Lauren Maxwell
Woman with many hats
We're more than what we do. BUT we can do a whole lot more of what we love to do.
Storytelling
As a child, I would re-create classic scenes of films and books by asking, “what if?” I took this interest in storytelling to theater and then to film school, yet the system told me: you cannot make money doing what you love.
For a decade, I climbed the corporate ladder as a background character in a world that was not my own. Finally, I dared to ask: “what if?” And I took the jump and plunged into the world of storytelling and enrolling in Professional Storytelling School at Mezrab in Amsterdam in 2020.
Today as a rising storyteller in the Netherlands, I draw on my background in theater, film, improvisation, and gaming to fully explore the “what if?” in all our stories, shedding light on different perspectives through personal stories and magical mixed with realism.
When not on Zoom, I've performed at Pakhuis de Zwijger, Mezrab The House of Stories, Tolhuis, Muganga Theater, and CREA in Amsterdam and De Kargadoor in Utrecht.
Current Projects
Currently I'm writing my first one-woman show entitled, "Everywhere it wasn't," about reconnecting with my Yiddish roots and what it means to be part of a Jewish Diaspora.
The show will intertwine my personal story with yiddish folklore, ultimately re-creating my family history through the magic of folklore and Jewish dark humour.
In a year haunted by chaos and discourse, I see an urgency to heal our past and our relationship to who we are and where we've come from, so that we can move closer together. Ideally through the blend of comedy and drama.
Training
Having worked almost a decade in marketing and branding, communications, and UX storytelling, and then in learning & development and coaching, I began working on my own type of corporate training that blends storytelling with personal development.
This was following a year of international training that I had created and taught on user experience (UX) storytelling.
In 2020 and 2021, I worked with Triodos Bank international on a co-creating a new personal development course called FLOW: where I used narrative structure to co-create a program that examines mindset and the stories we develop for ourselves in order to redefine Feedback, Learning, Objectives, and our own Well-being.
Writing and Vocal work
Writing has always been my greatest love. I write to share a different perspective and serve a wider story that people can connect to. I write professionally for corporate clients and interview sustainable companies and social entrepreneurs; I blog on self-development; and I write all my own storytelling scripts (fiction and non-fiction) including my current one-woman show I'm working on.
Having worked in training and writing as well as oral storytelling, it was also natural to dabble in vocal work for my own podcast. I've also hired to provide the vocal work for a corporate podcast.
Example of corporate writing
Example of blog writing
Example text of for a show about my grandfather
Example of vocal recording
Excerpt
"Walking on clouds of heaven"
Every Sunday at 4 o’clock, I used to visit my grandparents with my mom for Sunday dinner. I’d knock on the big red door and my grandma Sue would always answer within seconds, pull me in for a warm squishy hug and usher us inside. The apartment was in Delray Beach Florida, where most New York Jews went to retire. On the outside, it was a white cement block. And on the inside, the apartment was covered in yellow – from the shag carpet to all of the plushy furniture. There were only pictures of me above the television. The television was from the 1970s and had channel buttons on the side and a knob that always stayed on a level 3 volume. The TV was always on. And around the house in all the available counter tops and shelves, there’d be porcelain tchotchkes of little fat angel babies with rosy cheeks.
When I entered the apartment, my grandpa Ben would already be seated in his golden yellow chair - an island in the living room – with his ironed slacks, polished shoes, and buttoned up shirt. Directly in front of his chair was the tv. Beside him was a stack of Reader’s Digest magazines. I’d often find him with his hands on his knees staring directly in front of him. I used to sit by his feet with my books. Sometimes I’d look up at him and our eyes would meet. Other times I’d just start reading, and he’d just watch tv.
We would bond over our mutual love of gambling. Some Sundays, we’d play Bingo after dinner. My grandma would clear the dining table except for the glasses of ginger ale and slices of moist yellow pound cake in the center. My grandpa would pass out the cards and tokens and call my mom and grandma to the table. I was in charge of calling out the numbers and letters. We’d look at each other’s bingo cards to see who was close to the BINGO. Although it didn’t matter because every time, he declared me victor. And when I won, he would reach his hand into his pocket, open his black leather wallet, and retrieve a 5-dollar-bill. He’d slip it between my fingers, and before I could pocket it, he’d lock his blue eyes to mine and say: “take care of this.”