Tell Better Stories & Attract Aligned Clients with Reme Mancera

If you think storytelling in business means you needed some huge dramatic backstory, this conversation with Reme Mancera will completely change your mind. We talked about how the smallest moments from your life can actually become the most powerful way to build trust, connection, and authority with your audience.

In this episode:
0:00 Why storytelling matters and how stories build trust
5:00 Why you do not need an “epic” story to connect with people
10:45 How small personal stories make your brand more memorable

We also kept the conversation going with a Live Q&A where we talked about:

• How to know which stories actually matter to your audience
• How to stop worrying about repeating yourself online
• Creative ways to tell the same story from different angles
• How to find your natural storytelling voice
• Balancing storytelling without oversharing

Hang out with Reme:
https://storyconnectors.com

Hang out with Deanna:
https://deannaseymour.com
https://instagram.com/thedeannaseymour

🪩 Listen to the extended version when you join us inside The Playhouse + Get your first month for just $10 with the coupon code PODCAST
https://jointheplayhouse.com 

And if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with a friend! It really helps us grow and keep the good vibes coming!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Playhouse Podcast, where we hang out with the brilliant business owners who make the Playhouse the fun, creative corner of the internet that it is. I'm Deanna Seymour, founder of The Playhouse, and today I'm talking with Remy all about storytelling, personal branding, and how to attract more aligned clients by sharing the right stories in the right ways. Remy is a personal brand story strategist who helps business owners uncover meaningful moments from their lives and connect them back to their work in a way that builds trust and real connection. She created the 10 Story Connectors framework to help people figure out what stories to share without feeling awkward, overwhelmed, or like they need some huge dramatic life story to be interesting. We are going to dive into all that today, but if you want the extended version of this conversation plus the live QA where we dig even deeper into storytelling, messaging, and finding your voice online, there's way more waiting for you inside the Playhouse. So join us inside at jointheplayhouse.com. All right, let's get to it. Hi, Remy. How's it going? Hi.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yeah, it's going good. Well, I am excited for this.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Me too. Okay, we are just gonna dive right in and we're gonna start talking about stories because I know that you are like really good at explaining this. And the reason I love how you explain it and what you do is because I think a lot of people are just like, tell stories, stories and marketing, stories, stories, stories. And then people are like, How do I do that? What does that mean? What does that look like? And I just love the way you give people like real tips on how to do that. And not just to tell a story just for stories' sake, like how you connect it to their offers. So let me stop bragging about how awesome you are. And let's just first of all dig into like why are people saying like why are stories so important? Do you think?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yeah, to me, stories are important because it's showing the context of who you are and why the work that you do is important to you. And I feel like nowadays, especially, it's really, really important to highlight what makes us different, but also what are our values, what is important to us as human beings, and it's a way to create that connection with the other person that is maybe considering hiring us or buying from us. So I always I always like to say that sharing our stories is providing three parts. One is context, so it's showing that you are someone trustworthy, then connection, because it's showing that you are someone relatable, and then contrast, it's showing that you are unique and it's showing what makes you different. So I feel like when people are not using their personal stories, they are missing that opportunity. And it's a great way to share like your evolution, because maybe you have changed from different uh things in your life or in your career, and you are sharing why that has happened and how that is valuable for your clients now, because no matter what you did, even if it's totally unrelated, it's going to support, it's going to bring takeaways that you are using now with what you do with your clients. So sharing that is, I always like to say that it's uh helping showing the nuances of you, and it's like helping see you as someone with volume in the sense of you are three-dimensional, and it's not just someone flat that I am not sure what's happening. You know, when you see a picture that really shows the personality of someone versus a stock photo that is like, yeah, professional, but doesn't have like this showing what is your personality and showing your values and things like that. The same with stories. When we incorporate our stories, it's a great way to showcase that. And for me, really, really important is understanding how each story that you share is connected to what you offer. It's not, as you said, it's not just about sharing a story, it's about selecting them intentionally, having in mind how that story is connected to the specific thing that you want to offer and connect it to the specific people that you want to reach out. And the idea behind this is like for a lot of people, they feel they don't have an epic story. And I decided to, okay, let's split, let's break down this. And instead of looking for this big one story, let's look for these meaningful moments. So I created this framework called the 10 story connectors, and each of them is a meaningful moment from your journey that is connected to and is going to highlight specific factors of what you offer. That way, when you are talking about your business and trying to promote your fame, you are going to know exactly which of these stories you're going to use and why you are sharing that. Have people that they are using specific story connectors when they are in a sales call because they want to highlight specific benefits. Or when you are as a podcast guest and you want to highlight certain uh stories that is related to your values, for example. So using that as an intentional way, so you are sharing personal stories and you are the one deciding the level of detail, uh, but is in a strategic way, is connecting back to who you want to work with and what is the offer, the solution that you have for them.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Oh my gosh. Okay, two things that you just said stick out to me. Uh, when you talked about having like pictures of yourself or like more meaningful pictures, personal pictures, whatever, um, versus like stock images. I feel like I have been to websites before where I the person's not on it at all. And I'm like immediately like, what is this? Who is this person? Like, I mean, it doesn't have to all be the person for me to get that it's a person, you know, like the about page or whatever, or like a picture here and there. But I do think it's interesting that you brought that up because it is probably kind of that same feeling if they're missing any sort of like personality or story. I have never thought of that, but I have been to websites where I'm like it just feels weird, it feels uh like mysterious, like you like I guess not trustworthy or so, like it just feels a little right.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yeah, this is something important. The idea of how your trust is like oof, something is off. So immediately it's like instead of connecting to the person, it's kind of making the people like okay, I am looking for the signals of this being real or not, this being like what they are saying that it is, even if it's an agency or or or a commercial brand, having people behind, because you know, I feel like somehow we are now in a in a time that this kind of when we were at the beginning of the internet, that we were this trust problem that we were not sure what is behind, because we were used to the physical uh businesses, and then now we were in this ethereal place without people there. And we were like, okay, wait, this is real, can I pay here? And all that. So I feel like now you have that, like, okay, I can see if this is a real business or not, but not having real people behind is is making you questioning, even in a second, but we are doing that kind of decisions in seconds in our brains. So, why we don't use this incredible asset that we have to make us and our businesses more trustworthy? Because that's the first thing. We want people to trust us, and we want people to make have the information to make um informed decisions. It's not just about, yeah, I am the right person for everyone. No, and it's okay. Uh, it's just making them having the possibilities to understand, okay, who is the person behind this business, how I can feel that with them, do I want to work with them? So, okay, having that understanding. And that's why um when I have the 10 story connectors, but if I need to highlight some, it's like, okay, use a story that is connected to your audience. How, why this is important, working specifically with this group of people. Use a story that is connected to your values in general, what is important to you in general as a person. And then the third story will be some story related to why the work that you do, how you do it in a different angle. Maybe there are more people offering something similar, but you have a different angle. And if I might, I will use you as an example. So I know that you for you for choosing the colors of your of your logo and your brand, you use uh a mermaid. Um swing suit. And I feel that story is connected to how you are able and allow yourself to break rules, that it looks like for other people, it's like, no, it's not the right way. I am going to do this in this way. And for you, you are open to that. So by you sharing stories like that, that are sharing that idea of I am okay with breaking rules and making things in your own terms, and you are inviting and encouraging people to have fun, to be playful with their businesses. So, all of that with one simple story, you can highlight that and you can use it in a way that are going to invite people that are resonating with that idea through the storytelling. And as I said before, it doesn't need to be a big epic moment. It's something meaningful for you that when the other person under understands the context, they really get you. They really feel like, hmm, I want to talk with uh her more.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Yeah, that was the second thing that struck me when you were talking at the first, that it doesn't have to be an epic story. I'm assuming maybe it's like those aren't the best ones to use, anyways. Maybe I think people put pressure on themselves to be like, well, I don't have any good stories, or I don't, I'm not interesting, or I'm boring, I'm just this or that. Um so talk about that a little more. Like it doesn't have to be a big one. Do you think it's better if it's not a big one? Like an epic story?

SPEAKER_01 11:13

I think it doesn't matter. Okay. I think it's more about how you share that than what is the moment. For example, I have a client that she works with people, with uh woman, especially, that they feel misaligned with the work that they do now. And herself, she went through a burnout, so she really knows firsthand what they are going almost and how important it was for her work in a meaningful, uh, and something meaningful. So she has this burnout moment that is a big moment in a turning point in her life, and sharing that with the context of how it helps her to really understand her clients and how they are almost in that situation and what they are feeling, all the emotions. That's important to share. But not just as a random story, connecting back to something, in her case, with the people that she works. And for example, one small story. I will use myself for that. So I always like to say that I am passionate about stories since I was a child. And I still remember when they opened the first public library in my neighborhood because I was super excited about all the books that I will read and all the experiences that I will go through, thanks to these books. And I use that to highlight that I am passionate about stories, and that's why when I work with someone and Jay, I get genuinely curious and excited. And when I talk about my work, I get excited because I am really like that. I love working and exploring people's journey and identifying things that maybe they overlook, or maybe they don't see that because we are in our heads, and it's like having that external perspective. So, me sharing that idea of getting the library card, that's a small moment. It's not huge, but it does, it has a lot of meaning for me. And I can share in different ways, and I can highlight several things. For example, I always use the idea, I always share that it's a public library because for me it's important how people had all kinds of people everywhere, and no matter their backgrounds, having access to education and to uh culture is really important to me. That's highly connected with my values, strongly connected to my values. So I intentionally use that as a point where we can start a conversation with that. There are more conversations there. I even how you have all these books with the where you just see the cover but you don't see what is inside, and that's kind of similar to my clients. When I start working with them, I know the title, but I don't know what has been their journeys and all the decisions that make them go in the direction that they are going here now. So just with a small moment, I can pull from different places and share different narrative angles that will help me to highlight certain things that are important to me. And that I feel that it's important that the person that goes near me and goes and are considering working with me is important for me that they know that. So with small stories, you can play with that in the idea of not just that story. So no matter if it's a big or small one, using it in the sense of sharing things that are important for the person to have the context of who you are as a person, as a and as a profession.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Yeah, and I love that you said that. You were talking about the library as a little girl, and it reminded me of Matilda, which I totally loved growing up, but also the connection of like, oh, I love a library, you love a library, even though it might not really seem to have anything to do with your business. I mean, for you it does, of course, because you're whole thing of stories, but it also signals to me, oh my gosh, we have so much in common. It's like when you start dating someone and you're like, oh my god, I love that. Oh my god, I love that too. So I love that. Um, all right, this is a great place to pause because we are recording this live inside the playhouse where the extended podcast and live QA will live. Learn more at jointheplayhouse.com. You could come to a future recording live or become a member and get access to all the other extended episodes and apply to be a guest yourself. But also, Remy, where can they hang out with you? Yeah, so of course, inside the playhouse, there is the community messages and all that.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

So that's a great place. And then if you want to learn more about your own story connectors and how you can play with your own stories, I have a lot of examples and um ideas to how to think about your own. So go to storyconnectors.com and there you will find um yeah, different ideas and questions to think about your own.