A local author and community advocate has been selected to be part of the Telus STORYHIVE for her new podcast project.
Recently, STORYHIVE, which has supported community-based video projects for years, announced they would be moving into supporting podcasts as well. Of the almost 700 podcast concepts pitched, 16 were selected, including one right here in Lloydminster.
Shelly-Ann Wieringa’s podcast I Never Lied: The Shelly-Ann Story is based on the life of the local author as she overcame childhood abuse and the trauma therein. According to her pitch, the project seeks to be an honest approach to sharing her personal truths, connecting with other victims and helping the healing journey to begin. It is based also on the book she wrote of the same name.
Wieringa says her biggest hope is people can find commonality in her story, find the confidence to speak out on a subject seen as taboo and start to forgive themselves for past mistakes caused by their trauma.
“I was trapped for so many years in the deep-rooted, adverse effects of child abuse that it frightens me to think there’s somebody else out there who is afraid to speak out, they’re being stuck in the same position that I was for so long. So I think its the fear of leaving someone behind that is propelling me to do what I am doing.”
The episodes will feature how Wieringa’s story was confirmed to be true by investigators and how it has impacted others. Also, she will sit down with her family for a truthful conversation about how this trauma can impact generationally.
The selected casts will receive not only a place to host their shows and guidance from many big names in the business already but also $10,000 in funding to get the projects into the air. STORYHIVE says by featuring the projects, they could provide creators like Wieringa access to over one million listeners just in Western Canada through Telus Optik.
Rebecca Peng, Telus StoryHIVE marketing manager, says the selection committee took into account several factors, and Wieringa’s project hit all of them.
“What they were looking for was obviously just the strength of the pitch itself. Is this person ready to tell the story they’re pitching us? Are they the right person to tell the story they’re pitching us? [All of] which were just so evident in the story Shelly-Ann’s pitch. She is a wonderful person to tell the story, and share the advice and knowledge she wants to share with this project.”
The first three episodes will be featured on the STORYHIVE website, and creators are encouraged to take the project further after that. Wieringa says she will, with the assistance of Forges Media.