After the glass slipper...
Why real business stories start when the fairytale ends
Cinderella didn’t spend the rest of her life in a ballgown.
Eventually, she was in M&S joggers, rowing with Prince Charming about the right (or wrong?) way to stack the dishwasher. Maybe she got fed up with the way he slurped his tea through his front teeth. Maybe he forgot their anniversary. Again.
The bit we never see in the fairytale? The real stuff. The ordinary, messy, often infuriating truth of what happens after the glass slipper fits.
And that’s exactly the part we skip in business storytelling, too.
Why your customers don’t need to be rescued (and aren’t here to rescue you either)
In recent years, TV and film have moved on from polished protagonists. And why? Because viewers don’t want perfect. They want real.
That’s why we love Fleabag (that and the small matter of the HOT PRIEST!) She's flawed, unfiltered, contradictory and all the more human for it.
But in business? We’re still telling stories like 1950s Disney.
We paint our customers as either:
Sparkly, picture-perfect heroes with zero real problems so we can play the wise fairy godmother, or helpless damsels in distress who need our magical product or solution to save them from doom.
Neither of these hits the mark.
Because your customers aren’t perfect, and they’re definitely not helpless.
They’re busy, brilliant, distracted, trying-their-best humans. With forgotten passwords, half-written blog posts, three tabs open for Canva and one eye on the school run.
And that’s the story worth telling.
The stories that actually connect?
They’re not polished. They’re personal.
They’re the ones where your audience recognises themselves, not their best selves, but their real ones. Like their life is being reflected back to them through a looking glass mirror.
Because when you show you get their reality, the friction, the “this should be simple but it’s not” feeling, the voice in their head whispering “maybe I’m not cut out for this” - and you show up anyway?
That’s where trust begins.
And trust is what turns lurkers into buyers and buyers into believers.
What happens after the honeymoon?
Here’s the bit I think we do often forget. Business storytelling doesn’t stop when someone hits ‘buy’. That’s actually when it starts to matter most.
It’s the after story that builds loyalty.
When the course is still sitting in their inbox, unopened
When they hit a wobble and wonder if they’re the only one
When they’ve done all the things you worked on together or used your product as directed but still don’t see (or feel) any different.
When they’re not sure what the next step is and they need a voice they trust to guide them through. That’s where your voice matters. That’s where you matter.
Not as a fairy godmother.
Just as someone who gets it. Who’s walked it. Who can hold the story steady while they figure out their next chapter.
I don’t have a wand. But I do have words.
I can’t sprinkle sparkle on your story and make it perfect. But I can help you tell your truth, the kind your right people will actually care about.
I can give you the tools, the structure and the confidence to show up as you are, without needing to sound like every other business owner with a ‘journey’ (bleurgh!)
Because the magic?
It doesn’t happen when everything’s shiny. It happens when the party’s over. When the once precious slipper rubs blisters on your ankles.
When you’re standing in the kitchen thinking, right then, what now?
Want support to tell the real story behind your business?
That’s exactly what we do inside She Roars Club, my storytelling accountability group for women who are done with playing small and ready to share their truth, but need, like we all do, the support and nudge now and again to do it.
If you’re looking to make your storytelling actually happen - and keep happening beyond a course or workshop, come and join us.
Hilary x
Helping you find the words to tell the story only you can.