Recently I needed to write a bio for a website where I’ll be listed as a freelance contractor. This is all pretty new and a bit scary to me as I’ve worked for the same corporate world for 20 years. Along with the schedule freedom comes….irregular paychecks. Um, be sure your marriage discussions around finances are solid before tackling this approach. Back to that bio……resumes, well, they are long and boring. This bio needed to be clear and interesting and allowing a potential client to “pick me” as a possible match for their projects.
It’s not a competition against the other freelancers. That’s the first thought you need to remove from your mind. You only want the clients that want you. I wanted to be specific so that they pick me for projects that match my skills. It would be awful for me and the client if we weren’t a fit for each other.
This exercise turned out to be a super empowering experience for me. Not because I’m tooting my own horn because that makes me feel all weird and uncomfortable. But empowering because I’m clear and confident on what I can offer and when I looked back on that list I was quite proud (in a good way, not a self-righteous way) and happy to have found what I love.
Frequently in communities of women I see so much self-doubt, fear and anxiety. Words we say that put ourselves down. Or words we don’t say to share our talents and gifts. Scratch that. This is human. Not just limited to women. Men just may show it differently 😉
So I couldn’t let this opportunity go by without challenging our community to do this exercise. Anything that leaves us filled up. Stronger. Happier. More confident. It’s a good thing. For you. For your marriage. For your family. For your career. For the greater good of the world! (Call me an idealist. I don’t care. It’s way better than the alternative view point.)
So I’m challenging you. Write yourself a knock-out paragraph biography.
Be truthful, bold and clear. Pretend someone is looking through a list of candidates and wants to hire the right person for the job.
There’s 2 steps to this.
1. Be clear on this: What do YOU do well?
Could be applying parenting techniques, cooking fresh summer vegetables, cleaning bathtub grout, writing queries in databases, smiling with your voice on phone calls, discerning your spouses mood, negotiating multi-million dollar real estate deals, picking the best playlist for workouts. The list is ENDLESS and there are no wrong answers because it’s all yours.
Now it may be weird to think in this way because you aren’t looking for someone to hire you to pick their playlists (but how awesome would that be if you could make that your job!?!?!?) Just roll with it and pretend.
There’s no competition because this is about your gifts and talents. And everyone has them. Every. Single. Person.
2. Now think about this: How do you describe that to others?
You aren’t listing yourself in a directory but pretend you are. Could be any type of directory. The point of this is to feel good about your gifts instead of focusing on your inadequacies (We all have them. Get over it.)
If you’d like, add it to the comments below or email it to us at contact at firefighterwife.com. We may feature a few of these on our Facebook page just for fun and more “feel good” benefits. (Send a photo of you too!)
Warning….if you find yourself using a lot of humor, I’ll challenge you to say that you are hiding something. You aren’t facing the truth. Humor is so often used to disguise hurt. Just this week I discussed sarcasm with my daughter. While funny when it’s carefully placed it’s really a tongue-in-cheek cut down and can be hurtful….especially to people who don’t understand sarcasm – like children. (A sidebar topic – I really dislike when adults use sarcasm with kids. They aren’t old enough to get it and can totally take it the wrong way.)
So get interestingly creative but you won’t feel empowered by this if you let humor and sarcasm disguise the truth.
Need an example? Here’s what I wrote (no comparing!)
With a heart for doing good and doing it well, Lori brings over 20 years of international program development, technology and product management with an unusually equal serving of creativity and an eye for design. Starting as a computer programmer at the age of 8, she is unlike most pure techies with her her knack for talking with clients and matching customer needs with a technology solution. But her ability to also creatively market those solutions to the audience is what sets her apart. Lori has led global teams launching marketing and technology program, Most recently, she founded 24-7 COMMITMENT, a non-profit that operates the popular FirefighterWife.com community serving marriage and family in the fire service. Lori’s core strength lies in hearing your business needs and matching them to the right technology and marketing solution to truly deliver results. Lori is obsessively passionate about efficiency and quality in her work so she can be truly present and energized in her most important roles as a wife and mother of 4 children.
(Since mine was for a business directory I did keep it pretty business focused but don’t limit yourself to that!)
Ready? Give it a whirl and don’t forget to share it with us.
Firefighter Wife
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Loved this post! Thank you for everything you do!