Solving Life’s Greatest Mystery: Dr. Rick Stevenson’s Enriching Storytelling Mission

Whether you choose to admit it or not, life’s greatest mystery is, well, you. Think about it. We spend our lives trying to answer the ultimate question: Who in the world am I? Our biggest challenges, fears, struggles, and revelations all lie in the pursuit of this question, whether we do so consciously or not. Mark Twain famously said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why.” 

The problem is that we’re all born into someone else’s story. We only start living our own when we muster the self-knowledge and courage to be who we truly are. According to Dr. Rick Stevenson, founder of StoryQ and a sought-after public speaker on emotional intelligence, the roadmap to discovering who we truly are is far more accessible than we’re led to believe. Over the last two decades, Dr. Rick has conducted over 7000 deeply personal interviews on film with people across six continents to this end.  

In an innovative step toward a more humane future, Dr. Rick curated StoryQ, a company fueled by the refined StoryQ Method, guiding people through the complexities of opening up and delving deeply into one’s soul. Dr. Rick, a seasoned interviewer with an authentic passion for hearing and verbalizing stories, offers people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds a one-of-a-kind chance to embark on a rewarding self-discovery journey in a comfortable and inspiring environment.  

Central to StoryQ’s ethos is the belief that EQ is the most treasured aspect of human intelligence. Now, a fervent believer and Oxford-educated follower of that philosophy, Dr. Rick realized the vitality of emotions at the age of 40 when - prompted by a failing relationship - he attended therapy. “My love life has always been the least successful part of my life. I thought I had just not met the right person. It didn’t even cross my mind to look at the big picture and accept the possibility that I was the problem,” he shares. “That’s when I discovered that it wasn’t me who ruled my life; it was ignorance. As soon as I realized that, I felt empowered and promised to nurture my EQ as much as I nourished my IQ.” 

“If knowledge is power, self-knowledge is superpower,” he says. Once Dr. Rick allowed his superpower to take control, his life changed. He found himself again, met the love of his life, and centered his career around helping others tap into the transformative power of self-knowledge. The 5000 Days Project, symbolically the time it takes to go through school, during which Dr. 

Rick interviewed thousands of children and adolescents throughout K-12, marked the beginning of his mission. Equipped with newly found passion, years of expertise in filmmaking, and sheer enthusiasm, Dr. Rick entered the storytelling realm only to be met with the sad reality that, despite an entire industry dedicated to capturing stories, people don’t want to open up. 

According to Dr. Rick, the underlying reason behind that trend lies in the fear of being vulnerable or judged. “Most people fear telling their story because they’re scared of the emotions it might elicit. For most of us, our emotions are the Wild West and we don’t want to be stranded in the middle of Main Street. That’s why I developed the StoryQ Method. It’s fun, it’s accessible and it safely uses our own story for self-discovery in a language people can understand. From birth, we communicate, educate, and connect through the language of stories. Almost everyone approaches the process with skepticism but leaves with relief, enthusiasm, and appreciation.” 

The StoryQ Method, evocative of a Socratic dialogue, replaces psychology and philosophy with the art of storytelling. By shifting that narrative, Dr. Rick curated a system accessible to all, from children, teenagers, adults, and even businesses. StoryQ, staffed by Dr. Rick, and a handful of storytelling mentors trained by him, offers all-encompassing services. It includes four options. First, the 5000 Days Project, a renowned EQ program for kids, creating a longitudinal private documentary about growing up. Second, Taking Stock, a program for adults enabling them to take control of their past, present, and future. Third, StoryQ Legacy - a service for those ready to take a stroll down memory lane to share their wisdom with their children. Finally, Family Voice, a unique framework helping multigenerational families establish their collective voice and their impact on the world. In these ways, StoryQ addresses the needs of all individuals, championing global unity and deep emotional understanding. 

Dr. Rick’s unique approach, a culmination of his decades-long filmmaking experience and his genuine passion for immortalizing stories, laid the foundation for StoryQ, creating a safe space where, in privacy, people have the freedom to tell their stories and discover themselves. Drawing from his expertise, Dr. Rick emphasizes the benefits of verbalizing stories. “That very act helps us gain power over the challenging parts of our story instead of being victimized by forces we don’t understand.” He finds it ironic that we, as humans, are capable of climbing the world’s highest mountains but are paralyzed by the fear of climbing the mountain within. 

“The mountain within, or the big unknown and unexplored, is our emotional life. For instance, take sadness,” he illuminates. “In this era, we don’t know how to face sadness. That’s because nobody wants to be sad. Yes, happiness is the goal. But the value of sadness cannot be overstated. Sadness teaches us how to appreciate the little things. If you are sad because of a breakup, a death, or a failure, you feel like that because you dared to love, dared to open your heart, and dared to try. If sadness is the result of bravery, it is a beautiful thing.” 

Dr. Rick Stevenson, an experienced filmmaker and avid philosophy enthusiast, created StoryQ as a powerful fusion of both, opening a portal to self-discovery for everyone.  

“We have a humble goal of inspiring everyone in the world to tell their story,” Stevenson says with a smile. “We are all born into someone else’s story, and it takes courage to break free from innate expectations and start writing our own,” Dr. Rick remarks. “There is an old African proverb: Every time someone dies, a library burns down. At StoryQ, we are dedicated to eternalizing these libraries of experience and wisdom. These libraries are the key to personal enlightenment and have the power to save humanity.”