Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Loufman.
Hi Michelle, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was six years old when I first began my storytelling venture. I distinctly remember a warm summer day when mom handed me a hardbound diary. It was my birthday gift and it was perfect. The diary was lined with pink pages and had a little lock to hold secret the memories yet to be written. Even at that young age, I knew I held something special in my little hands.
I still have that diary. I look back at the scribbled handwriting of a child who was learning how to hold her pencil correctly and form simple sentences. I wonder if she knew how much she would love documenting life several decades later.
As I grew up, I discovered my second love: visual storytelling. I’d pour over the pages of National Geographic magazine, jaw open, observing the big, colorful world in those thick, glossy pages from my small Ohio town. When I bought my first camera, a pink point-and-shoot from Woolworths, I connected the power of images with the written word.
My mission today, through my business, is to use pragmatic storytelling to build empathy and influence change. Fundamentally, I help mission-minded companies be more attractive through brand storytelling and multimedia activation. Examples include documentary and editorial photography, video, and creative nonfiction writing.
I intended to go to school for journalism but got a marketing degree instead. Although my 20-year career journeyed through advertising, PR and brand strategy, I had to take a step back and ask myself, “Is this comfortable and safe?” Or, “Am I truly expressing my gifts to the fullest extent?” I always return to my core passion: documenting meaningful stories.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Years ago, I went to the E.R. for emergency blood transfusions that jumpstarted a lengthy and still-present chronic illness. Although the diagnosis isn’t singular, extremely high levels of heavy metal and mold toxicity ultimately led to tumors, an autoimmune disorder, and malnutrition as a result of my inability to properly digest food.
Plus, I had left a comfortable full-time job just six months before my health declined to pursue my current role. I could not work more than 15-20 hours a week (and even that was generous) due to my illness. What limited income I did earn, I spent on medical care costs–up to $3,000 per month–most of which was not covered by insurance. I was afraid to invest in my business because I was spending more than I made on health.
I was convinced my dream was about as dead as I was.
I went through an intense, transformative process physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally during that time. Painful as it was, I documented and shared my health updates. I understood the power a story had to ignite change when I saw friends remove toxins from their homes and their diets. They pushed doctors for more answers and sought root causes.
Stories serve as guideposts to get us on track or help others do the same.
I’m not yet fully healed, and I have PTSD from my experience, but it’s all part of a bigger story that will one day become my book. I try to find humor in each day and focus on my mission to stay sane.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Stories influence change. That’s the crux of my mission.
I’m like a journalist who creates pragmatic, but emotive communications for businesses. I create multi-media stories to help mission-minded companies and entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences and reach a goal. That goal could be a sale, donation, or a desire to influence social change.
So, what do stories look like?
1) Brand storytelling: Helping business owners or influencers understand their true self, help them confidently introduce their pitch, and support it with a meaningful, relatable story. I can also help them develop an ongoing rhythm of storytelling.
2) Visual storytelling: Documentary and editorial photography
3) Creative nonfiction writing (think: a human interest story in the form of a magazine article or an e-newsletter)
4) Video – my vision is to partner with a videographer who has a documentary-style approach to his/her work.
Because I have a traditional marketing background (most recently as fractional CMO), I understand there’s a time to sell, and a time to relate. I know how to strategically integrate stories to enhance, not replace, what’s already working.
My best clients are service-based businesses, marketing agencies, non-profits, or creatives/artists. An example would be a career counselor who helps clients understand how their mindset and emotions block them from their true vocational calling. Or a non-profit that helps refugees transition and adapt to life in the U.S. but needs funding. Stories humanize each cause and make asking for a sale or donation much easier.
My superhero strength? I see people for who they truly are and can reflect their essence through photographs or in their written stories.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I’m an ambivert, so I follow a blended approach to networking. I’m introspective and I quickly lose interest in lengthy small talk, so the format of most traditional networking groups doesn’t fit my connection style.
I stay in touch as best as possible with my clients, who thoughtfully refer me to their network (a huge public thank you here). I connect with people online, especially on LinkedIn. I genuinely follow their content because I’m interested, not because I always want to land a sale. I host tea parties for new visitors in my studio because it’s a fun spin on coffee shop meetings.
My goal this year is to host or co-host small events, workshops, etc. in my studio to connect with others in the community. I tend to be skeptical of large groups, likely a result of social scars from my school years. I have to work through my own mindset issues around this and understand that I’m part of something bigger. I can’t have a desire to tell stories without meeting the people who have them!
Contact Info:
- Email: info@michelleloufman.com
- Website: https://michelleloufman.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellemloufman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellemloufman
Image Credits
Michelle Loufman
Olivia D. Wenger
