Story Like You Mean It

Each of us has a story to share, a mixture of lived experiences-planned and unplanned-that come together and give our existence shape and identity. But in a world where we rely on screens and images for communication and self-expression, do we truly know how to tell our story? Do you know how to tell yours? In Story Like You Mean It, Dr. Dennis Rebelo helps you communicate with ease and connect with others by constructing a self-narrative with intention and purpose. At the intersection of academic theory and practical experience, Dr. Rebelo shares insights he has gained coaching clients on how to build and then share their life-work narratives. Students from the US Navy and CVS Health's Executive Learning Series for Diverse Suppliers, and even NFL alumni, have used Dr. Rebelo's Peak Storytelling model to navigate personal history, reflect on influential moments, and compellingly communicate their true value. What raw experiences made you who you are today? How do you express them meaningfully to showcase your worth? Dive into the intricacies of StoryPathing, become the master of your own narrative, and reap the benefits of sharing who you truly are.

My love is poison. His kiss is mine. “The first time he saw me I was shattered glass, and he was a shadow. If I had stayed, he would have just faded away.” It’s strange how easy it is to tell our stories to a stranger’s eyes. The truth about Connor Stratford and I had always been a sad tale. Over ten years of chasing, tears, lies, vows, and leaving. Two people who never loved each other at the same time, but couldn’t let each other go. Now here I was telling our story over drinks midday in an airport bar with my old diary clutched in my hand. Telling some version of our story, anyway. I left him once with no goodbye. Now I was returning home to give him what he needed to move on. “It’s important. It’s what you’re thinking.” I knew what his message meant, sent in the middle of the night after I woke from a fever dream. He was finally ready, and so was I. I just needed to finally give him the kiss he begged for. The one that meant goodbye.

What would you do if, one glorious September morning, your husband were to die suddenly, when all he had done was go to work, and you didn’t even wake up properly to say goodbye? For Patricia, Julia, Claudia and Ann, four thirty-something women whose husbands worked at the World Trade Center, this became a tragic reality. But in the dark days following September 11th, 2001, the four came together and found comfort in each other. Love You, Mean It is a remarkable shared memoir of four marriages, of how four hope-filled relationships were tragically cut short, of how these four women rebuilt their lives after a deep loss, but, most of all, it is an extraordinary testament to the power of friendship.

In 1916 Ambrose March, a young cameraman, was wounded on the Western Front. Nearly a century later his astonishing film remains testament to his talent. Now a major Hollywood movie company is aiming to recreate his final days. On set, Rory Defoe is giving the performance of his life, frequently reducing the crew to tears with his brilliant portrayal of the tormented Ambrose March. Off set, he’s proving the typical Hollywood bad boy: often so out of control he’s in danger of wrecking the film. In utter despair, the director knows there’s only one person he can turn to. Ella Buchan is tired of stars like Rory, with their obsessive fans and egos the size of the Beverly Hills Hotel. As Rory’s make-up artist she’s already spending hours each day shut up in her trailer with him. She certainly doesn’t want to get any closer. But the director needs Ella to save his film and she reluctantly agrees to get involved. She has no idea what she’s letting herself in for.

Now an original movie on Prime Video starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine! When Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of a prestigious art gallery in Los Angeles, takes her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favorite boy band, she does so reluctantly and at her ex-husband’s request. The last thing she expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things. What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes navigate each other’s disparate worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. And for Solène, it is as much a reclaiming of self, as it is a rediscovery of happiness and love. When their romance becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her new status has impacted not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her.

“Full of revealing, instantly applicable ideas for leveraging your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses.” —Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Originals, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife For many of us, listening is simply something we do on autopilot. We hear just enough of what others say to get our work done, maintain friendships, and be polite with our neighbors. But we miss crucial opportunities to go deeper—to give and receive honest feedback, to make connections that will endure for the long haul, and to discover who people truly are at their core. Fortunately, listening can be improved—and Ximena Vengoechea can show you how. In Listen Like You Mean It, she offers an essential listening guide for our times, revealing tried-and-true strategies honed in her own research sessions and drawn from interviews with marriage counselors, podcast hosts, life coaches, journalists, filmmakers, and other listening experts. Through Vengoechea’s set of scripts, key questions, exercises, and illustrations, you’ll learn to: • Quickly build rapport with strangers • Ask the right questions to deepen a conversation • Pause at the right time to encourage vulnerability • Navigate a conversation that’s gone off the rails Now more than ever, we need to feel heard, connected, and understood in a world that keeps turning up the volume. Warm, funny, and immensely practical, this book shows you how.

A Hero Like You looks at everyday heroes and highlights qualities such as loyalty, compassion, resourcefulness, justice, and courage. The lyrical rhyme and relatable illustrations remind us that we all have the opportunity to be a hero by helping others, doing right and making the world a better place. "What the world needs is a hero like you!"

Hurt people hurt people. Say there was a novel in which Holden Caulfield was an alcoholic and Lolita was a photographer’s assistant and, somehow, they met in Bright Lights, Big City. He’s blinded by love. She by ambition. Diary of an Oxygen Thief is an honest, hilarious, and heartrending novel, but above all, a very realistic account of what we do to each other and what we allow to have done to us.