Lo/Be Story is a narrative design studio. We work with universities, organizations, and individuals to transform the way people tell their professional stories.
Our signature methodology — Narrative by Design — was developed in partnership with the Dartmouth College Center for Career Design. It's a structured, research-backed process that compresses sprawling career histories into focused, powerful narratives.
We believe the best stories aren't long. They're clear. And clarity comes from knowing which word — which single word — sits at the center of everything you do.
Our process takes everything you could say and distills it down to the one thing that matters. Here's how it works:
The quiz you just experienced is a playful taste of this process. The real thing goes much deeper.
Narrative by Design started as a workshop at the Dartmouth College Center for Career Design. Students were struggling with the same problem professionals face everywhere: they had rich, complex experiences but couldn't articulate them clearly.
The traditional approach — write a better resume, practice your elevator pitch — wasn't working. Students didn't need better words. They needed fewer words. The right words.
So we built a process that flips the script. Instead of adding more, we compress. We use card sorts drawn from Knowdell Career Values, CliftonStrengths, and Motivated Skills to map the landscape. Then we compress relentlessly until one word emerges — a word that becomes a decision-making filter for every story you tell.
That process is now Lo/Be Story. And the quiz you just took is the tiniest version of what we build for institutions and individuals.
6 choices. 60 seconds. 1 word that changes everything.
You just experienced narrative compression — the core of our methodology.
Now discover the method behind the magic.
Stop following someone else's script. Your experiences, skills, and aspirations aren't just a list of credentials — they're the raw material of a narrative only you can author. At Lo/Be Story, we help you transform that material into an authentic, strategic story that opens doors.
Our Narrative Design Framework draws on psychology, design thinking, and reflective practice to guide you from fragmented experience to coherent direction. We don't offer prescriptive career advice. We equip you with the tools to become the architect of your own professional identity.
Lo/Be Story was founded on a conviction that careers aren't discovered — they're designed. We combine research-backed methodologies with creative strategy, helping students and professionals turn uncertainty into clarity and intention into action.
Brilliant students who could ace any exam but couldn't answer the most fundamental question: "What do you actually want?" These high-achievers had mastered navigating external expectations, but when those scripts ended at graduation, they felt disoriented despite impressive credentials. The challenge wasn't a deficit of talent — it was the absence of authorship.
Our insight emerged from a consistent pattern: the students who thrived after graduation weren't necessarily those with the highest GPAs — they were the ones who could articulate a coherent narrative about who they were and where they were heading. Yet no institution was teaching them how to construct that narrative with rigor and intentionality.
Lo stands for Look — examining your current reality with honesty and clarity. It encompasses everything you've cultivated thus far: your experiences, competencies, and circumstances. It begins with recognizing your starting point without judgment.
Be stands for Become — the person you are actively shaping through deliberate choices. Not a fixed destination, but an evolving process of becoming more fully and intentionally yourself.
And the slash? It represents the bridge — the active work of transformation through experimentation, reflection, and narrative craft. It marks the space where you cease being a character in someone else's script and become the author of your own.
Our methodology is iterative, dynamic, and deeply personal. Grounded in design thinking and reflective inquiry, these four interconnected phases guide you from ambiguity to articulation.
From narrative-based career strategy and personal branding to portfolio development and application support, our services are designed to move you from uncertainty to clarity and from intention to action.
Students & Graduates
Gain clarity and direction as you prepare for internships, employment, or graduate study. We help you surface your core values, identify your distinctive strengths, and construct a compelling professional narrative.
Career Changers
Whether you're navigating a professional pivot or establishing credibility in a new discipline, we help you reframe your trajectory into a coherent, authentic strategy for what comes next.
High-Achievers Seeking Purpose
Your accomplishments are formidable — but their power lies in how you contextualize and communicate them. We help you craft narratives that foreground originality, vision, and meaningful impact.
A multidisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners with deep expertise in education, design, and career development — dedicated to helping students and emerging professionals discover and articulate their authentic narratives.
The quiz offered a glimpse. The real work goes deeper. Schedule a consultation and begin designing the narrative that opens doors.
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