Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: The Futur with Chris Do
Episode: Make Reputation Your Strategy w/ Matt Essam | Ep 381
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Chris Do
Guest: Matt Essam

This episode dives deep into the real meaning and value behind building a personal brand, especially for creative professionals who may be skeptical of self-promotion. The conversation challenges the typical approaches to personal branding—focusing less on social media fame, and more on authentic reputation, self-awareness, and long-term impact. Chris and Matt discuss the mindset, motivations, and practical strategies behind leveraging reputation as a business asset, with memorable stories and actionable advice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Skeptic’s View of Personal Branding

• Matt’s Initial Stance: Matt expresses discomfort with the idea of pursuing attention for its own sake, equating hollow fame with the “Big Brother generation.”

  • “Attention for the sake of attention is worthless... I'd rather have no money and be a starving artist than be on camera in front of a million people doing stupid stuff for the sake of being famous.” — Matt (00:26)

• Chris’s Clarification: Chris agrees with Matt’s aversion to empty fame, but reframes personal branding as something deeper and more strategic, especially for creatives who may dislike traditional networking or social media posturing.

2. How Reputation Has Changed with Technology

• Old School Networking: Matt recalls his early freelance days:
  • He relied on in-person networking events and even cold walk-ins to generate work (03:41–07:08).
  • Networking events were low-cost, required consistent effort, and relied heavily on personality and social energy.
• Transition to Online Presence: Today, Matt gets opportunities primarily through his online efforts, particularly on LinkedIn. He admits: “I don't need to go to those networking events anymore to get clients... My online presence, I guess building a LinkedIn following.” (04:50)
• Chris’s Take: Chris reinforces that reputation is built on social proof—titles, case studies, public perception—and nowadays, most of that happens online at scale.

3. The Trap of Superficial Attention

• Matt’s Concern: The worry is that social media encourages people to seek viral attention without substance, resulting in followers but little real influence.
  • “I worry about the people who have millions of followers but very little influence. When they actually ask people to do something, people don't do it because they don't respect them because they're selling their soul to entertain people.” — Matt (08:50)
• Chris’s Counterpoint: Consistency in substance is key. It’s not about being famous for the sake of it, but about being findable and building genuine trust through a reputation of delivering value.

4. Practical Realities of Building Reputation

• No Silver Bullet: Both agree there’s “no way around” doing the work to get known—whether it’s in person or online.
  • “Getting work, getting known requires a lot of work. There is no way around this.” — Chris (14:29)
• Borrowed Trust as “Cheat Code”: Matt notes another 'cheat code': leveraging association with those who have already built trust and a reputation by, for example, being featured on respected platforms.
  • “...borrowing the attention and the trust of somebody that has already built it.” — Matt (15:19)

5. Is Personal Brand Right For Everyone?

• Right Place, Right Time: Chris shares his philosophy that personal branding isn’t about self-importance, but about being available and delivering value.
• The “It” Factor: Not everyone will or should build a personal brand at scale. You need some unique combination of skills, perspective, or charisma—and the patience for many years of foundational work.
  • “Not everyone who can sing becomes a pop star... There’s an X factor and we can’t count on that.” — Chris (18:57)
• Brand vs. Performance Marketing: Chris draws a distinction between “long-term consistent value” (brand) and “short-term cash flow” tactics (performance), stating: “The mistake a lot of people make is piece of content and ask, give you something, get something... that's very transactional.” (24:11)

6. The True Purpose of Personal Brand

• Legacy, Not Just Leads: Chris reframes personal branding not as a tactic to generate inbound leads, but as a journey of self-awareness and legacy.
  • “According to me... it’s to be the MOST YOU you can be. This is a journey inward more than it is a journey outward.” — Chris (27:32)
• Three Key Traits of Magnetic People:
  1. High self-awareness and self-acceptance
  2. Disarming vulnerability
  3. Self-confidence built from skill mastery (28:20)

7. Reconciling Impact, Business, and Authenticity

• Give Without Agenda: True personal brands give value without immediate expectation or agenda.
  • “If you give wholly without an agenda, you will endear others to you in ways that performance marketing can never do.” — Chris (32:44)
• The Hormozi Example: Even new-school marketers who delay “the ask” (like Alex Hormozi) are, in the end, building to a bigger, more impactful ask.
• Parallel Paths: Chris suggests operating on parallel tracks: earn a living with your core business while building your brand slowly on the side, knowing it takes years to see results.
  • “It’s like a three-year minimum commitment before you actually see any real results.” — Chris (35:14)

8. Real-World Application: Matt’s Personal Brand Goal

• Clarifying the Goal: Matt wants more inbound opportunities, especially paid speaking gigs, while keeping his consultancy running.
• Chris’s Advice:
  • Build content and a presence that demonstrates unique expertise and excites both audiences and event organisers.
  • Prioritize topics and formats that align authenticity, value, and market demand.
  • “Create content that builds a community and audience foaming at the mouth for you... so much so that the audience starts to demand the event organizer book you.” — Chris (50:12)
  • “Personal brand is not about just being in the spotlight and being famous. It's about getting to know who you really are, accepting yourself and deciding what legacy you want to leave in the world.” — Matt (52:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Attention for the sake of attention is worthless.”
  — Matt (00:26)
• “Trust is hard to build and easy to lose.”
  — Chris (08:10)
• “To be found, you must be findable.” (Austin Kleon, referenced by Chris)
  — (11:07)
• “Getting work, getting known, requires a lot of work. There is no way around this.”
  — Chris (14:29)
• “Borrow the attention and the trust of somebody that has already built it.”
  — Matt (15:19)
• "Not everyone who can sing becomes a pop star... there’s an X factor."
  — Chris (18:57)
• “Personal branding is the art of making strangers fall in love with you.”
  — Chris (43:27)
• “Give in public and ask in private.” (idea from Taki Moore, referenced by Matt)
  — (40:54)
• “Your self, you are the gift... your purpose is to share it.”
  — Chris (27:32)
• “I feel like my reflection is the personal brand is not about just being in the spotlight and being famous. It's about getting to know who you really are, accepting yourself and deciding what legacy you want to leave in the world.”
  — Matt (52:08)

Important Timestamps

• 00:26 – Matt’s definition of hollow attention & aversion to “Big Brother” fame.
• 03:41-07:08 – Discussion on old-school networking tactics.
• 08:50 – Matt’s critique of social media and ‘attention for attention’s sake.’
• 15:19 – “Borrowed trust” as a reputation accelerator.
• 18:57 – Chris on the X-factor and brand-building limits.
• 24:51 – The true “prize” at the end of building a personal brand.
• 27:32 – Chris’s philosophy: personal branding as a journey inward.
• 32:44 – Content without agenda compels; performance marketing repels.
• 35:14 – Building a reputation is a multi-year (three-year+) process.
• 43:27 – Personal branding as “the art of making strangers fall in love with you.”
• 50:12 – Chris’s framework for building a speaking brand.
• 52:08 – Matt’s realization about authentic personal brand purpose.
• 53:21 – Chris’s homework: Define your long-term subject—your legacy message.

Conclusion & Actionable Takeaways

• Building a personal brand is NOT about chasing attention, but about reputation, authenticity, and long-term impact.
• You can—and should—build your business and reputation in parallel, accepting the slow burn and compounding benefits of genuine visibility.
• Give value without immediate agenda; build a body of work that outlasts you and becomes your real legacy.
• Focus on knowing yourself, expressing your true perspective, and letting content become the bridge to impact and connections—opportunities will follow, but not as fast as performance marketing promises.
• Find the subject you truly want to own, and create from that place—legacy and inbound opportunities will bloom from genuine work.

Homework:
Decide what subject you want to own and deliver for the long run, broad enough to attract paid audiences but authentic enough to excite you for years.

This episode is a must-listen for any creative professional grappling with the tension between authenticity and visibility in the modern market. Chris and Matt cut through the noise, offering sobering truths and inspiration about building brands—and lives—that actually matter.