What Our Clients Are Saying
We have enjoyed working with these clients and would love to work with you! See how we can make a difference.

Peter Newman, Peak Wealth Planning
“Reena’s leadership storytelling session for the Opus Midwest Mind group was engaging, practical and enjoyable! We learned how to craft a story that is compelling for the listener, clearly communicates a professional message and is exhilarating to tell. It was wonderful to learn techniques to use immediately. Thank you Reena!”
- Peter Newman, Peak Wealth Planning

Jamie Hawkins, Kwik Lok
“The workshop helped me discover something about myself that I didn’t know I was capable of doing…Telling a story and writing a story. Esther broke down the process in a way that was easy to understand and made it less overwhelming.”
- Jamie Hawkins, Kwik Lok

Virginie Raphael, Founder & Managing Partner, FullCircle
“I simply wanted to thank you for an excellent storytelling workshop at the summit last week. I’ve done many similar ones and I can confidently say yours was the best. You had my attention for the whole duration of the session and I didn’t think that would be possible for 90 minutes so you are clearly doing something right :)”
- Virginie Raphael, Founder & Managing Partner, FullCircle

Jen K., Team Member, Powerhouse Planning, LLC
“This book has taken on permanent residence on my bookshelf. So many of these chapters resonated with me, as they caused me to focus on the people in my life that have made an impact on me, that have caused me to pause, and/or those that have moved/persuaded me. These are the people I would like to emulate. I am a work in progress, but I am grateful for the tools within this book that allowed me the opportunity to find value in, and focus on, both my story and my company’s story in an effort to more effectively ‘Let The Story Do the Work!'”
- Jen K., Team Member, Powerhouse Planning, LLC

Karen Catlin, Managing Director Sales Effectiveness, United
“Spending time with Esther to refine and rethink how I present myself and my story to others was an investment that has already paid off for me. I am much more keenly aware of how I am perceived and how to better craft and deliver a message targeted to my audience to achieve my objective. Esther helped me become a “influencer” by streamlining my message, making it more engaging and keeping it on target.”
- Karen Catlin, Managing Director Sales Effectiveness, United

Stephanie Jackson, co-owner, Kwik Lok
“Kwik Lok worked with Esther and her team at Leadership Story Lab to prepare for our annual corporate retreat. We were unable to meet in person and had to meet virtually. This made it even more important for us to develop engaging content that helped us connect despite the distance. Leadership Story Lab helped us each to use the IRS method in developing our own engaging stories with confidence. We had a big, “ah ha” moment when we learned that showing the struggle in our storytelling is extremely powerful and is what makes us relatable.
Esther and Reena are excellent listeners. Their insightful coaching helped each member of our team find their unique voice and feel more confident in their delivery. In addition, they also helped us build connections between each other’s message which made our retreat more engaging and effective.
We all plan to keep asking great questions and to continue refining our stories for use at future conferences and in work with our employees.”
- Stephanie Jackson, co-owner, Kwik Lok

Kelsey Eichhorn-Allen, Insights and Storytelling Lead, Americas Region at Arup
“I’ve been working in storytelling in various forms my whole career, but this program is the first time that I’ve been able to really step beyond the practice of creating stories in a professional environment and see the strategic importance of sourcing personal stories for professional development and impact. It has opened a whole new branch of storytelling for me.”
- Kelsey Eichhorn-Allen, Insights and Storytelling Lead, Americas Region at Arup

Vadivu Govind, Founding Director, Human Unlimited, Singapore
“My greatest takeaway was the IRS structure. What surprised me was the in-depth coaching and feedback from Esther in a small group and one-to-one setting. Esther guides with depth and clarity. Since the course, I have coached a leader to use the IRS structure to tell a personal story at an organisational event. Her story was a hit. I’ve used the paired introduction exercise with groups who have loved it. I’m looking forward to reaching more hearts and minds with what I’ve learned through this course.”
- Vadivu Govind, Founding Director, Human Unlimited, Singapore

Jeff Moore, President, ATI Restoration
“Working with Esther and her team at Leadership Story Lab has been transformational.
Our project was so unique. We were hiring her to feature our father, a very introverted man. He’s the patriarch of our family who built a $300M business that has provided multi-generational wealth to his family and for generations to come. The research’s premise was to gather insight into my father and his journey, personally and professionally, from the day he started the business until our 30th anniversary.
We [now] have a beautiful book for our family and all of our employees. We provided copies of the book to every family member, every employee and even used them for companies we are considering acquiring. It is part of our M&A sales pitch.
The content of what she gathered has so many uses and is invaluable to my family and our business. What she did was priceless and memorable and the best investment we have ever made!”
- Jeff Moore, President, ATI Restoration

Elissa Poma, Montgomery Art Association
“Our members’ creations became even more vibrant after learning from Esther Choy and her team how to tell the stories behind our artwork . We were able to stir thought-provoking discussion and inspire other artists through by using the techniques Esther taught us. Customers are more interested, too.”
- Elissa Poma, Montgomery Art Association

Brad Eshgh, Brand Manager, RB
“A couple of years on from Business School and on the cusp of starting a new job, I wanted to thank you for your help ~5 years ago. Since business school, I’ve consistently received compliments for being able to communicate compelling business stories and I owe a lot of the fundamentals to your coaching and key tenants of storytelling. I have no doubt many people have expressed similar sentiment to you, but let me be the latest.”
- Brad Eshgh, Brand Manager, RB

Kavita Lobo, Associate Certified Coach (ICF), Life & Executive Coach, Corporate Facilitator, Storyteller
“You were open and free, and poured out nuggets to help me reach closer to my destination of becoming a storyteller. Every day in every way I am getting better and better, especially when beautiful souls like yourself extend themselves to lift fellow travelers. ”
- Kavita Lobo, Associate Certified Coach (ICF), Life & Executive Coach, Corporate Facilitator, Storyteller

Tina Peters, Senior Learner Experience Manager Wiley Education Services
“I appreciated the reflective nature of the coaching. It made me dig into the ‘whys’ of my life in ways I hadn’t considered before. I loved that Esther shared the big picture first, so I had a clear understanding of what business storytelling was and why it’s essential. Along the way, I applied bits and pieces of what I was learning right away in my real-world context. I loved brainstorming and collaborating with Esther.”
- Tina Peters, Senior Learner Experience Manager Wiley Education Services

Sharon d’Amore, Educational Leadership Consultant, Educational Answers
“Esther has increased my confidence. She is excellent, and listens to your issues and challenges. She’s a quick study, very solution oriented, and provides tools for life when it comes to storytelling for business and/or personal conversations.”
- Sharon d’Amore, Educational Leadership Consultant, Educational Answers

Luawanna Hallstrom, Principal, Collaborative Communications
“Regardless of whether it’s my story or my client’s story, the IRS model of intriguing beginning, riveting middle, and surprise ending has become a mantra for me. I just got a call from a large contractor who needed help to win a very critical vote. They needed to tell a story that voters could identify with. I’m living all of these things that I’ve learned through the story facilitators’ certification process, and I believe that together we can change the world, one story at a time.”
- Luawanna Hallstrom, Principal, Collaborative Communications

Melissa Graham, Head Spear, Founding CEO, Purple Asparagus
“Esther is a skilled teacher in the art of storytelling. She instills confidence and coaxes out details to use in crafting compelling stories that are well suited to convince and persuade in the business setting. Personally, she helped me reengage with storytelling, an art that I had set aside as child’s play when I went into the legal profession. My only wish is that I had met Esther earlier in my non-profit career.”
- Melissa Graham, Head Spear, Founding CEO, Purple Asparagus

Yalexis Barr, Partnership Manager, Partners International Canada
“Thanks for facilitating such a great workshop! I left feeling confident and capable of crafting a good story that would create interest around my organization and our cause!”
- Yalexis Barr, Partnership Manager, Partners International Canada

Carol Semrad, Principal, C. Semrad & Associates
“Reena’s leadership storytelling session for Chicago SHRM’s Breakfast Bites was engaging, enlightening and fun! I learned, very quickly, how to craft a story that is compelling for the listener, clearly communicates my message and is fun to tell. It was wonderful to have new learning to use immediately. It was not complicated or difficult to remember and was delivered in a setting where I could meet new colleagues and begin to build relationships. Thank you Reena!”
- Carol Semrad, Principal, C. Semrad & Associates

Hari Xenos, Former Continuous Improvement Manager, ArcelorMittal
“The coaching forced me to “make a sculpture out of the rocks” at a crucial transitional point in my career. Before Esther’s coaching, I thought of the separate experiences of my life and work as “rocks” or “rubble”—separate moments that were not connected. Through Esther’s coaching, I was able to look back on these rocks see how they fit together. Our sessions forced me to think and reflect on the moments of my life. As a result, I was able to create a sculpture out of the rocks: a cohesive story that now welds these experiences together.”
- Hari Xenos, Former Continuous Improvement Manager, ArcelorMittal

Elizabeth Gordon, Vice President of Analytics, Edge Direct
“The storytelling training showed me how 65 pages of data slides can be reduced to 30 words! I will use these storytelling techniques when teaching new concepts to my team and when expressing complicated data sets in ways that drill down to their essence.”
- Elizabeth Gordon, Vice President of Analytics, Edge Direct