How to get OPPORTUNITIES from your personal brand

In this solo episode of Business Class, Vicky Owens shares her complete blueprint for building a successful personal brand in 2026.

After growing an audience of over 250,000 followers, building a thriving marketing agency, launching a podcast, securing major brand partnerships and creating multiple income streams, Vicky breaks down exactly what she's learned about personal branding, networking, visibility and creating opportunities that can transform your career. 

This isn't just about growing followers on social media. It's about building a personal brand that opens doors, creates opportunities and helps you build a business beyond the algorithm.

In this episode, Vicky discusses:

• The biggest opportunities that have come from building a personal brand
• Why followers open doors in business
• How to create opportunities instead of waiting for them
• Building authority and trust online
• Networking strategies that actually work
• Growing your personal brand beyond social media
• Creating multiple income streams from your expertise
• The power of podcasting and long-form content
• Building meaningful relationships and industry connections
• Working with brands authentically
• How to monetise your audience without losing trust
• The mistakes Vicky has made building her personal brand

Whether you're an entrepreneur, creator, freelancer, consultant or aspiring founder, this episode is packed with practical advice on building visibility, credibility and influence in today's digital world. 

🎉 This episode is sponsored by Plannerly

Plannerly is the all-in-one creator toolkit designed to help you plan content, schedule posts, manage your social media workflow and grow your online business.

👉 Use code VICKY10 for 10% off your Plannerly plan.

Subscribe to Business Class with Vicky Owens for weekly conversations and solo episodes covering entrepreneurship, social media, personal branding and business growth.

Produced by TAEPodcast www.taepodcast.co.uk

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome aboard to Business Club. Only place to be if you are on your journey to success. I'll be showing the ups, the downs, and everything in between. Just a disclaimer that this is all my own advice and what if someone works for me as a first-time business owner. So please take everything I say with a pinch of salt. So take your seats, strap in, and welcome aboard to business class with me, Vicky Elliott. Welcome back to Business Class. How are we all doing today? I've got a solo episode booked in for you right now. I'm giving cozy vibes today. I'm in a knitted jumper. It's kind of like rainy and gloomy outside, which is literally a 360 from one of my last solo episodes when it was literally so warm. It was literally peak, what peak summer, literally. And now we're in June and it's absolutely freezing, which I don't appreciate. Today's episode is going to be all about building a personal brand and almost my blueprint for building a personal brand. So I've done an episode before on how I put how I built my personal brand more so the social media side of it, like how I use social media to grow a personal brand. But this is going to be more so personal brand as a whole and everything I've learned from growing a personal brand. So I have around now, I think over 250,000 followers across social media. Um, I have learned so much in the past couple of months, like so much. I just wanted to compile into this video about building a successful personal brand. But now also the opportunities. I feel like when I filmed this about a year ago, it was more so how to grow it. This has been more about the opportunities, working with people, getting on stages, getting in the press, like the countless opportunities that I've had from building a personal brand is what I want to focus on for today. But before that, we'll go into, of course, the takeoffs and departures. So my takeoff has probably been, I mean, I feel like I have quite a few takeoffs at the minute. We've been expanding the team. So we hired two new people recently. Um, both actually men. Like we're trying to bring in male energy into the team rather than just having girls on the team. So I've I'm finding that really an interesting dynamic. And um we've got one that's started, one that's starting in the next couple of weeks. So that's been really exciting just going through that hiring process again. It's always disappointing to lap people down and tell them they've not got the job. But I would say that's been one of my takeoffs. Also, like putting my first weekly vlog out onto this channel. If you missed that, they'll still be on the channel. I'm trying to weekly vlog every week at the minute. It's I don't know why I've decided to do that on top of everything else that I'm doing. But if you do want to tune in and watch that, that is on the channel. It's been so nice to just sit and document everything that I've been learning. Um, my departure, what would I say my departure has been recently? Um, I would say this is kind of a weird departure, like definitely a champagne pro champagne's problem departure. But we're doing really well at the minute in the business, and I feel like that's supposed to make me feel good. But I just feel a lot of anxiety. Like, I'm not gonna lie, I woke up this morning with like the feeling of dread and like doom and gloom and anxiety because I just feel like the more you have, the more you have to lose. So I just kept thinking like, oh well, what happens if this client goes? Or what if I've just expanded the team and then this happens, then I have to let them go. Like, I think you never really reach a full moment of security, even when people think you do. You know, like I look up to people who have teams of 100 and they'll probably never feel you never feel like you're ready to reach the right level. Like I remember when I had a team of four and that felt like such a big deal, and I could never ever ever imagine having a team of like eight, and then I'd reach a team of eight, and then I can never imagine having a team of like ten, and so on, and so on. And then you always get to those points, and it just it just works. So just putting that out there because I think, yeah, I feel like I would feel quite comforted if someone else said that to me. So that's that's where I'm feeling uh this week. But overall, like pretty good. There's not any huge things that are going on. Touch wood, I feel like I have touch wood whenever I say anything like that, because you just never know. Um, but we're gonna go into today's episode of personal branding, which I think if my calculations are right, I should have just put out my episode with uh Mia McGrath um last week that I filmed at SXSW, which that was probably another highlight for me. Sorry. I did a pop-up at South by Southwest, which is a huge, huge event. For context of how big this event is, Anton Deck spoke. Prince William spoke. Who else was there? Uh I can't think of anyone else. The Sidemen, I think, were there. There was people from the Marvel movies there. It was huge. They had me, like Little Lord Me, come and do a podcast pop-up there, where they literally like got me a whole podcast studio. I interviewed some of the amazing speakers that were there, and Mia was the first person that I spoke to. So her episode should have just gone live. That was a huge highlight for me, actually. I will take that as my highlight. So, anyway, let's move on to today's episode. I'm building a successful personal brand and the opportunities. So, my personal brand, let's speak about it. So, I would say when I come to think of the benefits of building a personal brand, first of all, for me to convince you to build one, I'm gonna tell you a bit about what my personal brand has given me. So, off the top of my head, I have got a TED talk book for September. I don't believe I would have had that without a personal brand. I got on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, I don't believe I would have got that without a personal brand. I would say a good 80 to 90% of our agency's growth has been through my personal brand. That isn't necessarily a good thing, but I'm gonna take it for now. Like it has helped the agency grow exponentially. Um, I am able to sell a lot more because of my personal brand. So when I um brought out my one-to-ones, like my social media one-to-one sessions, they're like constantly sold out months in advance because of my personal brand, because people trust me for that reason. I get to work with my dream brands, and I'm not someone to at all really speak about money because I just I don't know why. I just find it a bit personal to speak about money. However, the payment you get for collabs is you would never believe it. Like, unless you see that with your own eyes, for like what you would get for like one post, two posts for a following, like a decent following, it's life-changing. Like I don't I I don't know, like I just get kind of funny about money, so I don't think I'd actually ever say, but it's like what someone would make in a year from one post is absolutely unfathomable. And that is something that that's why I'm so driven to help people build personal brands. And I also kind of do get why people get annoyed at creators, influencers, etc., because they get paid so much for doing so little in air quotations. But what people don't realize is it takes a really long time to strategically build a personal brand that gets you the audience and that gets you these opportunities. So let's say for a do for Adobe, let's say for example, Adobe is paying me to work with them because I've worked with them before. They're kind of like not paying for me to film a 60-second video. They're filming, they're paying me to get access to my audience, which is their perfect target demographic. So they'll like see a massive return on investment in that. So this is like the things that that I'm saying to get you to understand how important building a personal brand is and building a following is. And I've always said this on the podcast, and I always also counteract it by saying I don't fully agree with it. But followers open doors in 2026 and in 2027, and I'm sure 2028, and so on. We can't help it, it's the way our brains are. Like when people have more followers, we trust them more, people are more interested in you. And I don't agree with it. No, I'm gonna say that. I I always say I don't agree with it, but it has just gained more for me. I've been able to speak on stages, I've been able to make connections, I've been able to scale my business. Like there's been so many. I will say that I'd say there's not many negatives of building a personal brand, but the only one is the higher you climb, the harder you fall. So when you build a following, people are going to be, you know, criticizing, you get hate comments. I've had so much of my personal brand, people trying to drag you down, people trying to find holes in your business and what you do. It's the same with any founder online. So that is the bit that I'll preface is the hardest bit. But I would say if I could like go back or like decide whether to start again or to not, I'd 100% start again and I will keep going with it because it is just you just it opens up every door you can possibly imagine. And it also almost like fast tracks growth. Like I think that when you've got followers, it's pretty easy for you to sell anything or to get on any TV show or to write a book or whatever it might be, and people aren't grasping how good of an opportunity this is. So we need to go into what actually is a personal brand, because I think a lot of people get this really confused. And since I've understood more about what it is, it's really changed the game for me uh financially from how my personal brand has grown, like how I use it in so many different ways. So you've got your personal account, you've got your personal brand. Your personal account, okay, is where you're sharing, you know, outfit pictures, pictures of you on holiday, pictures of you and your family and friends. Your personal brand is so strategic. So to understand what you want to post in a personal brand and why you're starting it, I think every single person needs to think into the future and really think of what do you want to get. Because then you can strategically post to get it. So I said to myself, I want to do a TED talk. I want to be Forbes 30 under 30. I one day would like to write a book. Ooh. Um, I want to be speaking on stages. I want to be working with these brands. And I made a specific list of all the brands that I want to work with. And once you have that, it will make sense with what you post. And you should be asking yourself every time you post to your personal brand, is this aligning with my North Star and where I want to get to? So is this post going to get me any closer to doing a TED talk? Is this post any closer to getting me recognized by Forbes, for example? And if not, then don't post it. And I think once you actually make the start by making that shift first, that will make a huge difference. Um, one thing I actually found really interesting when I built my first, I think it was 100,000 followers on TikTok, was I got signed to a talent agency, like a talent management. And that basically means that they get me opportunities and collaborations in exchange for like 20% cut. Um, what I learned from that was that you can be even strategic about the brands that you want to work with. And if I could give you a piece of advice, if you are trying to monetize your personal brand and work with brands that align with you, try and use as many brands as the as you use day-to-day organically in your content. So I would say when I first started my personal brand, I would be posting videos of me just like speaking to camera. And they were like, Can you see how brands won't be able to slot into your content very easily because your audience won't be used to seeing that? And I was like, Yeah, that so makes sense. So then I started to do more day-in-the-life content, more, you know, doing my makeup while I was speaking about stuff, so that brands can really organically slot and slide into your content. So you have to think, is your content brand friendly? First of all, that's when you will start getting brand deals. And then I also think, as well, the more you do, the more you get. So the more brand deals you do, the more that you'll attract. The more you speak on stages, the more you'll attract. And I am such an advocate, and I know a lot of people do disagree with me on this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I think for a lot of things you really want to do, you've got to do it for free. So, like when I wanted to get into speaking, I spoke on, I've spoken on countless stages for free. Still to this day, I will still speak on some stages for free because I know the opportunities that it will get me, which will more than pay me what I would usually charge. So if you want something so generic, go and get it. If you want to speak on stages, I would say A, first see what is available and go and ask. B, um, you can do what I did for one of my first talks, which is where I decided I want to speak on a stage, but no one was gonna pay me to do it. So I literally did an event and I was the speaker for the event and I spoke on stage for my own event and people like paid to come and see it. Or even if you don't want, even if you think no one's gonna pay me, invite people for free. Invite your friends, invite your family, just get some footage of you speaking on a stage, and then people will start to see you as a speaker. Like you have to really, like one of my business coaches always said to me, say it, and so it is. I am a speaker, you're a speaker. I am a Forbes 13 and 30 member. Like I have I believed that for so many years. So when it happened, I kind of wasn't that like I was surprised, but I was like, this just feels so right, of course. Like that just makes so much sense to me. And just like I don't know how I would describe this, like putting yourself forward for opportunities. So say for example, you are you're wanting to work with brands like it could be Adobe, it could be Planally, our sponsors of this video, whoever it might be, really think of how you can get into their world. So even if you're just showing a video from the stance of showing how it works and yeah, doing that for free, like organically, even if you can email them and say, um, have they got any budget, or could you do it on a gifted campaign just to show that you're working with brands? I just found the more brand collabs I did, the more that I got. It literally, when it rained, it poured. Like it literally went from one extreme to another. One thing that I have learned about brands that I did not even think was a thing that I feel like someone needed to pre-warn me about was how all over the place it is. And that is no shade to the brands that I work with. I absolutely like every brand I work with, I use in my day-to-day life. I trust, I feel happy recommending to people. I turn down so many brand collaborations, you would be surprised, like with just brands that I just there's a lot of AI brands that just I'm like, no, no, no. Or people ask me to work on like commission and not what you're worth. And there's a lot that I say no to. But I would say in the brand world, everything is so last minute. Like I literally included this in my weekly vlog. There was this really big household name brand that everyone on here would know. And they were interested in using me for a collaboration and said, I have to send over my brief in the next 15 minutes, otherwise, they're gonna pass it to someone else. And I was like, sorry, like what? Everything's so last minute, and that's my biggest challenge as a business owner is juggling the two. And then that's where you have to really think about why you're doing it. So I started my personal brand to get more clients. I've done that now. So, hmm, you know, anything beyond that is just a treat. But then you do start to get really, you know, excited by the other opportunities. So then you start to prioritize those. So it's really hard. And this is why you need to think of what your North Star is and what you want to get out of your personal brand. And when I was building mine as well, like I'll sort of touch a bit a bit on how I built that because I know I did, but that episode was literally a year ago. I don't expect anyone to remember it. I started mine in January 2024, I believe. Um, and it was because I wasn't getting enough clients. Like, we had a month where it went really quiet and I was like, oh my god, I need clients. And I just basically planned out three videos a day that I was gonna post every day. Um, and then I was like, I'm gonna set myself a challenge of getting 10,000 followers in 10 days, and it sounded crazy, and everyone was like, that's crazy, that's not gonna work. And I was like, it is, it's gonna work. So I planned out what those three videos were going to be, um, how they were gonna spike people's interests. This is the thing with personal brands, right? Is you have to be so honest with yourself in how is this different to everyone else? Because personal brands have become a little bit saturated now, but have they? Like, I think people think they have, but you just have to think of your own angle spin on them. So, my best advice would be if you want to start a personal brand, you've you've got to first of all think outside the box. You can't just be like, I'm gonna document my journey as a founder because that is not as unique as it once was. It's not as important as it once was. Like when it's first came about, it was such a unique experience, people showing the behind the scenes of building a business. Now everyone does it, so it's not unique anymore. And that's what will keep happening with social media. So, what I would suggest is looking at the industry that you're in and then thinking of what unique edge do you have. So, my industry is social media, my unique edge is organic virality and like the numbers and the data and the psychology and the strategy. Yours might be, I don't know, you work in fashion, but your unique edge is, I don't know, sunglasses. I'm just thinking of an example here. Um, so you have to think of something that's not being done in that retrospect and then hone it into your story. My personal brand grew because of my story, definitely. Um, and it because I learned how to tell my story in the right way. So I think everyone has multiple stories, personally. I think everyone's been through multiple things. It's just finding the one that lands on social media. I've had stories from my childhood that I don't think I'll ever share online. I've had uh I was bullied at school, I've had panic attacks, like loads of different stories. And I'm a very good storyteller, if you haven't already guessed. So um mine grew because I spoke about how the girls who bullied me at school applied to work for me. And I say it like that because I feel like everyone knows that tagline by now. But I think that is that is a nod to how successful it was, is that everyone knew me for that. Like I used to get recognized sometimes. People would be like, oh my God, weren't you that girl that got bullied? And then the girls applied to work for them. I'd be like, Yeah. So it's finding your unique unique edge and finding what your unique story is, and really going into that. And then the next part of building a personal brand is repetition, saying it over and over and over and over again until you feel uncomfortable, until you feel like people are getting bored by it. Like you have got to say this until it sticks in people's heads so that when they think of your industry, they think of you. When people think of virality, I like to think they think of me. So thinking of like how can you say the same thing over and over again as many times as possible? TikTok is easier because it goes out to strangers, so you can literally repeat yourself over and over again. Instagram, I would almost just have like, I always say to my clients that I work with, build out a slogan for you and just say it over and over and over and over and over again. And it will feel uncomfortable, you will feel annoying. I remember when I was building my personal brand, I was with one of my friends and I was like, oh my god, I'm so sorry that you're having to follow me at the minute. And real friends, she was like, no, no, I'm liking every single post. Like, don't be silly, like, I'm here to support you. Like, it's so strategic. And the reason why your personal brand won't be growing at the minute is because it's not strategic enough. It's just either A, it's a personal account, it's not giving anyone a reason to follow you at all. Um, or B, it's just too generic. Like, I think showing the behind the scenes of building a business is just not enough. It has to offer some sort of value into people's lives. And I actually had a really interesting conversation um last week with Mia McGrath. Although, fun fact, Mia's name is actually said, actually pronounced Mia McGrath. Um, I was asking her about this because I was like, Mia, I feel like everyone thinks her name is Mia McGrath. And she was laughing and she was like, it's pronounced Mia McGrath. So anyway, but I was just saying Mia McGrath in case you don't know her, um, which everyone should. We were speaking about how people, when they're building a personal brand, can have a really unique edge because my and Mia's unique edge is that we are so educated on our topic that we have so much content to film. And this is the bit people struggle with when building value. Because, say, for example, yeah, you own a clothing brand, you you th you might think, okay, well, I'm showing the behind the scenes of my business. How can I offer value, Vicky? How can I offer value? I'm so busy. And then I would say to you, Oh, well, just speak about what you've learned within that clothing brand or you know, profit margins or whatever it might be. And people don't feel like they know. Enough to speak on it, so that's why they won't, and that's why they can't yet have that value piece. Whereas Mia was saying she feel like she feels like she has a leg up because she has learned so much about investing and she has years of experience, so she can have that as her value point. And for me, I've done social media for oh my god, years, over 10 years, probably, I think. Um so I know it like I can speak about it in different topics, I can have the time to learn more about it and speak about the trends and things like that. Whereas I know a lot of business business owners aren't as privileged because they've just started their business, they don't yet feel like they have enough value to offer or enough time to expand their skills so that they can become that value thought leader. So that is a spanner to throw into the works there. Like I think a personal brand, when you think about it, is the person themselves has to be interesting and not to be rude, but not everyone is made for a personal brand. Like that is not always the best route to go down, and it has got to be based on your personality and your lifestyle and so many different factors that come into it. Um, but I think that I would definitely as much as you can really try and think of like what is that one thing that I'm known for, that value standpoint that I'm known for. I am so excited to say that this episode is sponsored by Planally. Now I've been using Planily since I was about 16 years old in my very first marketing job. And I used to use it to basically plan out content for the feed, get it looking all nice, but now it does so much more. It's basically a full creator toolkit all in one place. You get your social media planning, but you also get a free Link in bio tool and a built-in customizable storefront with checkout. So you can schedule your post, preview your feed, drive people to the link in your bio and actually sell your product services, digital downloads, even one-on-one coaching without juggling five different tools or paying transaction fees on top. As a business owner, I know how easy it is to batch your content and then just forget to post it, or how hard it is to stay consistent on social media. I've used so many tools, but Planarly is the one that makes my workflow feel so seamless. And it has everything I need to manage my client's content and my own. So if you're looking to take your social media growth seriously this year, start with Planally and you can use code Nikki10 for 10% off your Planel E flash. So I would post three times a day on TikTok every single day. I did, of course, get 10,000 10,000 followers in 10 days, and that led to more opportunities like being featured in the press. And I always get a lot of questions on do I have a PR agency that does my press for me? Um, do I outreach? How does that work? And the answer is no. I get everything organically because I almost do the work for them. So this is a really good piece of advice. Again, I was given by a business coach was like, you have to be your own PR person. You have to write stories that the press will want to pick up. And I've had a few that have really stuck in the press because they're just good stories themselves. So, like when the girls applied to work for me, you believe me at school, the era of the desperate content creator, um, oh god, what's another one that I did? I think I got one on 10,000 followers in 10 days. Whenever I write a story or do a post, I know that the press are going to be interested in it and then they pick it up. Um, also, because I'm now known for virality, I get asked to comment on a lot of things. So, like in the BBC, a few times I've done, um, or just like random press like Forbes. And if it's like they're writing a piece on virality, they know to go to me and they'll Google, you know, virality expert, and I'll come up. So that's why it's really good to be well known within your niche. Um, but I'd say at the minute, if you're literally starting from scratch, you want to get in that press, write your own story. And it doesn't have to be something you've been through, it can be a thought piece, like a thought leader piece. Um, for example, I was speaking to someone recently about how Apple wire headphones are coming back in and like why that is. So it's like AirPods were a thing, and now we're going like back in time where people want to have the wire and why that is. Like, I think that's a really thought interesting thought leader piece that the press would pick up. So you do have to create your own opportunities. I know I've done this story to death. So I'm so sorry if you've heard me speak about it too many times. But when I wanted to be a speaker, rented a studio space, paid the £25, I got someone to record me fake speaking to a wall, and then I got speaking bookings. Like you have to create the opportunities for the opportunities to come to you. Like you can't sit and wait for them to happen. The brands that I had on my Dream 100 brand collaboration list, I made a spreadsheet. I found all of their emails. I directly emailed them. I would track it on my spreadsheet. I would sometimes email people, I'm not even joking, 20 times before I got their attention. And then they finally said yes to me. But it's just getting on their radar. So that happened quite fast. And then I would say for about a year, it was just like a personal brand where I was getting clients through it, things like that. But it wasn't really until this year, I would say, maybe to a bit towards the end of last year, when I actually got brand deals and brand collaborations because I was making more brand friendly content. So that was huge. Um, and then things I've done beyond just posting and things like that is really thinking about your ecosystem. So a really successful personal brand is someone that has builds some has built something that's everlasting and it's not just relied on your Instagram or your TikTok. Like it's like it's beyond that. So I have tried to set up as many different streams of revenue as I can. So I've got um obviously my podcast, which I'm doing now, which is an extension of my personal brand. Again, I don't think I'd have this podcast if I hadn't start my personal brand. I've got my one-to-one sessions, um, ad collaborations, my speaking fees. What else do I do? Like consulting stuff, affiliate links. Um it's just being really smart about building something that's beyond just your socials, like even a YouTube channel, like I think that creates such a strong connection with people. Um so I think when I thought about what my ecosystem was and what people would want and how you can eventually monetize it, like sometimes you've got to just call a spade a spade, and things just do need to be monetized. Like personal branding, I love it. I know it helps a lot of people. I get to meet a lot of people out and about, and they've been like, it's really helped me do this, or like that side is amazing, but ultimately I've got bills to pay, I've got checks that need to be paid, I've got a mortgage to pay for. So you have got to think of like how am I going to monetize different parts. And I think building a successful ecosystem is the smartest thing. And a lot of personal brands now are starting to start podcasts because it's long-form content. That is the best connection that you can build with someone. And then also just thinking really strategically about who you work with and only brands that align with your message. I think it's really easy to turn people off by working with the same brands. I've made a lot of mistakes with brands that I work with. I haven't really like read the deliverables properly and then had to do like videos that I don't love, but that's something I've just learned in the past few months. And I think your audience can really tell when you're pushing something that you don't believe in and that you wouldn't organically use. Like I think I've spoken about this before, but I was offered to do a collab selling, I think I I can't surely can say this now, but it was yeah, fish fingers, frozen fish fingers with Iceland to like from a perspective of I'm a busy business owner, you know, I don't have a lot of time to cook. And I was like, honey, do I look like someone that eats frozen fish fingers? Absolutely not. So I passed up that opportunity. Um no offense if you do, because sometimes I love a frozen chicken nugget, but yeah, I'm just not a big fan of fish fingers, really. So I passed up on that because I know that again, my audience would have hated it. And I actually loved a piece of the advice that Isabel Lorna gave away. Hopefully, we should all know Isabel Lorna, but she's an incredible influencer. And she said what she tends to do is if she's got a brand collaboration coming up, she will like, even though she's not being paid to do this, she'll like organically thread the product that she's talking about into her content before the ad goes live. So let's say, for example, she's like using a L'Oreal hair mask or something, she'll like gradually introduce that into her videos so her audience are used to her seeing it so that when the ad does go live, they're like, Oh yeah, well, she's been speaking about this for ages. Whereas it can be quite damaging to have never mentioned a brand before and then mention it and be like, oh, I love this brand so much. Um, and then people are like, Oh, well, I've never seen you use it before. Like it's a harder sell. And that's something I'm really working on in my business, is in my business, in my personal brand, is that strategy. Because I'm not gonna lie, having a I'd say actually one of the cons to having a personal brand is how time consuming it is and the time constraints. Like it's it's two full-time jobs I look after. Like it's I'm constantly working on either my business or my personal brand. And there are, I'm gonna be so real, just sometimes where an offer will come through for a brand that I love and I've used for years, but I've never spoken about on my channel. And I think, oh God, I feel like this would have been such a better campaign if I had of organically spoken about it first and then warmed up my audience to it. Like there's that whole strategy that you have to work through to really build that connection, which I'm really going to try and work on this year in 2026. Um, and then also a massive driver of my personal brand that I didn't actually really think I needed or didn't really want to do has been my podcast and podcast guests, like collaboration. So the benefit to me having my podcast, there's so many. First of all, I think it's an industry leader positioning thing. Like, I feel like if you say you've got a podcast that's like top 1% globally ranked podcast, then people are like, oh wow. So there's that aspect. There's like um longer form for my audience to listen to. So we connect on that level, but then you've got the guests. So if you remember at the start, I didn't have any guests because I didn't think I needed them really. I was, I was just like, I want to do it solo. I'm so glad I didn't. But not only do I get that connection, I learn so much. It grows the podcast, but I'm also able to tap into their audience. So I collaborate with them on the trailer, I get followers from their followers, opportunities from them. And then I also am able to, I never like pitch to podcast guests, but they know what I do. So I've then off the back of that had a lot of work from people that have come on the podcast. And then they've been like, oh, Vicky, like we'd actually love your help on our social strategy. And then I'm able to monetize off the podcast if you like by doing that. Um, and that has been a way that I I just didn't think would grow my personal brand, but it has. Like I've been invited to so many events through podcast guests that have said they've kept in touch and we do honestly keep in touch. And then they'll be doing, you know, like a pop-up event in London that I'll be invited to, or they'll know a person that knows a person. Honestly, like, best personal brand advice I can give to you is get yourself out there. Like it's hard work, but try and get to events, um, make time for things that you maybe would have said no to in the past, because the human connection side is actually, I would say ironically, is that even the right word? That is actually what ends up growing your online presence the most. Like knowing that one person. I did last year, my personal brand was like I knew my circle of people and then like a couple people outside of that from doing this podcast and getting myself out there. And I'm in London a lot more. My network is humongous now, like huge. I know something for everything. I'm always being invited to things. Um, and also the whole concept of I've spoken about this before, invisible PR, um, you know, how you are on and off cameras. When I connect with podcast guests, I help them with anything they need. They help me with anything I need. Um, I don't I've not had one single bad podcast guest come on yet. Again, touch wood, that has been rude, that hasn't wanted to speak to me, that hasn't kept in touch with me afterwards. Like, I genuinely get so much because of the first impressions that I make with people and vice versa to them as well. So people is the most important part. And like I think that has really been what scaled it. And also just like getting into rooms, creating opportunities for myself. Like, there's been a few events or like special dinners that I've been to that I've paid a lot of money for that feel like a bit risky, and I don't know if I'm gonna get like a big return on it, but I get a certain connection. So, like even recently, I got invited to an event in London, and I get invited to a lot of, you know, like um pop-up events or lunches and dinners and stuff. And sometimes when, to be honest, you own a business, you're like, I don't have time to be going, you know, four hours up to London for a dinner and then going back. Like it's like a full day you've got to take out. Whereas if you live in London, you know, you can just pop out and then pop back to the office or at home. Um, so I got invited to one recently uh at ChatGBT for a dinner they were doing with Amy Smell, who owns OddMuse. We already know this, hopefully. And um, I was like, oh God, like I really don't want to drive, you know, four and a half hours just to go to a dinner, even though I love ChatGBT. I use it every single day. Um, but I just couldn't like I just couldn't justify it. I was like, I can't do it. But then I was like, I really want to make that connection with Amy, like I just think she'd be such a good connection to have. And I know that the people at that dinner, like they would be great connections, and I want to create a connection with Chat GBT. And this is why having the right people around you is so important because I said to my mum actually, I was like, Mum, I really want to go to this thing. And she was actually like, Vic, you know, you can't say yes to everything, you'll burn yourself out. And I was like, Yeah, okay, maybe I should. But I just had this like burning feeling that I had to go. And I was speaking to my partner, Matt, about it, and I was like, I really want to go. And he was like, Let's make it happen then. And that night he literally like booked me a really crappy last-minute hotel room, like it was probably no shade, the worst hotel room I've ever stayed in. Um, we hired a car and we were we were on the road the next day because he was like, If you think you need to be here, and if you think this is gonna move the business forward in some way, get yourself there. And people need someone like that in their life. Like you honestly, the amount of times I've had where I've met someone, it could be like two, three years ago, and then they'll circle back and they'll be like, it wasn't the right time then, but this has happened, or I've passed you on to a friend, is huge. And it's really important that your personal brand lasts offline as well as online. Like I am very much uh, well, I'd like to think very much the exact same in real life as I am on my podcast or my YouTube or anything, because people see through it if you want. Um, and yeah, it is memorable, like it's so memorable to have people that are good people that put you forward for opportunities. Like that has been one of the fastest ways that I've been able to grow this. And in terms of how I'm able to manage the personal brand day to day, well, which I just don't really. So I've obviously got um my talent manager to do my collab side for me. Then my actual personal brand itself, what I tend to do is every Monday, I'll basically think of what are my just brief ideas for this week. I'm not really someone that scripts things out, I just like to know the concept, and then I can film from there. Um, and then I think of a concept for each day. I like do a little graph in my notes of um what's going to TikTok. Then I use AI to transcribe the TikTok and use it as my LinkedIn caption. Instagram, I pretty much just repurpose because I'm very TikTok first. And then literally just day by day, don't know how I down how I find the time to do it. I honestly don't. Um, but day by day I look at my concepts and I just film them, upload posts, go. I like sometimes will schedule them using Plannerly so that they go out. Um if I'm like on holiday or something and I can still manage my posts as I am away, because sometimes there's just times where I'm like, I don't want to be filming social media posts while I'm on holiday, which I'm going on holiday shortly. June is gonna be crazy, so I don't even know how I'm gonna manage that. Um, but yeah, I still post two to three times a day on TikTok. I tend to do three to five times a week on Instagram. I definitely could ramp up my Instagram more and I would definitely love to do more trial reels on there. And I try my very best to do daily on LinkedIn as well. I never thought I'd get anything from LinkedIn, but I do get a couple opportunities from there actually. Um, but just make sure again, like you diversify what you've got. Um to try and be. I actually think it's better to be on like multiple platforms and keep them ticking over. I don't know, would I say in comparison to having one that you do really well? I think you should have one that you do really well and then you should have the rest that you just you just have tick over rather than like trying to be everywhere at once. Um, but I do just think TikTok is just the fastest platform to grow on. So I'm such an advocate for using TikTok first. So, all in all, I would be thinking about okay, what is the end goal with the personal brand? Do you really want one as well? Because if you want to build a lasting, impactful personal brand, it's something that you're in for for the long run that you really need to commit with. Like, I'm sorry, but if you try it once, go a bit quiet, give up for a couple of months and come back. Like it's just, it's just not the same. Like, you've really got to be in. You've got to have a really strong and powerful message, something that you represent. Um, and again, like I said, yes, you've got you're building a business, you've got the industry that you're in, but what is the thing above that? And you might not even know that thing at the minute, and that's okay. And it might be that you want to wait, you know, a year or so till you've learned more about that thing so that you can speak on it, like I was saying that um me and Mia were discussing. Be repetitive, like keep saying the same things over and over again. Write your own PR stories and get yourselves in the damn rooms, like make it happen. Don't be afraid to ask for things, even if things feel so out of reach, just ask. Even if it's hilarious that how out of reach it feels. I've had people call my podcast that I thought there's absolutely no way in hell they're gonna give this podcast a second look and they still come on. Like, I just ask for anything. And even if it's a no, it's a no for now. But you know what? At least you're on their radar and then you can go back again in a couple months' time. So a really good exercise that I would recommend doing that I did is making like your top 100 brands to work with, your ultimate like biggest goals that a personal brand could get you to, your some of your like slogan one-liners, like we said. So, like um things that you've achieved, your like PR stories that you want to write yourself, your thought leader stuff. Um, but it's just being so consistent with it. That's what it all comes out down to with social media and with business as well. People are not any better than you, they're just more consistent, like they've just like shown up every single day. And I really have as well. I have been um, well, I did so did January 2024, and I was like, I went for a phase for about a year of doing it really seriously, and then I think there would be occasional weeks where I'd miss out on some stuff. But now that I'm literally making a lot of money from doing this, and like obviously it's a big part of my business. Like, if this went, God knows what would happen. Um, I am really, really on it with mine. Like I rain or shine, post at least two times a day, every single day on TikTok, minus weekends, um, because I needed, I needed, do need a break at some point. Um, and I think that has played a massive part into my growth and knowing that I'm always there at the forefront of people's minds. Like whenever I meet people in real life or um I get them on a sales call or whatever, people are always like, I just always see you on my for you page. I just always see you on my TikTok. And it's because the algorithm rewards you for being consistent. The more you can show up consistently, like you're gonna get so many opportunities from that. And it's the whole rule of seven in marketing. The more people see something, the more they remember it. So if they keep seeing you in different places, you're bound to be remembered. So that's my advice for today. I hope it helped in some capacity um with your personal brand. Um, it's not a hard one to crack. Like it's, you know, it's it takes a long time. And um I was speaking a bit to Grace Andrews recently. She came on the podcast a couple of months ago. Her personal brand is really, really taking off. And she was saying a bit recently on her vlog that that's a result of like a year of hard work, non-stop posting, strategic posting before she got these opportunities, maybe even more than that. Like backdating. So when she first started her personal brand, which was years and years ago. Um, so it is not an overnight thing. It's a it's a slow burner, this one, I will say. It is a slow burner, but it is so impactful. It's like, I mean, people are saying like social media is like the crypto of today. Like the more you invest in it now, the more you'll get out of it in the future. So that's what I'll leave you on for today. As always, if you've enjoyed, please do me a huge favor. Like this video, subscribe, rate this podcast five stars. It helps me out so much to be pushed out to new listeners. Um, I would love to know what the statistics are for people that listen to this and don't even subscribe or follow. Rude, because I actually don't to some of my podcasts. So please do that and it'll help me automatically. Um, and I'll see you on the next episode of this.