Hi, I’m Stephanie.
I’m a storyteller, brand identity architect, and leadership coach who helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs, coaches and leaders transform their unique brilliance into a movement-worthy message that grows their visibility, community and impact.
Storytelling is the most powerful way to create more income and impact. And you don’t need a Superbowl-sized budget to create brand alchemy.
As the founder of Dear Anne Media LLC, I’ve helped social enterprises big and small ignite their tribes through brand storytelling and content marketing.
I’ve used the power of storytelling to:
💰 Write speeches for a client’s fundraiser that brought in 4x the donations from the previous year plus 3 major gifts from first-time donors.
📣 Create an online course that taught thousands of Planned Parenthood communications staff how to find and pitch newsworthy stories to the media.
🦄 Pivot my own career three times – by translating previous experience into unrivaled value.
📈 Start the first blog to cover eco-modern style and the blog gained 100,000 readers a month before the days of Twitter – without marketing or ads.
⚡️ Get my work featured in Reuters, Washington Post Express, Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge and nominated as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Design Bloggers by Design Files – without hiring a PR firm.
Let’s alchemize your story gold into a movement.
The Own Your Message Manifesto
You make a bigger difference by owning your difference.
Marketing is a powerful medium (and medicine) for transformational change.
Mindset + Message + Math = A Movement®
The world doesn’t get served if you play small, so shine unapologetically.
There’s no such thing as rejection. Only alignment.
You are the authority of your experience.
Your presence IS the performance.®
Ready to crystallize your next-era brand?
Let’s chat and explore your options.
What Clients Say
“Stephanie ‘got’ our organization right away and saw unexpected potential within our brand we couldn’t see. I love how she was able to help us bring those insights to life!”
— Grace Tsai, Co-Founder, Dragon Kim Foundation
“Stephanie’s Own Your Message program has helped me distill the words into a more compelling message. If you’re looking to crystallize your mission for the world, I’d say sign up!”
— Jen Mayer, Becoming Better Together Consulting
“Stephanie is a magician with words...and helps you pull out threads and weave them into a really beautiful fabric in which to tell the story of your business.”
— Lydia Randolph, Transformation Coach, You Are True North
Fun Facts About Me
1. I was too shy to sell Girl Scout cookies as a kid.
Even to my neighbors. When someone said “no”, I’d run home and burst into tears. My mom would end up selling them for me at her work.
2. Strangers have poured out their life stories (and secrets) to me since I was 12.
On buses, subways, in stores, the gas station, the park, at work. I’ve learned that each person holds of world full of surprises and stories worth knowing.
3. I named my company after Anne Frank, who’s my s/hero.
Her diary was the first book I ever bought with my own money and it’s traveled with me around the world. She taught me that anyone – even an ordinary young girl – can change the world with her story.
4. I’m “Ma” to two sons.
My boys were 8 and 9 years old when we became a blended family. They’re full grown, but still hug and call me “Ma” after Mrs. Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.
5. I landed a corporate finance job at GE as an English and African American studies major.
I knew I didn’t fit the mold, so I doubled down on my difference instead. I showed how my Humanities background added unique value. It was my first storytelling win.
6. I hiked an active volcano and lived to write about it.
I was young and stupid, but hey – the adventure made a tantalizing pitch for a travel piece and led to my first published piece as a writer.
7. At 40, I fell in love with the color pink and Hello Kitty.
My inner tomboy got in touch with my feminine side. She also happens to be the most universally beloved and recognizable brand in the world by folx of all ages and genders.
8. I overcame writing phobia by posting one haiku a day.
I’ve written over 300 haiku and posted them online for accountability. (I surely would have quit otherwise).
9. I interviewed a former Neo-Nazi-turned-peace activist.
She’s one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met.
10. Getting older has made me bolder.
On my 45th birthday I woke up crying and couldn’t stop. A picture of a graveyard of broken dreams flashed before my eyes and from that day forward, I vowed to do the things that matter – even if they scare me.
The why behind it all
I’m on a mission to empower one million difference makers to claim their full worth, and use their story to create a better world – one story at a time.