What is a Founder’s Story (And Why You Need One)

A founder's story holds significant value when it comes to building a brand. It creates connection and builds credibility. Sharing your story allows you to embrace your uniqueness, be vulnerable, and resonate with your audience. Short answer: It’s one of the key messaging tools you have to build trust. 

Why you need a founder’s story…

As a copywriter, I always include the founder's story when crafting a business's Brand Messaging — the foundational messaging that defines their brand voice and the value they offer. When starting a brand, the founder's story becomes an integral part of establishing trust. As you gather testimonials, portfolio pieces, and reviews that validate your offerings, your founder's story serves as a trust-building piece for your brand. It highlights your passion, expertise, and experience that led you to create your business.

So, what essential components should your founder's story include? 

Ideally, it should describe how you overcame an obstacle so you can now help your customers reach their goals. It should showcase your entrepreneurial journey and explain why it positions you to offer something valuable to your audience.

Let me share my founder's story as an example:

As a former marketing director, I've had over a decade of experience working in social media, public relations, brand management, and advertising for consumer products. In 2019, I started my own creative company, Back Label Branding, to help women entrepreneurs launch and scale their marketing efforts. Because of my background, I bring a holistic approach to the picture and love offering advice on marketing strategy — no matter what I'm working on. As a copywriter and content creator, I often find myself collaborating with other creatives, which I'm deeply passionate about. This is what ultimately led me to co-found my second venture, Alinea Collective, a full-service branding agency built on the value of collaboration.

See what I did there? My journey positions me in a unique way (I bring a holistic marketing view to content creation) and also explains why I like to surround myself with other creatives (I’m used to a team). It’s also engaging because it helps readers gain insight into my entrepreneurial journey.

How to start writing your own founder’s story.

To help you craft your own story, here are a few questions I ask my clients to identify they key points to include:

1. How did you enter the industry? Were you exposed to it growing up, in school, or did you discover it later in life…?

2. What was the ‘defining moment’ that led you to start your business?

3. Why are you so good at what you do? (Highlight any credentials, experience, and life lessons that have gotten you to this point in your career.)

To recap:

Your founder's story serves as a strong foundation for building your brand. It establishes a personal connection, builds credibility, and positions you as an expert in your field. By telling your unique story, you create an authentic and relatable brand message that resonates with your audience. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Looking for some help crafting your Founder’s Story?

My work focuses on creating meaningful brand content that your business needs every day.
Here are the ways people most commonly work with me:

Brand Messaging
Website Copywriting
Email Marketing
Marketing Strategy Coaching (monthly sessions)
Content for events/launches