Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Graham

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

So since I was in my 20s, I had been actively looking for a career path that felt really meaningful and purposeful. I had graduated from University with a History degree not knowing what I’d ever do with it. And when I had the opportunity to start teaching, I felt like I had potentially found my calling.

The bonus to pursuing this new career was that the opportunity was overseas. So I got to have the experience that I had always dreamed of, which was traveling the world and exploring new places.

However, three years into teaching primary school, I realized that this was not the forever career path for me. It didn’t feel aligned. I felt drained at the end of the day, and I knew I wasn’t really using all of my gifts.

But on the flip side, I really loved the experiences that I was having outside of the classroom — the experiences of immersing myself in different cultures, learning what made them tick, and the nuances of their belief systems. I was fascinated by the stories.

I continued to teach for a total of 10 years. And throughout that entire time, I was exploring what else I could do, and what else really lit me up. A couple of the things that I realized were: 1) I loved to write, and 2) I loved hearing people’s stories.

Since I was living in very cosmopolitan places abroad, I had a lot of friends from countries all over the world. And exchanging stories with them was the thing that we found that we really could find the things we had in common. Even if we were from completely different places, and completely different backgrounds, you always found something that you shared in common.

So when I had a window of opportunity to leave the classroom behind and start a business, I took it and started my first business working as a copywriter. I wrote copy for different industries and business types and quickly learned that I really enjoyed learning more about the why behind the brand, the mission behind the business, and what gets this person up every day to keep doing what they’re doing.

And it all made sense to me when I realized that this was the story side of building a brand, having always been so obsessed with stories. Learning about a person’s reason for starting their business, and the struggles they had along the way was like getting a firsthand glimpse at the documentary on their life. And I didn’t want it to stop.

So I pivoted my business from strictly delivering copy to focusing on helping other businesses craft their stories, particularly helping them leverage their own personal experiences to demonstrate their experience and expertise while building that connection and engagement with their audience.

It’s amazing to see someone recognize how incredibly powerful sharing their truth can be to really connect with their clients in their business. Because it’s the same thing we do in our personal relationships — we share our personal experiences to get a glimpse of who the person is beneath the surface, underneath the cover.

It builds that know, like, trust and really transforms a business owner from being a detached figure to being someone who is relatable, deep, and multi-dimensional.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

No, not at all. I’ve had a lot of struggles along the way, actually.

The first struggle that I really faced was more the struggle of business ownership in general.
I had a big learning curve to endure coming from a teaching background. Most of what I needed to know in order to run a business I had never learned before.

But one thing I knew for sure from all of my experiences was everything can be figured out. So that’s what I did.

Another hurdle I had to face was starting a business in a foreign country while acclimating to a whole new place. I met my husband while I was still teaching in China in 2019 and came to Liechtenstein when we got married in 2021. And that was the same time that I started my business.

So there were a lot of new things all at once.

But once the newness of everything wore off, I found that the biggest struggle that I had was really finding my lane in what it was that I was offering. My niche.

There were a million other copywriters, there were a million other brand strategists, there were a million other people doing the same thing that I was doing. And I needed to know what was my key differentiator.

And I knew that finding this thing meant I needed to go inward. I needed to know what really lit me up, brought me joy, and see how all of my weird and eclectic experiences tied into what I was doing.

It was pretty apparent to me that I was struggling with my own identity as a person, not just as a business owner. I had been in a very toxic marriage that had ended three years before I officially started my business, and it really left me feeling really out of touch with who I was as a person.

I was still in the midst of discovering who I was outside of any relationship, what my passions were, and what brought me joy when I left my teaching career to start this business.

So as I navigated entrepreneurship, I had to really do a lot of inner work on myself. I knew if I didn’t work on myself and my hang-ups, my part in my previous marriage and the mistakes I made, the triggers that were rooted so far down, I wouldn’t make it.

My first step was to revisit what I already knew worked. I had tons of tools from years of good ol’ therapy and support groups, and I had a spiritual practice and faith that guided me.

I also knew the power of community. So I leaned into the friends I had based all around the world and intentionally nurtured new friendships. These people were trusted soundboards wto ho I could open up about what I was experiencing, and what I was feeling, and then also in turn be their support person when they were having struggles.

The thing about leaning on a community is even if these people end up not being your best friends in the world, having a trusted place where you can go and feel uplifted, feel understood, feel seen, feel heard, can be the lifeline that you need to keep going.

Especially as entrepreneurs. Because I feel like being an entrepreneur is very lonely and when you’re trying to talk about the struggles that you might be going through with someone who doesn’t have their own business, it’s really hard for them to relate to your experience.

And when you are able to openly talk about this stuff with other business owners without the fear of ‘if I share this, it’s going to seem like I don’t know what I’m doing’, or ‘my potential client is going to know that I’m a hack’, or ‘I’m going to look like the biggest loser ever’…you get to really start working out the blocks that keep you stuck there.

All of this has paved the path for me to be more mindful of this when working with my clients. They need a safe space to share openly. They might not be ready to share everything they’ve experienced with the world, so coming to me can be the first way to practice sharing their truth and working out if it’s something they want to share with their audience as well.

Even though it hasn’t been a smooth road, this whole experience ended up being one of the best gifts of my life. Because it forced me to look at some things I was able to brush under the rug for years and years. It grew me in ways that I know I wouldn’t have grown if I had continued working for someone else.

It’s been such an amazing evolution and I’m so grateful!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?

I’m a personal brand storytelling strategist. I help mission-driven entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofits leverage their experiences to create meaningful content so that they deepen connections with their audience and make a memorable impression.

What sets me apart is my gift and appreciation for truthtelling, and being able to empower others to use their own experiences to their advantage. Nothing connects people more than building rapport around a shared experience.

And I only know this because of my own experiences growing up in a home where truthtelling was not honored. We were taught to brush things under the rug, keep certain events within the family only, and avoid hard truths at all costs. Later on in life, I was lucky enough to reap the benefits of talk therapy and support groups where truth-telling was the key to healing. It completely changed my life.

What I’m most proud of now is seeing that the work I’ve done for my own growth shows in how I’m working with my clients, and how I best serve and support them. Because they often ask me things like: “What should I share?” “Why would anyone care about my experiences?” “How do these experiences relate to my business?” “What if it’s too personal to share?”

And because of my experiences, I know how to dissect their stories and answer these questions so that they leave feeling confident knowing which stories they’re ready to share and why it matters. Because it’s my firm belief that your stories matter. And yet, not every story is meant to be shared publicly.

I encourage my clients to begin their storytelling journey by setting boundaries around what they’re not willing to share — it might be something they’re not ready to share yet, or it could be something they’re not going to share ever. Having these non-negotiables to start is super important so that you don’t find yourself in a situation where there’s regret.

However, if there are things that they have kept to themselves and never shared with anyone, chances are they are carrying the weight that they need to be freed of. So I talk with my clients about the mindset of truthtelling and make the distinction between showing up online and building a personal brand versus sharing your stories, taking inventory of your life, and surrendering the things that need to have the light shine on it so it doesn’t feel like that heavy burden or shameful experience anymore.

This is the most rewarding part of the work I’m doing now. I’m helping them use what they’ve already lived and showing them how powerful their own experiences are and how they relate to what they’re doing now. And by doing this work, we’re able to create authentic brand messaging because it starts with their stories.

Think about it. They have had challenges, transformations, and changes that other people have not. They have shown resilience through their challenges. They have shown perseverance through the hardships. They have grown from experiences that we may never have, but the takeaway from the experience is so relatable and demonstrates their beliefs, values, and gifts.

And when they start to share more of where they came from and how this all relates and how it all plays into what they’re doing now as far as their offers, business, and process, it humanizes everything. It makes their audience want to stay in the know of what they’re doing and opt into working, collaborating, podcasting, and networking with them.

This coaching and consulting I’ve been doing one-on-one with my clients has been so amazing, but I knew that the element of community was missing. Entpreneruship is tough. It can feel lonely. And sometimes we can’t afford to stay in a Mastermind or coaching program long term where we can get more of that collective support.

This led me to start a business support group called Made For More — centered around truth-telling, helping female entrepreneurs, coaches, and leaders push through challenges, reframe their stories, and build a brand that feels authentic to them.

Made For More is a safe space where we can gather and share what’s really happening in our businesses and lives. Oftentimes, we don’t want to share what we’re really struggling with because it can make us look unprofessional, or ill-equipped as the expert in our industry. And we kind of suffer in silence.

So I thought it’s important to make the benefits of open share support groups available to entrepreneurs too. Where we can practice that truth-telling and learn how to integrate our stories while building a personal brand that aligns with our core values.

Please visit my website to learn more about it and when the next cohort is starting.

What does success mean to you?

Success to me is about living out what you were meant to do. I have always believed that we all have a unique calling and purpose. And it’s our job to uncover what that is. Unfortunately, there’s no handbook to give us a prescription on how to discover what it is, but I have found a lot of tools and kind of woo-woo methods that have helped me with knowing what living out my purpose looks like.

Success to me is not a dollar figure. It’s not a material representation of wealth. It’s really about serving humanity by using your inherent gifts. And I believe every single one of us is here to serve a purpose like this. But we have the choice of trying to discover what that is, or instead going along with what we’re told is right for us, tuning out completely and losing all connection with ourselves.

And sometimes, doing what we’re meant to do is as simple as having a good conversation with a close friend. It doesn’t always mean we’re changing the world on a grander scale. It could be as simple as holding space for that connection without judgment and extending compassion and love. That’s powerful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jessicagrahambrandstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicagraham.brandstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourstoriesmatter/
• Other: https://jessicagrahambrandstudio.com/made-for-more-business-support-group

Image Credits

Steph Allard, Happy Hubbub Photography