Today we’d like to introduce you to Shana Merlin.
Hi Shana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started using improv for professional team building and communication skills by diving straight into the deep end. Just a few years after getting my undergraduate degree at The University of Texas at Austin, I was a part of a team delivering ten hours of hands-on Improv training to every MBA student there. I saw the joy and impact this kind of work can bring. I opened my own improv school in 2003 and students kept telling me, “my co-workers have noticed how much this class has changed me for the better…Can you come to my work and fix all of them too?”
Over the years I took my fun, interactive workshops and keynotes in to many different companies, non-profits, conferences, universities, and medical groups. I enjoyed the challenge of disarming a skeptical room of people with their arms crossed, turning them into a room of playful colleagues connecting with each other, themselves, and the moment. Over the years, I’ve gotten lucky with some amazing partners with backgrounds in medicine and science, co-presenting with them to hone my sub-specialty in applied improv for creativity, research science, persuasive communication, and medical team building.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being in the teaching and training business for over 20 years, there’s been plenty of ups and downs. Lots of imposter syndrome in the beginning as a young, petite, female trying to lead rooms of business leaders and improv students of all ages and heights. Shifting from being and entrepreneur to a working mom almost broke me. The pandemic ground my in-person business to a halt overnight and it stayed still for more than a year. Inflated rent and labor prices in Austin are giving my arts-based business quite a squeeze at the moment. My strategy is “throw spaghetti at the wall” or, in business terms: diversify. I offer lots of things: individuals can sign up for Merlin Works classes in improv, storytelling, stand-up and musical comedy. I have corporate training programs on anything from presentation skills to patient communication to running better meetings. I even had a book come out this year that I co-wrote with Colin T. Bates: Instant Alchemy: The Science and Magic of Narrative Longform Improv. I do all that work, planning and preparation, and then let my improv skills run wild. I stay open and ready to say yes to what appears.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Merlin Works?
My business slogan is: you improvise everyday, why not get good at it? All of us are dealing with change, uncertainty, and team work. For most of us, that sounds difficult and scary. For improvisers, it sounds like a fun Friday night show. Merlin Works brings the tools and techniques from the world of improvisational theater to businesses and organizations. Not so they can tell jokes or do characters–although we’d love that–but so they can be more creative, productive, collaborative team members who actually have fun together. Applied Improv is the secret sauce to creating high functioning teams, accelerating innovation, developing charismatic speakers and increasing employee engagement. It’s as easy as Zip! Zap! Zop!
What does success mean to you?
Great improvisers are courageous and humble, according to the legendary improv director and teacher, Keith Johnstone. I think success is about meeting the moment you are in with courage and humility. Slowing down, getting curious, seeing opportunities and siezing them. My greatest successes are often not about setting goals and meeting them. But being ready, working hard and meeting opportunities when they present themselves, while staying in my integrity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.merlin.works
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merlin_works/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merlinworks
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shana-merlin/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShanaMerlin
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/merlin-works-austin-4
- Other: https://www.merlin-works.com/
Image Credits
Steve Rogers Photography
Lens of Athena Photography
Mark Charbonneau
