Meet StoryTeller | Co-Founder of KidTime StoryTime

We had the good fortune of connecting with StoryTeller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi StoryTeller, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I’m inspired by creativity, goodness, beauty, big ideas, and any opportunity to inspire my fellow humans. So I’m overjoyed that my work as StoryTeller on KidTime StoryTime allows me to put my inspiration into action!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t really enjoy talking about myself, so I share this in the hope that it encourages others to boldly follow their own life’s plan.

Everything in my career path…including the dreams I did NOT realize…set me on the path to creating KidTime StoryTime. I’ve found that experiences are never in vain because they are pushing us towards a destiny that we usually can’t see when we’re hitting obstacles. I was a TV reporter, a singer/songwriter, and a restless dreamer with a wide magical streak. How was I supposed to put THAT skill-set together?

YouTube would provide the answer, but while I was waiting for someone to invent YouTube…..

I became an Emmy Award-winning journalist, telling stories and specializing in helping people right the wrongs in their lives, restoring hope, ensuring safety, and making people whole again in so many ways.

Then at the top of my journalism career, I left it for something super practical: the stage! Haha! I ended up singing and acting on New York stages, touring North America with a Broadway musical, and even performed in Paris in a world premiere musical. Very OohLaLa!

Still, neither of those careers fulfilled me completely.
Music and magic were missing from my journalism career.
Service to others was missing from my performance career.
Neither allowed me full creative expression.

FINALLY, someone got around to inventing YouTube.

Launching the channel was an act of love, not business. You know that guy who said “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life?” That guy deserves a plaque or a nice lunch or something.

When we started reading stories to kids on KidTime StoryTime, we made either ZERO money or wayyyy below minimum wage money. This went on for YEARS. But since we did it out of love and a commitment to children, we did it happily.

10 years later, we have more than a million subscribers, a life filled with daily infusions of inspiration, full creative expression, and a bright and loving community we call the KidTime Family who join us on our reading adventures and gift us ridiculous levels of joy.

You ask if it was easy. I think you already know the answer.
This is why I encourage kids to work hard, keep learning, keep dreaming big, and never give up. The road of our lives is unmapped, despite all our self-written itineraries. The best guide is your determination and an ability to read the signs.

If you’re wondering if I’m now satisfied, I’m satisfied’ISH. There’s so much more to do for children! More shows to dream up. Songs to write. Magic to make.

Guess I better keep working hard.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Miami has TWO wild sides: Big City and Big Nature.
I’ll start in the city.
Little Havana is a MUST if you’re visiting Miami! Ice cream at Azucar, live music and amazing food virtually anywhere! The art galleries and cigar shops are marvelous. Domino Park is a photo op you can’t miss and a unique slice of Cuban American history.

Then there’s downtown. I’m a fan. I recommend a stroll along the waterfront from Bayfront Park (as far as the heat will allow!) for an eyeful of tropical city beauty. Jump on the Metromover for a Birds Eye view of downtown. And because it’s iconic, take a drive down to South Beach past the cruise ships and millionaire islands followed by a slowwww drive down Ocean Drive.

Now onto Miami’s wild NATURAL side… The Everglades National Park deserves a full day. Take an airboat ride! Ride the tram! Taste the frog legs! Pet the baby gator! Check out the exhibits! ALL WORTH IT. Our River of Grass is a wonder. And if you love that, there’s more where that came from! Biscayne National Park, Bill Baggs State Park (where the iguana confrontations are epic), and John Pennekamp State Park for canoeing, swimming and picnicking.

If you come visit Miami, I will basically exhaust you.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I love that you do this! None of us stand alone, and I am filled with gratitude for so many people who’ve nurtured me along my path.

KidTime StoryTime wouldn’t be what it is without my fellow Co-Founder aka “Offscreen Technical Genius” who started the channel with me, eventually leaving all his other work behind to fully commit to our dream. Gratitude aplenty for my mother and father who each had the courage to leave Communist Cuba, allowing me to be born in freedom. Gratitude for our nephews who were the first to help us see how much children need to be told stories. Gratitude for journalism teachers like Al Tompkins who taught me great storytelling. Gratitude for my own childhood heroes like Mister Rogers and Walt Disney, who showed me that a life of magic, creativity and wonder is possible at any age.

Website: https://www.KidTimeStoryTime.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kidtimestorytime

Facebook: https://facebook.com/KidTimeStoryTime

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kidtimestorytime

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/kidtimestory/_saved/