How Did I Become a Professional Storyteller?

While teaching elementary school years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing the famous storyteller, Jackie Torrence, perform at my school. She had these long fingernails and rubber band facial expressions that enlivened her stories. I sat on the edge of my seat, glued to her every word. Deep down inside, I thought there would be no greater pleasure than to travel the USA telling stories. Alas, I lacked courage. Plus, I was addicted to eating regular meals provided by a steady paycheck.

The next year, my school hired Jackie Torrence to give a repeat performance. I heard rumors that she made $4000 per performance. I calculated that that must equate to being paid $1 per word. I'm certain my school had no such budget to pay her anywhere close to that kind of money. I still found myself fantasizing about telling stories for a living. Unfortunately, I still had not shed my addictions nor had I gained any more courage.

In 1987, I married a very nice man. I decided to go back to college full-time. At first, I thought to shed my school teacher role altogether. I signed up for a computer science degree. While I took computer classes learning programming, I became a volunteer storyteller at a pre-school and an elementary school. I loved the experience. It was during that time period that I heard that Dr. Flora Joy, an ETSU professor, was going to offer a storytelling graduate level program. The long waiting list forced me to postpone taking that class until the fall of 1988.

After a year of computer programming classes, I discovered that years 2, 3, & 4 were going to involve mostly theory. I thought, "I don't care how a computer works, I simply want to use them." So with my husband's support, I dropped the computer science degree program, and began working on my masters in Elementary Education. I also flirted with the idea to return to teaching. I applied to 41 school districts in a 90-mile radius. Not one school bit. God obviously did not think I was meant to return to teaching at that time.

How would you like to take a college class where the homework was to go perform stories for big and little audiences? I loved it! That Basic Storytelling class was one of the most fun college classes I had ever taken. Since I had already taken 4 graduate level classes prior to this class, I did not wish to start my masters degree all over by having to take 4 extra classes. Therefore, instead of getting a Storytelling Masters degree, I elected to keep my M.A. in Elementary Education with a specialization in Storytelling. I figured that would make me more marketable in several different ways.

In the Winter of 1989, I took the Advanced Storytelling class. It was during this time that I decided that I really wanted to tell stories full-time. In February, I went to Dr. Flora Joy to find out how I could best follow this path.

Dr. Joy said that I probably would have to do volunteer storytelling for a year or two first. I would need to build up a resume and a repertoire of stories to tell. She offered to sort of sponsor me for the first year by sending prospective clients my way. She said that when I received a storytelling offer, I should ask the all-important question, "Do you have funding for this?" If they did not, then ask, "Could you at least get a reporter to take my picture and put a little blurb in the paper?" Even if that was not possible, accept the gig anyway to help me get more seasoned as a storyteller.

I made this decision in February of 1989. In March, an Elementary school in a little town in Virginia hired me to tell stories. I was to perform two shows for 400 kids per show. At that time, I only knew four stories appropriate for that type of audience. They did not have any money left. They did, however, offer to bring in a reporter to take my picture and put a blurb in the paper. The show was pure adrenaline fun. I told one of my favorite stories by Arlene Mosel called "Tikki Tikki Tembo." It was quite a heady experience to hear 400 kids chanting along with me that little Chinese boy's very long name.

In between the two performances, the teacher who hired me, told me the most amazing piece of news I had ever encountered. She told me that the principal was so impressed with how I had captivated the audience with my stories that he wished to pay me $100 for my performance. I tried to pretend to be calm, cool, and collected as I thanked her and said that I gladly accepted his offer.

After the 2nd performance, I went to thank the principal for his generosity. He said, "I'm sorry that I could not pay you any more than that as you are worth it. You are the best storyteller that our students have ever experienced." I must admit I could hardly fit my big head into my car for my 90-mile drive home.

That night, my husband returned from a business trip to Kodak in Rochester, NY. He was a Statistician for Tennessee Eastman Company in Kingsport, TN. I threw the $100 check and myself into his arms and announced, "I'm launched." I never did have to do that volunteer storytelling. The day was March 15, 1989. I have been making money telling stories ever since.

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