How to Grow Your Personal Brand While Scaling Your Business
🗓️ LES ALFRED POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT FEB 17, 2026
CAREER & PERSONAL BRANDING | COMMUNITY, NETWORKS, & SOCIAL CAPITAL
For years my podcast, now named “She’s So Lucky,” was the center of my world. I poured my all into each episode of the interview-based show, giving each guest the floor and making them the star of the show. My social channels were filled with clips of my guests speaking, and my cover art was a cute teal graphic with the podcast’s name in bold letters. While it was a cute, cozy show, there were a few issues.
First, I didn’t want a cute, cozy show. I wanted to scale and grow my show to have a wider reach and to become a thriving business. Also, as the founder and host, I was nowhere to be found. My name wasn’t on the show. My image wasn’t on the artwork. And outside of being in conversation with my guests, the audience never really heard from me.
I was so focused on the show that I completely neglected my personal brand, and it was hindering the growth of my business.
It wasn’t until I started adding more me into my work that my show and business began to bloom. Changes such as putting my image on the show’s artwork, incorporating my name into the show’s materials, including solo episodes into my production flow, and cultivating my own voice on social media outside of the podcast helped grow my business and my personal brand.
As founders, it’s tempting to focus entirely on building our businesses, but what happens when that focus stunts the growth of what you’re building?
While founder-led brands are not a new concept, in 2026 they’ll be more important than ever. As generative-AI continues to pick up steam, consumers want to know who the humans are behind the brands and platforms they’re giving their money and attention to.
I know what you’re thinking, “Les, I’m already wearing so many hats. Now I have to add ‘influencer’ to my list of roles?” I hear you, and I’m here to help. While you don’t necessarily have to become an influencer, having a strong personal brand is a necessity for founders who want to remain competitive.
Why Your Personal Brand Matters (Even When You Want All Eyes on Your Business)
By definition, your personal brand is the public’s perception of you based on the characteristics and differentiators you present. Your personal brand isn't in competition with your company—it's an asset that amplifies everything you're building now, and what you’ll build in the future.
Leverage for More Opportunities
Having a strong personal brand is crucial for getting prime opportunities. Your personal brand opens doors that your company alone cannot, positioning you for speaking opportunities, media features, and partnerships that can help grow your business. Your personal brand can also be the key to unlocking funding, as many investors deploy capital to people they believe in, not the business itself.
Post-Exit Insurance
What happens after you sell your company or step away? Even if you’re in the early stages of launching and scaling your business, it’s never too early to start thinking about this.
If you decide to sell your company, hire a new CEO to run it, or sunset the business, your personal brand can help set you up for success with whatever comes next.
Let’s say you ultimately decide to start another business. Chances are the relationships you built through your personal brand will be incredibly valuable to your next venture. Or perhaps you’ll decide to invest in other founders and businesses. The unique skills, experiences, and points of view you express through your personal brand could make you an attractive investor or advisor.
When it comes down to it, your personal brand is portable. Your company isn’t.
The Founder-Led Advantage: Why Trust Matters More Than Ever
You Are Your Company's Best Marketing Asset
Last year after acquiring Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion, E.l.f. released the four-year-old brand’s P&L statements, which revealed some fascinating information. Per the filing, Rhode achieved 34% margins with a marketing spend of only 11% – less than half of standard marketing spend for beauty brands.
How was Rhode able to do this? By leveraging founder Hailey Bieber as its biggest marketing asset. Yes, with a famous last name and following of over 55 million on Instagram alone, Bieber has greater reach than the average founder. However, it’s an example of how well a founder’s personal brand can help propel and market a business. While many of us aren’t pulling Bieber-level numbers, we can still be our company’s best marketing asset through our personal brands.
That’s because founders can share personal stories, challenges, and successes in ways businesses can’t. There is a level of authenticity founder-led content is able to convey that branded content doesn’t achieve. It also gives the audience a personal connection to the brand that builds trust, and can ultimately drive business results.
In an era of declining consumer trust, founder-led brands have a distinct competitive advantage. Consumers are increasingly skeptical of branded messaging and any content that is perceived as being “too salesy.” More than 7 in 10 consumers agree that it's more important to trust the brands they buy or use today than in the past. This figure is even higher for Gen Z consumers, 79% of whom say it’s more important than ever to trust the brands they buy.
Now that we’ve covered why nailing your personal brand matters when scaling your business, let’s talk about how to do it without burning yourself out.
Four Essential Steps to Build Your Personal Brand as a Founder
1. Choose Your Platform and Commit to Consistency
First, I recommend choosing one primary platform where your audience already hangs out, and commit to showing up there consistently. Here’s what you should consider when choosing your primary platform:
LinkedIn: Best for B2B founders, thought leadership, industry insights
Instagram: Ideal for lifestyle brands, visual storytelling, behind-the-scenes content
TikTok: Prioritize for reaching younger audiences (Gen Z/Millennials), bite-sized educational content, and going viral with authentic storytelling. Great if you're comfortable on camera and want to reach people who don't know you yet
Newsletter: Perfect if you prefer writing and want to own your audience
Podcast: Great if you love facilitating conversations and want to build deep connections
While I recommend having a primary platform that you focus on for leveraging your personal brand, many founders find success pairing platforms. Here are a few ways you can do this:
TikTok + Instagram: Repurpose TikTok videos as Reels for maximum reach
LinkedIn + Newsletter: Long-form thought leadership distributed both ways
Podcast + Social Media: Use podcast clips as social content
TikTok is particularly powerful for discovery and reaching new audiences, while Instagram/LinkedIn are better for nurturing existing relationships. If you're starting from zero followers, TikTok's algorithm can help you get discovered faster. Your platform strategy can evolve with you as your personal brand grows.
2. Define Your Three Content Pillars (Beyond Your Business)
Once you’ve picked your primary platform, identify three core themes you'll talk about. These are the topics you’ll want to be known for and can discuss repeatedly. This prevents you from being pigeonholed as just a founder and positions you as a multidimensional thought leader.
Recently on my podcast I talked to Siff Haider, co-founder of Arrae, about her approach to balancing her personal brand and her popular supplement company.
She reiterated that being multifaceted and discussing topics including mindset, fitness, and relationships in addition to promoting her business makes her more credible as a founder, not less. On building a personal brand outside of their business Siff says, “It gives a founder credibility because they're not just talking about their product or their business at all times. We're more than just that one thing."
If you need help identifying your personal pillars, try this mix:
Pillar 1: Your industry/business insights (40% of content)
Pillar 2: Personal development/lessons learned (30% of content)
Pillar 3: Adjacent interests that inform your work (30% of content)
3. Establish Your Point of View on Industry Issues
In the growth phase, you’ll want to make a clear connection between your personal brand and your industry. One way to do this is to begin sharing a clear on key topics in your industry. I don’t mean reporting on news or trends, I’m talking about having an opinion and articulating it consistently.
The goal is to establish yourself as a thought leader in your space. When you consistently share your POV, people start associating you with those ideas, which can support the strength of your personal brand and company.
Here are some questions that can help you articulate your unique POV:
What do you believe that others in your industry don't?
What common practice do you think is outdated, and how would you improve it?
What emerging trend are you betting on (or against)?
What values drive your business decisions that others might not prioritize?
4. Build a Confidence Practice for High-Stakes Moments
Putting yourself out there (and not hiding behind your company) can feel incredibly vulnerable, which is why having a confidence practice is important. As you get more comfortable with visibility, develop a system to show up confidently during high-pressure moments like investor pitches, media interviews, speaking opportunities.
If you're hiding from opportunities because you lack confidence, you're limiting your brand's reach. In my conversation with Siff, she shared a few practices that help her show up confidently.
Embodying The Alter Ego Effect, by Todd Herman
Siff credits the book with helping her level up as a founder. Here’s how to put The Alter Ego Effect into practice:
Create a persona for situations where you need extra confidence
Give her a name, visualize how she moves, makes decisions, and shows up
Step into this version of you before big moments
Future You Journaling
Scripting is another powerful practice. Before your next high-visibility moment, write about how you want the experience to go, describing yourself as a founder with a successful personal brand. Who is she? What does she believe? What are her habits?
The Bottom Line
Building a personal brand as a founder isn’t about being perfect or having a massive following. It’s about letting yourself be seen as a full, confident human in support of your business, without being consumed by it.
