How ShareYourStory.com is helping leaders turn their lived experience into lasting influence.
The Overlooked Problem in Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Many entrepreneurs and leaders possess the necessary credentials, experience, and even a proven track record. On paper, they’re credible. However, in reality, many remain overlooked, struggling to raise funding, attract customers, secure speaking invitations, or secure broader opportunities.
The reason? They lack leadership influence.
That’s the challenge Alex Demczak and Will Severns tackle every day. Long before co-founding ShareYourStory.com, the two met as summer camp counselors. Years later, they built what is now a “story-to-stage pipeline” that helps leaders share their lived experiences through books, media, and speaking.
At the heart of their work is a simple conviction: the world needs your story. Experience gives you credibility, but influence comes when you invite others into that experience.
Why Credibility Isn’t Enough
Every entrepreneur has experiences worth learning from. The challenges you’ve overcome, the pivots you’ve made, and the lessons you’ve absorbed all form the foundation of credibility.
But credibility on its own is passive. Leaders who stop there may be competent, but they’re too often unheard.
“Many of the leaders we work with already have the credibility,” Demczak explains. “They’ve built businesses, created jobs, or solved problems. But if nobody knows their story, they miss the influence that changes lives, including their own.”
Take Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. She didn’t have a business degree or a background in fashion. What she did have was a story, and she wasn’t afraid to share it. Frustrated with how she looked in white pants, she grabbed a pair of pantyhose and cut the feet off. That moment of honesty and ingenuity didn’t just spark a product idea; telling that story again and again became the heartbeat of her brand. It gave her credibility, connected her with customers, and ultimately positioned her as the youngest self-made female billionaire.
“We’ve all seen people online who gain traction quickly but can’t sustain it,” Severns adds. “At ShareYourStory, we’re not interested in viral moments. We want leaders to have staying power.”
And that’s the real challenge: moving beyond one good story or a moment of traction to building lasting influence.
Thought Leadership: The Path to Lasting Influence
That’s what thought leadership really is: the consistent practice of sharing your story and insights in a way that positions you as a trusted voice. It’s showing people who you are, what you’ve learned, and why your perspective matters.
As Severns puts it, “People don’t buy from businesses. People buy from people. Storytelling is what makes that connection possible.”
Research from Edelman and LinkedIn shows that nearly 73% of decision-makers view thought leadership as a more trustworthy way to gauge expertise than traditional marketing. Many even say they’ll pay more when a leader demonstrates expertise this way.
That’s exactly the space where ShareYourStory operates. Through Streamline Books, the publishing division of ShareYourStory.com, entrepreneurs can go from idea to publishing a book in just nine months. The book publishing process pairs them with experienced writers and editors who know how to shape a story into authority.
“Writing a book doesn’t create credibility,” Severns explains. “It uncovers the credibility that’s already there. And a book is only the beginning.”
From there, the pathways widen: authors share their message online, on stages, and in conversations that have effects far beyond a single story. Since 2020, Demczak and Severns have helped more than 100 entrepreneurs cross the finish line with their message, most of whom have seen both financial and personal ROI.
One of those leaders is Liz Casselman. When she published her book, Not Just a Title: A Journey of Growth in the Title Industry, it immediately expanded how people saw her. Colleagues who had long valued her professional expertise began connecting with her story on a more personal level.
“One colleague told me he had read my book on a flight to a national event,” Casselman recalls. “He said that while he already respected me professionally, the book helped him connect with me on a much deeper level. It reminded him that there’s always more to the story than what meets the eye.”
That connection carried real results. Casselman earned back her investment through book sales, speaking engagements that followed, and, even more impactful, it provided her a national platform that has rapidly expanded her network and opportunities.
How Entrepreneurs Can Start Sharing Their Story
The idea of storytelling can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve never done it before. But lasting influence starts with small, consistent steps. Here are three practical ways to begin:
Work with someone to piece it together.Most leaders are so close to their own story that they can’t see it clearly. A mentor, coach, ghostwriter, or trusted friend can help identify the key moments that shaped you and connect them into a narrative. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to draw out what’s most impactful.
Test it in safe spaces.You don’t have to debut your story on a big stage. Try sharing parts of it in conversations with friends, family, or new connections over coffee. Notice where people lean in or ask follow-up questions. These low-stakes settings let you refine your story through practice and feedback before bringing it into professional arenas.
Share it publicly on LinkedIn.Once you’ve worked through your story and practiced it in conversation, take it online. LinkedIn is one of the easiest entry points for leaders to share their journey at scale. Posts don’t require the polish of a keynote, and the platform rewards authenticity and consistency. Short reflections or lessons from your experience become content that lives online, broadens your reach, and introduces your message to new audiences.
Too many entrepreneurs keep their story private, assuming it’s not big enough, polished enough, or ready to share. But the truth is, your story is already shaping you, and it has the power to shape others.
Credibility shows what you’ve done. Influence multiplies it.
Editor in Chief of Under30CEO. I have a passion for helping educate the next generation of leaders. MBA from Graduate School of Business. Former tech startup founder. Regular speaker at entrepreneurship conferences and events.
