How to Package Your Origin Story Without Trauma-baiting

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Hey friend!

I almost posted about my dad walking out when I was 0. Had the whole tragic narrative planned out, thinking more trauma meant more likes.

Then I caught myself and laughed. "Dude, what does this have to do with helping people tell better stories?"

Absolutely nothing.

We've all been there though, right? Scrolling through LinkedIn thinking we need to share our darkest moments to seem "authentic" or get that big break where the posts goes viral and breaks the internet. Like there's some contest for who had it worse.

Sadly, your audience doesn't care about your trauma.

They care about your transformation.

Here's the thing I figured out after watching hundreds of founders trauma-dump their way to zero sales: Your origin story isn't group therapy. It's strategic positioning.

The stories that actually convert?

They're not about how much you've suffered.

They're about what you learned that helps others win.

Your crowd doesn't need every gory detail of your journey. They need to know how your experience turned you into the guide they've been looking for.

And using my opening line, my experience at age 0 would not help anyone.

So let me get back to my point:
Same vulnerability, different angle. Way better results.

When you flip from sharing pain to sharing wisdom, everything shifts. Your story becomes a bridge to their success instead of a pity party.

Here's my challenge: Think of one thing from your mess that could genuinely help someone else level up. That's your real story right there.

And if you want the complete playbook for turning your journey into client-attracting content? My Live Learn Love Storytelling Guide breaks down the exact framework I use to help entrepreneurs package their stories without the trauma Olympics.

Talk soon, Stephen

P.S. Seriously, what's the biggest lesson your journey taught you? Sometimes the gold isn't in what happened to us, but what we figured out along the way.

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