Unmasking your Personal Brand

Turn your exiled parts into your brand differentiators

I think a lot of us run from starting a service-based business because it’s deeply personal. There’s an unconscious fear attached to it, a recognition that when your service is tied to your personal brand, you can no longer mask who you are. You’re no longer just selling a product—you’re selling yourself. And that makes the entire process feel existential. People can tell when you’re being authentic, and they can feel when you’re not.

For anyone coming from a corporate background, this can be especially jarring. All the behaviors you learned to keep you safe and successful —conforming, mirroring others, fitting in—are suddenly the opposite of what you need to stand out as a solopreneur. To survive, you need to stand out and to differentiate yourself in the sea of sameness online. The challenge becomes trusting your instincts again, which can feel incredibly vulnerable if you’ve spent years doing the opposite.

Coming to Terms with Your True Self

When you start a personal brand, you’re forced to come to terms with the pieces of yourself you may not like or have rejected. It’s a real reckoning. I experienced this when I launched Build with Brie earlier this year. I inevitably am described by a few people as “quirky,” and I really hated when people used that word to define me. It felt like something shameful. I wanted to be seen as professional and likable, not as the corporate oddball.

For context, here’s Merriam-Webster’s definition of quirky: “Having many quirks; unusual in an especially interesting or appealing way; unconventional.”

My belief system around the word “quirky” was rooted in the idea that it was a flaw, something that made me less professional and less likely to succeed. I thought if people saw me as quirky in a work setting, they wouldn’t take me seriously. And I associated being quirky with being less relatable, less successful, and somehow less valuable and impactful than the “normal” professionals around me.

But as I started the process of publicly recreating myself, I realized that quirky wasn’t a flaw—it was my competitive advantage.

The Shadow Artist and Personal Branding

At this point in my rebranding journey, I was reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. One concept in the book really struck me: this idea of the shadow artist.

Cameron describes shadow artists as people who linger in careers or roles close to their true passion but never fully step into it. Instead of claiming their own creativity, they stay in the background, adjacent to what they really want to do. It’s a form of self-protection. By not fully committing, they avoid the vulnerability of being seen and possibly failing.

This hit home for me at the time. I realized that for years, I had been living as a shadow artist myself, afraid to fully own my quirks and unique perspective. I hovered around roles that were “safe,” keeping the more creative, authentic parts of myself hidden. I was afraid to start my own business. And then I did the very thing I was scared of and launched Build with Brie.

I realized that I struggled with authenticity those first few months in business for myself because it necessitated me to stop being that shadow artist of sorts. I had to step into the spotlight. I no longer had the option to hide. And if I didn’t claim my authentic self, my brand would feel hollow.

So, I did the hard work of embracing the parts of me I was avoiding. And in doing so, I started to dismantle the belief systems that were holding me back.

Reclaiming Quirky: My Business Avant-Garde

A big part of my process in retiring my shadow artist was to reclaim the word “quirky” as a self-descriptor.I reframed its essence with a term that pushed me to stop masking: I wasn’t just quirky, I was business avant-garde.

Because being avant-garde represents being innovative, experimental, and unconventional. It’s about challenging established norms and pushing boundaries. This term liberated me. In art and culture, avant-garde movements are all about originality, boldness, and breaking away from dominant trends. That’s exactly what I wanted to embody in my business.

This reframing led to a major shift—not only in how I saw myself but in how I attracted clients. In fact, the clients who began showing up to me in the months that followed when I embraced my quirks were drawn to the exact quirks I’d historically tried to hide. They were drawn to that energy, that originality, the play, and boldness.

Art Imitates Life: Inspiration from David Byrne

Another tactic I used to fully embrace my quirky side was to seek inspiration from outside myself. And for me, that often comes from the art and music world.

My inner circle knows well about my recent obsession with David Byrne. The Talking Heads were a little before my time—my parents occasionally played them—but during the pandemic, I fell in love with Byrne’s work after watching the rockumentary Stop Making Sense.

What inspires me most about David Byrne isn’t just his creativity—it’s his unapologetic refusal to shrink to fit into anyone else’s version of “normal.” Byrne creates; he doesn’t conform. He expands what’s possible, pushing boundaries that most people don’t even see. His difference isn’t just a quirk—it’s a force for transformation. His art makes you question what’s possible, and that’s where real breakthroughs happen.

This same mindset is essential in business. Conformity might feel safe, but it’s the enemy of innovation. Industries don’t move forward when people play it safe—they stagnate. When you’re building a brand, launching a product, or stepping into a business, fitting in guarantees one thing: you’ll be forgettable.

Byrne’s bravery in unapologetically being himself reminds me that breaking the mold isn’t just for artists—it’s a business strategy. The people and companies who thrive are those who are willing to embrace difference, challenge the status quo, and break the rules entirely. Conforming might help you survive, but standing out is the only way to thrive.

So when the fear of being different creeps in—and it does—I play Talking Heads on full blast. I dance.

And I remind myself: What would David do?

Are you ready to build your personal brand?

If you’re ready to stop blending in and build a personal brand that reflects your authentic self, I’m here to help you take that exciting next step. With my 1-to-1 coaching program, we’ll work together to unmask the parts of you that you’ve been hiding, and craft a brand that is bold, unique, and unapologetically you.

Drop me a line via my website!

P.S. - Download my Personal Branding Workbook to kickstart the process with some of my free tips and tricks for building an authentic personal brand!