When sh*t hits the fan, your personal brand is a life raft (here's why)

In the great circus that is the internet, something will eventually explode in your face.

Maybe it’s a dodgy campaign. Maybe it’s a poorly aged tweet. Maybe your brand accidentally tried to solve racism with a can of soda (hi Pepsi). When that moment comes, your logo won’t save you. Your personal brand will.

Because when the pitchforks are out and the headlines are flying, people don’t trust corporations. They trust people. Real, flawed, knowable people. And if you’ve spent time becoming one of those, congratulations—you’ve built yourself a safety net.

People trust you more than your PR team. Why?

Nobody likes a faceless apology. We’ve all seen the copy-paste crisis statement: “We take this matter seriously.” It’s corporate Mad Libs. People don’t want a statement. They want a human. Someone they know. Someone they’ve seen online, unfiltered, before all hell broke loose.

Consistency makes you believable. If you’ve been showing up regularly—sharing ideas, being honest, occasionally oversharing on Instagram Stories—you’ve been quietly earning trust. So when it all goes wrong, people are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.

You’re more than your About page. When you have a strong personal brand, you don’t go down with the ship. If a business tanks or a product flops, people still follow you. Because they didn’t just buy what you were selling. They bought into you. That’s why founders like Emily Weiss or Sophia Amoruso can pivot and still keep their audience.

Ok, so what happens when you hide behind a faceless brand?

When Pepsi tried to solve world peace with Kendall Jenner and a can of cola, the backlash was instant and savage. But what made it worse? No one from the brand said a damn thing. No real person stepped up. Just a vague apology from a soulless logo.

Same goes for brands like Balenciaga and Jaguar. Beautiful logos, zero personality. When things go wrong, they hide behind legal teams and triple-checked press releases. And the internet notices. Faceless brands don’t get the benefit of the doubt. They get dragged.

Build your brand before the fire starts.

Here’s how to build a personal brand that’ll have your back when things get messy:

Be loud before you need to be. Start talking now. Show your face. Share your opinions. Build familiarity so when something controversial happens, people already know where you stand.

Tell the truth, even when it’s boring. Don’t just post your wins. Talk about what you’re learning, what you’re struggling with, and why your last launch was a flop. Vulnerability isn’t a trend. It’s a trust builder.

Make your name your biggest asset. Your product might change. Your business might rebrand. But your name? That’s yours forever. And when the headlines come for you, it’s your name they’ll Google. Make sure what they find makes you proud—or at least human.

When everything hits the fan, people don’t want statements. They want someone to believe. If you’ve put in the work to build your personal brand, that someone will be you. And if you haven’t? Well. Good luck hiding behind the Pepsi logo.

-Sophie Randell, Writer