Why I've Decided to Build a Brand Outside of Myself
Lessons learned from experimenting with both personal and external brands
My career has been a series of experiments, beginning with dropping out of university my junior year to pursue a tech start-up. Since then, I’ve explored a variety of ventures, from launching a (short-lived) podcast and trying a second start-up to interning at a magazine, consulting in marketing, and pursuing passion projects, like a zine. While each path was different, the common thread has always been my love for building things and bringing big ideas to life.
As much as I thrive on creating, I’ve struggled to find the right format for building, especially as I’ve balanced other aspects of my life, like raising young children. It quickly became clear that running a tech start-up wasn’t sustainable for me during this season of life, which led me to explore other possibilities and prompted further career experimentation.
Although I didn’t immediately find the “right” fit, every step taught me something valuable about myself and how I work best. For nearly two years, after stepping away from start-ups, navigating an international move, and having our second baby, I decided to focus my limited capacity on building a personal brand. I told myself it was the perfect solution: a way to create freely, pivot easily, and avoid starting from scratch if a business didn’t “succeed.”
Personal brands offer incredible opportunities—they allow you to build a community, showcase expertise, and create on your own terms. But just because something works well in theory doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for you.
Models, concepts, ideas, and lifestyles can be “right,” and simultaneously be wrong for you.
Throughout all of my experiments, this is one of my biggest revelations.
I’ve seen women juggle start-ups and family life, and creative entrepreneurs thrive with personal brands. I’ve also noticed how the content I consume shapes my perception of what I think I should do. Listening to podcasts with founders raising millions while raising children, or watching social media experts share how to perfectly document your life can be both inspiring and overwhelming. While these voices add value, they don’t always align with what I want to create and they don’t have to.
Through this process, I’ve become better at recognizing what energizes me versus what drains me. For example, I admire people who authentically show up on Instagram to build personal brands, but I know that’s not how I want to show up in the world. For a long time, I thought this was a personal flaw—something I needed to overcome to achieve my goals. But I’ve come to realize it’s not about fear or “baggage” I may carry around being seen, it’s simply not in alignment with my purpose or how I create best.
So…why have I decided (once again) to build a brand outside of myself?
The timing feels right. Now that we’re settled in Paris and have childcare for both kids, I finally have (more, though not full) capacity to bring a long-held vision to life. And no, it’s not another tech start-up!
I don’t want to be my brand. I’ve realized I don’t want to film my daily life, overthink how each post shapes my identity, or create strategies for my personal Instagram. I want to share when I feel like it—sporadically and without pressure.
I need a big vision. I thrive when I have a long-term goal I’m working towards. I’ve learned that as a multi-passionate person who tends to jump around, having a big vision keeps me focused and dedicated.
Boundaries. Having a business and brand separate from myself allows me to have clearer boundaries and show up more confidently. It’s easier to stay “on brand” and also disconnect my personal life and identity from “work.”
It’s not just about me. I’m excited about the number of amazing people that will help me bring this business to life. This brand itself will also include many voices and stories outside of solely my own.
There’s room for both. I’ll pursue this new brand while continuing to write my Substack and offer creative consulting. I’ve realized I desire aspects of both personal and external brands, but solely committing to a personal brand simply isn’t the right fit for me.
If you’re in the process of finding a more aligned career or business for yourself, I hope these insights have offered you a new perspective or idea. More than anything, I want this to be a reminder that the possibilities for you are endless. Just because someone else is showing up a certain way or building a specific type of business doesn’t mean you have to follow the same path.
For those of you who are interested in building a personal brand, but the pressure to show up is holding you back, I encourage you to find examples of people you admire who have built brands without being “on” all the time. Lean into to action and experimentation, and pay attention to what excites you and feels natural, rather than what creates pressure or guilt.
And while you’re here, I’d love to hear from you: what have you learned from building a personal or external brand?
Until next week,
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the best decision. But it’s not easy.
Just by the title I knew I would relate. I've tried 'personal branding' so many times but it just doesn't work as someone with too many sides / multipassionate. So I'm also going this way, branding my brand, not myself, and letting me being just me - uncurated and real.