You know your story matters.
You just don't know where to begin.
Maybe you have been carrying it for years. Circling it. Starting and stopping. Telling yourself you will get to it when the time is right and quietly wondering if the time will ever feel right.
Maybe you have started. A podcast that never launched. A book proposal gathering dust. A documentary idea you mentioned once to someone who told you it sounded interesting, and then you never mentioned it again.
Maybe you know the shape of it - roughly — but you have no idea whether it wants to be a film, a book, a course, a series, a keynote, or something you don't have a name for yet.
And underneath all of it, a question you might not have said out loud: Am I the right person to tell this? And am I ready?
That is exactly where the Story Discovery Intensive begins.
You already have the story. This is where you find out what to do with it.
A focused, half-day development session with Maleena, an RTS award-winning storyteller, certified life coach, executive producer and the person who turned one of the most personal chapters of her own life into a Channel 4 documentary seen by millions. You bring the story. She helps you find its shape, its medium, and its next step.
The Lab · Story Discovery Intensive
This is for you if…
You have a story rooted in lived experience and you have been circling it for months, possibly years, without knowing how to begin.
You are ready to transition pain, experience, or hard-won wisdom into something purposeful and lasting
You want to build lasting IP from your experience — a book, a documentary, a course, a podcast, a keynote — but you don't know which form fits
You have started and stopped — and you need someone to help you understand why you keep stopping, and what to do instead
You are a founder, expert, or thought leader with a personal story that underpins everything you do — and you are ready to tell it properly
You are a creator who has been producing content but sense there is a deeper, more authored story underneath it waiting to be told
THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF...
X You are looking for content strategy or social media advice — this is story development, not marketing
X You want someone to write your story for you — the work here is developmental, not ghostwriting
X You are not yet ready to look honestly at the story you are carrying — readiness is the only prerequisite, and it is non-negotiable
WHY THIS GUIDE FOR THIS WORK?
Maleena Pone is not a story coach who has read about the process. She is someone who has lived it - from the inside, at the hardest possible level.
She spent 20 years as a broadcaster, producer, and filmmaker before she turned the camera on herself. Making Saving Mum - a documentary about her mother, her British Indian identity, and the silences her family had kept for decades taught her things about story, emotional readiness, and creative courage that no broadcast credit ever could. The film aired on Channel 4 in December 2025, was seen by millions, and won an RTS award.
She is also a certified life coach and trauma-informed facilitator, which means she brings more than editorial expertise into the room. She understands what it costs to tell a difficult story, how to hold that with care, and how to help someone move through the fear without abandoning the truth.
That combination - broadcast filmmaker, certified coach, lived experience - is what makes the Story Discovery Intensive unlike anything else available.
FAQ’s
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The Story Discovery Intensive is available both in person and online via video call. Many clients find the intimacy of an online session works beautifully for this kind of work — there is something about being in your own space that makes it easier to go deep. In-person sessions are available in London.
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You don't need to arrive with a polished idea or a clear plan. You just need to arrive. Before the session, Maleena sends a short preparatory questionnaire — nothing intimidating, just enough to let her come ready to serve your story from the first minute.
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That is almost always the exact story worth telling. Maleena's approach is trauma-informed - which means she knows how to hold difficult material with care, when to go deeper, and when to pause. You will never be pushed further than you are ready to go.
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Some clients take their next-step framework and run with it independently. Others go on to work with Maleena through The Development Journey - an ongoing partnership for those who want continued support through the creative and emotional complexity of bringing a story to life. There is no obligation either way.
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The Story Discovery Intensive is a single, focused session. If you want to continue working together after that, we discuss what ongoing support looks like at the end of your session - never before, and never as part of the sales process.
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A half day with Maleena - her full attention, 20 years of broadcast expertise, certified coaching practice, and the lived experience of taking a deeply personal story all the way to a Channel 4 commission — results in three things: absolute clarity on your story, a detailed map of where it is going, and a framework for how to get there. Here is exactly what that looks like.
Half-day story development session
3–4 hours with Maleena Pone. Available in person (London) or online.
£350 single payment · includes all deliverables below
Detailed story map
A written document — yours to keep — capturing the core narrative, emotional arc, key themes, the "why now," your audience, and the medium your story is best suited to. The clearest articulation of your story you have ever seen written down. Built from the session, in Maleena's words, shaped around your truth.
Editorial development notes
Maleena's written observations on your story — the strengths, the tensions worth exploring, the creative decisions ahead, and the emotional threads that give it its power. Drawn from 20 years of broadcast development and her own experience of authoring deeply personal work.
Next steps for your project
A clear, prioritised action plan written specifically for your story — what to build first, what decisions to make, what support you might need, and what the realistic pathway looks like from where you are now to where your story is trying to go. Not a generic framework. A document written for you, about your project, with your specific next steps named.
Your story has been waiting long enough.
Book your Story Discovery Intensive — a focused half-day with Maleena Pone that ends with a detailed story map, editorial development notes, and a clear next-step plan written specifically for your project.
Spaces are limited. If you are ready — book below. If you want to talk it through first, start with a free discovery call.