We Took a Magazine Cover Too Literally And Built a Cult Around It

In the late ’90s, Fast Company dropped a bombshell on its cover: “A Brand Called You.”

It was orange. Bold. Loud. Unignorable. It looked like an ad for Tide.

Suddenly, everyone was a brand. Not just Nike. Not just Apple. You. Me. The woman in the next cubicle.

Suddenly we were “packages.” Taglines. Talking points.

We are more than the box!

I’ve been ruminating on this for a while.

In a world where AI is everywhere, generating resumes, content, even voices (and videos!), we need to be more human, not less.

And yet, we keep pushing this idea of personal branding as if the goal is to polish ourselves into a perfect, marketable product. Basically: a robot with a Canva template.

I’ve even used the term myself. I’ve told people, “You need to clarify your brand.”

But something about it has always felt off. Performative. Exhausting.

Then I ran into an episode of Adam Grant’s podcast, WorkLife, that finally articulated what I hadn’t been able to put into words.

He said:

“Personal branding is fundamentally a performance.”

That resonated.

for a while, I bought iN

As I said above, I’ve used the phrase “personal brand” in my own content.

I’ve told clients, “You need to clarify your brand.”

I even have it as a category in my blog!!

It sounded smart. Strategic.

But recently, I caught myself mid-sentence and thought:

What am I actually trying to say?

Am I asking them to reduce their years of experience, grit, and wisdom into a color palette and a clever tagline?

That’s not what I meant.

What I meant was:

What do people know you for?

What do they trust you to deliver?

And that’s what people actually buy into:

Your judgment

Your track record

The way you handle pressure, people, and problems

How you make them feel in a meeting (not just what you post on LinkedIn!)

We’re not Coke or Tide.

We’re not billion-dollar logos backed by consumer insights teams, 12-month go-to-market plans, and demographic segmentation reports.

We’re humans.

Which is why trying to build a brand like a Fortune 500 company feels exhausting.

We are all trying to perform a version of ourselves instead of being known for what actually matters: how we work, how we think, and how we show (even when no one is watching).

Branding was a Metaphor

The Fast Company cover wasn't meant to create a life plan. It was a clever metaphor.

But we took it too far. We turned it into gospel.

Now there’s an entire industry of branding coaches, consultants, and self-proclaimed experts telling you how to “build your brand” like it’s a product launch.

The big difference is:

Brands are built to sell. People are built to live, grow, evolve, screw up, and try again.

And when we treat ourselves like a brand, we are signing up for something that even billion-dollar corporations struggle to maintain: perfect, permanent relevance.

The downside of Branding

People are trying so hard to “show up polished” that they forget to show up human.

And then they wonder why no one’s connecting with them.

Because branding is a mask. A mask that eventually will slip.

So What Do You Want to Be Known For?

That’s the real question.

Not “What colors match your vibe” or “What does your IG grid say about your leadership style.” But:

• What’s the consistent impact you leave behind?

• What do people say about you when you’re not in the room?

• What problems do you solve so well that people come to you first?

That’s your reputation. And it’s built by how you show up consistently not what you post when you’re trying to go viral.

Reputation Doesn’t Require Perfection

You just need people to say,

“She came through when it mattered.”

“He’s the reason we didn’t go under.”

“They persevered and made things better under impossible circumstances”

Reputation makes room for the full picture. Even your failures.

Final Thoughts

I might still slip and use the language of “personal branding”; it’s everywhere, and we all know what it points to.

But when I say it, here’s what I really mean:

Build respect. Delight people. Serve people. And do it consistently.

Not everything needs to be curated. Powerful reputations are built through choices that reflect character, not follower count.

Reputation doesn’t need hype. Because it’s not manufactured. It’s earned.

And that’s what sticks for a long time!

Inspired in part by Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast episode, “The Case Against Personal Branding,” produced in partnership with TED. (And yes, I recommend listening to the whole thing.)

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