Last month we doubled the number of clients we serve, so today we are doubling our staff! The Bard Company is growing so quickly, it was time to add to our ranks. We warmly welcome Jorge and Andrea Acosta to our team!
Jorge and Andrea have been married for nearly four years, and are expecting their first child this autumn. Jorge will serve as our Digital Engagement Strategist, working with Leonard to tell your stories. His background as digital brand strategist who has dealt with large and small online communities makes him an excellent addition to the team. Andrea will serve as an Account Manager, working with Katrina, Leonard, and Jorge to be sure all of our clients’ needs are met and expectations exceeded. Her years of international ministry, fundraising, and marketing make her a great asset to our team. Phoebe B. Acosta is also joining us as an honorary team member, as canines tend to be limited in their storytelling abilities, and tail-wagging doesn’t translate into digital marketing all too well. She will serve as Chief Morale Booster.
Learn more about these amazing additions to our team by reading their bios:
Jorge’s Bio:
My name is Jorge Manuel Acosta, and I am a Bard. I am tone-deaf and cannot play an instrument, but I do have years of storytelling experience at my disposal. I understand the necessary components to grab someone’s attention, invite them into my world and keep them at their edge of their seats. I was blessed to be born in the 80’s and be the first generation to grow up with a keyboard at their fingertips and the power of the baud in their veins. With this access to the world wide web at a young age, I found a way to be an introvert while still satisfy my need for community. The internet had communities for everything! I quickly learned the power of tribalism and every tribe needs a shaman to tell their story. This is what I did even before I knew it could be a career. It was my vocation long before I brought my digital knowledge and love of storytelling together to become a Director of Digital Engagement at a branding agency.
I was born in Michigan and raised in Miami to the most wonderful Cuban mother one could ever hope to have. I went to school at Florida International University (where I met Leonard and we quickly became great friends) and received a degree in History and Asian Studies with a minor in Religious Studies. I could not have conceived that I would move to North Carolina to attend seminary at Southeastern Baptist with Leonard and meet the love of my life, Andrea, at church in 2011. That is exactly what happened. Andrea and our precious dog, Phoebe, fill my day with joy and laughter. We have a baby due this fall and she is already melting my heart even though I’ve yet to see her face.
I am blessed to work at The Bard Company, where I get to do what I am great at with my best friends. My love for storytelling began with my love for History, Literature and Anthropology. The human species has a need to tell their story, it is part of of what makes us human, communication. No matter the culture or vehicle for stories, the fact remains, we need to tell stories. As children in the playground we set the scene for activities and play out the roles of our favorite comic book super heroes or athletes. We get back to class and tell the other kids and our parents about our exploits that day. It is important to communicate our accomplishments and thus affect how others begin to perceive us. This is what we do at The Bard Company; we tell your story, and we make sure you are the super hero.
Soy bilingue, y me encantaría contar su historia en ingles o español.
Andrea’s Bio:
My name is Andrea Acosta, and I’m married to Jorge, my best friend and co-adventurer. We’re expecting our first child this autumn, and for now, our Schnoodle (Schnauzer-Poodle mix) Phoebe B. Acosta is enjoying her time as an only child. I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, the City of Good Neighbors (and snow). My mom’s family came to Buffalo from Poland prior to WWII, and my dad’s parents came from Ukraine after WWII. Having such rich and adventuresome histories, I valued the excellent family storytelling from a young age. I went into full time youth ministry right out of high school, supporting local urban and rural churches in their youth work and coordinating missions trips to rural and urban areas of England. A few years later, I moved to Barnstaple, England, to continue my education and to serve as a youth worker for two local churches. As my course wrapped up, I ventured up to Coventry, England, where I served as Youth & Children’s Minister in a large city center church, founded in 1113 A.D. by Lady Godiva and Lord Leofric.
As I pursued my calling and career in youth and children’s ministries, my heart was drawn to a particular part of the population with very specific needs; foster and adopted children and all the families involved in their care. I spent four months overseeing a team of local youth and children’s workers in Nairobi, Kenya, before I returned to the States for a sabbatical. I decided to stay in the US to study Developmental Psychology and learn from the excellent organizations already doing what my heart loves; lifting the burden off of social services by supporting and caring for foster children, foster families, adopted children and their families, and the biological involved. In the midst of this life and career change, I met my husband, Jorge. His full support of my dreams and desires won me over at the start. He makes me laugh like no one else can, and is truly an amazing gift to me every day.
Through all my travels and experience, I have learned one thing is universal – everyone loves a good story. If you have a room of 200 boisterous teenagers, a good story will bring them all together. A classroom of 45 kindergarteners? A conference call that has people snoring? Tell a great story. Story time always gets everyone listening, and I LOVE to tell stories. When I was fourteen years old, I heard the best story I’d ever heard before. I heard about God and His love for us. I had heard about God and Jesus before, but didn’t grasp why God mattered, until I heard His story. God created this amazing world, and then He created us. He knew me and called me by name before anyone else knew me. And He knew every tear that would fall from my eyes and every success and every heartbreak. And He loved me. And He knew I wouldn’t be perfect, and that I needed a savior. Jesus made my life complete, acting as the bridge between my brokenness and God’s wholeness. A story changed my life completely, and continues to amaze me each day.
Here at The Bard Company I get to help tell your stories, which make me so excited. We all have so much to give to this world. When I’m not storytelling with the Bards, I’m working on my Developmental Psychology degree and caring for our little girl (even in the womb, she needs a lot of ice cream and naps), finding places to hide all the baby stuff that’s exploding out of our closets, and snuggling with Phoebe.
Yo estoy aprendiendo español y espero ser completamente fluida pronto.
Phoebe’s Bio:
My nametag says Phoebe B. Acosta, and I’m around 2 years old. My dad is Jorge and my mom is Andrea, and they call me a lot of names, like Pheebs and Biebs and Pheeber Deeber, but I’m pretty sure my official name is Such A Good Girl. My parents found me at a rescue for good dogs in Southern Pines, NC, and it was love at first sight. I was really scared of everything, and I didn’t know my name or how I ended up at this home for good dogs, but I knew they liked me and they had treats in their pockets, so I liked them too. The day they came to take me home I jumped a fence when I saw them! Before I came to the home for good dogs, I was at a very loud shelter and they said I would get “put down” because I had heart-worm. Thankfully the people from the home for good dogs came to get me, and they found me my parents. My favorite toys are my squeaky raccoon and my squeaky fox…okay, I really like any toy that squeaks. I love going outside, and I like to crouch down like a cat and stalk squirrels and birds, but my mom won’t let me chase them! I just want to be friends with them, I promise. I haven’t had a formal education yet, but my mom says I have a Ph.D. in snuggling. While mom and dad are working, I’m probably asleep under the bed in my fort, or taking a nap by their feet. Sometimes they tell me my favorite story, the story about the day they met me, and rub my belly til I fall asleep.