January 11, 2013

SBDC Success Story



 
Local Story Teller Julie Moss Herrera stopped by the local Small Business Development Center (589-3682) to find out if there was any assistance to someone who wanted to make their next career in life as an entrepreneurial story teller.  Julie founded the local storytelling group and led the way for story telling hour on local public radio.  Through the assistance of the SBDC, Julie navigated her blog and blossomed her online presence.  Finally, the big day arrived…her first book has been published! She is now a published author and story teller.
Julie visited China in 2008 with other storytellers as part of the National Storytelling Network and People to People Ambassador Programs.  She visited Beijing, Shanghai, and Guizhou Province over the span of two weeks and was engaged in learning more than a dozen Chinese folktales.  During the trip they met scholars, storytellers, folklorists, museum guides, school children and rural villagers.   She vowed to herself and to her hosts that she would share these stories from the Chinese culture and help other people understand the meaning in these tales.  She is currently striving to fulfill this pledge, and by doing so, she published the book “Old China through the Eyes of a Storyteller.”  The trip significantly changed her perspective of China.  Prior to the trip, her opinions about the county were shaped in part by memories that her mother’s close friend disappeared during Mao Zedong’s so-called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.  She quickly learned, however, that Chinese people are basically the same as Americans are: They love their families and they work hard for a living.  Julie believes that these stories can help bridge the gap between the two cultures.    
You may contact Julie directly (Julie@storiesbyjulie.com) to purchase her book or hire her for a program or event.  Her number is 719-588-2583.  Or you can visit her web site at www.storiesbyjulie.com.  The book can also be purchased on-line at www.parkurstbrothers.com.  Click on the catalog link.