The Truth About Personal Branding: It's About Who You Are, Not What You Do

By Marina Byezhanova

Beyond the Marketing Hype

One of the biggest misconceptions about personal branding is that it's some kind of PR exercise—a way to market yourself like a product. It's not. It's a process deeply rooted in introspection.

Personally, I've always been in pursuit of finding my own voice. Today, I live in Canada and am focused on scaling Brand of a Leader as the #1 personal branding agency in the world. Yet, many moons ago, I was born and grew up in Ukraine, later on coming to Canada as a new immigrant without a voice. I realized what a privilege it is to have one—and how underutilized this privilege is by so many people. My passion for finding my own voice transformed into a passion for helping others find theirs.

Personal vs. Professional Brand: It's All Just You

When we work with clients, they often ask about the difference between a personal and professional brand. At the core, there's only one brand—yours. The fundamental distinction is in how we express it.

Every personal brand should be an expression of who the person is, not what they do. This is the second biggest misconception people have: "My personal brand is that I help X do Y in order to Z." That's not a personal brand—that's a marketing byline, which may be effective or not, but it's not your brand.

A personal brand expresses who you are because what you do changes throughout your life, while who you are remains relatively constant. That's what gives a brand portability. We adjust the marketing of our brand differently depending on context, but the core remains the same.

When speaking with corporate executives who get overwhelmed by the concept of becoming "Instagram influencers" in their professional arena, I use terms like "leadership brand" or "personal leadership brand" interchangeably. The terminology matters less than the understanding that we're talking about the brand of you as a person.

Getting Started: Business Therapy

If you're interested in establishing your personal brand, you need to get ready for a process of introspection. When we work with clients, they often say, "I did not expect this to be like therapy sessions!" They endearingly call it "business therapy," and then they really embrace it.

The branding process requires deep self-reflection.

The first thing we do with clients is examine their life journey from the very beginning—yes, starting from childhood. We look at all the highs and all the lows, searching for patterns and common denominators. What keeps showing up consistently throughout your life? This exercise is incredibly powerful because it reveals core elements of who you are.

Next, we identify core values. What principles are you so strongly committed to that they could become the cornerstone of your personal brand? Brands—whether corporate, employer, or personal—have distinct points of view. What's yours?

The starting point for effective personal branding is self-understanding, self-awareness, and introspection. Without this foundation, any external branding efforts will lack authenticity and sustainability.

Platform Strategy: Start Offline, Master One at a Time

When people think about building a personal brand, they immediately jump to social media platforms. But the first platform you should consider is actually offline—your existing circle of influence.

If you're a leader within an organization with employees, platform number one is how you show up to these people. How are they perceiving you? What topics do they associate with you? This includes both thought leadership elements and humanizing aspects of your presence.

Once you're clear on your personal brand offline, and you decide you're ready for more visibility, I absolutely recommend choosing just one platform first. Master it before moving on. Once you've dominated it, your messaging is clear and consistent, and it's running smoothly—then look for the next platform.

For those who loathe social media, remember that you can build a very strong personal brand offline. Look at Seth Godin—he's not really on social media much; it's just a repository for him. Instead, he’s written bestselling books and leverages a newsletter. You don't have to be on social media, though it does give you scale.

What typically happens is that someone decides, "I'm ready to put myself out there," takes a deep breath because it's uncomfortable (and yes, impostor syndrome kicks in), and then announces, "I'm going to be on everything!" This approach isn't sustainable because we also have jobs to do or companies to run. And please (please!) do not listen to social media influencers telling you the only road to success is to post content on every single platform every single day. This is true to lifestyle influencers not CEOs looking to scale sustainable organizations. 

Start with one platform, take incremental but consistent action, and you will see results within the first quarter. 

Content Strategy: Thought Leadership + Humanizing Elements

If LinkedIn is the platform you select to establish yourself as a thought leader on, consistency is key. There are many people posting on LinkedIn, but almost nobody is consistent. If you start creating content and post just once a week but consistently without skipping, you'll quickly rise to the top of everyone's feed in your network, standing out easily unlike on most other platforms.

For content strategy, I recommend a two-pronged approach:

1. Thought Leadership Content: Choose a topic where you want to be recognized as a thought leader. This could be in your industry vertical, a particular area of expertise, or even leadership principles. Share original thinking on this topic—don't just share someone else's article (people can Google information themselves). Write your own thoughts and insights. Importantly, don't preach at people unless you're already a global thought leader on the topic. 
2. Humanizing Content: You can't only share thought leadership content because then you're not building human connections—and ultimately, we're human beings looking to connect with other humans. Find a second topic that humanizes your brand, showing people not only what you do but who you are.

The secret is identifying how these topics connect so your content doesn't feel disjointed. When clients get frustrated because their "smart" thought leadership content gets less engagement than personal photos, I remind them that human beings naturally connect on a human level.

The mistake people make is either sharing something that feels random or forcing an unnatural connection between personal content and business messaging. Your content—whether more professional or more personal—must be on brand for you. That's why figuring out your brand before creating content is essential.

When to Outsource: Prioritize Consistency

Many people ask when they should outsource their content creation. The answer is simple: at the point where it becomes unsustainable for you to maintain consistency.

That could be from the beginning or six months in—but the key is consistency. It's like fitness: you can spend a month going to the gym every day, then not go for three months, then go back and be constantly sore. It doesn't work. You need to post every week to maintain momentum.

If you find that pace unsustainable, that's when you should outsource—and that's why agencies like mine exist. We make it simple by interviewing you once a month, gathering your stories and insights, then presenting you with enough content for a month. You approve it, and we post it.

Many of our clients say, "Technically, I could do this myself," and of course they could—some are excellent writers. But will they do it consistently? That's where outsourcing helps. It's not about ability - it's about time and consistency.

The Transformational Power of Clarity

What truly excites me about our work is seeing the transformation in our clients. We work primarily with Gen Xers who are typically uncomfortable with social media, don't like the spotlight, and often feel the whole personal branding process seems "icky."

Yet they recognize that putting themselves out there has benefits beyond transactions—they want to inspire, make an impact, and spread their message. They want their companies to become industry leaders. They come to us with questions and insecurities, and we help package their thought leadership in a way that feels authentic to them.

I recently presented a brand architecture to a client who had two seemingly disconnected sides to his professional identity. He couldn't see how to create a cohesive personal brand that made sense. We worked together to find the common denominator that became his brand angle and wrote his brand story connecting everything.

When I presented it, this massively successful, shark-like business leader got emotionally choked up and said, "You guys just resolved a dilemma that I've had for decades of my life. You just told me my story in a way that I hadn't been able to tell it to myself. Nothing made sense until now."

That's why this work matters. It might seem frivolous or superficial on the surface—"I'm going to build my brand"—but we end up doing deep work that makes a genuine impact. We help clients drive their own impact and inspire others in different ways. We help Founders and CEOs amplify their companies’ visibility and industry dominance. It's incredibly rewarding and a privilege to do this work. Interested in learning more? Book a complimentary intro call today!