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January is when consultants are told to get louder. Post more. Pitch harder. Optimize everything. Be visible or be forgotten. For many thoughtful, values-driven consultants, that advice lands like a weight. You care about your clients. You do careful work. You hold stories that are not disposable. The idea that success requires constant self-promotion feels off, even if you cannot quite name why. That tension matters. Anti-hype PR begins with a quieter premise: visibility wor

Most small businesses don’t start with a five-year plan. They start with a tug. A story you keep thinking about. A service you wish existed. An idea that shows up while you’re making dinner or driving carpool and refuses to be ignored. For many people, the hardest part is not the idea. It’s knowing how to begin without losing yourself in the process. Over the last few years, I’ve worked with nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who want their work to matter withou

For anyone who knows that stories grow best when tended, not pushed There’s a quiet rhythm to Iowa work. You can hear it if you stand long enough near a windbreak or let your shoes fill with dust on a late-afternoon gravel road. Things that matter here usually grow from patience, not spectacle. That same rhythm shapes how I run Small Adventures Communications, my Des Moines, Iowa, digital PR agency, where the digital part sits in service to something older, slower, and stubbo

There is a moment, just before a story gets really good, when the body leans forward before the mind catches up. The pupils widen. The breath steadies. Something ancient in us wakes like a prairie vole twitching in tall grass. Scientists have measured what our grandmothers already knew: humans are built for story, not as decoration but as biological fuel. Researchers at Princeton found that when we hear a well-told narrative, the listener’s brain begins mirroring the storytel

You know it, and I know it: storytelling is 100% more captivating than fact-telling. Wouldn't you rather hear someone weave a dramatic tale than hear them list off a bunch of facts? Stories are what move us to action, they connect with us on a much deeper level than our logical brains and incite us to do something differently. The best ones reflect our own experiences through a new lens and broaden our worldview. When your job is helping people care for their health, storytel

Let’s be real—communication can feel like trying to net a firefly. You see the glow, you know it matters, but it keeps darting away just when you think you’ve got it. For mission-driven teams and nonprofits, that dance can be especially tricky. Every word carries weight. You want to inspire trust, spark action, and sound like you  while doing it. That’s where communication planning earns its keep. Think of it less as a rigid process and more as a trail map—one that helps you

When the unexpected hits, it can feel like the ground beneath you is shifting. You’re juggling so many things at once, and suddenly, you...

Building a brand that truly resonates with your audience feels like crafting a story that people want to be part of. It’s not just about...

You know that feeling when your message is out there, but it’s just not quite reaching the right ears? It’s like shouting into a canyon...

No secret, we love stories. We, at Small Adventures, and just like all of us humans, man. Stories have brought people together for...

Have you seen this? Your board chair is at a community event, your program director is on a panel, and your social media manager is...

Picture this: You’re standing in front of your team (or maybe your board, or maybe just your laptop), saying the same line for the third...

Take this 5-minute self-check to spot the cracks before they cost you momentum. If you check more than two boxes — book your free consult...

A few weeks ago, we lost our cat. And like the public relations pro I am, I sprang into strategic action. We did it all: Flyers on every...

I built my career helping others share their health stories — and in the process, I learned just how powerful story can be when someone’s...

Like many parents, my heart broke watching the news about the terrible flooding at a Texas summer camp. It’s the kind of news that makes...

The best crisis is one that never happens, but the second best is one you are prepared for as an organization. While it may be possible...

When it is time to talk tactics, rarely does a client pass us by to whom we do not recommend podcast guesting. While the idea of spending...

Storytelling holds immense power. A well-crafted patient story can bridge the gap between health care providers and their audience,...

Hi. It's a wild time to be a health communicator/a non-profit communicator/a human, right? I feel it, too, and I wanted to share a few...