Brené Brown The power of vulnerability.docxVIP

So, Ill start with this:?a couple years ago, an event planner called me?because I was going to do a speaking event.?And she called, and she said,?Im really struggling with how?to write about you on the little flier.?And I thought, Well, whats the struggle??And she said, Well, I saw you speak,?and Im going to call you a researcher, I think,?but Im afraid if I call you a researcher, no one will come,?because theyll think youre boring and irrelevant.?(Laughter)And I was like, Okay.?And she said, But the thing I liked about your talk?is youre a storyteller.?So I think what Ill do is just call you a storyteller.?And of course, the academic, insecure part of me?was like, Youre going to call me a what??And she said, Im going to call you a storyteller.?And I was like, Why not magic pixie??(Laughter)?I was like, Let me think about this for a second.?I tried to call deep on my courage.?And I thought, you know, I am a storyteller.?Im a qualitative researcher.?I collect stories; thats what I do.?And maybe stories are just data with a soul.?And maybe Im just a storyteller.?And so I said, You know what??Why dont you just say Im a researcher-storyteller.?And she went, Haha. Theres no such thing.?(Laughter)?So Im a researcher-storyteller,?and Im going to talk to you today --were talking about expanding perception --?and so I want to talk to you and tell some stories?about a piece of my research?that fundamentally expanded my perception?and really actually changed the way that I live and love?and work and parent.And this is where my story starts.?When I was a young researcher, doctoral student,?my first year I had a research professor?who said to us,?Heres the thing,?if you cannot measure it, it does not exist.?And I thought he was just sweet-talking me.?I was like, Really? and he was like, Absolutely.?And so you have to understand?that I have a bachelors in social work, a masters in social work,?and I was getting my Ph.D. in social work,?so my entire academic career?was surrounded