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Two years ago, I woke up on my birthday with this loud voice in my head telling me that everything was wrong. I was pretty shocked because I had never felt this disconnected. I built an entire career around personal branding, helping others to connect with their purpose and gain alignment in their life. And now, there I was, finding myself on the other side of the table.
For me, the only answer was to look deeper and thus began my journey to self-discovery, again.
To start, I leaped into a more uncommon approach for me. I figured the only way to discover what was going on with me would be to try things I had never done before. At this point, I was leaning into my intuition and hoping it would not steer me wrong. So, when I was then invited to attend a plant medicine experience with some of the most incredible people I could have asked to be surrounded by, it was a no-brainer decision.
The guide of the journey, Ryan Wegenast (who became my friend, and later, my coach — the first and only coach I’ve ever hired), introduced me to a framework that changed everything for me: ID3 & three-dimensional AWE — Awareness, Wisdom and Experience.
The feeling of being displaced in your own identity was certainly uncomfortable but I somehow understood more and more that there was something fundamental about my experience, and I wasn’t alone. So many of us — and many who have identified as leaders and entrepreneurs — have felt or are feeling the same disconnection I was.
The concept of ID3 opened a new perspective of this experience for me. That it wasn’t that I was being displaced or losing something about myself, I was transforming and evolving into someone with a different set of priorities, skills, and desires. The three-dimensional AWE begins with an awareness of the change, and this, for me, was the most uncomfortable part.
This shift isn’t unique to me. In fact, I learned from Ryan that “identity” means “same” — how we fit in is an essential part of understanding how we stand out. We are all changing, and as the rapid growth of AI is taking over parts of our jobs, the pieces of how we show up that make us feel useful, productive, successful — those changes in tech change how we feel about how we engage in this world, and ultimately how we feel about ourselves and where we belong.
How do we navigate this evolution as an opportunity for expansion and not as a reason for disconnection?
Navigating Your Personal Brand Identity in a World with AI
AI is an evolution. We humans tend to create things to replace what we no longer need to do. AI has rapidly removed knowledge as the barrier to creation. We no longer need to know the same amount of information, but we are increasingly needed to understand how to apply it.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
For business leaders, this shift presents a challenge as an opportunity, if we can get past our own egos and leave behind some of what made us comfortably successful. This is my perspective on how AI impacts how we see ourselves, and how the three-dimensional AWE helped me to move through it without losing my confidence and clarity.
1. Awareness: Acknowledging My Experience
Step one was to use my sense of self to identify and believe my own experience. This sounds so simple, but the truth is that it took me months, maybe longer, to even fully acknowledge the experience I was having. I help people and brands understand who they are and how they articulate that to the world. Who am I in a world of automation and AI interpretation?
The awareness of these questions inside of me that I was ignoring acted as the launch pad for my expansion in business and how I perceive myself. Awareness can unlock your greatest fears and those fears hold the keys to your greatest potential.
2. Wisdom: Making Space for Something New
Ryan once told me: Natural order places human intuition first and foremost. If, down the line, we can feed this intuition into AI systems to enhance them, great. But the core should always be human-led.
This hit me hard. Of course, I am not here to compete with AI, I am here to adopt it. AI may force me to reinvent myself and reevaluate how I am valued and what I value, but it can never take from me my humanity. So, I made space for AI by asking how I can collaborate with AI and where am I able to grow as a direct result of it?
3. Experience: Evolve, But Stay Rooted
Identity isn’t static and our sense of self shouldn’t be either. We evolve, our businesses evolve, our audiences evolve, and they should. For me, it was extremely important to remember the point of my work, why I started, and what I was hoping to achieve. From that place, grounded in my values and mission, I was able to evolve from that place.
Instead of fearing being replaced by AI, I reminded myself that my goal is to provide optimal solutions to my clients, and to create businesses that solve problems in the most useful way. Those goals require me to evolve and create space for AI to accomplish that.
Final Thoughts: AI Won’t Define Us, But It Will Challenge Us
My final advice? I will leave you with this: use it as an opportunity to refine your identity. Look at your brand. Your voice. Your perspective. If you can become aware of your feelings, become wise to your circumstance, and lean into your experience and perspective. You can find yourself in an expansive place that gives way for a growth worth changing for.
Because in the end, the brands and leaders who stand out are the ones who first take the time to understand where they fit in.
