Leading Through Stories: When Your World Stops

Digital storytelling is a powerful tool in the realm of health and wellness. It allows individuals to capture and share their experiences in a deeply emotional and engaging way. This was the focus of our recent podcast episode where we sat down with Jennifer, a congenital heart parent and advocate. Jennifer shared her journey with digital storytelling and the profound impact it has had not only on her life but on the lives of others in similar situations.

Jennifer’s journey with digital storytelling began when she heard Kristy speak at a virtual conference, which led her to create ‘Day One’, a compelling digital narrative of her child’s diagnosis. This powerful tool enabled her to encapsulate the emotions and impacts of the moment, creating a poignant story that resonates with many families navigating similar experiences. She discovered the therapeutic potential of digital storytelling, using it as an education and advocacy tool.

Creating a digital story is a process that involves finding the essence of a story, weaving it together with captivating audio-visual elements, and setting the mood with the perfect score. This process is not just about capturing moments but also about unearthing the therapeutic impact of storytelling. It allows individuals to process their experiences in a deeply personal and meaningful way, providing a sense of comfort and understanding that can be invaluable in navigating health and wellness challenges.

The potential of digital stories as a platform for connection was also highlighted in our conversation with Jennifer. She shared her vision of fostering a community of shared experiences and her hopes of establishing a digital story library based on the stories in her book, When Your World Stops; Finding Hope in Your Child’s Medical Journey.

The power of digital storytelling extends beyond self-expression. It can serve as a tool for fostering empathy and understanding, allowing individuals to connect on a deeper level. Our conversation with Jennifer illustrates this beautifully, providing a glimpse into the profound impact of digital storytelling in the health and wellness realm. Her journey serves as an inspiration, highlighting the potential of digital storytelling to make a difference in our lives.

In conclusion, digital storytelling offers a compelling platform for sharing and understanding health and wellness experiences. Whether you are a health professional, a patient, or a family member navigating a health challenge, this tool can provide comfort, connection, and understanding. As Jennifer’s experience demonstrates, digital storytelling is not just about capturing moments; it’s about creating connections, fostering empathy, and promoting healing. Tune in to listen to Jen’s inspiring journey and discover how digital storytelling can make a difference in your own life.

About Our Guest

Jennifer Siran lives in Manitoba, Canada, with her husband and three children. For over a decade, she worked with marginalized youth in Winnipeg’s Inner City, learning the power of story when overcoming hardship. Writing has been a tool that she has used to process many complex emotions and all that life brings. After spending the last 12 years raising an amazing heart hero and navigating some major setbacks, she took time during Covid to write her book—a project to support fellow heart families in a unique way. Their family continues to navigate their son’s chronic illness in the midst of all the amazing things that childhood contains. 

Website: jennifersiran.com
Digital Story: Day One
Book:  When Your World Stops; Finding Hope in Your Child’s Medical Journey

About Leading Through Stories

Everyone has a story to tell—and what we do with that story can create lasting impact. Every episode, Leading Through Stories, helps unravel the how and why of digital storytelling with host Kristy Wolfe.

Life is made up of meaningful moments—which ones do you want to share?

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Youth Mental Health & Storyteller Wellbeing – Co-Created

If you care about ethical storytelling in mental health, this conversation gets right to the heart of it: how do you share lived experience in a way that informs others without forcing storytellers to relive the hardest parts again and again?Kristy Wolfe is joined by Katelyn Greer, a lived experience leader whose work spans Kickstand, peer support, youth engagement, and research. Together they revisit the digital story Katelyn created about child abuse, foster care, suicidality, and survival—and why the digital storytelling process felt different from a live interview or repeated public retelling.They talk about what a group workshop can make possible, why feedback helps sharpen the real message of a story, and how digital stories can become powerful tools for staff education, training modules, advocacy, and systems change.You’ll also hear a thoughtful discussion about what audiences miss when they default to “resilience,” why storyteller wellbeing and consent matter, and how lived experience leadership is reshaping research and youth-serving systems.In this episode:- Why digital storytelling can reduce re-traumatization- What made creating a story in community feel supportive- How Katelyn’s story has been used in mental health and training contexts- Why “resilience” can sometimes distract from accountability- How lived experience is shaping peer support and research- Why there are many paths into leadership, advocacy, and academiaA grounded, generous conversation for facilitators, researchers, nonprofits, caregivers, and anyone using digital stories with care.Other Links MentionedKatelyn's digital storyThis episode's blog postKatelyn's websiteImagine Citizens NetworkApathy is BoringDr. Georgina (Gina) DimitropoulosPaCER – Patient and Community Engagement Research, University of CalgaryAbout Our GuestKatelyn Greer is a lived-experience leader and researcher whose work in child and youth mental health is deeply informed by her own experiences of child abuse and neglect, childhood adversity, and involvement with the foster care system. Much of her work has grown from a desire to transform deeply difficult experiences into something meaningful, using what she has lived through to help create better experiences, systems, and opportunities for young people today. She leads peer support implementation for Kickstand, Alberta’s Integrated Youth Services Hubs, and also works in youth engagement and research at the University of Calgary. Her work focuses on child maltreatment, trauma, peer support, and meaningful youth engagement, with a particular interest in creating safer, more ethical ways for young people to participate in research, storytelling, and the systems that affect their lives. She is especially interested in how lived experience can be shared in ways that are powerful and meaningful while protecting the dignity, agency, and wellbeing of the person sharing their story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1. Youth Mental Health & Storyteller Wellbeing 26:41
2. Can a Story Change Veterinary Medicine? 27:40
3. Digital Stories in Community-Based Research with Carolyn Brandly 30:02
4. Using Digital Stories in Clinician Training with Dr. Tricia Williams 30:41
5. Digital Stories Belong in Curriculum & Communities with Dr. Mike Lang 29:05

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