LIVE
STORYTELLING
Why Live Storytelling Matters?
A story told live is different than one read on a page or watched on a screen. It's immediate. It's vulnerable. It's real.
Live storytelling brings people together through true personal experiences—stories of struggle, resilience, belonging, loss, joy, and becoming. In sharing our stories, we discover that we are often more alike than different. We see ourselves in one another.
I believe storytelling is one of the most powerful ways we connect as human beings. A single story can make us laugh, challenge our assumptions, help us feel less alone, or inspire us to see our own lives differently.
Every story matters. Every voice matters. And sometimes, hearing someone else's story helps us better understand our own.
Whether you're stepping onto a stage for the first time, listening from the audience, or simply exploring your own story, I invite you to join the conversation. Share your story. Listen deeply. Connect authentically. You never know whose life—including your own—might be changed by a story honestly told.
FLIPPER LIED
Flipper Lied is a true story about an eight-year-old girl, a Florida vacation, and the moment she discovered that dolphins, television, and her imagination had set some unrealistic expectations.
What begins as a childhood encounter with the Atlantic Ocean becomes a lifelong story of fear, resilience, and learning to trust myself.
Funny, heartfelt, and unexpectedly moving, this live storytelling performance explores the gap between what we imagine and what actually happens—and how life's greatest lessons often arrive disguised as disappointment.
Recorded live on March 3, 2026.
Produced by Third Rail Repertory.
Performed at CoHo Theater, Portland OR
TEDx COUER D'ALENE
Finding Happiness – My Journey from the Other Side of the Rainbow
Moving from a vibrant gay neighborhood on the northside of Chicago to the rural, conservative, region of north Idaho left Juli Stratton feeling like a big gay fish out of water.
In this talk, Juli tells the story of embracing her full gender and sexuality while building a missing visible LGBTQ community in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She shares how she was able to move through frustrating isolation to truly thriving.
Juli inspires us to find our common values and sharing our stories with curiosity, empathy and openness.
Recorded live in January 2020
Produced by TEDx Couer d'Alene
Performed at Ray & Joan Kroc Center, Coeur d'Alene Idaho.
ROLLING ON
Rolling On is a story about freedom, friendship, and finding your way back to yourself.
In the summer of 1978, the roller rink was where I felt most alive—a place to belong, dream, and be fearless. More than forty years later, a pair of roller skates gave me the chance to reconnect with that kid and discover that some parts of us never really disappear.
A heartfelt story about nostalgia, aging, courage, and the joy of rolling on.
Recorded live on February 6, 2026.
Produced by Shay Knorr Productions.
Performed at Triangle Theater, Portland OR