Maddy, I love that post and your honesty! It’s so important to be honest with ourselves and notice when we might be holding ourselves back.
I’ve been there too — as an introvert, I can find a million reasons not to put myself out there.
But the truth is, if I want to build my business, I have to.
I’ve worked with several female entrepreneurs on their public presence, and I can tell you this:
when you give yourself the chance to follow what your heart truly wants, to show up and build a personal brand, you’ll feel free, energized, creative, and motivated.
I’m personally thrilled for this direction because YOU have so much to offer the world — I think we all want to connect more and more deeply to people. I can very much relate to so much of what you shared here and I’m always amazed at the way you write so eloquently about these tangled internal experiences. As always, cheering you on!
Aw thank you friend! As I focus more on my writing, I find myself becoming increasingly self-conscious about my actual “skill,” so your comment means a lot🥲 As always, excited to follow your journey! ❤️
Hey Maddy 👋🏻! I started creating content online in 2018, and my path was the exact opposite: without knowing, I created a personal brand around natural health, my main topic of interest. Coming from Architecture, I had no idea what I was doing; it was all very instinctive, and therefore, it got wild. It is crazy to receive hundreds of messages every day and gather hundreds of people to watch an online class. It is overwhelming. I burned out and stopped everything. Sometime later, I started creating a non-personal brand too. But you know what? I miss the craziness. How people connect with us when we use our names and put our faces and voices out there on social media is so deep and rewarding!
I look forward to seeing how you will find your way through this! 😀
Hi Tatiane! Thanks so much for reading and sharing a bit about your journey. It’s great to hear that you’ve had a good experience overall with building your personal brand and that it’s been impactful🤍 Your words definitely have given me some inspiration and motivation!
Thank you for sharing your honest reflections on this journey. I love how you embrace the evolution of thought and the natural shift that comes with growth. Your willingness to contradict previous ideas shows a level of self-awareness that’s truly inspiring. I can relate to the tension of wanting to stay small out of fear, and the struggle to overcome perfectionism and self-doubt. The thought of looking back and regretting not pursuing our dreams is powerful and motivating.
This was such a great read, Maddy. I resonate with many of the points you made here, and the paragraph “do I want social media…inspire,” sums it up perfectly! 👏🏾 We have to put ourselves out there. The world needs us. ✨
Absolutely loved reading this Maddy, refreshingly honest and a topic that really resonates. Although I have embraced a public presence/personal brand, I have a big love-hate relationship with social media and am on the road to using it the way that works for me. Could talk about this all day!
Thanks so much for reading Charlotte! Agreed that I could also talk about this topic all day😆 Love that you’re using social media in a way that truly aligns with you! I think that’s the real key (and a goal I’ve mine I’ve yet to achieve, but believe it is possible!)
It's totally possible! I must say it means I probably won't reach the following or outreach of some, but I've decided I'm absolutely fine with that and will use other tools and platform to expand my audience!
As someone who has conceived multiple brands and wrestled on and off about personal brand vs. other brand for most of my adult life, this really resonates. Thank you for sharing. You just earned yourself another subscriber and will look forward to connecting more.
Maddy, I like this perspective, and as someone with ADHD, I often contradict myself and change my mind several times in a DAY! lol. But I too regularly look back and realize I'm in a different place (mentally and emotionally) than where I was a few months ago. I particularly love what you said here - "that’s the nature of growth. When you’re learning and evolving, your ideas do too. Circumstances shift, plans don’t always go as expected, and when you keep showing up and doing the work, you often come out on the other side with a newfound perspective" YEEESSSS
Thanks for reading Jessica! Yes, so glad you can relate to the changes of opinion, pivots and more 😅 I think it’s so important to reflect as you said, and look back to note how much you’ve grown and evolved!
She says we have to acknowledge that the critics will always be there and we can say hi to them, but tell them that we are going to keep going, instead of being consumed and frustrated they are there.
Maybe that's the intangible thing we can appreciate about those who show up online (or ourselves if we chose to do so)...we work alongside those critics and still persist and create.
Hi Alana! Thanks so much for reading and sharing such a thoughtful response. I will definitely watch this video! I’ve always loved Brene Brown’s perspective, but don’t believe I’ve seen this one yet. Thanks again for sharing🤍
You’re always writing as if we share one brain! All your arguments and reasonings are all ones I’ve had as well.
And what peeks through is so true; there’s no wrong or right. It’s just about doing what works best for you, your goals, your aspirations. And remember; you can always come back on decisions you’ve made!
It’s funny that this post finds me in an ‘Instagram free’ period for me, but it still strikes true on all the reasons I do want to build my online presence! And I love the reframe from personal brand to public presence a lot for that 🧡
I feel like there is such a push/pull as a creative between not wanting to play the socials game and contribute to the content fatigue, and feeling like it’s an obligatory part of doing your own thing/building your own brand. E.g on your other post about building your own dream job rather than applying for it, that feels almost impossible without an online presence, though I do wonder if there are ways… particularly with analogue being the new luxe/gaining more and more traction.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Literally felt like you plucked the words out my brain. I feel the exact same way. I’m not slowly trying to build a platform and community but all the fears you mentioned are ever so present. Thank you for you words, you really opened my eyes ❤️
Changing your mind is suchhhhh a powerful thing! I used to get very fearful of it but that’s the beauty of getting older. You have the experience to know that doing a 180 is usually a good thing. I for example just this week bought sticker charts for my daughters after yearsss of saying I’d never ever be that mom 🤣 I’m humbled to say the least. But if we aren’t changing our minds we aren’t growing. I love a reframe or a rebrand moment! Looking forward to watching what unfold for you 🙏🏻
It is refreshing to consume content that is not perfectly thought out or “on brand.” I also (like most creatives) have so many different passions! It’s nice to give ourselves permission to not put ourselves in a niche box!
Maddy, I love that post and your honesty! It’s so important to be honest with ourselves and notice when we might be holding ourselves back.
I’ve been there too — as an introvert, I can find a million reasons not to put myself out there.
But the truth is, if I want to build my business, I have to.
I’ve worked with several female entrepreneurs on their public presence, and I can tell you this:
when you give yourself the chance to follow what your heart truly wants, to show up and build a personal brand, you’ll feel free, energized, creative, and motivated.
Thank you for reading and sharing Andi! Always love your words of insight and motivation🤍
I’m personally thrilled for this direction because YOU have so much to offer the world — I think we all want to connect more and more deeply to people. I can very much relate to so much of what you shared here and I’m always amazed at the way you write so eloquently about these tangled internal experiences. As always, cheering you on!
Aw thank you friend! As I focus more on my writing, I find myself becoming increasingly self-conscious about my actual “skill,” so your comment means a lot🥲 As always, excited to follow your journey! ❤️
Lol because I always think about your writing and how good it is when I’m trying to write!
Hey Maddy 👋🏻! I started creating content online in 2018, and my path was the exact opposite: without knowing, I created a personal brand around natural health, my main topic of interest. Coming from Architecture, I had no idea what I was doing; it was all very instinctive, and therefore, it got wild. It is crazy to receive hundreds of messages every day and gather hundreds of people to watch an online class. It is overwhelming. I burned out and stopped everything. Sometime later, I started creating a non-personal brand too. But you know what? I miss the craziness. How people connect with us when we use our names and put our faces and voices out there on social media is so deep and rewarding!
I look forward to seeing how you will find your way through this! 😀
Hi Tatiane! Thanks so much for reading and sharing a bit about your journey. It’s great to hear that you’ve had a good experience overall with building your personal brand and that it’s been impactful🤍 Your words definitely have given me some inspiration and motivation!
Thank you for sharing your honest reflections on this journey. I love how you embrace the evolution of thought and the natural shift that comes with growth. Your willingness to contradict previous ideas shows a level of self-awareness that’s truly inspiring. I can relate to the tension of wanting to stay small out of fear, and the struggle to overcome perfectionism and self-doubt. The thought of looking back and regretting not pursuing our dreams is powerful and motivating.
Thank you for reading Alycia!🤍
This was such a great read, Maddy. I resonate with many of the points you made here, and the paragraph “do I want social media…inspire,” sums it up perfectly! 👏🏾 We have to put ourselves out there. The world needs us. ✨
Thanks so much for reading Michaela! And you are so right✨
Absolutely loved reading this Maddy, refreshingly honest and a topic that really resonates. Although I have embraced a public presence/personal brand, I have a big love-hate relationship with social media and am on the road to using it the way that works for me. Could talk about this all day!
Thanks so much for reading Charlotte! Agreed that I could also talk about this topic all day😆 Love that you’re using social media in a way that truly aligns with you! I think that’s the real key (and a goal I’ve mine I’ve yet to achieve, but believe it is possible!)
It's totally possible! I must say it means I probably won't reach the following or outreach of some, but I've decided I'm absolutely fine with that and will use other tools and platform to expand my audience!
As someone who has conceived multiple brands and wrestled on and off about personal brand vs. other brand for most of my adult life, this really resonates. Thank you for sharing. You just earned yourself another subscriber and will look forward to connecting more.
Thank you for reading Bryce! Happy to have you here!
Maddy, I like this perspective, and as someone with ADHD, I often contradict myself and change my mind several times in a DAY! lol. But I too regularly look back and realize I'm in a different place (mentally and emotionally) than where I was a few months ago. I particularly love what you said here - "that’s the nature of growth. When you’re learning and evolving, your ideas do too. Circumstances shift, plans don’t always go as expected, and when you keep showing up and doing the work, you often come out on the other side with a newfound perspective" YEEESSSS
Thanks for reading Jessica! Yes, so glad you can relate to the changes of opinion, pivots and more 😅 I think it’s so important to reflect as you said, and look back to note how much you’ve grown and evolved!
Maddy, I especially loved how you reframed a brand as public presence ❤️
You put into words something I have been feeling deeply for about a year now. I wrote something in my journal of "when I don't show up, I miss out!"
Your questions revolving around self doubt very much so reminded me of Brene Brown's man in the arena talk
https://youtu.be/8-JXOnFOXQk?si=AuU7eQ8OePBM2F1v
She says we have to acknowledge that the critics will always be there and we can say hi to them, but tell them that we are going to keep going, instead of being consumed and frustrated they are there.
Maybe that's the intangible thing we can appreciate about those who show up online (or ourselves if we chose to do so)...we work alongside those critics and still persist and create.
Hi Alana! Thanks so much for reading and sharing such a thoughtful response. I will definitely watch this video! I’ve always loved Brene Brown’s perspective, but don’t believe I’ve seen this one yet. Thanks again for sharing🤍
Hopefully you avoid tears when you watch. I could not! 😭😅 Can't wait for what you chose to share next.
Love this so much, Maddy! I love your online presence already, so I can’t wait to see more 🤍
Thanks Katie🥹❤️ You know I feel the same way about your presence!!
Saving this one to come back to! Can’t wait to read ✨ Cheering you on!
I’d love to hear your thoughts when you have a chance to read🤍 And same! Always cheering you on!
You’re always writing as if we share one brain! All your arguments and reasonings are all ones I’ve had as well.
And what peeks through is so true; there’s no wrong or right. It’s just about doing what works best for you, your goals, your aspirations. And remember; you can always come back on decisions you’ve made!
It’s funny that this post finds me in an ‘Instagram free’ period for me, but it still strikes true on all the reasons I do want to build my online presence! And I love the reframe from personal brand to public presence a lot for that 🧡
Thank you for writing this!
I feel like there is such a push/pull as a creative between not wanting to play the socials game and contribute to the content fatigue, and feeling like it’s an obligatory part of doing your own thing/building your own brand. E.g on your other post about building your own dream job rather than applying for it, that feels almost impossible without an online presence, though I do wonder if there are ways… particularly with analogue being the new luxe/gaining more and more traction.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Literally felt like you plucked the words out my brain. I feel the exact same way. I’m not slowly trying to build a platform and community but all the fears you mentioned are ever so present. Thank you for you words, you really opened my eyes ❤️
Changing your mind is suchhhhh a powerful thing! I used to get very fearful of it but that’s the beauty of getting older. You have the experience to know that doing a 180 is usually a good thing. I for example just this week bought sticker charts for my daughters after yearsss of saying I’d never ever be that mom 🤣 I’m humbled to say the least. But if we aren’t changing our minds we aren’t growing. I love a reframe or a rebrand moment! Looking forward to watching what unfold for you 🙏🏻
It is refreshing to consume content that is not perfectly thought out or “on brand.” I also (like most creatives) have so many different passions! It’s nice to give ourselves permission to not put ourselves in a niche box!