Tiffany Hunter

I’m the founder of Story Squad, mother of 2, pragmatic dreamer, spontaneous planner, realistic idealist, and indecisive decision-maker, and this is the first, and only, time I’ve ever worn sparkles on my face. But I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. 

After 16 years of working in advertising, I realised that my heart was in a different place. So I took a deep breath, quit my job and set out on a new adventure. I began studying creative writing, and developing my debut novel (which I may actually finish one day).

When I first came up with the idea for Story Squad it was purely nostalgic. As a kid, I LOVED to imagine. And I LOVED writing stories. Selfishly, I wanted to un-adult. I wanted to escape, and to relive the feeling of freedom that comes with being lost in one’s imagination. Unselfishly, I wanted to capture and share that feeling and experience with the next generation of kids. Because when I saw them glued to screens, and I read about school curriculums killing creativity in kids, I knew that a lot of them weren’t getting it, or not enough anyway.

Then I started researching. And I was shocked. What became abundantly clear to me very quickly was that the skills and traits that are developed through the process of creative writing and storytelling are the exact same ones that are being eroded in our kids, but that will be the highest in demand when they enter the workforce, where they’ll be competing against robots (AI) for jobs.

I knew I wanted to do something to impact, even in some small way, setting our kids up for future success. Hence, Story Squad was born! And here we are. Thank you for being here with me! xx

Emily Lamb

After a decade of working in advertising agencies, Emily completed a Masters of Teaching at Sydney University and has spent the last 6 years in and out of the classroom teaching years K-6 around Sydney.

Now, as a key part of the Story Squad team, whilst looking after her three beautiful children, Emily feels lucky to be able to enjoy all of her favourite things at once!

A devoted educator, she thrives on helping, students to feel confident and to become enthusiastic learners. Her passions lie in great stories via quality children’s literature, using drama to bring imaginations to life, public speaking as a strong means of communication, and in immersing students in their learning to encourage them to become curious and proud curators of their own imaginations.

With her nurturing, bright and infectious personality, Emily is a natural at motivating, exciting and inspiring every child that she meets, both inside and outside of the classroom. 

Tina Matthews

Tina has been writing and illustrating picture books since 2007, winning several awards along the way.

Before that Tina worked as a puppet maker and writer in children’s theatre and television for 25 years, including ABC TV’s Bananas in Pyjamas and Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, starring David Bowie. She continues to teach puppetry at NIDA.

Tina has written and illustrated six books and these days likes nothing better than reading and writing and making simple books and puppets with kids.

“I think writing workshops are a great alternative to the standardized testing approach we have adopted in so many schools.  An emphasis on imagination and flights of fancy offers something to all kids. The workshops leave them satisfied with the places they have been in their head – and in addition they have a small book in their hand as a reminder of how to get there again.”