You can’t grow wildflowers on concrete 🌼
Your story isn’t just something you share, it’s the foundation everything else is built on. Here’s why getting it right makes everything easier.
Every spring, I’m taken a back when our little front garden starts to bloom.
Peonies, irises, poppies, alliums, roses, all layered, colourful and seemingly effortless.
But I can’t take credit for it.
The woman who lived here before us did. She spent decades nurturing that soil, planting thoughtfully, season after season. So now, all we need to do is keep up with the weeding and watering, and it carries on delivering, all year round.
Slightly naff I know, but it’s the same with your story.
When you’re building a business (especially one rooted in who you are), it can feel tempting to skip ahead to the flashy stuff, the Instagram posts, the homepage copy, the perfect pitch.
But a story that sticks? That builds connection and momentum over time?
That starts with the groundwork.
Figuring out what you stand for, how you want to show up in business, what you have to say, can feel like hard work.
It’s slow, quiet work. Like planting seeds and waiting to see what thrives. You don’t always know what will flourish until it does.
Then there’s the unforeseen. The swarm of aphids. Deer nibbling on your plants. Naughty snails ready to feed on all the goodness of your hard work.
Just like a garden, your story is at the mercy of things happening outside of your control
The mood of the market
How much money people have to spend
The bloody algorithms
The people who try to knock your confidence or sap your energy
When you set the foundations, when you can clearly articulate your values, your why, your lived experience, your way of seeing the world, you have somewhere reliable to come back to, whatever the world throws at you.
And that changes everything.
Here’s how to tend to your story like a garden that’s meant to bloom:
🪴 Soil = your values & core message
Ask yourself - What do I believe? What do I want to be known for?
☀️ Sunlight = visibility
Are you actually giving your story the space it needs to be seen? Or are you hiding it behind what you think you should be saying?
💧 Water = lived experience
Are you regularly feeding your story with what’s happening in your life and business or are you recycling old content that no longer fits?
🌿 Weeds = noise & self-doubt
What’s creeping in that doesn’t serve you? Whose voice are you accidentally prioritising over your own?
🐌 Pests = judgment & criticism
Are you protecting your story without shutting it down completely? (Big hint - boundaries and community can help here!)
Five ways to build a story that keeps working (even when you’re not)
Write down three core values you want your business to reflect.
Keep a ‘story bank’ of real moments, lessons and customer experiences.
Craft a one-line ‘why’ you can revisit when you lose clarity or something throws you off kilter
Test your message in real life, see what resonates, where it lands and adapt if needed
Seasonal check-in: what’s growing in your life or work right now? What’s dying off? Take the time to honour both.
And if gardening’s not your thing…
Maybe your story is more like a well-loved wardrobe, built over time with pieces that actually fit who you are.
Or a sourdough starter, once you’ve nurtured it, it keeps on giving with just a little care.
Whatever your metaphor, the message is the same.
Root your story before you try to make it bloom.
Because when the (shit) storms come, and they always do, you’ll have something solid to come back to.
Hilary xx
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I work with founders, creatives, leaders, and women who’ve lived a lot of life, and have a lot to say, but still feel like they’re not being heard. Women who know they’re capable of more, but haven’t found the right words (or courage) to own it yet.
Together we:
🤪 Turn messy middles into meaningful messages.
🌍 Take lived experience and shape it into legacy.
🔥 Write the stories the world needs but often forgets to ask for.
Hit reply or send me a message if you’d like to start exploring your story and we can set up some time to chat.