkedIn earlier this year,and I found that it's a really
interesting.
Impact that I'm going deeperwith fewer people and less wide.
Mm.
But it feels more meaningful.
I love, feels like what I needright now.
(29:22):
Yeah.
It's it, what you're describingsounds nourishing and I don't
even think we stop to think islike what I'm consuming,
nourishing, or not.
'cause we're just bombarded.
I, I read something that saidthe amount of data that existed
(29:43):
in the world from the birth ofhumanity until something like
2003 is now created every yearor, or something.
Oh my goodness.
Ridiculous.
Like that.
I, again, I'm, I'm probablybutchering the exact stat, but,
but something as drastic asthat.
And for a while we were underthe guise that we could keep up.
(30:06):
And that we have to keep up.
And I think in my own personallife, it's, it's becoming so
blatantly obvious.
I can't keep up.
This is actually miserable.
Yeah.
And so I'm gonna consume a wholelot less of it.
And I, I wanna consume somethingthat's like really healthy and
good and feel Yeah.
(30:28):
I think we're gonna see a bit ofa slowing down and.
Us returning to more analog.
You know, we can see likecassette tapes coming back and
all these fun things, but Ithink we also need to really
honor the time it takes to dothis reflection work.
Yeah.
And I wonder if you could liketake us into parable a little
(30:50):
bit.
Like what are some of the thingsthat organizations come to
Parable for, and then what dothey walk away with and what
should we know about thatprocess?
Yeah, that's a great question.
A lot of organizations come toParable because they say they
need a new mission statement,and often what they're looking
for is a redo of a three to fivesentence mishmosh that they
(31:18):
currently have, and what theywalk away with is something like
six or 10 words, huh?
Really gets to what they do.
Uh, or they might need a cleardirection of where they're
headed and almost bordering onstrategic planning.
(31:40):
Hmm.
And what I often talk about is,well, that's really hard to do
without having a sense of whoone is.
Like how, how, how can we chartthe course forward if we're not
really sure like what we'rebringing along with us.
And so yeah, even strategicplanning.
The starting point in my work,in my opinion, it starts with
(32:04):
this kind of inner reflectionand identity work.
Wow.
So it's really starting withidentity and then we can get to
mission, who we are, and then wecan get to vision.
Yeah.
What we're building.
Yeah.
But if we don't start with thatsolid foundation.
(32:24):
And we don't know who we are.
Totally.
And it's, it's the same, I, I goback to that metaphor of as
something stamped on or brandedon versus like lived out, come,
coming from within.
Yeah.
And, uh, yeah, there are plentyof strategic plans, let's say,
that are really solid, highlybest practiced.
(32:47):
And yet might they be a fit forevery organization if they're
just stamped on?
Probably not.
Hmm.
I see this with my clients too.
They, some people come to me andthey want really quick tools and
techniques.
They don't want to go deep, theydon't wanna personalize it, and
it doesn't have the same impactbecause it's not theirs.
(33:10):
Yes.
I, I find that in, in, you're,you're so right.
The impact is not going to bethere, and I think what we as
professionals then can do to,to.
Kind of prod clients in the, inthis slower direction is, is
this instead to just posequestions?
Uh, you know, I find more andmore, I didn't always start out
(33:34):
doing this, but, but more andmore now, if I get a request for
those kind of quick tools, quickfixes, I'll share a list of
questions for them to thinkabout instead of giving a list
of tools.
And that, is that really, um, isthat what you know?
At first they're like, I don'treally want that.
(33:56):
Just want you to tell me what todo.
And again, the process is thepoint, and that process is the
point.
I'm not gonna be able to tellyou what to do.
The process is the point.
I love that so much.
I'm learning so much about yourprocess and how you work with
clients.
And I wonder, Christina, whatabout for those of us who, we
(34:21):
might be individuals, we mightbe a part of organizations, but
we wanna do that deeper work toknow ourselves.
We want to be able to articulatewho we are, our identity, what
can we do to practice that andto start listening to ourselves,
I think in giving ourselves thespace to pay attention.
(34:45):
Like, uh, I find, uh, a lot ofmy days happen without me
realizing it, and Yep.
I hate that.
So me too.
When I pay attention to alonging, it's hugging and
nagging that is coming fromwithin when I pay attention to.
(35:10):
A piece of art or color thatreally captures my eye when I
pay attention to the sound of alaugh that just feels contagious
and infectious.
It's like that is how I come toknow myself.
And unfortunately, we live in aworld where that's really hard
(35:31):
to do.
It's hard to do by accident.
Yeah.
It almost feels like you have togo against the grain of our
productive capitalist machine.
Yeah.
But I think it's so importantright now.
Yeah.
You know, one practical thingthat I've done that's really
(35:51):
helped me and my own ability tocommunicate and that, and of
course to self-reflect evenbefore that, is I got, I got rid
of an iPhone.
And I got rid of things likeSpotify and, uh, just the, the
wash of content that I wasconsuming that I think a lot of
(36:16):
us consume without realizing it.
I needed there to be morespaciousness in my brain at all
times because I don't think wecan pay attention.
When we're cluttered andsqueezed and restricted, there
has to be a sense of innerspaciousness, a sense of inner
(36:40):
spaciousness, and how withoutthat, we cannot hear our own
voices.
I don't think so.
Yeah.
How beautiful.
I wonder, Christina, would yoube able to tell us, how do we
find more about parable?
Well, you can go to find yourparable.com and you'll, you'll
(37:04):
see a little bit more about theservices we offer and our
wonderful team there.
And like you, the only socialmedia I'm really on is LinkedIn,
so that's another place wherefolks can do that.
See some of my writing andconnect.
I'm really grateful that wecould have this conversation
(37:25):
today.
Christina, I'm grateful that youhave the expertise to support
mission-driven organizations tolive in their truest identity.
I'm also so grateful to hearthat you're seeing more and more
organizations double down onwhat they believe in.
Yeah, and knowing who they are.
That gives me so much hope.
(37:47):
And I'm just really gratefulthat we could have this
conversation today.
I am so grateful to you.
I always enjoy working with youas a client and now as a
colleague and friend, and it'sbeen wonderful to, to be on and
get to talk today.
Thank you, Christina.
Thank you for sharing yourwords.
Welcome back to EmpatheticPresence.
I have been thinking so muchabout the power of words, and I
just had to have a conversationwith my colleague and client
Christina Ferguson, founder ofParable.
Christina talks about how wordsare the primary vehicle in which
we are human Christina is astoryteller and meaning maker,
(00:28):
and as founder and chiefstoryteller at Parable she
empowers leaders to put fresh,compelling words to who they
are, where they're headed, andhow they'll get there.
Christina's company supportsmany mission-driven
organizations, and I lovedhearing about her process of
helping founders and teamsexcavate their mission and their
(00:48):
message.
She sees storytelling as an actof self knowing.
I hope you enjoy thisconversation with Christina
Ferguson Welcome, Christina tothe Empathetic Presence Podcast.
Hi Lee.
Thank you so much.
I am so thrilled to talk to you,Christina, because you
understand the power of wordsand we are in a moment right now
(01:09):
where words are really soimportant.
And you and I have known eachother for so some time.
And you are the founder ofParable.
Can you tell us a little bitabout Parable?
Yes.
Uh, you know, we work withorganizations and leaders who
are looking to tap into theiridentity and really live it out
loud and tell the story aboutwho they are and what they do.
(01:31):
Um, I have yet to come up with areally good term for that'cause
I kind of bristle at the idea orthe term of branding or
marketing.
Because it seems to me to lack alittle bit of that inner process
that needs to happen in order toreally step into one's identity
as an organization or a leaderlike I mentioned.
Um, but that's what we do andit's so fun and there's so many
(01:55):
ways that then it comes intolife through different marketing
channels, through different, uh,communications channels for an
organization.
I love that you talk aboutidentity, and I really wanna
kinda dig into that word withyou because it can mean so many
different things and I know it'sso important, but I think a lot
of us struggle to find our voicewith writing, with speaking.
(02:20):
So what do you mean by identity?
I mean who or who a leader trulyis, or who an organization truly
is.
And.
When I think about the twoworlds of professional and
personal, there's usually somecenter of the Venn diagram where
this identity lives, where it'snot, not entirely, you know,
(02:41):
personal, my favorite color, oryou know, what I like to do on
the weekend.
And it's not solelyprofessional.
It's, it's that beautiful blendof just the self.
I think that carries over to theorganization as well of what was
an organization's very purposefrom the start of its founding.
How has it evolved?
And, but what core tenets andthreads just carry through no
(03:05):
matter what.
Strategic priorities change, nomatter how, uh, the moment is
changing, there are certainpillars that will always remain
the same.
And what I find is thatorganizations and leaders.
We can have a hard timeremembering what those are when
(03:26):
we're caught up in the day today of doing the thing of
running the business, runningthe nonprofit, advocating out in
the community.
Uh.
So the way I like to describethe process of, of finding and
reclaiming one's identity inthis way is like holding up a
mirror to to to point toclients, whether they are
(03:49):
organizations or individuals tosay, this is what you're doing.
These are the words you'reusing.
Uh, here's, here's what vibe,you know, you're giving mov.
And a lot of times we don'trealize that for ourselves
because.
We're just doing it all thetime.
(04:09):
We don't tend to stop and thinkthat how we might be doing
something is different or uniquefrom anybody else, and it's only
with an outside perspective thatwe can realize, oh, oh, this is
my identity, because yeah, noteveryone is actually doing it
this way.
Wow.
It can be such a differentiator.
(04:31):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yes.
And I, first of all, I wouldjust wanna go back to something
that you said, an uplift thatyou said you don't love the word
branding, and I'm alsostruggling with that word
because.
So many actually organizationshave been asking recently for me
to do like personal brandingworkshops.
Yeah.
And this is a term that I thinkgets really corporate and we
(04:53):
can't find our own identity init.
And so hearing you say thatidentity is about reclaiming who
you truly are, whether it's anindividual or an organization,
feels really refreshing becauseit is about truth and honesty.
Yeah.
There's a simplicity to that.
I agree.
(05:13):
Uh, now I might be fact checkedand proven wrong here, but, uh,
when I think of the wordbranding, what I, where I think
it comes from is to brand acattle or, or some, right, some
livestock, right?
That, that's the process ofimprinting something external
(05:34):
that wasn't there before.
And that's why it doesn't sitwell with me because.
What I think of true, authenticbranding is letting what's in
come out how.
Does that make sense?
Letting what's in come?
Of course it makes sense,Christina.
And you know, even thisdiscrepancy that you're talking
(05:54):
about between how we think we'reperceived versus how we feel
internally, that's somethingthat I see with my clients all
the time.
I work with people who are surethat people can see how nervous
they are or think they're beingperceived in a certain way, and
we have to eliminate thatdiscrepancy in order for them to
truly connect.
(06:15):
To their identity.
Yes.
Agreed.
It's, it's, it's thinking aboutwhere is the information or the
spirit or whatever inspiration,where is it, what direction is
it flowing in, like coming fromoutside air inside out.
And I think you and I would bothagree, like the magic happens
when it's coming from insideout.
(06:37):
Yes.
And when we stop looking forthat external validation.
Yeah.
And so what you're talking aboutmakes it sound like your process
with your clients is reallyabout a unraveling mm-hmm.
And right.
A revealing of what's alreadythere.
Totally, yes.
You know.
It's, it's about getting to thecore of, of, again, what an
(07:01):
organization or individuals isdoing, uh, and why, and those
things don't really change andthey've changed very little
from, from a founding or, youknow, from a historical context.
Uh, and I find the process toarrive at that is, is.
(07:22):
Figuring out ways for theorganization again, or the
leader to really just bethemselves.
Like, speak off the cuff.
Tell me what you actually think.
Tell me in your, just in yourown words, like, no one's
recording this.
Just tell me what you do.
Tell me why you love it.
Uh, if you could do nothing elsebut this one thing, what would
it be?
You know, really, we kind of,it's, it feels almost like a
(07:44):
therapy session sometimes tostart off because it's getting
to the heart of the individual.
And every organization is madeup of individuals.
And you know, even for me, I'vebeen doing this work for 10
years and it's only this yearthat I feel like I finally am
finding the language, the wordsto articulate what I do.
(08:09):
Yes.
And I wanna know like, what isit about words?
Because some of us feel.
More natural in the writtenword.
Others of us feel more naturalin the spoken word.
What is it about writing andwords?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's such a great question.
I, I, I can think of maybe fourkinds of human connection.
(08:34):
I could think of human touch,which is reserved for a very
small circle of people in ourlives.
I can think of art.
So music, painting, photography,dance, uh, usually absent of
words.
(08:54):
Uh, and I can think of sharedaction or experience.
So ritual, a meal, an act ofservice that even in silence
might bring people together andform some connection.
And then I can think of words.
And of those four, I reallythink words are the most
(09:14):
prominent and convenient.
And it's, it's, it's the mediawe use, uh, whether written or
spoken or sung or chanted.
Uh, it's, it's, it's the, theprimary vehicle in which we're
human.
It's the primary vehicle inwhich we're human.
(09:37):
I think, but maybe I'm biased'cause I write.
I agree with you though, and Ido believe that that's what sets
us apart from other mammals isour ability to communicate in
the way that we do, andinterpret and analyze and judge
and critique, you know?
And hearing you even say thatwords are the primary vehicle of
(09:57):
expression of humanity.
Yeah.
It makes sense to me then whythere's so much darn anxiety Oh,
around yes.
Words and our voices, whetherwritten or spoken, right?
Yes, absolutely.
And I think part of thatanxiety, if I had to guess, uh,
part of it is, is for sure thatfeeling of self-consciousness
(10:21):
that anyone or most people mightfeel in sharing a part of
themselves.
'cause there's a vulnerabilitythat's required there.
The other part that I do thinkplays into this is I think as a
culture, we have lost to someextent the ability to
self-reflect, and I thinkself-reflection is so necessary
(10:48):
to be able to use words, whetherin speech or in writing.
I was reading a book recentlythat is really blowing my mind
and I'm still reading it.
Uh, it's called Super Bloom byNicholas Carr, and I highly
recommend it, uh, for if anyonehasn't read it.
(11:09):
Uh, and in the book he talksabout just the evolution of how
we've communicated over the pasttwo centuries.
And, uh, he talks a lot aboutletter writing and how that was
an act of communication.
It, it was that there was a verypractical function to it, of
sharing information between twoindividuals when there was no
(11:29):
other technology to do so.
However, he also says it was a,a very strong exercise in
self-reflection because to beable to write a really
thoughtful letter, one had tosit down, gather one's thoughts.
Think about how they want toframe it.
(11:50):
Paper was a, a, you know, notsomething you could go to Office
Depot and buy.
It was, there was a limitedresource of, of a, of a sense
inst kind of similar, right?
And, and so you had to be reallythoughtful and turn inward and
think and wrestle through ideasand come up with how you wanna
(12:12):
structure them.
Who has time.
Like we, we don't have time todo that very much.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think we've lost, uh,the ability to flex that muscle.
Uh, and, and I think it's, it'swhen we can give ourselves maybe
a little bit of silence, alittle bit of space, a little
bit of encouragement, andreally.
(12:33):
Home, a practice of selfdeflection.
I do think we become bettercommunicators, whether through
writing or speech or, or someother vehicle, and it is so
fascinating just about the, youknow.
The change of the materials overtime and how they were less
(12:55):
available and how much thatwould change our ability to self
process.
Like is there an equivalent inthe digital age?
Are we self-reflecting when weprepare an email or are we more,
much more impulsive?
Are we not connecting in thesame way?
Uh, well, the book would arguewe are more impulsive.
(13:17):
And I think I, I do think peopleput thought, depending on the
communication, there's noblanket statement that would be
appropriate here.
However, I think overall wetrend in the direction of, I'm
just gonna put out like a streamof conscious, whatever's on the
top of my mind.
(13:38):
Without asking myself the hardquestions about why I think that
way or where is this comingfrom, or what emotional state is
bringing this about, or what,how can I connect this to
something else that happenedpreviously or let me understand
the reader what, what um, toneand voice words do they need to
(14:00):
hear for this to really.
Resonate with'em.
You know, we don't really, I,most of us, I don't think really
ask those questions or reallydig deeper beyond what's on the
top of our mind.
What's fascinating about whatyou're saying, Christina, is
that this stream ofconsciousness is something that
I see in spoken communication.
So many of the people who cometo see me find that they're
(14:22):
thinking and speaking at thesame time, they're speaking
unconsciously.
They're not feeling able toreally like put their own voice
into their unconsciouscommunication, and it really
feels powerful to think of thatas like a lack of.
Confidence, like a lack ofauthority in asking myself, what
(14:45):
do I wanna say?
Because I fear that a lot of usdon't trust our voices or don't
think we're good writers or goodspeakers.
And how do we develop thatmuscle if we feel unpracticed in
it?
Mm.
One way to do it is.
(15:06):
To develop a, a journaling habitor practice.
I found that to be reallycritical in my own
communication, I think to, towrite every day that in a way
that's not shared ever, uh, butthat just allows me a playground
(15:27):
in my mind to see what is thereand to make connections and.
Uh, to know myself andtherefore, when I am in a
situation where I need tocommunicate, I have a little bit
more to work with.
(15:47):
I really think that that'swhat's lacking right now is this
self knowing.
Yes.
Yes.
Uh, I think it was Socrates whosaid to, to know thyself is, is
the beginning of wisdom and.
Wisdom is kind of lacking.
We don't have a lot there.
(16:08):
Yeah.
And I also, I have a lot ofclients who teach on leadership
and who talk about, you know,self-awareness as the foundation
of leadership.
And of course we can talk aboutthe importance of communication
in that too.
And there's something reallypowerful.
(16:30):
I also think with social media.
Where so much of our writtencommunication, but even spoken
communication video is like forsomeone else, or if it's for
presentational.
Moments on social media.
It's not this self-reflective,it's not writing a letter to one
(16:50):
other person.
It's like a broadcast.
Yeah.
That I think has changed how wecommunicate too.
A hundred percent.
You sound like you have readthis book I'm talking about
because I need to read thisbook.
It sounds good.
Yes.
'cause in it he talks aboutsocial media as being the first
time that we ever had mass tomass communication.
(17:11):
There was always one to mass orone-to-one.
Now we're in this era of mass tomass.
And initially the thinking is,well, the thinking was, well,
when that happens, my goodness,we would never have a
disagreement because we're allable to talk and share our
opinions and perspectives andfind common ground.
(17:32):
And it's like this massivedemocratization of, of word.
And that's actually not how it'splayed out, obviously, it's just
become right, the noise and, uh,and, and the more, the volume
that is now possible because ofvarious technologies has further
(17:57):
limited our ability toself-reflect, to compose a
coherent, thoughtful message.
Uh, and we are overwhelmed byalso digesting at the same time
by like taking in with drinkingfrom a fire hose and then also
trying to spit back outsomething coherent.
(18:19):
And it just, it's kind of alosing battle.
Wow.
Especially because I think weare not all agreeing on what the
truth is.
You know, we, going back to thatword truth.
Yeah.
And this moment feels like a, areal pressure cooker for what
we're talking about here,Christina, and you help at
(18:39):
Parable, you help organizationsspeak their story and.
What are you seeing in terms ofthis moment where I imagine it
might be challenging for certainorganizations to be true to
their identity?
Yeah.
Given the constraints that we'reseeing on the federal level, the
authoritarianism, the silencing,the censoring.
(19:02):
So how can organizations be truein this moment?
Hmm.
That's a really good question.
And it starts with that innerreflection of.
What is, uh, what are theuncompromisable aspects of who
we are or as a leader who, whoone is, and, and then there's a
(19:28):
continuum.
There's going to be, you know,one side, there's the
uncompromisable aspects of, ofan individual organizational's
identity.
And then there'll be more layersbeyond that of, you know, other,
other ways of communicating thatin an ideal world an
organization could employ.
(19:48):
Uh, and right now I think someof those extra layers are kind
of, we're, we're thinking alittle bit harder about, okay,
do I wanna go out there?
Do I wanna go to that extent?
Uh, and yet I, I, what I'mseeing with clients is at that
very core of the uncompromisableaspects to one's identity are,
(20:09):
are unchanged and clients areleaning into them with more
conviction and we're just havingto get creative with how, uh.
And what I'm seeing as well is,is a bit of a splitting for
better or for worse, betweenlanguage that an organization
(20:36):
might use internally versusexternally.
And so I think now more thanever, there's an opportunity to
really have thoughtfulstrategies for both of those.
Arenas.
Yeah.
Uh, yeah, internalcommunication.
Uh, and, and the external one,and I can give you an example of
what I mean by this.
(20:57):
Uh, you know, there are, I workwith a lot of nonprofit clients
and some, some of them receivefederal funding and even on a
good day, uh.
An organization needs to usecertain words to be able to
qualify for federal funding.
(21:17):
I can give a more concreteexample.
One client I have is a schoolfor children with learning
differences, and this schoolrightfully so, sort of shutters
at the idea of using the worddisability.
However, to receive federalfunding, they need to use the
language that's.
(21:38):
Has been specified by thegovernment.
Yeah, right.
And so we then had to becomereally disciplined in what's the
messaging that we use in thosesituations versus what are we
talking just colloquially withour external community?
And then how are we talkingabout it internally?
(21:59):
And obviously there's gonna besimilarities, but having that
discipline is becoming veryimportant.
More so now than ever.
Yeah, absolutely.
And really having to think aboutaudience in maybe an even more
specific way and like, you know,you talked about this be social
media being the first time thatit's like many to many, and
(22:22):
that's really fascinating.
Yeah.
I'm really interested in how dowe speak one to many, whether
that's an organization or anindividual with this idea that
we have to speak to people.
I've always talked about publicspeaking as like we can't speak
to a group of 50 people.
(22:42):
We're actually only speaking toone person at a time.
So how do you think about makinga message resonate when it is to
so many diverse, different typesof people?
I think about a few questions.
I, I might pose the question ofwhat is so true that can't go
(23:04):
unsaid?
Uh, and, and more so, you know,what is so true that it must be
said by you or like theindividual or the organization.
And, uh, then I really encourageclients of all kinds to view the
(23:28):
process of getting to themessage as being the point in
itself.
The, the wrestling that has tohappen, that inner reflection,
the, the friction that has tohappen because it's not easy to
find a, a short few words thatcan describe what an
(23:50):
organization or an individualdoes that everyone's on board
with.
There's friction in thatprocess, and what I try to
encourage my clients to see isthat that's often the point.
I think, uh, that's where the,that's where we can also talk
about ai, to be honest, becauseAI, we're, we're, might be
(24:14):
getting to a very similaroutcome, but the process has
been totally removed.
Right?
The wrestling, the friction,the, of knowing, the
self-reflection, that's allcompletely moot.
Uh, and.
And, and I, I think we're remissif we, if we don't acknowledge
(24:37):
that I'm having a moment here.
I'm really just seeing so muchof our creative process and we
know that there is this tension,there is this friction and this
self knowing and AI taking thatout.
Is it a less interesting result?
(24:58):
Certainly I, I think the answeris yes.
Yeah.
But I also can think of this interms of when I was in art
school and the people who didn'thave to work day jobs and were
fully supported by family, youknow, even after art school, I
have to say, I don't think thatthe art was as good.
(25:20):
Oh, interesting.
Because there was no friction inhow they created.
Aha.
I am a big believer that likeour limitations breed
creativity.
As a theater person, I alwayswas like, give me less of a
budget because we're gonna havemore resourcefulness and
scrapiness.
(25:40):
Totally.
A hundred percent.
Yes.
Yeah.
What you're talking about oflike that, having to kind of
edit and choose.
It's a painful process ofexcavation almost, is what it
sounds like.
Yes.
Yeah.
And, and I think in this day andage we tend, people can tend to
(26:03):
think of communication as, youknow, more is better.
Just like put it out there andput something out there and.
The more I do this work, themore I think there's a mastery
that's required, a reallyserious discipline, a message
discipline, uh, with, with whatwe say and how and when.
(26:25):
And yeah, that, that's humanstuff.
Like that's not ever gonna be acomputer business.
Wow.
So can we talk a little bitabout ai?
Because I think what you weretalking about before with that
like vulnerable self-reflection,AI kind of cancels that out and
(26:51):
how can we continue tostrengthen our own voices with
these tools that are like reallybecoming so.
It's disruptive.
Even in our every day, they feelalmost like you have to use
them.
How can we keep strengtheningour voices?
I think just because one can usethem doesn't mean that one
(27:13):
should.
Honestly, I, I think a lot,there's so many parallels I can
think about.
I can think about fast food.
It's like just because we couldgo through, go to the drive
through and get some frenchfries and a Big Mac, it doesn't
mean that we probably should dothat every day.
Our taste buds will change.
Our bodies will change.
(27:34):
Eating slow, thoughtfully cookedfood is part of being human.
Just the same way as lookinginwards.
Composing a message andcommunicating it is human.
Yeah.
And we have to move away fromall of this efficiency and
productivity and you know.
(27:57):
Just getting to the end resultwhile really negating the
process, like you said.
Yes, I think there's gonna bemany organizations that say we
don't care about the process.
We want, we want just like areally cool outcome and AI is
great.
Uh, and you'll probably get thatreally great outcome and you
(28:18):
don't need a marketing teamanymore.
Hmm.
There's also gonna beorganizations and leaders.
Who say, well, I want theprocess.
I don't wanna phone it, phone itin.
I don't want the fast food.
I think ease and efficiency havea true cost on humanity.
(28:39):
You know, I mentioned the fastfood, but also texting the
prevalence in zooms of.
Cheap fast shipping of goods,you know, like the list goes on
and on.
That that efficiency actuallybrings about a cost that often
we don't realize until a littlebit further in.
(29:01):
Yeah, I actually left socialmedia, most social media except
for LinkedIn earlier this year,and I found that it's a really
interesting.
Impact that I'm going deeperwith fewer people and less wide.
Mm.
But it feels more meaningful.
I love, feels like what I needright now.
(29:22):
Yeah.
It's it, what you're describingsounds nourishing and I don't
even think we stop to think islike what I'm consuming,
nourishing, or not.
'cause we're just bombarded.
I, I read something that saidthe amount of data that existed
(29:43):
in the world from the birth ofhumanity until something like
2003 is now created every yearor, or something.
Oh my goodness.
Ridiculous.
Like that.
I, again, I'm, I'm probablybutchering the exact stat, but,
but something as drastic asthat.
And for a while we were underthe guise that we could keep up.
(30:06):
And that we have to keep up.
And I think in my own personallife, it's, it's becoming so
blatantly obvious.
I can't keep up.
This is actually miserable.
Yeah.
And so I'm gonna consume a wholelot less of it.
And I, I wanna consume somethingthat's like really healthy and
good and feel Yeah.
(30:28):
I think we're gonna see a bit ofa slowing down and.
Us returning to more analog.
You know, we can see likecassette tapes coming back and
all these fun things, but Ithink we also need to really
honor the time it takes to dothis reflection work.
Yeah.
And I wonder if you could liketake us into parable a little
(30:50):
bit.
Like what are some of the thingsthat organizations come to
Parable for, and then what dothey walk away with and what
should we know about thatprocess?
Yeah, that's a great question.
A lot of organizations come toParable because they say they
need a new mission statement,and often what they're looking
for is a redo of a three to fivesentence mishmosh that they
(31:18):
currently have, and what theywalk away with is something like
six or 10 words, huh?
Really gets to what they do.
Uh, or they might need a cleardirection of where they're
headed and almost bordering onstrategic planning.
(31:40):
Hmm.
And what I often talk about is,well, that's really hard to do
without having a sense of whoone is.
Like how, how, how can we chartthe course forward if we're not
really sure like what we'rebringing along with us.
And so yeah, even strategicplanning.
The starting point in my work,in my opinion, it starts with
(32:04):
this kind of inner reflectionand identity work.
Wow.
So it's really starting withidentity and then we can get to
mission, who we are, and then wecan get to vision.
Yeah.
What we're building.
Yeah.
But if we don't start with thatsolid foundation.
(32:24):
And we don't know who we are.
Totally.
And it's, it's the same, I, I goback to that metaphor of as
something stamped on or brandedon versus like lived out, come,
coming from within.
Yeah.
And, uh, yeah, there are plentyof strategic plans, let's say,
that are really solid, highlybest practiced.
(32:47):
And yet might they be a fit forevery organization if they're
just stamped on?
Probably not.
Hmm.
I see this with my clients too.
They, some people come to me andthey want really quick tools and
techniques.
They don't want to go deep, theydon't wanna personalize it, and
it doesn't have the same impactbecause it's not theirs.
(33:10):
Yes.
I, I find that in, in, you're,you're so right.
The impact is not going to bethere, and I think what we as
professionals then can do to,to.
Kind of prod clients in the, inthis slower direction is, is
this instead to just posequestions?
Uh, you know, I find more andmore, I didn't always start out
(33:34):
doing this, but, but more andmore now, if I get a request for
those kind of quick tools, quickfixes, I'll share a list of
questions for them to thinkabout instead of giving a list
of tools.
And that, is that really, um, isthat what you know?
At first they're like, I don'treally want that.
(33:56):
Just want you to tell me what todo.
And again, the process is thepoint, and that process is the
point.
I'm not gonna be able to tellyou what to do.
The process is the point.
I love that so much.
I'm learning so much about yourprocess and how you work with
clients.
And I wonder, Christina, whatabout for those of us who, we
(34:21):
might be individuals, we mightbe a part of organizations, but
we wanna do that deeper work toknow ourselves.
We want to be able to articulatewho we are, our identity, what
can we do to practice that andto start listening to ourselves,
I think in giving ourselves thespace to pay attention.
(34:45):
Like, uh, I find, uh, a lot ofmy days happen without me
realizing it, and Yep.
I hate that.
So me too.
When I pay attention to alonging, it's hugging and
nagging that is coming fromwithin when I pay attention to.
(35:10):
A piece of art or color thatreally captures my eye when I
pay attention to the sound of alaugh that just feels contagious
and infectious.
It's like that is how I come toknow myself.
And unfortunately, we live in aworld where that's really hard
(35:31):
to do.
It's hard to do by accident.
Yeah.
It almost feels like you have togo against the grain of our
productive capitalist machine.
Yeah.
But I think it's so importantright now.
Yeah.
You know, one practical thingthat I've done that's really
(35:51):
helped me and my own ability tocommunicate and that, and of
course to self-reflect evenbefore that, is I got, I got rid
of an iPhone.
And I got rid of things likeSpotify and, uh, just the, the
wash of content that I wasconsuming that I think a lot of
(36:16):
us consume without realizing it.
I needed there to be morespaciousness in my brain at all
times because I don't think wecan pay attention.
When we're cluttered andsqueezed and restricted, there
has to be a sense of innerspaciousness, a sense of inner
(36:40):
spaciousness, and how withoutthat, we cannot hear our own
voices.
I don't think so.
Yeah.
How beautiful.
I wonder, Christina, would yoube able to tell us, how do we
find more about parable?
Well, you can go to find yourparable.com and you'll, you'll
(37:04):
see a little bit more about theservices we offer and our
wonderful team there.
And like you, the only socialmedia I'm really on is LinkedIn,
so that's another place wherefolks can do that.
See some of my writing andconnect.
I'm really grateful that wecould have this conversation
(37:25):
today.
Christina, I'm grateful that youhave the expertise to support
mission-driven organizations tolive in their truest identity.
I'm also so grateful to hearthat you're seeing more and more
organizations double down onwhat they believe in.
Yeah, and knowing who they are.
That gives me so much hope.
(37:47):
And I'm just really gratefulthat we could have this
conversation today.
I am so grateful to you.
I always enjoy working with youas a client and now as a
colleague and friend, and it'sbeen wonderful to, to be on and
get to talk today.
Thank you, Christina.
Thank you for sharing yourwords.
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