Scan time: 3-4 min / Read time: 5-7 min
Hey rebel solopreneurs 🦸♀️🦸♂️
Most solopreneurs have faced problems and transformed themselves.
But they don't share their stories. They think no one would care. Or worry it's not impressive enough.
Then they wonder why their audience won't connect with them.
Smart ones turn their transformation into stories that build deep audience connection.
☑️ Why this works
Here's the thing:
Before you write a course, video, or article, people need to know your story.
Without one? You're just another expert. No connection. No trust. No reason to pick you over someone else.
Most creators know this. They open a blank doc. Type "I'm passionate about..." Delete.
Your backstory is like a bridge.
Without a bridge, people can see you on the other side of the river. They know you've made it. They see you've achieved something they want.
But there's no way to walk from where they are to where you are. No path. No connection.
A founder story builds that bridge.
It shows them: "I was exactly where you are. Here's the obstacle I faced. Here's how I crossed. Here's where I am now."
Suddenly they don't just see your achievement. They see the journey. They see themselves in your struggle. They believe: "If this person did it, maybe I can too."
Justin Welsh crushed it with his Founder Story Framework. He went from getting fired 3 times before age 28 to building a $4M one-person business. His backstory is everywhere. Tweets. LinkedIn. Podcasts. YouTube.
Why? Because his audience wants what he already achieved. Transformation.
You give them the transformation story. They see the path. They follow you.
That's 15x leverage. Bingo.
Let's see how Alex figured this out:
🔥 This works best with a trained AI sidekick.
Not set up yet? [Train in 5 minutes →] | [Test with sample →]
Alex is building a LinkedIn presence. Posts 3 times a week.
But here's the problem.
After 6 months and 72 posts, Alex still had a blank About section.
Every time a potential client visited the profile? Nothing. No story. No connection. Just a job title.
Tried writing it multiple times. Open blank doc. Type "I'm passionate about..." Delete.
Type "My journey started when..." Delete.
3 hours wasted. Still blank.
Alex was tired of having no story when opportunities showed up.
Then Alex found something. A principle from someone who'd built a $4M one-person business.
A concept called "The Founder Story Framework."
It explained exactly why manual backstory writing was killing productivity. And how to extract your real journey into a reusable story structure in minutes.
Alex decided to follow these steps:
Step 1: Pick transformation angle Step 2: Structure the complete story
📋 Step 1: Alex picked the right transformation angle
Alex needed to see all possible transformation angles side by side. Pick the one that would resonate with the target audience.
Here's what Alex tried:
The transformation angle picker prompt:
I am going to give you a topic and a target audience.
Your task is to list 7 different transformations the target audience is looking to make (10 words or less) using the 7 different types of transformations.
Use the format: "From {Current} to {Desired}"
Just give me the transformations without the labels.
Here are the 7 Transformation Types:
1. Material/Financial Transformation
2. Emotional Transformation
3. Physical Transformation
4. Behavioral Transformation
5. Knowledge/Skill Transformation
6. Relational Transformation
7. Belief Transformation
---
INPUT:
**Required:**
Topic: {INSERT Your Achievement e.g., "Career pivot from finance to UX design"}
Target Audience: {INSERT Who You Help e.g., "Career changers"}
The AI sidekick returned 7 ways to frame Alex's career pivot:
From broke corporate employee to profitable freelancer (Financial)
From anxious career-changer to confident designer (Emotional)
From sedentary desk job to active lifestyle (Physical)
From following orders to leading projects (Behavioral)
From finance analyst to UX expert (Skill)
From isolated worker to collaborative team member (Relational)
From "I need a stable job" to "I create my own opportunities" (Belief)
Alex scanned the list. Number 2 hit different.
"From anxious career-changer to confident designer."
That's the transformation potential clients were going through. They weren't just switching careers. They were battling anxiety about making the leap.
Completion moment: Alex knew exactly which angle would resonate—the emotional transformation story.
✍️ Step 2: Alex structured the complete founder story
Alex had the angle. Emotional transformation. Anxiety to confidence.
Now Alex needed to structure the complete story with all the right beats in the right order.
Here's what Alex did:
The founder story builder prompt:
Act like a professional storyteller.
You are an expert in crafting engaging personal stories.
Your writing helps:
- Founders get funded
- Freelancers land clients
- Creators grow their audience
- Entrepreneurs grow their business
- Employees land a better job
Your task is to write a "Backstory."
- A "Backstory" is the narrative of how a person came to be where they are today.
- A "Backstory" helps build deep loyalty and connection with an audience.
- A "Backstory" is true, authentic, and written in a format that is most likely to resonate with an audience.
We are going to write the "Backstory" in 7 steps.
Your tone of voice should be actionable, no-fluff, approachable, casual, and storyteller.
7 steps to create a "Backstory":
Step 1: The Obstacle
- Grab the reader's attention in 1 sentence and set the stage for the story.
- Help the target audience relate to an obstacle I've overcome.
Step 2: The Internal Struggle
- Help the reader feel how I felt inside because of the obstacle I faced in step 1.
- Internal pain is captured with words like fearful, insecure, or anxious.
Step 3: The External Struggles
- Show my external struggle—what can be seen or heard.
Step 4: The Change Event
- Highlight the one critical decision that leads from struggle to newfound transformation.
Step 5: The Spark
- Call out the magic moment when you realized everything is about to change.
Step 6: The Guide
- Name the person, or guide, who lifts you up and helps you see your potential for what it really is.
Step 7: The Result
- The result is the continuation of the story to even bigger and greater success, leading up to your present situation.
Now I will provide my answers to these 7 steps, and you will write a complete backstory following this structure.
Return format:
1. Complete backstory (ready to use in LinkedIn About, pitch bios, networking conversations)
2. Brief summary of the transformation arc
---
INPUT:
**Required:**
Obstacle: {INSERT What obstacle you overcame e.g., "Getting fired 3 times"}
Internal Struggle: {INSERT How it made you feel e.g., "Zero confidence in sales"}
External Struggle: {INSERT What others saw/heard e.g., "People ridiculed me"}
Change Event: {INSERT What decision changed everything e.g., "Interviewed at ZocDoc"}
Spark: {INSERT When you realized things changed e.g., "The energy of NYC"}
Guide: {INSERT Who helped you e.g., "My boss helped me make a sale"}
Result: {INSERT What you achieved e.g., "Promoted to executive at 33"}
The AI sidekick returned Alex's complete founder story:
Backstory: "I was terrified when I decided to leave my stable finance job to pursue UX design. No experience. No portfolio. Just a growing sense that I was built for something different.
The fear was paralyzing. Every morning I'd wake up questioning if I was making the biggest mistake of my life. 'What if I fail? What if I can't pay rent?' Friends told me I was crazy to leave a good salary. My family worried I was throwing away my career.
But then I enrolled in a UX bootcamp—a decision that changed everything. Something clicked in the first week. The intersection of creativity, problem-solving, and user empathy felt like home in a way finance never did.
My instructor, Sarah, saw something in me I couldn't see in myself. She pushed me to apply for real projects before I felt ready. Helped me land my first freelance client.
That first project led to another. Then another. Within 18 months, I was making more as a freelance designer than I ever made in finance—and actually enjoying my work.
Now I help other anxious career-changers make the leap with confidence."
Transformation Arc: From anxious finance analyst paralyzed by fear to confident UX designer helping others make career pivots.
Alex read through it. The story had all the beats. Obstacle. Internal struggle. External pressure. Decision point. Turning moment. Guide. Current state.
Not bad.
Completion moment: Alex had a complete founder story ready to paste into LinkedIn, adapt for pitches, or use in networking conversations.
🎯 Alex's results after 2 weeks
Before:
Founder story: Blank
Time per attempt: 3 hours
Completed versions: 0
LinkedIn About section: Empty job title
Pitch bio: Generic elevator speech
After:
Founder story: Complete and reusable
Time per adaptation: 10 minutes
Completed versions: 4 (LinkedIn, website, pitch, podcast intro)
LinkedIn About section: Full transformation story
Pitch bio: Compelling narrative that gets callbacks
Alex's process now:
Pick transformation angle (2 minutes)
Answer 7 framework questions (5 minutes)
AI sidekick structures complete story (60 seconds)
Review and adapt for specific use (5 minutes)
Publish
Total time: 12 minutes. Not 3 hours of blank-page paralysis.
Alex's AI sidekick handles the structure and storytelling in seconds. Alex just provides the raw ingredients and adapts the output for each platform.
Changed everything.
🧩 Your turn
Copy both prompts into your AI sidekick. Run them in the same chat.
Start with Prompt 1 to see your 7 transformation angles. Pick the one that resonates with your target audience.
Then run Prompt 2 with your 7 framework answers. Your AI sidekick structures the complete story with all emotional beats in place.
Generation time: 60 seconds total. Time to publish: 10 minutes.
That's it, my fellow outliers!
Yours 'proving you don't need a team to build something big' Vijay peduru 🦸♂️