When Lila Morency and Robert Bean sit down to be interviewed, it’s not the usual side of the microphone for them. “Usually our job is to get people to talk about themselves,” Lila laughs.
As the husband-and-wife cofounders of IMPACT, a boutique storytelling video agency based in Boulder, the duo are masterful storytellers, helping upscale architects, interior designers, and builders showcase the heart of their work. Through a strategic and proven storytelling process, which is equal parts empathetic, meticulous, holistic, methodical, expansive, and sometimes even therapeutic, the couple crafts short brand films that speak to their clients’ why.
“The intent from day one was understanding that storytelling could be used as a force for good," Robert says. "A lot of the world's problems could be solved by simply sitting down with someone and asking, ‘What's your story?’ After all, look at the polarization that exists … But if we chose to tell different stories, then we would get different outcomes, more connectedness, better change, and probably some solutions to the world's problems.”
To wit, the couple is tapping an industry that’s rich with gorgeous imagery but often overlooked for the role it plays in cultivating health, culture, and connection—which is design. (Shelter is on the first tier of Maslow’s hierarchy, they point out.) Take for example the rise of wellness design:
Robert explains: “People are putting up these beautiful images of it. But actually, if you dig deeper into it, the people that live in these houses are feeling better as a result of being in a space that is beautiful, that complements their lifestyle, that helps them be more at peace. And then they are better people to their families, to their communities, to the world. So space and place can influence us in such a deep way. That's what we're excited about. We want to give architects and designers a voice to show how their designs can influence people for the better. Because good design helps communities interact differently.”
Purpose, the big picture, the power of connection—these are significant motifs for the couple who come to filmmaking and storytelling only after careers in fashion design (Lila) and aviation (Robert) and a reevaluation of their own purposes.
“Looking back at it," explains Lila, "storytelling also was always really present with me when I was creating [clothing] collections because that was my favorite part, asking things like ‘What are people feeling? Where are they going? What world am I bringing them into? Then, when we started delving into storytelling, it was like, ‘Oh, this is true human connection. This is what it looks like. This is what it feels like.’”
Today, the couple attests the most important part of the work is actually making—and holding—space for the creative process in the first place.
“Once we can show up for ourselves authentically and truly,” Lila explains, “then that's when we can actually do that for other people.”
“It's something that isn't regularly talked about and that we're doing our best to speak more on," adds Robert, "but our ability to see people and to hold space comes from our ability to do that within our relationship… and that is our differentiator…. if we can give that opportunity for someone else to turn within and to share their story, that’s magical to us.”
Visit Impact.eco to learn more and see their recent work for companies like HMH Architecture + Interiors, Home Within by Joe McGuire Design, and Tectonic Design Build.