MISSION STATEMENT: Powerstories is a nonprofit professional theatre whose mission is to stage true stories of women and girls to open minds and hearts
and inspire action worldwide.

SEEK AND SPEAK YOUR POWERSTORY

An online Zoom workshop

Powerstories Theatre believes that powerful connections begin with a story. Stories help others feel valued and validated. They help people feel alive and engaged in their communities. Our mission at Powerstories Theatre is to stage true stories of women and girls to open minds and hearts. The mission for this workshop is to help you realize the power of your story…and use it to thrive. All workshops to be held on Zoom.

For any questions, please contact Janice Creneti at janicecreneti@gmail.com or Fran Powers at Fran@powerstories.com.

June 11, 18, 25, 2025

July 9, 16, and 23, 2025

7 pm to 8:30 pm EST, plus 30 minutes additional work time, support, if desired, till 9 pm. An online Zoom workshop.

This is a signature workshop taught to thousands of women since 2000. If you are a woman who wants to articulate who you are, what you stand for, and how you contribute to the world… this workshop is for you. It will support you in seeking to know and build your own story for personal, business, or entertainment reasons. Both beginner and experienced storytellers are welcome.

Identify your message of truth
Uncover work and life story topics
Realize the power of the personal story
Develop a five-minute story
Learn tips on crafting a story and techniques for sharing it

Your workshop includes the following:

Expert instruction by two experienced professionals
10 hours of online instruction (includes the optional 30-minute bonus)
A 45-minute private consultation
Free registration to a Powerstory Conference in Tampa March 2026
35-page workbook
Access to all recorded sessions
Lifetime access to all class recordings and online resources
Opportunity to present story to a zoom audience
Opportunity to present story to a live audience at Voices of Women Theatre Festival

Cost is $495*

*Ask about the Jo Ranney Scholarship – This is a scholarship for up to 100% of the course fee. Jo Ranney was a long time Powerstories facilitator who specialized in working with Cancer patients. We are offering these scholarships in honor of her life and her love for the power of story.

DOWNLOAD WORKSHOP PDF FLYER

MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

FRAN POWERS

Fran Powers is the founder of Powerstories Theatre Inc. Her first vision for the company came to her in 1998 when she crossed the Wyoming border on a bike ride across America. When she returned to Tampa, Powerstories Theatre was born. Since then, Powerstories Theatre has served over 30,000 individuals and sixty organizations through producing professional theatre, developing new playwrights through The Voices of Women Theatre Festival, teaching Seek and Speak Your Powerstory Workshops, and empowering young girls through Girlstories Leadership Theatre. In 2010, Powerstories Theatre won The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, and it was presented to Fran at the White House by former First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2011, Powerstories won the WEDU Award for Artistic Excellence, and in 2013, Fran was honored as a Community Hero by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fran has written and produced twelve autobiographical plays and one musical Raising Twelve on a Nickel and a Prayer. She has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Fontbonne College in St. Louis, Missouri, and a master’s degree in education from the University of South Florida. Fran’s greatest wish is that everyone honors and celebrates their unique stories. master’s degree in education from the University of South Florida. Fran’s greatest wish is that everyone honors and celebrates their unique stories.

JANICE CRENETI

Janice Creneti is the founder of the Fertile Voice, seeking to leverage the power of our personal stories and emotional journeys as a vehicle for social change, personal transformation and creating a more loving, empowered world. She learned the power and process of personal storytelling through her work with Fran Powers and Powerstories Theater of Tampa, directing the first two seasons of their Girlstories Theatre program (winner of a 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award), directing women’s shows in their SheVolution series, and becoming a certified facilitator of their Seek and Speak Your Story program. An award-winning actor and director, she is the author and performer of her solo show, My Year of Saying No, recounting her journey to reclaim her own voice. My Year of Saying No debuted at Powerstories’ inaugural Voices of Women Theatre Festival in 2021. Janice spent 35 years in public schools as a high school teacher and then instructional coach, working with teachers and educational leaders to address the opportunity gap. She was recognized for that work with a national SIM Leadership Award from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. She co-developed and collaborates on the CreateAWorld YouTube series, which interviews individuals who have created programs that celebrate and elevate humanity’s potential for good.

PAST PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS

“Attending the Seek and Speak Your Story Workshop changed my life by giving me a safe space to be vulnerable and share my story in a way that could impact an audience. It was the right balance of setting the scene and providing a broad brush sense of the impact of my childhood experience. It opened a door for me to step out from behind the fear I had of speaking in public and gave me a whole new freedom to be me, warts and all.”

- Pegotty C.

“Before the Seek and Speak Workshop, I was struggling to find connection and was doubting my purpose and place in the world. Finding and telling a story from my own life reconnected me to who I really was and helped me get back on my feet, giving me the confidence to explore new opportunities in the theater and other areas of my life.” – Janice C.

- Janice C.

“Many years ago I shaped the Powerstory about my close relationship with my dear mother, and her unexpected, early death. I told how in the height of my intense grief, I was astounded when six gorgeous horses galloped down my city street in a way that had never happened before or since, decades later. Sharing this story helped me see how it uplifted me so much at the time. The telling also enabled me to understand the experience as a direct gift from my beloved mother which filled my being. Writing and sharing this Powerstory solidified this amazing event in my mind, and touched many people, according to their reports.”

- Janice N.S

“When Powerstories sent an email recruiting for their next Women’s group, I was sitting on my couch at my lowest, low. My son had died less than a year earlier, and I was still not getting on with my life. I remember wanting to be involved because I had the opportunity to see “Let the Stories Move You” and was quite moved by the production. After approaching all of my friends who I thought might be interested and getting a resounding no from everyone, I was at the crossroads. Try something I’ve never done before or remain on the couch going nowhere. I went alone. I never looked back. Being a part of Powerstories has restored me to my full self. Being able to share my story of grief and showing others how you can come through has changed me forever. I never imagined I would also receive a gift of lifelong friendships with amazing women.”

- Cheryl F.

“When I signed up for the Speak and Seek Your Story Workshop, I knew I needed help to stand in my truth and tell personal stories. As an actor, I was used to portraying someone else and telling their stories, and I was fine with that. Moreover, I thought I had nothing to share that would be of worth or interesting to anyone. As I listened to my fellow storytellers, I was in awe as each woman told their stories of what they had experienced, overcome, accomplished, dared, lived through, triumphed, and survived. Each one was moving, touching, and powerful. I was a better person because I heard each of their stories. This did not make it easier to decide what story I could contribute. As I listened, I realized that even short, funny, true-life stories still had a punch and value in knowing. Not everyone has an earth-shattering story, but each story has value, wisdom, knowledge, humor, or heart to impart. I started to believe that I might have a story to share. There is power in telling your own story, but the greater power comes in the sharing of each story. The palpable currents of knowing, empathy, and understanding developed a strong comradery, community, and sisterhood among us. It was a lasting, impactful workshop that still reminds me that our similarities truly are so much greater than any differences.”

- Sheri W.

Locations

Here’s where we will be bringing theatre to you next!

JULY 2025 – WITCH HUNT OR, A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD
Stageworks Theatre,
1120 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
SEPTEMBER 2025 – ADA AND THE ENGINE
Stageworks Theatre,
1120 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
NOVEMBER 2025 – CADILLAC CREW
The Studio @620,
620 1st Ave S, Saint Petersburg

Physical address

4237 W El Prado Blvd
Tampa, FL 33629
Driving Directions

Mailing address

PO Box 18021
Tampa, FL 33679

813-205-3451

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