Say hello to the Core Story Framework

This framework is the product of three years working side by side with trailblazing entrepreneurs, founders, and leaders.

It can take the raw material of your journey - the ideas, insights, and experiences only you possess - and shape them into a living narrative system. One that doesn’t sit on a shelf, but drives everything you say, build, and lead with...

Origins

This is where everything begins. People don’t just want what you sell; they want to know the spark behind it, the journey that made it real.

Origins turn your past into a source of power, forging trust, connection, and authority. When you can show what shaped you, people lean in closer.

Challenges

Every audience is fighting battles they can barely articulate. Challenges give you the language to capture those struggles and use your insights to reframe them.

Instead of sounding like everyone else, you become the voice that makes sense of the chaos; the one who helps people see clearly and act decisively.

Transformations

Transformations show what’s possible when people fully embrace your way of thinking. Not vague promises, but vivid outcomes they can feel: the first breakthroughs, the new capabilities, the long-term change that redefines what they believe is possible.

These stories make you unforgettable by bringing to life the results others only hint at.

Big Picture

The world doesn’t move in a straight line. Big Picture stories zoom out from the daily noise to reveal the deeper forces at play.

They set the stakes, frame the urgency, and show why this moment matters. With them, you go from leader to visionary, giving people a lens that makes sense of the future hurtling toward them.

Brand-builders

This is where everything converges. Brand Builder stories turn all your clarity, insight, and vision into something magnetic; a narrative people can rally behind.

They transform your business into a living force: clear in its purpose, thrilling in its momentum, and impossible to ignore.

"THE INSIGHTS THAT EMERGED WERE MIND-BLOWING"

CHET MORJARIA,
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF 'WORK WORTH DOING' and 'THE RIGHT CLIENTS'

The Core Story Framework lets you not only understand the stories that underpin your business, but what's truly driving them.  It's a deeply connected, deeply meaningful, deeply aligned process. The icing on the cake is that it then allows you to express those stories at full force.

I was able to take my Core Stories and integrate them straight away: in my marketing, through more meaningful discussions with my business partner, as well as in my coaching and mentoring.

My Core Stories are genuinely like cards I have in my back pocket, that I can pull out and play in any given moment. They're centrepieces of any conversation when it comes to 'who am I, what do I do, and where is all this going?'

The process has also helped me step into a bigger-picture narrative about the impact of my work on the world, and my role as a leader. All the work I'm doing now is based off that energy. Can't get more impactful than that!

If you approach this meaningfully and do the work, it will impact you in ways you can't even fathom—personally, in your worldview, and in your business.”

"THIS WILL BECOME FOUNDATIONAL TO YOUR BUSINESS"

DAVE TUCKER,
CEO, GLEAN

Firstly, I saw this as a way of structuring all the ideas in my head into something I could communicate in a compelling way.  I knew I had the pieces, but needed help in putting them together.

I soon realised the work I was doing with Nico would actually define our long-term company strategy: such a clear articulation of why we are here and the change we want to make in the world is not only important as we spread the message externally, but important for our team members to understand and own themselves.

I’m now able to talk about why we are uniquely placed to succeed for the future based on the DNA of where we came from in a way I wasn't able to before.

I say trust the process, because the Core Stories will become foundational to your business! "

"THE OUTPUTS HAVE BEEN TRULY GAME-CHANGING"

NAUDIA SALMON,
FOUNDER, WEDRIFTERS

It's been intense and incredibly insightful. It's allowed me to see things in a much deeper way than I was expecting, uncover what it is I'm really offering, and provided a structure to channel my ideas.

It's had an immediate impact on how I communicate online and also given me more confidence to prioritise speaking opportunities. The internal shifts that happened with CSU will undoubtedly have a huge impact on how I lead my business going forward.

It's been such a joy to be part of the experience, and the outputs that have come out of it are truly game-changing.”

"IT PROVIDED A CLEAR VISION FOR THE COMPANY"

ANDREW SONES,
FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, MINISTRY OF MOTION

It’s fair to say this has had the biggest, most positive impact on our messaging and future planning than anything we're taken part in before.

It was a challenge to rethink years of reinforced beliefs, but the lightbulb moments have altered the very heart of our service offering, given me a new energy and passion for my work, AND provided a clear vision for the direction of our company.”

"IT'S TRANSFORMED THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE"

GARETH PREECE,
FOUNDER, GPC SKILLS

“The main issue I had was being able to share exactly how I see the world with the team - they say they can get whiplash because I move from idea to idea so quickly.

The real benefit we've got from this is being able to structure the ideas we have, and craft a consistent message that's transformed the way in which we communicate.

It's helped structure the website. It's structured our proposals. It drives the way we deliver emails.”

"IT'S HELPED US IN WAYS WE COULDN'T HAVE IMAGINED"

ANDY JACK
FOUNDER, CANDLE DIGITAL

“We always suspected there were some real hidden gems in Candle Digital, but we'd always struggle to tease these out and articulate them.

It's obvious that Story Captain's approach is years in the making. 

More than just giving a robust underpinning for all our marketing efforts, the introspection has helped us understand ourselves and our business in ways we couldn't have imagined.”

"IT'S BEEN TOTALLY LIFE CHANGING"

MAISIE NICHOLLS,
EMDR THERAPIST


"
It’s let me make sense of my direction, expand my vision, and understand what my business needs to be.

It’s not just about creating content, or stories specifically for your business. It’s about looking at the bigger picture of your life, and figuring out: what’s your purpose? What are you here to do, and are you connected to that?

Now I can say ‘these are the problems I see in the world, and this is the part I can play in solving them."

"THERE'S SO MUCH I CAN DO WITH THIS NOW!"

OLLY WHITMAN,
FOUNDER, LIVE LATERALLY

"The Core Stories process has been a spotlight to shine inside my mind.

I'd been thinking in a very constrained space about what I do, and this provided a huge mental shift in terms of making the playground bigger, and giving me more scope to connect with people in ways I'd never considered.

Ultimately it's about knowing yourself. And that's such a valuable thing, because while it's there instinctively, being able to put it into a concise set of stories that you can call on as and when you need them means you're no longer tongue-tied or losing the flow of a conversation.

Be prepared to see yourself differently: Core Stories helped me capture what I’m really doing, not what I thought I was doing."