With Stephanie Dykstra: Be A Good Neighbour

With Stephanie Dykstra: Be A Good Neighbour

I hope you’ve been enjoying my “With...” lately, where I feature clients, friends, and community members and their storytelling efforts.

Over the past months I’ve profiled Kat Vellos, Stephanie Ostling, Molly Galbraith, Steve Mesler, and today I’m sharing a video from my friend and long-time coach Stephanie Dykstra.

Steph is a pro at telling her story and sharing uplifting, creative, and inspirational material on her social channels like Instagram, while ALSO having crucial conversations about social justice issues relating to race, gender, body size, and more.

Today I’m sharing her recent video “Be a Good Neighbour: A story about the impact of racism.”

In this video, Steph:

  • thoughtfully tells an emotional and difficult story
  • communicates effectively about a larger social issue, and
  • connects with her audience in a very human, relatable and impactful way.

Doing all these three things is no small feat and in this video, I think Steph achieves them beautifully.

And yes, this is a great example of storytelling.

But it’s first and foremost an important story because of its content.

Steph’s story drives home what racism can look like in our communities, and the personal toll it can take. While Steph focuses on one particular event (of many!) in this story, it speaks to the multilayered and insidious ways that racism can show up and impact our lives. Please take some time out from your day to watch, listen, and reflect.

(Content warning: the video describes an incident of harassment involving a racial slur.)

You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbIcMz1Bt0

Thank you to Steph and her amazing business IronLion Training that has helped keep me healthy physically and mentally for many years, even throughout the pandemic.

And thank YOU for continuing to use your story to make a positive impact in the world.

Your story matters — never forget it!

BTW, Next up in this series I’ll share some very wise advice Seth Godin recently shared with me. Seth’s guidance is changing how I think about my work on a daily basis. Stay tuned -- you won’t want to miss it.