I started my career in modeling, which, as anyone in the industry knows, is basically a crash course in branding. You learn very quickly how to present yourself online, especially on platforms like Instagram. From there, I moved into sales and the world of B2B. I figured, if I could thrive in sales, I could do just about anything.
And then, something happened. At my last corporate job, they asked me to start posting on LinkedIn as a “thought leader.” I had only ever used the platform to look for jobs. I had no idea how to show up on LinkedIn, much less how to build a personal brand on it.
That’s when I turned to AI. Together, we created a seven-page brand strategy doc — like a marketing plan, but for me. I had no idea how much it would change everything.
Why Gen Z Should Be Building Personal Brands
A lot of people underestimate just how digitally fluent Gen Z is. We’ve been branding ourselves — consciously or not — since we were 13 on Instagram. But, LinkedIn always felt a little off-limits. Too corporate. Too buttoned-up.
That changed when I started spending real time on the platform — not just scrolling, but actually creating. I found other Gen Z creators who were killing it — speaking at conferences, working remotely, running their own businesses. I started studying them like you’d study a successful entrepreneur: how they wrote, how they told stories, what they posted.
Eventually, I saw the opportunity to carve out my own space, especially as a Gen Z woman talking about AI. That combo was not common. So I thought, “This is my shot.”
ChatGPT was starting to pick up steam. I asked the chatbot to help me build a personal brand strategy, just like a company would. The initial prompt: “Can you help position me as a LinkedIn thought leader? I want to be seen as an expert in AI, personal branding, and Gen Z career content.”
With rounds of iteration, that plan transformed my career. Today, I have a...