From my time in the classroom to my time researching with Indigenous communities and founders, I’ve learned first-hand the power of co-creation.

Make your community a part of the process. 

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a poll on my Instagram asking community members what topic they wanted to explore.

-How to think of yourself as a business owner before signing a client

-How your story shows up everywhere in your business

-Rituals to maintain inspiration

-What 4 problems your business should solve

I’ve ranked the options above in the order that the community voted for them.  

What you might not have realized if you were voting on this list, is that all 4 topics are connected. 

When I received the download of inspiration for these topics, I saw all 4 of them as a loop that feeds back into each other. 

So by throwing out the vote, I gave my audience a chance to pick their entry point to the loop. 

Last week I answered the community’s most urgent curiosity: How to think of yourself as a business owner before you even sign a client. 

This week, we will dive into understanding how your story shows up everywhere in your business.

What is your story?

In a nutshell, your story is how you understand and express your lived experiences and yourself. 

Your story includes so many complex, beautiful aspects of your humanity:

-Your memories & experiences

-Your identity & culture

-Your choices & beliefs

-Your values & visions

-Your interests & passions

-Your hurts & healing

-Your lessons & reframes

-Your desires & habits

-Your creativity & intuition

-Your understandings & theories

If you thought stories were just a way to recount memories, take another look at the list. Every item on this list plays a role in leading you into the moments you have in your life or shaping how you make sense of your experiences. 

Your moments + Your sense-making = Your story.

As you scan this list, you might already be making connections to how many of these elements show up in your leadership and foundership. 

This list isn’t exhaustive, but I hope you’re starting to see the picture that your story is so much more than a bio paragraph. 

Your story is you understanding you.

Having clarity on who you are, where you come from, and who you are becoming is transformative in your life & leadership. 

Let’s explore 4 buckets of how your story shows up in your business:

1. Your Brand

-Your voice is a signature part of your brand! How you talk & what you talk about links back to your story, where you’re from, and who you’re choosing to become. 

-Your vibe How you express your style, tone, and individuality all stems from your story, your culture, your interests, and your personality. 

-Your values This is the big differentiator in 2024! People are seeking authentic people in a sea of AI and MRR. Your story shapes the values that draw your ideal people to you!

2. Your Offer

-Your niche You do what you do because your life story brought you to it! For example, you can’t be a health coach if you didn’t choose to devote yourself to healthy living and the reasons behind that choice lie in your personal experiences–your story!

-Your curriculum framework If you’re in a service based, skills sharing, coaching, or consulting business, you make your living from delivering your expertise to others. How did you get and how do you continue to develop that expertise? The answer to that question lies in your story.

-Your model Whether you choose to work online, in person, 1:1, in a group… you might be surprised to find how your story connects to your strength and desire in making these choices!

3. Your People

-Your clients I know from many conversations that many founders struggle to land on who their ideal client avatar is (which is CRUCIAL information if you want to nail your marketing). Guess where you can gain absolute clarity on your ideal client? Yep, in your story!

-Your collaborators As a mission-driven founder, putting yourself & your story out there is about more than just finding clients! Having aligned people reach out to YOU to collaborate, support, and amplify your business is incredibly valuable. 

-Your team This is an often overlooked aspect of business planning! If you’re starting out as a solopreneur, have you thought about how who you choose to work with has a direct outcome on the impact of your business? Knowing who is an aligned team member and how to signal them to work with you all lies in your story!

4. Your Roadmap

-Your origin It’s amazing how much easier, faster, and more successful you can be when you’ve mapped out your starting point and connected it to your destination. Your story will lead you to understand exactly how you conceived this business, what groundwork has already been laid,  and how to intentionally write the beginning of each subsequent chapter. 

-Your destination Your big vision is NECESSARY to drive you through the long, uncertain days ahead. Not only that, but knowing each measurable landmark in your business is so important. Have the story that you plan to tell clearly outlined as you grow. 

-Your vehicle This includes your decision-making mechanisms, your non-negotiables, and what you say no to! Having an unshakeable connection to your story will give you the confidence & clarity to make hard decisions and big boss moves, led by your heart, soul, and core values. 

Your story is so much more than a bio. It’s your deep, clear understanding of who you are and where you’re going. And it is the internal operating system that your entire business & mission runs off of! 

Make sure you get your story system dialed in with regular audits, clean ups, and internal story system updates (reframes, check-ins, clarity mapping, and sacred storytelling)! 

Your work is so important. You and your mission are worthy. You got this. I’m here for you!