Brave Voices Media

We are a full-service production company specializing in doc-style storytelling.

There’s nothing wrong with your tomato

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After multiple rounds of internal editing on an e-blast, my client was stuck. She felt good about the direction, but after the umpteenth draft, the email was still… fine. 

The message was “change your plans to join us” good but the copy was like a perfectly acceptable but not terribly exciting meal. 

There was nothing wrong with her tomato!  

In this case, as in so many others, there was nothing wrong with the message or approach. She knew what she wanted to say and why it was important. 

All it needed was a little seasoning. That’s because salt does to copy exactly what it does to a *tomato: It makes it more like itself. What it doesn’t do is change it into something it’s not. 

*If tomatoes aren’t your jam, please do two things:

1) Try a tomato straight from the vine and still warm from the sun
2) Replace the example with a food item you relate to better

Here are 4 steps to salty copy:

Step one: Simplify

One of the most basic steps to salty copy is to simplify, simplify, simplify. I still remember some of the best writing advice I ever got in high school: omit unnecessary words. 

Here’s an example:

“Take out all the words that don’t serve the purpose of your overall mission.”

becomes

“Omit unnecessary words.” 

See how much cleaner that is? This appeals to my de-cluttering nature. I make a game of taking words out and reducing redundancy. I’ve found that it is the easiest way to improve writing drastically in one revision.  

Step two: Use story  

This is recycled advice. But it’s recycled for good reason! Stories have a divine way of making people feel and understand. 

In the example (included in full below), the client wrote about things “women” can relate to and “one person who…” It’s all true! But in the revision, we named the “one person,” and told her story specifically. After all, the invitation was to hear her speak. 

So

“One person who just returned from her first trip to Peru with Nuevo Camino can relate to all of this. She is a mother a nurse, and a friend. She said, “I had one hundred reasons not to go on this trip and one reason to go.”

became

“My friend Lynn Ann has a job, 4 young kids, a minivan, and every reason in the world not to take a trip to a third world country at this stage in her life. But she had one quiet, persistent reason to go.

Step three: Get seriously specific

This goes hand-in-hand with using story. Think about what it’s like to sit across the table from the best storytellers you know.  They don’t just tell you about something that happened, they take you there. They let you inside their thoughts. They paint a picture with their words.  

In our example, we name the “hundred reasons” Lynn Ann had not to go:

“Just a few months ago, she was shopping for medical supplies along with her friends— ready to support their medical service trip to Peru. But surely this was not the trip for her. It just wasn’t the right timing (still paying off hospital bills from those last two babies, y’all). It was most definitely not convenient (ever traveled to a third world country with a breast pump?). And it was far from glamorous (ever washed sores on villagers’ feet?).” 

Step four: Remember who you’re talking to

Here’s another piece of advice from high school advice I use daily: Consider your audience. You’re going to position most stories differently to your best friend than you would to your great grandmother. 

This email was going out to a women’s network made up of busy, service-minded people. It had to include why it mattered to them. The not-so-secret secret is that while the email was about Lynn Ann, it was really about every person who was going to read it and was feeling like their days (or maybe even their lives) were missing some of the salt. So after bringing them in with Lynn Ann’s story, it needed to address the reader specifically: 

You can either lose yourself in the bills and the schedules and the stuff of life. Or you can lose yourself in the stuff that gives you life.

Life doesn’t offer many invitations to take the time to do something that fuels you. You have to fight for it. Consider this your invitation to hear from someone who did exactly that.

But hear this: it’s not just about Lynn Ann’s experience in Peru. It’s about you and your “one reason.”

Here’s the full before and after: 

Before:

When is the last time you really slowed down and considered the dreams in your heart? Life does not always offer invitations to do what is meaningful to you. You have to fight for it.

As women, we can schedule work meetings, plan carpool for kids’ activities, make dinner plans, and then forget to take the time to tend to our own hearts. The part of us that is the very core of who we are. The gives us the supply we need for all the other parts.

One person who just returned from her first trip to Peru with Nuevo Camino can relate to all of this. She is a mother a nurse, and a friend. She said, “I had one hundred reasons not to go on this trip and one reason to go.”

Join us next Thursday, October 28 to hear more about her experience in Peru. You will leave inspired to pursue that “one reason” in your heart and refreshed from sharing in the struggles and victories with other like-minded people.

Listening online? There will be a special talkback portion with someone from our local team who can answer questions and provide a space for everyone online to connect more.

After:

Subject: You better lose yourself

Surely I’m not the only one listening to rap music in the carpool, right?

My friend Lynn Ann has a job, 4 young kids, a minivan, and every reason in the world not to take a trip to a third world country at this stage in her life. But she had one quiet, persistent reason to go.

It just takes one reason

Just a few months ago, she was shopping for medical supplies along with her friends— ready to support their medical mission trip to Peru. But surely this was not the trip for her. It just wasn’t the right timing (still paying off hospital bills from those last two babies, y’all). It was most definitely not convenient (ever traveled to a third world country with a breast pump?). It was not glamorous (ever washed sores on villagers’ feet?). Lynn Ann has.

Because she decided to listen to that quiet voice that said, “Isn’t this why you became a nurse in the first place? Isn’t this the stuff that gives your life the inspiration that makes it worth living?”

You better lose yourself

You can either lose yourself in the bills and the schedules and the stuff of life. Or you can lose yourself in the stuff that gives you life.

Life doesn’t offer many invitations to take the time to do something that fuels you. You have to fight for it. Consider this your invitation to hear from someone who did exactly that.

But hear this: it’s not just about Lynn Ann’s experience in Peru. It’s about you and your “one reason.”

This is your invitation to your moment

We hope you’ll join us and leave just a little more in touch with that voice that’s trying, ever so delicately, to lead you to your moment.

See the difference?

The client started with a perfectly respectable tomato and the end result was still hers. It was her idea and her heart and her voice. All it needed was a little salt. 

So you have a book inside of you? Here are 25 questions to ask yourself

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I’ve partnered with people writing countless books. “Countless” is my shameless shortcut for the fact that I just don’t want to count them. But it’s a lot. None of them have my name on the cover. My help happens behind the scenes and as such, I usually get a mention somewhere. And just about the time I’ve finally gotten the book off of my desktop and out of my life, I usually get a signed copy in the mail. 

That’s not a knock against any of the books. It’s just a lot like having babies. I was glad to carry them and grow them and also incredibly relieved and proud when I delivered them. That might become a whole post in itself. In the meantime, I can say: 

Writing a book is both harder and easier than people think

One client told me he could “just poop out a book.” I took that to mean that he has countless ideas and contributions to give to the world. It’s true. Ideas are countless (in the actual meaning of the word). Still, he was never going to organize those ideas into an outline, carefully research each point, and then revise, revise, revise. That’s why he needed me to do the “heavy lifting,” as another client called it. 

While that part isn’t exactly easy, it is doable. One word, one paragraph, and one page at a time. 

As Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” In my experience, it’s the sitting down (i.e. making the time) that people often have a harder time with than the bleeding. 

Aspiring writers will find countless (!) tips on how to write a book, but that’s not what we’re here for today. I’m just going to share some of the questions I ask potential clients.

You don’t have to know the answer to all of them before you start writing or before you know if your idea is viable.

I just find them useful for helping get that book that’s inside of a person outside of them and onto the page.

Who do you want to read the book?

  • Who is your target audience?
    Be as specific as possible (rather than “such and such industry,” for example, think of the specific segment of the industry you intend to reach and why).
  • What are this audience’s main needs, frustrations, and pain points and how does your material address these needs?
  • How will the content need to change from its current state to better meet this audience’s need?
  • Is the content/idea new to your audience?
  • Are there competitive books out there already?
  • How well do they sell?
  • How big is your market and what is the demographic of your readers?

Book content:

  • How will your contributions enhance existing ideas?
  • What questions does the book need to answer for the audience?
  • Can you “see” the book’s course, chapters, main ideas, and/or organization? If so, what / how?
  • Do you have reviewers and content experts available to provide feedback in the development stage?

Business goals:

  • What are your main goals for the book? 
  • Do you want it to be a source of revenue or more of a gateway into your respective business’s products/services?
  • Do you want it to establish you as a thought leader?
  • Do you want the book to become a bestseller? 


The nuts and bolts:

  • How will you handle authorship?
  • How will you handle cover design, internal layout, printing, etc.?
  • How will you handle costs?
  • How will you distribute? Do you want to do ebooks, printed copies, audiobook or all of the above? Self publish or approach a traditional publisher? Will you provide free ebooks? Downloadable copies online?
  • What is your target length?
  • How will you approach PR/promotion? What agencies, firms, etc. will you partner with?
  • What resources (research, support from others) will you need to accomplish the course you laid out?
  • When is your ideal release date? What is the strategy behind this? Is this flexible?

A surprise home birth, the bills that followed, and a freelancer’s guide to health insurance

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“I have to go to the bathroom!” I called out to my husband as I leaned against the garage with a mighty contraction. Baby #2 was on his way and Joseph was just ahead of me, ready to drive–with appropriate urgency–to the Atlanta Birth Center*. We’d picked the birth center first for its philosophy on mama/baby care, but not far down the list of the many benefits was also their approach to pricing, which, after our first baby’s birth, was a GIANT relief.

You see, we had our first while we were “covered” by catastrophic insurance. We never knew when the bills would stop coming or what in the name of backless hospital gowns each code meant. It’s the kind of thing that’ll make you want to turn down the iron supplement even though you’re anemic. Because who knows what they’ll charge you for it and if they’ll code it for the higher price because it’s a Wednesday, or because you’re wearing green, or because you’ve never watched an episode of GoT.

The birth center’s flat fee came with my favorite kind of surprise: none.

But just as we were about to head on out to our dimly-lit, tranquil birth, I reached the bathroom and had another contraction..and then another. As the pressure mounted (pun fully intended), I realized Baby was coming–right there in that powder room. Surprise!

Just as I “was delivered of a healthy baby boy” (as I heard a British commentator describe Meghan Markle’s experience), a gloved hand reached around the doorframe. That hand (which belonged to an as-yet invisible EMT) cut the cord. And just like that, we were in an ambulance headed to the nearest hospital.

It was, of course, out of network. The bills (which we are still paying nearly 2 years later) followed. I spent many hours swaying with my newborn in an Ergo carrier making phone calls and taking notes to get the bills submitted as an emergency so they could be covered in-network. Even then, our family deductible was $16,500.

Just as we’d made a plan to (slowly) pay off our unexpected bills, I heard a podcast episode where Katie Wells (Wellness Mama) shared her experience of using a combination of concierge medicine and health sharing ministries to get the care she wanted, save money, and not be concerned about getting buried in costs for accidents or unexpected illnesses. I had to know more.

If you’re happy with your coverage, carry on with your day and read no further. If not, you may find a solution in one of the less common approaches I researched in my pursuit of something better for us and our situation.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

As small-business owners, we always find ourselves in that awkward segment of people who don’t have insurance through work AND don’t get a substantial subsidy from the ACA. Finding coverage that works for us has been one of the hardest parts of building our business. And that’s saying something because building a business is HARD, y’all!

For us, the main problems with traditional insurance are the expense and the inconvenience. In addition to that $16,500 family deductible, our insurance plan at the time of Baby’s arrival still had a high monthly premium. I thought of it more like catastrophic insurance by another name.

More irritating to me than the cost was that our in-network providers were inconveniently located (often 45 minutes+ away) and it was hard to find providers who shared our philosophy on health.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS AND FOR WHOM DO THEY WORK BEST?

I researched this subject for myself as well as for a client. The original post goes into the same options as below, but without our personal experiences.

Going uncovered or having catastrophic insurance: We played both of these games for a while. Even with our catastrophic insurance, it still made sense to negotiate the cash rate for the birth of our first child. Barring major complications, we would still pay less. It did not alleviate any expenses from routine visits and we did occasionally have large bills we paid for out of pocket. In theory, the catastrophic insurance keeps people from going bankrupt if something major happens.

Here’s the BIG news for 2019: The federal mandate is gone and taxpayers will not be charged for being uninsured.

ACA enrollment/other state-funded options: Those best served by this option usually don’t have insurance through work and do qualify for subsidies. I found that applying at Healthcare.gov is a fairly laborious process, but you often know by the end of it what you qualify for. Life changes such as losing coverage or getting pregnant often qualify you for special enrollment periods. You may apply for state-funded Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) options at any point as well. Check the income requirements for your state to see if you qualify.

Unregulated insurance: This is kind of the wild, wild west of insurance and is detailed further in the aforementioned linked post. The main thing here is to read the fine print because these options are unregulated by the gov.

Concierge medicine: Unless there is some major overhaul of the health system, I could see this option rising in popularity. Essentially, you hire a doctor on what amounts to a sort of retainer system. With that system, they can take on fewer clients and be more responsive to and familiar with the ones they do have. A major bonus here is that you can conduct much of your medical business over the phone/text/video chat. While this is an extra expense (sometimes as low as $50/month) for those with insurance, it can provide cost savings to those foregoing traditional insurance (read on). You also don’t pay co-pays or deductibles.

Health cost-sharing ministries: Visit any of these sites and you’ll see very quickly that they avoid all language that is associated with insurance. I’m sure the lawyers had a field day with this one. These are ministries. As such, they require some sort of statement of faith and often don’t share costs for things outside of their beliefs (abortions, for example).

The basic premise is that members pool monthly payments to share when another member has a medical need.

Cost-sharing ministries offer an alternative to/supplement to traditional insurance. For people who only qualify for plans with high monthly premiums and/or deductibles, this option offers cost savings.

Members are technically self-pay, which allows you to choose care providers based on whatever is important to you (such as healthcare philosophy, convenient location, etc.). Here’s a Consumer Reports rundown on this approach.

Other cost-sharing services: At least one company is offering health cost sharing without any religious affiliation required. First memberships started in Jan., 2019, so it’s a young company, but KNEW Health targets health-minded individuals and considers itself a “safety-net for large, unexpected medical costs.”

As someone who has navigated insurance more than I would have liked, this is where I see the most potential for the immediate future. A well-run business in this arena stands to provide a meaningful service for a large consumer base. I’d really like to see more options here. Please comment if you know about any!

OUR EXPERIENCE

We shed our insurance and went with a cost-sharing plan plus a form of concierge medicine. We’ve saved money, but even more importantly: no more effing networks! Still, it’s not perfect and I’d like to see more options in the cost-sharing arena.

Healthcare is one of the bigger decisions we make in life. What options work for you? Why?

As for the birth of our son in a totally unplanned way. All I can say is that I look back at it as one of the best couples’ team-building activities of all time.

____________________
*We liked their philosophy and our experience there so much that we serendipitously ending up making this video for the Atlanta Birth Center.

Atlanta Birth Center

Virtual Reality Isn’t Just for Gaming and Futuristic Sci-fi, People

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As the technology evolves and becomes more accessible, virtual reality (VR) is finding its way into unexpected places. The result means unlimited potential for creating completely immersive virtual environments for everything from designing cars in midair to building virtual film sets.
Vector Suite is leading the pack in that kind of 3D concept design. I talked with Neil Johnston—the company’s CEO and Founder—about how the technology is currently being used for supercar design as well as how it translates to video production.

I’ve included the audio of our conversation below and you can find my writeup for ProductionHub here.

virtual reality video production

The Quotes about Storytelling that Inform Every Decision I Make Behind the Camera

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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
-Maya Angelou

“For every laugh there should be a tear.”
-Walt Disney

“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”
-Pablo Picasso

“There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place.”
-J.K. Rowling

“Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.”
-Madeleine L’Engle

“You’re never going to kill storytelling, because it’s built into the human plan. We come with it.”
-Margaret Atwood

“Sharpen your interest in two major subjects: Life and people.”
-Jim Rohn

“The power of storytelling is exactly this: to bridge the gaps where everything else has crumbled.”
-Paulo Coelho

“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good.”
-Roald Dahl

“Listening is the secret to discover great stories.”
-Fyrefly London

“The story–from Rumplestiltskin to War and Peace–is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”
-Ursula K. Le Guin

“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”
-Brandon Sanderson

“We need to look hard at the stories we create, and wrestle with them. Retell and retell them, and work with them like clay. It is in the retelling and returning that they give us their wisdom.”
-Marni Gillard

“Although setbacks of all kinds may discourage us, the grand, old process of storytelling puts us in touch with strengths we may have forgotten, with wisdom that has faded or disappeared, and with hopes that have fallen into darkness.”
-Nancy Mellon

“Tales told from the heart reach the heart.”
-Steve Sanfield

“Become aware of what is in you. Announce it, pronounce it, produce it, and give birth to it.”
-Meister Eckhart

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
-Henry Miller

“We learn best – and change – from hearing stories that strike a chord within us.”
-John Kotter

“The children’s television host Mr. Rogers always carried in his wallet a quote from a social worker that said, “Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard their story.”
-Andrew Stanton

“You can’t be funny unless you’re being truthful.”
-Ian McKellen

“Modern storytellers are the descendants of an immense and ancient community of holy people, troubadours, bards, griots, cantadoras, cantors, traveling poets, bums, hags and crazy people.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estés

“As a storyteller, as a human being, each one of us is one of a kind. And until we learn to celebrate our own unique style, culture, and gifts, we cannot appreciate the wealth of diversity around us.”
-Doug Lipman

“Every story you tell is your own story.”
-Joseph Campbell

“In my life, the stories I have heard from my family, my friends, my community, and from willing strangers all over the world have been the true source of my education.”
-Holly Near

“The role of the storyteller is to awaken the storyteller in others.”
-Jack Zipes