Why I Post So Much And Kinda Live In Public.
Let’s get this out of the way: the phrase "executive branding" feels gross. It sounds like something your niece does on TikTok. Something with ring lights and hashtags. But here’s the truth, and it took me two decades online to realize it: Posting a lot and kinda sharing a lot of stuff isn’t about ego. It’s about access.
I’ve lived online for 20 years. Not in a Truman Show way where you’ve seen me shaving my most intimate of areas or letting my dog sit at the dining room table, but in a way where I’ve let you peek inside. My thoughts, my wins, my fuck-ups, my travels, my realizations. At first, it was all ego and validation, I won’t pretend otherwise. The dopamine hit of a like, a share, a comment? Delicious. But something funny happened on the way to building my personal highlight reel: I started seeing the ROI. Real stuff. Jobs. Clients. Partnerships. Speaking gigs. Friendships that turned into lovers and opportunities I couldn’t have planned for.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth most people whisper but never say out loud: If you're not visible, you're invisible. And if you’re invisible, you’re being passed over. Period.
This is where executive branding separates from thought leadership.
Thought leadership is what you say. Executive branding is what people see.
You can have the most insightful opinions in the world, hell, you might even invent the next blue ocean strategy, but if people can’t find you, trust you, or figure out how to categorize you, it doesn’t matter.
Branding is packaging. It’s positioning. It’s your digital handshake before anyone ever books a call with you.
And in a world that’s somehow getting louder and smaller at the same time, this is no longer optional. The internet is a megaphone strapped to everyone’s face. If you’re not shaping the story about you, someone else is, or worse, no one is.
There’s a saying I love: Do things, tell people. It sounds gross, right? Like humblebragging in a cropped shirt with beaded fringe. But it’s the truth. Because doing amazing things and keeping them secret is basically career self-sabotage. This is doubly true for the rising tide of freelancers, soloists, and small business owners. If you don’t advocate for yourself, no one’s coming to do it for you.
Every great thing that’s happened in my career came from two things:
Doing good, hard, occasionally uncomfortable work.
Someone seeing it.
Someone passing along a blog post. Someone catching a talk I gave. Someone DMing me after a spicy LinkedIn rant. Visibility creates serendipity, and in a crowded market, serendipity is your best weapon.
Let’s get tactical for a second.
If you’re an executive (or anyone, really) who wants to make shit happen, here’s what executive branding actually looks like:
A clear and consistent digital presence: LinkedIn, personal website, Google results. They should all tell the same story about who you are and what you do.
A point of view: What do you believe? What do you care about? Why should I trust you?
Content that backs it up: Posts, interviews, panels, articles—even tweets. Something that shows me your brain.
Real-world proof: Metrics, case studies, results. Not fluff. Not jargon. Wins.
Personality: Because the days of the beige executive are done. We want humans, not headlines.
Executive branding is not thought leadership.
Thought leadership is the content you create. Executive branding is the container it lives in.
Thought leadership is how you flex your ideas. Executive branding is how you make those ideas stick.
Thought leadership is value. Executive branding is velocity.
People confuse the two because they often overlap, but here’s the line in the sand: thought leadership gets people to listen. Branding gets them to care.
And caring is what leads to opportunities.
So what’s the risk of not doing this?
You become the world’s best-kept secret. You get passed over. You watch lesser talents with louder voices get picked first. You plateau.
In the old world, the best resume won. In this one? The best story does. And you better believe that story needs a stage.
So here’s my advice:
Stop thinking branding is for influencers. Stop thinking you’re above marketing yourself because your results should “speak for themselves.” That’s a lovely idea, until you realize algorithms don’t reward humility. The people who get the gigs, the stages, the inbound calls, they’re not always the best. They’re the most visible and credible.
If you want to be relevant in 2025 and beyond, you need to be findable, googleable, ChatGPTable, intriguing, and above all, clear. No one’s going to connect the dots of your career for you. That’s your job.
The world doesn’t need more content. It needs more you. Loud, specific, and unignorable.
That’s executive branding.
That’s not vanity. That’s strategy.