3 min read

How to Build a Personal Brand While Staying Humble

Updated: Jan 26, 2022

Serving others comes naturally to me. I’m a “nurturing” personality type. I love training, motivating, mentoring and counseling other people.

I believe it was my servant attitude that made it easier for me to build a Christian personal brand around myself. I understood early on in business that entrepreneurship wasn’t about me, it was about having the attitude about helping others first.

But I know there are other personality types out there where serving doesn’t come naturally, and instead, there’s more of a self-centered approach to business. After all, we’re the owners whose names are on the line, so we want it OUR way.

All of us Christians building a personal brand can be a bit self-centered. By nature, we’re all selfish. We’re born this way. However, the danger of building a personal brand is that we put ourselves in a position to forget about God and be consumed with “self” promotion.

Although we’re Christians with a God-first message for the marketplace, we’re still influenced by the “have it your way” culture we live in. But God wants us to have it His way.

How can we build a personal brand and, at the same time, build a business that’s not all about us?

The secret is to develop and master a go-giver, servant’s heart.

The difference between “personal branding” and “Christian personal branding” is that in the latter, Christ is first. And if we’re going to build a personal brand around Jesus, then Jesus tells us

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

Being a Christian, you’re actually in a better position to build a personal brand than someone who doesn’t have Jesus because we’re constantly reminded of our position behind Jesus

“to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34 NIV)

While others serve themselves by feeding off of their personal brand, you get the privilege of saying your food is to serve God, please Him, and complete the assignment God called you to do in the marketplace. Your food is to do the will of God and finish His work. That’s the calling of Christian personal branding.

When others building their personal brands are “filling themselves,” God keeps you in check by reminding you to fill others.

When the materialistic culture around us says, “Get all you can! It’s all about you,” God wants us to contribute rather than to consume so we don’t become consumed with ourselves.

God created us to be givers. Developing a Christian personal brand allows us to focus on the needs of others rather than focusing on our desires. Instead of making it all about ourselves, we can build a business around serving others, and get rewarded (paid) for it!

This kind of business attitude will change your brand story.

The best stories we have as business owners are remembering how we helped someone in their business with our product or service. When we helped someone solve a problem, we were serving that person. It feels good to tell those stories because we were made to serve just as Jesus did on earth.

Serving others may not feel as natural to many of us, but serving isn’t something we do. A Christian personal brand is stepping into the servant we are called to be – becoming more like Christ.

Lord, I pray that you reveal how you’re calling us to serve others through our personal relationships with others. Who are You calling us to serve in the marketplace? Where are you calling us to serve? In Jesus’ name. Amen!

#BuildMyPersonalBrand #FindingMyBrand