Ask an Expert: How to build a personal brand for small businesses

Laurie Weston
Retail & eCommerce General Manager at Purolator Inc.

Laurie Weston is the Retail & eCommerce General Manager at Purolator. She leads the development and execution of strategies that enhance e-commerce and digital solutions across the retail and logistics sectors. Working with businesses, she delivers tailored logistics solutions and empowers teams with clarity and purpose that helps them turn strategy into action and drives business. With a focus on operational efficiency, enhanced customer experiences, and measurable growth, Laurie is committed to solving the challenges that hold businesses back, so they can unlock their full potential.

As part of Purolator’s Power Talk webcast series, Laurie Weston, General Manager, Retail & eCommerce at Purolator Inc. shares her tips on how to build a personal brand for your small business, including effective strategies, how to avoid common obstacles, and the power of authenticity.

Learn more about building a personal brand for small businesses. Check out the Purolator Power Talks podcast.

Key takeaways

What is personal branding for small businesses?

Personal branding is the strategic practice of defining and communicating your values and purpose to engage with a community or target audience. It can be an effective strategy for growing your small business because through your personal brand, you can create a stronger and more authentic brand message and identity for your company. This helps you stand out in your network and drives demand with your customers, which leads to increased revenue. Building a personal brand brings additional benefits to you and your small business such as: 

• Expanded opportunities, projects, networks, and partnerships 
• Better awareness and visibility for you and your small business 
• Builds credibility, trust, and authority with your target audience 
• More cohesive brand narrative and impactful marketing  
• Increased revenue and growth 

What are the key components for defining a personal brand?

According to Weston, personal branding begins with three core elements: 

• Self-awareness. Defining yourself, your brand, and the product you are offering. This includes identifying your values and strengths and using this information to build the narrative for your personal brand.  
• Presence and profile. Presence is how you present yourself to others, such as listening with empathy and maintaining eye contact. Your profile is who you are when you’re not in the room. 
• Communication. How you engage and communicate with your audience and network should be informed by your personal brand, and can give you insight on who you are.  

As a small business, your teams succeed and get further when individuals play to their strengths. Once your personal brand is defined, this can be leveraged to enhance your teams’ efficiency and focus. For Weston, understanding your personal brand also hinges on recognizing your weaknesses and the strengths of others. If you are presented with an opportunity that isn’t your superpower, Weston recommends identifying that quickly and calling in someone who is an expert and delegating to that person’s strength. This removes noise and helps you heighten your personal brand by solidifying your distinct values and goals.

4 steps for creating a personal brand for small business

If you’re wondering, “What is my personal brand?” and aren’t sure where to begin, we’ve identified these 4 key steps to help you get started: 

1. Understand your purpose. When you understand your motivations and goals, you are creating a personal brand driven by purpose. As an extension, this creates better connections for your small business with your target audience because it creates a strong differentiation between you and your competitors built on authenticity. It also fosters trust and genuine engagement–the basis of human connection.  
2. Define your unique value and skills. Identify your strengths, skills, and unique offerings. Your small business is an extension of your values: you created it for a reason! Use this information to better understand yourself and how your unique perspective and insights translate to a set of values and skills that can foster a connection with your target audience. 
3. Communicate, build presence, and your profile. Use your personal branding to inform internal and external interactions in your small business, whether it be in the boardroom, on social media, or in marketing collateral. Speak with intention and purpose, and be your authentic self.  
4. Iterate and re-evaluate. Over time, your skills, your story, and your goals may change. As your small business grows, your target audience may shift as well. Every few years, audit your personal brand and redefine it as needed so it reflects who you are and how that ties into your small business and your customers.  

Why is personal branding important for small businesses?

Personal branding can be a key differentiator in building success for small businesses because it gives your target audience a clear understanding of who you are. This builds trust, which creates brand loyalty with your customers towards your company and its products.  

As a small business, your size facilitates more personal interactions with your audience and builds intimacy that can be easily leveraged through personal branding. In a highly digitized world, more people are seeking meaningful connections with companies, which stresses the importance of personal branding. In fact, 70% of consumers feel a greater connection to brands when their CEOs are active on social media, and customers are 76% more likely to purchase from a brand they feel a connection with over a competitor (Sprout Social).  

Weston states that personal branding can be leveraged for small business success by:

1. Saying yes to opportunities. Networking can be a key part of building your personal brand at work and in your community. Weston recommends never saying no to an invitation to meet and chat because it can present valuable opportunities. “In my career, whenever I met someone it often led me to one connection and then another connection, which led to an execution on a high-profile project,” says Weston. 
2. Taking on high-profile projects. Linked to performance, Weston emphasizes the importance of “growing where you are planted”. By becoming a subject matter expert, you can volunteer for special projects when the opportunity arises and boost your personal brand. 
3. Speaking up and showcasing your expertise. There are always opportunities to showcase your personal brand, especially in spaces where you are not the dominant group. Silence the imposter within and share your expertise and strengths when you’re able. 
4. Practicing kindness, fostering community, and supporting others. For Weston, kindness is a core part of personal branding. Always be open to helping others who have questions, being a mentor and mentioning other powerful leaders in your network. Weston emphasizes the importance of community over competition. This includes community-focused opportunities such as Purolator’s Truth North Small Business Grant Contest, which has a cash prize that includes $5,000 for winners to donate towards a cause they are passionate about, to help strengthen their connection with their community.  

With these tactics, you heighten the visibility of your personal branding in your network, which Weston explains can help you when you encounter obstacles as a small business.  

“In my career, I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of big projects and high-exposure media involvement. I’ve come across roadblocks like with any project or business, but it’s the people I know and the people that they know that have helped me maneuver through these obstacles,” says Weston. “It’s also your mindset. Just because one door closes doesn’t mean you stop there. It means you divert and continue to move forward.” 

In addition, a strong personal brand directly benefits your small business and leads to greater networking, growth, and financial opportunities, such as access to exclusive contests and grants like the Purolator True North Small Business Grant Contest. Several small business grants are application and profile based, so demonstrating a strong personal brand can be a huge asset for securing financial support for your company.  

What role does authenticity play in personal branding?

For Weston, authenticity is a key part of effective storytelling in personal branding. As mentioned, for many small business owners, your personal brand can be inextricable from your small business. This can be a strength. Once you establish a personal brand and begin to harness it, you can use this to push forward an authentic narrative surrounding your small business.  

Authenticity allows audiences to connect with the narrative being shared, which can influence a final purchase and differentiates you from the competition. Weston stresses that defining your personal branding narrative can begin with questions: 

• What is the perception of your brand and yourself? 
• How are you differentiating yourself?  
• How are you being authentically yourself? 

Authenticity is also a key part of growing the community surrounding you and your small business.  

“Authenticity is about being true to what you say and do, which is a big part of your brand,” says Weston. “Being kind and helping other folks means in turn, people will want to help you.”  

Purolator has seen firsthand how a strong personal brand can amplify a small business and transform its trajectory and relationship with its customers. When your personal brand sculpts your small business’s story, that authenticity generates success and meaningful impact in your community. Learn more about the personal stories of small businesses through Purolator’s Small Business Success Stories, such as our profile on First Indigenous Biomass Future’s $5K Donation as Purolator’s Community’s Choice Award Winner. 

How can employee-generated content be leveraged for personal branding?

2025 highlights the rising trend of employee-generated content (EGC) as not only a cost-effective solution for engaging audiences but also an impactful generator of consumer trust. For Weston, there’s a reason behind this. 

“At the end of the day, it comes down to emotional connection,” says Weston. “If your audience can see themselves in that employee and relate and connect emotionally, it makes a difference. We all want to connect and we want to feel like we’re a part of something bigger, and if your audience can relate, it works.” 

Weston highlights that effective content doesn’t necessarily have to be employee-generated. The crux of effective content that engages with audiences is authenticity. When someone speaks from an authentic place, customers recognize this and it garners trust, which makes them more likely to purchase and be loyal to your products and services. In fact, 63% of consumers prefer relatable and authentic content on social media over more manufactured videos.  

For small businesses interested in leveraging employee-generated content, begin by:

1. Engaging authentically with your teams. 
2. Supporting your employees in establishing their own personal brand.  
3. Fostering a culture where employees feel empowered and personally invested in the company. 
4. Giving your team members the tools to create EGC content and respect their unique perspective. Above all, prioritize authenticity over perfection.  

What are some personal branding strategies for small businesses?

Weston highlights these key strategies for small businesses to employ when building their own personal brand. They include:

1. Performing a personal or self-audit. Weston recommends pausing every so often and evaluating your personal branding to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. You may ask yourself:
   – Does my personal brand feel accurate to who I am?
   – Is my personal brand coherent and clear?
   – Am I differentiating myself in a meaningful way?
    
2. Identifying your true self. For Weston, part of building a meaningful personal brand comes back to understanding yourself. While this may not be clear right away, Weston suggests starting with defining your strengths and weaknesses and tying what you enjoy to your personal values. Once you identify what gives you energy and occupies your entire focus, you can use this information to form the basis of an authentic personal brand. You may also use information about your values to hone your small business goals, such as improving its environmental sustainability.
    
3. Maximizing exposure. Your personal brand doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Weston emphasizes that storytelling is critical in how you present yourself, whether it be in the office or on social media. Take the opportunity to understand your target audience and use this information to streamline your narrative so it is articulate, clear, and honest.  

How can small businesses avoid common personal branding mistakes?

While building a personal brand will come with its own roadblocks, Weston highlights these three principles for avoiding common challenges: Performance, Image, and Exposure (PIE).  

Focusing your personal brand 

Challenge: It may be tempting to chase every opportunity that presents itself, but this can produce a personal brand that lacks focus and doesn’t leverage your strengths.  

Solution: Performance. This principle leverages your strengths so you are recognized as a subject matter expert that people gravitate to. Focus and find opportunities to research, learn, and hone your skills so you can apply them in your field, network, and small business.  

Presence and profile 

Challenge: Many small business owners may have a well-defined personal brand, but may not consider the importance of expressing it in their presence and profile. 

Solution: Image. Your presence and profile are key parts of your image and encompass not only your outward appearance but how you present yourself in public settings. When building a cohesive personal brand and image, consider: 

• How you’re listening 

• How you’re communicating 

• What unique perspective do you have to share 

Visibility in your network 

Challenge: Lack of awareness and communication of your personal brand within your audience and community. Small business owners may forget to showcase their personal brand on different platforms and use it to create opportunities for their company.

Solution: Exposure. Your personal brand is only as strong as it’s visible. Leverage platforms and opportunities to communicate your personal brand and connect with your audience and community. This can include industry events, guest speaking roles, or expert profiles such as Purolator’s blog post on Mental Wellness in Small Businesses with Sarah Ahmed of Hello Leena. These opportunities not only raise your small business’s profile, but also positions you as a trustworthy and credible source of information and an expert in your field.

While Weston recognizes many people worry about bragging, she emphasizes the importance of being proud of your achievements and sharing them, whether it be in an email, in a casual chat, or on social media. “Exposure is critically important,” says Weston. “It means presenting your work, being very proud of your achievements and sharing that. Make sure you take time out to share the great work you’ve achieved.”  

Generating small business success with your personal brand 

Your small business is a unique extension of your strengths and your talents. In turn, your personal brand is an important tool for your small business; it facilitates meaningful engagement with your community and target audience, builds your network, and generates long-term success and growth. When it comes to leveraging the power of personal branding for your small business, Weston highlights the importance of being bold, courageous, and removing negative self-talk.  

“Be proud of yourself,” says Weston. “Spend time celebrating the small wins for yourself. Motivation drives momentum. Talk to people who can help you, use your network. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you admire and ask if you can ask a few questions. Remember to always say yes and show up as your authentic self.”  

The success of your personal brand and small business is strengthened with dedicated partners like Purolator. Our commitment to empowering and amplifying small businesses like yours includes logistics, exposure, community-building, and funding such as the Purolator True North Small Business Grant Contest. We provide support for your small business, so you can focus on building a personal brand and company that resonates with your customers and creates impact.  

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