About the Founders

Ryan and Kelly Portnoy never dreamed of starting and running a nonprofit ministry…

it wasn’t even on their radar, but for 15 years they wrestled with a nagging feeling the Lord was preparing them for something that somehow combined the creative arts & technology with global missions… but what?

With a career as a commercial photographer and web designer, Ryan provided for his family while Kelly ran their side wedding photography business and focused on raising their three children. 

While walking with friends and family preparing for the mission field the Lord revealed a large gap in their training and preparation process. The expectation for missionaries to be experts at communication, public speaking, marketing, and fundraising seemed unrealistic. There was a very strategic need for professional communication assistance.

As Ryan and Kelly began offering their marketing and communication counsel along with web, graphic design, writing, and photography skills to help their missionary friends with clear, visually creative communication pieces the gnawing feeling that plagued them ceased and a clear vision began to take flight.

The Good Story launched in April 2015. Since then, over 1400 missionaries and dozens of nonprofit ministries have received creative services, workshop training, and communication coaching. Ambassadors have traveled the globe documenting the work of the Kingdom through photo/video, training hundreds of missionaries at conferences along the way. It has been an honor of a lifetime to intersect The Great Commission in this unique way.

The Portnoys