The power is in being different.

// Be a baseball cap.

Why being different built my brand - and why it can build yours too.

On one of my last days in a previous job - one which I absolutely hated - I was asked by my then 'boss' (and I use that word intentionally) to stop wearing jeans and a t-shirt and to dress 'like a General Manager'.

What?

For 5 long years, I'd dressed the same. Jeans, T-Shirt, Baseball cap. There wasn't anything different about my attire than the previous 1825 days that I'd led that company but because I'd resigned - that person decided they wanted me to dress differently to fit in with what he thought was the right way to dress and with that one single statement, I knew I'd made the right decision to leave.

It wasn’t a deliberate act to wear what I wore at the time. I didn’t think, “I’m going to stand out today.” I just wore what felt right - like I always had. But the reaction from that guy told me everything. He had noticed. He had raised eyebrows. And in some, special way he thought to himself that I wasn’t “professional enough.”

And honestly? That’s perfect.

Because being different isn’t about trying to please everyone. It’s about showing up in a way that attracts the right people - and lets the wrong ones walk on by (or tell you to dress in the right way).

// Little things.

Over the years, I’ve done things that some might call unusual.

I ride an electric skateboard (and have done for years - it's not a fad, which is what my wife thought when I bought it). I’ve done the cinnamon challenge to promote an online learning event for You Are the Media (no regrets, although my lungs might disagree) and I’ve consistently stepped up with You Are The Media in ways that didn’t always follow the script - hanging upside down in a factory, screaming at the camera whilst in the sea - I’ve said no to suits, and yes to showing up exactly as I am - jeans, baseball caps and t-shirts.

These things - small as they seem - are signals.

They tell people what I’m about. They make me memorable. And more importantly, they act like a magnet. They pull in the people who get it, the people who want to work with someone who’s honest, curious, creative, and a bit scrappy around the edges. And they push away the people who want everything to be neat, formal, and “business-like.”

That’s not rejection. That’s alignment.

The corporate business men - those in suits who think that a tie is a pre-qualifier to working in a 'business' world - those are the ones I don't want to work with because they don't relax, they don't switch off and they're all a hangover from a business world which had a hierarchy.

// Forget being better.

We spend so much time chasing better - better qualifications, better websites, better logos, better 'suits'.

But honestly, why do we need to be 'better' - better is invisible if people don’t remember you and if you want to be remembered then what's the point - it's all effort for no reward.

Being memorable beats being better. Every single time.

Some of the best opportunities I’ve had came not from credentials, but from someone saying, “I remembered you from that thing you did...” The thing might’ve been silly. Or unexpected. Or just honest. But it stuck and when I've turned up to meetings - especially those ones in America, if they saw the jeans, the hat and then heard the accent - that's where it really stuck.

And in a world where everyone looks like a LinkedIn template, being remembered is a superpower and it's one that I always try to own.

Mark Masters has coined a phrase within the You Are the Media community - there is a rallying cry around being a 'misfit' because when you're different, quite often you feel like you might not fit in. I can honestly say that being in that community has meant I felt seen, I'm not judged by others for being me - I'm accepted and looked at (by other misfits) as someone who is owning their space. That's why it's so powerful.

// Forget convincing.

Here’s something I’ve learned since being someone who has shown up as 'myself' - I don’t need to convince anyone to follow me, buy from me, or join in with something I care about - if they want to, they will.

If I have to beg, it’s already broken.

Read that again. Please.

I’ve stopped trying to drag people along - Instead, I put the work out there. I show up consistently. I share things that feel true to me and some people walk past, some watch quietly from the edges. And then, slowly - sometimes months later - they lean in.

Joining in is their choice, not my campaign and that’s where the best connections come from — when people choose it, not when I chase it. The building of The Clique newsletter has been a slow grind, I don't shout about it often enough and I have grown it steadily over the last 2 years. I could have messaged all my connections, I could have questioned why they hadn't signed up - I could ask everyone who I speak to whether they want to sign up but that's not where I sit. I want people to make that decision themselves because if they've made that decision, then something has resonated.

The same goes with my style - if you don't like me wearing my jeans or sometimes, when I can't be bothered to do my hair, I wear a baseball cap or more importantly, you think that what I wear affects how I can perform my job then you're not who I want to do business with.

This isn't some crass 'clickbait' which I can post on Linkedin to get reactionary comments or supportive comments - it's just how it is. I'm not looking for anything inflammatory or to generate interest in being antagonistic with how I position myself, I just want to be myself and show up as myself - if thats cool, then fine. If not, move on.

My point here is that I don't really care.

// Be real. Not random.

There’s a big difference between being yourself and trying to be different just to get noticed.

The hat, the skateboard, the sea-dips, the cinnamon challenge - none of that was ever done to game attention. I wasn’t thinking about what would perform best on LinkedIn or what might “go viral.” I just did what felt right in the moment. Every single time and I took a chance on it - it was fun, which is always my pre-qualifier whenever I do something.

That’s the key.

If you’re forcing it, people can tell. If you’re trying to stand out for the sake of standing out, it doesn’t stick - it just looks desperate. Real stands out. Random just makes noise and again, it's forgettable.

What makes it work - what actually makes it powerful - is when your difference comes from a place of honesty. It’s part of who you are. It’s how you move through the world, not how you show up online. You can't do that 'overnight' you have to do it in a way which is consistent over time and gives you a place to work from. When you show up as someone who does this stuff regularly, you get known for that.

People connect with that.

They might not get it straight away. They might not join in today. But they feel it. And when something is genuine, when it’s consistent, when it’s unforced - it becomes magnetic. (Remember, I said we want people to be drawn to us, not drag them along)

So if you’re going to be different, make sure it’s because that’s who you are, not because it’s what you think people want to see.

// Be real. Not random.

The more I’ve leaned into who I am - the hat, the tone, the way I speak, the way I show up - the more clarity I’ve found in my work, and the more confident I’ve become in the people I want to work with.

Your personal brand shouldn’t be a mask you put on. It shouldn’t be a character you play for the sake of “visibility.” It should feel like a second skin - familiar, true, and 100% yours.

I know that being visible today often gets confused with being loud. You see people trying to be everywhere, all the time, posting constantly and trying to talk louder than everyone else. They think they need to play the algorithm - they fill every space with noise.

But I don’t believe that’s what wins.

It’s not the loudest person in the room who gets remembered - it’s the one who’s consistent. The one who’s real. The one who knows who they are and shows up that way, even when no one’s watching. Especially when no one’s watching.

Trust me - when you're not watching, people will talk about you.

Remember, there’s a quiet grind behind every brand that lasts. The daily showing up. The thoughtful choices. The refusal to pretend. That’s what builds trust. That’s what people feel when they come across your work - and that’s what makes them stay.

Being yourself is the only long-term strategy that actually works - forget the hype. Forget the noise. Forget trying to please everyone.

Build something that’s unmistakably yours.

Wear the cap. Ride the board. Say the thing. Tell the story.

You have a story. Make impact. Make noise.