Working at LinkedIn Changed How I Think About Personal Branding

I waited a decade to start. Here's what I learned when I finally did.

I’ve worked at LinkedIn for 11 years.

And for 10 of them, I barely posted an update beyond promotion celebrations or events.

It wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to say, but because I created blockers in my head that felt very, very real.

What will people think? Who am I to talk about this? What if no one cares?

All of those blockers, were simply perceived by me but not necessarily true. Of course, what I write won’t resonated with everyone, but when is that the case for anything in life. So why let it become a blocker if you want to write?

The moment I started posting, everything changed!

People trust people. Not logos.

On a call with a client discussing their company’s employer brand, I regularly shared “People trust people. Not your company logo”. I repeated this sentence over and over to many many companies. Because it was true, people buy from other people. They place their trust in what another person is telling them.

A brand name gets your foot in the door, it can open emails and get meetings but it doesn’t close the deal.

People buy from people.

At the top layer, you have your company brand that includes the product, packaging and the logo on the door. It creates recognition and builds credibility. The logo and company brand is the first impression.

But what drives sustained success? The personalities behind it. The humans who show up, build real relationships, and make people feel something.

The brand can get you in the room, the person keeps you there.

I’ve watched this play out up close for over a decade. The people who build genuine trust aren’t hiding behind a company name. They’re out front, visible and being completely open and honest.

It took me 10 years to start. Don’t let it take you that long.

I know first-hand how hard it is to simply begin.

For a decade, I worked at one of the world’s most recognisable professional networks and still convinced myself I had no business posting on it.

One year ago, I started sharing. My experience in Tech, my take on AI and the overwhelm I was feeling. Career advice I wish someone had given me earlier. The honest, unfiltered perspective of someone who has spent 11 years watching how people and businesses actually grow.

What happened next surprised me.

I met people I never would have crossed paths with. Speaking gigs landed in my inbox. Podcast invites followed. Real opportunities I couldn’t have engineered if I tried, all because I started showing up.

None of that exists if I stay quiet.

Your personal brand isn’t built overnight. It’s built on ordinary Tuesdays.

People think of personal branding like a launch moment. One post goes viral and suddenly you have a brand.

That’s not how trust works.

Trust is build by showing up, daily, weekly, monthly, over a sustained period of time. It’s unglamorous and repetitive. And it’s the only thing that actually works.

The people with the strongest personal brands didn’t ride one wave. They just kept going. After the algorithm changed and the likes dropped. After the initial excitement wore off, they showed up anyway.

One year in, I understand this now in a way I couldn’t before I started.

All of the blockers in my head were not real. Putting yourself out there is truly humbling and you are opening yourself up to judgement and criticism. Sometimes to silence which can feel even worse.

The people who sustain it over time are the ones who stay genuine. Who are honest about where they are, what they known and what they’re still figuring out.

And the ones who burn out? They’re usually trying to be someone else.

If you copy another person’s voice, their style and their angle, people feel it. It doesn’t land and its simply not sustainable.

The best thing you can do is lean into you. Your experience with technology, your career journey, your honest take on AI in a world that is drowning in the latest updates in AI! Even when it feels too niche or too ordinary, that’s exactly what makes it yours.

Algorithms change. Your story doesn’t.

The most stressful part of posting consistently is feeling like the rules keep shifting. And they do. Reach fluctuates and what worked last month doesn’t necessary work this month.

Working at LinkedIn for 11 years has taught me that if you’re genuinely talking about your real experience and your honest perspective, it will always be relevant. Not to all, but to someone at some point.

Algorithms optimise for engagement. The most enduring form of engagement is people who feel like they know you. Who open your posts because they want your take, not just because it appeared in their feed.

You can’t hack that, you earn it slowly over time by building trust.

The short version.

Your company brand opens doors. your personal brand keeps them open.

I spent 10 years waiting to feel ready. I wasn’t waiting for the right moment, I was just afraid. The speaking gigs, the podcast invites, the connections I’ve made in the last 12 months? None of it happens without the first post.

So if you’re sitting on decade one of your own silence, this is your sign. Start before you feel ready. Be more yourself that feels comfortable and just keep going.

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I post about tech, AI and career growth. If any of this resonated, follow along - I share something new every week.