(These examples of how to tell your signature story in one line come from my presentation at the Scalable SheEO Summit earlier this week. If you didn’t get a chance to see my talk live, I believe the replay is still available for free—and you can always get forever access to the training by upgrading to the VIP, even if the free replay has expired. Head here.)
When I talk about telling your story to connect with your audience, I’m not (always) talking about a grand narrative.
We don’t need an hour-long slideshow complete with dramatic opening moments and a heroic comeback. We don’t need a blow-by-blow description of every setback and success. We don’t need a perfectly paced arc with tears at the end.
Sure, having that version of your story can be super powerful. But you can absolutely create connection in far fewer words.
The real job of a signature story isn’t to entertain—it’s to build trust. It’s a sign to your audience that you’ve been there. You see them. You get what they’re going through.
Here are five examples of businesses who communicate the essence of their story in a single sentence, and instantly create emotional resonance. You can tell they’ve done the deeper work of knowing what actually matters in their story—which allows them to distill it down to the part that helps someone feel less alone.
Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics
Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics is an allergy-free, gluten-free bakery in Colorado Springs, and it’s a great example of how a brand can make you feel seen in a single sentence.
Elizabeth Durham shares more of her story on the About page, but the heart of it is simple: she was navigating food allergies and intolerances in her own life, and she wanted to create baked goods that people with sensitivities (including her own family) could actually enjoy.
Here’s what she writes on her Home page:
“People feel alone even when surrounded by others. I created Sweet Elizabeth’s to ease some of that struggle and provide hope.”
See how she names that emotional reality right on the main page: the loneliness of being the “one who can’t eat that,” even when you’re surrounded by people—especially because food is such a social glue in our culture.
That one line tells the right customer: you’re not difficult, you’re not alone. We’ve got you.
SheFit Sports Bras
SheFit is one of my favorite examples of a one-line story that works because it’s sooo specific. The company makes sports bras, and yes, the founder shares more of her story further down the page—but the one-liner catches her ideal customer’s attention immediately.
“After years of frustration with the sports bras on the market, I was still doubling up and tying off excess straps with a rubber band.”
If you’re a larger-chested woman who’s ever tried to work out in a sports bra that absolutely did not do its job, you know what she’s describing in your bones: doubling up bras, making weird adjustments, literally improvising with rubber bands just to get through a run.
It sucks.
SheFit’s story doesn’t need to be dramatic to connect. It just needs to say, “Yeah, girl, we’ve been there.”
(And believe me. As a member of their target audience I can say I love these sports bras. They’re amazing.)
mooncat nail polish
Mooncat nail polish is a different kind of example, because it’s less about solving a practical problem and more about communicating an ethos.
In another switch from our last two examples, the founder doesn’t really expand on the brand’s full origin story the way the others do. This one line is the only hint we get about her history (on the website, at least).
“to me, nail polish has always been a symbol of rebellion. growing up, i wasn’t allowed to wear it, which…obviously made me want to more.”
The one line about not being allowed to wear nail polish—about it being a symbol of rebellion and creative expression—tells you everything you need to know.
It’s not just nail color. It’s identity. It’s play. It’s the act of claiming your own creativity and agency.
If you grew up feeling like you couldn’t fully express yourself, you’ll connect with Michelle Lin’s story immediately. And that final line—”weirdos, welcome home”—is just *chef’s kiss*.
That’s what a distilled signature story can do: it creates a world. It tells you who this brand is for and why it exists—in a single sentence.
Tori Dunlap—Her First $100K
Signature story matters in retail, but you can get away with making it more about the brand than the founder behind the brand.
In coaching or consulting, though, people aren’t just buying information—they’re buying trust. And there’s no better way to build trust than with story.
Most coaches are helping someone solve a problem they figured out how to solve for themselves. And when you’re asking someone to follow your advice, the first question they’re gonna want to know is: Do you actually understand what I’m going through?
That’s why Tori Dunlap is such a strong example. She shares her deeper transformation story elsewhere, but right up top she leads with a line that literally says, “I know how you feel.”
“I know firsthand the power that debt can have over your life and your emotions.”
Do you want financial advice from someone who had a trust fund and never had to worry about money? Or from someone who knows what it’s like to be overwhelmed by debt—and fought their way out?
Tori’s one-liner tells you which kind of guide she is. It tells her ideal audience that she has a shared lived experience, and it opens a curiosity gap as her audience wonders exactly what she did to get on the other side.
Shelby Perry—Eyehesive
Shelby Perry—who’s a friend of mine and a fellow cyclops—founded Eyehesive, a brand built around community and empowerment for people who’ve lost an eye. And if you’re thinking, “Is that really a thing people need a brand and community for?”
That’s the whole point of this article.
“When she lost her eye, she searched for a space that could guide her, not just through the prosthetic process, but through the deep identity shift that came with it.”
Before losing my eye two and a half years ago, I wouldn’t have known that it’s not just a medical event—it literally shifts how you think about yourself. There’s a deep internal shift that comes with it—how you see yourself, how you move through the world, what you think people notice, what you’re trying to hide, what you’re relearning.
If you’re going through that experience, you know Shelby gets it as soon as you read that line.
Your Story is a Gift
If you take nothing else from these examples, let it be this: the point of being able to tell your signature story isn’t to perform your life on the internet. It acts as a gift to your ideal customer. A conversational opening that says, “Hey, I get it. I’ve been there. Let’s chat.”
Think about these one-line stories like bridges between you and the person you’re trying to help. It doesn’t have to be complicated—it just has to act as an invitation into your world, and hold enough weight to allow your ideal customer to cross if they so choose.
It tells the right person, instantly, You’re in the right place. I understand.
That’s the work I want you to do with your own story. When I invite you to go deep using the Story Oracle cards or the Signature Story Workbook, it’s not so that you can puff up your story by manufacturing drama. Instead, the goal is to dig up the best bits and refine them into pure gold.
If you want help stepping outside your own story and figuring out what that one line is—the one that makes your audience feel seen and understood—book a Story Clarity Call with me. We’ll pull the signal out of the noise, find the connective thread, and shape it into language you can actually use on your website, in your bio, on a sales page, or in a single post.