Hey friend,

Your story is what makes people remember your expertise. Facts tell people you're qualified. Stories tell them you're theirs.

This week is all about your why, and more importantly, how to actually tell it. Because most people have a great why. They just tell it like a résumé.

For years, when someone asked why I started Grow Your Strategy, I'd say something like: "I have fifteen years in marketing and a background in behavioral psychology, and I saw a gap in the market for strategy that small businesses could actually use."

True. Also completely forgettable. Nobody ever leaned in.

Here's the version I tell now:

It was a Tuesday night, around 10pm. My three kids were finally asleep, and I was at the kitchen table with my laptop, building a 40-slide strategy deck for a client. Beautiful deck. Color-coded. Every tactic you could want. They wanted the full framework.

Two weeks later, I checked in and asked how it was going. He said, very quietly, "Honestly? I opened it once and felt like I was drowning. I haven't done anything. I know I need to do all this but I don’t know where to start."

My stomach dropped. I'd built her the perfect plan, and it made him feel worse.

That was the night I realized strategy isn't about giving people more. It's about helping them focus on what matters, so their growth can compound instead of overwhelm them. That's why GYS exists. That's why I talk about slowing down in a marketing newsletter.

Same why. Completely different story. The second one people remember, and repeat, and send to their friends.

When you share a fact, people evaluate it. They compare you. They check your credentials against someone else's.

When you share a story, people experience it. They picture the kitchen table. They feel the stomach drop. And because they felt something, they remember the lesson attached to it.

That's not just good marketing. It's how memory works. Emotion is the glue that makes information stick.

You don't need to tell your whole life story. In fact, please don't. The backstory is where most people lose the room. Instead, build your story around three moments:

1. The peak action

What was actually happening at the most important moment? Where were you? What were you doing? Start there, not three years earlier. "It was 10pm at the kitchen table" beats "So back in 2019, I was working at an agency, and..."

Give one detail someone can picture. The cold coffee. The kids' shoes by the door. The client's quiet voice. One detail is enough to make it real.

2. The peak emotion

What did you feel at that exact moment? Name it plainly. Frustrated. Embarrassed. Relieved. Terrified. Proud.

This is the part most business owners skip, because it feels too vulnerable. But the emotion is what connects. Your reader has felt that same thing, maybe about something totally different, and that's the moment they think, she gets it.

3. The lesson

What did you learn, and what does it mean for them? This is where your story turns back into your expertise. The lesson is your value, stated through experience instead of as a claim.

"Strategy isn't about more" hits harder after the drowning client than it ever could on its own.

Your why story is one of the most reusable pieces of content you'll ever create. It works as an About page. A podcast intro. A reel. A pinned post. A sales call opener. A speaking pitch.

Write it once, tell it a hundred times, and it keeps compounding. Every time someone hears it, you move one step closer to being recognized for the right thing.

Draft one story using the three parts: peak action, peak emotion, lesson.

It can be your big why, or just a small moment from last month that taught you something about your work. Keep it under 150 words. Read it out loud once. If you'd lean in hearing it from someone else, it's ready.

Talk soon,

Alyssa