We were lucky to catch up with Laura Nespoli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I started my company after having a vision of my purpose. I was working as a brand strategist at a creative agency when I had an idea for a connecting meal experience–gathering people around a table for a meal that had a narrative of connection woven into the entire experience. Messages of connection, inclusion and gratitude would unravel with each custom and course, like serving rice with the reminder that “a single grain of rice contains the whole universe,” according to Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hahn. The intention is to unite guests to one another and the world at large, as each meal pays forward the proceeds to an organization in need, spreading connection throughout the community.

I left my job to start my company, Meshin Movement, as a way to integrate this social impact idea into the work I do every day as a brand strategist and storyteller. “Meshi” in Japanese means both rice and meal. So I name the company Meshin Movement to reflect this blend between story, strategy and social impact.

My work has evolved over time, as I’ve expanded my work as storyteller beyond brand strategy and shaping Meshin meal narratives to encompass speaking engagements about the power of story to strengthen leaders and teams. But despite the evolution in what I do and how, the purpose remains the same–to unite people and inspire movement through shared meaning. It was the original intention beyond the meal experience and it remains true whether I’m doing brand strategy work, giving a keynote on story to unite a team, or exploring other social impact ideas that leverage the power of story to create change in the world.

Being clear on my purpose and mission has served as a north star, guiding me to new directions and decisions while ensuring I’m working towards what matters most to me. It gives me the flexibility to grow and expand while not losing site of what matters most to me.

Laura, 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?

Strategic storytelling is my passion.

For over 15 years, I’ve applied this passion to help brands and teams reveal business opportunity and advantage across the sales marketing spectrum. Today, it all comes together in my approach to synthesizing and articulating brand stories and strategies for companies, individuals, communities and causes.

I thrive in the pursuit of new understanding and I strive to articulate meaning in thoughtful and creative ways to inspire connection and rally movement. This comes to life in brand, creative and messaging strategy work, through speaking about the power of story to strengthen individuals, teams and leaders, or using narrative to create impact in the world–from gathering people around a table that nurtures connection to using narrative in larger ways, like an effort I’m working on to help change the narrative around poverty in my city.

Across the range of ways I fulfill my purpose, storytelling has been a mainstay. I help people unite through their stories and inspire movement for anyone or any business on the journey to development, growth and expansion.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started my company to pursue the idea for a connecting meal experience. I loved my work as a brand strategist and felt blending the social impact idea with brand strategy would allow me to “pay the bills” while also doing purpose work.

As I’ve recently grown my work through speaking and social impact projects, I struggled to build and maintain a pipeline for brand strategy work–the work that funds my more purpose-driven ideas and efforts. I was stressing over the instability and flow of income, so I went back to my purpose to guide me. I realized I don’t need to do brand strategy under my Meshin brand in order for me to continue fulfilling my purpose. I don’t need to be so rigid about how my work gets done, so long as I’m achieving what I set out to do.

So I’ve recently taken on a full time position at a marketing firm to continue to do the brand strategy and storytelling work that gives me the stable foundation I need to pursue my passion work through Meshin Movement.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While I was building my business through Meshin Movement, chasing my purpose and finally starting to align my professional life with my values, I was doing the same thing on a personal front. In the couple of years that followed me starting my business, I came out as bisexual, challenged my marriage to rise to authentic connection and transformed relationships across my life. In doing so, I had to confront childhood traumas and face realities I was willing to look at before. This self-development work brought me to a complete emotional breakdown. But in the midst of that breakdown, I started sharing my story. When people asked, “How are you?” on work calls, I gave the real answer. I was a mess and there was no hiding it. Sharing my story in that way helped me appreciate the strength I had and what I was doing for myself. So even as I was breaking down, I was rising. It truly was a break-through. I started speaking about the experience openly and soon companies were hiring me to share my story and talk about how doing so strengthens us as people, teams and organizations. Sometimes our biggest setbacks are the source of our biggest wins.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meshinmovement.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura_nespoli_meshin/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-nespoli-storyteller/
• Other: https://speak.badassery-hq.com/speaker_public/lauranespoli https://heyo.at/lauranespoli

Image Credits
James Bogue Photography