Personal Branding for Solopreneurs: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
AN EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH THE ONE AND ONLY JAMIE COX!
Jamie Cox - Brand Strategist
Branding is one of those words that everyone uses, and almost no one agrees on.
For some, it’s logos, colors, and websites. And yes, it includes all of that. But for anyone building a serious solo business, branding goes much deeper.
It’s how people understand what you do, why it matters, and whether they trust you. And that’s where it gets hard.
Because when you’re a solopreneur, you are building a business, you are often the product, and you are the message and the messenger.
So I wanted to go deeper into this topic with someone who actually thinks about brand at that level. Someone awesome, groovy and with plenty of wisdom to share!
Jamie R. Cox, brand strategist and the person behind Brand Burnout.
She’ll also be joining the Solo Accelerator to run a session on building a brand that goes beyond visuals and into something much more structural.
In this conversation, we unpack what personal branding really is, what most people get wrong, and how to approach it in a way that actually supports your business.
Let’s get into it.
If your brand were a comic or animated universe, what would it be and why?
I’m a Millennial through and through and grew up on Nickelodeon cartoons. My first thought is The Wild Thornberrys. My clients and I are on an adventure together. They’re bringing all sorts of expertise (like Nigel, the nature host), and I’m bring a different perspective to the business they’re building (kind of like Eliza talks to animals, I talk to brands). I spot the things they haven’t seen before. There are going to be distractions (Donnie), naysayers (Darwin), and roadblocks (Debbie), but we’ll focus on finding supporters (like Marianne) who get us where we’re going.
In some ways, my work is like a 30-minute episode of the show. There’s an overarching story (brand) to each client’s journey. But day-to-day, they come to me with specific problems that shape their work. We solve that problem using their brand as a lens, and then the credits role on that specific episode. Then, a new episode begins with another problem (because problems are inevitable).
Is personal branding optional anymore or has it become a basic requirement for building a serious career / business today?
I don’t think personal branding is optional. And not because you have to have it to be successful, but because you’ve built a brand, whether you intended to or not.
If brand is what people say about us when we aren’t in the room, people may be filling in the gaps in your story based on the signals they’ve received from you (or not). Even if you’re resisting building a brand, you’re still telling a story. Maybe it’s that you’re elusive or mysterious, but it’s still a signal, and it’s shaping how others see you.
On the other hand, if we choose to invest (time, energy, resources) in our brand, we can make sure that the signals folks are receiving are truly aligned with who we actually are and the work we’re doing.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about branding once they decide to go solo?
That it’s done when they get a logo or publish a website! And, backing up even further, that brand is simply a logo.
I’ll go ahead and lay this to rest: Brand is so much more than a logo…or a website, for that matter.
Brand is the backbone of your business, and with the right pieces in place, it gives you a framework to make decisions about where you put your time, energy, and resources.
For example, when you know the things you stand for (brand values), you can build services and set prices that reflect that. Or, when you’ve defined a clear niche (audience personas), you can suss out which collaborators and opportunities are aligned. When you commit to a way of working (your brand promise), you can build the systems that support your business and deliver the value your clients expect.
Many people treat personal branding as self-expression. Look I get it, who am I to talk, I literally have a mini-me cartoon as a brand. But clients don’t buy expression, they buy what’s relevant to their problem. Where does this misunderstanding hurt solopreneurs the most?
Ooooh, I’m really glad you asked this because I’ve got *BURNING THOUGHTS EXCLUSIVE* news.I’m in some of this myself as I pivot my own business to focus on larger clients and solving bigger problems. So I’ll use myself as an example here.
I launched this version of my brand in 2022, and in some ways, it started as a form of self-expression. Since 2020, I had gotten a lot of leads who said, “I love your brand, let’s work together.” But oof, I hated my brand. It felt like someone else, or as if I was trapped in a corporate mask. I was thankful for the leads and revenue, but the work felt…blah.
So the idea for this ALL ME brand solidified based on who I wanted to be talking to—other early service-based solopreneurs who were tired of being told to do things a certain way and wanted to build their business on their own terms. In order to encourage other people to fully step into that, I needed to practice what I preached in some ways and step fully into who I am.
I mentioned earlier I was a 90s Nickelodeon kid, and I tuned into that kind of absurdity that drives a lot of my humor and the way I communicate in daily life to build my brand. I don’t leave anything on the table, I’m pretty irreverent, and just don’t take my work too seriously. I had a podcast at the time where we talked about building a business and spoke the quiet parts of solopreneurship outloud. I wanted to capture that in more of what I was doing.
This form of self-expression coincided with the types of problems I wanted to solve with folks. Business has been great, and I’ve felt really comfortable talking about my work.
But I’ve started to feel some friction with the work I’m doing. Yes, I’m still this colorful, fun, sarcastic person, but the clients I’m now interested in working with have already embraced themselves and feel comfortable showing up as that. It’s just not the problem I’m solving. They’re now looking for the structure that supports their approach. The parts of me that have been operating in the background to make my work successful—and the things my new clients are looking for (detail-oriented, incredibly organized, and super discerning) are buried under my self-expression.
It’s been difficult to go after larger clients with this version of my brand, because it’s addressing a problem they don’t have (but my former audience did). That’s why I’m moving away from this brand. I’m not changing myself, though. Clients will always get this fun and friendly version of me, but I’ve got to put myself in a new tidy blazer, so to speak, to start the conversation.
You’ve got to find the balance between the two—what feels easy and comfortable for you, but also appealing and comfortable for your clients. And that starts by knowing your clients and their problems inside and out.
What’s the uncomfortable truth behind “I can’t niche down”? Go ahead, no filters!
I hear this resistance to niching all. the. time. And it’s really starting to wear me out—and maybe inspiring some of my pivot. And trust me, I GET IT. I also get bored. I have a lot of interests. I know my time on this rock floating through space is limited, and I want to do as much as I can!
But you’re going to have to get at least a *little* more specific about what you do and who you do it for if you want to have a consistent stream of clients.
A lot of times, when we think of niching, we think about specific industries. It’s scary for folks, but here’s why it works: when you’ve got specificity in who you work with, you can speak directly to their wants, needs, pain points, and misunderstandings. That means everything from website copy to sales pitches makes a lead go, “Wow, they really get me! It’s like they’re in my head.” And that sense of understanding and belonging builds trust.
Another way to think about niching, which for some reason we seem to forget in pursuit of audience niching, is by the specific work we do. Maybe you niche by platform and only work in HubSpot, for example. Or, maybe you specialize in visual identity. All of these are also niches, and it’s usually a more cushy place to land before you niche by audience. This type of niche is important because it positions you as an expert and builds both trust and authority.
Both are building trust, but they’re also building reputation and what you’re known for (See Also: Brand is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room).
Usually, first-time solopreneurs are interested in doing all kinds of things for all kinds of people. And when a potential client lands on their website, they’ve got dog walking services alongside blog writing services (a real example I saw one time!). If you put yourself in the user’s shoes, it’s confusing. They may think, “Oh, this person is just a hobbyist.” Or, “I don’t need someone to walk my dog, I need a serious writer.” And then goodbye, they’ve clicked away and taken their money with them.
Here’s how I see it, and I think I’ll probably upset some folks by saying this, but this resistance to niching puts our own needs to be seen as a multi-hyphenate, uber-talented individual above our clients' needs. It’s not the worst thing in the world to put yourself first—in fact, I’d encourage it! But when you’re building a business, it means clients don’t work with us. And then our own needs (to make money, to feel fulfilled) go by the wayside while we try to survive.
Niching doesn’t mean you can’t explore and try new things and have a fun, fulfilling life—it just means you’re confident in what you’re really good at and are excited to share your unique talents with people who need them.
If someone has 15 years of experience and still struggles to articulate their value clearly, is that usually a positioning problem, an identity problem?
WHOA. This is a question that is breaking my brain a little bit, because it’s a bit chicken and egg.
Someone with 15 years of experience probably isn’t lacking skill. But they may lack clarity about how that skill fits within the market. And that’s where these two ideas—identity and positioning—intersect. Identity without positioning is like having an open-invitation party, but the lights are off, so no one knows to stop by. Positioning without identity is like the lights are on, but nobody’s there to greet the guests and start the party.
When we look at positioning (what I call the who, what, when, and why of your business), we have to start with identity—who are we and what unique skills do we bring to the world? But a lot of times people can’t see that identity without someone else reflecting it to them.
I find that having a really clear positioning framework gives people the confidence they need to step into their identity. But that also means that as they step into their identity more and more and more, their positioning changes. I don’t see the problem as an either/or, more of a both/and.
What’s a piece of branding advice you strongly disagree with right now?
Ha! Sometimes I look back at my own advice and strongly disagree, which is growth, so I guess that’s good!
But I think my biggest peeve in this space right now is that the answer to every problem is just, “Build your brand!” I heard this in a community I taught in at the end of 2025. Someone asked how people were thinking about growing their business in 2026, and a person responded, “By building my brand.”
HUH?!
The reason I hate this is that it’s shallow advice without any sort of instruction. It almost feels avoidant and doesn’t get to the deeper root of what may be keeping someone from growing. This advice implies that if you build it, they will come, and pigeonholes brand-building as a way to grow visibility only. When in reality, it’s much more than that, and shapes every decision in your business.
In a world where AI can generate content, messaging, and websites, basically all of your brand assets and touchpoints. What actually makes a personal brand uniquely yours?
Story time, gather ‘round!
I have a client who launched their business in late 2022. When we first worked together, we built the entire brand—audience personas, competitive analysis, brand positioning, differentiation, messaging, and visual identity—from scratch. No AI was involved in the making of this brand. In some ways, it feels like the brand pre-dated AI.
Fast forward to 2026, and we’ve made a lot of shifts. And with each of these shifts, the client has changed messaging, website copy, and content. They’ve relied heavily on AI to do that. And listen, I GET IT. They’re bootstrapped and trying to find the fastest, most efficient (and cheapest) way to get things done. So, no judgment on their use of AI to get to where they is right now.
Inthe latest (and final—they swear this time!) shift, I challenged them to write the copy without using AI—just as an experiment. I offered to edit as part of our agreement, so they could really rely on me to help if they felt stuck.
Ricardo, when I tell you the copy is not at all what either of us expected. It was almost identical to when we first launched.
When we talked about it, I pointed out that the reason it’s come full circle is that they had returned to their unique point of view that they were using to guide the business in the first place. They barely asked me for feedback because they were so in their zone of genius that they were trusting their gut. The ideas we’d been pushing weren’t their own—they were AI’s—and they never felt resonant (with the client or with their audience) because they were created in a weird AI vacuum.
I’m not going to bash anyone’s use of AI, but I think we all could use more self-awareness in how we use it. Because it’s going to keep us coming back by asking, ”Would you like me to do that next?” “Sure!” we say, out of our own curiosity. And soon, we’re creating messaging, content, and maybe even a business that we never wanted in the first place.
Your brand is you! I instantly feel you through your brand, and it’s very aligned with who you are. But it’s also very aligned with your clients. How did you build that alignment over time?
Ha! Well, I guess I spilled the tea on this already. But if you’ve skimmed to this point, the TL;DR is: it did align at one time because I had a deep understanding of who my clients were!
But now, as I step into a new chapter, it feels like I’m building that alignment all over again. It’s started by sending signals of the shift—writing about bigger ideas and the problems I’m looking to solve, and spending less time in some of the places I had been. I’ve also had to tap outside perspectives to get new ideas and understanding, and identify where I’m holding too tight so I can figure out what’s next.
There’s definitely friction here, and I keep bumping up against this worry that I’m putting a mask on again to go after this new audience. But the brand identity designer I’m working with has reminded me time and time again that I’m sure of who I am, and the folks I work with are always going to get to experience me as a byproduct of the work I do. Making this change doesn’t mean I’m denying myself anything. It just means I’m rethinking how my clients align with me.
If someone reading this wanted to make their brand stronger this month — without redoing everything — what should they do?
First, I recommend getting a free 5-minute brand audit from yours truly. This audit gives them personalized advice based on their specific challenges, so they know exactly what to do next.
Secondly, I think the best thing anyone can do is get visibility into how they’re perceived. Send a text to a friend, an email to a great client, or post in a community and ask a simple question like, “What do you think I do?” or “What’s one word you would use to describe me?” I do this every now and then with my clients. It turns a spotlight on the parts of my work I’d never thought of as important or interesting, and highlights some areas that may need my attention. Then, I walk away with a laundry list of small changes I can make over time.
Where can people connect with and follow you?
Visit my website: https://www.jamiercox.com
Subscribe to my newsletter: https://brandburnout.beehiiv.com/
