What is a personal brand and why is it important for everyone to have one?
I think it’s important to go back to basics when understanding personal branding. Many people believe that if they are not in business, they don’t have a brand. But the truth is that everyone has a personal brand. For me, personal brand is about how you make someone feel when they encounter something you say or do. This can be done in person, on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram, or even through a recommendation. It’s about perception — how others see you based on the combination of your online and offline presence. While social media plays a role, it is only one piece of the puzzle. Your personal brand is shaped by every interaction and how people remember you
How can people better understand the difference between a personal brand and being an influencer, and why is it important to develop and articulate your own brand to achieve your future goals?
The first step is to conduct an audit of your personal brand. What is already online and what do people think about you? When I work with clients, we check both online presence (Google, images, articles) and ask friends, family and colleagues for their impressions. From there, we assess how you want to be perceived and your current status and determine what changes or improvements are needed. The strategy depends on your personal goals, be it career advancement, starting a business, or using your brand to mentor others. Defining where you are and where you want to go is crucial to creating your personal brand.
How do people discover you and decide to work with you? Is it because of your personal brand?
The interesting thing is that when I ask people at my speaking engagements how they found out about the event, it’s usually not through my business but through personal contacts. Whether it’s LinkedIn, Instagram, seeing me on a social platform, hearing about me from a friend, or attending an event I spoke at years ago, it’s all connected to personal branding. I firmly believe that your visibility is your responsibility. Whether you’re an employee or a business owner, you can’t expect people to just stumble upon you. You need to make it easy for journalists, buyers, and others to find you.
Let’s focus for a moment on the audit process, which involves reviewing your online presence by looking at articles, social media, and other content about you. But what if there’s nothing there? What if someone is starting from scratch, whether they’re just starting out in their career or have no online presence yet? In this case, you’re essentially working with a blank canvas. How do you manage to shape your image while remaining authentic?
It’s surprising how often people in their 30s, 40s, or even 50s have little to no online presence, which for me provides a blank canvas to work with. The first step is to help them understand and articulate who they are, as many struggle to balance their message with the way they present themselves online. Consistency is the key to authenticity – your online presence must match who you are in real life.
Even marketing professionals often struggle to define their own brand. So we start by identifying their target audience and building a brand that resonates with them. We then create a digital blueprint, not just a social media footprint, because your brand is what Google says you are. I even considered working with someone because their online presence didn’t reflect their expertise and show the importance of perception.
What is the main difference between a digital footprint and a social footprint? In particular, do features in magazines like Arabic business or Entrepreneur Are they actually driving traffic and business, or are they more about increasing overall digital presence?
It depends on the publication, but media appearances, such as speaking engagements in Dubai, can lead to new opportunities even if they don’t appear in magazines. It’s less about the item itself and more about the possibilities it offers. Your personal branding goals should guide this process. An important piece of advice is to secure your own domain name. Use it to showcase all of your personal brand assets – articles, talks, photos – on a branded website. This helps build credibility and trust and increases people’s willingness to invest in working with you.
Where did your journey begin? You’ve been building your personal brand long before the term became popular. Did you consciously understand the concept of personal branding or did you just intuitively apply marketing principles like dressing a certain way and strategic presentation to create opportunities?
Looking back, I realized that connecting the dots between past experiences was crucial. My journey with personal branding began back in 1998 when I created my first website. At that time I wanted to be a television presenter and was working abroad. A friend suggested putting my work online to promote to production studios, which opened my eyes to the possibilities of branding and remote work.
This early experience with my website demonstrated the importance of having an online presence. A pivotal moment came in 2009 when I was asked by a luxury brand to host an event. They requested my logo, bio, and photos, but the marketing team couldn’t use them because they were for my company and not just me as an individual. This was an important insight: promoting yourself is different than promoting a company. It became clear why personal branding is so powerful — it creates trust and credibility that goes beyond just promoting business.
How should you manage your personal brand as you move between very different companies or evolve as a person — perhaps from a fitness focus to something completely new? Do you recommend a complete departure from the old brand and a fresh start, or is it better to make the path and development from the old to the new transparent?
Authenticity matters. People appreciate following your journey and it’s okay to evolve. For example, I still get messages from followers who have been with me since my styling days, and that’s meaningful. Transitioning from one focus to another can happen organically as long as you remain transparent about why you are making the change. It’s important to share your reasons and make the connections clear to your audience. Humanizing your personal brand by explaining your background and development can make a big difference.
How should a CEO balance resources between personal branding and business branding? Is it more effective to focus on personal branding and let it benefit the corporate brand, or should you invest equally in both?
When you’re at this level with a team around you, both your personal brand and your company brand are crucial. It’s not about a fixed percentage split like 30% personal and 70% business. Instead, focus on what you can handle effectively with the support of your team.
As a CEO, should you focus more on building your personal brand or on the company brand itself? Or would you recommend focusing on personal brand and expecting the corporate brand to benefit naturally?
Absolutely. I think there’s no doubt that a strong personal brand naturally spills over into the business. When I have sales conversations with people who are just starting out, I often find that they have difficulty understanding this concept. They want to grow their business but haven’t fully developed their personal brand yet. However, if they focus on building their personal brand and increasing their visibility, more people will recognize them and their business will grow as a result. It’s about helping them understand that their business growth is directly linked to the strength of their personal brand.
How can sharing your daily experiences and challenges make creating personal branding content easier and more authentic?
Effective communication, whether in sales or helping others, is crucial. If I had the chance, I would have taken advantage of paid public speaking opportunities while in school. These days I still invest in courses to improve my skills. I focus on learning how others present themselves, especially in short, impactful ways. My goal is to inspire, entertain or educate people in just a few minutes. Ultimately, my goal is to inspire five people to take action every day, and speaking helps me achieve that.
