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What’s the ONE area you’re truly focused on improving right now—not the thing you ‘should’ pick, but the one that’s actually taking up space in your mind?
Dear {{ first name | Legend}},
I have an honest question. When someone hears your name, what do they think of?
Fun
Artist
Runner
Coffee enthusiast
What if that someone was your boss? Or a recruiter? Or a potential client? What immediately appears in their head?
Whatever appears in their head will impact whether you get the promotion, the job, or the business. That’s your brand. And you already have one today. The question is: does it serve your goals, or does it not?
The truth is that when most people hear “personal brand”, they think:
“I don’t want to be an influencer”
“I don’t want to post videos of myself”
“I don’t want to promote myself, that’s cringe”
“I don’t have time to create content”
Heartset: No one has time to build their brand, until it’s too late.
I get it. Nobody has time to build their personal brand.
Until they need it most.
When they’re laid off.
When their biggest client leaves.
When prospects start saying they’re “too expensive.”
When the phone stops ringing and the inbox goes quiet.
Then they panic. “Maybe I should work on my personal brand.”
But by then, it’s probably too late. It’s like waiting for the market to crash and then say “I should have diversified my investments.”
Instead of waiting for the crash, why not invest in your brand now?
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Mindset: Self-promotion → Self-expression
A few weeks ago, I interviewed Mike Kim. He is a personal brand strategist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book You Are the Brand. For over a decade, he’s helped entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders clarify their message and build businesses around their reputation — not just their résumé. He’s worked with folks like Donald Miller (Storybrand), John Maxwell (Leadership expert), and other 7-8 figure personal brands.
This is the big aha in our conversation:
“Personal branding is not about promotion, it’s about expression. It’s not about positioning yourself as someone you’re not, but revealing who you already are.”
So forget about cringy self-promotion. That’s actually not helpful, instead think about self-expression.
Now you are probably asking “and how do I do that Howie?”
You are in exactly the right place. The problem is most people don’t know how to express themselves.
They’ve spent entire careers being “professional.”
Which often meant being quiet.
Not showing too much of themselves.
Not saying what they really think.
And letting their “work” and “results” do the speaking for them.
“Most people just have underdeveloped expression muscles.”
I’m going to ask you another honest question: “Does letting your work speak for you actually work?” Think about when you were laid-off or when your friends were let go. Were they bad employees? Did their performance speak for them?
NOPE.
Expression is key. That’s how people know you for something. No one is going to spend the time to get to know your results and your performance. Not even a recruiter who has thousands of applications to go through.
Hypothetically, if there were two people with the same exact skills, but one is known for it, who will be the lead contender?
Expression is leadership.
It’s the difference between being a résumé and being remembered.
And it all starts with a point of view (POV).
Skillset: The PB3 Framework (Personal Brand 3: Your POV finder)
Your point of view is the foundation to your brand.
And the PB3 Framework is how you uncover it. Mike has used it with ALL his clients, some pay him a large sum of money through his coaching program.
Here’s how to use Mike Kim’s PB3 to find your own POV.
1/ What Pisses You Off? (Find Your Fire)
“What pisses you off is the injustice that you see in the world or in your own life.”
It’s intentionally broad to help people identity what violates their values, because frustration is usually a signal for conviction.
Here is Mike’s answer: “What pissed me off was having my schedule and income dictated by someone else. That anger told me I valued freedom… I just hadn’t named it yet.”
Ask yourself:
What frustrates you most about your industry or workplace or in your life?
What do you see others doing that you know could be better?
When you scroll through LinkedIn or sit in meetings, what makes you mutter, “It shouldn’t be this way”?
Examples:
A marketing consultant: “I hate manipulative tactics that trick people into buying things they don’t need.”
A CEO: “I can’t stand when leaders hide behind jargon instead of owning their mistakes.”
A healthcare leader: “It drives me crazy that empathy is treated like a soft skill when it’s a hard advantage.”
Prompt: Finish this sentence “I’m tired of ________.”
Now, look at your answer. That’s your first clue to your values and your voice.
2/ What Breaks Your Heart? (Find Your Humanity)
“What breaks your heart is the compassion. When those two things — what pisses you off and what breaks your heart come together, now we’re talking.”
This is your compassion, the place where you feel the ache to help.
Mike shared: “It broke my heart to see brilliant people living under a dark cloud of obligation, doing work they didn’t love, just to survive.”
Ask yourself:
Who or what do you ache to see succeed?
When you see someone struggling, what part of you says, “No one should have to go through that”?
What would you work on even if you weren’t paid for it, simply because it matters?
Examples:
A career coach: “It breaks my heart to see talented professionals doubting their worth after a layoff.”
A founder: “It kills me when small businesses give up because they can’t compete with big budgets.”
A manager: “It hurts to see brilliant people burn out because no one taught them how to set boundaries.”
Prompt: Finish this sentence “It breaks my heart that ________.”
That heartbreak gives your message warmth and empathy. It turns your anger into something healing.
3/ What’s the Big Problem You’re Trying to Solve? (Find Your Purpose)
Now it’s time to connect your emotion to usefulness.
“When you have the answer to the problem you want to help solve, now you’re being useful. You have some value in the world.”
Mike’s statement: “My company exists to help people start, run, and grow a profitable personal brand business.”
Ask yourself:
What problem do I feel uniquely equipped to solve?
Where do my skills and my frustrations intersect?
If I could fix one recurring issue for others, what would it be?
Examples:
Communication coach: “I help leaders communicate clearly so their teams actually follow through.”
Executive coach: “I help burned-out executives build meaningful careers without losing their families.”
Marketing manager: “I help teams turn complex ideas into messages people actually understand and act on.”
Prompt: Finish this sentence “The big problem I want to help solve is ________.”
This is your usefulness in the world.
The Intersection: Your Point of View
When you overlap these three — your fire, heart, and purpose — you find your POV.
POV Formula Prompt:
“I believe [people/team/industry] deserve [change/outcome] because [what pisses you off] and [what breaks your heart]. That’s why I’m focused on solving [the big problem you’re trying to solve].”
Examples:
“I believe small-business owners deserve the chance to grow without selling their souls because it pisses me off that marketing has become a game of manipulation, and it breaks my heart to see good people give up because they refuse to play dirty. That’s why I’m focused on solving the problem of helping entrepreneurs build honest brands that sell through trust, not tricks.”
“I believe corporate leaders deserve the skills to communicate with clarity and courage because it pisses me off when fear and politics silence truth, and it breaks my heart when brilliant teams burn out under confusion. That’s why I’m focused on solving the problem of poor communication inside organizations by teaching leaders how to express themselves with honesty and empathy.”
Read mine HERE
Your action?
Write your PB3, formulate your POV and share it. This could be in a team meeting, on LinkedIn, or even just with a friend. Watch what resonates. That’s your audience telling you that your message connects.
And it begins your journey of expressing yourself, and building your personal brand.
Pro Tip: Your PB3 Evolves
Mike reminds us:
“A brand is an identity made up of your ideas, your experiences, your reputation, and your personality… and those things are all going to change.”
So don’t wait for the perfect answer. Just start where you are and let clarity grow as you express yourself.
Next Steps
If this sparked something in you:
Listen to my full conversation with Mike Kim — where we dig deeper into how leaders can build brands rooted in integrity. [Podcast link]
Read his book, You Are the Brand — a must-read guide that gives you the 8-step blueprint for your personal brand. [Book link] (FYI it’s an affiliate link, free for you, a couple bucks from Amazon to me)
View my free masterclass on finding your niche - I help viewers overcome psychological and practical barriers to design a niche for you to dominate. [Class link]
If you like this issue about trust, you’ll love:
How to Get Jobs and Opportunities to Chase You (A 4-step road map to attract on LinkedIn.)
Why People Are Ignoring You, Your Product, Service, Or Company (The 5 Step Difference Playbook.)
The Art of Influence: How Design Shapes Human Behavior (The five steps to make design work for your business.)
Change behavior, change lives 🤘🏽
Howie Chan
Creator of Influence Anyone
Don’t miss:
The Influence Anyone Podcast
In this conversation, brand strategist and You Are the Brand author Mike Kim reveals why personal branding isn’t about promotion, it’s about expression.
He takes you inside the frameworks that make that shift real: from the Expression Muscle, where he explains why most people stay invisible not for lack of strategy but for lack of practice; to the Living Identity Model, which reframes a brand as something that evolves as you do; to the Test-and-Learn Principle, where your voice is honed in public, not in private.
You’ll walk away knowing how to express what you stand for, build a brand that feels true, and lead with the kind of influence that earns trust.