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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Through Her Lens: Cameras For Girls with Amina Mohamed – Co-Created

On this episode of Co-Created we're joined by Amina Mohamed, the Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls, to talk about what happens when a founder story becomes a digital story and why that format can reveal the “three-dimensional” truth you can’t always reach in a talk, a webinar, or a standard nonprofit promo.Amina takes us from her family’s refugee journey from Uganda to Canada, through years in film and television, and back to Uganda where she meets young women facing limits on education and opportunity. From that turning point, Cameras For Girls grows into a practical pathway into media careers, combining photography training, ethical storytelling, business skills, and the gift of a camera with the real goal: helping young women enter male-dominated media spaces and land fair paid jobs in places like Uganda and Tanzania.Episode Key MessagesAmina’s origin story from Uganda to Canada and back againWhy Cameras for Girls focuses on fair paid jobsTeaching photography, business skills, and ethical storytellingRejecting extractive storytelling and top-down developmentTurning a “why” into a three-minute digital storyEditing surprises and choosing images responsiblyUsing a founder video for donors, funding, and social mediaEncouraging participants to tell their own stories in their own voiceOther Links MentionedRead this episode's blog postWatch Amina's digital storyLearn more about Cameras For GirlsAbout Our GuestAmina Mohamed is the Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls, a Canadian charity she launched in 2018 to address gender inequality in Africa’s male-dominated media industry. Born in Uganda, Amina came to Canada as a refugee after her family was exiled under the regime of Idi Amin. Growing up between cultures, she discovered photography as a powerful way to express herself when words failed. That early experience shaped the vision behind Cameras For Girls: creating opportunities for young women across Africa to find their voice through visual storytelling.Through a year-long training program combining photography, ethical storytelling, and business skills, Cameras For Girls equips young women with the tools, training, and mentorship needed to build sustainable careers in media. Participants receive professional cameras, hands-on instruction, and ongoing career support designed to help them enter and succeed in the workforce. To date, the organization has trained nearly 200 women through in-person programs across East Africa and has reached more than 2,000 additional participants through its Online Learning Hub. Amina is also a leading advocate for ethical storytelling, challenging outdated and colonial narratives often present in international media. Her work emphasizes dignity-centered storytelling that honours the lived experiences of the women and communities whose stories are shared. Her leadership and impact have earned international recognition. Amina has spoken at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Summit, been featured in publications including Vogue, and received the Estée Lauder Beautiful Forces Grant in recognition of her work advancing women’s leadership.Today, Amina continues to expand Cameras For Girls’ programs across Africa while advocating for gender equality, ethical media practices, and new pathways for women to build sustainable careers in storytelling and journalism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1. Through Her Lens: Cameras For Girls with Amina Mohamed 24:36
2. Double the Magic: Storytelling for Healing and Impact with Melody Williamson 31:57
3. When Science Meets Story: Lessons from a PhD Defense with Becky McCall 35:57
4. Health Promoting Experiences of Storytellers: A Meta-Synthesis 49:36
5. Isolation to Impact: DST in Cancer Care with Jackdaw Bones 25:57

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