Join me on this week's episode as I talk to master story-teller and re-emerging pandemic parent, Melanie Deziel, about all the things. What does becoming a new mother, abruptly moving from a 600 square ft apartment, and launching a new book have in common? These are just a few of the unexpected adventures Melanie shares in this episode. Melanie is a keynote speaker, an award-winning branded content creator, and a lifelong storyteller on a mission to share the power of compelling and credible content with others. She is the founder and chief content officer of Storyfuel, which teaches marketers, publishers, creators, and companies of all sizes how to tell better brand stories. She is also the author of The Content Fuel Framework, How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas. Melanie and her husband found themselves in a 600 square ft. apartment with a new baby and everyone suddenly working at home. They made a list of all the things that were important to them and surprisingly, Raleigh, North Carolina topped the list, so they moved during the pandemic to have more space and be closer to nature. The pandemic made them realize the importance of having a home that would support their wellbeing and minimize their stress levels. Melanie studied journalism at a time when journalism was really changing and there were no jobs for a new graduate, so she found a home in marketing and started using her story-telling skills for brands that needed her skillset. We are living in a remarkable world where we are all content creators. Many marketers think of content only as a way to alert people about our new products or a new sale. It's very transactional. Content can actually be so much more powerful when they're telling transformative stories about the lives they're changing or the customers they've served. Every content piece that you've either created or consumed was made up of two things: a focus and a format. High school students and college students are doing incredible special effects work, amazing video editing, creating music and so much more. The creativity, skills, and the technology they are learning at such a young age is incredible. Digital has democratized all these incredible skills for this whole generation.