The Story Portrait

for founders ready to show up

When you fully grasp your unique story, you understand why you’re called to do what you do.

YOU'VE GOT TO GET SEEN IF YOU WANT TO BE FOUND

So much of our story is unknown to us, or we make up that nobody wants to hear it, so we keep it to ourselves.

As a result, this means fade into the background – just another coach in a sea of other coaches.

The Story Portrait is a personal journey that blends photography, mentoring, story and self-discovery.

What you take away from this experience is the internal clarity as to why you do the work you do and the confidence to share your mission.

Along with this you get a stock library of personal brand photographs that truly show you in your best light and a powerful photo story that you’ll be proud to share with prospective coaching clients, friends, and colleagues.

visibility is vulnerable

I remember at the very beginning of my coaching journey 15 years ago, I struggled to know what to share and what to leave out in my marketing and social media. I sensed that in order for people to trust me, to coach with me, they had to get to know me.

But I’d be sharing other people’s quotes, vague ideas and watered down statements, rarely sharing my point of view and as a result, I was largely ignored. I didn’t know what I should or shouldn’t be saying so I ended up saying very little.

I’d read books on marketing and social media strategies, most felt generic and uninspired, everyone else seemed to be doing the same things to promote themselves and their business. Nothing felt stand-out or new.

I got some headshots done by a local photographer, thinking that this would give me the collateral and confidence to get out there and be seen, but all that I could see when I looked at the photographs was awkwardness and confusion and they just ended up living on my hard drive.

It was painful, embarrassing actually, I’d given up a well paid job, with security and good reputation in the hopes of doing my own thing and I was exhausting myself, scatter-gunning energy and running out of savings. I pulled back, hid and I hoped…

showing up is half the battle

What I didn’t grasp was the fact that now, I was no longer part of somebody else’s movement, through stepping out to go it alone, I had to become a leader, someone with an opinion, a voice, a vision and a mission, and I had a very specific tribe waiting for me to create for them, educate them, inform and inspire them. And it felt like a huge responsibility. What I came to discover through experimentation was that when I shared something personal, something which I cared about or had personally experienced – people responded, and in a big way. ”Wow, I totally relate, thank you!” “You’ve inspired me to make the move!” were a couple of standout comments. From this practice of daring to share I had inquiries, people reached out, they felt they could trust me to have an initial conversation and inquiries turned into paid coaching clients!

the golden thread running through it all is you

When we absolutely know in our bones that our coaching offer is a good one, it lights us up, it feels purposeful.

I get how feeling confused around what to share and how to share it feels vulnerable, so we play it safe and share little with real substance or story. This bounce back and forth between enthusiasm and frustration is exhausting.

Maybe you’ve thought about sharing aspects of your story, you sense that people buy from people first, but what exactly should you dig out?

It’s hard to find the relevance or see the wood for the trees after all it’s your life and you can’t step out of it objectively – do your audience really care?

You yearn to approach that Podcast you love to see if you could be a guest – it feels like the perfect fit, but your backstory and bio is all over the place, scrappy and desperately in need of some structure and your publicity shots just don’t feel like you anymore – you’ve grown so much since they were taken. So reluctantly you let another possibility pass you by.

What’s needed is a clear understanding of your story, your purpose, the journey from the beginning through to now – the pivot points, the struggles, the people who inspired you, changed you, shaped you and how it all motivates you to do the work that you do today.

Knowing this ties everything together, the golden thread running through it all, couple this with a beautifully designed, showcase feature story with words and photographs that radiate your energy, and you’ll have zero hesitation in getting visible.

the story portrait

A personal brand journey for coaches that combines photography, purpose coaching and story, giving you clarity on your vision and captivating your target audience in the process. Here’s how it works…

1 - 30 MIN CONVERSATION

We start with a 30-minute conversation to ensure that The Story Portrait is a great fit for you and discuss your needs.

2 - STORY COACHING

I then coach & interview you via Zoom to unearth the key factors to your story & how it has shaped and motivated your work.

3 - the written words

I'll transcribe our coaching conversation, assemble and makes some edits pulling it all together.

4 - SHOOT PLANNING

We then plan your shoot, what type of photographs you are looking to create and what we need to visually tell your story.

5 - PHOTOSHOOT DAY

We'll shoot for 3 hours getting portraits, full body shots, environment & close-ups, making sure we cover the landscape of your coaching business.

6 - CURATE, EDIT BUILD

I then curate and edit the very best shots, the ones that tell your brand story and go on to design and build your unique Story Portrait.

7 - LAUNCH SUCCESS mentoring

Once live, I'll mentor you to ensure you get the very best from your Story Portrait - how to spread the word, build it in to your social media presence and position yourself as a thought leader.

THE photo STORY ALL ABOUT YOU

you are the face of your PRACTICE

At the heart of every Story Portrait is the bespoke profile piece that captures your energy and tells your story in a compelling interview style. People buy from people first and in the field of coaching, it's YOU they want to know about.

YOUR STORY IS WHAT MAKES YOU TRULY UNIQUE

THE RESULTS

WHAT YOU GET

A stunning feature photo story that you can point prospective clients at, reinforcing trust.
A set of professional personal band photographs that look beautiful and truly represent your energy.
Clarity on your own personal journey and how it’s shaped your motivation to lead change
Awareness of the value you bring to your clients and how your coaching uniquely helps them.
An almost ready-written "About-Me" page, perfect content for your website, Linkedin and so on.
Your Story Portrait featured here on my site alongside a host of other incredible coaches.
Mentoring to become aware of your story and discover its power.
Visibility, clients, sales!
A renewed sense of purpose, energy and confidence as a coach.
The motivation to show up publicly and the confidence to share your thoughts.

apply for the story portrait

lets have a conversation to see if this is the best fit for you

browse the coaches

is the story portrait a good fit for you?

You are really ready to dive into your personal story and understand your motivations as a coach.
You’re looking to clearly understand who you are through your personal story and you want a set of amazing photographs to support your social media presence and publicity.
You started your practice with enthusiasm, but you’ve lost motivation and are confused with direction.
You have a great service or product but hold back from telling the world because you don’t know how to frame the story of what you do and why.
You’re feeling challenged with impostor syndrome, you’re asking ‘Who am I to do this? Why should they listen to me?’
You’re a coach or other service provider such as a mindfulness teacher, yoga instructor and you want more clients, you really know you need to differential yourself from a sea of others but don’t know how.
You are ready to step into the next level of personal leadership and visibility

You are currently in burnout or feeling overwhelmed - you need to feel resourced and grounded to get the most from this.
This probably isn’t for you if you are only looking for a set of personal brand shots for self promotion, for that click here.
You are not at all comfortable with seeing yourself on camera. I wont be altering your appearance - bringing out the best, yes - but not changing what’s there.
You are not ready to stretch your comfort zone and get visible to and for your audience.
This isn’t for you if you can’t spend the time and energy working with me on this.
You don't live in the UK or, cannot travel to the UK.

read the latest story portraits

sharlene jones

Sharlene is a coach who helps motivated people find their owner’s manual and discover their unique resources…

DIPAK DAVé

Dipak helps successful, leaders in their field entrepreneurs who feel stuck, discover a sense of fulfilment…

Andrew Willson

As a Movement Coach, Andrew helps individuals to relearn and, in many cases, move away from chronic pain…

This journey gave me so much confidence that continued to grow and unfold over time, incredible!

Jess Ratcliffe, Coach / Founder.

This experience has been amazing. I completely underestimated the power of connecting with my story

THE STORY PORTRAIT