Three years ago, I made a decision that changed everything for Mane Hook-Up: I decided to build my personal brand at the same time I built the company’s brand.
A lot of people don’t do this. They think the company brand and their personal brand are separate. They focus on the business, avoid the spotlight, and hope the product speaks for itself.
I did the opposite. I went all-in on building a personal brand alongside the business.
Here’s what happened: after 18 months of consistent content, opportunities started coming to me. Speaking invites from organisations. Brand partnerships offering free products for our events. Fundraising connections. Collaboration requests.
The truth I discovered: your personal brand is a secret weapon for founders. It amplifies your business more than any marketing you can do for the business itself. But it only works if you’re actually willing to be the face of the company.
Here’s how to build it systematically, what I got wrong along the way, and the framework that actually works.
The #1 Mistake Founders Make With Personal Branding
Founders want their messaging and presentation to be perfect before they start.
They spend far too much time:
Overthinking every post.
Deleting drafts because they don’t sound polished enough.
Waiting until they have the perfect personal brand statement before posting anything.
Agonising over their bio, thinking that will lead to all of the conversions...
The end result? They never actually start.
The reality: Your personal brand will never be perfect as it needs to evolve over time. Get into the doing sooner rather than later, learn along the way and eventually you will land on the balance between what you love to talk about and what people need.
The founders who build real personal brands aren’t the ones with perfect bios and curated feeds. They’re the ones who started messy and refined as they went.
My Journey: How I Built This Thing
Year 1: Starting With What I Could Commit To (LinkedIn + Newsletter)
When I went full-time on Mane Hook-Up three years ago, I wanted to build my personal brand. But I was also nervous.
Even with my background in marketing, I didn’t know what I was doing and really didn’t want to fail publicly.
