For a long time, I’ve described Memoir Studio as a place to teach memoir. After all, I spent years as an English teacher, lecturer, and tutor, teaching students how to write. I saw what I was offering at the Memoir Studio as a kind of curriculum—a set of techniques, frameworks, and skills designed to help people move their stories from memory to the page.
But after conducting a market discovery investigation, I’m not so sure.
Inspired by the work of authentic business coach George Kao, I recently re-examined the feedback I’ve received from students, customers, and participants in my memoir and storytelling courses. According to Kao, market discovery is the process whereby you discover what your customers really want as opposed to you assuming what they want and need. You make calls, conduct polls, and begin conversations online to find out what attracts people to your services. Let them describe their wants and needs. And use their language to market your business.
The feedback I received from a market discovery viewpoint shifted my perspective. They weren’t talking about sentence craft or publishing logistics. They were talking about safety, courage, connection, and transformation. They talked about the importance of feeling witnessed and acknowledged for who they were.
The gap between my expectations and my clients’ feedback is what Kao refers to as the distance between the “mountain top” and the “riverbank.” He describes the “mountain top” as the place “where you stay in your head, with your ideas, frameworks, and content. You reflect, write, record, and refine your own thinking there.” According to Kao, if you stay there locked in your own language and assumptions about what you think people need, “you often get “crickets” because you are not checking how real people describe their problems or what they are ready to pay for.” (Check out George’s podcast)
I realized that I had been speaking from the “mountaintop”—my own academic view of the writing process—while my participants were describing the experience from the “riverbank,” the place “where your people already flow in daily life, with their habits, their words, and their spending patterns” (see Kao on Instagram). As it turns out, my business isn’t just about teaching writing as I had assumed; according to what people are actually telling me, it’s about creating the conditions where writing becomes possible. It’s about an experience.
The “Riverbank” Perspective
When participants shared what they actually valued, the common denominator wasn’t my curriculum; it was the environment or conditions I created and what they experienced that was important. They described profound, personal shifts. Phrases frequently used in the feedback included the following:
- “I found my voice.”
- “I found a way to write what couldn’t be named.”
- “I gained courage.”
- “I felt witnessed”
- “I found deeper insight.”
- “Sharing in a small group was so important.”
- “I enjoyed the journey.”
They arrived with varied, specific questions—where and how to start, how to navigate difficult family stories, how to blend mysticism with memory—but they left with similar experiences of feeling freer, seen, transformed, and honoured.
What Memoir Studio Actually Offers
Based on this feedback, I am shifting how I define the work I do. Memoir Studio is not a school for writing; it is a community for people who want to discover the deeper meaning of their lives through the act of writing.
Together, we are finding that the “work” isn’t just the writing itself. The writing is the visible outcome of something deeper that happens first. And thanks to market discovery, that “something” uses my clients’ expressed values as a foundation.
- Safety: A reflective, respectful space that allows participants to write honestly in small, intimate groups.
- Reflection: Valuing the preparation—the meditations, the deep listening, and the atmosphere—as much as the writing itself.
- Community: The realization that listening to others isn’t just a benefit; it is a fundamental mechanism of the transformation process.
- Gentle Expertise: Providing both the technical knowledge to guide a story and the kindness to hold the person writing it.
A New Way Forward
My participants have made it clear: they aren’t looking for another introductory course on memoir writing. They are looking for continuity, accountability, and continued companionship.
Moving forward, Memoir Studio will organize its offerings not so much around products, but around the stages of the writer’s journey:
- First Steps: Finding a starting point through workshops and simple invitations.
- Deeper Exploration: Exploring memory with greater honesty.
- Staying the Course: Staying connected through ongoing circles and gentle coaching.
- Mapping the Journey: Crafting a complete manuscript with one-to-one support.
- Leaving a Legacy: Sharing stories with family and the world.
The most important discovery I’ve made is that my business isn’t about teaching people how to write a memoir. It’s about providing a place where they feel safe enough to tell difficult truths and find the courage to keep going. That is a much rarer, and much more meaningful promise.
To that end, I will, in the weeks ahead, create a community membership. For an affordable monthly fee, members will have access to the Memoir Studio and its resources. More importantly, they will have access to fellow writers and opportunities to work in small, intimate groups to share their writing and encourage one another. Stay tuned for the details.
I’d appreciate your comments and/or suggestions. As a writer, what is it that you want and need when considering a personal writing course? Leave your comments and suggestions below.
To learn more about how “market discovery” can transform your business, visit George Kao’s website at www.georgekao.com or sign up for his “Clarifying Your Calling: Authentic Market Discovery” course.
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