How Personal is Too Personal
To start off the first edit of Getting Personal, we’re answering the most common question I get in every single workshop I’ve done on personal branding…
How personal is too personal?
It’s uncomfortable to talk about yourself.
Especially when it comes to very personal things.
Like most architects, I always thought being too personal would make me look unprofessional.
Over time, I learned that there is a different range of “personal” for everyone.
Here are 3 ways to strike the balance between unprofessional and personal.
So you can make a decision on what personal means to you.
Draw a Line in the Sand
Knowing that whatever you put on the internet will stay forever, ask yourself:
Are you comfortable with this thing staying on the internet forever?
I’m very open and transparent about my professional struggles, but I draw a line in the sand when it comes to my relationship with my family or my partner online.
Yes sometimes I share my travel to see my family in Hong Kong, or I get on live streams with my sister to share our experience dealing with SARS.
But I don’t feel comfortable talking about the intricacies of my personal relationships.
I like to keep those things private and away from judgment online.
I’ve been many TikTokers that vlogged their entire relationship with their spouses and ended up breaking up or burning out and quitting content creation altogether.
It’s important to set boundaries so that your relationships can stay healthy in your personal life.
Pick 2-3 Personal Things to Share
When people think about personal brand, they usually quickly jump to the conclusion that “I don't want to share my personal life.”
But sharing your personal life actually doesn't mean you have to put your entire life on display 24/7.
Try picking 2-3 things that you like talking about.
It could be your hobbies, your leisurely activities, things that you hate, or food that you can’t live without.
For example, I always share these 3 things I love on my social media:
Pictures of my dog and my dog's adoption journey.
Tea that I'm drinking and my little tea side business.
Places that I travel to while working remotely.
My sister, who’s a business owner and influencer in Hong Kong, likes to share hiking trips with her family and has a series on IG called “Cook Whatever” where she goes live and cooks a messy meal for her daughters while making fun of her lack of cooking skill.
These topics are not particularly interesting. I mean everyone can travel, drink tea, adopt a dog, hike, or cook without knowing how to cook.
But sharing little things like these helps paint you as a real human being.
Unrelated content helps others relate to you better.
The Key to Personal is Authenticity
The “personal” in personal branding actually means being authentic.
You don’t have to share 100% of your life stories, but you do want to:
Share your emotions and opinions wholeheartedly
Own your mistakes, failures, and accomplishments
Be kind and caring to your community
So think less about if you should share a baby picture, and more about:
What opinion can you share about the architecture industry?
Have you made a mistake on a project that you can turn into a lesson learned? (I know we all have these.)
How can you give back to the people around you?
Authenticity goes a much longer way than simply popping up that photo of you when you were 4.
How personal you get is entirely up to you.
But no matter where you choose to draw the line, don’t let it be the reason that you’re not sharing content online.
Always cheering you on,
Joann
More resources to build your personal brand today:
1. Follow me on Linkedin for more content on branding and marketing.
2. Gain clarity to your most pressing questions (Booked out 2 weeks)
3. Work with me 1:1 to build your personal brand (Booked out 4 weeks)
