““There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” –Coco Chanel
Creative. It’s a word that has been used to describe a lot of things, and worse, it’s actually an adjective. “Creative what, exactly?”
The problem is that the days when there was a simple noun to put after it have long gone by, and that’s why I make sure people know about the mantra connected to Gray Miller Creative LLC:
Let’s tell your story…
That’s what I do. I help you get your message – the right message – to the right people at the right time and in the right way. This can look like a lot of different things, depending on what your story is and what your goal is in telling it.
So rather than try and give some vague idea of what I can do for you, let me tell you what I’ve done for others.
Client Case Study: Fire Horse Productions
This company is the brainchild of performance artist Midori, a world-traveler based in San Francisco. While I’ve been friends with her for years, it wasn’t until I began Gray Miller Creative LLC that she really began drawing on my skills:
- “I want to do a podcast, but I don’t want it to be too technical,” she asked me over a dinner in Ann Arbor, MI. I looked at her phone, talked to her about how she used it, and later devised an “instacast” so that with a few clicks she could simply talk into her phone and connect easily with her fans.
- “What’s with this ‘iTunes Art’ thing when I register my podcast?” I have the dubious pleasure of being around podcasting since before iTunes took over, so I have a great deal of experience jumping through the various hoops they devise to make your podcast available. In this case I created the podcast art and helped fill out the id3 tags for the podcast listing.
- “I have a performance in Philly…I want to do it to something Bach-ish. Out comes my iPhone this time, and we go through several harpsichord pieces that fit the mood she was looking for. I fit them into the right time frame and uploaded the draft to dropbox for her to listen. At the time she was in England, but was able to send me notes which I implemented. I uploaded the final file to the sound engineer for the venue as well as mailing a CD (old school!) as a backup so that when she arrived it was ready to go.
- “I am directing the performances for the ’Seduction’ Opening Night at the Asian American Art Museum in San Francisco…” Midori drew upon my own performing experience for this, creating the character of the “fishmonger” as a 21st century interpretation of a character from the Yoshiwara district. But a week before the performance both of us were snowed in at an event in Providence, Rhode Island, and I helped her created two videos, one for the performers, one for the general public, to help keep on schedule in spite of Winter Storm Octavia.
That’s all within the space of about five months. I remain on retainer with her so that when she needs a jack-of-all-trades techie/designer/dancer I can help her tell the story she wants to put out into the world.
Other clients have other needs. Audio narrator Johanna Oosterwyk has consulted on her rendition of the forthcoming Women in Ancient America. Business Coach Kali Williams has had me writing her newsletters and blogs for over a year, in addition to producing the copy, video, reward structure and social media strategy for a crowdfunding campaign.
My own story is important to me as well. I’ve been writing a lifestyle design blog called ”Love. Life. Practice” for several years, including a weekly podcast since mid-2014. As an experienced public speaker and teacher, part of helping you tell your story lies not only in what I do but in giving you the skills to do it for yourself.
What kind of story should we tell together?
Contact me via email or call 608-628-2105 to explore the options.
“…profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the beautiful…”- Paul Valéry