How to Define Your Personal Brand: Tips for Clarity
Defining a personal brand can be both challenging and rewarding, and it’s more important than ever. We asked industry experts to share one piece of advice they’d give to someone struggling to define their personal brand. Here are the steps you can take to gain clarity and steer towards a more authentic and impactful brand.
- Embrace Niche Specificity for Brand Focus
- Assess Your Personal Brand Chess Board
- Engage AI to Clarify Your Digital Echo
- Align Authentic Self with Core Values
- Build on Values for Genuine Engagement
- Introduce Yourself as Your Future Self
- Leverage Your Unique Story and Experiences
- Create a Legacy Beyond Social Media
- Help Your Past Self to Find Purpose
- Define What You Stand Against
- Uncover Your Deeper Purpose and Why
- Conduct Research to Distill Your Brand
- Reflect Deeply on Core Values and Strengths
- Start with Present Identity, Allow Evolution
- Shape Your Brand Through Real-World Testing
- Focus on Impact-Driven Work Achievements
- Clarify Your Niche and Value Proposition
- Build Foundation with Mission and Values
Embrace Niche Specificity for Brand Focus
Niche specificity is the most powerful principle for getting your brand in focus.
Growing your personal brand is rarely, “I’m an expert in X,” or, “I’m a business coach.” It’s, “I’m the best person to help new SaaS companies with onboarding,” or, “I’m the person who can get small businesses started on PR.” You want to be so specific that when you introduce yourself, everyone knows exactly who should hire you and why.
Here’s how I help new founders figure this out:
1. Write down a list of all the things you’ve helped solve or gotten results in. You can count those you’ve done outside your current role (e.g., side projects, screw-ups, etc.).
2. Look for a specific point of overlap between demonstrated experience and an existing market need. Specific enough to feel like you’re aiming at a very small target audience.
3. Write a 20-word description starting “I help x achieve y by z.” If you need filler words to make it work, it’s not specific enough.
I’ve seen the advantage of this approach because content that’s more specialized generally ranks 3x faster, driving 2x the engagement, than more generalist content. So our agency always leans toward super-specificity, although it can feel like too much of a risk. But as it turns out, it’s a happy risk. When you crank down the niche, the size of the latent market contracts. But your early wins will really take off, and then you expand your authority.
And when you wake up in the morning knowing who your audience is, everything you write or say or comment to friends is more precise. Clarity also generates confidence, which fuels a memorable personal brand.
Andy Zenkevich
Founder & CEO, Epiic
Assess Your Personal Brand Chess Board
I always tell my clients to start their personal brand journey by first taking inventory. Before you can define who you are and how you want to show up in the world, you have to understand the full landscape of what you’re working with.
Finding your personal brand through the lens of chess strategy is my signature approach. Think of it like this: You sit down at a chessboard. You don’t make a move until you’ve studied the board. You need to know what pieces you have, where they’re positioned, who your key players are, and where the challenges lie. It’s the same with your personal brand. Take time to assess your strengths, passions, values, and unique skills. These are your power pieces. Then identify the patterns, obstacles, and blind spots that might be holding you back — those are the areas where you need to be strategic.
From there, define your goals. In chess, every move has purpose; in branding, every decision should align with where you want to go and the story you want to tell. When you understand your “board,” you can build a strategy that doesn’t force you into someone else’s mold but amplifies who you already are.
This is what I teach my clients every day: your personal brand isn’t just a logo or a tagline — it’s the story you tell, the moves you make, and the way you lead. And just like in chess, the power comes from seeing the whole board, anticipating possibilities, and making intentional moves toward your vision.
When you approach your personal brand like a strategist, every choice becomes deliberate, every step purposeful, and every move gets you closer to your own version of checkmate — success defined on your terms.
Ashley Lynn Priore
Founder & CEO, Queenside Ventures
Engage AI to Clarify Your Digital Echo
Have a long, detailed conversation with an AI about yourself.
If you’re struggling with clarity, it’s because you’re too close to the subject. You need a mirror, and AI Assistive Engines like ChatGPT are the most brutally honest (and confused) mirrors you can find.
Start by asking it, “Who is [Your Name]?” It will likely get a lot wrong, miss what’s important, or even mistake you for someone else. This isn’t a failure; it’s super helpful. The AI’s confusion is a direct reflection of your fragmented Digital Brand Echo.
For every mistake it makes, you are forced to define the truth. This conversation will help you build your blueprint: who your audience is, what problems you solve, and why you are the most trustworthy solution.
You can take that a step further: start asking the top-of-funnel questions your ideal client would. Have that conversation with the AI. You will quickly see the gaps you need to fill to ensure the AI’s conversational journey naturally leads to you as the only logical solution.
Jason BARNARD
Serial Entrepreneur, Kalicube
Align Authentic Self with Core Values
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde
Authenticity and values alignment are the foundation of your true personal brand.
Your brand isn’t the polished mask you put on or tagline you create. It’s the alignment of your authentic self and core values with the way you consistently show up. When there’s a gap between who you truly are and the image you project, confusion sets in. People sense the disconnect. That’s why clarity must be the foundation of your brand.
So how do you gain that clarity? Here are the steps I walk leaders through when coaching around personal brand:
1. Uncover Your True Self: Remove the Mask
Most of us carry doubts, fears, and limiting beliefs that bury our authentic voice. We hide behind a professional mask that may earn approval but drains energy. The starting point is stripping that away. Ask yourself: If I stopped performing for others, what would I genuinely want to be known for? This question begins peeling back layers of performance and reconnects you to your authentic self. Being genuine is freeing. It brings clarity, alignment, and credibility.
2. Clarify Desired vs. Actual Values With a Coach
One of the most powerful steps is identifying the gap between your desired values and your actual values. A skilled coach can guide you through this values assessment, helping you spot misalignments that drain your energy and fuel self-sabotage. By seeing clearly what gives you energy and what depletes it, you can align your actions with your true values. That alignment between what you say you value and how you actually live is where clarity takes root.
3. Align Behavior With Core Values
The fastest way to dilute your brand is inconsistency. If you say relationships matter but never make time for people, your message falls flat. Your habits, boundaries, and decisions must align with your values.
4. Test and Refine
Your brand evolves as you grow. Share your story, observe how it resonates, and adjust. The best personal brands are authentic yet adaptive.
When you commit to showing up as your authentic self, something powerful happens. You discover your purpose, you clarify your why, and you naturally inspire others.
The strongest personal brand is built on alignment between your authentic self, your true values, and the meaningful impact you create.
What mask might you need to remove so your authentic self can shine through?
Gearl Loden
Leadership Consultant/Speaker, Loden Leadership + Consulting
Build on Values for Genuine Engagement
Clearly define your values and act based on them. As a public relations consultant and business developer, I specialize in defining personal and corporate messages. However, adapting a brand message to truly resonate with a core audience always takes time.
For personal branding, we start with a testing phase where we produce content for social media and give clients opportunities to be interviewed for podcasts and magazines. Then, we see which aspects of their expertise create the most engagement with their target audience. While the internet is flooded with AI-produced content and social media is full of filters, authenticity stands out.
If you’re struggling to define your personal brand, I advise starting with your values. For example, do you stand for transparent communication, or do you advocate for reliability in human relationships, whether business or personal? Make this part of your personal brand and base your topics on value communication.
This approach works because we crave connection and meaning in a society that has become increasingly individualistic.
Melanie Marten
PR Consultant and Business Developer, The Coup
Introduce Yourself as Your Future Self
As a personal branding coach who has worked with over 300 women across North America in different industries, I can tell you that it is very common to struggle with defining a personal brand. However, instead of thinking about what kind of personal brand you want to build now, focus on thinking about how you want to be known. This way, you are removing the pressure from figuring out everything right now and focusing on the things you want other people to know about you.
For example, if you want to build a personal brand as a wedding photographer (and you are not one yet or you are just starting out), your job is to introduce yourself, both online and offline, as a wedding photographer ALREADY. This way, people will learn who you are, what you do, and it will be clear to them what kind of problems you know how to solve. If we do not introduce ourselves according to the personal brand we want to build (so, again, focusing on the future), we risk diminishing our current value and growth and robbing ourselves of any future opportunities.
Daria Astanaeva
Personal Branding Coach, Dariaast Consulting
Leverage Your Unique Story and Experiences
In my opinion, one of the most crucial aspects of defining your personal brand is authenticity. Your brand should feel genuine and true to who you are. What I mean by this is that people want to connect with real individuals and understand what you’re all about. They want to know you before they decide to work with you. If you try to pretend to be someone else, people can usually tell, and it doesn’t reflect well on you.
One of the most valuable assets you possess compared to other personal brands in your industry or niche is simply you and your unique story. Nobody has your exact experiences, and that’s what makes your brand distinct. Because there are numerous products and services available, you can’t just aim to be “better” than everyone else. The most effective approach is to be different, with your own personal brand.
Therefore, define what you stand for: your values, how you share your story and experiences, and most importantly, how you can assist the people you aim to serve. Always give more than you ask for, as that’s how you create genuine connections with potential clients and your community. When you have a strong community and people who trust you, asking for help becomes much easier, and individuals genuinely want to support you and purchase your products or services.
Once you’ve established the foundation of your personal brand and identified who you serve, incorporate all of this — your story, personality, and overall vibe — into your visuals, website, and social media presence.
Emily Ruven
Brand and Web Designer, Em Design
Create a Legacy Beyond Social Media
Your brand isn’t a logo built in Canva or the number of likes you have on Instagram. It’s the essence of who you are, and at its core, it’s your vision. Your brand isn’t curated through current trends; it’s the energy people feel when they engage with your product. Stop struggling to define your brand and start remembering who you are. Choose authenticity over ego.
What do you want your brand to represent, to stand for, to deliver, and to embody? Don’t just try to attract clients; strive to offer high value while remembering how you want people to feel when they think of your brand. When you operate from this mindset, you will attract the right opportunities and create a legacy that will last well beyond social media likes.
Tara Leigh
Life Coach + Success Strategist for High Achievers, Tara Leigh Consulting
Help Your Past Self to Find Purpose
Reflect on who you once were and the challenges you faced in your journey. Your personal life experiences are your greatest assets. Remember the moment when you had that great idea and weren’t sure what steps to take next? By leveraging these experiences to help others, you discover your unique value and purpose. Clarity in your personal brand comes from helping the person you once were, offering the guidance and support you wish you had when you were in their shoes.
Try these three steps to gain clarity about your personal brand:
1. Reflect on your values and life experiences to uncover your unique story and strengths.
2. Identify whom you’re best positioned to help; this is often someone who is in the same position you once were.
3. Create a clear message that connects your personal life experiences to the needs of your audience.
This approach will ensure that your message is authentic, relatable, and rooted in real transformation for your audience.
Brandi Russell
Personal Brand Strategy Consultant, The Personal Brand Studio by Shea Photography
Define What You Stand Against
When we were defining our brand, we didn’t start with colors, logos, or slogans — we started with the uncomfortable question: What do we refuse to compromise on?
Early on, we were tempted to water down our message to “appeal to everyone.” But the turning point came when Ruda and I sat down and asked, “Who do we actually want to serve — and who are we okay not serving?” For us, it was people searching for authentic, often messy, growth — not quick hacks or glossy self-help promises. Once we defined that, the voice, design, and content flowed naturally.
So my advice is this: stop thinking of a brand as something you “add on.” Think of it as a filter. Write down what you stand for, but more importantly, what you stand against. Your clarity won’t come from endless brainstorming — it’ll come from the guts to say, “This isn’t me, and I won’t chase it.”
That’s how we built our company into something people instantly recognize as different: not because it’s perfect, but because it’s unmistakably us. And to me, that’s exactly what makes our brand perfect!
Justin Brown
Co-Creator, The Vessel
Uncover Your Deeper Purpose and Why
When someone is struggling to define their personal brand, I’ve found the best place to start is with their “why.” In our branding work with clients, many come to us unclear about what sets them apart. We guide them through questions that uncover their deeper purpose — why they do what they do, not just what they offer. Once that clarity is in place, their messaging becomes more authentic and consistent, which naturally attracts the right audience. The key is to define your purpose and values first, because they serve as the foundation for a personal brand that feels both genuine and memorable.
Sonia Gregory
CEO & Creative Director, FreshSparks
Conduct Research to Distill Your Brand
It’s incredibly challenging to articulate your personal brand, yet so easy to see others’! This is because while the theory of branding is simple — stand for one clear thing, one clear personality and values — it’s almost impossible to be that ruthless when it comes to yourself.
So, the bottom line is to ask other people for help. Do what you’d do if you were defining a product brand:
1. Conduct research – Do it in a similar way to product branding. Ask people for anonymous feedback in a way that they won’t feel they are being insulting. Ask them to fill out an online survey and use ChatGPT to write the survey with both close-ended and open-ended questions.
2. Distill it – Create one sentence about what you stand for and a few adjectives that feel unique, not generic.
3. Tell your story – Don’t tell me you’re funny; make me laugh. The same applies here. Don’t tell people your brand. Instead, find examples of what you’ve done in the past that let them come to that conclusion. Saying, “I’ve been working on a really interesting project,” explains your unique skills in a memorable way.
Ali Linz
Co-Founder, GroupTogether
Reflect Deeply on Core Values and Strengths
Based on my entrepreneurial journey, I would advise anyone struggling with their personal brand to first focus on achieving clarity about themselves, their goals, and their methods. Take time to reflect deeply on your core values, strengths, and the unique perspective you bring to your field, as this self-awareness forms the foundation of an authentic personal brand. Approaching this process with intentionality and patience allows your genuine identity to emerge naturally rather than forcing a manufactured image. This clarity will not only guide how you present yourself but will also help you identify the right opportunities and people to connect with as you develop your professional presence.
Amore Philip
Director of Public Relations, Apples & Oranges Public Relations
Start with Present Identity, Allow Evolution
First, reflect upon who you are and your values. Second, bridge that understanding to what you want to offer as your personal brand and why. It’s wise for your brand to represent 2-3 critical features which reflect a part of who you are without feeling that you need to serve everyone in the market space. Once you’ve defined your personal brand, it will help you identify and refine your target market whom it serves.
It’s normal to take some time to define the brand because personal brands can evolve as personal, professional, and commercial growth unfolds in the branding life cycle. Focus on the brand in the present without feeling pressured to timestamp its identity for a fixed period. Branding, like life, can evolve over time, but it needs to start from where you are today.
Have fun, and don’t pressure yourself to reach a set course. Listen to your intuition; it will let you know whether you’re driving home a good idea or deviating from course. Good luck!
Sasha Laghonh
Founder & Sr. Advisor to C-Suite & Entrepreneurs, Sasha Talks
Shape Your Brand Through Real-World Testing
Defining your personal brand can feel overwhelming because most people think it has to be perfect before it can be public. That mindset is what keeps so many people stuck. My advice: stop waiting for the perfect brand and start putting yourself out there. Your brand isn’t something you create in isolation — it’s something that takes shape in motion, in conversation, in the way people respond to your story.
The first step is to test in the real world. Share your perspective, your projects, your wins, and even your lessons learned. Pay attention to what resonates, not just with others but with yourself. What posts make you proud to hit “publish?” What conversations energize you? That’s data. That’s feedback.
Second, get clear on your values. A personal brand without values is just a highlight reel. Ask yourself: what do I want to be known for when I leave the room? When people introduce me, what do I want them to emphasize? Write it down and refine it until it feels natural.
Third, be consistent — but don’t confuse consistency with rigidity. Your brand should evolve as you grow. The key is to show up regularly, in alignment with your values, so people know what to expect from you over time.
Finally, remember that your brand is not just for strangers on the internet — it’s also how you present yourself in real life. A coffee meeting, a LinkedIn post, or an introduction at an event are all touchpoints that shape how people experience you. Be intentional across both digital and physical spaces.
Your personal brand is simply the story people tell about you when you’re not in the room. The only way to influence that story is to give them something authentic and consistent to work with. Start sharing now, refine as you go, and you’ll find clarity not by thinking about it endlessly, but by living it out loud.
Dorien Baker
Senior Business Analyst
Focus on Impact-Driven Work Achievements
Personal brand is a new, fancy way of saying reputation. Your reputation is based on your work achievements. When you’re actively looking for a job, especially if you are in leadership, the company will be paying you for the results you provide. They are not paying you for your skills alone. Therefore, you’ll want to figure out how to talk about examples of how you have contributed to companies and made them better.
Too many leaders say:
I led …
I fixed …
I initiated …
I developed …
I negotiated …
I collaborated …
However, they don’t talk about how these actions led to making the company better.
The results — the impact — is your personal brand, your reputation.
Soozy Miller
Executive Career Advisor, Control Your Career
Clarify Your Niche and Value Proposition
Who are you, whom do you serve, and why? Do you have clarity on these questions? If the answer is no, then this is your first step to gaining clarity to define your personal brand.
I’ll add that you want to define your niche. What’s the unique value you bring to your clients, users, or customers?
Then you need a strategy: content, partnerships, sales. Write it down. First, high-level, then to the point where you can realize what to do for the next 10-12 weeks, while you incubate your product (in this case, it can be your brand and value proposition).
What’s next? Well, you need a toolkit: I recommend that you master one or two tools to streamline operations and make things faster. Personally, I find tools like Make.com for automation or Premium Release for digital PR excellent. The first is for automating many operational tasks and integrating various applications; the latter is to announce the latest novelty from your brand/company via digital PR with reach and SEO benefits.
To continue, you need a client/customer/user acquisition and engagement strategy. You must develop these strategies to attract, retain, and grow a base, allowing you to continually fuel and reinvest in your growth.
Andrea Marchiotto
CEO & Founder, BlackCube Labs
Build Foundation with Mission and Values
Start at the core. What is your mission (i.e., what are you trying to achieve)? What are your values? What are the core 3-5 messaging pillars that are relevant to your mission and values? When you have clarity on these foundational pieces, you can build your brand by telling authentic and consistent stories around those pillars.
Josh Ritchie
Cofounder, Column Five
