Building a Personal Brand
Your personal brand is already out there. The real question is whether it’s working for you or against you. Lisa Gibson is the author of Shine the Spotlight on You, a step-by-step guide to personal brand strategy for entrepreneurs and leaders. In this episode, Lisa breaks down how to find your authentic voice, use AI for content creation without sounding like everyone else, and grow your thought leadership even when you’re short on time.
Why Your Personal Brand Is Already Working For or Against You 00:10
“Everybody has a brand, whether you know it or not — the question is, is it the brand you want, and is it working to help you achieve your goals?” Most entrepreneurs focus either on raising their internal profile or building an external presence — rarely both. Lisa’s work helps leaders build a personal brand strategy that’s consistent, strategic, and authentic across every channel.
Thought Leadership vs. Influencer: The Key Distinction 01:40
You don’t have to post six times a day or chase a TikTok following to build real influence. Lisa draws a clear line between influencer culture and thought leadership for business owners — and explains why that distinction matters especially for leaders who feel the imposter syndrome creep in before they’ve even started.
How to Identify Your Brand Pillars and Target Audience 05:00
Personal branding for entrepreneurs starts with one question: what do you want to be known for, and who do you want to reach? Your platform follows your purpose. If you’re going after a board seat, your audience is on LinkedIn. If you’re selling products, Instagram may make more sense. Clarity on your goals determines everything — including where you show up and how.
How Do You Find Your Authentic Voice From Scratch? 08:10
Start by asking the people around you: what am I known for? How would you describe me? That feedback often cuts through the noise faster than any personal brand exercise. If you’re not naturally high-energy, don’t perform high-energy. Your voice is what actually resonates — and you build it through reps, not perfection.
What Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory Teaches About Brand Confidence 09:10
Even Mel Robbins watched her first post obsessively and nearly pulled it down. Lisa uses this as a reminder that the metrics don’t tell the whole story — especially early on. Finding your authentic voice on social media is a process of learning what resonates, not a test you pass or fail on the first try.
How to Use AI to Create Content Faster Without Losing Your Voice 11:10
“I use AI like an intern — someone to brainstorm with and get the initial draft done. Then I take it to the finish line.” The prompt is where the work happens. The more context you give, the closer the output gets to sounding like you. Tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have made content creation for busy professionals significantly faster — without replacing the human judgment that makes a brand worth following. Content repurposing strategy is another underused lever: take a post that performed well, feed it back in, and ask AI to reshape it into something fresh.
Should Solopreneurs Hire Someone to Manage Their Brand? 17:10
Yes — but with guardrails. A team member who understands your voice, monitors analytics, and helps build content can free up real time. The risk is over-delegating. Lisa shares a story of a leader whose ghostwritten post went live without him reading it — and someone walked up at an event to compliment him on words he’d never seen. Solopreneur team building works when the entrepreneur stays genuinely engaged in what goes out under their name.
How to Rehab a Personal Brand After a Leadership Controversy 19:40
Deleting negative posts is rarely the right move unless the content is actively harmful. Lisa’s approach to crisis communication and personal brand recovery: respond rather than disappear, avoid feeding trolls by engaging endlessly, and lean into honesty and vulnerability. Having a communications professional as a gut check before you post — especially in a heated moment — can make the difference between a recoverable situation and a lasting reputation problem.
Why Low Likes Don’t Mean Low Impact 23:00
Lurkers are real. Some of Lisa’s lowest-engagement posts have led directly to new clients and speaking invitations. Overcoming imposter syndrome as a leader means separating vanity metrics from actual impact — and staying consistent long enough to let the compounding work.
LinkedIn Algorithm Tips That Actually Increase Your Reach 24:40
Timing matters — 8 to 10am on weekdays tends to perform well for Eastern time zone audiences — but so does what happens around your post. Engaging on others’ content before you publish, replying to every comment you receive, and staying active in that window all signal to the algorithm that your content is worth amplifying. Personal brand on LinkedIn isn’t just about what you post — it’s about how you show up in the conversation.
Is Email Marketing Still Effective for Personal Branding in 2025? 30:00
Yes — when it offers real value and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Lisa’s framework for email marketing for personal brand: send when you have something worth saying, not just to stay consistent for consistency’s sake. The best emails teach something, share a resource, or give the reader a reason to open the next one.
Book, TED Talk, or Podcast — Where Do You Start? 32:20
Not all at once. Lisa’s own progression went from social media to longer-form blogs, then podcast interviews, then her book. A multi-channel brand strategy works best as a sequence, not a simultaneous launch. Start where your comfort level is, find your voice there, and add layers as your confidence grows.
The #1 Mindset Shift to Grow Your Personal Brand Faster 39:10
“I really think we have to get out of our own way. We have to stop overthinking. We don’t have to be perfect. We all have an interesting story to tell.” Getting started is the strategy. You don’t need a huge budget, a professional studio, or a massive team. You need to stop waiting until everything is ready — and just begin.
About Lisa Gibson
Lisa Gibson is the president and founder of Ignite Communications, a personal brand and executive communications consultancy. She spent 30 years in the corporate world — including seven years at Microsoft Canada as Chief of Staff and Head of Communications — before launching her own firm. She works with leaders at all career stages on building professional personal branding strategies that are consistent, authentic, and aligned with their goals.
Essential Resources
Shine the Spotlight on You — Lisa Gibson
A step-by-step personal brand guidebook covering how to build and amplify your brand, with chapters on overcoming imposter syndrome, using AI for content, and finding your authentic voice. Includes exercises throughout. Available on Amazon — search “Shine the Spotlight on You Lisa Gibson.”
Ignite Communications — ignitecommunications.ca
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn for regular thought leadership content and personal branding tips.
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