Summer is chaos.
Racing to finalize Q3 plans. Pushing to close deals that keep slip-n-sliding away. Wading through budget cycles. Prospects are OOO. And you're still buried from your own attempt at a summer getaway. Everyone’s drowning in “urgent.”
But as the dust starts to settle and the leaves soon begin to fall, one truth remains:
If you don’t make space for your story - even in the midst of this chaos - you’ll disappear into the noisy Sea of Sameness.
I can already hear the chorus:
“Yes, Lindsay, I know story matters. But I'm seriously so busy here. Where do I even start? And what does 'human-centered' even look like in a world run by AI and dashboards?”
Let’s talk about it.
Story isn’t just how you go-to-market.
It’s how you lead.
No funnel, no growth hack, no AI-generated blog post will build trust that lasts. You can manufacture content. You can optimize for clicks. But you can’t automate real human connection.
What your customers actually want isn’t polish. Not your flawless execution of someone else's playbook. It’s presence. Purpose.
They want to feel seen. They want to recognize themselves in your story. That kind of resonance only happens when a brand treats its narrative not as a one-time campaign, but as an ongoing conversation & commitment.
I’ve seen it firsthand working with hundreds of founders, CMOs, and marketers over two decades. The ones who break through are the ones that share stories that make their audiences feel alive. Human. They are grounded in realness, creativity, and trust. Not just content calendars.
The problem with most storytelling advice is that it's so surface-level. And it's usually not even about story. It's all too often about trying to game some made-up system or appease the algorithm wizards.
Sure, there may be some utility in such tactics. But they won’t move your audience or your business if they’re disconnected from your truth.
So here’s what I actually tell my clients:
Not your mission statement. Not your website header. Certainly not your feature set. I mean the real reason you're here. Why the business exists.
What broke your heart? What made you mad enough or so passionate that you had to take action? What was the thing you just couldn't ignore?
If you don’t know that yet, your story will always feel vague.
If you do? You’ll never run out of things to say.
Human brands don’t start in strategy decks. They start with clarity.
Most B2B brands cast themselves as the hero.
But your audience doesn’t need another hero—they want to feel seen.
Make THEM the hero. Frame your story around their tension, their transformation, and connect through the values you share.
You’re not here to impress. You’re here to reflect.
Your story isn’t a monologue. It’s a living collaboration.
Invite your people into it: your customers, your team, your partners.
Let them shape the narrative with you.
When others feel ownership in your story, they’ll carry it further than any paid ad.
Treat story like a system. Not a one-off task on a to-do list. Think of the founder’s voice as a thread flowing through episodic content that builds over time. This isn’t about writing a clever About page. This is about building a living narrative that informs how you: