Building a Personal Brand: No Followers, No Problem

[laughs] No, you genuinely don't, but I've even got a story that could probably back this up, and I, I believe you have-

Yeah

... something interesting in the space as well.

But for me personally, um, let's take it back, uh, honestly, a few years now.

My son, he's starting high school.

It's year seven.

He's about two weeks in, and then one day he came home and he shared that some way, somehow, and kids are, uh, freaking amazing these days, honestly, but they'd traced down my personal brand, but they'd gone so, so deep, like so deep, they managed to find a photo of me in Queensland when I lived there as a 17-year-old in a bikini.

Oh, no.

Yep, yep.

Ugh, like it was just on a Gold Coast beach, like so swimwear necessary.

Mm.

Yeah.

And it was so humiliating because it got sent through the class chat, uh, th- through the whole cohort, I believe, year seven.

Uh, and Max was really embarrassed because he's such a private little dude.

I really hated that for him, and when he came home, I'm gonna say I've always prided myself on non-reactivity, but sometimes I can get reactive where it's needed.

I looked at his face.

I know him so well.

He is my own child, you know, and I also relate to him so much as an introvert as well, so I just really deeply knew how he was feeling.

Um, he didn't wanna have to sort of, I guess, almost defend, I say this in inverted commas, but his mom.

And so he just said, "I just feel so uncomfortable with this." And he only needed to say that one sentence, and then it was one of my favorite moments because I, I think I built psychological safety with him in this moment.

Like, I try all the time, but this was just another moment where that was being built.

But we just sat down together and I said, "Hey, bub, I'm gonna delete this right now.

Let's do it right now." I said, "I don't need this account.

I can...

I'm a strategist.

[laughs] No, you genuinely don't, but I've even got a story that could probably back this up, and I, I believe you have-

Yeah

... something interesting in the space as well.

But for me personally, um, let's take it back, uh, honestly, a few years now.

My son, he's starting high school.

It's year seven.

He's about two weeks in, and then one day he came home and he shared that some way, somehow, and kids are, uh, freaking amazing these days, honestly, but they'd traced down my personal brand, but they'd gone so, so deep, like so deep, they managed to find a photo of me in Queensland when I lived there as a 17-year-old in a bikini.

Oh, no.

Yep, yep.

Ugh, like it was just on a Gold Coast beach, like so swimwear necessary.

Mm.

Yeah.

And it was so humiliating because it got sent through the class chat, uh, th- through the whole cohort, I believe, year seven.

Uh, and Max was really embarrassed because he's such a private little dude.

I really hated that for him, and when he came home, I'm gonna say I've always prided myself on non-reactivity, but sometimes I can get reactive where it's needed.

I looked at his face.

I know him so well.

He is my own child, you know, and I also relate to him so much as an introvert as well, so I just really deeply knew how he was feeling.

Um, he didn't wanna have to sort of, I guess, almost defend, I say this in inverted commas, but his mom.

And so he just said, "I just feel so uncomfortable with this." And he only needed to say that one sentence, and then it was one of my favorite moments because I, I think I built psychological safety with him in this moment.

Like, I try all the time, but this was just another moment where that was being built.

But we just sat down together and I said, "Hey, bub, I'm gonna delete this right now.

Let's do it right now." I said, "I don't need this account.

I can...

I'm a strategist.