Blog Posts

Passport to Rainbows and Waterfalls

By Jean Storlie / July 5, 2017 /

As he eyed three passports and a Minnesota Driver’s License, a Canadian Customs Officer asked me (the driver) why a Brit, an Australian, and two U.S. citizens (from Georgia and Minnesota) were traveling together across the border at Niagara Falls? I replied that we were attending a conference at the University of Buffalo and wanted…

Read More

Resting Logs Kept Little Legs Moving

By Jean Storlie / June 2, 2017 /

Jay and I paused at the crest of a foothill overlooking Boulder to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west. According to my iPhone Activity App, we had climbed 71 floors. We decided to rest on a fallen log. While we soaked in the vista, Jay recounted a memory about hiking in the…

Read More

Nevertheless She Persisted in Wellness

By Jean Storlie / May 3, 2017 /

Snow covered the grounds of the Cooper Aerobic Center in Dallas, TX, when Georgia Kostas arrived for her interview with Dr. Kenneth Cooper in 1977. Tip-toeing out of the cab in her winter-white suit and pink floral blouse (with a flouncy bow), Georgia’s heart was set on getting this job.  A few years earlier, Georgia…

Read More

Drowning in Data? Pitch with a Story!

By Jean Storlie / April 4, 2017 /

At the close of an intense month of immersion and ideation on a new opportunity, my client was in a rocky place about the next steps in their project. Like most deep dives, the process had surfaced new questions and many possibilities. Valuable marketplace, consumer, competitive, and technical data had been collected and reviewed. The…

Read More

Lost and Found on Skinny Skis

By Jean Storlie / February 2, 2017 /

Gravity pulled me down the narrow ski trail as I navigated a series of sharp turns with trees on either side. My relief in making it to the bottom without a tumble turned into a sense of pride and accomplishment. I’d been skiing for over an hour and was headed back to my car. Tired…

Read More

An Exhilarating Career Experience Became a Book

By Jean Storlie / January 5, 2017 /

Tech check was done … 15 min countdown ticking. Equipped with a clicker and a wireless mic, Chris Quam stood on the stage of a cavernous ballroom in the Las Vegas Convention Center. His heart sunk with dread that people might not come. Nervous, but not scared, his confidence soared as the audience started to…

Read More

“From Grinch to Our Neighbor” Inspires Imagination

By Jean Storlie / December 6, 2016 /

We dreaded the arsenic hour … 5:00-6:00 pm, the first hour that Abby was home from day care. She would melt down and become inconsolable over small things. After a series of tantrums, she would retreat to her room (or be sent into a time out) and re-emerge with a new outfit … often dressed…

Read More

10-Year Reunion with My Birthday Band

By Jean Storlie / November 2, 2016 /

On a steamy day in the summer of 2006, we were boating on Lake Minnetonka with our kids and family friends—Kathy, Dave, and their daughter. Kathy got me musing about plans for my upcoming 50th birthday on October 30. I imagined a Halloween dancing party with live music, but was stuck on where/how to find…

Read More

Learning from a Millennial Entrepreneur

By Jean Storlie / September 5, 2016 /

Tyler Olson crawled out of a lofted bed in his dorm room at 10:00 on a Saturday morning and greeted his staff, who were already busy working at the three desks jammed under his bed. They were servicing computers for his burgeoning technical support company, HelpMeTy.com. This was the moment when he realized it was time…

Read More

Rainbow Rewards Risk Taking

By Jean Storlie / July 5, 2016 /

Sixty percent probability of rain! The weather forecast threatened to ruin our evening plans to go boating with another couple. After looking at the radar and discussing the risks, the four of us crossed our fingers that the sun would prevail and loaded onto our boat. We cruised to our favorite bay and cast our…

Read More