The Moth's mission is to promote the art and craft of storytelling and to honor and celebrate the diversity and commonality of human experience.

It takes many talented, dedicated people to grow an organization. Along with the collective work, leaders are responsible for taking charge of their individual development to become greater contributors and stronger leaders.

I've had the privilege of coaching The Moth's artistic director, Catherine Burns, for eight (8) years. Working with her during this time has resulted in many positive outcomes that have contributed to her personal growth and, ultimately, that of the organization.

From Catherine:

Working with Joanne Heyman has been revelatory. We began working together at a critical time in my and our organization’s history, when we were adjusting from having quickly gone from being a local event serving a few thousand people to a national (and soon international) cultural entity reaching millions. With her help, we’ve professionalized our systems, strengthened our organization’s culture and created scalable models that enhance rather than compromise the artistic results. During that time, my own professional performance has been enhanced as well and having had Joanne as a coach has been an important factor in my growth.

What I love most about Joanne is that she has a brilliant mind for business, but is also very creative (a rare combination). She’s the executive director or board chair who could have been the artistic director if she’d wanted to choose that path. With Joanne, creating a strategic business plan is an art form. She helped us create action plans that have resulted in lasting growth and opened new doors for us. She also helped me personally clear up a lot of old energy and thought patterns that were no longer serving me, making me a much more effective leader (and happier person).  I recommend her highly. Working with her will change your life.

Here are a few highlights from Catherine’s, and The Moth’s, incredible accomplishments during our eight-year journey:

Personal/Professional Achievements

• Increased salary, elevated title and position in the organization as well as on the masthead

• Created a culture of abundance at work and at home

• Helped create the concept and language for a new organizational structure

• Edited three books (two are NYT Bestsellers)

Organizational Growth

• Budget of the organization has grown $1million each year

• Radio show went from being not-weekly ten years ago to now being aired weekly on over 500 stations

• Podcast is now reaching 61 million people annually

• Staff has grown from 10 to 45

• Recipient of a Peabody Award and a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur MacArthur Award for Creative & Effective Institutions

No one person, alone, is responsible for all of this success, but coaching can help develop culture, facilitate personal growth, and help teams envision and manage a vibrant organization.