About me
Diane Wyzga’s professional journey includes service as a US Navy nurse, corporate businesswoman, speaker, educator, lawyer, litigation consultant, podcaster, and storyteller.
Diane is also a seasoned adventurer, having backpacked across Europe, climbed the Canadian Rockies, mastered the art of flying a plane, and walked a 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.
With a treasure trove of rich experiences spanning three decades, Diane has dedicated herself to helping professional women bring their stories from a message only they could hear to the publishing world, the courtroom, hospitals, board meetings, the airwaves, and more. Stories that swayed juries. Built markets. Spread ideas. Changed things.
Today, Diane helps women become successful Origin Story/personal brand creators sharing the most significant narrative of their lives: how they got from There to Here. When a woman learns to say, “Yes! This is my story!” We need to pay attention because women’s voices are creating new worlds where we can thrive as a community of belonging. This is the place where the story changes!
What do you do and why do you do it?
I help professional women find the words they didn’t know they had to get to the heart of their message. Now they can align the power of their voice and words with clarity, confidence and conviction to make the communication changes they seek. When my clients discover and deliver their Origin Story – the story of how they got from There to Here – they unlock their story voice, untangle their message, and connect with, engage and influence their audience while transforming the lives of those they serve. This is the place where their story changes to bold, brilliant, beautiful and influential.
My mission in life is driven by some Universal Truths of betrayal, loss, injustice, the kindness of strangers, courage, and resilience. When I look deeply at my own stories, I begin to embrace my vulnerability, which translates to human connection, which gives me the hope that someone hearing my story will say: “What! You, too! I thought I was the only one.” And that’s why I’m a storyteller! My story is your story is our story.
There’s much work to be done to shift the narrative around women’s stories so that we are seen, heard, understood, and listened to. This is my Quarter Moon Story Arts work as well as my Stories From Women Who Walk podcast work.
What changed for you after age 50?
My life is BC/AC: Before Camino / After Camino. There is something about distance walking, mostly solo, that put me in touch with who I had envisioned myself to be. Time, friends, community, belonging, and a daily story of life became more important.
I’m striving to let go of my Princess High & Mighty Know It All Boss of the World Who Gets What She Wants When She Wants It. Why? So I could see clearly how much is bestowed on us that we take for granted.
If we had half a clue about how brilliant we are our lives would be shaped differently. With less time today than I had when I was 35 I want to live brilliantly, go like a river, not like a drop of water. I also follow in the footsteps of the venerable Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s the spirituality and way of BE-ing I had been looking for. And it’s true: what we’re looking for is looking for us. Keep your eyes and heart wide open.
What would you tell the 20 or 30-year-old YOU?
You are powerful, beautiful, brilliant, and brave. You are also scary smart! Don’t hide that. And, don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t do something just because you’re a girl. It’s because you’re a girl/woman that you can! Repeat after me: I am! I can! I will!
What do you think you’ll tell yourself in retrospect at the end of your life?
You can’t cross the ocean by standing on the short. If you want to know you have to go. And I went! My life was 1 hell of a ride with twists and turns and so much more that could never have been imagined or anticipated. No regrets.
What impact do you think increased visibility can have on your business?
Increased visibility of my Quarter Moon Story Arts business should be measured in the impact it will have on other women’s lives.
Imagine this: Being able to help women find the words they didn’t know they had to be able to discover and deliver their Origin Stories – their WHO! I just know that when the collective of women’s voices, stories, words, and power come together we will shift attitudes, behaviors, and cultures for the better. It’s what’s been called having a Servant’s Heart (Steve Ramona)
Who or what inspires you and why?
Just one? While I have emphasized the role of women, their voices, and stories, I find my daily inspiration in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, who passed from this world 2 years ago. Thay is the cloud that never dies. Against insurmountable odds, he worked to bring peace to Vietnam and save his countrymen; he was banished from his country for 30 years; he established Plum Village and monasteries worldwide, wrote dozens of books, and through it all, remained a figure of peace, hope, endurance, resilience, and even joy.
And another…
Never ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something “because you’re a girl”; prove them wrong!
Charley Darkey Parkhurst was about 40 years old when hired on in the 1850s gold rush as a six-in hand stage coach driver with Wells Fargo & Co. working some of the most treacherous routes in Northern California. These rugged teamsters held rein over six wild-eyed horses as they tore along precipitous mountain trails. Charley was one of a breed of skilled and fearless stage coach drivers who pushed themselves and their horses to the limit. For 15 years Charley battled outlaws, fought, drank, smoked, and gambled with the best of them.
Charley’s death from cancer in 1879 revealed the disguise: Charley was born Charlotte Parkhurst in New Hampshire, escaped from an orphanage at age 15, and seeing that the world of work was better for men adopted the role. Charley was an expert horseman, lumberjack, and voted in a Presidential election dressed as a man some 52 years before women were given the right to vote.
“The only people who have occasion to be disturbed by the career of Charley Parkhurst are the gentlemen who have so much to say about ‘woman’s sphere’ and ‘the weaker vessel,’ ” The Providence, R.I. Journal wrote. “It is beyond question that one of the soberest, pleasantest, most expert drivers in this State, and one of the most celebrated of the world-famed California drivers was a woman. And is it not true that a woman had done what women can do?”
Something else I’d like to share
Start working on your Origin Story, the story that focuses on how your work, purpose, mission, or journey originated. What are the foundational moments that define your personal, professional or organizational identity? Be willing to say “Yes!” to investing in an “archeological dig” to get to your Origin Story – your Who that precedes your Why. Highlight the challenges you’ve overcome, your values, and the desire that drives you to do what you do to help transform the lives of those you serve.
The world needs to hear how you got from There to Here, bringing your particular vision into existence. It’s our storytelling job to share it so anyone who hears it can say, “What! You, too! I thought I was the only one.”
