Why Each Needs Its Own Voice
What makes your business stand out in a crowded marketplace? Many founders might point to their personal journey—the blood, sweat, and tears that brought their ideas to life. Personally, as a language buff, I find etymology fascinating and find myself looking up words to understand their deeper meanings better. The word “founder” is particularly interesting in this context. It comes from the Latin fundare, meaning “to lay the bottom or foundation,” which in turn comes from fundus, or “bottom.” A founder is, quite literally, the person at the bottom, at the foundation, on which something is built. They hold up the entire edifice, as it were, and the etymology underscores their foundational role while also reminding us that the foundation is merely the beginning. A business needs to build upon it, creating structures, stories, and connections that reach people where they are.
A founder’s journey serves as the roots of brand storytelling, but they are not the same. Customers are interested in where the founder came from, but they’re also interested in how the brand supports them in the future. Customers are looking for brand storytelling that reflects their lives, their challenges, and aspirations. Overemphasizing the founder’s story risks losing sight of this connection. In the end, brands must evolve, right?
Apple is still Apple beyond Steve Jobs; Microsoft is still Microsoft beyond Bill Gates. A brand story steps in to fill this gap. It aligns the company mission and values with the needs of the audience. The brand story offers something that resonates on a personal level. Each of these narratives deserves its own voice to craft stories that bring about trust and relevance with the brand’s customer base. When the distinction is clear, the brand can connect more deeply and remain flexible to meet its audience where it’s at.
What Is a Founder’s Story?
A founder’s story centers on the personal journey that led to the creation of a brand. It encapsulates the reasons the business was started, the challenges faced, and the inspiration that drove its inception. The founder’s stories are usually personal and highlight the unique motivations of the individuals behind the brand.
For instance, Steve Jobs built Apple out of a garage, driven by a vision of making technology accessible and intuitive for everyday users. Sara Blakely founded Spanx after solving a personal wardrobe challenge, turning a small innovation into a global brand. Patagonia was founded in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard, who believed in taking care of people and the planet as an experiment in responsible business.
Stories like these humanize a business, giving it authenticity and depth and showing the world it’s not just an office full of men in suits. But founders’ stories are often static, tied to the early days of a company, and something a brand must evolve beyond. A founder’s story might engage audiences initially, but it often needs to give way to a larger, more flexible brand storytelling narrative as the company grows.
What About a Brand Story?
A brand story, on the other hand, is the broader narrative that defines the business. It reflects the company’s mission, its values, and the benefits the brand brings to the audience. Unlike a founder’s story, it is dynamic, ever-changing, and focuses on a brand story centered on the customer, not an individual. It explains how the company understands and addresses its customers’ needs, offering solutions that align with aspirations. Going back to Apple: hardware and products that anyone can use. And Spanx: easy-to-wear clothing. And Patagonia: eco-friendly choices for outdoor activities.
Another brand comes to mind when thinking about this. Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign is another classic example of this approach. It doesn’t recount the personal journey of its founders and why they founded “Blue Ribbon Sports” back in 1971; instead, it inspires customers to push their limits and achieve their greatness in whatever way works for them. TOMS Shoes, which we all remember had its heyday in the 2010s, demonstrated the impact of giving back, creating a sense of purpose for customers through its one-for-one model. But something interesting happened with TOMS. Customers started to understand that the business of giving away shoes in lower-income countries was controversial and could potentially damage local economies, so TOMS shifted its charity to focus on donations and aid to grassroots and local organizations as opposed to its original one-for-one model.
These examples show how brand storytelling creates lasting relationships by prioritizing the audience’s values, challenges, and goals, and is continually evolving as those change.
Why Your Brand Story Shouldn’t Be Your Founder’s Story
A founder’s story, inspiring as it may be, is the story of a person. It focuses on the origins of the business, the foundation, which may not be in line with the current priorities or aspirations of the broader customer base. Many brands find their founder’s story still fits well with their customers, but others must move on: think pre-Elon Twitter, Groupon, Uber, etc. Audiences connect more deeply with stories that reflect their own experiences, and relying too heavily on a founder’s narrative that doesn’t can sometimes feel too inward-focused.
Brand stories are flexible enough to grow and adapt alongside the company. They can shift to reflect new products, markets, and customer needs. A founder’s story is tied to a particular moment in time, but a brand story is not. When a founder’s story dominates, it can overshadow the company’s mission, making it harder for customers to see how the brand serves them. Martha Stewart might be a great example of this. The failure of the brand to evolve and rely too heavily on Martha Stewart, the person, flaws, and all, has contributed to the brand’s struggling in recent years. No one feels that way about Ina Garten, though—wink, wink!
It should be no secret that customers want to feel included in a brand’s journey. They seek brand storytelling where they are the central figure, not just a passive observer of a founder’s personal tale. So craft distinct roles for these two stories: maintain a sense of authenticity and make sure your brand stays focused on the goal—the audience.
How to Use Both Stories
The founder’s and brand stories have their place in a company’s narrative and strategy. A founder’s story works best where authenticity and passion are critical, such as investor pitches, media interviews, or a website’s “about us” section. And founders have audiences of their own, so they can often leverage their story to identify with those audiences and achieve goals in that area. All of these settings benefit from the personal touch and a glimpse into the dedication and vision behind a business.
The brand story, however, should take center stage in customer-facing communication. It prioritizes the audience by showing how the business solves problems and meets goals, driving audience engagement, building trust, and creating long-term loyalty, which will keep the brand thriving in the future. This is what the customers will turn to.
Take Content Workshop–our founder, David Ebner, believes in the power of storytelling. He founded the company in 2013 while earning his MFA with a goal in mind: adapting his creative writing and storytelling skills for commercial use and building an agency around that premise. You can find this in our “about us” section. David’s founder story is interesting, and Content Workshop’s brand story reflects the timeless thing that makes us human: the importance of storytelling. We at Content Workshop believe that storytelling will remain central to our focus no matter what the future holds in store for us.
Consider a business like ours, born from a founder’s desire to solve a problem. The founder’s journey emphasizes the passion and effort poured into developing the products, but the brand story expands the perspective and shows the customers how the products make their lives better, their jobs easier, their goals more attainable, all through the lens of an “audience first” mentality.
Our Takeaway
Like the fundus that precedes fundare that preceded “founder,” a founder’s story lays the foundation, revealing the motivations and challenges that brought the business to life. Brand storytelling expands this narrative, connecting the company’s mission to the lives of the customers. Both are vital, but each serves a distinct purpose. They complement one another, creating a complete picture of the business.
Each narrative having a clear voice helps companies communicate effectively with various audiences. Businesses will stay relatable and focused on what matters most to their customers. For companies ready to redefine their messaging, crafting these stories with care can lead to deeper connections with their audiences and a stronger market presence. So if you’re ready to develop brand storytelling that resonates with your audience, our team is here to help. Let’s work together to tell stories that bring your vision and mission to life. Partner with us to explore our content strategy and brand storytelling services today.
