My struggle with building a personal brand (and what I'm doing about it)

Over the past couple of months I've dived headfirst into the topic of personal branding. And I have more questions than answers.

I want to grow and develop my personal brand. Something more than just digital marketing (what I'm known for).

My big question is: how do I expand my personal brand to include my non-digital marketing interests?

So I've gone to the internet for help.

And you know how that goes. You have to sift through a lot of bullshit to get to the gold.

Turns out that "personal branding" is a pretty popular topic online these days (like, big topic) with internet gurus popping up like the whack-a-moles....

"Everyone should build a personal brand!"

"Make sure you are known for ONE thing!""

"Find your authentic voice and add value!"

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room!”

I can't get a straight answer on what a "personal brand" is.

I have to admit that researching the topic has been a bit of a guilty pleasure. I've been following the "personal branding" internet gurus for a couple of weeks now. I hate it, and I love it at the same time. They are so darn good at marketing themselves.

They hook me in with their, well, hooks.

I read through their bulleted lists.

I ponder their systematized systems with catchy titles.

They seem to have all the answers. But in reality, they are some dudes on Twitter who figured out how to write online about a topic they can monetize. And they are content MACHINES.

They have established pseudo-authority on Twitter through massive volumes of content, Stoic philosophy, and basic productivity/mind hacks. And, of course, personal branding advice.

"Here's what worked for me; this will help you."

Their perceived authority on building a personal brand comes from telling others that they need to build a personal brand.

I don't know if I can trust it.

Let me take a step back and explain why I am on this mission to understand personal branding.

Short answer? I want to find my purpose.

Long answer? I want the work I do to be meaningful. I want to work on projects that light me up. I want to make the world a better place through my contribution. And I want to support myself financially through this work.

And I believe many of those answers lay in the uncovering of ones own personal branding.

For me the personal branding question runs pretty deep...

"Who am I?"

"What is my purpose?"

"What am I here to do?"

"How do I share that with the world in a way that is valuable, safe, and unique?"

"And what exactly is that? What do I share?"

I have been "doing" digital marketing since before it was called digital marketing. And back when I started my business, nobody talked about building a personal brand. We were all busy building businesses—even if it was a one-person business—to pretend we were bigger than we were.

I did end up creating a personal brand without meaning to. It came innocently enough, mainly due to a penchant for alliteration.

Man, did I struggle to find a "name" for my business when I first started. The thought of using my name, "Megan Adams," didn't even cross my mind.

I called my business, "Meg the Media Maven" (like I said, I'm a sucker for alliteration). There were definite advantages that came with that name.

First, it was catchy. That made it easy to remember (and people thought it was cute).

Second, it labeled me as the "social media person" in the crowd. I never lacked clients because it was super clear what I did. And I was good at it.

I hated it. Not the work. But the box the name put me in.

I didn't want to be known as just "the social media expert". I didn't live and breathe social media like others in the industry. After awhile the name made me feel uncomfortable and dishonest.

I liked working with my clients. I liked being able to support myself. But that business "name" took on a life of its own. And I started to lose myself.

I felt I had to filter everything I did through "Meg the Media Maven." Otherwise, I would confuse people, and they wouldn't hire me. I was afraid to talk about anything other than social media in my blog, newsletter, and online.

And I burned myself out. So I shut it all down.

Deleted my website with over 200 blog posts.

Deleted my email list of over 1,500 subscribers.

Quit my client work.

Packed up and moved to California.

I felt stifled, uninspired, and stuck.

The only way I felt I could breathe again was to start fresh.

And I did.

I got a full-time job working for a start-up eBay had acquired. Then, a year later, I landed my current role as a digital marketing instructor for LinkedIn Learning. The marketing world continued to follow me everywhere I went.

At the same time, I grew very interested in consciousness, healing, and spirituality. And this interest took root during my time in California. I was relentless in my pursuit for answers about life. I wanted to know how to heal ourselves and others. I took courses in various healing methods and even worked with clients as a practitioner.

People started to know me as a "healer". And I had the same reaction as I did to my digital marketing box.

I didn't want that either. I felt like an imposter. A liar. A fake.

I was this or that. But never me.

People either saw the "digital marketer," or they saw the "healer". I didn't know how to show them me.

I remember, so vividly, asking my mentor as we traveled Tanjung National Park in Borneo, "What do I say when people ask what I do?"

It was evening. Dinner was being prepared. The houseboat crew set us up on the riverbank with a long table and candles to light our conversation.

I was deep in self-reflection during that trip, trying to figure out who I was. The moment felt ripe for a breakthrough. I hoped for the perfect answer to my existential question.

Her answer, "I AM THAT I AM."

...okay....

Not the answer I was looking for.

I wanted someone to tell me what to do and who I was.

But fine. That's what good mentors do. They don't tell you the answers; they help you find them for yourself. I'm still unpacking her answer, but it has guided me a lot on this journey of self-discovery.

And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. - Exodus 3:14.

There's no definitive definition of the phrase, I AM THAT I AM. I like to think of it as an attempt to capture the eternal and indefinable essence of creation.

It represents our eternal nature, which is boundless, limitless, nameless. It's like trying to find the perfect words to describe an orgasm, a breathtaking sunset, or the smell of rain. It transcends name and definition.

To sum it up: it's futile to try to label oneself as anything. We are everything and nothing all at the same time.

Okay, this is getting way too philosophical. But it leads me to the question...

Where does the desire come from to label ourselves?

Is it necessary?

Is a person's identity reducible to a marketable image?

We are all ever-changing, dynamic works in progress. And our best bet is to own that.

With all that in mind, here's what I've been doing in pursuit of uncovering my own personal brand.

The approach I decided on is to get out of my own head and start "creating" without a perfect plan or strategy. I'm approaching this experientially.

Step 1: Idea.

Step 2: Create.

Step 3: Publish.

Step 4: Get feedback.

Step 5: Iterate.

Step 6: Repeat.

Much of this process I am undergoing is from Dan Koe's 2-Hour Writer course. It's helpful if you have too many ideas and feel overwhelmed by them. In the course, he teaches you to find your "Domain of Mastery." This is the closest answer I've received so far on how to uncover my own personal brand.

The Domain of Mastery is made up of three pillars:

1. Your Money-Making Interest. This can be anything. But Koe emphasizes that it should be something that you see yourself doing for a long time. For this one, my topic is: online business. Its subtopics are digital marketing, passive income, and starting a business.

2. Your Genuine Interest. This is something that excites you to learn about, interests you have been wanting to explore. I had a lot of fun coming up with these topics my myself. I have been really interested in creativity and self-expression. So I made that my topic, with subtopics being creating for fun, hobbies, and slow living.

3. Your Developmental Interest. I found this pillar to be the most interesting one of all three. The idea is that if your writing is a way to bring value to your reader, you must help them grow. To do that, you need to grow yourself. Dan Koe urges his writers to study self-development topics. These include philosophy and psychology. Anything that helps you understand yourself. This one was interesting to come up with. I chose inner peace/joy. The topics are mindfulness, healing, and finding purpose.

The key was to start knowing that these topics might change. But I have sat in analysis paralysis for so long so it felt good to write them down and start creating content. Below is a screenshot of my Notion dashboard that includes my "Domain of Mastery" pillars.

Here's my process:

• Write daily on a topic I choose. I am using the 2-Hour Writer Method from Dan Koe that I talked about earlier. It has helped me create a system to explore these topics. It gives me time and space to ponder my big questions instead of feeling overwhelmed.
• Spending a lot of time with myself. Making lattes, doodling in my sketchbook, and writing about my interests. Meditating, walking, and sun gazing (it's life-changing).
• I unfollowed and unsubscribed from social accounts and newsletters that don't inspire me.
• Exploring topics that interest me and sharing my learnings when I'm ready. Whether it "fits" into the digital marketing box or not.
• Being patient with myself. Understanding that this is a deeper exercise for me and it will take time.

Building a personal brand is a journey of self-discovery. You can't force it. I'm going to continue to pursue the things I find interesting, write about them, and hit the "publish" button (and see how that goes, lol).

I'd love to hear from you. Do you struggle with personal branding too? Do you have too many interests to fit into one box? Or are you rocking the personal brand thing?? Hit reply and let me know!

And if you read this entire thing, wow. I'm amazed, humbled, and a little bit embarrassed. I hope there are some parts that are helpful to you 🫶