Jason Garey

Seeking Embedded Upstream Narrative Position | Faith-Based and Mission-Driven Teams

For more than a decade I’ve worked alongside leaders and teams in difficult seasons. I’ve helped them notice what people were really hearing beneath the words, catch drift early, and make adjustments so trust and clarity stayed intact.

This is the same kind of steady listening and judgment that faith-based and mission-driven teams need when working with stories about suffering, hope, doubt, and redemption. It helps keep those stories honest and resonant with real people (believers and unbelievers alike) before they harden or drift.

My own faith and love for parable-style storytelling have made me want to bring this way of working full-time to efforts that shape hearts and culture.

While my focus is a full-time internal role, I'm also open to limited short-term bridge projects (e.g., focused narrative reviews) that align with these values.

Why This Work Matters

Some work carries real human cost. Stories about faith, loss, endurance, and hope are not theoretical. When they are told too quickly, simplified, or shaped without listening deeply, they can miss or harm the people they are meant to serve.

The perspective I bring is not only learned on the job. It is shaped by life: family, loss, uncertainty, responsibility, and long seasons of carrying what does not resolve neatly. That lived experience changes how I listen, what I notice, and what I refuse to rush.

My contributions ensure that stories, whether true or fictional, are handled with fidelity to real life rather than pressure for effect.

How I Support The Work

I work alongside teams doing mission-driven or faith-adjacent storytelling, including media, narrative projects, and creative initiatives, and support the work from the inside, especially when stories are rooted in real people’s lives and the way they are told carries real consequence.. In an internal capacity, I contribute alongside teams doing mission-driven or faith-adjacent storytelling.

That support includes listening before shaping, helping teams hear what trauma survivors actually listen for, and noticing where a story rushes resolution or simplifies pain.

My work focuses on preserving restraint, silence, and weight where they matter. I help fictional or teaching narratives resonate when grounded in lived reality.

This is not about polish or persuasion. It is about whether a story can be leaned on by people who recognize themselves in it.

Where This Perspective Comes From

Professionally, this perspective was forged in sales and market development roles where I helped rebuild trust and direction during economic pressure and industry change, translating complex realities into clear, usable narratives that delivered sustainable results.

Early on, I learned how people actually listen, decide, and respond in real situations, especially when trust is fragile.

Over time, those skills merged with lived experience. Loss, responsibility, and sustained instability sharpened my discernment around what rings true and what does not, particularly in stories that touch faith, suffering, and hope. This work is where those two streams meet.

Today, I'm directing this experience toward a full-time internal position in a values-aligned organization

How I Work

I work upstream of execution, helping leaders and teams slow down long enough to see what’s actually taking shape, what’s drifting, and what may not be landing the way it’s intended.

In changing creative environments, with evolving tools and increasing velocity, I provide calm judgment to help teams preserve authentic voice and mission alignment.

I thrive in ongoing, embedded roles—working upstream with leaders and teams over extended periods to provide steady judgment, pattern recognition, and alignment as real work moves forward. Short or seasonal engagements have been part of my path, but my preference is full-time internal contribution where honesty, restraint, and clarity can compound over time.

How I Approach Story and Culture

I work best with teams who take both faith and human reality seriously. I’m interested in stories that don’t rush past mess or tension, but also don’t confuse realism with endorsement.

I’m comfortable sitting with ambiguity while meaning takes shape, and I value restraint over performance. I believe stories earn trust when they are honest about the world as it is, while remaining faithful to what they’re meant to carry.

This posture tends to resonate most with organizations that see cultural engagement as responsibility, not retreat or accommodation.

Let's Connect

If your organization has (or anticipates) an internal role involving upstream narrative guidance, creative discernment, or story stewardship—particularly in faith-based media, publishing, or family/formation work—I'm open to a brief conversation about mutual fit.

Remote-friendly preferred; based in Eugene, Oregon. You can reach me by clicking below or via my LinkedIn account.