Hi fellow story maker, do you want your business to support your passion and purpose in making children fall in love with reading?

This 12-week, one-on-one coaching program helps you focus on what’s important to you and your story business. Whether it’s developing a bank of stories to inspire and engage children in reading,, designing a multiple-session story program for schools,or getting paid more for your story work, we can make it happen.

Is this you right now?

  • You tell yourself, it’s too good to be true to make a living off of your purpose, passion and skills. 

  • You’re feeling overwhelmed and confused about how to design work that is fun, fulfilling and profitable.

  • You don’t want to “force” your services on people just to get booked (even though you know what you offer has high value).

  • You’re procrastinating because you feel overwhelmed with how you’re going to move your story business forward.

  • You have limited strategies in developing your stories or programs that you’re not able to show your wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise.

  • You feel more creative and accountable for your own goals when you have another person to bounce off ideas and set action plans with.

Culturally I felt a connection with Anna, not because we share the same nationality, but more because of similarities we have in telling stories and meaningful messages we like to express creatively to help empower children to read and deal with life challenges and celebrations.

Anna has helped me complete some stories and illustrations. She encourages, compliments my talents and provides amazing resources. It helped me having someone to focus on refining and developing my creative arts practise.

I love her style – she’s fun and I particularly like the way she breaks things down and document everything. Anna is a clever wordsmith, performer and illustrator. She truly is committed to coaching her clients and making their dreams come true.

Nicole Migotto-Brown - storyteller, artist, language advocate

Imagine if…

  1. You get paid to do what you love with a business that supports you and your purpose. / You’re able to design work for yourself that is fun, fulfilling and profitable. 

  2. You’re clear on your purpose and direction so you know exactly what needs to be done to shape your business that feels good to you.  

  3. You know how to get paid for your services and where to take them which leave you feeling fully valued and satisfied. 

  4. You have a well of strategies, resources and templates to develop your stories and story programs to show your creativity and expertise. 

  5. You’re not alone in seeing your big dream come alive and impact the communities you care deeply about.

A person of colour is smiling at the camera, wearing a printed top and beaded necklace

I decided to work with Anna because I wanted to learn from her lived experience as an expert storyteller.

I have some big creative work goals and she has helped me to move forward with clarity and purpose.

My confidence as a creative storyteller has skyrocketed having completed my first story with her insightful and constructive feedback. The one thing I'd want everyone to know about this service is that it's absolutely worth the investment, why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from the best.

— Hema F, storyteller, educator and language advocate

The Story Maker is a 12-week one-on-one coaching program that helps you develop your stories, design story programs and get them to your dream organisations so you can expand your business and be known for your craft and expertise in making children fall in love with reading.

In this 12-week one-on-one coaching program, we will…

  • workshop your stories and learn how to develop and tell them to your audience so you become a responsive and standout storyteller. 

  • design a story-based program which suits your business purpose and direction so you can make the impact you want on communities you care deeply about. 

  • discuss ways to bring your services to your dream organisations so you get known for your craft and expertise in making children fall in love with reading. 

You will get...

  • Daily support for concerns and questions that will move you towards your goals quicker.  

  • Fortnightly one-on-one coaching on your specific burning needs and blocks so you get straight into action. 

  • Templates and resources to support you in your planning, action steps and goal tracking so you get what you need for your unique business.

Send me an email

This is for you if…

  • You know that clarity and structure can let you expand your business that supports you and your purpose. 

  • You know having someone to bounce off ideas with helps you with creativity, planning, action and getting things done.  

  • You know that developing your stories and story programs from artistic and child development perspectives can make you a more responsive and standout story maker.

On the Story Maker…

  • you get a top-level look at how you want your story business serve the communities you deeply care about.

  • we get to rehearse and polish existing stories and shape and develop new story ideas so you can free up time and brain space by bouncing off ideas with me.

  • we can map out your dream clients and other streams of income you can have with your stories and programs so you have different options of getting paid to do what you love to do.

  • you get helpful stuff for story business owners so you don’t have to start from scratch (i.e., pitching, writing communications, tips for documenting performances, invoicing, pricing, getting insured, other concerns that may come up for you).

  • you get a constant partner in the feedback loop so you get to focus on being creative and being the CEO of your story business.

“Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wonderful story with us Anna. You are a joy to watch, the children were enthralled. What a blessing to have clever storytellers, who share stories that are meaningful as well as packed with phonic awareness, and beginning reading strategies! Thank you for giving our students a wonderful adventure in literacy and bringing to it joy, passion and willingness to share a love of reading! We loved it!

-- Ruth Thatcher, children’s librarian

By the end you’ll get…

  1. signature stories that show that you’re a responsive and standout storyteller. 

  2. a story-based program which suits your business purpose and direction so you can make the impact you want on communities you care deeply about. 

  3. different ways to take your services to your dream organisations so you get paid to do what you love.

And I totally get it…

Building a story business feels overwhelming, confusing and scary. And getting paid to do what you love, sounds like a dream. 

I thought I needed to know everything before I get started. What I actually  needed was a clear purpose and direction to focus and take action.

It wasn’t until I embraced all my skill sets that I was able to feel confident, competent and proud of what I can do for the community.

When I shifted my self talk from “Hire me” to “My services can serve you and your community,” I was able to nurture relationships with my dream organisations.

Over 6 years, I have built a business in two different locations, hired staff, written and published a picture book, ran over 40 children’s events and professional workshops, curated children’s programming for an international festival and have contributed to several parenting and educational magazines. 

Wearing my educator and story maker hats, I can help you connect, engage and delight children with stories and story programs so you can be a responsive and standout storyteller.

Having worked with educational institutions, not-for-profits, and corporate clients across different countries, I can support you on how you can approach clients confidently and authentically.

I believe that we can have a story business that supports us and our purpose. We can design our story work to be fun, fulfilling and profitable.

It is possible to create your signature story that highlights your style, values and expertise and reflects your creative capacity so you can be a responsive and standout storyteller both to your audience and clients. 

I have seen my clients grow from storymakers with a vision, creative ideas and passion to ones who have a clear purpose, unique style and actionable ideas once they have the support and guidance in delivering amazing stories. 

This is possible for you too. Let’s hop on a call to find out how. 

Are you ready to see how your business can support your passion and purpose in making children fall in love with reading and proud to tell their stories?

Your investment is…

1500 AUD/mo.

4500 AUD in total

FAQs

  • I use the term ‘story maker’ for people who write, illustrate, tell and use stories in their work with children. This can include, but not limited to, storytellers, writers, visual artists, educators, librarians, language teachers, etc. If you’re still not sure, drop me a message.

  • Story programs can be short term (i.e., 30-minute storytelling session, a series of similar-type sessions), mid term (i.e., a school term) and long term (i.e., year-long, ongoing programs). These story programs are usually offered in schools, libraries, educational institutions, children’s events locations, etc.

  • From preschool to early secondary school.

  • Yes. After you make a deposit of $500, we can launch into coaching right away. Then you make monthly installments ($1333 x 3) after that.

    If this is challenging for you, email me at hello@annamanuel.com and let’s chat on how we can work things out.

  • Aside from the fortnightly 60-minute calls, you can reach out to me from Mondays-Fridays, 8:00am-5:00pm with your questions, concerns, and/or send me documents you want viewed and feedback on, etc.

  • If you’re happy to come to the City of Melbourne, we can!

  • We will have 60-minute fortnightly calls to discuss what your burning needs are. In between the calls, it is up to you to manage the work that you set for yourself to do. We can agree on a timeline to guide you in your goal setting.