You need a better bio! Part 2: Balance, mood, journey
“The single most useful power inside us at these critical times is the expressive imagination, that part of us that dreams and creates images representative of both our deepest desires and the way we feel we are made for a continuing work in the world. The part of us staring hard at the horizon for celestial clues as to our relative position on the moving sea we call a life.”
—David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity
Ahoy, writers! Last week in part one of this two-part bio-writing adventure, you laid out the basics of your work (mission, purpose, and who you’re serving), made a list of important details from your work background, and explored possible narratives for your work backstory. Good job! I don’t have time to re-explain all of this because I’m getting a haircut today, so go back and read that one if you gotta.
Part 2 covers the other key elements to consider when drawing up your bio or ‘About Me’ for your service-based business, and guidance for you to put it all together. We’ll cover the balance of your work experience with your personal narrative, the mood of the piece and your perspective within it, and the journey for the reader that’ll help you structure the piece, plus exercises and some tips on openings and closings. Find examples and a final exercise at the bottom! How did this get so long? Could say the same thing about my hair. Here we go.
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Balance
I get asked a lot about whether the bio should be more personal or more about work experience, and how to balance the two. “How do I drop in Harvard organically?” asks everyone I work with who went to Harvard. (Kidding.) It might be simple enough to weave in details you really want to include, by telling us about an important experience you had in that environment or role, rather than just dropping it in or including a list of your accomplishments between a paragraph about your childhood and one about your current work container. Narrative matters!
When I worked on the About Me with my truly wonderful writer OJ, this was a key question. OJ had a ton of experience as CRO at a couple unicorns, but he wasn’t sure what backstory would explain why he was now starting his coaching practice. “People will think this is weird,” he’d say. “Well, why are you starting it, my man?” So began the journey of freeing his backstory through interview and exercises (like the ones I’m sharing with you). Very quickly, we discovered a powerful thread with an origin point that clarified why he was doing this new work now—it all made sense after all.
Telling that story took OJ through some key background experiences, so he was able to weave in degrees and positions he’d held where they genuinely contributed to his current positionality and purpose. We also separated out his list of (very impressive) background experiences, so he wouldn’t feel pressured to force those items into his backstory. I think it worked out amazing. Take a look (with permission from the man himself ofc).
Getting this balance right was extremely important for OJ, who in addition to writing about technical leadership and advisory topics, wanted to be free to write about his vision for authentic leadership—his values and personal journey into leadership, and the challenges he faced as an outsider, help readers trust his insights into human leadership topics. It’s another kind of expertise his CV wouldn’t have revealed.
Specificity breeds trust as well as good writing. Keep this in mind as well when you’re doing your weaving. If you ‘became disillusioned in my high-achieving corporate 9-5,’ tell me actually a story about how that happened or what that really feels like, to be disillusioned. If you went to Harvard, tell me something that happened there that shows me something about your values, or tell me how it sits in contrast to how you see the world today.
This might also soften the anxiety of, ‘How do I talk about myself without bragging?’ If you’re telling the truth about the effects of experiences you’ve actually had, you don’t have to worry about ‘bragging.’ If it’s important for your story, and it’s true, it’s ok to say it, just say it. Read it out loud and if you cringe really bad, change something in how you’re writing about it or the context. If it’s not important, leave it out.
So, back to the thread here. When thinking about balance of background and backstory, how much of each you put forward is completely up to you, the ethos of your brand, your values, what you think is effective to who you’re serving, the container and mood (next), and what you’re building. Think about these three options:
Focus only on your backstory and save your background for a separate section of your site, like a box to the side of your story that lists these important qualifications and work experience.
Weave the backstory and background together to demonstrate that your personal values and what you want to see in the world are directly related to the choices you have made or experiences you’ve had in your professional journey.
Craft a compelling story of your work, such as one that focuses on your research interests and what you hope to accomplish for the world, rather than your more personal journey related to these topics.
This last one is totally ok to do! Remember how I wanted everyone to explore their backstory last week, but not because I expect everyone to share it all? Some people express their values and passion externally, through what they do and their ideas. Not everyone has to be a bleeding heart—it might not be right for you or your clients to ‘put it all out there.’ Just don’t be afraid to get personal or specific to your life—you are not a robot, your story is not a product to be consumed, and your perspective is your superpower.
Whatever you do, be specific, tell the truth, and you’ll be doing a lot better than almost anyone.
Mood
You might find it helpful to think simultaneously about mood, which includes the feeling of the space that you’re creating, and your own perspective within that space.
Exploring mood
For service-based businesses, you might think about the bio as a recreation of the feeling of working with you. What is it like to be one on one with you? The exact mood of each client relationship may be different, so think about what mood you create for new people just getting started with you—closest to the unknown reader. What values is it always important for you to communicate in your relationships? What do you want this new person to feel in the space you create for or with them? (Do you consider space-creation your responsibility or a shared one between you and those you work with? Also good to consider.) Once you’re certain about these core things, you don’t have to worry so much about ‘how’ to achieve them. They’ll be expressed through the natural prioritization that is channeled through clarity.
To get to a sense of your space and perspective, I like to explore mood literally. In writing, answer the following in paragraph or list form:
If the space of my writing were a room in a house, what it would look like? What are its colors, is it monochrome, is it maximalist or minimalist, full of things, neat and clean, old or new? Are there windows, what’s the view? Is it a room in a house, of what kind? Is it in a town or a city in fact? Is it a beach, a forest, a clearing in the woods, is it not a room at all but a meadow, a decomposing tree, the remnants of a lost civilization emerging from a long-forgotten bog? What season is it, what’s the time of day? Why? What’s it like? Is it spooky, timeless, intense, nostalgic, covered in honey, or like climbing out of water?
Now, what is the effect of these qualities? Adrenaline, expansion, clarity? How do you want people to feel when they’re in your space? You can distill that physical space into three adjectives or qualities, eg: I want people to feel safe, inspired, and capable. I want people to feel empowered, seen, and motivated.
Exploring perspective
You’ve described the mood you want to create when readers are in your space, encountering your work. Maybe it’s a candle-lit cabin at night in a gnarly woods, meant to evoke a sense of wonder and chilly excitement. Now, where are you in this picture?
Are you guiding the reader into the safe space of the cabin through the gnarly wood, where you’ll light a candle, or are you waiting in the warm cabin for them to arrive? (I’m taking this excellent example from a business coach who attended my bio-writing workshop this year, I loved it!)
So what’s your perspective on the space you’re creating? Are you guiding the traveler with a voice from above, are you side by side with them, are you the witch in the cabin waiting to light the candle when they finally arrive, the big daddy prepared to hand over the certification of excellence at the top of the silver tower, the echo from the empty set of footprints in the dimension just behind me? What is your position relative to the reader? What is your perspective on their journey as they move through the space? This will help you get in touch with the kind of narrator you want to be.
Now, what are the qualities and characteristics that go along with that position and perspective? This perspective, which is your writer’s voice, also comes from the rooted place of your values—assuming that your business is an authentic expression of you 💅. What are the core values that you want to express with your voice? Honesty, patience, generosity, ‘winning’? Make a list for yourself, and revisit this post for another visualization exercise.
Journey
Ok, you have gathered all of the elements you might need to make up your bio, and may in fact be done writing it in your head or in your notes! One last thing to think about that might help you structure an amazing little piece, or unlock some missing piece, is the experience of the reader. Don’t let this hang you up—let the reader help inspire the structure of your writing. Ask yourself: What journey am I taking the reader on, and what is the goal of this journey?
Where is my reader beginning? Where do I want them to end up? What do I need to show them on their way to a new destination? If I know my reader is going to bring a lot of anxiety or assumptions about my work, or skepticism about me, how can I shape this story to make them feel comfortable or safe (if that is my goal)? What do I want them to experience? Surprise, unfolding truth, inspiration, resolution of a mystery, a change in themselves, self-recognition, respect?
What is my goal for them? Is it to see me as a trustworthy source on some specific topic or approach? To share my priorities or not waste my time? To understand my style of work, influences, or values? To grasp a key element of my philosophy that makes what I do different? Is my goal that they feel safe, inspired to reach out or take an action, to reflect on their own journey? By the time they’ve read this piece, what should they know, understand, or grasp such that both of us may be served by the experience?
Revisiting the big backstory from last week, and now taking into account what you think about the balance between background and backstory, and what you know about the mood, perspective, and journey, go into a free write, or sketch out how it might fit together piece by piece. This isn’t a post about outlining, I’m not getting it into it right now, I have to leave for my haircut soon and I want to get a chai on the way!
Your bio isn’t ultimately very long. It’s short, a couple of paragraphs or a short page. The journey isn’t a long one. So you might as well try to make it great! If an outline helps, do it! If you wanna just write the damn thing, do it.
Beginnings & Endings
People often need specific advice on how to open and close this piece of writing. For beginnings and ending, I’ve got some little technical ideas to help open things up for you and achieve the journey and goals you’ve identified.
Possible opening lines include…
A direct address (“Do you ever wonder…?” “I want you to picture…”)
One thing to decide is will your voice directly address the reader throughout? If so, it can help to establish that convention here.
A quotation that inspires reflection (“bell hooks wrote…”)
Please note this common option is really only acceptable if you are using a real, actual quote that you can completely verify, from a writer you are familiar with! Don’t use badly sourced quotes, and don’t quote Oscar Wilde, Benjamin Franklin, or Einsten. None of them said that! Use a real book for quotes from an author, critic, artist, or philosopher you actually like, not Google or ChatGPT. Remember, this whole entire project is about trust, it is all about trust. Don’t break it by not being diligent about something so basic.
In the action of a scene (“I saw my signature doubled in the glass at the bottom of my mid-morning cocktail. Was that even my name? Was this my office? Was that my secretary typing away outside my door? Was that my door? Was it the way out?” Ok I took that too far but you get it. Something is happening and we’re in the middle of it.)
Dialogue (“‘We’re giving you three months.”)
Place description (“The home I grew up in had four walls and not much else that stayed the same.”)
A statement (“I’ve spent my entire life looking up.”)
Set up a mystery (“I had no idea that day would be my last in this body.”)
Some options for closings…
A scene to end your story—a surprising last line of detail or scoping out
A callback to something mentioned earlier
A circle to the beginning, revealing the deeper meaning of or new way of seeing the opening image, event, or scene
A question you pose to the reader
A directive, eg “Seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop…” (Dillard)
Biggest take-away from the story you just told / clearly laying out a new way of seeing the world
Unexpected reflection / lesson from the story
Be journey-aware.
When thinking about your opening, think about the journey you’re taking the reader on. What assumptions, pain points, curiosity, or concerns are they likely to bring to this page? Knowing that, what opening makes the most sense for what you want to happen?
Don’t forget to think about the tense, too. Are you writing in the present tense, reflecting on the past? Are we ‘in time’ in the story (as if it’s happening now–“I’m sitting in my one-bedroom apartment wondering if I should climb up to the roof and just start screaming”) and then we jump up to today (“This all happened years ago, before…”) By the time you close the piece, we should probably in the present tense, about to take another step together.
For your closing, think about the goals you set for your reader when thinking through their journey. What was your goal for the reader or readers? How can you help them reach that goal here at the end? Whether it’s understanding, taking action, empathizing, practicing self-reflection, learning something, or something else.
Finally, consider adding a CTA (call to action) after you’ve ‘wrapped up’ your piece of writing. You can address different potential readers in this section, eg:
If my story resonates with you, please reach out.
If you’re curious about my work, you can learn more about what I do here.
If you want to read more about my methodology / philosophy / practice / something specific, start here.
If you’re interested in collaborating, please do something.
Examples
Here are two other completely different examples of About Me from people you probably know, Esther Perel and James Clear, that demonstrate balance, journey, mood, and perspective very differently. Note that although Clear uses a lot of bullet points and boxes, there is still a very clear journey being created for the reader—what does he want for them? What can you articulate about the differences and different effects of each of these narratives and approaches? What mood and journey are they creating? Where are the two figures positioned in the telling?
(These are merely examples chosen because their differences are wide, obvious, and worth articulating to help you reveal where you want to fall on the spectrum—neither are templates!)
Letter-Writing Exercise!
This is a great opportunity to shake out anything you’ve missed in your brainstorming so far, and to determine the natural mood of your writing when you’re focused on a client:
Who is an ideal client or customer you would like to work with? Perhaps this person is real. Take a moment to think about them. Are they resistant to working with you? Is something holding them back? Is there a misunderstanding you want to clear up, or inspiration you want to share that you know will help them get started?
Write “Dear NAME” at the top of your page, and take ten or fifteen minutes to write to them. Use any of these as a departure point:
why you want to work with them
how you got here / why the work matters to you (think about how this could be helpful in a one-on-one conversation, as in, “Like you, I…”)
what work you hope to do
how you can help them
work you’ve done that you’re proud of and want them to know about
what you can accomplish together
what the journey will be like
More questions on bios? Leave a comment or send an email to rachel@racheljepsen.com. I can answer any more bio questions in subsequent posts, happy to add a Reader Questions section, so ship ‘em to me.
Other future posts that will be relevant to your bio as much as to any other piece of writing will cover types of narratives and kinds of structures to consider. I said last week that beliefs would be part of this bio as well, and that stands! But I’m separating that out into our next piece of writing for coaches, creators, and solopreneurs—your Work Philosophy, which will cover beliefs and values as we uncover the story of your ‘receiving context.’
Next week we’re moving in to editing, you won’t want to miss it :) You can check out this post from August for more to-come.
