There’s a term screenwriters and novelists have used for a hundred years that every founder or content guru is secretly reaching for and almost none of them can name. It’s called the inciting incident. And it’s the most stolen idea in marketing.
Every brand has an origin story. Every creator or entrepreneur reaches a moment in which the stakes are high or their choices are limited—they’ve run out of money or their spouse is about to leave them—and they have to make a pivotal choice that will shape the trajectory of their business, art, life, or career.
That’s an inciting incident.
In writing, the inciting incident is the moment in the story that pulls the main protagonist out of their regular life and into the adventure of their story. This is usually the event that disrupts the protagonist’s normal life and introduces the central conflict, setting the plot into motion.
Some examples from books…
The Hunger Games: When Prim’s name gets chosen for the reaping, this forces Katniss to volunteer as tribute.
Harry Potter: When Harry receives his letter of acceptance into Hogwarts, this sets him on his journey to the school.
Now let’s look at some real life examples:
Alex Hormozi: After signing the lease on his first gym, he had about $6,000 to his name and a rent bill of nearly $5000. He ran ads before the doors were even fully open, made rent to the dollar that first month, and bartered training sessions when the cash ran dry.
Vivian Tu: A JPMorgan trader turned BuzzFeed employee, she kept getting cornered by coworkers with the same finance and money questions. On New Year’s Day 2021, she posted a TikTok, and it went viral that day. Within a year she walked from a $600K job to become Your Rich BFF full time.
These specific, personal, and high tension points in a creator’s or founder’s story are what lead them into creating the product, service, art, or business that others need. This pivotal moment in a person’s story allows audiences to connect, relate, and most importantly, root for you and your business. Just like in stories, we root for the protagonist because of their circumstances.
Why does this matter?
Your inciting incident is the reason you do what you do. It’s tied to the reason you created your art, product, or service. This relates to how you serve others, and it’s the part of your story that you need to share with your audience. It’s a way of garnering trust with them as well.
Some origin stories feel boring because they describe history or a situation and not the moment in the story when it feels all-or-nothing. So think about your own inciting incident that has led you down the path you’re on now:
Is it deep and personal? Is it going to make us care?
How does this benefit your customer, work, or business?
Examine how this moment in your life affected your personal or brand values. You can turn this story into its own piece of content that connects with your audience online or internally. It can be a story for your newsletter, a LinkedIn post, or a video or carousel on social. You can include it in your website’s About Me section.
If you can’t name the specific inciting incident your product, art, or service responds to, your positioning is too generic. You can have multiple inciting incidents—our lives and careers are not linear. Take some time to choose which ones are worth telling and connecting with your audience or customer.
Here’s one of my inciting incidents…
About a year ago I had $41 in my bank account and was two months behind on rent when I decided to go to a networking event for a shot at an opportunity that would allow me to quit my corporate job for a more creative career.
I spent $16 on two non-alcoholic beers so that I could have something in my hand while I networked to make a good impression on the person who would become my first client when I transitioned to freelancing full time.
A few weeks later, I quit my job at a company with a toxic CEO that was stingy with raises and refused to pay overtime to their employees. I went full-time freelance on my own, and now I have a roster of clients that sustains my current lifestyle, rent paid on time, and the freedom to work my own hours.
Some people might have said that was a big risk, but to me, I was taking an important bet on myself.
This has led me to start my career as a brand and content strategist. I get to choose who my clients are and do work that I’m actually proud of. Like writing this newsletter.
So now that you can name what an inciting incident is, you can use it. I challenge you: find your own $41 moment.
Why should we root for you?