Shifting Careers? How to Reposition Your Personal Brand | Alex Mari (#21)
Episode Summary
Alex Mari joins me to unpack what it really takes to build a personal brand that stands out—especially for professionals with 10–20 years of experience. Alex is a marketing strategist, researcher, and university lecturer focused on personal branding and digital marketing. He’s taught at institutions like the University of Zurich and the University of St. Gallen and regularly consults on branding strategy.
Expect to learn why personal branding isn’t just for influencers or entrepreneurs, what first steps anyone can take to get started, and how to position yourself if you want to be known for more than just one thing. Alex shares insights on how culture affects personal branding, what makes content valuable on LinkedIn, and whether you really need to be active on social media to build credibility.
Meet Alex Mari
Alex Mari is a researcher, branding strategist, and university lecturer specializing in digital marketing and personal branding. He teaches at institutions including the University of Zurich and the University of Milan and is a frequent speaker on branding, identity, and digital presence. His work bridges academic research with real-world application, helping professionals and organizations develop authentic and impactful brands.
Learn more about Alex:
Episode Transcript
Alex Mari interview OBS – Mike track
Mike: [00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel. My guest today is Alex Mari, a marketing strategist, researcher, and expert in personal branding. With a background spanning corporate marketing, academia, and startups, Alex has spent the last two decades helping individuals and businesses position themselves effectively in an evolving digital landscape.
He teaches personal branding at the University of Zurich and Milan. And advises professionals on how to stand out, build credibility and future proof their careers. What does it take to build a personal brand and why does it matter? If you’ve been working in the same industry for years, how do you break out of whatever it is you were doing and redefine your professional identity? And does personal branding look different in Europe compared to the US where self promotion is more ingrained in the culture? In this episode, Alex and I explore the strategies behind building a personal brand, particularly for corporate professionals [00:01:00] looking to pivot or expand their influence.
We discuss the role of LinkedIn, and how to brand yourself when you have multiple interests. We also dive into why so many people resist personal branding, the mistakes to avoid and how job market trends are shaping how we present ourselves online.
So if you’ve ever wondered how to craft a strong professional identity without feeling like you have to self promote, this episode is for you. Now, here’s my conversation with Alex Mari.
How do you define a personal brand and what are the defining characteristics of a successful one
Alex: So personal brand is about being radically authentic rather than pretending to be someone. something you’re not And at the same time, you have to work in the name of a purpose rather than neglecting to discover your purpose. So inspiring others to follow your story is another key characteristic for [00:02:00] personal branding. So contributing to something valuable to the world, uh, is also Extremely important, uh, because oftentimes, uh, people are self promoting without giving anything back. And so, um, I think overall personal brand, uh, requires you to be intentional about your brand presence.
So, um, the biggest mistake that I see is that individuals are creating content without having a proper strategy. and so overall, I would define personal brand as your reputation that you build over time and requires, of course, a foundation of your values, your beliefs, but of course, it evolves also with your interests and what you can actually give back.
Mike: [00:03:00] you said that It is not just self promoting, but at the same time, self
promotion must be a big part of it. Because if people don’t know who you are, it doesn’t matter what your brand is, right?
Alex: That’s correct. visibility is an important aspect of it. So there is of course, uh, an opportunity to differentiate yourself so that people can find you more easily. But at the same time.
after they found you you can stay top of mind, which means that a brand enables you to become more memorable, people can connect with you at any time.
And, uh, because you are seen as a total leader, a brand adds credibility and authority to your work. Um, what I particularly like about a personal brand is the opportunity of connecting with like minded individuals. So a brand supports The creation of relationships. So people can relate to you. And uh, [00:04:00] the consequence of all the artwork you do is that you attract more opportunity.
So also financially, having a personal brand can be rewarding because your brand exposes your work to people that relate to it somehow. And so, you can be hired more often and, um, And therefore, by exposing your work, you will be developing, uh, your self awareness in the sense that people will criticize you sometimes. And so in a way, uh, you are receiving constant feedback that allows you to grow. So self growth, another important aspect of it
Mike: is it.
more important today than it’s ever been? social media isn’t new and I guess I associate branding a lot with social media because that is just the channel in which we let People know what our brand is. But would you say now, over the last few
[00:05:00] years, it is becoming increasingly important or it’s always been important?
Alex: I think based on the way I see personal branding, there is definitely um, there has always been important in the sense that we need to develop self awareness. So we need to explore personality traits, uh, positive character traits. so our strength, our skills, I think a strong personal brand would have always helped, but through social media, your level of influence can be a lot broader. Building a personal brand today means that you are more easily able to navigate transitions from different jobs between industries and oftentimes also make lateral changes.
So, um, the idea is that with a lifelong personal brand, you’re not investing simply to [00:06:00] find a job and so opportunistically be more active online on social media, just to. Um, land a position you like, but you’re basically evolving and showing your evolution along the different jobs that you are doing.
And so this is a sort of, uh, important aspect that stays with you over time. And so, Um, it is becoming, I believe, even more important.
Mike: Hmm.
Does anybody not need a personal
brand? Is it only
relevant for some career paths?
Alex: So I would say there are career paths that are, um, that, that see personal brand being at the core. So require, um, very strong commitment from the individual. Uh, there are others that instead can be considered just,
side [00:07:00] activities. So I imagine. two axes, one in terms of relevance, high, low, and in terms of commitment required, which is side activity or core activity.
Uh, the, high relevance, high commitment, I see a content creator, influencer. So clearly if your job is to be a content creator or influencer, you need to have a personal brand. You need to work on it very seriously. um, And then, of course, there are other jobs where it is slightly less relevant, slightly less commitment required.
For example, a freelancer or a fractional worker. If you have a startup, if you are a founder, definitely it is important. But, you know, you go down to Uh, corporate employee and volunteers where, um, this becomes, optional. So, again, the importance and the reason [00:08:00] why you should have one are clear and are strategic.
And, definitely The career path that you choose can always evolve over time. And so the, your reliance of a per on a personal brand. Might also change.
Mike: I would like to linger
a little bit on the. Part of that graph, which is optional. So
that would be someone working a corporate job, because I would imagine quite a large percentage of the people listening to this would fit that, category. So you say it’s optional. What’s a good
reason or two to convince
them that this is something worth investing
their time in doing?
Alex: Yeah. So more and more senior managers, if you, if you simply go on LinkedIn, uh, you will realize are very actively creating a personal brand. And, uh, Um, we talked about the relevant, characteristics that [00:09:00] define a personal brand. Um, these individuals in some cases are top managers and big organizations. And they are investing time to create adult leadership in specific areas, their brand territories.
Um, often they’re even investing in having a website, um, even in doing advertising to further promote their profiles. this is just how important and radical, uh, these personal branding practice has become. So why do an employee need a personal brand? this opens up opportunities, of course, of visibility internally and externally. there is a very interesting comment that Jim Stangl, the CMO, former CMO of Procter and Gamble has made. He basically said that to convince. People internally [00:10:00] have the vision he was going to implement. He often talked to newspapers and magazine and was convincing internal people by actually communicating externally.
And this is somehow something that I see very often happening. So a lot of managers, are actually. Um, persuading their teams internal internal stakeholders by communicating externally by sharing their opinion by sharing their thoughts with the larger audience. And so a personal brand mindset is very different than an employee mindset.
An employee needs to match identity with the company culture, whereas think about a personal brand. You need to have a distinctive identity, identity. Um. Being unique, being distinct is actually what makes you [00:11:00] stand out. As an employee, you seek long term job security, whereas a personal brand seeks steady project flows, what we call employability.
So the fact that you can have, um, new projects coming up, you, uh, as an employee, you want to climb the corporate ladder linearly and As a personal brand, you are open to alternative path, so you create your career. So the career is self driven. And so, um, there are many, many differences, but I think in general, what Is important for me to explain is being an employee means that everything that you are sharing needs to be somehow authorized by the company or aligned with what the company thinks and believes, whereas as a personal brand sharing is [00:12:00] essential.
It’s the core of the existence of your brand.
Mike: It totally makes
sense. It’s also difficult if you’ve never shared before to start sharing
is a very daunting thing. what advice would you give to someone who, yeah, they’ve been
working for a corporate job for the last 10 years. And I think, okay, I, I, I like this, but I have all these
other interests.
I want to actually start, but I’m. Really intimidated by the idea of sharing something what what sort of advice do you give to
people to? Encourage them to get started.
Alex: I think that bragging or appearing as someone that brags is one of the biggest blocker in, uh, uh, content creation. I often suggest individuals to actually think that sharing is an act of generosity and you are in that position to give something back. If you want to actually help others to develop as well. and [00:13:00] so it should be seen As something very positive. Um, what is considered bragging is basically, as we said before, self promoting yourself to sell more, to sell your services, uh, to sell the innovativeness of your company, which in a way doesn’t give much added value. to other individuals. but whenever it comes to connecting with like minded individuals, helping them to develop, this is something that, should be embraced as positive and very optimistic move. So um, What are the phases? Every individual has interesting aspect of daily life of professional life. And the first step would be to actually tell the beautiful things you’re doing What you’re learning in a way that you make others aware. [00:14:00] Of course, not everyone will be interested. Some will be, others will not. And so it’s very important to be positioned In a way that your brand delivers the value that you’re seeking to deliver to the right individuals. And so this is for me first starting point. So you are, for example, uh, doing interviews on magazines. And so how can you repurpose this content in a way That makes sense with the context and with the group you are trying to reach? You don’t have to produce anything new. It’s just repurposing what you already have produced for other instances. Then, of course, you can get up to the most sophisticated level in which you are creating new content. So you are doing a podcast, a podcast that requires you to be fully dedicated to it. That requires you, persistence.
And in fact, I believe I’m [00:15:00] your 21st, uh, guest to this podcast. And, uh, I want to congratulate because you reached a very important milestone. 20 is actually, where most of the people, uh, stop and only, uh, 1 percent is actually passing the 20th podcast. So you are with your persistence, um, competing only with 1 percent of other podcasters. there are similar cases of, uh, uh, Twitch streamers or YouTubers, where approximately only 10 percent is actually making a living out of content creation. And so the involvement of the commitment of creating a consistent flow of content for social channels.
This requires clearly, to step change and be completely, conscious of the [00:16:00] strategy that you, that you, have. So just to sum it up, I think that, the first step is, to share things just for the pleasure of doing it without the expectation, of making a impact initially. Um, why? Because This is very common. you are not shared much, and now You are starting and you see the importance of personal brand. And then after you invested a couple of hours to craft a very nice post on LinkedIn, you receive just a couple of likes. And then you are discouraged. And you start to think, well, this is not worth my time. And you stop.
And instead, as we said, perseverance is extremely important. To see results and to actually become visible to the algorithms of these platforms, you have to be active and, produce content on a [00:17:00] regular basis, only after you will start to see results. And so congratulations to you for having passed this important milestone.
Mike: Thanks, and I that resonates with me a hundred percent and it’s daunting and a bit sad when you First ten episodes you release them and this probably goes the same for LinkedIn posts You release it and then no
one’s listening and it’s not a very nice
feeling but then if you flip it That’s a good thing because at the very beginning, you’re not very good at it anyway, So, even if you
screw up.
No one’s listening. So it also gives you the opportunity to actually get better at something as well with very little to no
risk.
Alex: Definitely, definitely. So, uh, one important, um, aspect of a mindset you have to develop is this, ability to embrace failure and, uh, and, uh, be open to receive feedback, which is, Common ground to, uh, to have a growth mindset. [00:18:00] So if you are afraid of exposing yourself Because perhaps you’re a perfectionist, uh, your podcast is uh, very much focusing on, on Switzerland. And now I’ve been living in Switzerland for the past 17 years. And, uh, especially when it comes to software development And technology, people tend to be so in control and don’t accept failure in any shape. And I believe instead that in this environment, there is really limited risk if you are genuine in what you’re doing. of course, you might find people that judge you. You might find people that criticize a post and openly consider you, not the talk leader you want to share to be, but actually the benefit of being exposed are much higher than the potential problem [00:19:00] resulting from it. And, um, it just give you an example that I always like to give. So. When social media became popular, executives at Lego were asked to go online with the account of the company and, share something.
Some of them just shared hello, others went a little bit further, but all of them were enthusiastic afterwards. to see that others were contributing, were answering, were engaged in a conversation. and, this is a bit the spirit of social media. So it’s called social media because it’s about social relationships, right?
So it’s So important that we are not just sharing content, but we are actively contributing to a community of like minded people, a group of individuals That actually have the same interest and, uh, [00:20:00] or passions. So, having something unique, having something that connects to your value, your beliefs. Very, very important.
Mike: I also have learned a lot through this.
The things that I’ve put out in terms of content for me, the ones in
which I predicted would be successful were not, and the ones I thought this is going to flop were successful. and like you said, you just don’t know
at the beginning. You just have to put things out into the universe and see what comes back. It’ll surprise you.
Alex: Definitely. You’re completely right. it takes time to actually develop authenticity in your writing in sharing your thoughts. So those that do become authentic are the ones that will always have more opportunities, better opportunities. there, there is just, an imposter syndrome, process in there in which we don’t feel other way and we, [00:21:00] uh, somehow tend to believe we cannot give enough value, to others, Uh, think about the AI, uh, trend right now. So everyone got expert of charge, GPT, and uh, and there are people studying AI since 20 years and now the competition is just broader and everyone got an expert in practically no time. But, but don’t underestimate, how good are people in actually. Uh, capturing who really knows things, who really, um, has something to add on a personal level, which is not just re sharing news and facts that they’ve read somewhere else. So, originality of the content. extremely important. you are not original, you cannot be authentic in most cases. And [00:22:00] so then, uh, there is no actual interest in following you in learning from you.
Mike: Hmm. How do you think cultural differences play into this? Self promotion
feels very American. Whereas that doesn’t seem to be the case in a lot
of Europe, especially in Switzerland.
Should people
keep that in mind when promoting
themselves? What should I think about the
audience of who they’re promoting to Definitely. So there are large differences and, Uh, I happen to teach also to, uh, medical doctors. So they are head of departments of, uh, very complicated disciplines. Uh, sometimes it’s even hard to pronunciate. And, as a doctor, you say, well, you know, but I haven’t started to spend my time, uh, on social media sharing things.
Alex: I actually want to help people out. and uh, and uh, at the end of the day, [00:23:00] what happens is That if you don’t see these are strategically important to not only develop yourself, but also to develop your team to recruit more talented individuals, then it’s very difficult to find the enthusiasm and the consistency to.
Uh, keep pushing for it, but whenever I ask the question, So, are you having time to recruit talented people? Yes, I have heard. Do you know somebody else that is actually in your field and is much better at doing that? Yes. Why? Because they have exposure. They have visibility. They already are deeply integrated in a community of individuals with the same interests, like minded people. And so you realize that. If you.
are, a leader today, having a personal brand means that you can also develop your team much faster. [00:24:00] Think about the university. So if you’re a professor, the professor PhD relationship, A professor that is very active on social can more easily promote their PhDs, which means that they are more likely to actually find a placement, gain opportunities.
So, of course, all this can be done offline. You don’t need to do it on social media. You can probably just Um, do it, uh, under the radar but it’s just the reach and the impact that you can achieve that today is required because if you are not speaking out, if you are not visible.
Through the algorithms, you’re basically non existing and there is, of course, a good side of it and a very bad side of it, but we have to be prepared and challenge ourself to actually understand what limits [00:25:00] us to Expose more
Mike: That’s it for part one of my episode with Alex Mari. But be sure we are not done. Come back tomorrow for part two as there is still much more to unpack. Stay tuned.
I’m Mike Connors and this is how it ticks. Let’s pick up right where we left off with Alex Mari.
for better or for worse, we live in a world where it’s now normal to change job every two years, can you describe the process of creating a personal brand? that really runs across multiple jobs, even if those jobs aren’t necessarily linked to each other?
Alex: Sure. So I think that personal brand, first of all, needs to integrate some marketing thinking, marketing thinking, um, because we need to understand the market we want to play in. And the job market is evolving. And as we said before, there are multiple career paths you can [00:26:00] take. And eventually you are going to develop a career portfolio.
So besides understanding who you are. So internally and externally, uh, you know, where are you playing the market? So this space you can call reflecting then you have to define where the opportunities lie And trying to experiment so experimentation is, an important aspect of it So you cannot jump into a remote working career without understanding Exactly your lifestyle. There is always a constant evolution. And so you have to optimize your brand over time. And whenever you are successful, you can be ready to the, next stage, which is a personal brand portfolio extension. So you have more project. You can basically diversify your branding effort. very [00:27:00] classic is the example of, uh, Mark Zuckerberg these days. So he had, um, this big scandal with Cambridge Analytica. He, uh, basically, was, under the radar testifying, in front of the Congress. And So It basically had to change becoming, um, an increasingly, uh, what is called, uh, uh, So someone that eventually went from, uh, wearing gray t shirt And hoodies to designer brands, someone that Um, is focusing on fitness, particularly martial arts, that is carefully creating social media posts very professionally. And so, he has repositioned himself completely. and this Is required process sometimes. So [00:28:00] going back to the question of what is changing in the marketplace. So as we said, you have an internal view of yourself, an external view of the market, and then you have to identify opportunities.
So where is the intersection of these? And, uh, and of course, uh, for, for younger individuals, um, it is very important to explain how are things changing. So from a linear career path to a multi stage life. So the idea is you are not studying and then working for 40 years and retiring. When I ask. My student, do you see yourself working in the same company for 40 years?
They, of course, say absolutely not. And the incoming CEO of Nike, for example, he has been in the same company for 32 years and he started from being an assistant in the [00:29:00] shop. This is gonna be more and more rare. So now a career is multi stage and, uh, you, uh, finish your education. Find employment in a big company, then you have your startup, then you take a sabbatical, maybe you do volunteering job, then you studied a bit more, take a PhD, go back in a big company.
So what used to be predictable, linear and programmed is now unpredictable, unlinear and unprogrammed. And what does it mean? Practically, it means that we need to be fully in control of our career. So career is not the responsibility of the university or the manager, or I don’t know who to succeed. Do you need to cultivate this entrepreneurial skill and basically face failure?
And learn strategic thinking, risk taking, [00:30:00] because, um, a career needs to be aligned with your unique vision of success. And so, how are experts recommending to do that? Well, first of all, they recommend not to have a present focus, because a present focus brings a present bias. So you’re basically are on the top of a hill and you see the future being distant and past events that fade into the background. but instead you should have a focus to the future with a bird’s eye view in which time flattens out and all the moments past, present, future appear equally important. So a long life gives you more future to plan for So you encourage, [00:31:00] uh, patience And through decision making, um, you allocate time today for future rewards. Very important in the past, we mostly have this vertical trajectory. Again, vertical growth. We knew exactly when we were going to be promoted. and why and how and today it is not happening any longer companies are no longer loyal and we have seen this with very often massive mass layoffs at the same time employees are also less loyal so there is this trend of job hoping especially in jane’s ears the stay in a company six months and then they change and change and change we can open their discussion of.
How important is to be to stay to a level where you can leverage the expertise you have built for the next stage of your life? Because if you never get to a certain level of [00:32:00] expertise, the risk is that? you will not be growing at a later stage as much as you’re expecting to. The opportunities that we have today are just massive, but a personal brand enables you to do exactly that, enables you to reinvent yourself more easily. However, there are difficulties, and this is, uh, for example, coming whenever someone wants to create a career portfolio. from one ideal job, to many dream jobs, a multiple path. If you look at Leonardo da Vinci, you know, he was an architect, artist, musician, mathematician, inventor. But also, Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder, actor. politician, businessman, uh, Lady Gaga, opera, Winfrey. So there are many, uh, cases. and uh, what’s important to understand there [00:33:00] that to diversify the risk in a job market that is constantly changing, the easiest way is actually to start side activities, and we see that very often.
If you go on LinkedIn, you will find in the title of individuals, at least two, three things. Uh, you know, the, the, the mono. thematic jobs, careers are No longer so interesting. So you are a marketing professor, you are a startup founder, you are a researcher, you are a consultant, you are a lecturer. So there are So many different things that you can be, and why is this happening? Well, substantially because the expectation is that we are more than just one job that we are able to [00:34:00] influence in different areas in different communities, but also that um, there is, there is a clear need from the employees, um, that is coming from.
What’s going to happen if overnight I lose my job? If I have a side activity, if I’ve been developing an interest? Most likely, I reduce the risk and have better chances to find new opportunities.
Mike: how do you know what’s relevant? I’ve also noticed that there are multiple things
in which you should be sharing, which is your interest. And I think taking Mark Zuckerberg is quite a good example because I also don’t particularly follow him, but I know, yeah, he is also this guy now that
has long curly hair And, has designer outfits and, and does jujitsu. But I also wonder that’s
he’s so famous that it’s several degrees of
separation from someone like me. And I don’t [00:35:00] think.
necessarily, that if I did jiu
jitsu it would be valuable to my career If I posted about it on LinkedIn, So I wonder, how do you decide
what’s useful and what’s not when you are trying to have this public brand?
Alex: Sure, there is always a certain element in the content you’re creating and sharing that is core to, your expertise. and something that you can consider a stretch. There are also some topics that you might not want to get into, think about politics. And so, Being authentic doesn’t mean I share with you that I went to the gym and I did 20 push ups.
That’s not necessarily relevant, as you said. What’s relevant is what’s within your brand territory. a brand, territory is the intersection [00:36:00] between what you can offer valuable to the world. and what are people
seeking for So whether their interests, passions are somehow converging with yours.
And, uh,
before you
become a
recognized thought leader, You probably are better off focusing
on be valuable, and authentic and reducing the risk of bragging by staying in your core competence. And then you can try to, in some cases, to stretch. You can see many personal brands that are evolving in this way. They are experts of, I don’t know, finance or cryptocurrency or marketing. and then they. You know, expand into more leadership related expert where they’re basically coming up [00:37:00] with all sorts of advice and suggestions for everyone.
Um, this is a risk. It’s clearly not always valuable, especially if you are starting off. in developing your personal brand. And so I would always encourage to, at the beginning, focus on what’s valuable for whom. And if the question is what’s valuable, the answer is, well, you need to test it out. Nobody really knows you have to experiment exactly 20 podcasts.
Perhaps this will be the last, uh, uh, the least, uh, listen to, and then, um, you know, you will decide the next time you don’t invite me, or you don’t invite anyone from, uh, marketing and, uh, and focus more on finance. And this is how you evolve. You are basically, uh, need to find what I call the person market fit.
So as a [00:38:00] personal brand, you need to find your Fit in the market and very often we forget about the market and that’s why I think having a very deep external view of what are the trends? What are people seeking for is extremely important to help you out delivering the value You can deliver.
Mike: Is there any risk or, when putting out your brand as more than just
your current job, is there a risk that this signals to people, recruiters or people looking for a job? Um,
positions to fill that you’re not as qualified or suitable to the thing they’re looking for as someone who only does that one thing. So, I used to be a consultant, now I work in software implementation, I
am a podcast host, is there a risk. that they look at that and go,
well, he only, he splits his time across three different things, I want him for one thing, I’m going to find [00:39:00] someone that only does that one thing.
Alex: Yes. I mean, of course, experts are in the need and, uh, you have to um, display with all the trades, you are a leader in that area. If, if then you do, um, if you are a yoga teacher on the side, this might be less relevant for the sake of the job. So definitely one of the biggest issues that we have a work identity, even if we don’t necessarily identify with our work, um, not always this society, um, sees us as the market here or the finance director, or, um, so basically the role, the job. is um, predominant, uh, in, uh, in defining who we are.
And when you have a [00:40:00] career portfolio with. equally important possible roles. the risk is that You have difficulty yourself in defining who you truly are and where the, um, the different job had value and can create synergy. Armenia Ibarra is a professor at London Business School, and she’s clearly studied working identity since 20 years and more. and, um, what she’s basically telling is that it’s very difficult to actually switch from one identity to another is usually requiring a transition period in which we, first of all, convince ourself. That we are, we are experts in that area. So we pass these imposter syndrome and [00:41:00] show that we have an expertise.
And so. Um, it is a convincing act, first of all, of ourselves and then of others that eventually we, are suitable for that job opportunity. Now, I think more and more people will develop a career portfolio also because, uh, we will not be working necessarily for 40 years. We will be working for four, 50, maybe 60.
He considered the, newest generation, uh, 50 percent of the, um, the, the newborn in a developed, uh, developed world will be living above 100 years old. And so. Basically means that the, retirement plan is not going to be as smooth as originally anticipated. Probably they will have to work longer, the retirement is postponed, and as a consequence [00:42:00] they will have the chance to experience more things. So I think in general, uh, recruiters mostly are, becoming more open to it. So I had discussions with a company, uh, recruiter at on the, uh, sportswear company. And when they are reviewing CVS now, they’re also looking at. What is behind the person in terms of is this person passionate about women’s in tech?
Is this person interested in diversity and inclusion? Is this person into climate change? So there are so many different ways of actually helping a recruiter experiencing who you really are behind your main role. In the society, and I think there will be more and more attention to that because, you want an individual to be a good [00:43:00] fit with the corporate culture and you want this person to contribute to just beyond the daily work, which basically might mean, well, you’re going to work even more and not necessarily in a technical job, but I see big advantages there.
Because you have to express who you are and be able to articulate it in an effective way and so your identity will be shifting from just working identity to also who are you in your private life And so um, i’m kind of optimistic for that So I see that be positioned on multiple parts. Is more rewarding for the individual, but it might also be attractive for an employer that actually wants to go beyond just the technical skill of an employee.
Mike: [00:44:00] That makes sense. what is the starting point? So I understand.
You have to just put some things out there and get some feedback and see how it goes. But if i’m someone who’s been
he said in that position where you’re working in one career and you think okay
I have to branch out. I need to build my portfolio.
I want to create this image I don’t know how to do that. I don’t have
the skill set to write about who I am
in a way which may seem attractive to
other people. Besides taking a course
in marketing and personal branding, are there things you can recommend to people to
get themselves started to learn about how to do this
properly?
Alex: that’s a very good question. it’s a very tough question actually to answer because as we said, the process, it’s sort of defined, um, but a lot depends on how well do you know yourself. So. Your self awareness, it depends on are you really aiming to leave behind a purpose and there is a huge difference between [00:45:00] leaving your purpose and, uh, and, uh, following your passion, right?
That’s so important because purpose is about, um, a commitment to do something bigger than yourself is what can I give to the world? So an outward commitment. Whereas if you’re just focusing on doing something that represent your passion that keeps you on the flow, then it’s an inward impact that you’re seeking.
So what can the world give me? And so the biggest question there is, do you know what your why is? And very often a why a purpose life motive, comes from a struggle, a crusade, something that happened to you that can justify what’s your next step. I’ll give you an example. I recently lost my grandfather.
Passed away [00:46:00] with dementia and living in a nursing home and despite the entire family was very much, um, supportive of, of the situation, um, you know, you cannot necessarily be on the phone and, and, and present, all the time. And So, My new start up builds on a gap identify in this process, so there will be more and, more senior feeling lonely, uh, at risk of dementia because they are not cognitively stimulated enough and, human support only goes as far. so with my expertise in AI and AI empathy, I just decided to work in a new startup that is actually helping people, seniors, to stay independent by [00:47:00] providing an empathic AI companion that is also supportive of stimulation of their cognitive abilities. So, if you ask me what my why is. It’s very clear.
It’s very simple. The problem is when you’re not basing your work, your life decision on things that you find relevant, meaningful, this is where there is a disconnect. And of course, for individuals, it’s very difficult to convince themselves that what they are doing is meaningful. But meaningful is the foundation of all this process. So the idea of having a personal brand and gaining flexibility and going after opportunity is only driven by the fact that by doing so, you will be living a more [00:48:00] fulfilling, meaningful life. Because you can leave on your purpose.
Mike: it sounds like and I think it’s what you said also, your first, first of
your three steps is reflection and, a big part of that is introspection and figuring that out, figuring out what it is this
thing is that you want to do.
if you’ve watched TED
Talks, if you watch inspirational speakers, they make it seem so
easy, but for most of us, me, myself included, it’s a really hard
thing to find, and I guess how I found
it was Join some dots.
So I enjoy listening to
podcasts, but often I got frustrated because there were, they’re in English and the topics, politics, uh, about economy, whatever. It’s always the U S based, but the UK based, and
there was nothing specific to where I lived and I was like, okay, and I couldn’t find anything in English on that topic.
So I thought, right, there is
a problem that should be
solved that I’d moved here five years ago. And I thought. I don’t know anybody outside of this very specific narrow field that I’m in. [00:49:00]
I need to find a way to meet more people
and I also am just a very curious person. I like asking questions, but nothing specific, just sort of a broad range of things.
And I put those three together and I thought,
I have to start a podcast. but that was also months And months of trying to figure it
out. It wasn’t something that just came to me in a dream. So I guess it does
take a lot of time, um, and not just something that you’d know. I think that’s something that. the TED Talkers often skip over, it isn’t
something you just innately know, you have to figure it
out.
Alex: Exactly. So your was really a need. So, uh, like many podcasters, it’s just a genuine intention to share with others to connect. And this is beautiful. So. That’s exactly what it is. You are not forced to do it. Nobody’s paying to do it, but still you’re using your, uh, you know, evenings and weekends to edit and share.
[00:50:00] And that’s what makes me believe that. you are really doing the right thing. And of course you have different moments In life in which You are a full time corporate manager. Other times you are in a transition and you might invest more time, perhaps, on developing your personal brand and an initiative.
But this will stay with you if you are nurturing this as your vehicle. So, you are developing a personal brand and you’re Way your mean to do so is your podcast. Uh, in the future when podcasts will not be popular any longer, you will probably shift to something else. But, um, the feeling I’m getting talking to you is that you will not lose the enthusiasm for sharing.
You will not lose your curiosity. And, uh, and as a consequence, there is a massive opportunity for you to develop personally as a leader and also your [00:51:00] potential impact on others.
Mike: Well, Alex, for the next podcasting milestone, I think it’s episode 100 I have to strive towards now. So 101, I’ll get you back on and we can take a look at where we’re at. Uh,
Alex: That’s great.
Mike: Alex, to wrap up, I just wanted to ask, is there anything that you’re working on that’s interesting that you wish to share with people, or if people wish to find you, how should they do so?
Alex: Of course, they can always connect on LinkedIn, Alex, Mari, and, uh, I, as I, as I said, I’m launching this, uh, a new project, uh, uh, Empathic Voice Assistant called Carry Ally, um, Carry because of caring and Ally because it’s your partner in, uh, in caring and, um, we will see how it goes. I’m very I’m very enthusiastic about it.
And as I said, um, these projects are born without any, uh, economic return in mind. But if there is a chance to [00:52:00] be fully committed to something, uh, that comes natural to you, um, then I might, uh, be fully dedicated to that. In the meantime, I am, um, I’m teaching in different, uh, universities in Milan and Zurich. I would love to stay in contact with, uh, with any listener. if you’re interested in developing talents, then definitely, um, we need to connect, hopefully I will be sharing more of, uh, of what I’m working on in this area so far, it was only at the university level, but, uh, I’m also planning to build my personal brand at some point.
Mike: Well, I was looking for a personal branding expert and you’re the person I
found, So you must be doing something right.
Alex: Cool. Thank you so much. I’m glad to hear it.
Mike: Alex, thank you very much for this conversation.
Alex: Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Mike.
Mike: Bye bye.
