The multi-passionate founder's guide to building a brand (without burning out)
If you’ve ever felt like your brain has 47 browser tabs open and you’re supposed to build a personal brand from that chaos, welcome. This episode is for you.
The advice you’ll hear everywhere: “Niche down. Pick one thing. Be known for something specific.”
But what if you’re not one thing? What if you’re a designer who loves mental health advocacy AND business strategy AND sustainable fashion?
Here’s what nobody tells you: The problem isn’t your multiple interests.
The problem is trying to share all of them at once without a centre of gravity.
Hot Take 🔥Your Personal Brand Needs a Sun (Everything Else Can Be Planets)
Forget niching down. That’s outdated advice for a world that doesn’t exist anymore.
But here’s what you DO need: A sun.
One central mission that everything else orbits around.
Think of it like this:
Your mission = The sun
Your interests, skills, hobbies = Planets that orbit around it
Some planets are close (directly related to your mission). Some are further out (still part of your universe, just not front and centre).
Here’s what this looks like in practice:
My mission: Support 100,000 underrepresented founders in building businesses.
Close planets (LinkedIn content):
Personal branding strategy
Founder visibility
Building in public
Underrepresented founder challenges
Distant planets (Instagram stories, private moments):
Painting I did this weekend
My favourite coffee spot
Books I’m reading
The key difference: Close planets serve my mission. Distant planets serve my humanity.
Both matter. But only one drives my business forward right now.
Ask yourself:
What’s my sun? (The one thing I’m building toward)
Which interests orbit closely? (Directly support my mission)
Which interests are distant planets? (Part of me, but not strategic right now)
You don’t have to delete your other interests. You just have to know which ones are doing the heavy lifting.
Steal My Strategy 👀The Solar System Method: Organising Your Interests Without Losing Yourself
Overwhelmed by what to share? Use this framework:
The Centre: Your Mission Statement
Fill in this blank:
“I’m building my personal brand to _______________”
Be specific. Not “grow my business” but “land 3 speaking gigs at major conferences by the end of 2026” or “attract dream clients who value sustainable practices.”
This is your sun. Everything gets filtered through this.
The Inner Ring: Your Core Interests (Share Weekly)
These are the 2-3 topics that directly serve your mission.
How to identify them:
Can you create 100+ pieces of content on this topic? ✅
Does talking about this attract your ideal opportunities? ✅
Does this differentiate you in your space? ✅
Examples:
If your mission is landing speaking gigs, → Your core interests might be: thought leadership, public speaking tips, industry trends
If your mission is growing a creative agency, → Your core interests might be: creative process, client transformations, design thinking
The Outer Ring: Your Supporting Interests (Share Monthly)
These add dimension to who you are, but aren’t the main plot.
Where to share them:
Newsletter deep dives (more intimate space)
Instagram stories (casual, not strategic)
“Meanwhile in my world...” posts (occasional behind-the-scenes)
Examples: Mental health, travel, books, hobbies, family life
The Asteroid Belt: Your Private Interests (Don’t Share Strategically)
These are just for you. Not everything needs an audience.
That painting you did? Keep it for yourself.
That pottery class? Enjoy it without documenting.
That random hobby? It doesn’t need to be “on brand.”
The Action:
Open your notes app right now. Draw three circles:
Centre: Write your mission
Inner ring: List 2-3 core interests
Outer ring: List supporting interests
For the next month, only create content from your inner ring. See what happens.
Want to listen to our conversation: Listen here
Founder Diaries 📓The Day I Realised I Was Confusing Everyone (Including Myself)
Let me tell you about the time I tried to be everything at once.
It’s 2019, I’m a new founder. Building a business around mental health and anxiety.
I thought: “People need to see ALL of me to connect with me.”
So I shared:
My mental health journey ✅
My design work ✅
My business strategy ✅
My personal life ✅
My creative projects ✅
My thoughts on literally everything ✅
Result? Confusion.
People didn’t know what I did. Opportunities came in for random things. I felt exhausted trying to show up for all these different parts of myself publicly.
Worst part: I’d tied my mental health so deeply into my brand that I felt pressure to always “be okay” because that WAS my brand.
The breaking point:
I got great engagement on some posts, but they attracted the wrong people. I felt exposed in ways that weren’t productive. I was performing instead of building.
So I had to get honest: What’s my actual mission here?
Turns out, it wasn’t “share my entire inner world with the internet.”
It was “help underrepresented founders build businesses without burning out.”
Once I had that clarity, everything changed.
What I kept:
Mental health (but only in the context of entrepreneurship and public speaking)
Design work (but only what served Studio Self-Made)
Founder journey (the messy parts that helped others)
What I moved to the outer ring:
Personal creative projects (occasional stories, not main content)
Family stuff (mostly private)
Random thoughts (saved for close friends, not LinkedIn)
The result:
Clearer opportunities. Better clients. Less exhaustion.
And here’s the plot twist: I felt MORE authentic, not less.
Because I wasn’t trying to be everything. I was being intentional about what served my mission and what was just for me.
The lesson:
You can be multi-dimensional without being scattered.
You can be authentic without sharing everything.
You can have multiple interests without confusing your audience.
You just need to know your sun.
Your action step:
Think about the last 10 posts you shared. Did they serve your mission, or were you just posting because you felt like you “should”?
Audit your content. Keep what serves your sun. Let go of what’s pulling you off course.
Not forever. Just for now, while you’re building.
