Scheherazade the Businesswoman

Consolidated Communications was one of the most popular PR agencies in New York City. They only accepted the most outstanding job applicants and were willing to fly out hundreds of interested candidates to interview to ensure that they got the best of the best. When Scheherazade walked into her interview, she knew that her presentation had to be absolutely perfect. Any minor misstep and she would have to fly back home with little more than a corny “I Love NYC” t-shirt. The hiring committee was legendarily cynical… they believed that if you could excite a room of people who actively wanted you to fail, then you could get your message through to anyone.

Now, over the years, potential hires had done a lot of creative things to hold the group’s attention. Applicants had staged elaborate musical numbers, turned the conference room into a black box theater to stage their latest play, or shown up in outfits that can, at best, be described as “outside the norm.” Like the other applicants, Scheherazade knew that she needed to do something to stand out from everyone else in the pool, but she disagreed that her statement needed to be novel to be bold. When she walked into the room, she took off her long trench-coat to reveal a stunning and flowing garment that was equal parts sensual and professional.

“Consolidated Communications is a place for storytelling, and our clients pay to be dazzled by our tales.”

The committee looked bored.

“So let me tell you a story. No props, no costumes, no theatrical trappings. Just me, my voice, and you.”

At this point, the executives sitting at the other end of the long conference table murmured softly, exchanging concerned glances. Surely this woman was not going to waste their time with so unimpressive a display.

Unperturbed by the shift in the room, and inspired by her great-great-great-grandmother’s spirit and dress, Scheherazade (the 6th) wrapped the heads of the executives in the tales of the Arabian Nights. Ever since her great-great-great grandmother had charmed the Sultan, she had blessed the women in her family with the ability to enchant men (and women) with her storytelling prowess, and Scheherazade claimed this heritage to the fullest extent.

By the end of the presentation, the hardened corporate hearts of the panel had dissolved and Scheherazade the Sixth was immediately employed at Consolidated Communications. When later asked why they had made such a strong recommendation for the oddly-dressed applicant, the committee admitted that they hadn’t remembered the majority of the interview, but insisted that she was the most convincing presenter they had ever seen.

The spirit of Scheherazade’s great-great-great-grandmother looked on and smiled at the independent soul who now possessed her great abilities. Long ago, she had used her words to speak herself and the women of her land out of death… now her offspring were using it to secure a future for themselves as successful, powerful, and independent women in their own right. Scheherazade only wondered what was in store for her future descendants.

Author’s Note: I was actually inspired to write this particular story by one of the random storytelling ideas that pop up on the Storytelling course page that suggests coming up with a job interview-style tale for a character in the book. Immediately I went to Scheherazade, who, in the Arabian Nights, uses her storytelling powers to help save her life by keeping a bloodthirsty Sultan (who was also her husband) interested enough to not kill her. Every night, before he is to end her life, she tells a story that ends in a cliffhanger so jarring that the Sultan insists that she be kept alive for another day so she can resolve the story. I thought it’d be fun to move the character in to a modern context and add some kind of ancestral aspect to incorporate a level of magic and mythology to it. I like the idea of this dress being passed down from mother to daughter as a kind of metaphor for the passing down of knowledge, and I also think that it is powerful to show that the current incarnation of Scheherazade doesn't face the same kind of pressure to use her gift to save her life that her ancestor does. This story also speaks to the power of women and the institutional knowledge they carry over generations.

Bibliography: Scheherazade in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).