~by Haley Lynn Gray~
How good are you at telling your story?
As a proper, professional woman, I have had it drilled into my head that nobody is interested in your story. The kid stories need to stay at home, and whatever you do, don’t talk about what it took to get where you are now.
Then I became an entrepreneur, and the rules all shifted. Suddenly, people want to know why I’m in business, and what my story is, and who my children are, and they want to know WHO I am. They want me to tell them the story of how I came to be in business, why I’m called to this particular line of work, and they expect it to be a really good story.
This is a great opportunity because you can dig in and think about how you connect to the world around you, and you can draw the picture that you want to share with the world. Since it’s your story, you can choose the words that will tell it best and think about which parts of your story make the most sense to tell. I’m not telling you to fabricate anything, or be in any way untruthful, but rather I’m encouraging you to pick and edit the parts of your story so that it makes sense to your audience.
For instance, many people decide to become health coaches or life coaches because they’ve overcome an illness or some other challenge. I started my Senior Home Care business, Extension of You Home Care, because I saw the need to provide exceptional care to seniors after my experience caring for my parents. I get that opportunity to tell the story over and over. People want to hear why I’m in the senior care business. They don’t care that I was an engineer for nearly 20 years, but that I’ve got a heart for the business I’m in.
It’s your job to tell your story. What challenges have you overcome? What problems has this business solved in your life? What need does it fill in your soul? Does it make your soul sing?
The more you tell your story, and go into the different aspects of telling it, the better your audience will be able to connect with you and your business.
One of the interesting things is that even larger companies, with dozens or hundreds of employees, will have a story of how and why the company was founded, and what the founders of the company were thinking when they started the company. People go looking for these stories.
Tell your story to help build that human connection with your clients and customers. Give them the opportunity to feel like they understand the ethos and the reason WHY your company was started so that they too can become a part of that story.
It’s a beautiful thing.
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Meet the Author: Haley Lynn Gray
Haley helps female entrepreneurs create a strategy plan for their businesses – so they can make enough money to spend quality time with their family, pay for their children’s dance lessons, pay bills – and not worry about where the next client is coming from.
Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She helps other entrepreneurs build their businesses by sharing the benefits of her business education and experience through Business Coaching.
Whether you want to get a new business off the ground or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.
Connect with Haley:
- Work with Haley: https://leadershipgirl.com/work-with-haley/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Leadershipgirl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haleygray
