CASE STUDIES
INTERCONNEQUITY
This lady is awesome!
In 2022, Luz T. Cazarez—a financial expert based in the Bay Area—decided to rebrand her consultancy firm, giving it a new name that she felt better aligned with the truth about her work: Interconnequity.
At the heart of Interconnequity is Luz’s personal mission to contribute her specific expertise in financial literacy toward eliminating the racial predictability of success in United States school systems. After decades of experience in educational leadership across multiple learning institutions and school districts, Luz gained a unique lens on how systems can make or break student outcomes and, ultimately build-up or burn down the futures of our youth and communities. With this in mind, her new brand—centered around recognizing our interconnectedness and the important charge toward genuine equity–made perfect sense.
But here’s the thing… rebrands are difficult.
the challenge
Luz was connected with StoryPaced Founder Chris Paicely through a previous client, who Chris has helped to create a new logo, website, and video content series. In their first meeting, Luz shared with Chris that while she had already had a new logo developed and had begun exploring new ways to talk about her work, she was looking for support in bringing more of her mission and personal passion to the forefront of her brand narrative, rather than just her expertise in the financial literacy space.
How could the heart of Interconnequity shine bright, while still strongly communicating the hard skills and credibility this firm brings to the table?
In this conversation, Chris introduced the idea of video content. More specifically adding video pieces to Luz’s new website that would breathe life, color, vibrance, warmth, and an emotional connection into the written narrative about her expertise. Luz liked the idea in spirit but was not thrilled about being on camera.
the plan
StoryPaced founder Chris Paicely saw this project as a key opportunity to “sell” the power of video storytelling when it comes to small businesses, particularly when the business hinges so heavily on the expertise and personal influence of the founder (something StoryPaced can relate to!).
As Chris thought about how to ensure Luz would get enthusiastic about getting in front of a camera and talking about her work, he first needed to find out more about Interconnequity’s founder and her why. So Chris asked Luz to send him every version of her bio or personal story. Luz sent him several pieces she had written, including a piece called If You Knew Me, which powerfully captured key components of Luz’s personal journey.
“If you really, really knew me, you would know that I believe I am the luckiest person in the world. I am lucky because I know that when you grow up where I grew up, your chances of making it out are 1 in 20 — that’s 5 percent. And, please don’t misunderstand me when I tell you I’m lucky - I have worked very hard to get where I am today, but I know that when you grow up where I grew up working hard doesn’t guarantee the safety and security and the peace and quiet I have today,
And, if you really, really, really knew me, you would know that I believe my place in this world is to create opportunities for the 19 in 20 who aren’t the luckiest person in the world like me. My work is to eliminate the racial predictability of success in our school systems.”
— Luz T. Cazares, Interconnequity Founder (If You Knew Me)
Wow. This was such a perfect encapsulation of the Luz that Chris had been talking to for weeks at that point. Open about her blessing, yet acknowledging her own role in her success, all while naturally weaving in real data that drive the point home. These were the words on the page. The video content needed to show the world the woman who wrote these words in the most authentic way possible.
So Chris asked Luz about her friends. Not just her friends but the people she knew could speak to both her professional credibility and her character as a person. Luz identified a few people from different areas of her work and asked them to be a part of the video series. Meanwhile, StoryPaced assembled a team to handle the telling of Luz’s story.
For onsite production, we assigned three roles:
Producer/Director - StoryPaced Founder Chris Paicely served in this role, working with Luz to determine a vision for the video pieces, write prompts for the interviews, secure a shooting space, and direct the production. Chris also worked with Luz and the cinematographer to determine when the shoot would happen in coordination with the other interviewees, who would supplement Luz’s story with their own perspectives on her and her work. These were busy people, including a superintendent and the head of recruitment for a national multi-city fellowship program, (along with Luz herself), so scheduling was key if all were to be in the same space at the same time.
Cinematographer- Filmmaker KimberLee Webber served in this role, capturing the interviews on dual cameras as well as b-roll throughout the shoot. KimberLee managed audio capture and lighting as well, while also providing thoughtful onsite input to ensure the end product met Luz’s needs.
Production Manager - Melorie Serrano Masacupan served in this role, leading the onsite logistics to ensure the shoot went as smoothly as possible for both the StoryPaced team and Luz and the people providing their on-camera testimonials. This included COVID testing, guiding people to the space, letting them into the shooting area while maintaining quiet for clean audio, and acting as a point of contact for the property owner from whom StoryPaced rented the space. Melorie also captured behind-the-scenes photos for future marketing of the project.
Ultimately, the shoot was a success. While Luz expressed some nervousness coming in, she was open to the experience and told her story beautifully and effectively. Parvin Ahmadi, Superintendent of Castro Valley Unified School District, and Yvonne Rodriguez, PhD, Director of National Program Impact and Talent for the Surge Institute, both spoke enthusiastically about the work with Luz and Luz’s deep passion for the work.
The next step was cutting together a powerful series of videos.
the story
Chris served as editor on the project, taking all of the footage from the interviews and building several pieces that could be spread throughout Luz’s website to provide a meaningful look into, not just what Luz does, but who she is. Chris ended up creating five video pieces and sent them to Luz as drafts to receive feedback about whether they were hitting the mark for her. Luz’s response was more than encouraging.
“I love the videos. As I was watching I thought, wow, this is someone I would like to know and work with, which was great since I was watching myself! ”
Luz decided to move forward with the video pieces and StoryPaced weaved them into the pages of her new Interconnequity website.
the learnings
The work with Interconnequity was a critical learning opportunity for StoryPaced. Luz’s work was well established in the Bay Area but she wanted to add a layer of nuance to the marketing of her new brand that hadn’t previously been a hyper-visible element of her previous brand identity. This project truly illuminated the deeply critical bridge good video content can create between the resume and the personal story.
Telling Luz’s story and weaving in her why turned what some may have seen as just another corporate video piece into the re-introduction of a mission-aligned leader with a bold vision for transforming the education space to serve her people.
The work with Luz ultimately informed some adjustments to StoryPaced’s approach, particularly as we took on another major project for a national nonprofit organization.
The power of the personal journey.
