DESCRIPTION
This method needs a solid baseline of knowledge in business and story models/methods! It isn’t a classical storytelling method, but rather an adaption of a business model to a storytelling strucutre for an “bigger” image story to customers and employees.
It is one of the most divers approach to storytelling. Juggling between the worlds of prejudices, stereotypes and archetypes and using the superpower sensitive person have for good, but also challenging own weaknesses.
The Heroines method combines regenerative storytelling, conscious business design, human design, leadership transformation and community-led support for womXn entrepreneurs, to create businesses that are aligned with values, wellbeing, and impact.
It is structured around a Heroine’s Journey narrative paradigm which isn’t the traditional hero’s journey of external conquest, but a more cyclical, holistic and internally anchored path of becoming, grounded in values, rhythms, self-knowledge, embodiment, and community. The method guides participants through articulated steps such as designing purpose-driven business models, prototyping, storytelling their own journey, embodying leadership, regenerating wellbeing, and measuring impact.
Uniqueness: it redefines success metrics (beyond profit), integrates wellbeing and value alignment, honors feminine rhythms and cycles, encourages regenerative and sustainable innovation, and creates a supportive community container. It’s different because it doesn’t just teach storytelling or business mechanics, but it merges identity, leadership, narrative, ethics, and regeneration in one whole framework.
ORIGIN
The Heroines was a platform initiated by Canay Atalay now continued as “The Heroines Journey” labs.
USED BY
WomXn entrepreneurs and founders who want to build businesses aligned with values, impact, well-being, by individuals seeking leadership transformation and regenerative business design and by community cohorts, labs, peer groups, where shared experience and mutual support matter.
Approximately needed time
- Step 1: 2-3 hours
- Step 2: 3 hours
- Step 3: 2 hours
- Step 4: 2 hours
- Step 5: 2 hours
- TOTAL: 11-12 hours
METHOD
MATERIAL YOU COULD NEED: Workbooks, guided journals or online learning journal. Guided contemplations and prompts for reflection. Recorded sessions, live sessions, peer group breakout rooms. Templates and design canvases for business model, value proposition, revenue streams, etc. Community platform (e.g., Slack, WhatsApp) to share, practice, support on a short term. Tools for storytelling: writing or visual storytelling, rituals, possibly embodiment or artistic exercises.
STAKEHOLDER GOOD TO KNOW: Some supporting coaches to guide through identity, business design, storytelling etc., participants and founders doing the journey, peer groups and communities for mutual support, feedback, sharing, accountability and exchange. Support, technical and conetnt Staff to deliver materials, manage platforms and sessions accordingly. And last but not least, possibly Investors, advisors and partners (especially for scaling and impact metrics) if business design includes financial growth.
STEPS
PURPOSE AND IDENTITY
To build a story that truly aligns with one’s own values, identity, purpose, and definitions of success, you must first discover or clarify who you are (in business + leadership), what you truly want, what rhythms and beliefs shape you. Without that foundation, decisions, messaging, priorities may feel dissonant, exhausting or inauthentic. For you AND your customers.
Reflection work: journaling on questions like “What matters most to me?”, “What legacy do I wish to leave?”, “What are my non-negotiables?”. Exercises in discovering values, life rhythms (energy cycles, rest, work flow), beliefs about leadership. Possibly working with human design or identity tools (as The Heroines are very much human centric designed) to understand one’s decision style, strengths, vulnerabilities etc.
Example: A female founder may journal and discover that one of her core values is “presence with family”, that burnout has been caused by ignoring rest, so she wants her business model to allow flexible hours; or that storytelling must reflect authenticity over polish, because her identity values honesty.
STORY DESIGN
After clarifying who you are and what you value, you need a story structure to fit your business model that reflects those values while being viable. Prototyping helps you test assumptions, reduce risk, and ensure alignment between values and strategy. Without this, there may be misalignment between what you say you stand for and what your operations allow or require.
Map out business model: revenue streams, channels, audiences, offers, value proposition and which story models fits best t o you and your audience. Use design canvases and start prototyping small versions (or pilot offers) of stories to test whether people resonate, what parts are working.
Adjusting model to better align with values, sustainability, well-being: e.g. pricing that honours value + rest or client load that allows boundaries etc.
Example: Suppose a coach wants to launch group coaching + digital courses. They prototype with a small group, test pricing, see which format feels manageable, adjust schedule to allow periods of rest, integrate group rituals, ensure content reflects their voice and start matching the correspondent methods in telling stories, creating an own storytelling approach.
STORYTELLING FOR YOUR OWN JOURNEY
Your authentic story is a powerful way to connect, differentiate, inspire. Telling your journey (not just what you do) reveals vulnerability, values, transformation and regenerative storytelling like honors cycles, renewal, deeper connection and therefore adds depth. It allows others to see themselves in your path and builds trust & resonance, but can be challenging for those not capable (or willing) to follow.
Writing and articulating your own heroine’s journey: the challenges, the turning points, growth, purpose and mixing them with creative/ritual methods. Using narrative paradigms that let you show transformation, growth over time, not just achievement.
Sharing in safe peer spaces to practice telling and refining it.
Example: A founder might write about leaving a corporate job, feeling disillusioned, discovering purpose in regenerative business design, going through resistance, finding community, now leading their business guided by values. Using that narrative in website bio, in content, public talks it can reach a new audience in an authentic and realistic way.
WELLBEING INTEGRATION
Leadership for this method is not just strategic but lived. It means integrating well-being, rest, authenticity, rhythm, bodily presence etc. because methods that only focus on business mechanics ignore the human cost. Integrating wellbeing ensures sustainable leadership, aligns decision-making with energy, prevents burnout, fosters clarity and integrity in action. Therefore always be aware of this potential powerful perpsective to your story.
Practices for self-care, rest, recognizing energy cycles, boundaries and possible rituals, contemplations. Mindfulness, reflectivness and connecting messages with a natural approach like instinctive and active listening.
Coaching and peer support to hold space for growth and challenge, also in your story, and in accountability for wellbeing alongside your business growth.
Example: One cohort session includes guided contemplations at home, morning routines, journalling, participants share their wellbeing practices, adjust business schedules to match energy, decision together what success means when you include rest.
GROWTH METRICS
To scale sustainably and authentically, you need metrics beyond revenue (impact, wellbeing, stakeholder satisfaction, sustainability), a community to support, feedback loops, and alignment between growth aspirations and values. Without the implementation of these “tols”, you story can betray values and lead to burnout or misalignment as it suggests that all elements are in, without covering all needs of your audience/employees.
Decide how to measure it: what does success look like (how many served, environmental impact, community uplift, personal wellbeing etc.) and what does fail look like and how to identify it before it happens.
Set up mechanisms for feedback, reflection, iteration: community check-ins, peer review, revisiting values vs what business is doing. Allign your story accordingly to things happening. Plan for growth that is aligned: what capabilities to build, what resources needed, what partnerships, what scale is healthy.
Example: A business might track monthly client satisfaction, environmental footprint, community engagement. Therefor also do quarterly reflection sessions to see if operations and messages are aligned with your wished values. Decide not to scale too fast if it threatens rest or integrity.
The original “Heroines” approach integrates 5D Conscious Business Design which includes holistic and practical integration of design thinking, systems design, philosophy, impact activation, cultural innovation and personal transformation. The program includes many steps not reflected or adapted to this version and may need some correction to work properly for your business. This means that though core workshop hours may sum to 12 hours, but the full method and its storytelling adaption is delivered over many weeks/months with ongoing practices adding some net hours of working fro the storytelling part on top of the original versions need by including regenerative storytelling and embracing non-violent communication principles. The “Heroine’s Journey” is used as a narrative tool, for personal, leadership and business branding and storytelling.
Note: this is not exactly the same as Maureen Murdock’s “Heroine’s Journey” model in literature/psychology, though likely inspired by similar ideas as we think it’s a unbelievable powerful and special approach.
