Kelsey Eichhorn-Allen
From a young age, Kelsey knew that she wanted to live in a house that had a library. From the
brightly-coloured rooms of primary schools to the hallowed oak desks of universities to the modern,
sprawling digital archives, no place is more magical than one that immerses us in the creativity and
comfort of a good story.
In truth, stories are not bound to these bastions of literacy. They are the very foundation of
civilization – the way humans make sense of the world around them – and can be found in every
corner of our lives, from young to old, amateur to expert, in social, academic, professional, and
artistic environments. Kelsey now draws on 15 years of experience across digital production,
marketing, documentary film, and communications to help organisations, teams, and individuals
rediscover the power of storytelling for often unexpected applications.
Kelsey is a certified Storytelling Facilitator and OKR coach with strong experience across both in-
person and virtual workshop facilitation. With a dual undergraduate degree in film and
anthropology and a master’s degree in aesthetics and narrative theory, Kelsey combines a scientific
approach to storytelling with her ingrained penchant for all things creative. Since finishing her
formal education, Kelsey has immersed herself in the practices of design thinking and applied
curiosity, exploring how we can harness the fundamental human habits of play and wonder to feed
strategy and storytelling. After early career work in documentary film and television, Kelsey has
spent the last 12 years working in-house on marketing and communications teams with a focus on
sustainable development and the climate crisis.
Originally from America, Kelsey now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK with her husband, who
keeps her grounded, and their daughter, who keeps her young at heart.
Kelsey was an excellent mentor and coach in helping me to improve my storytelling skills. A lot of my work revolves around understanding users and their underlying behaviors. Kelsey has this unique ability to ask probing questions to get you thinking differently, pushing you to understand your audiences from a new perspective, and driving you toward success no matter the initiative or project.
Kyle Fisher
Head of Marketing & Communications for the Americas Region, Arup
I have worked closely with Kelsey for over a decade, and during that time she has proven to be a true partner to my team. Storytelling requires a complex skill set spanning writing and editing to creativity and strategic thinking. She brings these skills in spades to her work, but more importantly, she brings a strong outside voice that challenges us to bring the best of Arup to the table. With her help we are able to show a more humane and accessible version of our story which makes us more enticing to markets and clients.
Jason Mlicki
Principal, Rattleback / Produce, Profiting from Thought Leadership
Kelsey was a featured speaker at our annual conference, Profiting from Thought Leadership. With a lineup of speakers that included leaders from Bain, McKinsey, Fidelity, Gartner, and Cisco, I can easily say that Kelsey was the most proactive and organized. She delivered the best presentation of all 15 speakers and was rated among the top of our group by our attendees. All in, Kelsey was just great to work with on this program and her knowledge is stellar.
Seth Gamble
Knowledge Manager, Bohler