For 30 years I’ve listened to people tell their stories, from Romania to Myanmar, the UK and Ghana. Taking time to seek out and really listen to people telling their stories, a ‘basic human activity’ (McLeod, 1997), has shaped my personal development and professional identity. Exploring my motives, the means and the opportunities, I’ll reflect on how stories have helped me to make sense of situations, build relationships and develop activities collaboratively. My story will take us to an orphanage in Romania, a HIV and AIDS programme in Myanmar, my family and friends in the UK, and survivors of stroke in Ghana. I’ll draw on experience, practice and research to highlight how our own stories and the stories of the people we are working with, are fundamental to achieving positive change in health and social care. The story so far has led to my role with the World Stroke Organization and our work towards achieving meaningful engagement of people with lived experience of stroke from across the globe. I’ll conclude by talking about how this global organization is seeking to listen to, engage with and promote stories of survivors of stroke. This work is exciting and its potential to unify and transform is already being felt, but it requires time, reflection and humility.