Hi, I'm Pema Rocker.
People bring me their big ideas. I help untangle them into actionable plans.
A former ghostwriter and creative companion to experts in an array of fields, I use active inquiry and depth listening to reflect people's wisdom and intent. Together we distill each element, connect the dots, and find the story and strategy of what they’re creating.
I help visionaries, creatives, helpers and teams turn their stories into solutions.
Welcome to the new Story Charmer site in progress!
Creativity can get messy. And since that's what we do here—find our way OUT of chaos and INTO creating and connecting—I’m excited to build in-view.
So come on by. Check back often. For links, info, and our new story unfolding.
We can celebrate together when it’s done.
Reach me with the form below, or in my socials @pemarocker.
Praise for Story Charmer
“…part mystical, part mundane and all around miracle...”
"...simplicity out of conundrum..."
“…a deeply personal and powerful process that led me to the launch of my lifetime AND…[to] my own strong, clear voice I knew I had in me but no idea how to get out..."
"...intricately tied to the deep stories of our time, the deep emotions of our collective consciousness...”
1 : 1
Personal sessions for
Amplifying impact
Wayfinding + strategy
Creative A-Ha’s
Group
Story parties for
Onboarding cohorts
Creative retreats
Moments that matter
Depth 1 : 1
Personal sessions for
When a creative calling
is a call to
transmute grief
Conversation creates.
Story Charmer is both the name of my business and the way that I work. What started in 2008 as a listening practice to capture the brand essence of my business clients—and later book writing clients—turned into deep collaborations that trip tectonic shifts. Together we surface stories that move audiences into action, or service, or transformation, or wonder.
My most effective work is in helping the helpers, visionaries, creatives and mission-driven teams. There's a place we meet or a value we share that amplifies the stories we tell together, and the impact they make.
A rocket scientist with an anti-patriarchal vision, a Grammy-Award winning songwriter with writer's block, a psychologist writing to help bridge the political divide, have been a few of my favorite collaborations.
Driven by inquiry, discovery and collaboration, Story Charmer is valuable for creators breaking through an obstacle, and groups looking to create cohesion.
You + Me collabs
You're a creator. You build businesses. Or interactive art. You direct films that put casts and crews to their best work. You teach courses that expand realities and opportunities. Or write books. You reach people. People feel reached — engaged, shifted, subscribed — by your creations.
And now your next big thing is calling.
1 : 1
Personal sessions for
Amplifying impact • Wayfinding + strategy • Creative A-Ha's
You need a place to start. More than a whiteboard. Or maybe you're half way through and you need some help to dig in and make it even better. Or, you've hit a snag.
The people I work with are inspired. They're generators. They know their material and they see it impacting their world. So they ask me for witness and generative inquiry and we GO GET IT.
We organize bottleneck thoughts into a system; connect storylines, strategize positioning; identify resources. With your vision and my inquiry, we connect to your inspired self, organize it into action, and deliver meaning that audiences feel and hear humming from miles away.
Our timing depends on the creation. We work one time or in a series of sessions. Or, we work in a several-day intensive retreat or in a measured pace over a few months. Let's chat about the kind of collab that would best serve yours.
Depth 1 : 1
The deeper cut
When a creative calling is a call to transmute grief
Grief doesn’t walk a straight line. It crops up at unexpectedly at inopportune moments—like when you’re about to launch a product, build a service, cut a record.
Grief can show up as a block. Confusion, procrastination, ennui. Feeling not good enough? It might be grief. It shows up as imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, watching others go ahead while you stay in one place.
Stalling out? Causing chaos on the team? Can’t get to the end? It’s a weird thing. Who considers grief and creativity? And who thinks of grief slowing or stopping it?
Having walked clients through the process of starting a book, and then supporting them through a grief arc instead, I started to notice the creative calling as a call to transmute loss into a different shape that lives outside us; and to possibly transform self — and sometimes others — in the process.
In Depth 1 : 1's we consider the block and define a number of sessions to take us through its journey. There will likely be tears, and A-Ha's, perspective shifts. And then a rush of flow. Inside this rush is the very intelligence of that block, brimming at an elevation your project wanted to reach all along. Let's chat to see if I can support you through the grief journey your creative block is hiding.
Story Charmer parties
Something lasting happens when we come together to hear and tell stories, unpracticed, without pressure, with the ease of an expert host guiding the way into meaningful and surprising territory. It's connection. That thing folks have been simultaneously craving and fearing since rapid change, grief and isolation hit us hard. Connection in the workplace breaks down silos. Connection in social circles brings us closer, supports mental health, and helps us find each other's humanity.
Organizations & teams
Moments that matter • Team building • Retreats
Connection that translates into action over time. That’s the promise of Story Charming parties in organizations. For a lot of folks, feeling isolated at work didn’t start with a pandemic. To that add two years of a social lockdown, and we’re all still finding our way back from a lack of connection.
When folks on your team need help, do they ask for it? When the org is silo’ed, are there systems in place to connect between them to unify the goal?
In the connection of Story Charmer parties, we pave neural and emotional pathways that make it easier to reach out across silos or teams or projects in the future. We get to know each other in simple but lasting ways. And our connection catalyzes the work that follows. Onboarding cohorts, product teams, nonprofit organizers, student affairs groups...any few who want to cohere around a cause by deepening their bond can benefit from a Story Charmer party. Let's chat to plan yours.
Private parties
Special events • Anniversaries • Birthdays
Private Story Charmer parties are created custom for each group, and typically host 10 to 20 people. We've celebrated birthdays, wedding showers, holiday gatherings... We also host community parties in Portland, Oregon and Oakland, California.
To get on the list to attend community parties, or to bring one to your town, hop to the Contact section and drop a line. To inquire about groups bigger than 20, or to get a quote or information for your group, do the same! You can also find me at @pemarocker on Instagram and search Pema Rocker on LinkedIn.
ABOUT PEMA
Pema Rocker is an author, story coach and strategist. She has created, curated and edited magazines for LGBTQIA/Queer and spiritual communities; created story circles to deepen group experiences while connecting teams for greater collaboration and longevity; and ghost writes for L&D professionals. She helps creators find their ways through launch transitions and creative blocks in the stories they tend, from business offers to teaching curricula to songwriting to memoir. Pema lives in Portland, Oregon and works with folks across the globe.
Is Story Charming for you? Let's chat and find out.
"Sometimes you can't see the meaning or value of an encounter until you speak it
and the rest of us witness your voice."
-Victoria Loorz, Church of the Wild