Storytelling Still Matters: The Power of Narrative Change in the Career Exploration Space
Here at Roadtrip Nation, we’re big believers in the power of storytelling. It’s why we’ve spent over 20 years traveling the country to film and share the stories of over 1,500 people, using their insights and advice to inform our career exploration tools and resources for young adults.
But even after all these years, we still encounter this question: “Do your videos and stories make a real difference when it comes to career exploration?”
In a world dominated by technology, being shaped by AI, and vulnerable to the ups and downs of a rapidly changing economy, we understand where this question is coming from. Career exploration feels like important, urgent work, while storytelling can sound frivolous.
But we’re here to tell you that, over and over again, we continue to see real impact — stats and testimonials that keep proving that right now, real human connections and conversations have more power than ever.
To illustrate how your organization can use powerful storytelling to change narratives and drive change, let’s explore two case studies focused on our recent formerly incarcerated storytelling initiative.
About “Being Free” and our formerly incarcerated storytelling initiative
Made possible by The Just Trust and Stand Together, our documentary film “Being Free” follows the journey of three formerly incarcerated individuals as they navigate how to reenter the workforce.
The documentary aims to shift narratives around incarceration by centering the voices of those who have experienced the justice system firsthand, highlighting all the different career paths that are possible, post-incarceration.
In addition to the documentary, we also created Our Community, Our Opportunity — a website full of video stories from the film, plus actionable resources and tools to help justice-impacted people turn inspiration into tangible action.
As part of our mission to help everyone define their own roads in life, we recognize that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations have often been overlooked in the career exploration space — subject to greater hurdles and barriers than others. Through this storytelling initiative, we’ve worked to show incarcerated and formerly incarcerated folks what’s possible, and shift narratives around what it means to support and hire formerly incarcerated individuals.
How “Being Free” Became A Powerful Career Resource
Through a mission-aligned partnership with Edovo — a tech nonprofit that provides educational, vocational, and rehabilitative curricula to incarcerated individuals across the country — we were able to screen the “Being Free” documentary for over 84,000 incarcerated individuals across the U.S. in 2024. In addition, Edovo implemented our project-based course, the Roadtrip Nation Experience, with over 63,000 incarcerated individuals.
Surveys conducted throughout the partnership revealed that interacting with those tools and videos resulted in consistently positive increases in career-based sentiments across eight key indicators for incarcerated individuals.
Most notably, learners increased their ability to identify resources and the steps needed to reach their career goals by 19 percent, and increased their awareness of the career opportunities available to them by 17.4 percent.
Perhaps even more powerful than the statistics were the impact quotes and testimonials gathered from incarcerated folks after they interacted with the course and film:
“It has made me whole again. … I can see my future and it’s bright.”
“It showed me I’m not alone in searching for the chance to succeed in life.”
It made me realize that my past doesn’t reflect my future, and my past will not discourage me from the future I want and deserve.”
To explore more on how “Being Free” impacted incarcerated individuals’ career exploration journey, read the full case study: Building a New Runway to Reentry.
How “Being Free” Is Driving Narrative Change
Showing incarcerated individuals what’s possible is a powerful first step — but preparation and inspiration can only go so far if the outside world isn’t willing to give them a shot.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the unemployment rate for individuals with criminal records tends to hover around 30 percent, nearly 10 times the federal unemployment rate.
That’s why, after the release of “Being Free,” we partnered with the Strada Education Foundation and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to screen the film with HR professionals, and assess the degree to which the stories could shift perceptions and belief systems regarding the employability of formerly incarcerated individuals. We also introduced participants to the Our Community, Our Opportunity website.
In the three months following their initial interaction with the documentary and website, 66 percent of HR participants engaged in a conversation surrounding second chance (or fair chance) hiring.
The resources also prompted 33 percent of HR respondents to engage further with second chance hiring, leading them to take actions such as reading articles or books, exploring the possibility of fair chance employment within their companies, and connecting with community organizations that work with formerly incarcerated individuals.
“For me, I really took a step back and thought about my own bias. Thought about my own experience. I thought about how I approach learning this information not only as an individual, but also learning it as human resource leader, responsible for helping to enlighten and motivate and educate the leaders that I work with.” — SHRM professional
For more insights into this narrative change, read SHRM’s full Fostering Second Chance Hiring report.
What Could This Mean For Your Organization?
When you center the voices of the people at the heart of a story, you can shift narratives; show the need for specific support, action, and change; and demonstrate the real community-level impact of the work you do.
But not every organization is in the position to do great storytelling on their own — and that’s where we can help.
Whether it’s shifting narratives around incarcerated individuals, military veterans, or women in STEM, we’re working to tell powerful stories that change minds and open doors — and we’re doing it through mission-aligned partnerships with organizations like yours.
So if you want to work with us to tell more powerful stories — and drive impact for your audience — reach out to info@roadtripnation.com to get the ball rolling.
