When the storyteller becomes the story

By Mark Jones

If you’ve ever stood at a crossroads, staring down a decision that scares the life out of you, welcome. You’re in good company.

Whether you're a leader navigating change, a professional feeling stuck, or simply someone who knows there’s more in you than the current story you’re living… I want you to know something:

You can rewrite it.

You don’t have to stay stuck in self-doubt. You don’t have to keep playing small because that voice in your head says you’re not ready, or qualified, or “that kind of person.”

I’ve seen what happens when people flip the script.

I’ve lived it. Scary, and terrifying! 

Here’s how it happened. I wasn’t always the story. In fact, for years I actively avoided it. Journalists are not the story! 

Back in the late 1990s, I was editor at a tech trade publication called Australian Reseller News. The job came with a weekly column, a legacy from the previous editor, and with it, an expectation: have an opinion.

As a journalist trained in objectivity, it felt like heresy. I wasn’t supposed to share my thoughts. I was meant to report the facts, stay impartial, and keep myself out of the narrative. But that column broke an invisible wall. 

For the first time, I experienced the sensation of stepping out from behind the curtain and putting a voice, my voice, into the story. People would read my words. What would they think? Am I any good at this stuff? Am I smart enough?

At the time I had no idea: it was just the beginning of finding my own voice.

The real turning point

Fast forward two decades, and I found myself at the helm of a successful business as CEO at ImpactInstitute. It was Christmas 2023, and on the surface things were pretty good. 

As a team, we’d successfully navigated a merger. The business was tracking well. Happy team, happy clients. Tick! Tick! 

But I don’t have a hero complex, and I know I’m not the business. In fact, my issues weighed heavily. I’d spent years recovering and rebuilding after a panic attack sidelined me in 2019. Back then, I was tired. Burnt out. Done.

As Christmas stretched into the heat of January I felt something shift. It wasn’t loud. It was quiet. I could feel my season changing. I knew deep down: I was no longer in the depths, but I also knew I couldn’t keep doing this. Whatever this was.

The good news, I thought to myself, was if I stepped down from leadership I wouldn’t leave chaos in my wake. Our team was strong. Our systems were humming. The business didn’t need me to survive, a group effort by design.

And I was preoccupied. All I could think about, constantly, was storytelling. Professional speaking. Writing a new book. Workshops. Finding new ways of encouraging leaders to change the way they saw themselves and the world.

It sounds all very inspirational and mystical, and perhaps it was. 

Then came the kicker. A month or so after I’d made the big call reality dawned on me. Walking away from a secure job in your late 40s with a mortgage, kids, and responsibilities? That’s a special kind of terrifying.

Did I believe I could do this? I won’t have a team!

Flip the script, literally

Thankfully I had yet another revelation. This was another moment of stepping out from behind the curtain, like my days in journalism.

And happily there was a powerful twist.  The storytelling frameworks I’d been teaching brands and leaders for years also applied to me.

For the first time, I realised I could flip the script on my own inner dialogue. Instead of self-doubt, what was my conviction? What healthy beliefs already existed? 

Long story short, I began rewriting my story. And you know what? That changed everything.

It’s taken me a while but when the storyteller becomes the story, the message doesn’t weaken, it deepens. It connects. It resonates in a way that’s raw, honest, and real.

What’s next?

Helping people move from self-doubt to self-belief and success on their terms… that’s the exciting new chapter unfolding in my life’s work.

Whether it’s on stage, in workshops, or inside a coaching group, this work isn’t about surface-level inspiration. It’s about real, practical transformation, rewriting your story from the inside out.

What about you? Ready to step beyond the invisible walls holding you back?

Join me in this next chapter

If my story, or the idea of rewriting your story, resonates, here’s how we can keep this conversation going:

Stay in touch. Subscribe to Mark my words: Diary of a storyteller
Stories, strategies, personal storytelling tips, and soulful insights for professional and personal life. A newsletter that avoids jargon but not wilful, witty puns. 

Join the waitlist for my coaching program: Rewrite Your Story
One small group on Zoom. 90mins a week. Six weeks. A powerful guided journey to help you break through limiting beliefs, and walk away with a new story, written by you, not fear. 

Consider me for your event
Keynote speaker, host, or facilitator, if you’re looking for soulful storytelling that inspires action, let’s chat! I’ll bring the energy and ideas that stick. You can have any funny bits for free.

So, that’s the story so far. 

You in? Hope so, because maybe, just maybe…

It’s time for your next chapter, too.

Onwards,

Mark