{"id":84168,"date":"2022-11-20T20:57:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T00:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=84168"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:32:32","slug":"company-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is a company story<\/a> important? How do you create one? How can you use a story to attract customers<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Miller is an author and the owner of StoryBrand, a company that helps businesses craft more effective story-based marketing messaging. In his book Business Made Simple<\/em>, Miller explains why and how to create a compelling company story that encourages employees and customers to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn how to write and market a company story, according to Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0Shortform\u2019s guide to storytelling<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a Company Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Donald Miller, a company story explains why you exist and why others\u2014employees and customers\u2014should engage with you. Without a coherent story or quest in which every employee plays a critical role, your business will lack focus and direction and will inevitably fail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Others agree with Miller on the importance of creating a company story, adding that, contrary to popular belief, it\u2019s not the brilliant business idea<\/a> or the visionary leader<\/a> who makes a business stand out. Rather, the strength of the organization as a whole makes a business successful\u2014and having a strong story adds to a company\u2019s strength.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create a company story by first writing a mission statement<\/a> that inspires people to take action or join up<\/strong>. Miller provides a template mission statement you can fill in: \u201cWe will accomplish [goal] by [date or year] because of [why achieving the goal is important].\u201d For instance, if you sell a calendar software, your mission statement might be: \u201cWe will be the most used calendar software in the tech industry by 2025 because organization is key to progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Business thinkers have devised countless ways to craft an effective mission statement. Miller\u2019s statement is story-oriented, but others recommend focusing more on your company\u2019s purpose<\/a> and how your company is different from others.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, define the traits your employees must possess to fulfill the company\u2019s mission<\/strong>. These should both encourage transformation and imply a specific behavioral change. For instance, a trait might be \u201csupports other teammates.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now decide on three simple, repeatable actions that employees must take to pursue your mission each day<\/strong>. These might be: 1) Check in with your team to gauge progress. 2) Check that your goals for the day are aligned with our mission. 3) Make contact with at least one prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: One objection to Miller\u2019s recommendation to define traits and actions that help support the mission is that these likely differ between employees and departments. The traits a marketing team acquires to support the mission are likely different from those the accounting team must acquire, for instance. What\u2019s more, if you make the traits and actions broad enough to apply to everyone, they\u2019ll probably become vague and not easily actionable. An alternative approach might be to define the values<\/em><\/a> <\/em>everyone in the company should hold and then to create traits and actions that are specific to each department.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing a Company Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Miller stresses that the best way to grab a customer\u2019s attention is to tell them a story they\u2019re the star of<\/strong>. He provides a story template into which you can plug the elements of your company to create a compelling story. You can then use that story whenever marketing or selling your product: in collateral, ads, and so on. Let\u2019s examine these elements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The customer is the hero and has a goal: <\/strong>Position the customer as a hero because the hero of any story is always on a journey of growth, and this is what customers identify with. Their goal must be related to something your product helps them achieve. For instance, your customer is a hero business executive who wants to organize their schedule more effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The customer faces an obstacle to their goal: <\/strong>In every story, the hero must encounter an obstacle, otherwise the audience loses interest. In a marketing context, the obstacle is the problem your product solves. In our example, the obstacle would be the inflexible and inadequate free calendar software the customer\u2019s currently using. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are the guide who can help the hero overcome their obstacle: <\/strong>The guide of a story is wise, empathetic, and knows how to help the hero reach their goal. By positioning your company as the guide in the story, you become someone whose help the hero wants. In our example, you tell the customer you understand their frustration with the obstacle and that you have a solution: a calendar software that\u2019s easy to use and totally customizable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You give the hero a plan to overcome their obstacle: <\/strong>Show the customer the simple steps they can take to overcome their obstacle by buying your product. You might tell your customer they simply have to schedule a consultation on your website, pay for the product, and then download and customize it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You challenge the hero to take action:<\/strong> If you don\u2019t ask your customer to take action to overcome their obstacle by buying your product, they won\u2019t buy it. Tell the customer to act now and perhaps even include an incentive<\/a>, like a discount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hero will gain something if they succeed and lose something if they fail: <\/strong>Explain how the customer will benefit by taking the action of buying your product. Similarly, explain what they stand to lose if they don\u2019t take action to buy your product. Without an idea of the stakes of not taking action, customers won\u2019t feel urgency to buy. To conclude our example message, you might say that the customer will become more efficient and that their business might even grow due to their superior organization. Conversely, if they don\u2019t buy your product, they\u2019ll be stuck in a state of sub-par organization and perpetual confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing on Story Lessons From Building a StoryBrand<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Building a StoryBrand<\/em><\/a>, Miller goes into more detail on creating a company story for marketing purposes. Here are some additional lessons about story-based marketing Miller doesn\u2019t cover in Business Made Simple. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story must come first<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Not only should you tell a story about the customer, you must also omit any marketing information that isn\u2019t directly related to that story. Often, companies are tempted to include details in their marketing about the origin of the business or their company values. While companies should have these written down somewhere, they should not <\/em>be in their marketing collateral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hero\u2019s goals must be related to survival needs<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Miller also elaborates in Building a StoryBrand <\/em>that your hero\u2019s goals (and therefore the goals your product fulfills) must be related to their survival<\/em>. He argues that the human brain only pays attention to inputs that help it survive, therefore all marketing messaging must explain how a product helps someone survive. This might be by providing nourishment, safety, connections, and existential meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can personify the obstacle as a villain<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>When establishing the obstacle standing between your hero and their goal, consider turning it into a living being the customer can have negative feelings toward. For instance, you might depict the obstacle of an out-of-date software as an evil talking computer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show your confidence as a guide through your website<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>To convince the customer that you, the guide, are competent, you can use testimonials, statistics, awards, and logos of clients on your website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give your plan a title<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Miller specifically recommends giving the plan you present to the customer a memorable title. This makes the plan seem more official and thus trustworthy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider two types of calls to action<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Miller elaborates in Building a StoryBrand <\/em>that there are two types of calls to action: direct and transitional. A direct call to action asks the customer to take action now to buy. A transitional call to action builds rapport between the customer and your brand, priming<\/a> them to think of you when they later need to make a purchase. Depending on your customer, one call to action might work better than the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that people fear losing something more than they desire acquiring something<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>When considering what positive and negative stakes to include in your marketing story, be aware that people are usually more motivated by a fear of losing something than the possibility of gaining something. For this reason, you might stress the negative stakes over the positive ones\u2014emphasize that if they don\u2019t buy your product, customers will suffer inconvenience, reduced productivity or health, and so on. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is a company story important? How do you create one? How can you use a story to attract customers? Donald Miller is an author and the owner of StoryBrand, a company that helps businesses craft more effective story-based marketing messaging. In his book Business Made Simple, Miller explains why and how to create a compelling company story that encourages employees and customers to take action. Keep reading to learn how to write and market a company story, according to Miller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":84200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,104],"tags":[806],"class_list":["post-84168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-marketing","tag-business-made-simple","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1232\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\"},\"headline\":\"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\"},\"wordCount\":1468,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Business Made Simple\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\",\"name\":\"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg\",\"width\":1850,\"height\":1232},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\",\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emily Kitazawa\"},\"description\":\"Emily found her love of reading and writing at a young age, learning to enjoy these activities thanks to being taught them by her mom\u2014Goodnight Moon will forever be a favorite. As a young adult, Emily graduated with her English degree, specializing in Creative Writing and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), from the University of Central Florida. She later earned her master\u2019s degree in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University. Emily loves reading fiction, especially modern Japanese, historical, crime, and philosophical fiction. Her personal writing is inspired by observations of people and nature.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/emily-kitazawa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers - Shortform Books","description":"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers","og_description":"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1850,"height":1232,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Emily Kitazawa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emily Kitazawa","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Emily Kitazawa","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb"},"headline":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers","datePublished":"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/"},"wordCount":1468,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","keywords":["Business Made Simple"],"articleSection":["Business","Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/","name":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-21T00:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-03T15:32:32+00:00","description":"What are the steps in writing a company story? Learn Don Miller's advice for creating a story, including how to use it to attract customers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","width":1850,"height":1232},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/company-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Write a Company Story & Market It to Customers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb","name":"Emily Kitazawa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emily Kitazawa"},"description":"Emily found her love of reading and writing at a young age, learning to enjoy these activities thanks to being taught them by her mom\u2014Goodnight Moon will forever be a favorite. As a young adult, Emily graduated with her English degree, specializing in Creative Writing and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), from the University of Central Florida. She later earned her master\u2019s degree in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University. Emily loves reading fiction, especially modern Japanese, historical, crime, and philosophical fiction. Her personal writing is inspired by observations of people and nature.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/emily-kitazawa\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/company-planning-writing-on-board.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84168"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146232,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84168\/revisions\/146232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}