Mazí: Rooted in Community, Growing with Purpose
Centering People in the Workplace
Bonnie Bishop is a public health professional, trained storyteller, and founder of Mazí Health, a Missoula-based company that supports organizations across Montana in improving employee wellbeing and transforming workplace culture. With a foundation of curiosity and compassion, Bonnie’s work focuses on closing the gap between well-intentioned leadership and the lived experiences of workers.
Telling Stories That Matter
One of the most powerful tools Bonnie brings to this work is storytelling. A seasoned storytelling coach and researcher, she uses story as a way to gather, process, and share the truths of a community. Through methods like focus groups, community needs assessments, human-centered program design, group facilitation, leadership coaching, and live storytelling events, Bonnie collects insightful data and lived experiences to inform organizational decisions. “Communities and people are the experts in their own experience,” she says. Mazi's role is to listen deeply, lift stories accurately, and pair them with evidence based organizational practices that have the power to change how we collectively show up. Because how we show up at work ripples into how we show up beyond the workplace.
Building Trust and Capacity
Helping organizations create more humane and equitable workplaces isn’t without its challenges. Bonnie describes the work as deeply relational and transformative—for both clients and consultants. Organizations must be open and self-aware enough to hold space for hard truths, and Mazí must build trust quickly to be effective. Despite this complexity, Bonnie embraces the messiness of culture change, knowing that real impact happens through partnership, empathy, and intentional growth.
“I am a big believer that communities and people are the experts in their own experience. I operate from a place of that intuitive knowing is not something that needs to be questioned. It's something that needs to be heard.”
A Storytelling Project with Purpose
One recent project in Big Sky, Montana, highlights the heart of Bonnie’s work. She’s helping a peer support network of community members trained in emotional first aid and suicide alertness tell their stories for the first time. Many didn’t see themselves as storytellers at first, but with Bonnie’s guidance, they’re now preparing to share their personal journeys at a public event. It’s a transformative process that affirms their value, centers their experience, and creates ripple effects across the community.
Honest, Brave, and Heartfelt Work
Bonnie’s impact as a consultant lies in her ability to blend evidence-based practices with fierce compassion. She listens for the soul of a story, speaks truth to power when necessary, and guides organizations through the discomfort of growth. By centering people—not just productivity—Mazí Health is helping shape more caring and conscious workplaces across Montana.