Narrative Archeology: How to Dig Out Your Firm's Story

Most firms think their story is a tagline on the website. Elliott Bastien Morin thinks the story is already there, buried, waiting to be excavated. In this episode, Jessica McCracken flips the mic on a longtime friend of the show (Elliott has been part of the production team since On the Books launched almost two years ago) to talk about the craft of firm storytelling. Elliott walks through his Narrative Archeology workshop, the difference between a bumper-sticker tagline and a narrative that actually drives decisions, and why numbers and stories are partners rather than opposites. Along the way he shares the real-firm moment when "we use better technology" became "you'll never be alone," how mergers are secretly a storytelling opportunity, where AI fits (and where pen and paper still wins), and the red flags that tell him a firm has not done the work yet. Whether you are a solo practitioner with a short history or a multi-service firm stitching together several acquisitions, this one gives you a practical way to find, refine, and share what makes your firm worth choosing. For full show notes, visit firmofthefuture.com