We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisabeth Sewell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lisabeth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for Sparkle Stories came to me 12 years ago, when David Sewell McCann and I lived in Vermont with our young boys. We were a low-media household at the time. I felt strongly about raising our kids with as few screens as possible, and at the same time wanted to catch breaks as a mom, which I knew screens offered! There was a day when both boys were home sick, and I found myself frustrated, looking for quality audio stories online, desperate for something screen-free that could entertain them for a moment so I could rest. This was the early days of mom-blogs, well before podcasts, and I was scouring discussion threads by parents like me, wanting something beyond the same old recordings of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Everyone seemed to be coming up short.

In that moment, an image dropped into my head. (That’s the best way I can describe it.) I saw a little online business in which OUR FAMILY produced and shared audio stories. I got goosebumps! I realized that we had everything we needed to do it — I had just enough determination, plus production, marketing, and business experience to get it started, and most importantly, David had the storytelling gift!

At the time, he was an elementary school teacher, and he used story to teach primary subjects like math and English and history, as well as to help the children in his class navigate conflicts and common developmental thresholds. For instance, if the class was struggling with teasing, he would tell a story about a diverse group of animals trying to live together and would offer a beautiful, kind resolution. The kids, unaware that he was telling a story about themselves, would very often mirror that very same resolution!

On top of that, David could make up stories on the spot, whether it was bedtime for our kids, or quiet time in the classroom, or a giant holiday event with both kids and adults. Everyone would be mesmerized within moments.

So there we were! I worked double-time to make it happen: full-time day job, super-dedicated parent, plus nights of planning and building the business. We created a little website and produced a first collection of stories, and it almost immediately hit a stream of interest. A couple of mentions on larger like-minded mom-blogs and we were off to the races. What I thought was going to be a small side business turned into a business that not only supported our family, but shortly after, other families as well.

It’s rare that a start-up does so well immediately, so I was really thrilled. I had trusted my gut, followed my enthusiasm, worked really hard, and it paid off. Best of all, the Sparkle listeners expressed deep appreciation for the stories — as they were not only engaging for kids in other low media families, they were also bringing sweet lessons of kindness to their homes.

Lisabeth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My company, Sparkle Stories, produces original audio stories for children ages 3 and up. Our stories are unlike most children’s media you find online in that they are simply told and developmentally appropriate. We call it “slow media.” Also, each of them carries a seed of learning, almost in the Mr. Rogers style, so that the stories bring more than just entertainment.

Because we are old-school in this way, families that are low-media and ultra-discerning like us love our content. The stories can be life-savers. It’s entertainment AND it’s learning. Plus the stories are constructed to be soothing: the words, the tone, the simplicity of the recording. It’s all meant to help young nervous systems wind down and feel safe.

The best compliment is when parents write in and say that they listen BY THEMSELVES because they enjoy the stories so much and find them so soothing.

We now have a huge library of audio stories – over 1400 – and that’s a testament to the hard work and dedication that our team has put in over the last 12 years. I’m really proud of that.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

That’s a great question. First off, we stay consistent in the quality of our work as well as our authenticity within it. We are always seeking to grow and learn, and want our content to reflect that. We are generous: we share lots of free content as we always want people to have access to what we do. We strive to be warm and present — both in the way we communicate with subscribers and contacts and the way we work with each other. Lastly, we are always inviting feedback and collaboration. We want to stay in touch with what families are needing so that our work can strive to meet families where they are. Our work reflects our values: kindness, generosity, honesty, warmth, and integrity. And playfulness! That’s important too, in the way our team works and in our content.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The beginning of this business was a pivot, and then its success required another life-pivot. When the idea for Sparkle came through, I was in my late 30s and planning to go to naturopathic medical school, having nearly completed the pre-med coursework. And when this “side hustle” got bigger and bigger, I changed course completely to run it and grow it. It’s funny how you have a plan for life, and then life offers you surprising opportunities that take you in a different direction but that still meet part of the intention you had for yourself! The thing I’m most glad for is that I had the courage to trust myself. Some people call it “pings,” and some people call it intuition or your “gut.” Whatever it is, when I get that clear, whole-bodied feeling that something is right for me or the business and I follow it, inevitably something good comes of it. And again, it may be something surprising! I think we as women could benefit greatly from being more willing to trust our bodies and our instincts. Our minds are often limited by past experiences, but I believe our bodies can communicate deeper callings and deeper knowings. When we listen, our paths can take us places we never imagined.

Contact Info:

• Website: sparklestories.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparkle_stories/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparklestories
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisabeth-sewell-26339430/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm_WNVfTfuw19nkCIuaJTrw
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/sparklestories/

Image Credits
Lisabeth Sewell headshot: Bret Brookshire https://brookshirephotography.com original graphics © Sparkle Stories, LLC The other photographs were licensed through stock photo websites. little boy on couch with headphones: Gustavo Fring @ Pixels girl with turquoise headphones: Drobot Dean @ Adobe Stock girl in striped shirt in car on headphones: Irina Velichkina @Twenty20 boy snuggled in bed with headphones: Twenty20 (which was bought and closed by Adobe Stock)