I know especially for the introverts in the room (🙋🏼‍♀️) it can be much easier to hide behind your logo, products and services, keep putting up a pretty graphic of your work and keep your life behind the scenes. But when you use both of your brands combined – personal and business – there are many more opportunities waiting for you.

By showing your face and giving some behind the scenes in your promotions, you are making yourself stand out among the masses. There may be ten other shops locally selling similar products, but YOU are the one showing up and sharing the blood, sweat and tears that goes into finishing 20 orders at 11 p.m. on a Sunday.

You’re also establishing trust with your clients. Think about celebrities like Ryan Reynolds. He owns Aviation Gin and the bottles fly off the shelves. Sure, it’s partly because he’s famous and gorgeous, but it’s also because he puts a face to the product. He shows behind the scenes (see him signing bottles for LCBO just a few months ago) and gets cheeky with it. There are hundreds of celebrities that own alcohol companies, but I’m hard pressed to name more than four and I can only name those four because they’ve shown behind the scenes and had me invested in their stories with the products, as if I knew them.

Media also always favours people more than companies. People offer the meat and potatoes (or tofu and quinoa) to a business, whereas the company just offers the name on the menu. The real story lies behind the creator of the company and the back-bone of the little shop (aka YOU).

I know it can be scary and for some generations it can be seen as unprofessional, but it’s far from it.

To get the most out of your business, you have to maintain your personal brand as well as your professional brand.

Whether you have a personal Instagram and a business one or you’ve combined the two and operate as one – keep showing up. For you, for your clients and for the success of your business.

Get a little vulnerable and see the magic that happens.