I met Laura Morton through a friend who had hired her to help her write her own story. Though Morton is chock-full of interesting stories of her own, what makes her so invaluable is the way she can spin the tales of others into such hard-to-put-down page turners.
That’s why I support this woman’s work.
Laura Morton has written a staggering 19 New York Times best-sellers with a wide range of celebrities, including Susan Lucci, Jennifer Hudson, Al Roker, Justin Bieber, Joan Lunden, Marilu Henner, Melissa Etheridge and the Jonas Brothers.
She has been involved in the entertainment industry for more than 25 years as a writer, producer, speaker and entrepreneur, and she continues to pursue projects of interest that cross publishing, production and electronic media through her company, Laura Morton Management.
Randi Zuckerberg: What have you learned from telling the stories of others?
Laura Morton: I never know how the extraordinary people I work with are going to change my life — but they all do, in one way or another. I don’t expect it — and sometimes I don’t see it coming — but I am so grateful for the gift of learning from their experiences.
Throughout the years, I’ve co-authored more than 40 books with a variety of personalities from all walks of life. When I work with someone, I write in first person, which means I’ve been rock stars, politicians, rivaling soap stars, reality stars, child stars, a beloved sitcom star, morning show hosts from competing networks, a hard-hitting news journalist, several health advocates and even a bounty hunter.
I have been kidnapped, in prison for manslaughter, have been the top male supermodel in the world, a female race car driver in the male-dominated sport, donned the cover of Sports Illustrated in a swimsuit, been in one of the greatest boy bands in history, a mega pop star, founded several billion-dollar corporations and, yes, the Mindfreak, who can levitate in front of thousands of people.
I have been born-again, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist and Catholic; I am straight, gay, bi, curious and so much more.
If this unique access doesn’t give me the most exceptional perspective on life, I don’t know what does! I have the rare opportunity to look inside each of these lives, because the people I work with allow me unprecedented access to share in their experiences, wisdom and wit — from the inside out.
It’s like having a rare backstage pass to see what life is like when your favorite rock star isn’t performing, that hard-hitting broadcast journalist is home feeding his kids or changing their diapers, and the softer, more reflective side of those hardened titans of business when they’re not negotiating multimillion-dollar deals.
I am able to reap the benefits of all of their life lessons — good and bad — without actually having to go through them.
I also get to ask the hard questions, dig deep and connect the dots that oftentimes the people I work with wouldn’t allow in a traditional interview. They trust our process, and in return, they give me more than they often expect to.
This access brings to the surface emotion and content that eventually connects them to their audience in an intimate way so they feel as if they are talking just to them. It’s personal, yet their stories are usually full of universal truths.
I am looking for and harvesting their best life stories, the ones that touch your heart and mind — the stories you can’t stop thinking about because it taps something deep inside you and makes a difference in how you feel.
Above all, I’ve learned it’s a great privilege to bring that to life on the page so others can share in the experience that I am so blessed to call my life’s work.
RZ: Does everyone have a life story to tell?
LM: Everyone has a story to tell, which is what I call job security! Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of speaking appearances, talking to companies on the extreme value of corporate storytelling.
Too many companies and executives are caught up in using fancy business jargon that is meaningless or following a “me, too” marketing strategy, which amounts to telling someone else’s story instead of telling their own. They are relying on meaningless words that don’t accurately or authentically characterize what they do, why they are different or how they provide value to customers, shareholders, employees and society.
This type of authentic, meaningful and informative content is now considered the rule rather than the exception. LinkedIn gets this — so much so that they list at least two dozen CSOs (chief story officers), a corporate trend that was born at Nike in the 1990s.
Stories are fundamental to how we think about the world, but more so, how we think about ourselves and others and how others see us. They’ve been around since the beginning of time.
They’re how Mom and Dad taught us to read with Dick and Jane, how we learned in school and so on. Whether you realize it or not, stories are basically what got you from diapers to where you are today.
To me, great storytelling is the difference between speaking and actually being heard. Regardless of what you do for a living, at some point you will be asked, “What’s your story?” It’s a simple question that I find most people fumble over answering with confidence.
Having this response formulated and ready will definitely set you apart from the crowd, but more so, it will no doubt help you understand where you’ve been, where you are now and where you want to go.
— Randi Zuckerberg is the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, a best-selling author and the host of a SiriusXM weekly tech business show, Randi Zuckerberg Means Business. Follow her on Twitter: @randizuckerberg or connect with her on Facebook. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.