Ready To Use Your Story To Stand Out?
Discover how to turn your ‘unremarkable’ background into unshakeable positioning
Here’s something nobody tells you:
The thing keeping you invisible isn’t lack of expertise. It’s that you can’t see your own story.
I should know. I spent 25 years as a translator before I figured this out. I was 62 when I finally wrote my first book—after my mother died and I realised I’d spent 40 years “getting ready” for a life I was already living.
So when I tell you that you’re sitting on positioning gold? I wasted four decades not seeing it myself.
What’s Actually Happening
You open LinkedIn. Someone with half your experience announces a major contract. You close LinkedIn. Again.
You sit down to write. Stare at the blank page. Type something professional: “I provide strategic operational transformation consulting…”
Delete. Try to add personality. Read it back. Cringe. Who wrote this?
You go to networking events. Someone asks what makes you different. You fumble through an answer that sounds like everyone else.
You know you’re good at what you do. You just can’t explain why.
And underneath it all: “Maybe my background isn’t interesting enough. Maybe I’m just… ordinary.”
That thought is what’s keeping you stuck.
Not because it’s true. But because you can’t see what’s actually there.
The Story You’re Telling Yourself (And Why It’s Bollocks)
You’ve convinced yourself the problem is time. Or skill. Or one more course.
No.
What’s stopping you is this story: “I grew up in a boring town. Worked for grey corporates. Made sensible decisions. No one’s interested in that.”
Listen. I grew up in a London suburb. Went to a polytechnic in 1978. Became a translator. Lived in France for 20 years. Made sensible decisions. Showed up.
For decades, I thought that was unremarkable.
I was wrong. You’re wrong.
You’re trying to create positioning instead of discovering it.
You’re trying to invent a story when you need someone to show you the one that’s already there. The one you can’t see because you’re standing inside it.
What Happens If You Don’t Fix This
The real cost isn’t lost revenue. It’s this:
You’ll spend your career feeling like you have something to say but can’t figure out how to say it. You’ll watch others build platforms thinking “I could do that” while never doing it. You’ll watch your expertise evaporate when you retire because you never packaged it, shared it, passed it on.
Year One: You try different tactics. Nothing sticks because you don’t know what to say.
Year Three: You stop trying. Too busy. Too hard. Too vulnerable.
Year Five: You become quietly resentful. Making snide comments about LinkedIn. But underneath the judgment is envy. And underneath that, regret.
Year Ten: Your father worked forty years at Rolls-Royce. Retired with a carriage clock. All his expertise evaporated. You’ve spent your life trying not to become him. And yet here you are. Quietly competent. Quietly invisible. Quietly running out the clock.
That’s the real cost. The legacy you never built. The platform you never created. The book you never wrote. The juniors you never taught.
All because you couldn’t see that your “ordinary” background was actually extraordinary.
Here’s What You Actually Need
You need someone to show you the story you can’t see in yourself.
That’s it. Everything else—the messaging, the content, the confidence—flows from finally seeing your own story.
But you can’t see it alone. Not because you’re not smart enough. But because you’re standing inside it.
Why Your “Ordinary” Background Is Actually Perfect
You think: “Boring town. Grey corporates. Made sensible decisions. The end.”
Here’s what I see:
“Industrial town” = Shop floor credibility no London consultant with an MBA can replicate.
“Dad at Rolls-Royce” = You saw 40 years of manufacturing culture. The resistance to change. The pride in craft. You don’t just know this intellectually. You lived it.
“Years inside major firms” = You experienced the politics. The change resistance. The gap between what leadership says and what happens. You know what works because you were there.
That’s not ordinary. That’s exactly what makes you different from every consultant who went straight from university to consulting.
They understand transformation theoretically. You understand it viscerally.
But you can’t see this. And because you see ordinary, you can’t use it.
The Life Timeline Exercise
In our first session, we break your life into chunks and excavate each one. Formative experiences. Challenges. Mentors. Victories. Defeats.
And you start seeing patterns:
That History degree? Taught you to analyse, identify what matters, question surface narratives. You’ve used that skill every day. But never positioned it.
Those toxic corporate years? That’s why you spot power dynamics immediately. Because you’ve lived it.
We’re not inventing a story. We’re uncovering what’s been there all along.
What We’ll Create Together
The 5-Day VIP Week
Monday: Two 2-hour sessions. Life Timeline Exercise morning. Message audit afternoon.
Tuesday-Thursday: I craft your Messaging Guide and Story Bank while you run your business.
Friday: I present everything. We refine. It’s in your inbox by end of day.
30 Days Later: Follow-up call for implementation questions.
Your Complete Deliverables
Messaging Guide: Core message, key themes, voice guidelines, audience personas, platform-specific messaging, value ladder, objection handlers.
Story Bank: 10 ready-to-use stories (full and short versions). Origin story, client transformations, personal challenge, expertise development, vision, behind-the-scenes, industry insight, failure & lesson.
Bonus: Signed copies of “Stories That Matter” and “How to Show Off,” 30-day roadmap, follow-up call.
What Actually Changes
Week One: You open your Messaging Guide. It’s like looking in a mirror. The language is yours. The positioning is true. You show your partner. “That’s exactly who you are. Why haven’t you been saying this?”
Month One: Content takes 15 minutes instead of 90. It doesn’t feel fake. You enjoy writing it. Your post gets comments from companies you’ve been trying to reach.
Month Three: In discovery calls, you finally have an answer that feels true. They lean forward: “Finally. Someone who gets it.”
Month Six: Three qualified leads per month. Projects at twice your rate. Speaking invitations. Revenue up. Hours down.
But here’s what actually matters: You stop feeling like an impostor. You stop wondering if your background is interesting enough. Because you finally see what was always there.
Investment: £1,500 + VAT
Includes everything above. Payment options: full payment, 2 payments (£750), or 3 payments (£500).
Limited spots: I work with 4 clients per month maximum. Not false scarcity—genuine capacity limits.
Is This Right For You?
This works if you: Have a working business but stuck messaging. Know you have a story but can’t articulate it. Want to stand out without feeling fake. Are willing to dig deep. Want a framework for creating content. Ready to implement.
Won’t work if you: Want ongoing content creation. Expect overnight results. Aren’t willing to examine your story. Need constant hand-holding.
Ready? Here’s How We Start
Book a 30-minute discovery call
Secure your VIP week (payment + dates)
Complete brief questionnaire (15 minutes)
Show up Monday ready to dig deep
Walk away Friday with complete clarity
Contact: mike@storiesthatmatter.co
Your ordinary is someone else’s extraordinary. Your story matters more than you think. You just need someone to show you.
— Mike
(Who spent 40 years not seeing his own story. Don’t waste as much time as I did.)