Share your story
A place to tell what happened, and what stayed with you.
Do you have a story?
It feels important to acknowledge that you may be here because something happened that was not good.
And 'not good' matters.
If you are wondering 'is this a story that belongs here?'
The Listening Space welcomes all women, including trans women, who have experienced or witnessed workplace harm.
Stories of behaviours and situations that left you feeling scared, confused or hurt are welcome here, as are experiences where something felt taken or lost, or has felt missing ever since.
You may also have been affected by seeing a work colleague being bullied, discriminated against, harassed or intimidated. Your story is important too.
The label or the degree is not what matters. Your experience does not have to pass a 'bad enough' test — sometimes what cuts deepest can happen in a heartbeat.
What matters is that the behaviours and actions of others affected you: whether you felt undermined, discredited, shamed, humiliated, targeted or belittled, or you simply haven't felt like yourself since.
This space is for you to share and be heard.
What Sharing a Story Means
If you would like to share your story, you can click the link to my calendar and choose a time for a private 30-minute listening conversation which will take place via Zoom.
You will be sent an email confirmation and a link to join me at your chosen time. You do not need a Zoom account, the web link works in any browser.
There is no need to come with anything prepared. We have a conversation, I ask you a handful of questions and as I listen to your answers, your story will naturally emerge and I gain an understanding of what happened and how it affected you.
The Listening Conversations are just that, space for you to talk and me to listen. There will be no coaching, therapy or analysis and no defined outcome, goal or destination to get to.
What happens to your story
Here's what happens from our conversation - to your story being shared in The Listening Space
The Conversation
The Zoom call will not be video or audio recorded.
With your permission, I will use Zoom's transcription feature to create a written transcript of our conversation.
You can choose not to have the conversation transcribed. Alternatively, I can make written notes, but may not always be able to use your exact words.
Your story is distilled
The transcript ensures that I use your words exactly when I distil a three-minute audio script drawing on a significant moment in your experience.
A significant moment allows the listener to feel something of what the experience meant for you and, sometimes, to recognise something of their own experience in it.
Your identity is protected
The story will be anonymised. All references, names, locations, dates and times will be changed, so that any person listening would not be able to identify you.
You see it before anyone else does
Once I have written the script, I will email both the original transcript and the story for you to check.
You can tell me that you are happy for me to go ahead and record your story or request an amendment before I do. All stories are recorded by me. You can listen to examples of what this sounds like by clicking the featured stories on the home page.
Nothing is published without your approval
No story will be included in The Listening Space without your approval.
Once agreed, I will record the story and upload it to The Listening Space.
Future Hopes
The Listening Space is also part of a wider body of work I hope will grow over time.
I would like the conversations and stories gathered here to inform future research and writing about women's experiences of workplace harm, including potentially a book.
If you contribute a story, I will ask you separately whether you are happy for your original transcript and source material to be retained securely as part of The Listening Space research archive for this purpose.
You do not have to agree to this for your story to be included in The Listening Space. They are separate choices.
Privacy
Your original transcript and source material will be stored securely and protected by encryption. It will only be accessible to me and will not be shared with anyone else without your permission.
You remain in control of your story. Nothing will be published without your approval, and if you later change your mind, you can ask for your story to be removed from The Listening Space at any time.
You can also ask for your original transcript and other source material to be deleted. Information relating to your story will be stored securely and handled in accordance with The Listening Space Privacy Policy which you can find here
Your privacy, safety and choice
Your consent is important at every point. You choose:
- what you do or do not wish to share
- whether the listening conversation is transcribed
- whether you would like your conversation to become a story
- what is or is not included in your story
- whether your story is published in The Listening Space
You can change your mind at any point.
Ready to share?
If you would like to book a 30-minute Listening Conversation, please find a link to my calendar here
Have a question first?
You can email me at natasha@sheshinesagain.coach
In-Person Listening Spaces
I am making some in-person Listening Space sessions available both locally to where I live and also with partner organisations. These will be discreet and comfortable locations where we can sit and talk, over coffee or tea, in privacy.
For more information about dates, times and locations, you can join The Listening Space newsletter or contact me directly for upcoming sessions.
