Are you oversharing? How to build a personal brand without saying too much
“Should I share this or not?”
If you’ve ever hovered over the ‘post’ button wondering if you’re about to overshare, you’re not alone.
I get asked this question all the time: How vulnerable should you be when building your personal brand?
The answer isn’t “share everything” or “keep it professional.”
It’s somewhere in between, and it requires something most people skip: strategy.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: Just because something feels cathartic to share doesn’t mean it should go on the internet.
Hot Take 🔥 Vulnerability without strategy is just journaling in public
Here’s what I mean:
Sharing difficult moments can be powerful. It can help people relate to you and build a genuine connection.
But ask yourself these three questions first:
1. Why am I sharing this? Is it to genuinely help your audience, or just make yourself feel better?
2. Does this align with my business? Will this confuse people about what you do, or strengthen your positioning?
3. Am I sharing this in real-time or with reflection? Don’t post things as they’re happening. Give yourself space to process first.
Think about Grace Beverley sharing her miscarriage. That wasn’t performative. It aligned with her advocacy for women’s issues and was part of her bigger narrative.
That’s the difference between authentic vulnerability and oversharing for engagement.
Steal my Strategy 👀 The 3-test framework to decide what to share (and what to keep private)
Not sure what belongs in your personal brand? Here’s the filter I use:
1️⃣ The Origin Story Test
Does what you're sharing fit into the bigger picture of your personal brand? Before you start using your personal brand as a public diary, think about the key challenges and experiences that have shaped your career journey so far. These form your origin story.
If the experience you want to share links to these key themes, then it works; if not, it might be best to share something else.
2️⃣ The Value Test
Does this content give value to your audience, or is it just oversharing your personal life?
Sharing pictures of your family every day? Probably not adding value. Sharing how you manage anxiety as a founder? That could genuinely help someone.
3️⃣ The Abundance Test
Can you come up with 100 pieces of content around this topic? If yes, it probably belongs in your personal brand. If you’re forcing it, it’s not authentic enough.
The bottom line: If you’re building a personal brand to attract clients, they don’t need to see everything. They need to see the parts of you that are relevant, relatable, and valuable.
Founder Diaries 📓 Building a personal brand that doesn’t burn you out
As a 21-year-old first-time founder, I started building my personal brand in 2019 with no guidelines on what I should or shouldn’t share.
Not only this, but I was building my first business from a deeply personal struggle, living with anxiety.
Before I knew it, I had blurred the lines between my life and my business.
Which left me feeling like I always had to show up and act as if everything was okay with my mental health because I had tied that into my brand.
But I started to notice something: not all of it was helping my business.
Some posts got great engagement but attracted the wrong people. Some made me feel exposed in a way that wasn’t productive.
So I had to get honest with myself about the difference between being authentic vs. oversharing, and being strategic vs. being manipulative.
Here’s what I learned: You can be strategic AND authentic. They’re not mutually exclusive.
Now, before I post anything vulnerable, I ask myself:
Is this serving my audience?
Does this align with my business?
Will I regret this next week?
If the answer to any of those is no, it stays in the drafts.
Not everything needs to be public. And that’s okay.
Your action step: Write out your origin story. How did you get to where you are today? Look for the common themes - those are the parts of your story that belong in your personal brand.
