COO @ Kurogo | We Create Thought Leaders Through Personal Branding | x2 TEDx speaker | Advisor, Investor & NED | Law Graduate | I talk about entrepreneurship, agency life and grief

Hey, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters.

For the last 4 years, I helped scale Kurogo, one of the leading personal branding agencies, as Chief Operating Officer, partnering with 300+ world-class founders, CEOs, C-Suite Execs and public figures to grow their influence and impact. I joined in September '21 and within 4 years, we scaled to a 7-figure business, with a global, remote team of 20+. We had clients across the UK, Europe, USA and MENA regions.

I have 5+ years' experience as a Non-Executive Director, particularly within the non-profit and social impact sector. At present, I continue to serve as:

- Vice Chair & Non-Executive Director, Child Action Northwest
- Non-Executive Director, Spring North

Currently, I’m travelling and building quietly behind the scenes - creating space to explore what’s next.

Lewis Alexander Baxter

Five months ago, I went all in on myself.

This is the honest version of what that's looked like.

A recap of '26 so far (can't believe it's nearly mid-March):

Let me rewind:👇 

In mid-October, I left my full-time COO role after four years in agency life. We scaled to 7 figures, hired 25+ brilliant people.

I gave it everything. And I learned more than I could have imagined.

60 to 70-hour weeks, consistently. 

What a ride.

But somewhere along the way, I wanted something different. More control over my time. More freedom to build my own things. Work that fits around life rather than consuming it.

So I left.

Travelled. Australia, Fiji, Bali, New Zealand. A proper reset.

Landed back in London mid-December and hit the ground running. Picked up my first few clients, working with agency founders as a fractional COO and ops consultant.


January and February:👇 

My first working week of 2026, my grandad died.

It wasn't the January I'd hoped for.

Work took a back seat (and rightly so!)

Early February, I moved back to London properly. Got back into a rhythm and slowly things started moving again.

Now at 8 clients, up from 3 in mid-December. Starting a 9th this week (a cool agency in Slovenia!). 

In the last couple of months I've worked with founders scaling to £10k per month, helped one agency go from £30k to £45k per month in under three months, and I'm deep in the weeds on a 'road to £1 million ARR plan' with another.

The honest version of why I started this was never just money. 

It was about building work around life, not the other way around. 

More freedom. 
More travel. 
More saying 'yes' to what matters. 

Space to build something of my own. And eventually, time to give back to charities and social impact organisations too.

I probably undersold myself on what was possible.

The consultancy is growing fast, hitting numbers I'm proud of (but the bigger win is that it's on my terms!)


What's next:👇 

In a few months, I've grown a business with a lot of moving parts.

So I made my first hire. Two days a week. Supporting on my content systems, lead gen, and being an extra brain.

Next, I'll build out a network of partners. 

(Part-time, full-time, or specialist experts in specific tools and ops challenges, so clients get the right person for the right problem!)

Because the goal was never to build myself another job. It was to build something sustainable and intentionally designed.

Oh, I'm also building an agency in a space I genuinely love, alongside a co-founder. 

(more on this soon 👀 )

It's been a difficult few months in some ways. A genuinely exciting few months in others.

I'm learning to hold both.

March will be a BIG one. 🚀

The last Mother's Day card I bought was 2020.

My mum died that July.

Yesterday was hard. 

Five years on, it still is.

It doesn’t get easier. You just learn how to carry it.

One of the first things I did yesterday was message two friends who’ve also lost their mums. 

One is around my age. One is about 30 years older than me.

Both came back with the same thing: it’s always one of the worst days of the year.

Not comfort, exactly. More recognition. The knowledge that what you’re feeling isn’t strange. It just is what it is.

Milestone days have their own weight.

Mother’s Day. 
Anniversaries.
Birthdays. 

The dates that arrive (whether you’re ready for them or not!)

The people who’ve been through it are the ones who don’t need it explained.

But here’s the part I keep thinking about:

A close friend of mine, someone who still has his mum, messaged to ask if I wanted company. 

We went for coffee and dinner.

He didn’t try to 'fix' anything. He just showed up.

And I think that’s one of the things loss makes you notice.

You notice who understands without needing to be asked. And you notice those who show up anyway, even when they don’t fully understand.

Both matter more than people realise.

I’ve always tried to be forward-looking about grief. Not because the hard days go away.

They don’t.

But difficult days are still survivable. And the people around you make them that way.

If yesterday felt heavy for you too, you’re not the only one.

And if someone in your life is carrying it today, you don’t need the right words.

You just need to show up.

I've started being more intentional with my weeks. Here's what that looks like for me:

(w/c 23rd Feb edition)

It's my third week back in London. Starting to find my rhythm.

My plan:👇 

- 4 discovery calls for my operations consultancy 
- A full day in Leeds on Wednesday with a new client 
- 2 coffees (making more time for IRL this year) 
- Co-working with aryan on Thursday
- I'm a guest on Sarah's podcast on Friday

Oh, and I'm building a business in an industry I love. The branding and naming kicks off this week. More on that soon.

My non-negotiables:👇 

- Gym x3 
- Clean eating all week 
- Saturday is mine - Reading v Bradford City (my flatmate's a Bradford fan). Then a (brief) visit to the pub.

--

Accountability is easier when you say it out loud. 

Consider this me saying it out loud. 

Curious, what does your week look like? Do you have any non-negotiables? 

--

PS. hi, I'm Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. Right now, I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

Tonight I'm locking my phone in a box. 📱 

Literally.

I'm heading to a dinner in Soho.

14 founders, early-stage and exited, coming together for an evening of honest conversation and proper connection.

No phones in sight. Everyone fully present.

We don't do it enough.

So, go on. Put the phone down. Even just for a few hours.

You might be surprised what happens when you do.

--

PS. Can't wait for another YES Club event. I've spoke about how awesome these IRL events are and tonight will be no exception. Arthur is the brains behind it. 🙌  

Look forward to catching up with Louis and Samuel too.

“So, what do you do?” 

It's one of the most common questions in the world.

And for a growing number of people, one of the most reductive.

Last Thursday, I went to Charlie Rogers’ launch for his debut book: 

undefinable life design.

I stayed for ~4 hours.

And, you know what really stood out to me? 

Who Charlie brought together under one roof.

Around 60 people, brilliant minds, and real warmth. Genuine conversations - that remind you life and work can be bigger than one label.

That’s why Charlie’s core premise lands so well.

For me, this looks like:

Agency operator.
Business owner.
Charity trustee.
NED. 
Friend.
Son.

All true.

None of them are the full picture on their own.

Charlie and I had known of each other for years, but we probably connected properly last summer. 

I first saw him in action at Life Design Day in September...

(where I spent the day thinking more honestly about what I actually wanted from life and career!)

By that point, I’d already handed in my notice from a 4-year full-time COO role.

Not long after, I went off on a 9-week trip across Australia, Fiji, Bali and New Zealand.

Since then, I’ve thought a lot about something Charlie and I have spoken about at length:

That the 'portfolio career' is not a fallback.

It’s a deliberate architecture.

Multiple income streams.
Multiple interests.
Multiple contributions.

Held together by a common thread.

Most people make life fit around work (without even noticing they’re doing it!).

The more deliberate alternative is to decide what you want your life to look like first, then build work that funds and fits that.

I’m still very much on that journey. But I believe that more as every month passes.

Charlie, congratulations! It was a brilliant book launch, a brilliant room, and a brilliant reminder that we do not have to be defined by one title, one employer or one path.

--

If you’re looking to intentionally design your work around your life, drop a comment below and I’ll pick someone to send a free copy to.👇 

P.S. Fancy buying a copy? Link in comments!

5 agency & creator-led marketing opportunities YOU can apply for this weekend:👇

—

1/ Email Marketing Copywriter
act Copywriting Ltd
Salary: £34K (+ bonuses)
Location: Remote (UK only)

act Copywriting specialise in email marketing and sales page copy for B2B coaches, consultants and course creators. You’ll be writing emails people actually open and read. Funny, sharp, conversion-focused copy that makes clients money. You’ll work closely with the founder and Head of Strategy, with real responsibility early on.

—

2/ Content Lead
Compound Content Studio
Salary: $95K -$105K
Location: Full-time, remote

Compound Content Studio is a B2B SaaS content agency working with technology companies on founder-led growth. You’ll lead written content across LinkedIn and newsletters, interview founders and execs, edit ghostwritten thought leadership, coach junior writers, and own quality end-to-end.

--

3/ Senior Video Editor
Chris Donnelly Ltd
Salary: £55K (+ bonus) (OTE £71.5K - £77K)
Location: London Bridge (Hybrid)

Chris Donnelly has built four businesses before 35, scaled to eight figures, and grown 3M+ social followers. Now he's building the most practical high-performance business YouTube channel ever. You'll own the full video production system - long-form YouTube, Shorts, Instagram content, and thumbnails. Be accountable for retention, performance, and quality while building scalable workflows. 

--

4/ SEO & Content Executive
Cedarwood Digital
Salary: ~£26K
Location: Manchester (Hybrid)

Cedarwood Digital is a digital marketing and PR agency based in Manchester. You’ll write SEO-led content, support strategy, manage client communication and gradually build deeper technical SEO skills. A great role for someone early in their SEO career who enjoys writing and wants to get closer to how search and performance actually work.

--

5/ Campaign Manager
The Goat Agency
Salary: £35K
Location: London (Hybrid)

Goat is a global influencer marketing agency working with brands across multiple markets. You’ll manage campaigns end-to-end. From influencer selection and briefing through to delivery, optimisation and reporting. This role suits someone organised, calm under pressure, and comfortable coordinating across clients, creators and internal teams.

--

Every week, I share cool opportunities at marketing agencies and creator-led businesses. All were posted recently. Salaries included.

♻️ Repost to share these opportunities with your network.

The best things I've built didn't happen at my desk.

These are my (unstructured) thoughts on why.

There's something about a conversation over coffee that no Google Meet or Zoom call can replicate. The energy shifts when you're sat across from someone. You pick up on things you'd never catch on a screen. Body language, energy, the natural flow of a conversation.

I think we've accepted a diluted version of human connection and called it 'efficiency'.

As someone building businesses, it's easy to fall into the trap of locking yourself away. Head down, door shut, grinding through the to-do list.  

I've been there.

In my final year of university I was juggling a full-time COO role and my law degree. 16 to 18 hour days were just the reality. When you're in the trenches of scaling a 7-figure bootstrapped business, sometimes that's what it takes.

I'm not glorifying that. But those years taught me something important. 

The real breakthroughs - the ideas that actually moved things forward, the relationships that opened doors - rarely came from being sat at my desk. They came from being in an actual (not virtual) room with someone. From conversations that started as a catch-up and turned into something neither person expected.

Harvard Business Review found that 95% of people say face-to-face meetings are essential to building long-term relationships. 

I'd go further: they're essential to building anything worth building.

Today I worked from a coffee shop in West London, had a meeting with two incredibly sharp guys who are building something exciting (in stealth right now, so I'll leave it there), then moved to a hotel lobby for the afternoon. Different environments, different quality of thinking.

That last part matters more than people realise. Where you work shapes how you work. The coffee shop gives you one kind of energy. The hotel lobby gives you another. Your desk at home gives you another. None of them are wrong - but treating one as the default for everything is.

This is all part of something I'm trying to be much more intentional about. 

Building work around life, not the other way round. Protecting the things that matter - the conversations, the experiences, the moments of genuine human connection - and fitting the work around them. Not the reverse.

It's a different way of thinking about productivity. And I think it's a better one.

This won't look the same for everyone. Not everyone works well in a coffee shop, and that's fine. But getting out from behind a screen and meeting people in person? That part's universal. You'll thank yourself for it.

If you fancy grabbing a coffee, in London or elsewhere, lmk! 🤝 

--

PS. hi, I'm Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. Right now, I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

KSI just bought a 20% stake in a sixth-tier football club. 

The strategy behind it is worth paying attention to.

He's now a shareholder and strategic partner at Dagenham & Redbridge FC.

It's one of the more interesting moves in football right now.

Here's why I think this matters (for KSI, and for Dagenham):👇 

1/ KSI brings a distribution network most Premier League clubs would envy.

17 million YouTube subscribers. 
A music career. 
A boxing empire. 

He's has spent 15 years building audiences and converting attention into commercial value. Lower league football is desperate for new revenue models.

A creator-owner who knows how to monetise attention unlocks things a traditional investor with deep pockets simply can't.


2/ This isn't his first move in football...

KSI has been president of Baller League UK since its launch in 2025. 

He's already been learning the football business from the inside. 

Buying a stake in a club like Dagenham is the next logical step.

That context matters. 

The club aren't getting a celebrity who turns up for photos. They're getting someone who's been in the space for years now. 


3/ Dagenham has something money can't buy: community loyalty.

Football has something almost impossible to manufacture:

Genuine local belonging. 

In February, Happy Fan Group completed its takeover of the club. 

John Grabowski, who leads the investment group, said the partnership is "a clear statement of our intent" to build a club relevant to both its local community and a global audience. 

That dual positioning is where the real opportunity lives. KSI knows how to serve both. Local clubs at this level rarely get that combination. 

--

KSI said he wants to take the Daggers to the Premier League

(that's a bold claim for a side currently five points off the National League South play-off spots!)

The Wrexham comparisons are already coming. But KSI isn't Reynolds or Mac

And that's the point.

Taking a sixth-tier club to the Premier League is a long shot.

What KSI is doing at Dagenham is worth paying attention to regardless of where they finish.

-- 

♻️ Repost if you found this valuable. 

PS. Hey, I'm Lewis! 👋 Fractional COO by trade. Curious about where business, culture and sport are colliding. Follow if that's your thing...

5 agency marketing opportunities YOU can apply for this weekend:👇

--

1/ Senior Social Media Executive
Plus 1 Communications
Salary: £31K - £35K
Location: Windsor / Hybrid

Plus 1 Communications is hiring a data-focused Senior Social Media Executive to own campaigns across paid and organic channels. You’ll work across ideation, scripting, production, amplification and reporting, with a strong emphasis on KPIs, testing and ROI. A strong role for someone who wants real ownership over both creative output and measurable growth.

--

2/ Paid Social Executive
The Good Marketer
Salary: £31K - £35K (DOE)
Location: London / Remote options

The Good Marketer is a growing digital agency hiring for its performance team. You’ll be hands-on with paid social delivery across Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn, working across varied client accounts and helping drive results for SMEs. A strong role for someone early in paid media who wants real responsibility inside an agency environment.

--

3/ Marketing Manager
Chris Donnelly Ltd
Salary: £35K - £40K
Location: London Bridge / Hybrid

Chris Donnelly Ltd is hiring a Marketing Manager to support The Creator Accelerator, a creator-led business helping founders build personal brands that drive leads, revenue and opportunities. You’d be working across lead generation, email, landing pages and webinar content. A strong fit for someone who wants a commercially focused marketing role close to creator-led growth and direct response.

--

4/ Creative Strategist
MHI Media
Salary: £45K + performance-related bonuses
Location: Remote (UK timezone overlap required)

MHI Media is hiring a Creative Strategist inside a performance marketing agency focused on scaling DTC brands. You’d be owning creative strategy across paid social accounts, turning performance data into stronger briefs, hooks and concepts that actually convert. A strong fit for someone who understands paid social creative and wants to sit close to both strategy and commercial results.

--

5/ Social Media Executive
Cowshed Collective
Salary: £32K - £35K
Location: Greater London

Cowshed Collective is hiring a Social Media Executive inside a business built around entertainment, creators and social-first content. You’d be helping shape channel output in a culturally connected environment, working close to brands, creators and media-led ideas. A strong fit for someone who wants a social role with sharper creative energy and more relevance to where culture is actually moving.

--

Every week, I share fresh opportunities at marketing agencies and creator-led businesses, all posted in the last 7 days. Salaries included.

🔗 Links to every role in my comments!

--

♻️ REPOST to share these opportunities with your network. 
✉️ SHARE this post with a friend looking for a new role.

Formula 1 had the best racing in the world. 

But, fans just couldn't connect with the sport, the drivers or the story behind it.

For many of us, F1 felt inaccessible. And commercially it was paying the price. 

Drive to Survive changed that.

Before the series landed, F1 didn't fully recognise the extent to this problem. 

The racing was spectacular. But emotionally? It felt out of touch. Drivers said the right things in press conferences. PR teams carefully controlled what got out. The paddock felt like it belonged to a different world.

Then Netflix put cameras in the middle of it.

Three things happened that are worth paying attention to - as a fan, and as anyone working in sport, content, or brand.👇 

--

1/ The paddock stopped feeling like a closed world

Suddenly it felt accessible. 

Fans were seeing what happened after a retirement, after a race win, in the conversations that never made it to broadcast. 

Connecting with drivers as actual people. That connection turned passive viewers into properly invested fans.

True fan engagement. 

(Season 7 of Drive to Survive remains the most-watched sports documentary on Netflix, with 10.4 million views)


2/ A new audience found the sport and actually stayed

F1's social following exploded. A new generation of supporters - many of them younger, many of them women, a huge number of them in the United States - found the sport through the documentary and stayed for the racing. 

The average age of the F1 fan dropped noticeably. 

The sport stopped being a largely European institution and started feeling genuinely global.


3/ The commercial story rewrote itself entirely

Sponsors follow attention. And Drive to Survive created attention in markets F1 had struggled to crack for years. Las Vegas got a race. Miami got a race. 

Oracle signed as Red Bull's title sponsor. LVMH committed to a 10-year global partnership with the sport. 

ESPN's average US viewership grew from around 547,000 in 2018 to over 1.2 million by 2022, and F1 used that momentum to renegotiate broadcast deals from a position of actual strength.

A sport that had plateaued commercially found a completely new gear.

--

The new series drops on the 27th.

What Netflix proved here goes well beyond F1. 

Audiences don't need stories to be manufactured. They need access. Genuine access to the people behind elite performance.

Give people a way in. The rest takes care of itself.

PS. Who has watched Drive to Survive? And who's ready for the new series?

Everyone talks about product-market fit like it’s a lightbulb moment.

“We found it. Here’s how.”

But that’s hindsight talking.

The people I love following on LinkedIn are the ones in the thick of it. Sharing lessons live. Not polished retrospectives once the hard work is done.

The reality? Most of the interesting work (ie. the messy, uncomfortable, expensive work) happens before you find the fit. And not many people post about that part.

Right now I’m building a few businesses simultaneously. An operations/fractional COO consultancy, an agency within the sports space, and FUNC - an online health store. 

All at different stages. All still finding their footing in some areas.

And honestly? That’s the part I want to talk about more.

Because the gap between what you think the market wants and what people will actually pay for, consistently, is where most businesses get stuck. 

Agencies, B2B services, physical products. It doesn’t matter the model. The challenge is the same.

A few things I keep coming back to:👇

1/ Validation ≠ revenue:

Someone saying “that sounds amazing” is not the same as them buying. Enthusiasm is easy. Commitment costs something. 


2/ The model matters as much as the offer: 

You can have the right product or service with completely the wrong commercial structure. Retainer, project, subscription, one-time purchase - each one attracts a different buyer and builds a different business.


3/ Distribution is underrated: 

You can have the right offer at the right price and still struggle if you’re reaching the wrong people. How you get in front of buyers matters as much as what you’re selling.


4/ Iteration > perfection:

Waiting until the offer feels fully formed before putting it out there is how you spend months optimising something the market doesn’t actually want.


Still figuring it out. Still adjusting.

But I think there’s more value in documenting the journey than waiting until I’ve “cracked it” to share anything.

Who else is in the thick of it right now?

Account Director at LeverBrands | Follow me for posts on Personal Branding, Career Growth & Personal Development | Subscribe to Building Leverage ☄️

Hi, I'm Thomas Pearce, Co-Founder @ LeverBrands.

Follow along if you want to see content about:

- Personal Branding
- Career Growth
- Personal Development

Thomas Pearce

One of the most underrated career skills:

Never stop learning.

I see many people stall because of the opposite.
They do stop learning, and they get a little too comfy.

The reality is...
If you aren't willing to get uncomfortable, you aren't going to grow.

That includes learning in your 5-9 and weekends.

Which can sound like a LOT to some people.
But to be honest, if it does, you aren't a high performer.

Don't expect great results without great effort.

1. Set delusional goals.
↳ In order to learn, you need to have goals first.
↳ Neuroscience says the more delusional the better!

2. Capture ideas in your Notes app.
↳ This has honestly changed everything for me.
↳ Take notes as they come to you, and expand on it later.

3. Take time for tiny reading sessions.
↳ In a spare 5-10 minutes, don't open Insta.
↳ Read a fic or non-fic book instead!

4. Mimic the very best.
↳ Look at someone who has achieved what you want to.
↳ Follow their blueprint and avoid their mistakes.

5. Utilise Repeat Exposure.
↳ You don't remember stuff you learned once.
↳ Repeat the learning and your brain will remember it.

6. Sacrifice your free time.
↳ I'm not saying don't have fun, not at all.
↳ But spending too much time on that limits growth.

The compound of all of these is incredible.

Lock the F in for a year every single day...
The person you'll look back at will be unrecognisable.

What's your favourite learning habit?
Share your value in the comments! ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to inspire your network.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

--

P.S. If you're interested in learning about personal brand...

I have a free learning resource for you right here: https://lnkd.in/etevrBhi

It's a weekly newsletter read by 2,000+ legends.

Very few want to see you winning.

But the value of those that do is unparalleled. 

In my short career so far, 
(Although I keep saying that and I'm 26 now...)
I've learned an unfortunate truth:

The Spotlight Effect is very much real.
People aren't focused on you. They're focused on themselves.

They don't necessarily want to see you win.
These folks see life as a zero-sum game.

The thing is... you don't have to lose for me to win.

The most successful people, they just get that.
And therefore, are willing to give a helping hand!

I was surprised when years ago, with zero experience, just simply reaching out to people ahead of me for advice, they would *actually* help me.

Surrounding yourself with the right people is like a superpower.

Here's my advice for finding them:

1. Ask your friends or family who they know. 🧑‍🧑‍🧒
↳ If a family member happens to know somebody...
↳ That is actual stardust. It's the warmest of intros.

2. Connect with those one step ahead of you. ☄️
↳ Go on LinkedIn and search your ideal job role.
↳ Send them a connect request with a personalised message.

3. Get on networking calls weekly. 💻
↳ It might seem pointless at first.
↳ But meeting face-to-face makes you memorable.

They will think of you first for referrals. 

Next, you need to audit your network regularly. 

✅ Who supported you without chasing?
❌ Who downplayed your achievements?

✅ Who made that warm intro to a valuable person?
❌ Who gatekept someone of value in their circle?

✅ Who had uncomfortable conversations to help you grow?
❌ Who didn't challenge your excuses when you needed?

You honestly need to be kinda brutal with your network.

Because they contribute enormously to your 'environment.'

Which is a huuuuge factor in your career success.

So, who's lifting you up in your career?
Show your appreciation in the comments! ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to help those who need to hear it.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

-- 

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Co-Founder @ LeverBrands | Follow me for posts on Personal Branding & Career Growth | Subscribe to Building Leverage ☄️

I spent years striving for "perfection."

Honestly, that was my biggest mistake.

I was a classic serial overplanner.
Google Docs, Notion pages, Trello boards... 
I did it ALL. Relentlessly. 

Eventually, I realised something we all eventually realise.
If you don't make mistakes, you don't make progress.

In truth, big changes always comes with fear attached.

I think this is the biggest problem with education in 2026.

We're taught the theory, and occasionally practice.
But mistakes are discouraged, and they shouldn't be.

We're taught theory, and sometimes, practice.
But mistakes aren't actively encouraged. They should be.

Take it from me:

❌ I failed on LinkedIn for years... 
✅ Until 2024, I now have 92,615+ followers.

❌ I changed direction multiple times post-graduation...
✅ Now I've co-founded a ~£2m ARR startup inside 2 years.

❌ I used to be, quite frankly, a terrible leader.
✅ Now I feel more competent at leading and delegating.

I wouldn't have gotten to where I am without several errors!

If you have self-limiting beliefs or fear of failure...
You will not achieve the level of success you want.

At the end of each week, try this exercise:

1. Reflect on your week overall.
2. Write down 3 mistakes you made.
3. Create an action plan to fix the error.

Make mistakes and learn ma people 💪

What's a recent mistake you've made?
And how are you learning from it?

♻️ Repost to help others learn by doing.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more career content.

Visual credit to GrowthByVisuals on IG.

--

📌 You CAN also learn by consuming the right content...

We've packaged all the information you need to know to start building a personal brand here: https://lnkd.in/eETgNu-N

It's a FREE course that has 5 video modules + 5 GPTs to help you get started. Enjoy!

"LinkedIn is dead in 2026." Yawn, it isn't.

You just need a different approach:

Thanks to Chris Donnelly for the epic sheet.

So many people post randomly and run out of steam.

But if you have a system for it...
It can legitimately change your life.

(I would know, it changed mine for sure!)

Chris made a video breaking down the changes in 2026 here 👇
https://lnkd.in/exygJjTi

But for a full written breakdown, read on:

1. Your North Star

You need one clear North Star for the next 90 days.

Ask yourself, what does success look like in 12 weeks?

2. The Positioning Triangle

Personal brands succeed when three things overlap:

1. Your expertise
2. A painful market problem
3. Your point of view

3. The Audience Clarity Map

There are only 3 groups you need to speak to:

- Buyers: The people who will pay you
- Aspirational followers: The people who amplify you
- Learners: Early-stage, curious, watching quietly

4. The Content OS

This is the perfect content system:

1. Teach - frameworks, tactics, step-by-step
2. Think - opinions, observations, contrarian takes
3. Build - behind-the-scenes, lessons, mistakes
4. Sell - results, stories, clear offers

5. The Attention Engine

Consistency requires a weekly execution system.

1. Idea Sourcing (60 minutes)
2. Batch Writing (2 hours)
3. Daily Engagement (15-20 minutes)
4. End-of-Week Review (20 minutes)

6. The Trust Ladder Framework

People buy from you because you've earned their trust based on:

1. Awareness
2. Relevance
3. Authority
4. Proof
5. Action

7. The Content Feedback Loop

Your audience will always tell you what to create next.

Each week, analyse:

- Your highest-performing post
- Your lowest-performing post
- Which topic resonated the most
- Which format could be repeated

8. The 3-Level Personal Brand Funnel

Your funnel should follow:

1. Top of Funnel: Content aimed at getting reach
2. Middle of Funnel: Deeper educational content
3. Bottom of Funnel: Proof and testimonials

9. The Growth Scorecard

You only need 5 metrics to know if your brand is performing:

- Number of views
- Follower growth
- Engagement rate
- Inbound leads
- Newsletter signups

Your personal brand can be a huge life advantage.
Or a complete waste of time.

The difference is having the right strategy.

Like I said, Chris recorded a great full breakdown video here: https://lnkd.in/exygJjTi

It's a new channel so go show some love.

♻️ Repost to share this with your network.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more content like this.

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📌 For further, weekly, personal brand education & systems...

Subscribe to our newsletter, Building Leverage: https://lnkd.in/gqBfBzvU

You will be sent a FREE LinkedIn Starter Pack by default.
5 video modules, 5 free GPTs, all ready for you.

Don't just "create" content anymore.

Build an always-on replacement. Here's how:

Absolute banger sheet by Josh S..
He's releasing incredible content at the moment!

You see, most people are still writing every post from scratch.

But those that are posting high-quality content, consistently...
They have an agent, handling research, drafts, and repurposing.

All before they've even had their first morning coffee.

Here's how to build your first AI content agent in 9 steps:

📋 Pick one content task

Research or repurposing, which one?
Write one sentence: given this input, the agent produces this output.

📍 Map it like a process

Break it down into 6-7 clear steps before you open any tool.
You decide what goes in... and what comes out!

🌱 Choose where it lives

LangChain, LangGraph, and CrewAI are great starting points.
Start simple and ramp up when you need to.

✔ Define inputs, outputs, and tools

Pick your input: a topic, URL, or a transcript.
Give it the exact output format you want in return.

📝 Write the job description

Your system prompt is basically the brain of the whole thing.
Include your role, boundaries, style, example of best posts...

💭 Add memory and context

Add recent posts, performance data, tone of voice, and ICP.
If it has no context, the output will be generic!

🛡️ Add guardrails

Always a human review before anything goes live.
Guardrails are what makes it safe to trust the agent.

⚙️ Build a simple interface

One input field. One run button.
If it takes effort to access, it won't get used.

🧪 Test on 5 real posts

Analyse the output compared to your own writing...
Use your human judgement to say if it's good enough!

Most people think their content is too personal to systemise. 

However, after a few months of posting, your voice is documented.
Then, it becomes a repeatable process.

But remember that you still have to use your brain folks!
This is a tool to help with execution, but not the thinking.

Will you be giving this a go?
Let me know in the comments.

♻️ Repost to help people stop doing content manually.
➡️ Follow Thomas Pearce for more like this.

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P.S. We give these type of guides in our newsletter, Building Leverage.

You can subscribe for free here: https://lnkd.in/gqBfBzvU

You will be joining 2,000+ people enjoying it weekly!

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Lewis Alexander Baxter's LinkedIn Performance

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