Ethical Storytelling and Reflections on Crafting a Career Narrative

When reflecting on my presentation about Kirrily Dures, it’s important to consider how my own values and understanding of 'narrative' shaped my response to her story. Storytelling is a powerful tool for conveying identity, values, and experience, but with that power comes great responsibility (Karnik, 2024). The ethics of storytelling lie not just in the accuracy of the retelling, but also in how the storyteller frames and interprets the story (Nash, 2012). Whilst preparing and sharing Kirrily’s narrative, I tried to remain conscious of this—ensuring her consent, respecting her values (both implicit and visible), and maintaining the integrity of her story without overstepping boundaries.

First, I made sure to explain my intentions to share Kirrily's story, ensuring she consented. After our interview, I shared my presentation slides and notes with her, providing an opportunity for her to review how I had portrayed her experiences. She texted me to confirm that she was happy with the way I represented her.

As explored throughout the semester, Carey, Walther, and Russell (2009), refer to The Absent But Implicit as values and elements within a narrative that, while not explicitly stated, are central to the storyteller's identity and worldview. For example, Kirrily’s commitment to building strong client relationships and maintaining job satisfaction over financial gain eliminated deep-seated values of authenticity and dedication—values that she didn’t verbalise directly but were evident through the way she spoke about her career. Ensuring she was comfortable with how these values were communicated was vital to maintaining trust and integrity in the storytelling process.

In my presentation, I also applied the concept of the Club of Life (Russell & Carey, 2002), which highlights the importance of connections and relationships in shaping one’s life narrative. Kirrily repeatedly emphasised the value of being respectful, reliable, and pleasant to work with because these relationships could be crucial later. This idea resonated with me, as I’ve observed how fostering positive relationships in professional settings can lead to unexpected opportunities. In Kirrily’s case, the strong connections she built during her time at Fairfax Media helped ease her transition into self-employment after taking redundancy. By highlighting this aspect of her narrative, I aimed to show that her success wasn’t solely the result of her design skills or industry experience, but also her ability to maintain meaningful, long-term relationships.

Also, in introducing the topic of AI, I realised I was treading on potentially sensitive ground. Kirrily has worked in graphic design for many many years, and AI’s increasing role in creative industries can evoke feelings of uncertainty for professionals (Whiting, 2024), I know it certainly does for myself. However, Kirrily's adaptability and openness to embracing AI technologies, rather than rejecting them, spoke to her forward-thinking approach. My decision to bring up AI was partly shaped by my curiosity and concerns about how technology is transforming my field. Like Kirrily, I aim to remain adaptable and learn how to integrate new tools like AI to stay relevant. This shared concern about the future helped me frame the conversation in a way that was both respectful and relevant to our shared professional experiences.

In terms of narrative understanding, I was mindful of how I portrayed Kirrily’s age. During the interview, Kirrily joked about not revealing her age, which I made sure to honour in the presentation. Although age can be a significant part of a person’s story, especially in terms of career longevity, I recognised that it wasn’t necessary to explicitly mention her age. I wanted to ensure her narrative was told in a way that aligned with Kirrily's comfort levels and personal boundaries. Whilst I cracked a joke during my presentation, illuding towards how old she is, I believe this is a great example of the relationship between myself and Kirrily, as I know for a fact she wouldn't mind and would have found it quite funny.

Kirrily's experience with redundancy was a significant turning point in her career, and it would have been easy to sensationalise this moment as a dramatic disarray. However, I wanted to present it as a moment of resilience and adaptability, qualities that I feel Kirrily embodied as she transitioned to running her own business. I recognise that the way I framed this reflects my own values of adaptability in the face of change, which is very relevant in industries where technological advancements, like AI, are continually reshaping the landscape.

Maintaining ethical storytelling, I aimed to interpret and present the story in a way that aligns with Kirrily's values and experiences. By focusing on Kirrily’s implicit values, such as her dedication to maintaining client relationships and her openness to change, I wanted to establish a narrative that aimed to honour her journey. My values of adaptability, relationship-building, and respect for others’ boundaries—played a significant role in how I shaped and responded to her story, ensuring that it was told ethically and respectfully.

Overall, storytelling goes beyond just getting consent from your interviewee. It involves respecting personal values, carefully framing stories, keeping an eye out for values, watching for body language queues to understand if a interview is comfortable (Gachago & Livingston, 2020) & (Nash, 2012). By incorporating these ethical considerations into my presentation of Kirrily’s story, I feel I was able to ensure that her narrative was both accurate and respectful, reflecting her values and experiences in a way that she felt comfortable with.