the smart girl's career crisis

my most impressive friends are panicking, and the way out is an asset you can build yourself. (oh, and PEOPLE wrote about me this week)

Housekeeping: my fourth cohort of Creator Essentials kicks off Tuesday the 28th, so I’m writing to you about personal branding all week. You won’t wanna miss it <3: secure your spot here.

"As a marketer, I was confident telling stories for the companies I worked for, but I never realized how hard it would be to tell my own stories. Creator Essentials changed that... Now I have the content clarity and repeatable process I needed to grow my app as a solo founder with a full-time job. This isn't just for aspiring influencers: If you're building something and you need people to care about it, this program will help you show up in the smartest, most intentional way.” - Startup Founder, Creator Essentials Cohort 2

Let me let you in on a little secret, sisters: even the Coolest Girl You Know with the Coolest Job In The World is having…..a career crisis rn.

I happen to know because, well, I’m lucky to have some really cool friends with really cool jobs. I’m talking disgusting LinkedIns, ones that require eye rolls and many scoffs, UGH, YOU WOULD HAVE GONE TO PRINCETON, TOO!, made worse by their perfectly curated Instagram feeds. Oh, of course, 1/3 job perk flexes, 1/3 cool outfits, 1/3 international travel. If I could just have that…

Maybe you know her! But who are we kidding, you probably ARE her: an ambitious material girl! But not all AMGs are thriving rn.

It’s been a pattern in my friendships lately: my smart friends everywhere are freaking out about AI taking their jobs, dissatisfied with corporate bureaucracy, getting passed up for promotions they deserve, and realizing they’re too creative and cool to be, well, here.

And I am getting annoyed, because there’s one clear path to help them... and they’re refusing it.

At drinks last week with yet another Perfectly Pedigreed Peer dissatisfied with her Cool Career, I asked her my classic diagnostic question:

“Where do you want to be in three years?” My clients are chuckling because they know it’s the first thing I ask in every session.

She answered how most of you do:

“Oh, I don’t know, I hadn’t thought about it!”

Then, 90 seconds later: “I guess by then, realistically...” and out came the List.

The title she’s supposed to want, someone else’s timeline she’s replicating, a Bulletproof Impressive five-year plan written by an arbitrary committee that consists probably of her parents and anyone she wanted to prove wrong from ages 13-22.

I interrupted her. “No. What would you love to do?”

And there it is, every single time: some merging of the parts of the career they love (and are EXCELLENT at!!) with the thing they’re actually passionate about. The banker in the consumer sector who wants to start her own snack brand. The music executive who could write the smartest fashion newsletter in her industry. The consultant who’s secretly the best trend forecaster you know.

“Why don’t you just architect it?” I ask.

Silence.

Through these honestly frustrating conversations has come one crystal clear insight: A personal brand is the only asset that can literally architect your career.

It lets you package, craft, and yes, sell your persona, on your terms, without waiting for a promotion cycle or a permission slip.

It’s not just curation; it’s a lever of autonomy!! I’ve seen it done time and time again, and yet…every time, the suggestion gets shot down.

I know the rejections by heart now:

“I’m scared it might affect my career.”
“It seems like SO much work.”
“I don’t know, I kind of don’t like it anyway. It’s just not for me.”
“I’m not an on-camera person.”

Sister, you’re not an on-camera person in the way you’ve seen it done BEFORE. Nobody is asking you to dance, point at floating captions, or film a 6am GRWM. You’re comparing yourself to the wrong cohort.

That version of content creation was invented by people whose careers you don’t even want, so stop borrowing the blueprint from a life you’re not even trying to live.

Maybe try working backwards from the one you actually want?

What you can do, starting today, is merge the career you already have with your Undervalued Niche Expertise and turn it into an actual ASSET.

Yes, personal branding feels complicated and over-discussed (it is), mostly bc it’s this blend of the personal and the professional, your skills and your taste and your worldview. But I’ve said for awhile now that building an online persona is becoming a skill, a tool you use — less of an facade you have to perform — and I’ve built many a framework to cultivate an online presence without losing your credibility.

And the leverage I’ve gotten with my relatively modest following coupled with my IRL expertise has led to opportunities that legit leave my head spinning every day.

Like, this week, PEOPLE published an exclusive on how I built my career!!!!!!

And would you believe, I have no publicist, no PR team, nobody pitched it.

A national outlet that people pay $10k a month to PR girlies to pitch found me because of the brand I’ve built online.

That’s what leverage looks like: because of my personal brand, I create my own career trajectory.

The doors open toward me now, and it’s kinda surreal. I just got back from outlining my second book and am headed to speak to all 17,000 LinkedIn employees live tomorrow. Every time I get a new dream opportunity (U WONT BELIEVE the Ultimate AMG who is in my DMs right now….like you’ll freak), the idea that someone wouldn’t take the risk for this level of autonomy boggles me!!!

Which is why when I see my intelligent, charismatic, iconic friends continue to avoid the topic, I get PISSED OFF!

You guys are seriously so smart. And you’re gonna keep letting shallow people make millions because of why, exactly? ??? ??

I know I said I wasn’t gonna do Creator Essentials again. But the amount of doctors, lawyers, PhD students, entrepreneurs, and Hustlers in my DMs these last few weeks saying “I just need clarity” or “I just need community” has me back for a fourth cohort, and I’m determined to find those of you who are ready and take you (with me) to the careers you deserve.

Smart women are being left behind in this economy, and you deserve the playbook to make the most of this moment.

You’re more ready than you think, because the work it takes isn’t what you’ve been imagining. It’s real work, and it starts with letting go of the idea that metrics matter and getting brutally clear on the mission: what do you actually want the next three years to look like? (Yes, the exact question my friends can’t answer at drinks.)

This is not (just) about getting a viral video, 10K followers, or the little dopamine hit of landing a brand deal. This is building a literal asset from scratch that helps you scale your business, outsmart your corporate bureaucracy, and have a lot of fun. An asset that appreciates.

We kick off next Tuesday, the 28th. Learn more & secure your spot here.

Talk tomorrow,
Alexis