Ok, so why did I decide to launch a newsletter about personal branding? Because in my own journey of learning how to show up online, I find that my most common DM’s I receive these days are about exactly that. Turns out, being perceived is actually TERRIFYING, and nobody talks about that part.

How can I find inspiration? 

How do I get over my discomfort of putting myself out there? 

What if I look like an idiot? 

What if nobody sees my content? 

Or worse, what if EVERYONE sees my content and they all unanimously hate it with the fire of a thousand suns?

I have good news and bad news. I’m a bad-news-first kinda girly, so here it is: There is no single formula or solution that will help you, and you’re going to have to figure a lot of this stuff all on your own. 

The good news is that I promise you, all of this is so much scarier in your own head than in practice. However, you won’t discover that truth until you do the damn thing and start putting yourself out there.

Since this is the first edition of Main Character Memo, I’ll do a little intro on my journey. *Dreamy flashback music plays* In January 2024, I decided to upend my entire life at 28 years old, try to leave my long-suffering career as an Executive Recruiter in Manufacturing (yawn), join a Software Development Bootcamp, and crack the Tech industry.

I don’t have a college degree or an Uncle who works for Google, and I didn’t know a single soul in Tech. So, in February 2024, one month into learning the mysteries of JavaScript, I started networking on LinkedIn. I had an account for years that I pretty much never used, a whopping 183 connections, and a very blank profile.

I started sending invite connects to local professionals in Tech, posting about my little projects, stalking (ethically) some really cool and well-established homies in the Tech space that I admired, and through all of that, I felt like a big, huge, silly fraud.

Who was I to be posting about my rudimentary little builds? Why am I reaching out to these very important, busy, and successful people? Nobody is even going to notice what I’m doing anyway. 

Except they did. 

The older I get, the more I realize how reciprocal life is. You don’t ask, you don’t get. You don’t take chances, you won’t achieve progress. Somehow, it’s even scarier when you realize how much of your destiny really does lie within your own hands.

Now, I can’t promise you’ll end up with a gazillion followers or go viral every week (I still haven’t gone viral myself yet, whack). I can tell you that you’ll find doors opening for you, new and unexpected relationships will form, and maybe, just maybe, along the way you’ll start to recognize how much of an impact you can have on the world around you. After all, there’s only one you.

We’ll talk more about all of this here. One memo at a time. I believe in you.