Megan Finnerty (LA’02) knew well before she came to West Lafayette that she wanted to be a journalist. But the classes for her mass communication and media studies major weren’t like those of a traditional “J-school” — and that’s precisely why she says she’s found success.

“The whole communications approach was theory based, not occupation based, which has served me spectacularly,” Finnerty says. “I’ve stayed nimble and flexible in my career because Purdue helped me think about journalism as a tool that can be applied across all kinds of different roles.”

Finnerty’s latest and perhaps biggest role is one she created herself: founder and director of Storytellers Project, a series of live events in communities around the United States where people share true first-person stories on stage in front of an audience. Storytellers Project is part of Gannett’s USA TODAY Network, and the company’s journalists coach the participants to help them best craft their stories about growing up, holiday traditions, war, dating, parenting, homelessness, and countless other personal topics.

Storytellers Project holds more than 100 events a year in 22 cities, with 4,000 people sharing their stories since its founding in 2011. “Our North Star is to serve our communities while building empathy within them,” Finnerty says. “Some stories are funny, and some are very serious, but they always have to have a meaningful takeaway of some bigger truth. The goal is that people listening really receive it, soak it in, and use it to inform their thinking in the future.”

Storytellers, which now also includes a brand studio arm, started nine years ago as a side project during Finnerty’s 14-year tenure at the Arizona Republic newspaper. Finnerty was inspired by the Moth — a nonprofit organization that has run live storytelling events in major cities since 1997 — and she partnered with the Maricopa County South Mountain Community College to launch Storytellers Project in Phoenix. 

“Because I had such a broad foundation in communications from Purdue, I really thought I was the perfect person to figure out how oral storytelling and journalism can come together,” Finnerty says. But that meant building up Storytellers Project on the side while still working as the Republic’s engagement and features editor by day — until five years later in 2016, when she presented a business plan to Gannett’s C-suite and promptly received a budget and a team.

Now Storytellers Project sells more than 25,000 tickets each year, sometimes filling 1,200-seat venues with people ready to share, to listen, and to expand their perspectives.

“From an audience perspective, it’s entertaining, but the aim is that everyone sees themselves reflected in the storytellers,” Finnerty says. “It doesn’t matter whether they’ve lived a similar life; they may have learned that same lesson in a completely different way. The storyteller feels seen, but the audience member does too. And that’s how a community comes together..”