What’s Our Story?

Robin Gelfenbien and Michelle Walson (that’s us!) have been fixtures in the storytelling scene in New York City as storytellers, coaches and producers for over ten years.

We started out co-writing a screenplay about a story based on Robin’s life.

Soon after, we realized that Michelle’s keen ability to see the big picture of a story and Robin’s laser-sharp focus on the nitty gritty complemented each other really well.

So we started teaching together.

what’s with the name?

Well, Michelle has been called The Story Whisperer and Robin is known as The Baby Whisperer, so it seemed fitting to blend the two titles.

But it also speaks to our approach.

Like horse whispering, our job is to listen. We like to create a safe space for people to share, build trust with our students and help them tell their best stories.

What Are Our Credentials?

Here’s a little bit about our backgrounds and our combined 20 years of storytelling experience.

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Robin gelfenbien

co-founder / ambassador of fun

Robin Gelfenbien kicked off her career behind the wheel of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Today she is the Host and Creator of the live storytelling series and podcast, Yum’s the Word, that features her homemade ice cream cakes. The show has been named a New York Times and Time Out New York Critic’s Pick.

She was a Featured Speaker at New York Social Media Week for a session on storytelling and business. She has also told stories on PBS, The Moth, RISK!, Mortified and so many more.

As a Creative Director/Copywriter, she has spent over two decades creating compelling stories for Colgate, Nikon, Bertolli, SundanceTV, Food Network, Vera Wang, among others. She has also worked at VaynerMedia, Ogilvy, Y&R, McCann and more developing digital, video, and social media campaigns for their clients.

Robin holds a B.S. degree in Marketing & TV/Radio/Film - Writing from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.

Michelle Walson

Co-founder / story architect

Michelle Walson is the founding producer of the live storytelling show and podcast, RISK!, which gets over 1.1 million downloads every month and has been hailed as one of the best podcasts of 2015 by iTunes.

From SNL’s Rachel Dratch and The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi to professionals from IBM, Google, Time and Saatchi & Saatchi, she has spent the past seven years helping people hone their true stories for performances and presentations.

Michelle has taught storytelling at The Peoples Improv Theater, The Story Studio and The Women in Comedy Festival, and her students have won Moth StorySLAMS, performed solo shows and published memoirs.

She holds an MFA in Film Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, an MS in Television Production from Boston University and a BA in Creative Writing from Brown University.