Let's get one thing straight: personal branding isn't just for influencers. It's not reserved for people with a ring light or a tiny handheld microphone attached to a banana (if you don't know, just pop onto TikTok).
It's for everyone. And in episode 02, Caz and Toby get into exactly what most people are leaving on the table by not doing it, and why.
Online Isn't Waiting For You
We are stepping further and further into an online-first world. If you have no presence on social media in whatever shape or form works for you then sadly you're practically invisible. And here's the thing about being invisible: even if your work is fantastic, brilliant at networking, building great relationships in person, the moment you go home, people stop thinking about you.
Your online presence is the constant reminder that you exist. That you have value to share. That you're someone worth knowing. Without it, you're relying entirely on chance encounters to stay front of mind.
"The online world is that constant reminder to people that you're there, that you have a valid opinion, that you have value to share with the world."
That doesn't mean you need to be on every platform. It means finding where your target audience actually is, and showing up there consistently.
It's Not Just For Business Owners
One of the biggest misconceptions about personal branding is that it's only relevant if you're an entrepreneur or influencer. But think about it differently: even as an employee, your online presence can set you apart from the crowd. It can put you ahead of other candidates for a role you want. It can get you noticed by the right people before you've even walked into the room.
Personal branding benefits you regardless of where you are in your career. The question isn't whether you need one, it's how you want yours to look?
Personal Brand vs. Being an Influencer
There's a fear that to build a personal brand, you need to be talking on your Stories constantly, sharing every corner of your life, and being relentlessly bold and outgoing. That's not it.
Personal branding is about building your professional profile and using it to create better connections. It's not about performance - it's about presence. You don't need to be your most extroverted self online. You just need to be yourself that you feel comfortable sharing.
If you're not that kind of person in real life, you won't come across as that kind of person online either! Authenticity is what people connect with, not polish.
The Fear of Coming Across as Boastful
A lot of people hold back from sharing their wins, their clients, their achievements, because they don't want to seem like they're bragging. But here's the reframe: sharing real, honest results is how you build credibility and trust.
People can smell inauthenticity a mile off. The Ferrari-in-front-of-a-mansion post? People see straight through it. But sharing genuine achievements, real work, and honest experiences? That's what makes someone worth following.
"If your intention isn't to be boastful, it won't come across that way. Most of us are just going to share real, honest posts - and that's enough."
Learn From The Best: Ben Francis & Gymshark
Want a masterclass in personal brand vs. corporate brand? Look at Gymshark and its founder Ben Francis on LinkedIn.
Gymshark's corporate page has around 300,000 followers which is impressive by any measure. Ben Francis's personal account has twice that. Same messaging, similar imagery, but his voice reaches twice as many people. Why? Because people don't believe in the brand, they believe in the person behind it.
Now, Ben Francis happens to be his own ideal customer, which makes his personal brand particularly powerful. But the lesson holds even if you're not. Do you have employees who better represent your ideal audience? Could you encourage them to build their presence? These are the kinds of questions worth asking.
Start With What You Already Have
One of the most common mistakes when starting a business is creating a brand-new company page, a brand-new audience from scratch, while completely ignoring a personal account that already has people who know and trust you.
If you're already connected to people on your personal profile - people who already like you, already trust you - weaving in what you're doing professionally is so much easier than building a following for a faceless branded page from zero. Share it there first. Grow it from there.
The Unexpected Benefit: Confidence
Nobody talks about this enough. Toby admits that 18 months into building Headshot Toby's presence on LinkedIn, one of the biggest unexpected returns has been confidence. With showing up to events knowing what he stands for, being able to start conversations from a place of clarity rather than uncertainty he has felt that transition.
Caz echoes it too: confidence isn't something you're born with. It's something you build by doing. Twelve months before recording this episode, the idea of starting a podcast would have felt completely out of reach. And here they are.
"Confidence is cultivated through doing. It's almost a skill - you practice it. Jump in, put yourself out there, and it grows in time."
The fears you have before starting personal branding, such as looking cringey, being judged, not knowing what to say, they slowly dilute the moment you actually begin. You figure it out along the way. Everyone does.
Next episode: Setting the foundations of your personal brand — target audience, messaging, and what your brand needs to look like before you start putting yourself out there.