Using storytelling to create prosperity and understanding is the mission of Toni Reece, president of The People Academy Inc. and founder of the Get Inspired! Project. In her work with both organizations, the lifelong Mount Penn resident seeks to empower the voiceless, to create success for non-profits and entrepreneurs, and to build relationships between the many unique people who comprise our region. When she’s free to focus on just her own story, she can be found at home with her husband, Jim, and grown sons, Jesse and Madison.
Q | Your work is so unique; how and when did you get started?
I’ve been a self-employed training and business development coach for 30 years. My business started as Day Six Training and has evolved into The People Academy, but it’s always been about people – helping them to tell their stories or create better ones. In 2001, my two former partners – who were based in the United Kingdom – and I put together tools and resources for professionals who do training and development. More recently, my partners retired and the business is now mine.
Q | Storytelling might conjure images of spinning yarns around a campfire, but your work is both professional and personal. Can you explain how it works?
Through The People Academy, which is my business, I help non-profits and small businesses to tell their stories, which essentially means having them convey their messages in a meaningful way to those that need to hear it most – clients, customers or the general public. Marketing dollars are so limited in this economy and it can be hard to be heard, so I help people get their passion out there, talk about what inspires them, what their story is, and it strikes a chord with listeners.
Q | You must hear a lot of amazing tales and learn a lot about people through your work.
Absolutely. The biggest surprise to me has been that people don’t believe they have a story to tell. They do have a story behind their work – we all do. Through my coaching, I’ve decided I’m no longer in the business of convincing people that they have a story, so I made it my mission to create a platform for them to do just that.
Q | And that’s where the Get Inspired! Project comes in?
Yes, in 2009 I founded it and talked to people all over the world. It was based on the same four questions answered by each person who participated, and we told a story a day for a year, so 365 stories. During that time, we had 3.9 million people following the project online. That proves the power of storytelling. It was about five people who told five people who, in turn, told five more, and it just exploded.
Q | So that ended in 2010, but now you’re doing another, similar project? Yes, called The People Chronicles, and we’re doing the Get Inspired! Project with Berks County Living. It will be four interviews a month and be ongoing. We’re based out of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wyomissing. Craig Poole, the manager of the hotel, is so committed to Berks County and the power of this work; his support is so vital and valuable.
Q | How will The People Chronicles differ from the Get Inspired! Project? Not much actually, although it will be four stories a month rather than one a day. It is a community project, a public service, to bring all of us who live here together to aid understanding and raise awareness about a variety of topics or issues. There are categories of stories featured, such as those of people who’ve chosen to stay in Berks rather than move away. Other themes are Innovation In Action, which explores resilience and overcoming challenges, and The Invisible Obvious, which gives a voice to people who should be obvious in our community but who we rarely hear from.
BY MICHELLE E. BIGGERSTAFF | PHOTO BY JOHN A. SECOGES, SECOGES PHOTOGRAPHICS
