Your personal brand is being built right now, whether you’re intentional about it or not.
In this episode, media host and brand strategist Corey Andrew Powell joins me to explore how clarity, consistency, and connection shape the way the world sees you.
Corey shares why your seemingly ordinary story holds more power than you think, and how to stop shrinking yourself to make others comfortable. You’ll hear about the soggy grilled cheese that tanked a brand for 30 years, the privacy setting error that ended a teaching career, and the hot chocolate stand story that transformed a business leader’s entire approach to competition. Plus, we tackle how to balance authenticity with professionalism across all platforms.
This conversation is for anyone juggling multiple passions, navigating career pivots, or ready to stop playing small and start owning their unique voice unapologetically.
Your personal brand started forming the moment you walked out your front door this morning.
That interaction with your neighbor? Branding moment. Your LinkedIn profile that hasn’t been updated since 2019? Also branding. The way you ignored that networking email because you “didn’t have anything impressive to say”? You guessed it… branding.
Your Story Doesn’t Need to Be Dramatic to Be Valuable
One of the biggest myths Corey and I tackled is the idea that your personal story needs to be extraordinary to matter. You don’t need a tragic backstory or a meteoric rise to success. You just need to own what you’ve actually experienced.
Corey shared a powerful example from one of his podcast guests who built a business empire partly inspired by lessons learned from running a childhood hot chocolate stand. A hot chocolate stand. Not climbing Mount Everest or surviving a shipwreck. Just a kid selling drinks on a ski slope.
That seemingly simple story contained a pivotal lesson about competition and business strategy that shaped her entire career trajectory.
Your “ordinary” moments might be exactly what someone else needs to hear to unlock their own breakthrough.
The takeaway? Stop waiting until your story feels “impressive enough” to share it. Someone out there needs to hear about your pivot, your failure, your comeback, or even your Tuesday afternoon realization while folding laundry.
The Three Non-Negotiables of Personal Branding
Corey broke down personal branding into three essential components, and I’m stealing this framework because it’s that good:
Clarity
You can’t build a personal brand if you don’t know who you are. This means getting brutally honest about your strengths, your values, and what you absolutely will not tolerate. It requires deep introspection—the kind most of us avoid because it’s uncomfortable.
But clarity gives you the ability to walk into any room (or Zoom call) and know exactly what you’re bringing to the table.
Consistency
This is where people trip up, especially on social media. You can’t be one person on Instagram, another on LinkedIn, and a completely different version at networking events.
Your brand needs to be recognizable across all platforms.
That doesn’t mean you can’t show personality. It means understanding the difference between “professional you” and “wildly inappropriate you.” Would you announce that LinkedIn post in your actual office? If not, rethink it.
Connection
Every single interaction shapes how people perceive you.
Corey compared personal branding to customer service at a department store: How did you make people feel when they encountered you? Did they leave wanting to engage with you again, or did they mentally write you off?
Stop Dimming Your Light
Corey talked about being told he “sucked all the air out of the room” when he walked in. The person meant it as an insult, something to make him smaller, quieter, less much.
His response?
Maybe you just need stronger lungs, honey.
Mic. Drop. 🎤
Your power, your energy, your success might intimidate people. That’s their problem to solve, not yours.
You are not responsible for making yourself smaller so others feel bigger. You were not hired, promoted, or brought into this world to dim your light because someone else isn’t shining as brightly.
This is especially important for women, people of color, and anyone from marginalized communities who’ve been conditioned to stay quiet, stay back, stay small. Your unique perspective and your full-power presence are exactly what the world needs more of.
Focus on Your Strengths
One shift that could transform your entire career is to stop obsessing over your weaknesses and double down on your strengths.
Corey’s advice from years of interviewing successful leaders? If you’re mediocre at something, you’re probably not meant to excel at it (and that’s okay).
But the things you’re naturally good at? The things you could talk about for hours without preparation? Those are your gold mines.
Too many of us spend our energy trying to become “well-rounded” when we should be becoming exceptional at what we’re already great at.
Find ways to do more of what energizes you, what you’re naturally skilled at, and what brings you joy. Then figure out how to build a career (or business, or life) around those things.
Intentionality Wins
At the end of our conversation, I asked Corey how he defines being a “balanced badass,” and his answer was perfect: intentionality.
When you’re younger, you can throw things at the wall and see what sticks. But as life gets more complex—aging parents, kids, mortgages, limited time—you have to become ruthlessly intentional about where you invest your energy.
Personal branding isn’t about creating a fake persona or performing for an audience. It’s about getting crystal clear on who you are, what you stand for, and how you want to show up in the world.
Then doing it consistently, unapologetically, and with full ownership of your story.
Got thoughts or questions from this week’s episode? Drop them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you! 🫶
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To connect with Corey:
- Website (https://www.coreyandrew.com/)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyandrewpowell/)
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/coreyandrew/)
- TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@conversationswithcorey)
I’m Tara Kermiet — leadership coach, burnout strategist, and host of The Balanced Badass Podcast®. I help high-achievers and corporate leaders design careers that are successful and sustainable.
Here, you’ll find tactical tools, leadership lessons, and burnout education that just makes sense.
👉 Start by taking my free Burnout Drivers Mini Assessment
😍 Join my community on Instagram (@TaraKermiet) and/or TikTok (@TaraKermiet) so we can stay connected!
