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Hello Reader,

I recorded a slightly unhinged episode of Story Lab this week and I want to bring the heart of it straight to your inbox, because it matters for your business.

Here is the whole point:

Every offer you sell is a transformation story. You take someone from sad to happy. From problem to problem solved.

That is it. That is the job.

The mistake almost everyone is making

Most coaches, service providers and experts are doing one of these two things:

1. They never talk about the “sad” at all. They skip straight to the dreamy outcome with no context. Your audience is sitting there thinking, “Ok but do you actually get what I am dealing with?”
2. They talk about the “sad” and then leave people there. They poke and poke at the pain point, but never give a believable way out. That does not build trust. It just makes people feel worse.

You are not trying to trap your people in the dark. Your job is to show them the darkness and then walk them into the light.

What a transformation story really is

A transformation story is simply:

I was in pain → I got support → now that problem is gone.

Or for your clients:

They were stuck → they worked with you → now their life or business is noticeably better.

You do not need fancy jargon. You just need three pieces:

1. Examples:
   • “She is posting on Instagram and hearing crickets.”
   • “She is stuck at the same revenue month after month.”
   • “She keeps rewriting her offer and never selling it.”
2. Not your entire 57 step framework. Just the big beats.
   • You help her see where she is actually stuck.
   • You give her a simple plan and a smaller set of actions.
   • You support her while she implements instead of spirals.
3. Think:
   • Less chaos in her brain.
   • Clear system to follow.
   • People actually buying, not just liking.

A quick example from my world

Here is how this might look for me:

Sad: She feels invisible on social media. She is shouting into the void, wasting time, and questioning whether she is even cut out for this.

Bridge: Inside my work, I help her:

• Get clear on who she is talking to and what she wants to be known for.
• Create a Signature Style so her content is instantly recognizable.
• Build a simple content system so she is not spending five hours on one post.

Happy: Now she is:

• Showing up consistently without overthinking every word
• Getting DMs from people who actually want to work with her
• Booking clients from content that finally sounds and looks like her

Same person, same expertise, different story.

Your audience needs to see themselves in the story

Here is the key:

Your client has to be able to think, “That is me. That is my exact problem. And that is where I want to end up.”

To make that happen:

• Use their language when you describe the sad
• Be concrete about the steps, not vague inspiration
• Show a realistic happy, not a fantasy they secretly do not believe

You are not the hero in this story. You are the guide. They are the ones who climb the mountain. You just know the path.

Your homework: One transformation story this week

I want to make this practical.

This week, pick one client and write their sad to happy story:

1. Write 3 bullet points for their Sad
2. Write 3 bullet points for the Bridge you walked them through
3. Write 3 bullet points for their Happy

Then do one of these:

• Turn it into a carousel
• Turn it into a Reel where you talk it out
• Turn it into an email to your own list

If you want accountability, hit reply and tell me:

“Here is my sad to happy in 3 lines”

I read these, and I would love to see the transformations you are actually creating.

Because once you start telling those stories clearly, you stop sounding generic and start sounding like the coach or expert your people have been looking for.

P.S. If you want to listen to the full unhinged rant on this, go listen to the latest Story Lab episode on transformation stories. Put it on while you write your first sad to happy story and let it fuel you.

Keep Creating,

Jonathan