I Tell Stories
for Two Reasons:
To Better Understand Myself and to Help Us All Feel Less Alone
Multi-
disciplinary
erma bombeck
“There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.”
Bring wit, vulnerability, and heart to your stage, big or small . Whether you need a dynamic emcee, a moderator, a(relatively benevolent) voice of God or a speaker on creativity, belonging, and storytelling who connects deeply with multi-generational and multi-cultural audiences—and yes, speaks corporate fluently (if that's your jam)—you + me = alchemy.
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I grew up in the former Soviet Union believing bread lines were a fun way to spend an afternoon. Then immigrated to San Francisco, discovered television, and learned English by watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and not to brag or anything, but I picked up some Klingon too. Qapla'!
Like every good immigrant daughter, I focused on making my parents proud, earning an MBA (which I use mostly as a very expensive punchline) and spending years pretending to be a grown-up in the corporate world. Until one day my boss suggested I might like to try something creative, like improv or a voiceover class. One turn at the mic and I was hooked: voiceover was like a gateway drug, and everything else followed: writing, stepping on stage, trying live storytelling, stand-up, sketch comedy, and who knows what's next?
Hi, I'm Yuliya
Yuliya, rhymes with Goo-lia
multidisciplinary artist storyteller, humorist, writer, & performer
My artistic persona? What you’d get if David Sedaris and Tina Fey had a baby and raised it in the Soviet Union. I’m grounded, mischievous, and genuinely allergic to unkindness. Whether I’m emceeing a room, keynoting a stage, moderating a panel, or recording in a booth, it’s all rooted in my experience as an accidental cultural anthropologist obsessed with understanding identity and belonging.
The other thing you should know about me: I am (pathologically) obsessed with process. I love documenting, experimenting, and figuring out how things actually get made in real time. If you like watching the messy middle (along with a healthy rotation of cuss words), come subscribe to my Substack, Buckle Up Bubelah.
alexandra franzen, best-selling author
“I've worked in writing, & book publishing for 15 years. Yuliya has a voice that stands out. She's hilarious. She's deep. She brings such honesty to her stories about this beautiful mess we call life. If you gave me a pile of 20 stories -- without any names -- I could pick Yuliya's out because she has a distinctive voice & point of view.”
Are we already best friends?
Get all my very wise wisdom, funny anecdotes, and personal ramblings sent to your inbox on a semi-regular basis. Oh, and there’s an audio version, too, if that’s your jam.
But, I get to tell stories for a living, so for me, a storyteller is someone who seeks connection and understanding in words — both written and spoken. And that, in a nutshell, is what I do.
I tell stories that are yours, mine, and ours. Whether you want to hear what it was like growing up in the Soviet Union, commiserate over universal parenting struggles or glean the lessons I learned from working at Google, I’m your gal.
So, what IS a storyteller?
So buckle up, Bubelah.
You’ve come to the right place.
- Floundering, figuring it out, and flourishing as a creative (and as a human)...
- Straddling multiple cultures (and at times feeling like you don’t quite belong anywhere)...
- Navigating the highs, the lows, and the downright messiness of being human…
The Latest from the Blog
talk to me, Bubelah!
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P.S. In my spare time, I'm a voice actor. Listen in.
