“You have a ‘decorator;’ I have a ‘decorator.’ There really is no need for the ex-decorator conversation.”
You have a past. I have a past. We’ve all been somewhere else before we landed here.
The good thing is that you get to take it all with you. You get to bring your past to the present. Your skills, your training, your experience, your credentials, your titles — however auspicious or mundane it all may be, in your eyes.
The most challenging thing about writing your story is figuring out what’s relevant. What is important to communicate, and what parts of your past can you leave…in the past?
The idea is to connect with the aspects of your own past that make you perfect to do the job you’re doing today.
If you spent an inordinate amount of time as a child forcing your little sister to play school, and now you love guiding young people to find the best solutions for their unique challenges, that might be a relevant, and fun and entertaining, fact to share. (People who read about that on your site might remember that you loved playing school as a kid. These little specific details of your life are what set you apart!)
So, think about your past jobs, pastimes, favorite things you did throughout the years. What were your transformational experiences? Spend a couple minutes thinking about that. Then answer these questions:
Why do you do what you do today?
What makes you an expert at this work?
What are the skills have you accrued over the years?
What specific training do you have?
We go from the in-born qualities to the achieved, sought-after, credentials. They all inspire confidence.
Get clear on your professional story so you can spin your experience. Communicate the fact that you have this experience and that you’ve been present to the skills and transformation that experience has to offer. You’ve taken it all in. And now it’s yours to give in the way of empathy, wisdom, or just funny anecdotes.
Tell us: What’s the most exciting thing you’ve unearthed about your past that you are going to incorporate into your business marketing today?
