Storytelling at BuildABear Workshop: Military Dad Talks to His Kids from Afar

How can a dad who is serving in the military talk to his kids everynight and tuck them into bed?

I went to BuildABear Workshop with my good friend Pam tonight so she could get a cuddly critter for her granddaughter.  Now, if you haven’t been into a BuildABear Workshop, it is a marvelous demonstration of both good marketing and good storytelling for business.  I’ll have more to say on this in another post.

Let me share a story of the interaction with Rachel, one of the excellent clerks who was so very helpful during our shopping adventure.

At BuildABear Workshop, there is a wide variety of add-on fun from which you can choose, and Rachel shared a story about how the BuildABear he build for his daughter made a huge impact on the child.  The story she told brought tears to my eyes as I thought of what it would be like to be five years old with my daddy serving far far away in the military.  I would wish to hear his voice every night before bed and every morning too, at the very least.

This is the story Rachel told about how BuildABear kept a father and his daughter close even though they are thousands of miles apart.

My friend Pam mentioned that she was purchasing the toy for her granddaughter, whose daddy is serving in Iraq.

Rachel told us that now you can get a voice chip to insert into the bear (or whatever creature you build).  You record a message into the chip, and when someone presses the bear’s paw, your voice message plays.  I have something similar from my dad, and even though I was “a grown-up” when he gave it to me, I still enjoy playing the message from time to time.

One of the military men came into the Branson Landing BuildABear Workshop store and created a bear with a special nighttime message for his daughter.  That way, he could kiss her good night and let her hear his voice so she would know he was thijking about her.  Each night, thought he could not truly tuck her into bed, he could tell her how much he loves her, wish her goodnight and give  her a kiss.

That is powerful storytelling, and it is good for the family as well as being is good for business, because it achieves what storytelling is all about:  connecting people through time and space.

I hope this beautiful story of how a father shared his long distance love for his daughter all the way from Iraq has touched you.  Please discover more about the power of storytelling on the “The 7 Deadly Sins of Storytelling and How to avoid Them.”

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More info about Branson Landing

Ronda Del Boccio is a transformational speaker, mentor and author known globally as The Story Lady because she teaches authors, entrepreneurs and business owners to easily connect with your ideal customers and contacts through the power of your story.

She is the author of numerous stories, poems, and articles, as well as her books I’ll Push You Steer, and other upcoming books.

Discover how to explode profits, prospects and prime media opoprtuntiies with her latest book is the Instant Credibility system, which teaches any business owner, entrepreneur, coach, speaker or writer to craft a lead-generating book that grows your business.

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