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27 of the Best Professional Bio Examples We've Ever Seen [+ Templates]

Published: May 04, 2023

80+ Professional Bio Templates & Examples

Create a compelling professional narrative for a proper, attention-grabbing introduction.

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Your professional bio is not only relevant when applying for jobs, seeking new clients, or networking — it also gives the world a brief snapshot of who you are and your professional ideals.

To help you author one that packs a punch, we’ll teach you how to write a professional bio, give you professional bio templates, and show you the best professional bio examples you can get inspiration from.

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What is a professional bio?

Professional bio templates, how to write a professional bio, best professional bio examples, how to write a short bio.

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A professional bio or biography is a short overview of your experience. Professional bios usually include details about education, employment, achievements, and relevant skills.

Purpose of Professional Bios

A bio tells an audience about who you are, what you've done, and what you can do. It can help potential employers, fans, or customers get a sense of your personality and what you stand for.

Writing your bio may be hard to achieve without a starting point. Below, we've included professional templates to expedite the process of writing a great bio.

With professional bios, keeping your message honest and to the point is best practice. So how do you write one that will effectively market you and your brand? You use a professional bio template.

By sticking to a predetermined format, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with your most relevant career information. These bio templates will guide you on where you should place your:

• Occupation or job title
• Passions and goals
• Skill set and expertise
• Work history

Of course, while there is no one-size-fits-all template for a professional bio, these templates are a quick way to start building your long or short bio before customizing it.

But before choosing your bio template, there are some key elements to include to ensure yours is effective.

For example, say you're looking for a job. Your professional bio should give recruiters a peek at your career accomplishments and experience.

What if you've recently published a book or are applying for a grant? In those situations, highlight organizations you support or include catchy anecdotes.

And if you’re a recent graduate? A well-written professional bio helps you communicate how your life experience makes you the best candidate for the roles you’re seeking.

Bottom line: Tailoring your professional bio to your goals and who you want to reach will make it effective.

To structure your professional bio to stay true to these objectives, try our 80+ downloadable professional bio templates — for both short- and long-form bios — to start creating a bio that hits the mark.

What should a professional bio say?

Your professional bio should be as unique as you.

When writing your bio, include important professional roles and achievements. Add your passions, interests, and how you bring your values to your work. Finally, your bio should give readers a chance to know you and reflect your personality.

First-Person Bio vs. Third-Person Bio

While first-person bios are quite common, third-person bios can be more effective in formal situations.

Your decision to write your professional bio in the first or third person depends on your desire to leave a more personable or assertive impression.

Both approaches work, provided you tailor them to your goals and audience. What’s important is to be clear and tell your story in a way that connects with your reader.

Writing a First-Person Bio

Writing in the first person can be a great way to connect with your audience when building a personal brand. When you write a first-person bio, use "I" or "me" to make yourself relatable and approachable.

Here's one way to write a first-person bio:

"I’m a freelance writer specializing in small business content. I’ve worked with companies in a variety of industries like home care to fine leather goods."

By speaking in the first person here, you connect with a client or brand based on your personal experience and opinions. Put another way, writing a first-person bio is like telling your story to your audience.

Here are a few tips to make your first-person bio great:

Don’t start every sentence with "I."

Showing instead of telling is a great approach.

Let’s say you’re a writer who wants to create a short professional bio. Instead of saying, "I love to write," you can say, "Writer. Bad but enthusiastic dancer."

This portrays your writing skill, shows your personality outside of writing as a dancer, and includes a little sense of humor, which is essential for a writer.

Remember, you know yourself better than anyone.

Adding a back story to your bio helps create context for the roles and successes you write about. Think of it like a case study about who you were, what you are now, and the process that got you to your current position.

Focus on useful details.

Quick facts about you can showcase your identity and values. For example, if you're writing a bio for LinkedIn, think about how you can tie your hobby into what you do.

Let's say Animal Crossing is your hobby. Does it align with your career aspirations? If your goal is to pursue a video game career, it can be a great addition to your bio.

However, if your interests lie elsewhere, including a more relevant hobby is better.

Writing a Third-Person Bio

Third-person bios sound more authoritative and objective. So, if you’re job searching in a formal industry, applying for grants, or trying to get published, you may want to stick to the third person.

For instance, when you write a third-person bio, you may start with:

"Jasmine Montgomery is a Senior Hiring Manager at L’Oreal based in New York. She recruits across several business units to connect with the brightest talent from around the globe."

By only using your name and pronouns to speak about yourself here, you are letting your title and skill set speak for themselves.

These bios create distance between the subject of the bio (you) and the reader through a third person. This person could be anyone, but they usually speak in a tone that emphasizes their expertise.

This makes third-person bios feel aloof or overly formal sometimes.

Ideally, your third-person bio should sound friendly but polished, like a message from a close colleague at work. Here are a few tips on how to write a great third-person bio.

Write from the perspective of someone you know and trust.

It can be tough to write about yourself, so try to see yourself from the perspective of your favorite person at work or a mentor you trust. This can help you write from a position of authority without feeling self-conscious.

Show the reader why they should trust your opinion.

A professional bio often reflects a specific industry or niche. With this in mind, your text should include relevant details that professionals in your industry know. Avoid jargon whenever you can.

Remember, you're telling a story.

If you want a third-person bio, but you're used to writing in first-person, it may help to write it the way that's most comfortable for you.

Your professional bio is an important piece of writing, so edit it carefully. Edit your writing from both points of view and see which works best for your target audience.

Here's how to write a professional bio, step by step.

• Create an 'About' page for your website or profile.
• Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.
• Mention any associated brand name you might use.
• State your current position and what you do.
• Include at least one professional accomplishment.
• Describe your values and how they inform your career.
• Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.
• Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

If you’re anything like me, you probably don't think about your professional bio until you’re suddenly asked to "send one over via email."

You have approximately one afternoon to come up with it, so you scramble together a bio that ends up reading like this:

"Rodney Erickson is a content marketing professional at HubSpot, a CRM platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.

Previously, Rodney worked as a marketing manager for a tech software startup. He graduated with honors from Columbia University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing."

To be fair, in certain contexts, your professional bio needs to be more formal, like Mr. Erickson's up there. But there are also cases where writing a personable and conversational bio is good.

Whether you choose the formal or casual route, use the following steps to create a perfect bio.

1. Create an 'About' page for your website or profile.

You need an online space to keep your professional bio. Here are a few to consider (some of these you might already have in place):

• Facebook Business page .
• Industry blog byline .
• Instagram account .
• Personal website .
• LinkedIn profile .
• Industry website .
• Personal blog .

As you'll see in the professional bio examples below, the length and tone of your bio will differ depending on the platforms you use.

Instagram, for example, allows only 150 characters of bio space, whereas you can write as much as you want on your website or Facebook Business page.

2. Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.

If your readers remember nothing else about your bio, they should remember your name. For that reason, it's a good idea for your first and last name to be the first two words of your professional bio.

Even if your name is printed above this bio (hint: it should), this is a rare moment where it's okay to be redundant.

For example, if I were writing my bio, I might start it like this:

Lindsay Kolowich

Lindsay Kolowich is a Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot.

3. Mention any associated brand name you might use.

Will your professional bio represent you or a business you work for? Ensure you mention the brand you associate with in your bio. If you're a freelancer, you may have a personal business name or pseudonym you advertise to your clients.

Here are a few examples:

• Lindsay Kolowich Marketing.
• SEO Lindsay.
• Kolowich Consulting.
• Content by Kolowich (what do you think ... too cheesy?).

Maybe you founded your own company and want its name to be separate from your real name. Keep it simple like this: "Lindsay Kolowich is the founder and CEO of Kolowich Consulting."

4. State your current position and what you do.

Whether you're the author of a novel or a mid-level specialist, use the next few lines of your bio to describe what you do in that position. Don't assume your audience knows what your job title entails.

Make your primary responsibilities known so readers can know you and understand what you offer to your industry.

5. Include at least one professional accomplishment.

Just as a business touts its client successes in the form of case studies, your professional bio should let your audience know what you've achieved.

What have you done for yourself — as well as for others — that makes you a valuable player in your industry?

6. Describe your values and how they inform your career.

Why do you do what you do? What might make your contribution to the market different from your colleagues? What are the values that make your business a worthwhile investment to others?

Create a professional bio that answers these questions.

7. Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.

Transition from describing your values in work to describing who you are outside of work. This may include:

• Your family.
• Your hometown.
• Sports you play.
• Hobbies and interests.
• Favorite music and travel destinations.
• Side hustles you're working on.

People like connecting with other people. The more transparent you are about who you are personally, the more likable you'll be to people reading about you.

8. Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

End your professional bio on a good note — or, more specifically, a funny note. By leaving your audience with something quirky or unique, you can ensure they'll leave your website with a pleasant impression of you.

It's important to follow the steps above when writing your bio, but don't obsess over any one section. People consume lots of information daily. So ensure your bio hooks 'em in the first line, and you won’t lose them.

(P.S. Want to boost your professional brand? Take one of HubSpot Academy's free certification courses . In just one weekend, you can add a line to your resume and bio that over 60,000 marketers covet.)

Why Good Bios Are Important for a Professional

Now you may think, “How many people read professional bios, anyway?”

The answer: A lot. Though there's no way to tell who is reading it, you want it to be catchy. Done right, your professional bio will delight the right people who come across it on multiple platforms.

Professional bios can live on your LinkedIn profile , company website, guest posts, your speaker profiles, Twitter bio , Instagram bio , and many other places.

And, most importantly, it's the tool you can leverage most when you're networking.

Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it, and whether it makes them care about you, is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.

So, what does a top-notch professional bio look like?

Below, we've curated some of the best professional bio examples we've ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various places where you might describe yourself.

Check 'em out and use them as inspiration when crafting your own.

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author
• Chima Mmeje: SEO Content Writer
• DJ Nexus: DJ
• Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist
• Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder
• Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist
• Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter
• Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer
• Chris Burkard: Freelance Photographer
• Lisa Quine: Creative Consultant
• Nancy Twine: Hair Care Founder
• Trinity Mouzon: Wellness Brand Founder
• Alberto Perez: Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness
• Ann Handley: Writer and Marketer

1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie : Author

Bio platform: personal website.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie begins her professional bio with an invitation to her roots.

In a few paragraphs, she describes when and where she was born, her family, her education, her honorary degrees, and the depth of her work, which has been translated into 30 languages and several publications.

Along with her notable writing career, Chimamanda highlights her annual creative writing workshop, which introduces readers to a well-rounded view of who she is as a professional.

From there, her bio seamlessly flows into her recent work and a glimpse into how and where she spends her personal time — the United States and Nigeria.

Finally, Chimamanda’s bio ends with a call to action to read a more detailed biography, giving the reader a choice to read the information available about her life and career.

Why We Like It

• It’s written in the third person, allowing it to show authority.
• It provides a brief but engaging account of Chimamanda’s life and experiences.
• Mentioning her honorary doctorate degrees makes readers know Chimamanda is one of the best writers in the world.

2. Chime Mmeje : SEO Content Writer

Bio platform: linkedin.

A bio with a hook will keep you reading. Chima Mmeje is a freelance SEO copywriter who’s "extremely good at one thing" — helping companies rank for their target keywords.

By leading with a powerful hook that aligns with her target audience’s marketing needs, she’s able to keep readers engaged.

What comes next is a unique differentiator in Chima’s professional bio. Instead of listing accolades, Chima shares a few wins secured for clients.

This nifty section does two things: it builds the readers’ confidence in Chima’s ability to deliver results, and it’s a practical way for Chima to name-drop some clients in her professional bio.

In the body of the professional bio, Chima briefly lists the processes that can help potential clients get a bird's-eye view of what they can expect.

The simple call to action "Drop a message" is a casual invitation to learn more about Chima's services.

• There’s clarity about who Chima serves.
• The hook is bold, catchy, and compels anyone to read further.
• Including client results make clients visualize what they can expect.

3. DJ Nexus : DJ

Bio platform: facebook.

This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of over 2,000 people in and beyond Boston, MA. And even if you don't listen to the type of music he produces, it's hard not to read his compelling Facebook bio.

For instance, consider his tagline, under "About" — " Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night! " DJ Nexus tells you when he works awesomely. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club in which he might play his music.

DJ Nexus's bio brilliance doesn't stop there.

DJ Nexus links his Facebook account to his personal website , where he has the space to tell the full story of his background. Here's a preview:

In this story, DJ Nexus describes how he got his name, including information about a company he founded before going to college.

This is a terrific lesson for professional bios: Customers want to learn about you. Consider how you might also lead your visitors off your Facebook page and onto your website to learn more about who you are.

• The eight compelling words in the bio pack a punch and grab attention.
• The bio gives off the feeling that DJ Nexus is great at his craft.

4. Lena Axelsson : Marriage & Family Therapist

Bio platform: industry website.

No matter where it lives, your professional bio does not differ from any other persuasive copy. One common mistake people make is thinking of it as its own beast, separate from other pieces of writing.

If you think about it that way, you’d likely write a painfully uninteresting bio.

When you sit to write your professional bio, don’t watch that cursor blinking on the screen. Instead, think about how you would introduce a blog post. You don't dive right into the meat of the thing, do you? No. You start with an introduction.

The best bios are often concise (around 200–300 words), so you don't have a lot of room to play around.

But a single sentence that sets the stage for your reader and provides a context for your accomplishments could make the rest of your bio more persuasive.

Take Lena Axelsson's bio, for instance. She's a marriage and family therapist — a job where empathy and compassion are a big part of the job description.

That's why she opens her bio with a great introductory sentence: "When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel."

Then, she goes into why she's passionate about her job, how she helps her clients, and how she caters her approach to each patient. The necessary educational information is left for the end after the reader has been hooked.

Your bio doesn't have to be super serious, nor does it have to start with a joke. This bio shows how you can capture your reader's attention by being empathetic and showing how that empathy shapes a valuable professional.

• It summarizes Lena’s background as a therapist, including her approach to therapy.
• The tone of the bio is professional and informative, rather than overly personal or casual.
• The bio focuses on Lena’s audience. This makes readers know that Lena wants to help.

5. Mark Levy : Branding Firm Founder

Mark Levy is a small business owner. While the professional bio on his website takes a traditional approach, it still speaks to Mark’s audience.

What we love about his bio is the way he's set it up: On his business' "About" page, he's listed two biographies, which he's labeled "Mark Levy's Biography #1" and "Mark Levy's Biography #2."

Click here to see the full version .

The first biography is a "short version," which includes a combination of bullet points listing his credentials and a few brief paragraphs.

The second is the "long version," which is even more interesting than the first. Why? It reads like a story — a compelling one, at that. In fact, it gets hilarious in some parts.

The second sentence of the bio reads: "He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books."

Here's another excerpt from the middle:

Of course, the fantastic copywriting isn't a surprise, given that Mark wrote several books. But the conversational tone and entertaining copy let his quirky personality (and great writing skills) shine.

• Mark’s funny and approachable personality shows all over his bio.
• Mark writes his bio in the third person, which positions him as an expert.
• It uses storytelling to humanize Mark and pull the reader into Mark’s world.

6. Audra Simpson : Political Anthropologist

With a classic take on the professional bio, Audra Simpson crafts an overview of her career in just a couple of paragraphs.

She emphasizes the "why" behind her work in the first half of her bio before transitioning to the way she carries out that work in practice.

The second half of her bio combines her body of work and the awards she’s won. This subtle timeline gives readers a picture of her experience in political anthropology without listing her resume in detail.

• Audra’s bio shows how experts can succinctly discuss their years of experience in a few words.
• It proves Audra is an expert political anthropologist.
• It shows Audra’s interests, giving readers a sense of what she likes as a professional.

7. Marie Mikhail : Professional Recruiter

Marie Mikhail checks nearly every box that makes an excellent bio.

A professional recruiter, she expresses her "passion for recruiting" in the first sentence, while using that sentence to hook her profile visitors into a brief story of her background.

But there are a lot of recruiters out there, and Marie knows that.

So, to differentiate herself, she closes the first paragraph of her bio by explaining that she likes "getting people excited about the things [she's] excited about."

It's a well-put value proposition that sets her apart from the rest of the HR industry.

Marie concludes her bio with a smooth mix of professional skills, like her Spanish fluency, and personal interests, such as podcasting and Star Wars (she mentions the latter with just the right amount of humor).

• Straight off the bat, Marie uses a story to share her experiences of how she began as a recruiter.
• It provides a subtle pitch for readers to check out her podcast.
• The bio exudes Maries approachable, fun, and playful personality.

8. Wonbo Woo : Executive Producer

Wonbo Woo is the executive producer of WIRED's video content and has several impressive credits to his name. What does this mean for his professional bio? He has to prioritize.

With this in mind, Wonbo opens his bio with the most eye-catching details first (if the image below is hard to read, click it to see the full copy ).

Not only does Wonbo's bio start strong, but he also takes readers on a suspenseful journey through some of his most harrowing assignments — where he was when news broke and how he responded. You can see this quality below.

The accomplished journalist concludes his gripping bio as strong as it began. He mentions his experience with the states and countries he's visited in his career. Overall, it's a fantastically concise bio for as much detail as it holds.

• The first sentence of the bio leads with authority and instantly gets the reader’s attention.
• The bio dives into the many exceptional projects Wonbo Woo has executed.
• Wonbo Woo uses lots of specificity to pass points across, like WIRED's YouTube channel nearly quadrupled subscribers (+375%) and views (+391%), publishing over 100 videos annually with over a million views each.

9. Chris Burkard : Freelance Photographer

When writing your bio, you don't want to boast while showcasing your accomplishments. Chris Burkard's LinkedIn bio does this well.

Written in third-person, his bio tells a fluid story, starting with his ultimate mission — "capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature" — before diving into more tangible accolades (giving a TED Talk, publishing books, etc.).

Best of all, rather than using his bio as an opportunity to brag, he instead ties his talents into how he hopes to help others , writing, "Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision … and inspire [his followers] to explore for themselves."

I wouldn't necessarily be inclined to follow Chris if his bio had simply read, "I post beautiful images." But images that inspire me to travel? Now that's something I can get behind.

Last, he ends on a humble, sweet note: "He is happiest with his wife Breanne raising their two sons." So inject personal information into your bio — it makes you seem approachable.

• It highlights Chris’s achievement without bragging.
• The last sentence portrays Chris as a responsible man who loves his family.
• The well-written bio speaks to nature lovers who like the outdoors, surfing, and more. This gives them reasons to follow Chris.

10. Lisa Quine : Creative Consultant

Bio platform: portfolio website.

Creative professionals who specialize in visual art may find it challenging to balance the writing of their bio and displaying of their portfolio. Not Lisa Quine. Lisa has an exceptional balance of her professional bio and creative work.

Throughout her bio, you’ll notice the number of murals she’s completed and a brief timeline of her career. This helps her paint the picture of who she is as a professional.

• Lisa’s bio checks the box on nearly all of our recommendations for a great bio. She begins with her full name, her location, and what she does best.
• Lisa gets creative by mentioning the brands she’s worked with and highlighting some of her favorite projects.
• Written in the third person, this bio invites the reader behind a metaphorical door to meet Lisa as a professional, traveler, learner, wife, and mother.

11. Nancy Twine : Hair Care Founder

Bio platform: company website.

As Founder and CEO of Briogeo — a popular natural hair care line that's received rave reviews in publications such as Allure and InStyle — there are undoubtedly plenty of accolades Twine could boast about.

But she starts her bio from a humbler place, stating: "Nancy Twine is no newcomer to the beauty-sphere — in fact, she made her first foray into the world of natural product formulation at the ripe age of five."

The rest of her bio similarly focuses on Twine's strengths as someone who's able to take hair care "back to basics."

Similarly, you might use your personal bio as an opportunity to highlight your bigger purpose or vision. As Twine shows, sometimes it's best to keep it simple and let your message resonate with the right audience.

• The bio explains why Twine started her company and what ultimately drives her.
• It uses the founder’s story to connect with its audience.
• Using a video further shows the face behind the brand and helps Twine connect with her audience.

12. Trinity Mouzon : Wellness Brand Founder

From the first sentence, I gravitated toward Mouzon's bio: "I'm obsessed with leveling the playing field."

Mouzon effectively grips the reader's attention with this introduction and then dives into some of her impressive accomplishments — including a brand now sold at Urban Outfitters and Target.

The language used throughout Mouzon's bio is authentic, real, and honest.

For instance, in the second paragraph, she admits:

"While building a brand may have looked effortless from the outside, starting a business at age 23 with no resources or funding quickly forced me to realize that early-stage entrepreneurship was anything but transparent."

• It tells a story and quickly transitions into how Trinity built her brand.
• This bio highlights Trinity’s impressive background, including how she can help her readers start and scale their businesses.
• Focusing on the reader lets Trinity show that a good bio can convert new readers into leads and customers.

13. Alberto "Beto" Perez : Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness

As an avid Zumba fan, I was excited to include this one. Perez styles his LinkedIn bio as a short story, starting with his background as a hard-working teen who held three jobs by age 14.

His bio tells the fun and fascinating origin story of Zumba, in which Perez, an aerobics teacher in Florida at the time, forgot his music for class and used a Latin music cassette tape instead ... "And it was an instant hit!"

His bio continues:

"Shortly after he was connected to Alberto Periman and Alberto Aghion, and Zumba was officially created ... What started as a dream now has 15 million people in more than 200,000 locations in 186 countries who take Zumba classes every week."

Learn how to write your professional bio with more free tips, templates, and inspiring examples.

• Perez tells the story of his business, rather than list out his accomplishments.
• The bio positions Perez as both relatable and inspirational.

14. Ann Handley : Writer and Marketer

If you're a marketer, you've likely heard of Ann Handley. Her list of credentials is lengthy, and if she wanted to, she could go on and on about her accomplishments.

But when people list their accomplishments in their bios, they risk sounding slightly egotistical.

Sure, you might impress a handful of people with all those laurels, but many people who read your bio will end up feeling either intimidated or annoyed. Think about it: Is that how you want most readers to feel when they read your bio?

To minimize the egoism that comes with talking about yourself, think about how you can list out your accomplishments without sounding like you're bragging. Ann does this really well, choosing a tone in her bio that's more approachable.

Best of all, Ann focuses on her readers' challenges and motivations, rather than her own.

For instance, she writes, "Ann Handley writes and speaks about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to achieve tangible results. >And she will inspire you to do work you're proud of. "

Follow the link , and you'll see the page dedicated to a fuller bio, which she's divided into two parts: a "short version" (literally a bulleted list of key facts) and a "long version," which includes traditional paragraphs.

There's something in there for everyone.

• The last section of the bio shows Ann’s warm personality — “Ann lives in Boston, where she is Mom to creatures two- and four-legged.”
• Written in the third person, this bio has lots of proof (like followers), which shows Ann is a terrific marketing leader.

If you're posting a bio on a social media account or sending a quick blurb to a client, you want to keep it short and sweet while showcasing your accomplishments.

To get started, use these best practices for writing your short professional bio:

• Introduce yourself.
• State what you do.
• Add key skills or areas of expertise.
• Include a personal mission statement
• Celebrate your wins.
• Provide your contact information.
• Show them your personality.

1. Introduce yourself.

Your introduction is your first impression, so always begin by telling people who you are. You may start with a greeting like, "Hello, my name is" or "Hi! Let me first introduce myself …" when sending your bio as a message.

If you’re writing a bio for an online platform, stating your name at the beginning works as well.

Leading with your name — even as a question — is important for recognition and building relationships.

2. State what you do.

Give people an idea of what you do daily and where you work. Your job title is how the people put you into context and consider whether your profession relates to their industry.

So detail your most relevant work in your short bios, like CEO, professor, and author.

Take a cue from Angela Duckworth , who specifies what she does in her LinkedIn bio:

If your specialty is writing, your title could be "Freelance Writer," or if it's Help Desk or Information Technology, you may use "Freelance IT Specialist."

3. Add key skills or areas of expertise.

If you send a bio to a client or potential employer, highlight your most valuable skills. For instance, if your expertise is in social media marketing and content creation, like Ivanka Dekoning , list these skills.

4. Include a personal mission statement .

What do you hope to achieve through your work? Why do you do what you do? Answering these questions can help give your bio’s mission statement some direction.

For instance, Farmer Bea has a goal of helping to raise awareness about all things bees.

5. Celebrate your wins.

Your short bio can be a proud showcase of your accomplishments, so add one to two successes you’ve achieved through your skills or mission.

For instance, if you got recognition from industry leaders like Art Critic Jerry Saltz , you can list your wins like his:

6. Provide your contact information.

People who visit your profile or receive your message already know your social media account. But to take business off the app, include your email address, website, or any other professional profiles where they can reach you.

Political Commentator and Sports Correspondent, Angela Rye , shows a great example of this in her short professional bio on Instagram:

7. Show them your personality.

Don’t be afraid to add a bit of charisma to your short professional bio. “Professional” doesn’t have to mean plain. You can best portray your personality through:

• A joke. "Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. At least that’s what I learned when I created…"
• Mention a hobby. "I’ll be honest: for me, tennis is life — Go Nadal!"
• A fun fact. "Every year, I watch 100 new films! I’m a cinephile and love every movie genre."
• A few emojis related to your interests. "🎶🤖🎾🎬🎭"

Whichever way you choose to get personal, give people a glimpse into who you are as an individual.

When writing a short bio, it can be tempting to pack in as much relevant information about yourself as possible — but this isn’t the most effective approach.

Instead, focus on including the details that you and your audience care about most and leave out the fluff.

Let's dive into a few examples of short professional bios.

Short Professional Bio Examples

• Corey Wainwright: Principal Marketing Manager
• Lianna Patch: Copywriter
• Precious Oboidhe: Content Strategist and Writer
• Rebecca Bollwitt: Writer
• Megan Gilmore: Cookbook Author
• Bea Dixon: Feminine Care Founder
• Tammy Hembrow: Instagram Influencer
• Dr. Cody: Chiropractor
• Larry Kim: Founder
• Dharmesh Shah: Founder and CTO
• Lily Ugbaja: Content Strategist
• Ian Anderson Gray: Marketer
• Van Jones: Political Commentator, Author, and Lawyer

1. Corey Wainwright : Principal Marketing Manager

Bio platform: blog byline.

Corey Wainwright is a Principal Marketing Manager here at HubSpot. She's written content for HubSpot's Marketing Blog for years, and her blog author bio caught my eye before I ever started working for HubSpot.

(Back then, it started with, "Corey just took a cool vacation.")

What I love most about Corey's bio is that it's a great example of how to deliver information about yourself without taking things too seriously. And in this context, that's totally appropriate.

Despite having several impressive accomplishments under her belt, she simply doesn't enjoy displaying them publicly. She prefers making her author bio a little "light."

Her bio reads, "Corey is a Bruce Springsteen fan who does content marketing, in that order."

It works in this context because, at HubSpot, our blog authors prefer to make themselves friendly and approachable — while letting their content speak for itself.

It helps that authors' social media accounts are located right below our names and above our pictures. This lets folks click the LinkedIn button and go to the author's LinkedIn page.

( You can read this blog post to learn how to create social media buttons and add them to your website.)

• It’s short and simple.
• It pitches her company’s product as the best CRM software.
• Pairing her perfect smile and the mention of a popular singer — Bruce Springsteen — adds humor to her bio, shows singing may be one of her interests, and makes her appear friendly.

2. Lianna Patch : Copywriter

Lianna Patch is a rockstar copywriter who has written for popular publications like Copy Hackers. What’s striking about Lianna’s bio is that it sums up everything you want in a copywriter.

I mean, see the first sentence of her bio — “Lianna’s greatest dream is to make your customers pause, smile, and click (in that order).”

• It’s punchy and welcoming.
• It shows the outcome companies can get by working with her.
• It has a call-to-action (CTA).

3. Precious Oboidhe : Content Strategist and Writer

I don’t check out an author's byline unless the post is interesting. My guess is you do the same. And most times, you do this because you may be interested in working with the writer.

This is where a short bio that speaks to your needs comes in. An example? An example? Precious' bio that shows off his skills as a freelance content strategist and writer.

• It states that Precious is for hire, causing interested prospects to contact him.
• It includes his website, where prospects can learn more about him.
• People can connect with Precious on social media to learn more about his work.

4. Rebecca Bollwitt : Writer

Bio platform: instagram.

Instagram is a notoriously difficult platform on which to write a good bio. Similar to Twitter, you don't have room for a professional bio that includes everything about you.

And because Instagram is primarily a mobile app, many viewers read about you passively on their mobile devices.

Instagram's limited bio space requires you to highlight just your most important qualities. Blogging icon Rebecca Bollwitt does just this in her own Instagram bio excellently.

Rebecca's brand name is Miss604, and she cleverly uses emojis in her Instagram bio to tell visitors what makes her a valuable content creator. See the screenshot below:

The rest of her bio follows suit, breaking up the text with an appropriate emoji and a perfect collection of nouns to tell me who she is as a person.

She even links out to her husband's Instagram account after the heart emoji (an adorable addition) and assures her followers that all of her pictures are authentically hers.

Take a lesson from Miss604 and show your personal side. Branding yourself as a professional shouldn’t involve discarding many things that make you human . Often, your most personal attributes make for the best professional bio content.

• Using emojis gives off Rebecca as a friendly person.
• Rebecca highlights her most important qualities in a few words.

5. Megan Gilmore : Cookbook Author

Bio platform: instagram.

Megan Gilmore is a best-selling cookbook author. She often posts healthy recipes on her Instagram page and inspires her followers to learn not to sacrifice taste for the sake of health.

You can glean most of this information immediately from her Instagram bio, which is short and to the point: "Gluten-free recipes and meal plans."

Gilmore further includes a CTA link within her Instagram bio that leads followers to free, ready-to-use recipes. You might think, " Why would she do that since it discourages people from buying her book?"

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

By giving her followers the chance to try out her recipes, she's slowly turning leads into customers. After I tried a few of her Instagram recipes and loved them, I bought her book, knowing I'd like more of what she offered.

• The bio is short and direct.
• The CTA link includes an invitation for people to join her newsletter. Meaning, she can build her email list.

6. Bea Dixon : Feminine Care Founder

Bea Dixon, Founder and CEO of The Honey Pot Company, efficiently uses the space on her Instagram profile to highlight who she is as a well-rounded human — not just a businesswoman.

For instance, while she highlights her girl boss attitude with a tiara emoji, she equally calls attention to her fashion interests (Free People), her pets, Boss and Sadie, and her love for ramen noodles.

• It shows who Bea is outside work.
• It includes a CTA that lets people check out everything Bea offers.

7. Tammy Hembrow : Instagram Influencer

Tammy Hembrow is a founder, fitness model, Instagram Influencer, and entrepreneur. These are a lot to fit into one Instagram profile. And this is where a summary of what you do and where people can find you take center stage.

If you wear many hats like Tammy, be sure to mention your biggest traffic driver in your Instagram profile and include a link to all you do.

• It shows Tammy’s core channel besides Instagram — YouTube.
• It includes a CTA that lets people learn more about what Tammy does.
• It links out to other pages owned by Tammy.

8. Dr. Cody : Chiropractor

Dr. Cody is a Sydney-based chiropractor. Like Tammy, Dr. Cody brilliantly uses the limited space on his Instagram profile to convey vital info to his audience.

Adding his TikTok account with almost three million followers is another excellent move.

• No one gets three million followers by doing a poor job. By including 2.9M+ TikTok followers in his bio, Dr. Cody instantly proves his expertise to his audience.
• Including his TikTok handle is a subtle pitch for people to follow his account on TikTok.
• The CTA link is great for those who want to learn more about Dr. Cody’s offers.

9. Larry Kim : Founder

Bio platform: twitter.

Forget about words for a moment. Looking at Larry’s bio, you immediately know what he prioritizes above all else — his family.

This could endear people to him. And don’t forget the inclusion of “Christian” — this instantly shows what he stands for.

• It shows what Larry takes seriously besides work — his family and his faith.
• The popular publications give people a reason to follow Larry.

10. Dharmesh Shah : Founder and CTO

Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and CTO of HubSpot. Dharmesh’s bio is exciting because it has social proof, gives people a reason to follow him, and shows what people can expect.

• It shows what followers can expect.
• Dharmesh’s warm smile is welcoming, and his personal mission is inviting.
• It calls attention to Dharmesh’s business — HubSpot.

11. Lily Ugbaja : Content Strategist

Look no further than Lily's if you want inspiration for a Twitter bio packed with social proof.

Lily is a content strategist and writer for popular companies like HubSpot, WordPress, and more. When you read Lily’s bio, the second sentence grabs your attention immediately because it shows the result you can get by working with her.

• It has catchy social proof elements.
• It contains a CTA encouraging people to subscribe to her newsletter.

12. Ian Anderson Gray : Marketer

Details matter, especially when there’s a cap on the number of words you can use to express yourself.

For instance, the funny and impactful bio of Ian Anderson on his Twitter page reads:

"Dad & Husband. Confident Live® Marketing Podcast 🎧 & Show 🎥 Helping you level up your impact, authority & profits through the power of Confident Live Video."

What more do you need to know?

Ian doesn't take his bio too seriously but uses every character to highlight everything about him.

He includes his skill as a marketer and podcast host, who he is outside work as a dad, and what he can help you do. His smiles also give the bio a sense of humor and realness.

• It highlights everything about Ian in a few words.
• It includes a CTA to check out Ian’s podcast.
• It shows Ian’s fun personality, an important trait for podcast hosts.

13. Van Jones : Political Commentator, Author, and Lawyer

Someone known for various talents and skills may find it difficult to capture who they are in a professional bio. The feat is nearly impossible when limited to just over 100 characters on Twitter.

But Van Jones effortlessly explains who he is and why it matters to everyone who visits his Twitter profile.

He starts his professional bio with a token of personalization and prioritization of his values. By mentioning that he is a dad first, we recognize what’s important to him in his long list of successes.

As we’ve seen in other bios, sharing who we are outside of work makes us more personable and should find its way into your bio, if possible.

What’s great about Van’s Twitter bio is his ability to link valuable offerings to his readers. He invites us to check out his latest book and has his website magiclabsmedia.com linked at the top.

• It includes a CTA.
• It shows Van’s personality and what he cares about.
• It shows one of Van’s accomplishments as a 3X NYT bestseller.

Create Your Own Professional Bio

Prim and proper, relaxed, or studded with accomplishments, your bio reflects your best professional self. Your professional bio will often precede your physical presence. Before people meet you for the first time, they’ll probably read your bio.

Whether you’re creating an about page for your website or social media profile, one thing’s for sure: You’ll want to put your best foot forward with a top-notch professional bio.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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Alan Parker

- director, writer, producer.

• Filmography
• Early Years

SIR ALAN PARKER CBE

Director, writer, producer Alan Parker, born Islington, London, February 14th, 1944, began his career in advertising as a copywriter and graduated to writing and directing commercials where in the late 60’s he was one of a small group of British directors who revolutionized world advertising. In1980 he received the D&AD Gold President’s Award.

Jodie Foster and pie, Pinewood Studios, 1975

In 1974, Parker directed the BBC Television film, The Evacuees , written by Jack Rosenthal, which won the International Emmy Award and a BAFTA Award for direction; the first of seven BAFTA awards Parker has personally received.

Parker wrote and directed his first feature film, Bugsy Malone , in 1975. The film was a musical pastiche of 1920s gangster films with an entire cast of children. The film received eight British Academy Award nominations and five Awards.

His second film was the controversial Midnight Express (1977) which won two Oscars and six Academy Award nominations, including one for Parker as Best Director. The film received six Golden Globe Awards and four awards from the British Film Academy.

This was followed, in 1979, by  Fame , a celebration of youth and the arts in New York which won two Academy Awards, six nominations, four Golden Globe nominations and was later adapted into a successful television series.

In 1981 he directed his most personal film, the powerful family drama, Shoot the Moon , starring Diane Keaton and Albert Finney. In the same year he made the seminal Pink Floyd – The Wall the feature film adaptation of the phenomenally successful rock album, which has become a classic of the genre.

In 1984, Parker directed Birdy based on the William Wharton novel, starring Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine, which won the Grand Prix Special Du Jury at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

No stranger to controversy, his next film, Angel Heart , written and directed by Parker in 1986 and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro and Lisa Bonet opened in the United States amidst a storm caused by the ‘X’ rating initially imposed on it by the MPAA.

Lannie McBride: Jackson,, Mississippi, 1988

In 1988 he directed the Civil Rights drama, Mississippi Burning , starring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Director for Parker and winning for Best Cinematography. Parker was also awarded the D.W. Griffith Award for directing by the National Board of Review. The film was nominated for five British Academy Awards, winning three. It also won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

In 1989 Parker wrote and directed Come See the Paradise , a family’s story set against the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, starring Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita.

The Commitments, Dublin, 1990

The Commitments , made in 1990, a story of a young Irish working- class soul band, was awarded a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Picture and won Parker the Best Director prize at the Tokyo Film Festival, as well as British Academy Awards for Editing, Screenplay, Director and Best Picture.

In 1993, Parker wrote and directed the anarchic and satirical The Road to Wellville based on the novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, and starring Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack and Dana Carvey.

In 1996, Parker directed, wrote and produced Evita based on the successful stage show by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and starring Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce. The film won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture.

Angela’s Ashes based on the Pulitzer Prize winning, best selling memoir by Frank McCourt, was written and directed by Alan Parker in 1999, starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. His most recent film, The Life of David Gale , a thriller set against the politics of capital punishment in the United States, starred Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney and was released in 2003.

In all, his films have won nineteen BAFTA awards, ten Golden Globes and ten Oscars. In 1984, to celebrate “British Film Year,” Parker wrote and directed the provocative documentary, A Turnip Head’s Guide To The British Cinema , which underlined his fiercely independent and outspoken views as he lambasted the British film establishment and film critics. It won the British Press Guild Award for the year’s best documentary.

Alan Parker is also a novelist and author of the best-selling book written from his own screenplay of Bugsy Malone , published by by HarperCollins in their Essential Modern Classics library. His other novels include Puddles In The Lane , (1977) and The Sucker’s Kiss (2003). He is also an accomplished cartoonist and three collections of his satirical cartoons have been published: Hares in the Gate , (1982), Making Movies , (1998) and Will Write and Direct for Food , a compendium of twenty years of his cartoons on filmmaking and the film industry, published in October, 2005.

A founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, Parker has lectured at film schools around the world. In 1984 he was honored by the British Academy with the prestigious Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema. In 1998 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of Great Britain and the Lumiere Medal from the Royal Photographic Society. He has also received Lifetime Achievement awards in Chicago, Munich, Prague, Warsaw and Lodg. He holds honorary doctorates from Sunderland University, the University of East Anglia, Southampton Solent University and University Council of Arts, Spain.

In January 1998, Parker took up his post as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute and in August, 1999 he was appointed first Chairman of the UK Film Council; a position he held for five years.

In November, 1995 Parker was awarded with a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the British film industry and he received a knighthood in 2002. He is also an Officier des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Government.

In 2013 he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship  and also succeeded István Szabó as President of the European Federation of Film Directors: FERA.

An Alan Parker Film: MONTAGE

Montage of Alan Parker films edited by Kieron Butler

Guardian article on Alan Parker’s BAFTA Fellowship

Alan Parker on HardTalk

Ryan Murphy

• Born November 9 , 1965 · Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
• Height 6′ (1.83 m)
• Born November 9, 1965 in Indianapolis, Indiana, US as Ryan Patrick Murphy, he is an American writer, director, and producer, responsible for creating such hits as Nip/Tuck (2003) , Glee (2009) and American Horror Story (2011) . His mother, J. Andy Murphy, was a writer and communications worker and his father was a circulation director in the newspaper industry. He has one brother. He attended a Catholic school till the eighth grade and graduated from Warren Central High School. He went on to study journalism at the Indiana University Bloomington, where he was also a member of a vocal ensemble, and went on to intern in the style section of the The Washington Post in 1986. In 1990 he got into screenwriting, but only in 1999 was his first story produced: it was Popular (1999) , a teen comedy show, which he co-created with Gina Matthews and which run for two seasons. In 2003 he created Nip/Tuck (2003) , which brought him his first Emmy nomination. He won the award six years later, when in 2009 he directed the pilot of his hit series Glee (2009) which he co-created with Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk . In 2011 he and Falchuk co-crated another highly popular series, American Horror Story (2011) . in 2015 he was awarded the Award for Inspiration from amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. In 2018 Murphy signed a five-year $300 million development deal with Netflix. He is a pan equal opportunities activist, both through his movies and television projects which very often focus on the LGBTQ+ community, and as a creator of the Half Initiative, which aims at making Hollywood more inclusive for women and minorities. He's been married to photographer David Miller since 2012. They have three sons, Logan Phineas, Ford, and Griffin Sullivan. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Evil_Herbivore
• Spouse David Miller (July 4, 2012 - present) (3 children)
• Parents J. Andy Murphy Jim Murphy
• Frequently casts Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange, Finn Wittrock, among other regulars in his works.
• During high school he was president of a Meryl Streep fan club.
• He's famous for getting in touch directly with the actors he admires and wants to cast, proposing characters and assuring he would tailor them if needed.
• His favorite movies of all time are I Married a Witch (1942) , Pink Flamingos (1972) , Female Trouble (1974) and Network (1976) .
• In June 2017, he, his production company Ryan Murphy Productions as well as FX, were sued by Olivia de Havilland due to what she felt was an unauthorized and inaccurate portrayal of her in the show Feud (2017) 's first season "Bette and Joan". A statement from her lawyers read: "Miss de Havilland was not asked by FX for permission to use her name and identity and was not compensated for such use." "Further, the FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself.".
• While a guest on her radio program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross", Murphy told interviewer Terry Gross that he got his start in Hollywood while still a journalist when he sold a script called "Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn?" to Steven Spielberg during the 1990s. Murphy said that Spielberg was interested in the script in part because he had directed Hepburn in her last film, Always (1989) . As of the time of the "Fresh Air" interview (May 2009), the script has never been produced.
• Ah, my famous cologne. It's because when I was growing up, I could only afford that cheap Halston stuff.
• Face it, I'm legend. It's happened.
• [on Network (1976) ]: I just loved it. I remember seeing it as a kid and being absolutely fascinated because it's people doing terrible things and yet you understand why they're doing them. I was very inspired by that when I made Running with Scissors (2006) ". It was the same idea.
• I think it's only natural to be influenced by the filmmakers and things that you gravitate to when you were younger. I think my first seminal television moment was my grandmother forcing me, sobbing and screaming, to watch 'Dark Shadows'. She would make me sit through it to toughen me, I think. And when I was bad I had to watch 'The Waltons'.
• [on what people may not know about him] I'm a softy. There was this turning point for me -- and not in a good way -- when I did "The Glee Project." When I started, I was like, "OK, I'm going to go from being an artist to a Simon Cowell personality." That was my role, and I was really nervous about it. I loved the show, but it was sort of soul-robbing, and I think that people thought that I was that person, the Darth Vader of musical theater. To this day, I look back on episodes, and it kills me that I had to cut those kids. I sort of wish I had done that show and not been in it.

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