Bio
For those of you who want "just the facts:"
Shelley Hourston is founder and owner of S. Hourston & Associates. She is a Story & Change Facilitator. She has a Master's
degree in Library Science, a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Sociology, and a certificate in Leadership Coaching from
Vancouver Community College. She has studied Creativity Coaching with
Eric Maisel and uses Appreciative Inquiry in her work. Shelley has over 20 years of experience in the information field,
working in educational, corporate and nonprofit settings. For the past ten years she has worked in the field of health literacy and consumer health information for people with disabilities. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
For those of you who want to know more of "my story:"
I grew up in rural British Columbia in a community filled with US draft dodgers who told me stories of the "real Vietnam War."
Anger, compassion, fear, humility, and the pain of participating in a war that they didn't believe in seeped out along with their memories. Listening to their experiences shaped my beliefs about war, the media, integrity, labels, and more.
As a child, I read voraciously—everything from novels to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I loved words. I listened to how people used words to sell their ideas and to influence others. My grade eight English teacher, Mrs. Miller, praised my creative writing skills and lent me her personal copies of Charles Dickens' works that were not available in the school library.
In university I had difficulty choosing a major because I was interested in nearly every area of the arts. Eventually I settled on history and sociology. Discovering that sadly, an undergraduate history degree was not held in high regard by employers, I visited local community colleges in search of training that would provide marketable skills. By chance I found a brochure for the library technician program at Langara College and embarked on a career in the information field. After working as a technician for four years, I began a master's program in library science at the University of British Columbia.
Beginning a career as a librarian in 1992 was like riding the crest of an information tsunami! The Internet—a blinking colon on a blank computer screen—arrived a year or so later and librarianship would never be the same! For the next few years I worked in corporate and engineering libraries and was self-employed for a time, publishing a current awareness newsletter for human resources professionals.
Ten years ago I took a position with the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities,
working in the area of health literacy and consumer health information for people with disabilities. Over the past few years,
I have interviewed countless people with disabilities. Many of their stories were for publication in our
newsletter or for articles and book chapters. The stories
are always unique but a common thread runs throughout. Each story tells of the resilience of the human spirit to rebuild, learn,
adapt, and carry on with new understanding and appreciation. Despite loss, poverty, and marginalization, most people
continue to move forward and to see positive aspects of their lives.
Today... I am also a Story & Change Facilitator. Peoples' stories are my passion! The transitions between life events, usually
called change, are times of excitement, anticipation, and growth. They are also times of stress and sometimes sadness as we
close one door and open another. I am fascinated with the ways that people traverse change and am often in awe of the
extraordinary strength that emerges during change experiences. I've become a collector of sorts, cataloguing the diverse
strategies and techniques people use to navigate their life stories. My writing and workshops are a way of sharing my
collection and observations.
What will my story hold for tomorrow? Who knows for sure? I do know that I can count on change in one form or another.
Stay tuned...