The Allegory of Money, with Esther Choy

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Esther Choy. Esther recently published a white paper on first generation wealth creators. The New York Times featured her report, focusing on the philanthropic aspects of her research. Most wealthy people today created the wealth over their lifetime. This is a major transition for those individuals, who often keep the values they were raised with Esther wanted to understand how the modest upbringings of wealth creators influence them today, and how that plays out in their philanthropic giving. She uncovers that encouraging wealth creators to tell their own stories is the key to unlocking their purpose and values, revealing the causes they want support.

Esther is the president and Chief Story Facilitator at Leadership Story Lab, where she applies design thinking and science to help her clients articulate and assert who they are, ultimately connecting with audiences in meaningful ways. Esther started teaching leadership storytelling in 2010, before it was a ‘thing.’

Over the years, through her firm, Leadership Story Lab, she’s worked with clients in industries as wide ranging as airlines, CPG, healthcare, investment, manufacturing and tech. A family enterprise biographer, Esther has combined the science of persuasion and the art of storytelling to help her clients find more meaningful ways to connect with their audiences.

Her business storytelling book, Let the Story Do the Work, quickly shot to #1 New Release on Amazon in 2017. She’s currently a contributor for Forbes’ Leadership Strategy channel and her thought leadership has appeared in leading media outlets such as the New York Times and Entrepreneur.com.

Esther is an adjunct faculty member at Kellogg School of Management and, in partnership with Kellogg’s Ward Center for Family Enterprises, she hosts the Family IN Business podcast.

Every Monday morning, you’ll find Esther beginning her week with a 1000-meter swim and a raw jalapeño. She’s a mom of two trilingual girls, wife of a German who’s not very punctual, and is a very humble student of kitesurfing.

See all episodes >