How to Build a Personal Brand That Actually Feels Like You

01 / Start with the person, not the persona

Before you decide what to post, get curious about yourself. I begin my work with clients through an in-depth, face-to-face conversation because the interesting things rarely emerge from a generic questionnaire.

I want to know where someone comes from, what they're drawn to, what they could talk about for hours, and the stories they tell without realizing they're stories. That's usually where their most compelling content begins.

Try asking yourself:

• What do I care about even when no one is watching?
• What subjects could I happily talk about for an entire afternoon?
• What experiences have shaped my outlook on work, creativity, or life?
• What do friends and colleagues naturally come to me for?
• What do I believe that differs from the conventional wisdom in my field?

Don't dismiss interests that seem unrelated to your profession. If you're an interior designer who loves old films, flea markets, gardening, and French food, those interests might be what make your design perspective memorable.

Your most interesting qualities are not distractions from your personal brand. They are the material.

02 / Picture the people you want to find you

You don't have to create content for everyone. In fact, you probably shouldn't. One of my favorite exercises is to imagine the people you would be genuinely delighted to have in your corner.

Go beyond age, job title, and income. Think about the way they live, what they value, what they're dreaming about, what makes them feel misunderstood, and what kind of beauty or possibility they want more of.

For example, "women who like interiors" is a start. "Creative women who collect vintage furniture, care about craftsmanship, and want homes that feel deeply personal rather than showroom-perfect" gives you a much more interesting conversation to have.

Then ask: what could I share that would make this person feel seen—or help them see something differently?

03 / Create a few content pillars, then leave room to wander

Content pillars are recurring themes you return to. They help your audience understand your world and make it easier for you to generate ideas, especially when you're busy living your actual life.

I like beginning with three to five pillars, typically including some combination of expertise, process, point of view, and lifestyle. For a creative founder, that might look like:

• Expertise: lessons, recommendations, and ideas you can teach.
• Process: behind-the-scenes looks at how you work or make things.
• Perspective: your taste, opinions, references, and creative philosophy.
• Lifestyle: rituals, places, hobbies, and experiences that shape your world.

These aren't boxes you need to stay inside. Especially early on, I encourage people to experiment. You might think your audience only wants professional advice, then discover they love the videos of your Sunday flower market visits or the odd little design opinion you almost didn't post.

Let your pillars provide direction without taking away your freedom to follow curiosity.

04 / Tell stories, not just accomplishments

There's a difference between showing someone what you've made and helping them understand why it matters.

A portfolio photo says, "Here is the finished project." A story can say, "Here's the problem I was solving, the reference that inspired me, the surprising detour, and the detail I still think about."

That shift—from presenting finished work to inviting people into your thinking—is one of my favorite things to help clients make.

A few useful starting points:

• The decision: Why did you choose this approach instead of another?
• The process: What happened behind the scenes that people never see?
• The lesson: What would you tell someone learning to do this themselves?
• The opinion: What do you wish more people understood about your field?
• The personal connection: How does this work reflect your taste, values, or life?

Stories give people context. Context creates connection. Connection is what makes an audience care about more than the next post.

05 / Find a voice that sounds like you

A lot of people assume they have to become louder, more polished, or more enthusiastic on camera. But a memorable voice doesn't have to sound like anyone else's.

You might be contemplative, playful, dryly funny, gently opinionated, or poetic. The goal is not to perform confidence. It's to grow comfortable being yourself where other people can see you.

If talking to the camera feels strange, try recording a conversation with someone who makes you feel at ease. Notice the phrases you naturally use and the stories you tell when you stop trying to "make content." Those are clues to your voice.

And a reminder: authenticity does not require constant access to you. You're allowed to be honest and still have boundaries. You can share your perspective without sharing every private detail of your life.

06 / Choose formats you actually enjoy making

Short-form video can be wonderful for showing your face, voice, humor, and process. Carousels can help you teach visually, build a point of view, and invite people into the conversation. Longer videos or essays can make space for bigger ideas.

But the best format isn't always the one everyone is telling you to use this week. It's the one that allows your idea to come through clearly—and that you can realistically keep making.

If you're a designer, one project might become a quick video about three design decisions, a carousel inviting people to choose between two color palettes, and a longer story about the renovation from beginning to end.

Rather than starting with "What should I post?", try "What am I excited to share, and what's the most interesting way to share it?"

07 / Find a rhythm your body can keep

Here's where I part ways with the usual advice: I don't believe your content strategy should require you to override your natural cycles in order to keep proving that you're working hard enough.

Consistency helps people recognize and remember you. But consistency can mean showing up in a rhythm that supports your creativity and your life—not documenting every waking moment.

Try batching similar kinds of work. Give yourself one session to collect ideas, another to capture photos or video, and another to edit and prepare posts. Leave space to respond to your community and to notice what feels energizing or draining.

With my creative studio, I work on recurring four-week content cycles: we start with collaborative strategy, move into filming, then edit and review the work before beginning again with what we've learned. You can borrow that principle even if you're a team of one.

Play, pace, permission. Your creative life should support your content—not disappear beneath it.

08 / Pay attention to resonance, not just reach

I want you to care about growth, but I don't want you to become a slave to the numbers.

Views and follower counts can tell you something, but they aren't the whole story. Watch for saves, thoughtful comments, shares, relevant inquiries, interesting messages, referrals, collaborations, and the kinds of conversations your content starts.

Especially when you're beginning, give yourself an experimental season. Try a handful of formats, subjects, and storytelling angles. Notice what you love making, what people respond to, and where those two things overlap.

Then refine. You're allowed to change your mind. You're allowed to outgrow old content pillars. A personal brand should be able to grow with the actual person behind it.

Abby Pendergrast: from a static portfolio to a living personal brand

Abby is an interior designer, prop stylist, and career advisor. When we began working together, she had approximately 3,000 followers, an inconsistent posting rhythm, and an Instagram feed that primarily showed portfolio images.

We introduced short-form video, design education, interactive editorial carousels, lifestyle content, and behind-the-scenes looks at her process. Within three months, she surpassed 10,000 followers, and her audience has since approached 30,000.

Her growing visibility has accompanied exciting opportunities, including a prop styling project with Lulu and Georgia, ongoing West Elm partnerships, and a full-house renovation design project.

The Styled Stories: making useful content feel unmistakably personal

With The Styled Stories, a professional organizing brand, we started with an audience of roughly 5,000 and an inconsistent, visually dated social presence.

By developing a consistent short-form-video approach that combined organization education with humor and creative lifestyle storytelling, we helped the account reach more than 20,000 followers in three months. It has since approached 25,000, alongside partnership opportunities, inquiries, and new client bookings.