Ep 127: Toni Everard - Why Personal Brand Matters in an AI World

AI can write your strategy.
It can generate your content.
It can optimize your offers.

But it cannot build your reputation.

In this episode, business and mindset coach Toni Everard explores why personal brand has become the defining advantage for solo operators and small teams in an AI-driven world. As information becomes increasingly accessible, knowledge alone is no longer enough to differentiate you.

Toni unpacks the real outcome most business owners want: a business people refer without prompting, a name that carries weight, and a reputation clients feel proud to be associated with. She explains why tools like ChatGPT are designed for positive user experience, meaning they refine and support your thinking, but won’t necessarily challenge your blind spots or hold you to a higher standard.

This episode goes beyond coaching and applies to any service-based professional whose business relies on trust, credibility and leadership. Toni breaks down the structural elements of personal brand, and why emotional steadiness, visible thinking and long-term positioning now matter more than ever.

This episode is for consultants, advisors, practitioners, coaches, creatives and small business owners who know they need to be more than just competent, they need to be distinct.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why information is no longer a competitive advantage
• How AI improves your thinking but doesn’t evolve your identity
• The difference between offering a service and building a brand
• What makes a business referable and respected
• The five pillars of personal brand in an AI era
• Why emotional steadiness builds trust faster than marketing
• How long-term positioning creates sustained authority
• Why structured evolution outperforms reactive problem-solving

If you are the business, you are the brand and in an AI world, that brand determines whether you are chosen, recommended and remembered.

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Or send Toni a DM with the word ELEVATE to step into your next stage of growth.

If you found this episode valuable, share it with a business owner who needs to strengthen their positioning in an AI world, or leave a review to help more people discover The Coaching Circle.

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Transcript

0:00

You are listening to the Coaching Circle with Tony Everard, business and Mindset coach and your strategic thinking partner. This podcast is for those who want to step out of the hustle and glow in the flow. We'll talk about all things mindset, energy, and structure so you can evolve from the inside out and build a business that supports the life you want to live. Let's dive in. Welcome to this episode of The Coaching Circle, and today I'm talking about why personal brand matters so much now that we are living in an AI world. So let me start with. The frame for this and that is that most business owners that I work with say that they want to have more clients. But when they say that, what they really mean is having a business where people refer to them without being asked. A name that's recognized in their industry. Clients who say, oh, you have to go and speak to that person. And a reputation that people are really proud to be associated with work that feels respected and knowing that. They have, they're in demand, so it doesn't rely on them constantly chasing clients. This is the real outcome. And when we think about this in an AI world, that outcome doesn't come from you having more information. It comes from building a personal brand, and this is the shift that we are living in. We're in a moment where AI can write your strategy, it can build your marketing plan, it can create your content. It can. Draft client responses. It can coach you through decisions. It can make you meal plans. It can tell you exercise programs. It can answer just about any question you ask it that is knowledge based. So information is just so abundant at the moment. People can find information. But this is something that we really have to understand, is that tools like Chat, GPT, for example, are designed to provide a positive user experience. So what does that mean? Well, they're built to be helpful and encouraging and constructive, and they will often help you refine your thinking and optimize your ideas and organize your strategy, but they are not invested in your long-term evolution. And they are not designed to read subtle avoidance in your tone. They won't necessarily challenge the uncomfortable truth that you are skirting around. They won't hold you to a higher standard when you are playing small. So AI will definitely improve what you present, but it won't disrupt. What you are protecting, and this is a difference that matters because if you've ever used chat GPT, you'll know this to be true. It'll say, that's amazing. You are so great. I love where you're at with this, and it will take your word as gospel. It's not there to recognize if you actually are aligned with what you say that you wanna create in your life or business. Okay? It's not going to challenge you on conversations that you've had over time, right? It's really important, and if you work as a solopreneur with a small team, you are the brand. You are the brand, and if you run a business. It's critical that you really understand this because you don't have a massive marketing machine like, you know, Tony Robbins or Nike or Bunnings or anything else like that. You don't have that corporate brand equity. Uh, you don't necessarily have national recognition, but what you do have is your unique thinking and your standards, your own visibility. Your relationships, your reputation, your unique skillset and experience combined. And when we think about the fact that information. Is generally equal. You can find information. There's plenty of people that have trained to be our remedial massage therapist or a, mindset coach, or a business coach, or a hypnotherapist or whatever it is that you do, naturopath, all those things. There's specific programs that you have. Metabolic Balance or something like that. If you're a naturopath, there's lots of other naturopaths who've got that same program, right? So we can't just base on information alone, okay? People are gonna choose based on trust, right? How did, how much do they trust you? They're gonna base on clarity, right? They're gonna choose based on, identity alignment. They're gonna choose based on who feels solid, who feel, who do they feel like they connect with the most. And this is the personal brand, and this is why this is so important. And I can assure you like chat, DPT and different AI platforms are very, very good. I use them, I coach myself with them, and I still pay very, very good money for my own business coach. Because it can't replace everything. And this is the thing that we have to really remember is that you wanna have a business that people refer to. Okay? So you know you've got a good personal brand. When people introduce you in rooms, you are not. You know, and this is something that, uh, is really relevant. And I remember once being on a, call with somebody who said, yeah, you know, I wanted to contact you about getting some help. And I said, oh, great. How did you hear about me? And they said, oh, so-and-so referred me to you. I didn't even know who so-and-so was. Okay. So you are, you want to have that reputation where people know you and they're referring to you, That is when you know that you've got a good brand, and so then when your brand is working, people, like I said, will introduce you in rooms that you are not in. They'll talk about you when you're not in the room. Clients will refer people to you without you having to ask them. They'll want to do that. Your name carries weight. People understand your name and what it stands for. You don't need to overexplain what it is that you do, and people will feel proud to say that they work with you. Right? People want to talk about the, services that they use, the people that they get help from because they want to feel like it makes them seem better by who they're affiliated with. People do this all the time. If you don't think that's true, just look at people wearing brand names of stuff, right? People wanna wear brand names of stuff because of what they think it affiliates them to as a brand, okay? They wanna post on social media about who they're working to. They wanna do reviews on Google and all those kinds of things for brands that they are proud of working with. And so that level of positioning doesn't happen accidentally, right? It's built. And so when we think about what your personal brand actually is, it's not a logo. It's not a curated feed or fancy Canva tiles. It's not posting every day just so that you're in front of people, right? Having a really clear personal brand is that you've got clear outcome. Quite clear thinking. Clear standards are a consistent presence where you are sharing content that is valuable for your ideal clients. Emotional steadiness. This is super important as well. I was writing a post about that this morning. Emotional steadiness. If people can feel safe in your presence, then they're gonna wanna be affiliated with you as well. A relational depth. That is also really important. And so this is the answer to that question, right? Why you when AI can do most of the technical work? Because it can, and it's going to continue to improve in ways that most people probably don't even imagine just at the moment. So let's talk about some key pillars to think about when you are building a personal brand in an AI era. So if you want to have recognition and referrals and respect, then these are some really clear things that really matter. And number one, I, I mentioned this before, is having some really clear outcomes. You must be able to articulate what you help people to achieve. And it's not your process, it's not your methodology, it's not your modality, it's the outcome. Clarity attracts people to you. Vagueness, propels people. This is really important. So one of the things that I'm really passionate about is I help people build a business that supports their lifestyle. Now, this is super important because I see so many people in small business, especially solopreneurs who end up stressed out to their eyeballs working ridiculous amounts of hours and getting underpaid so that they're not taking holidays, they're not paying themselves properly, they're not paying super. They don't have any kind of. Retirement plan or long-term investment plan or anything else, and that's not fun. And I don't want people to be in that space because I a hundred percent believe that business is part of your personal evolution. And so business gives you the vehicle and when you master that vehicle, you get to master your experience. On the planet during your life, you get to master how much you work, who you work with, how much money you make, what is the impact that you make on the world. All of those things are within your control now. You can't get that same kind of control in a job. Generally speaking, there might be some outliers, but that's what you get in a business. But only if you master business and to master business, you have to master your mindset. You have to shift your identity. You have to become a business owner. And in today's day and age, you also have to be a content creator, right? Because you have to be creating this content that really connects with people. And that's what I'm really passionate about. I, especially people who are doing good things right, that are helping other people. I love helping good people help more people. I believe that we are seeing the rise of the heart led entrepreneur, people that are doing good work in the world and making a positive difference on other people's lives. Those people deserve to have good lives. You deserve to feel supported and that you have control over your own life and your lifestyle, and you get to do what you wanna do. Uh, I talk about this all day long. It's super important, and when we think about it in this way, we can stop making business so complicated, right? When you realize what the purpose of business is, that's when you can get honed in on it. And yes, business is for the purpose of making a profit, and you also wanna be helping people, making a difference in the world, right? Being able to generate income for yourself. To do and have and be the things that you want in your life. It's really important. So, uh, so you wanna have clear out outcomes in your brand. You also wanna have visible thinking, right? Visible thinking. Well, how do we have visible thinking? You've gotta share how you think. And this is the important thing about being a content creator in business. It's not just sharing tips because people can get tips from ai. They can ask AI for three tips, and probably if you're sharing tips, you probably got those three tips from AI to start with, right? You wanna be sharing your perspective, your discernment, your standards, right? Your experience, your lived experience, the way that you think that's different from your unique experience. And when people understand how you think, then they trust your judgment, right? Then they can start connecting the dots of how it is that you are gonna be able to help them rather than somebody else. The third thing is we need to have relationship capital. So referrals don't come from algorithms. They come from real conversations that you have with people. They come from the follow ups and the introductions and the community presence that you have at small business scales through trust networks. You have to be able to build those relationships with people. So you can't sit at home and be the world's best kept secret. People aren't gonna come down knocking your door because they got a sign from the universe that someone needs to work with you. That's not gonna be it. They won't see the sign if you're just sitting at home being the world's best kept secret. The fourth thing is emotional steadiness. This is so important. This is super, super important because people are scanning for stability. And in today's day and age, this is the thing that people are looking for. They want real. They want real, that they can connect with and they can trust. And in a world where we have so many options, right, there are so many options. You think about it. There used to be a time when if you wanted to watch tv, like I used to watch tv, but there was four channels, right? Channel nine, channel 10, channel seven, and channel two, the A, B, C. These days there is like unlimited amount of channels and selections and things that you can watch at the click of a button, and who sits there for ages, like takes you longer to find something to watch than if you had just a selection of the four things that we used to have. It's a problem, right? Problem. And so, you know, there's so many options that people are like over having to choose from all the different things, right? Option's, great. It gives people choice. But I know for me, if I wanna find something good and I wanna stick to it,'cause there's so many options, I don't wanna spend all my time having to search and search and search and search for the right thing. So one of the things that people are really looking for is this emotional steadiness, right? Can I trust you to keep showing up in a, in a predictable way? Because if you are communication, the way you communicate and relate to people, if it feels reactive or if it feels defensive, or if it's a bit cons, like inconsistent and scattered, people sense it. Some of the big work that I do with people that are trying to get going on business, they're very good at strategy, but there's still, things still aren't landing. It's usually'cause they've got some wolves up, like personal wolves up. Because being in business by yourself feels very vulnerable. And so people often have got wolves up around their visibility and the conversations that they have and the way that they talk about themselves for fear of judgment and every other thing. When you've got WS up, you'll keep your ideal clients out. Energetically, they, they just will, they'll feel it. So you have to have the emotional steadiness where you are a hundred percent backing yourself. And you can show up every day. It doesn't mean you are like robotic, but it means that your safety is in yourself and that people feel like when they're interacting with you that they don't have to be giving you anything. They don't have to be making you feel like you are okay or making you feel like you know they believe in you or anything else, and not having to validate you. That you've got yourself, you are backing yourself, and then your space then. Is safe for them to be in. And not only that, but when you've got that emotional steadiness, your clients will get better results because they will step up to meet you. It's really important. So if you feel grounded and clear and decisive, your clients will sense that as well. You'll feel like the lighthouse, you'll feel like you are the one who's gonna be guiding them on the right path. Emotional steadiness builds that safety for people where they feel like they want to invest with you, that they feel like they can open up to you, that they feel like they can grow with you. So safety builds referrals as well.'cause people have that kind of experience. They gonna tell other people. They need to have that experience as well. And then the fifth thing is long-term positioning ai. Can help you solve this week's problem, but it does not hold your three year evolution in mind. It's probably gonna struggle to hold your 12 month plan in mind. To be honest. It doesn't track your patterns. It doesn't see your blind spots. Repeating in new different ways. It doesn't recalibrate your identity as you grow. It's not gonna take into consideration, you know, what are the other human things going on for you. If there's been stuff that's gone on with your parents or your kids or your partner or your friends or whatever else, you know, all of that long term positioning that we all know when we talk about the long term. And business is a long term game. It's a hundred percent a long game, right? It's never a straight line from here to there. There's all kinds of things that are on the path, along the way, and that's the human work, okay? So, however, whatever it is that you are helping people with, you are helping humans. You are helping humans, and the way that you help them in that human way is really important. It's really important to their success. And so this is a lot about why clients continue working with me as well over several years. Like I've got clients now who've been working with me for six, seven years, and the reason why is because they keep getting results and they keep evolving and they keep growing. This is really important, and this is the same as my business coaching clients and my private business clients. I help them to continue to grow and evolve, and that is something that comes from the relationship we've built. It comes with me being to piece together things about them. The knowledge and understanding I have about my clients over that amount of time is so valuable in how I can piece together where they are now and where they're going. I can remember stuff that people have told me a year or two ago, sometimes longer, and piece it into what's relevant to what they're doing now. You can't get that from ai. Right. And so, you know, whether that's inside my Elevate coaching group that's for, coaches, practitioners, and therapists. It's business and mindset. It's getting better results for your clients. It's growing your business, your, your personal evolution, or if it's in my private coaching programs that I do with leaders and, you know, medium sized business owners, none of this work is about quick fixes. It's about a structured evolution. So for the people that I work with, like 12 months at a time, we always clarify the next 12 months vision, and that might adjust along that 12 month journey as well. I'm always assessing their positioning, helping them get clear about that, because as you grow, that positioning is going to change. We are forever strengthening the authority that they have in the space, refining their offers. Are increasing their, their visibility in a really strategic way, identifying any structural gaps that they have, because a lot of the stress and anxiety that I see in business owners comes from structure gaps in their business, in their boundaries, in their lifestyle. But if you wanna expand your business and your life, you have to have good structure. And so you need to be aware of where these things are. I continue to help them raise their standards and, and address that emotional resistance that shows up at each new level. And the reason that I can continue to do that is because I continue to do that. I continue growing and investing in myself so that my clients have always got something that they're learning from me. There's always something new I'm demonstrating to inspire them. There's always something more that I know that I can help them with. And so with all of that, then we can execute at a very high level, right? So inside My Love Elevate program, there's community, there's shared standards, there's strategic expansion. In my private, coaching, you know, it's more personalized, it's more direct, it's more focused. But in both those spaces, the outcomes are really the same, and that's being really clear on your identity, your positioning. Recognizing yourself as the authority in your life and business and becoming a business that people will refer to. So this is the thing that you gotta keep in mind when you're thinking about your clients, is that AI can give people answers. AI can give people information, but it cannot hold their evolution. That's your job. They can, it cannot provide that personal connection. And it doesn't matter how good AI gets, right? People are people, and people need human connection. They need human connection, and sure, there might be things that they can replace with ai, but not the things that you do if you are in service of people, if you're providing some kind of service. All of this staff is really relevant to you and you wanna be clear on it. Before you convince yourself that AI can replace you, because this is the question, right? But this is the thing we have to think about, is that if someone in your industry has access to the same tools, the same information, the same ai, well, why would someone choose you? And if the answer isn't clear, that's not failure for you. It's feedback. Okay. You don't need more information, okay? You don't need to get necessarily another certification or become the most certified person in the thing that whatever it is that you are doing, you need to have stronger positioning. You need to be clear about outcomes that you are demonstrating those outcomes. Yourself and that you have really strong positioning, that you have strong standards and that you have even stronger visibility so people can get a real clear idea about who you are, what you are about, what you stand for, what you stand against, and how you can specifically help them in a way that is different from AI or anybody else in your field. So this is something that is really worth reflecting on. In an AI world, technical knowledge is very, very accessible, but discernment is rare. Emotional steadiness is rare. Strategic, long-term thinking is rare. Strong personal brand is also. Pretty rare and rare is what gets referred rare is what is memorable. If you are the business, you are the brand, and that brand determines whether you are chosen, recommended, and remembered. So if you do want to build your personal brand so that you have a business that people refer to, that you've got clear positioning, that you're clear on your messaging, that you're recognized as the authority, and that you've got really clear pathways between people knowing who you are and becoming clients, and you want some really strategic growth over the next 12 months, then. Really you wanna join the new Facebook group that I have, which is Business Growth for Heart LED Coaches, practitioners, and Therapists. I'll put a link to it in the show notes, or you can message me, the word elevate. And we'll explore whether elevate or private coaching is the right structure for your next stage in business. Because information is everywhere, but structured evolution is intentional. And I'm here to back you all the way. So thanks for joining me this week and I'll see you again and speak to you very soon. If you love this episode, you can help me get the message out to more people. Simply leave a review and share this episode with someone who'd love to hear it. Thanks for tuning into the Coaching Circle. I'll catch you in the next episode.