I was just a toddler when I was first introduced to the art of live story telling, by none other than Joel ben Izzy. I remember his animated gestures and the excitement on his face. It was one of the coolest things I’d seen at the ripe age of maybe 4 years old. I remember looking around at my peers, many of whom now have children of their own, and seeing how each one of them we’re equally enthralled by Joel’s stories.
Flash forward to about a year ago, when I was shopping at Andronico’s market, yes, it was still Andronico’s and had not yet been bought by Safeway. I turned the corner of the aisle and got a flashback of sitting on the patio at my pre-school, listening to Joel. He was standing in the middle of the aisle, minding his own business, shopping for food. I walked up to him, introduced myself, “Hi, my name is Gabe Schwartz. I remember you telling me stories as a child and just wanted to say hello and thank you. I really appreciated your stories as a child.” After all, when you bump into the person responsible for showing you what a storyteller is and how magical stories can be, you sorta have to interrupt their day and say thank you.
Joel immediately smiled from ear to ear, with the same kind smile he always offers and said something like, “Oh, I’m so glad you were moved by my stories.” We played a little bit of do you remember me and who I am, which surely he would have had to be a wizard to have remembered my round 4 year old face, as well as recognize me thirty years later with a full beard.
We got to talking, and by the end of our short conversation, he was gracious enough to put his trust and faith in me to help him creatively. Almost right away, I think the two of us could both tell this was a good match and we proceeded to work together. We re-built his website, shot a couple videos, and re-worked his brand, as he has grown as a storyteller over the years into a teller, author, and consultant, and needed an accurate portrayal of that.
Working with Joel was a true treat as he’s not your average client. Being a storyteller himself, the feedback, the direction, and the ideas were incredible. Not to mention a ton of laughter and fun as well.
The Motion Bar is honored to have been able to work with Joel and thrilled to continue to collaborate moving forward.
With that said, we are very excited to announce his new site Storypage.com, that we built in conjunction with Joel and of course his wife Taly, who gave tremendous feedback and suggestions as well.
Thanks to the both of them, from The Motion Bar!
Click on the image below to learn more about how we helped Joel and to see his new site!
