Hot take: I don’t think everyone needs a personal brand. Plenty of businesses have expanded their reach with company social accounts as their mouthpieces. However, executives and founders can create personal brands that supercharge growth. How do I know? I’ve done it myself.
I founded newsletter Morning Brew, which gives business updates with personality. Each send has a lighthearted, but informative, tone — a style consistent with social posts from the brand and my account. Later, I launched storyarb to drive demand for high-growth B2B businesses. My personal brand helps position the agency as a leader and piques interest in potential clients.
When I think about a company, I’m not picturing a faceless brand. Instead, I think about a person who is related to that company.
For example, when I hear Airbnb, I think about Brian Chesky posting on X. When I hear HubSpot, I think about CMO Kipp Bodnar and his podcast. And when people think about StoryArb, they’re likely thinking about me. That’s personal branding at work.
Building a great personal brand isn’t easy. But in my experience, that work has more than paid off. Cultivating a brand on social media has generated so many career opportunities both for me and for my businesses.
At StoryArb, 90% of our impactful moments have come through my personal LinkedIn. Even my cofounder, Abby Murray, first connected with me on the platform. Most of our employees were introduced to us through this channel, and my team still sends cold recruiting DMs from my LinkedIn today.
People may think of a personal brand as something that just drives customer acquisition, but it’s incredibly multi-functional. Beyond just directly boosting business opportunities, it also supports hiring, partnerships, career development, and so much more.
Of course, building a compelling, consistent personal brand is no walk in the park. That’s why I wrote this article. In this post, I’ll share a step-by-step guide with tips to help you get started. Let’s dive in.
