Meet Brin
Killer Stories: Storytelling for Real Change
Learn how narrative psychology can transform people, teams and cultures
 

Dr Brin Hodgskiss MCMI, CMgr, BAHons (Rhodes), MA (Rhodes), PhD (Pretoria)

Dr Brin Hodgskiss realised, after 20 years delivering change in the public sector, that he was doing it wrong.

Training originally in narrative psychology, his career started interviewing some of South Africa’s most notorious serial murderers. He then spent the next 15 years in policing in South African and the United Kingdom: supporting police investigations covering everything from burglary to terrorism, murder and serial rape; then moving into operational management, and onward into large scale transformation. He received his PhD from the University of Pretoria in 2010 for his exploration of the narratives of serial murderers in South Africa.

Brin then led and delivered change across three police forces; before joining the English National Health Service, the largest public sector employer in Europe, in 2017. It’s there that he realised that how he was working had to change. Faced with the pressures the public services were under, it dawned on him: it’s not about managing the process, or even about managing the people. It’s about managing meaning. Just like the serial murderers he interviewed years before: the stories people told about themselves about themselves and their work shaped their destiny.

Since then, Brin has developed as a transformational story strategist. His aim has been to bring together true crime, psychology, self-improvement, and good management to help people and organisations cope better with change. He’s applied this approach in his work in urgent and emergency care, primary care, and digital transformation; supporting both COVID pandemic responses and major change initiatives.

Since 2021, he’s been a freelance consultant in the psychology of storytelling. He has delivered training sessions to the College of Policing (UK), Cambridge University, the English National Lottery, the UK Parliament, as well as with executive coaching companies and hundreds of change management and healthcare staff. In 2024 he co-authored Killer Stories: conversations with South African serial murderers; and launched Killer Stories training.

Killer Stories: Storytelling for Real Change
Learn how narrative psychology can transform people, teams and cultures

Explore the Training
  • Helping you understand and shift harmful narratives: the stories that kill morale and lead to burnout.
  • Offer tools for personal and organisational transformation through storytelling, building purpose and identity. 
  • Inspire you to share your value through gripping, real-life work.

What is my mission?

  1. I know how stories can go wrong; and want to stop it happening to you.
  2. I want to give you simple tools you can use to tell better stories: about yourself and your work.
  3. I can build a network of storytellers in your organisation, driving change from the ground up.

 

Why should you be interested?

While anyone can benefit, I can particularly help people engaged with the hard work of change in the public sector.

  • Helping you understand and shift harmful narratives: the stories that kill morale and lead to burnout.
  • Offer tools for personal and organisational transformation through storytelling, building purpose and identity.
  • Inspire you to share your value through gripping, real-life work.

What makes me different?

  • More than “just another” a storytelling expert—I’m a narrative psychologist with decades of experience in applying storytelling in the public service.
  • The training material is rooted in life-or-death stories— every lesson is emotionally resonant, psychologically credible, and evidence based.
  • I offer a method, not just inspiration— bringing together true crime, psychology, self-improvement, and good management practice to to turn motivation into transformation.

 

All Courses Delivered Face to Face Or Online - To Suit Your Needs

Explore the Training