t’s c’s for Storytelling
A self-invented framework to help organise the order of thoughts, pitch with confidence, and expression of how proposed ideas will add value to a business, is to tap into an integrated PR perspective. The fundamentals of which must align a meaningful message to a specific audience, with intention and integrity. ‘T’s C’s of Storytelling’ (Figure 1), is a thinking tool in progress, and an ally for anyone seeking a little structure while incorporating personal presence.
It begins with a context that sets the scene; a concept that illuminates the ‘big idea’; a content strategy that outlines and defines the who, what, why, when, and with what mediums and touchpoints. And it concludes with creative commerce to underpin how communication will add and innovate value - the KPIs and non-financial (intangible) KPIs.
Methodology for Meaning
Informed by a series of qualatative interviews with select experts and academic voices in the creative industries, outputs underpin how PR is regenerating with a welcome return to interpersonal capability and collaborative (human and machine) intelligence.
This inquiry was deeply influenced by the Inner Development Goals (IDG) framework (Figure 2), which serves as a roadmap for inner transformation as the foundation for external action.
Figure 2 : IDG The Inner Development Goals Framework (2021)
Discovered through the digital pages of The Beautiful Truth Magazine, and in the wake of the upcoming ‘Bridging Polarities’ summit, is a movement that instils personal confidence with a concrete context to openly discuss how spirituality and cultural synchrony can coexist in a corporate world.
In fact, beginning with who we are as beings is critical for a genuine progression of global positive impact - collectively and from a place of who we are, for what we do.
To communicate Beauty is to communicate truth. And to this end, the art and subconscious prevalence of Public Relations holds invaluable currency to frame how we can better nurture and serve the sustainability goals. It is, in fact, a personal and professional development life skill to master, respect, and practise for effective storytelling.
Harmonising teaching practice with consultancy and mentoring visionary fashion, beauty, and luxury lifestyle founders, each honouring creativity to develop spaces that have people feel they belong, has meant that one's own self-awareness is to be prioritised.
To look after others from within side - out , followed by steps towards identifying and calling upon comrades to support the process, so that the process can be wholly activated with clarity, care, and belief.
It is a ‘Creative Act’ inspired by many moments of diving into the work of Rick Ruben, as well as Gary Zukav (Seat of the Soul), Shayna Cornelius and Dana Stiles (Human Design), Daniel H Pink (A Whole New Mind), and Jiddu Krishnamurti’s Freedom From the Known.
A Transformative Approach
Former training in Integral study and leadership (2020) at the Concord Institute, led at the time by Sheila Parmar, Greg Johnson, and in partnership with David Norris, introduced a profound way of embracing self-inquiry with expansive education. A key takeaway is that without an experience, there is no story to tell. We as humans need to entertain ourselves through the ego, to experience life so that life feels alive. And to feel alive is to have the privilege to share that emotion with others. A conscious desire for attention is a natural state of the human condition.
And so apply this to branding and communication, and what we have is an opportunity to go beyond traditional constructs, to instead integrate the power of PR into our everyday lives so that we can, in turn, have autonomy and above all, authorship to influence in an authentic and compassionate way.
Exploring how PR is a conduit and bridge to cultivate from the context of branding specifically and dialogue investigating the ‘personification’ of brands Jill Hawkins of the Future Thief strikingly stated;
‘people don't need brands to be their friend. We need humans to be our friends. We need brands to serve us’. (Jill Hawkins, 2025)
And to be of service is to consider the intricacies of interaction and the study of personalisation, so that we feel seen, heard, and appreciated. It also underpins the notion of 'people as purpose’ a subline weaved within all lectures and seminars to emphasise that to personify is to be a person behind the construct of a brand identity.
Collaborative Intelligence, as part of the conceptual age (Pink, 2005) in which we live and are only recently becoming aware of, is to fuse otherwise unrelated aspects to create innovation. Therefore, the idea of AI being a threat to PR / Creative Communication is on the contrary. According to Gemma Oakes of one to watch Ampersand Agency;
(AI) might filter out agencies that haven't or can't evolve quickly. But most smart agencies are already embracing it. If anything, because of all the fake news and disinformation audiences are now heavily exposed to, it opens an opportunity for PR. A greater desire for storytelling and brand advocacy, the bits we love”(Gemma Oakes 2025)
And the future therefore remains phenomenally, expansive. Fashion Editor, Creative Director & Stylist Sara Hassan offers advice on advancing the PR specialism…
"PR professionals must evolve into the next generation of 'community architects'—no longer just storytellers, but stewards of how stories thrive, grow, and evolve. The role of PR is shifting from controlling the message to shaping public identities in a more authentic, collaborative way. It’s less about being overt and more about being intentional and truthful—creating space for audiences to engage, interpret, and ultimately form their own perspectives." (Sara Hassan, 2025)
The Alliance Matrix
At the heart of connection is to curate an alliance matrix of key individuals, not necessarily within the fashion, beauty, and luxury lifestyle sector. In applying Blue Ocean dynamics, diversification of the once labeled ‘little black book’ is to become a world for all to wander through. Less about who you know and more about the skills to cultivate a network one-on-one, to one-on-many in a meaningful way.
Applying (Stamford) design thinking methodology to empathise, identify, ideate, test, and implement to the accumulation of a network enables people to be considerate of those approached. Especially as we navigate an oversaturated world. While digitalisation dissolved parameters, without regulation, responsible and respectful action, ‘links’ are easily broken.
A fireside conversation with fellow polymath, Manuela Colombini of the Institute of European Design, Florence, illuminates:
“Networking, win-win approach, should always be part of the narrative. Unfortunately, since the influencer era started, everything has been transformed into a scene of “The Truman Show”. It is quite rare to find real content creators with a real relationship with their audience. I would love to see more energy exchange, motion in places, instead of this poor ghost of a marketing approach. This way is draining the energy and the soul of the PR world, losing track of really getting in touch with people.” (Manuela Colombini, 2025)
And so we continue to circulate, blend, bend, reimagine, and ever-evolve the power of storytelling - to do so authentically is to commence with nothing less than pure spirit.
.Thoughts in Progress
.T
With thanks to all who contributed their time to speak with me for the purpose of this research paper in progress Peter Penny, Jill Hawkins, Gemma Oakes, Sara Hassan, Manuela Colombini, Charlotte Rutter, Kate Nightingale, Katie Mander, Dr Kate Armstrong. And to Olga Mitterfellner for iginiting courage.