Finding the right words for what you do

Over the Christmas period, I had the horrific moment that everyone who has started something new fears. Someone asked me what I did for work.

In true Lucy style, I started talking way too fast and somehow both over- and under-explained my work before ending by completely downplaying it.

Thank God it was a friend of a friend, not someone who was actually a potential client.

But still, the conversation stuck with me.

The problem wasn’t that I didn’t understand what I was working on, or didn’t believe it was a good idea. I just no longer had a neat, packaged-up job title to lean on. Nothing ready-made that I could hand over in a sentence and move on from.

Searching for pictures of old lanyards, and this gem popped up from 2018! Here I was, two years into my corporate career, working at the George (ASDA) head office on the website team.

When you’re starting something of your own, particularly when that involves multiple avenues of work, putting a name to it feels so much harder than it should be. So that moment was the kick I needed to finally do something about it. And why I’ve spent the last 6 weeks working through it, so that I don’t repeat that spiral again, and so that you (my loyal 11 subscribers), don’t end up in the same sticky situation either.

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What is the right thing to say?

After lots of back and forth with myself, I realised I didn’t want to set myself a job title. Mainly because I think they’re a bit boring?

I find they close the conversation rather than open it, because no one really wants to ask more information about a “UX designer” or a “financial adviser”. Especially not in a social setting, which is coincidentally where I’ve met a number of my clients.

And I think that’s the difference with being self-employed. Because almost anyone could be your next client or connection, you don’t really want to shut things down with something that feels flat or overly narrow.

At the same time, I didn’t want to create even more work for myself.

I’ve seen plenty of advice that suggests turning your answer into a mini pitch, referencing past work and somehow weaving in proof. And while that can be useful in the right setting, I wanted a short and easy response I can give when someone is evidently just being polite, or that I can still recall after I’ve had a few white wines.

This is a definite time when I need to follow my own ‘less is more’ mantra.

I don’t frequent networking events as much nowadays, but if there’s one thing I miss, you bet it’s the food. Much more than the concept of introducing my job title.

Use your value proposition.

Eventually, I realised I already had something I could use. The most important part of my work is the transformation it enables for my clients. And that’s already prettily packaged up in my value proposition line.

I help founders build and scale businesses that attract attention.

I begin by really understanding their core purpose, then work together to craft thoughtful strategies and websites that set a strong foundation for exciting future growth.

This might sound more formal than it needs to be, but in practice, I can make it more or less formal depending on the setting. It helps me to have a clear way of saying who I help, what I help them with, and why that’s useful, all in one go. And it’s way more engaging than “I’m a freelancer working on business strategy, website design, and marketing support.”

It’s also not another thing I need to create from scratch. If you’re starting a business, you’ve probably already been thinking about this line even if you haven’t named it yet. Or if you’ve already been building a business, you might have a mission statement or something similar, which could also be adapted. Because it’s centred around the person you’re helping.

Another lanyard! Another sort of networking event, where it was perhaps important that I am from England? A better conversation starter than my job title!

Using your value proposition as your answer helps keep it focused on the problem you’re solving and the outcome you care about, rather than defaulting to a vague label or an over-explained backstory. It gives you something you can say once and then let the conversation unfold from there.

It’s, of course, way too long for that LinkedIn job title line (no matter how long a sentence I see some people try to cram in!). But for networking or social situations, I can guarantee this approach will yield better results.

How to shape your own

If you’re struggling to think of a value proposition line, the easiest approach is to frame it as a sentence that addresses three key questions:

1. Who are you helping? (X)

2. What are you helping them with? (Y)

3. What changes as a result? (Z).

Then put it all together into one shiny sentence:

I help (X) with (Y) , so they can (Z) .

But don’t forget to have fun with this! That’s kind of the main point.

For example, instead of saying “I’m a freelancer travel planner”, you can say “I help people travel like a local, with personalised itineraries for places they wouldn’t normally know how to explore”.

Or instead of “I work in skincare”, try something like “I create high-quality, medically approved skincare that helps your skin behave as it did ten years ago”.

Or if your work is more community or connection-led (the current buzzwords): “I help entrepreneurs feel less alone in their work, by creating spaces where they can think better and work more sustainably”.

None of these are perfect, but they don’t need to be. They’re clear enough to say out loud or to invite a follow-up question. And clear enough for you to repeat without going into the spiral that I did at Christmas.

You can always refine it later, and you probably will. But for now, having a sentence you can reach for is much better than the alternative, trust me.

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