Lane was awake until 3AM reciting her speech. It was her sophomore year at NC State and she was deathly afraid of talking in front of her public speaking class. She paced her living room retelling her story again and again. When she felt somewhat content, she retired to bed. The clock struck 5AM and Lane awoke in a nervous sweat. She resumed her pacing and her reciting until about 7AM. Because her class was in an hour, she decided to practice in the classroom before students arrived. There she stood, sharing a very personal story about her mother's fight against breast cancer to a room of empty chairs. Soon enough, those chairs filled and Lane told the professor she needed to give her speech first. She received her teacher's permission. During that period between the chair and the front of the classroom, there is a mixture of feelings. Fear, courage, bravery, panic, confidence, disappointment--so many emotions fight for attention. Honestly, none of them mattered as Lane moved from her seat to the stage. She could not turn back. "I killed it. I slayed." she proudly told me during our interview. I believe she did. If you ever get the chance to meet Lane, you can tell by her spirited demeanor that she's a storyteller. "When I give people something I've created, I want it to be the best I can do." To me, that means a powerful story is authentic. It's true to every emotion, sound, hand gestures and plot twists. A great story brings people to the edge of their chair, much like Lane's speech did for her audience and much like she did for me when we had coffee.