Remix Recipe №14 · Hard-Mode
The Then-and-Now
Turn your origin story into a reflection that lands as both personal proof and universal wisdom.
@nanadelrey139K139KOriginal reel by @nanadelrey
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Wondering how the Then-and-Now would sound coming from your coaching business? The examples below take this Instagram reel idea two ways, from a solo career coach and a solo mindset coach.
The recipe
- Open from an unusual angle: Shoot yourself from a surprising angle, like lying on the floor looking up, and say 'I heard someone say [journey quote].'
- Cut to your earlier self: Pull in b-roll of your earlier life or workspace so they feel the then to your now.
- Share the one lesson: In a reflective voiceover, hand your former self the single piece of wisdom you've earned since.
- Make it theirs too: Frame that lesson so your audience, who are where you used to be, can carry it out with them.
Your Studio follows these beats when it writes your script.
Remix the hook for your brand
“I heard someone say the journey quote. This was me back when your earlier season.”
Your take: the one thing you'd tell yourself back when your earlier season, said so your who you help can carry it too.
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Why it worked
The opener does double duty: an unusual visual angle (lying on the floor surrounded by books and notes) stops the scroll, and "I heard someone say [quote]" frames it like she's about to share something she just learned. Then b-roll of past circumstances pulls you into her story, and the contrast to where she is now sets up one piece of wisdom she'd hand her former self.
Examples
Solo career coach (corporate women going independent)
“I heard someone say, the years you doubt yourself are the years you become trustworthy.”
She films herself lying on her office floor looking up, cuts to b-roll of her empty year-one calendar, and shares the one thing she'd tell that earlier self: those slow months were when she was becoming the coach her clients would actually trust.
Solo mindset coach (for first-time founders)
“I heard someone say, the work you're embarrassed about is the work that teaches you.”
She films herself lying on her studio floor surrounded by old notebooks, cuts to b-roll of her clunky first webinar setup, and shares the wisdom she'd hand her former self: those messy early sessions taught her exactly which fears her clients needed her to name out loud.
Multiply it, one reel becomes your week
- Newsletter: the season-by-season story of your journey, ending on the one lesson you'd hand your former self.
- Thread: each post is one beat of the journey, ending on the wisdom you'd give your earlier self.
- Carousel: a visual then-vs-now of your earlier self and your now-self, with the lesson on the final slide.
- YouTube: the complete origin story, told beat by beat, ending in the lesson you wish you'd known earlier.
Use Solo Content Studio to write more formats based on this idea recipe.