She was afraid her story would cost her clients. Instead, it brought her four in four weeks.
TW: Domestic Violence
Valerie was doing everything she was supposed to do to market her bookkeeping business.
She showed up consistently, shared helpful content, and talked about her organizational skills and passion for supporting small businesses.
But she wasn't getting clients.
When I reviewed her content, I could see how much she cared about her work. What I couldn't see was much of her.Everything was polite, professional, and perfectly inoffensive…and completely forgettable.
When we started talking about what was holding her back, Valerie told me something I wasn't expecting. She thought her story was off-putting!
She'd learned that being seen could come at a cost.
Years earlier, Valerie's abusive ex-husband had been arrested for domestic violence.
The arrest was public, and in her small town, the news spread quickly, and people had opinions—especially at work, which had always been her safe space.
People she'd supported through their own difficult times suddenly stopped including her. Conversations ended when she walked into a room. People whispered, stared, and treated her like someone they no longer wanted around.
The workplace that should have offered some normalcy during an incredibly difficult time became another source of humiliation. Eventually, she left.
Valerie has since moved on with her life. She remarried, found happiness, and built the bookkeeping business she loved so much. But the experience of being rejected by people she'd trusted stayed with her, long after she recovered from the actual abuse.
And when it came time to market her business, she wasn't about to risk putting herself through that again, so she played it safe.
She stuck to talking about bookkeeping and shared useful information, but avoided anything that might give someone a reason to judge her.
She was showing up consistently, but still hiding in plain sight.
Her bookkeeping business had a much bigger story behind it.
As we worked together, I learned that Valerie's passion for helping small business owners came from personal experience during her abusive marriage.
Her ex had stopped contributing financially, leaving Valerie responsible for keeping her family afloat. She did what countless resourceful women have done before her and found a way to make money with the skills and space she already had, turning her kitchen into a bakery!
After working all day, she came home and filled orders for cakes. Those cakes paid the bills!
That little business gave her a way to support her family when she couldn't depend on anyone else to do it.
Years later, as a bookkeeper, Valerie understood small business ownership in a way that went far beyond balancing accounts. She knew what it felt like to build something out of necessity—when your family was depending on you.
She knew the pride of making money with her own two hands, and she knew that behind every small business was a person with reasons for doing the work that might never appear on a balance sheet.
When Valerie told me she wanted to put good into the world by supporting small businesses, she meant it. She'd been the business owner who needed that support, and she knew what it meant more than anyone. But none of that was in her marketing.
SHE didn't need to start over. SHE needed to let people see her.
Valerie had already mastered the one habit many business owners struggle with—she was consistently marketing.
The problem was her content focused almost entirely on what she did. And let’s face it, bookkeeping is a little boring without giving people much reason to connect with the person doing it.
But after what she'd experienced, sharing more of herself felt risky.
I sensed there was a reason she was hiding, but didn’t demand that she tell her entire life story in our first meeting. We took our time, and Valerie shared more as she became comfortable.
Together, we found ways to connect her experiences to the work she was already doing.
Her story didn't replace her bookkeeping expertise—it explained why she cared so deeply about the people she served.
Then we incorporated her story into her existing content, giving people a chance to understand why they should hire Valerie.
No elaborate funnel. No paid ads. No complete overhaul of her business—just a change in what she was communicating.
Four new clients in Four weeks.
Within one month of changing her approach, Valerie signed four new high-ticket bookkeeping clients, after previously bringing in none.
She achieved those results without paid advertising or a strategic audience-growth campaign. That means that her people were already watching. They just needed a reason to hire her.
You don't have to tell everyone everything
Valerie didn't owe anyone the details of her abuse. And she didn't share them.
Sharing your story doesn't mean sharing your trauma. It means choosing the experiences that help people understand who you are and why you do what you do.
Valerie had been afraid her story would turn people away.
Instead, it helped her attract four new clients in four weeks.
Your story is your most powerful sales tool.
Through Learn the Language That Sells, I turn your experience, expertise, and perspective into messaging that helps the right people understand why they should work with you.
Because people can find someone who offers your services just about anywhere.
Give them a reason to choose you.
