LIAM DARMODYᵍᵐ

Personal Brand Strategist & Networking Coach → I help entrepreneurs, executives & teams build brands to attract clients, talent & opportunity | Family Man | Connector | AI & Blockchain Bull | Hot Sauce Aficionado🌶️

I help founders, entrepreneurs, and executives build businesses by becoming trusted, visible, and referenceable in their space. My work sits at the intersection of personal brand strategy, go-to-market execution, and AI-enabled operations. I help people understand how to show up across LinkedIn, search, and AI-driven discovery and how that visibility turns into real opportunity over time.

Currently, I'm working with Brandi (mybrandi.ai), helping companies understand how they show up inside AI-generated answers and recommendations, and how brand visibility, trust, and demand are increasingly shaped by systems they do not directly control.

Seeing this shift up close has changed how I help individuals and teams show up online.

A core part of my approach is what I call Voice Enablement with AI.

Instead of writing for people, I teach them how to use AI to think, draft, and create content in their own voice. Most clients stop writing from scratch and start editing instead. Content creation becomes faster, more consistent, and still unmistakably human.

How? Because we are using your actual voice!

What I help with most often:

• Founder and executive positioning and LinkedIn profile strategy
• Personal narrative clarity for humans, AI systems, and decision-makers
• Relationship-based networking and social selling without pressure tactics
• Using AI to streamline content creation, engagement, and workflows
• Measuring what actually matters in brand and go-to-market efforts

Alongside my advisory work, I take on select fractional go-to-market and operations roles, supporting teams during growth, transition, or strategic realignment.

I’m known for helping people:

• Clarify what makes them meaningfully different
• Build trust before asking for anything
• Turn visibility into opportunity over time
• Turn chaos into organized chaos ;)

I call this manifesting serendipity.

It’s not luck. It’s intention, consistency, and showing up in the right conversations long before you need something. It's being in someone's orbit often enough that you become the first person they think of when they need your product or service. 

It's about being top of mind. 

Outside of work, I’m a husband, a dad of two, an early-morning lifter, and a proud hot sauce aficionado 🌶️. 

If you’re building a brand, a business, or your next chapter, I’d love to jam with you. 

Hi5, 
LD

Founder

I help executives, founders, and their teams build magnetic brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunity on LinkedIn. 

My services include: 

My services include: 
- Profile Optimization
- LinkedIn feature training
- Core content strategy
- Ghostediting (ask me about it)
- Content performance analysis 
- Sales Navigator training

Liam's Brand Stand was born out of my passion for personal branding and belief that LinkedIn is the ultimate platform for professionals and organizations to manifest serendipity and unlock opportunity.

This passion started as a fascination that turned into a hobby, then to a side hustle, and now, my full-time focus. I started creating content and being more intentional about building my brand here in January 2020 and since then I've amassed 35,000 followers and my content has garnered ~23,000,000 impressions, ~600,000 reactions, and ~100,000 comments. 

Completely organically.

Pretty crazy, especially when you consider I'm just a suburban dad who took to LinkedIn as a way to have conversation with other adults while cooped up in my house with my wife, a toddler, and an infant during a pandemic. 

That's the kind of opportunity that exists on LinkedIn and I'm on a mission to help more people experience it for themselves. 

If you're interested in doing so, visit: 

liamsbrandstand.com to learn more 
-or- 
calendly.com/liamdarmody to book time with me

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hi5, 
LD

LIAM DARMODY

Today I stepped on the scale & clocked 278lbs. 

I know that sounds like a weird flex, but I have not been in the 270s since August 2016.

Nearly 10 years. 

When I started my business in August 2023, I was 347lbs. 

I couldn’t walk a mile without running out of breath.
I couldn’t walk upstairs without the same.
I feared my kids asking me to play because I knew how hard that would be for me. 

I had spent the better part of 30 years using food as medicine to heal wounds from childhood, which started at A&D burgers in Mississauga, Ontario. 

I decided enough was enough. 

Joined a gym.

Started with 3x per week, which was all I could do back then. 

Then 4x per week. 
Then 5x per week.
And now 6x per week (sometimes ;)

it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, not just because of how challenging the physical workouts are, but because it hasn't garnered massive results overnight.

I've been an all or nothing kind of guy since the beginning of time and I've started and stopped trying to lose weight many times before.

I wanted three months of hard work to magically undo 30 years of unhealthy habits.

It doesn't work like that.

I'm at the point now where the scale doesn't even really matter that much to me because I've realized that which really matters is that I'm showing up in that gym every weekday.

putting in the work to be healthier.

day by day.
Week by week.
Month by month. 
Year by year. 

I may still be round but I'm in the best shape of my life. 

And it feels amazing.

My advice to anyone who has struggled with weight loss is to try this: 

1) Find a gym with coaches & classes. Expert accountability and community are massive motivators. 

2) Go 3-5 days per week for 3 months. Non-negotiable. 

3) Meal prep. Every Sunday I throw 4 lb of ground chicken, a bag of hash brown potatoes, and 15 eggs on a blackstone flat top and make a meal for myself that has 100 g of protein. That's breakfast after the gym every day. 

If you do that, you will notice a change in yourself, not just on the scale but mentally. You will start to believe that you are capable of things you never thought you were capable of. 

And that will motivate you to keep going.

I’m still on my journey. I’ve got a long way to go, but I have zero doubt that I will get there now. 

And that is something I haven’t felt ever before. 

It’s liberating as hell. 

Good luck. 

My DMs are open if you ever want to jam about it.

I’ve got to go carry both of my kids up the stairs now, and I’m proud to say I won’t be winded. 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

Personal Brand Strategist & Fractional GTM Operator helping founders build their businesses with LinkedIn & AI 🌶️ Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

No alternative text description for this image

HUGE NEWS! 

My incredible wife Megan Bailey Darmody has a new job! She’s swapping floral fragrances, petals, and stems for wax, wicks, and fragrance sticks by joining CandleScience to lead performance marketing. 

CandleScience is one of the largest suppliers and educators in the candle making industry and I am so excited for her (and to have more candles around the house…;)

Megan is an absolute boss and I’m so proud to be her husband. She inspires me every single day. 

Please join me in congratulating her on the new role!

Hi5,
LD
🕯️

Brand Strategist and Fractional GTM Operator helping founders grow their businesses with LinkedIn and AI • Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

This is not okay. 
This is not what America is supposed to be.
This is not what “law enforcement” looks like. 

This is not “the land of the Free”
This is not “the Home of the Brave” 
This is not “one country, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”

This is barbaric.
This is cowardice.
This is fear mongering. 
This is absolutely devastating.

This is the execution of an American citizen exercising his unalienable constitutional rights. 

And it’s f*cking unacceptable.

I am astounded that this continues to happen with seemingly zero repercussions. 

What are we doing? 
How did we get here?

And most importantly, how do we stop it? 

I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on politically, if you are willing to stand by and watch this without speaking up or taking action, you’re not my kind of people. 

Political differences are acceptable—appreciated, even. 

Staying silent as American citizens are murdered by masked “men” beating their chests and brandishing weapons to fuel their bravado is not. 

My heart goes out to the families who have been impacted by these devastating displays of government overreach. 

I cannot begin to comprehend your pain and nothing I say could possibly fill the void left by such a tragic loss.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t say something. 

I will never forget this image. 

Especially not at the polls.

☮️&❤️

My Linkedin strategy for 2026: 

Focus less on Linkedin strategy. 

Focus more on simply sharing who I am, what I know & find interesting, why I'm here, how I think, and investing in building relationships with the people who resonate with that. 

That's not to say there aren't other strategies & tactics I will employ--success on Linkedin is about WAY more than simply posting content, after all--but I am going to be more intentional about breaking free from the best practices I've come to follow over the last 6 years here. 

Things like: 

- Only posting once per day
- Posting at the same time every day (usually in the AM) 
- Chasing vanity metrics (I don't really, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about them...) 

There's this weird stigma on Linkedin that every post has to be a banger. That it's not worth sharing unless you're maximizing distribution & engagement. 

It afflicts even those of us who actively try to resist that line of thinking because you can't really escape it. 

Try harder to escape it. 

Your resume = what you've done, where you've done it and when. 
Linkedin = who you are, how you do what you do, and why. 

The combination is your personal brand & professional reputation. 

The former precedes you. 
The latter follows you. 

Neither are made better or worse based on how your posts perform. 

It's a new world with Linkedin's 360Brew AI system. The old rules don't apply anymore. And anyone who tells you they do is probably making those claims having analyzed a bunch of old data... 

Which is pointless at this point. 

In 2026, I'm channeling my favorite philosopher, PopEye, who says: "I y'am, what I y'am" 

And that's enough. 

I encourage you to do the same. 

Strategy is important, but it isn't more important than who you are and what you have to say, especially if the former dilutes the latter. 

My advice: 

Be yourself. 
Follow your fascination. 
Feed your curiosity. 
Post your passion. 
Pour into peeps.
Be consistent. 
Be patient. 
Have fun. 

Watch what happens. 

Let's have a great year, my friends! 

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️
__
Dig this post? 
Saves & sends appreciated.
+Follow me for content on AI, branding & business innovation.

This one's for my fellow dog owners... 

The other day, a weird triangle box showed up on my doorstep while I was working and when I opened it, I found this AI-generated portrait of my dog, Lucky DarmoDoodle, looking far more classy and refined than is reality. 

Turns out my wife found this site called Vogue Paws that will turn any photo of your hound into a portrait worth framing. 

This is not an ad for that service, I just think it's cool. 

I'm curious...

Do you have a pet? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

Dear Leaders, 

Please stop putting random hour-long meetings on people's calendars without context. 

Sincerely, 
Everyone who's ever worked for someone else.

Underrated life hack: 

Make others feel seen, heard, & understood.

Too many people think that all you have to do is show up a few times per week on Linkedin, write a few posts, and start drinking from a lead firehose. That doesn’t work here anymore.

5 years ago it may have, but not now. 

Building your brand/business on Linkedin requires so much more than simply publishing content.

Linkedin is a signal farm and your ability to pay attention to and engage with those signals is what determines your success here. 

I view it as a funnel exercise.

Once you see it that way, you can’t unsee it. 

I always say that Linkedin is the world’s largest CRM, and the leads are already built in and pre-qualified for you (if you build your network right). 

This is the Linkedin Signal Funnel. 

Do you view it this way, too? 

Hi5,
LD

graphical user interface, text, application

Today I went for a 30-minute walk and talk where I actually held my iPhone up to my ear the entire time like it was 2007. It was weird. Do not recommend.

I bet I’ve said “I wish I knew how to code” hundreds of times over the last two decades. I definitely have had no shortage of app ideas. 

I’ve been hearing so much about vibecoding and dabbled a little bit, but never built anything that actually worked on my phone.   

Until last night, when Sitting in front of the TV watching football, I vibecoded my first functional mobile app using ChatGPT and Claude Code.

I:

-> installed Node.js
—> used it to run Expo from the terminal
—->used Expo Go on my phone to preview the app

Things I knew nothing about prior. 

And in 2 hours I coded a functional MVP of an app I’ve been thinking was a good idea since becoming a father. 

It ain’t pretty (yet), but it’s functional. 

And I’m feeling pretty proud of myself, not to mention I really enjoyed the whole experience. It’s kind of like solving a puzzle.

All in my native tongue. 
No programming knowledge necessary. 

What a time to be alive! 

I’m curious… 

Have you used AI to build any software yet? 

Hi5
LD
🌶️

Are you a generalist or a specialist? 

I spent the better part of the first twenty years of my career feeling pretty insecure about the fact that I was more of a Swiss Army knife than a specialist. 

I was genuinely surprised when I would get new opportunities with higher titles because we've been taught to believe that you don't climb the ladder unless you have a very specific set of skills and scope. 

But being a generalist has always been my natural motion. I’ve always been too curious and too fascinated by too many things to just focus on one. 

These days I see articles about how “the future belongs to generalists” and companies are focusing on cultivating T-shaped talent—people with depth in one area and breadth across many others. 

I'm excited about this narrative and a lot more comfortable embracing that jack-of-many trades moniker nowadays than ever before.

Excited about the future.

I’m curious: 

Do you consider yourself more of a specialist or generalist? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

P.S. this post started as a comment on Conor Grennan’s recent post about generalists. Go follow him for fantastic AI thought leadership content.

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a lot of new faces viewing/following/connecting these days and for the most part they are exactly the types of people I generally want to be talking to:

Founders at tech companies
Fractional executives 
Executive coaches 
Marketing folks
Comms folks
Ops folks
AI folks 

Come to think of it, that is a lot. I guess I like to talk to a wide variety of people, but regardless, I’m seeing a lot more of them and I like it. 

I think LinkedIn’s new 360Brew AI system is brewin! 

How’s LinkedIn treating you these days? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

I just crossed 300,000 words whispered through Wispr Flow 
(apparently that’s the equivalent of three books!) 
Over the last six months, I’ve dictated an average of 103 words per minute, across 79 different apps. Slack. LinkedIn comments. Emails. Texts. Notes. Everywhere.

Wispr Flow is the best tool I found in 2025. 

It’s one of those special products that revealed a problem I didn’t realize I had—I didn’t realize how much mental load typing created until I didn’t have to do it anymore.

Same way Uber changed how I thought about taxis.
Same way Tesla changed how I thought about driving.

Once I stopped typing and started thinking out loud, everything just felt so much more natural.

With AI, I can dictate stream-of-consciousness thoughts and let the machine do the cleanup. The result is faster output and more authentic writing. I’m no longer switching modes from “thinking” to “typing.” 

I just think and talk. 

That’s a massive unlock.

I’m usually an early adopter with a pretty high bar, which means I moves on quickly from most new products I try. 

Not this one. 

Wispr Flow is now core to how I work.

If you want to try it, you get 2,000 words free. Fair warning though… there’s a very good chance you’ll end up paying the $15/month.

(Sorry, not sorry)

Check it out here and get in flow!!!! 

👉 https://lnkd.in/epMgJFez

Hi5,
LD 
🌶️

P.S. Not a paid partnership. I just genuinely love this product!

It's now been a little more than three years since ChatGPT launched on November 30th, 2022. And it's so wild how much AI is changing virtually every aspect of our lives. 

I started using ChatGPT the day it came out and was a paid user within a week.

Then Claude hit the scene and I started using that. 
Then Perplexity. 
Then Gemini. 
Then Grok. 

ChatGPT's first mover advantage is strong in my case, which gives it an unfair advantage over the others because I do use it as my default for most things. 

I like Claude better for writing. 

I'm intrigued to see how much market share Gemini is gaining though I haven't really committed much time to using Gemini myself.  

I don't really mess with Grok. 

I know some people who are all-in on one thing. I know other people who use different LLMs for different purposes. I think I fall into the latter bucket but ChatGPT remains my primary for most things. And I struggle to balance usage across all effectively. 

I'm now at the point where I might be looking for that thing I did the other day and having to check multiple LLMs. 

One of my goals in 2026 is to streamline my AI stack and focus on deciding which one is really the best one for me all-around rather than defaulting to ChatGPT because it's been around for me the longest.

And so, I'm curious...

If you could only use ONE of the major AI LLMs going forward, which one would you pick? BONUS POINTS for telling us why in the comments. 

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

If I had to pick just two social networks to spend time on, it would be Substack and LinkedIn. 

Why? 

Because they're pretty complementary to one another and most people on Substack link to their LinkedIn profile, you can easily find and follow in both places. 

Admittedly, I spend more time on LinkedIn than I do Substack right now, because I’ve built a larger and more engaged following here. But I plan to increase the time I spend on Substack significantly.

Why? 

Because Substack lets me build a more direct, owned connection with my audience and because it’s a much better platform from a usability standpoint. 

It’s like Substack has gone to all the other socials, taken notes about what sucks, and built the solution. 

I’m increasingly starting to view the two this way: 

Linkedin is where you build your personal brand. 
Substack is where you build (and monetize!) your personal media empire. 

Linkedin is top of funnel.
Substack is middle of funnel. 

Going forward, I’m: 

Incredibly bullish on Substack. 
Incredibly bullish on LinkedIn. 
Insanely bullish on the two of them paired together. 

Are you on substack? 

Drop your link below if so. 

Here’s mine: https://lnkd.in/eEZA6RHN

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

“DAD!! Stop using ChatGPT to play Monopoly!” 

Whoops.

You had one job…

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone to an ATM in the last 365 days. Today was one of those rare visits (to get money for babysitter tonight, which is literally my only use case for cash anymore), and of course…

When I reinstalled Linkedin on my phone after my 2-week hiatus, something was different. Namely, dark mode was gone. I don’t know if you use Linkedin in dark mode or light mode, but I’ve been using dark mode for years. I’m like Dracula when i see light mode. 

And so, I’m curious…

What’s your default background setting for Linkedin? 

Looking for a job in 2026? Read this. 
 
On Thursday January 8th, my good friend Angie Callen, PCC, MJSC and 25 of her closest career coaching friends are hosting the 2026 Job Seeker Summit, a FREE virtual event showcasing expert advice from globally-recognized career coaches, resume writers, recruiters and... 

Somehow me. 

Fun fact: my first foray into Linkedin coaching was in 2009 when I launched TalentFish Consulting on a mission to help jobseekers cast a wider net. It was after a layoff and I thought: "teaching people how to network their way into their next opportunity sounds fun... let's do it!"

Only it was short lived because I networked myself into a new job shortly thereafter and didn't have time for side hustles. 

But the principles I taught then are even more valid today and 2026 is going to be a big year on Linkedin, so you might as well jump into some of these sessions to learn from those who know it best. 

The 2026 Jobseeker Summit starts at 9am MOUNTAIN time on Jan 8th and here's the lineup: 

9AM: Event welcome + resume AMA
10:30: Resume Breakout Sessions
11:30: Interview AMA: Real talk on Modern Interviews
1:15: Job Search AMA: Beyond the Boards
2:30: Job Search Breakout Sessions
3:30: AI Panel: From ChatGPT to CareerGPT (this is the one I'm on!)
4:15: Mindset Panel: Bounce Back & Burnout Recovery

Hear from 25 different career coaches, resume writers, and recruiters. 

For free.

Don't pinch yourself. It's true. 

Whether you're looking for a new job or not, the things you'll learn at the Job Seeker Summit are worth the time and price of admission (remember, it's FREE). 

Pre-register for access to giveaways during the day and ALL recordings from the event here: https://lnkd.in/eeGfPgdG

See you there! 
LD
🌶️

2026 Job Seeker Summit - Jan 8th - 9AM MT - FREE!

Unexpected benefit of taking two weeks off of LinkedIn: “it can only get better from here” 🤪Happy to be back. I love this place.

Andy Storch

In 2016, I had a young family and good job working for a great company. On paper everything looked perfect, but inside I felt like something was missing. After some deep reflection and a lot of personal development, I realized that I had been stagnant and the biggest thing missing was growth. 

So I went on a journey of personal reflection, growth, and development as well as exploration to truly own and build a career that I loved. My journey created the framework that became my first book, Own Your Career Own Your Life, which I published in November, 2020 to teach and inspire others to own their careers as well. 

Because while not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur (I love it for some reason), but I do believe that everyone wants to feel happy and fulfilled in their career and everyone can benefit from taking more ownership and being more proactive in building their careers as well as their personal brands. 

That book was a game-changer for me and I've gone on to follow my dreams of becoming a keynote speaker and trainer teaching people to own their careers and prepare for the future as well as build their personal brands to achieve more success. 

Today I speak in organizations around the world to improve engagement, performance, retention, and career mobility. I also love working with leaders to teach them how to support and coach their people to own their careers and achieve more. 

My newest book is called Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Mike Kim) and is a bestseller on Amazon.   And I host two popular podcasts: 
The Talent Development Hot Seat
The Own Your Career Show 

If you are looking for a dynamic speaker to motivate and inspire your people, look no further. I'd love to work with you. And if you want to hear more from me, I also host two popular podcasts: 
🎙️The Talent Development Hot Seat - weekly interviews with L&D leaders and gurus
🎙️The Andy Storch Show - Daily short hits of experience and insight to help you own your life

My speaking topics include: 
🎤 Owning Your Career and Preparing for the Future
🎤 Owning Your Personal Brand
🎤  Setting Yourself up for Future Success
🎤  Building a Mindset of Growth and Resilience 
🎤  Modern Leadership - how to be a great leader in today's modern world 

If you are looking for a dynamic speaker for your next event, reach out and let's talk. 

Learn more at andystorch.com or reach out to book something.

Author and Speaker

I am on a mission to teach and inspire more people to own their careers. I do this via my book, podcast, speaking engagements, and training program. Companies hire me to teach their people how to own their careers so that they are more confident, engaged, have more conversations with their managers, and stay with the organization longer, which saves the company thousands of dollars. 

I've worked with companies across multiple industries and spoken to employees all over the world. 

I have worked with several different organizations and pride myself on a fundamental understanding of what is needed to drive successful career development and growth.

Whenever I decide I want to do something big like write a book, start a podcast, host a conference, start a business, or become a keynote speaker, I always start with a vision and then ask what I need to learn. And who I can learn from. 

Then I go find those learning resources and people and invest my time and money in learning as much as I can from them, and implementing the lessons.

Why wing it when there are so many great learning resources out there. 

When I decided to start my first podcast in 2017, I took an online course and reached out to some podcasts in my network to ask for their advice.

When I decided to write my first book in 2020, I took an online course and reached out to several authors in my network. 

And when I wanted to become a keynote Speaker, I read books about it and started studying what other speakers do to be successful. 

It’s the same for anything else. No point in reinventing the wheel or trying to make it all up ourselves. This is why it’s so important to invest in continuous learning and build your network to set yourself up for future success. 

I have chapters on each of those topics in my first book, Own Your Career Own Your Life and plan on writing a new book this year about how to use these things to truly own your future. 

Do you invest in learning resources when you are ready to do something new? What are you learning this year?

Btw this post is also the subject today’s (short) episode on The Andy Storch Show. Check it out!

In 2018 I started The Talent Development Hot Seat Podcast as a way to connect with and learn from Talent Development leaders. Along the way I was also going to L&D and HR conferences to meet people and grow my network and I found them all to be so boring. 

So in 2019 my friend Bennett Phillips and I hatched a very audacious idea - why don't we host our own conference? 

Neither of us had ever hosted any events before but we figured we knew lots of great facilitators and had pretty good networks, how hard could it be? 

Well it turned out to be way harder than we anticipated, but luckily we were a great team and got a lot of help from partners like BTS and Advantage Performance Group and from wonderful people like Maggie B., Lauren V. Davis, Michelle W., and Jonathan Hodge. 

We also landed some amazing keynote speakers like Josh Bersin, Liz Wiseman, Christine DiDonato, Julie Winkle Giulioni, and 📚Michael Bungay Stanier, thanks to help from those partners and our network. 

With all of that help and great speakers, we managed to persuade over 100 amazing talent leaders to buy tickets and attend. But first we had to reschedule because a wildfire came into the town and the hotel was evacuated. 

But the Talent Development Think Tank conference finally happened in January, 2020, and it was a huge hit. Everyone said they loved it. Why? Because we recruited great talent and we made it all about them (not us). 

It has been six years since that conference and I'm still so proud of us for pulling it off. Two guys who had never run anything like that before. And it proves that we can accomplish just about anything with the right resources, connections, and support as well as a growth mindset and the willingness to try. 

Hosting that conference gave me the confidence to go launch the Talent Development Think Tank Community, publish my first book, and become a keynote speaker among other things. And I've hosted it twice more since then. 

Now I'm thinking about hosting my next event and I still get nervous but I know what's possible when I have the right vision, get the right support, and just try. 

What are you proud of doing despite having no experience?

I believe in treating people with kindness, empathy, and respect. And on this MLK Day, I wish we had more people who believed in the same. That doesn't mean I don't get angry or frustrated about things. But I don't see the point of leading with hatred or treating others poorly. 

There will always be things and people we disagree with or that cause us to feel afraid of losing money, status, or love. But I promise that when we elevate others, we all rise up as humanity and that there is more than enough money, love, and success to go around. 

This is why we need to work to raise others up, not beat them down. 

Too many people let their ego dictate their decisions (we all have one) or lead with hate when they feel threatened for some reason. I don't want to be that way. I'd rather lead with kindness and respect. 

What about you? 

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 🙏🏼

One of the most common goals I hear every year is: “I want to read more books this year.” Here's a simple shift I made that resulted in reading a lot more books (and the topic of today's episode on The Andy Storch Show):

I always loved reading and wanted to read more books, but every night I would open a nonfiction book when I went to bed. Then I would read two pages and fall asleep. 

The result? I read on average about 2 books a year. Not great. 

Everything changed when I read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and made one gigantic shift:

I moved nonfiction reading from the evening to the morning. 
But not for long blocks of time. Just 15–20 minutes each morning. A cup of coffee and a quiet space. No distractions. 

One chapter a day adds up fast.

That single habit took me from two to 25–30 books a year.

But there is another really important shift that needs to be made as well and I'm recognizing it again lately: 

We need to remove distractions, and the primary one is the smartphone. 

When my phone is nearby, my attention is shorter or nonexistent.
When it’s in another room (or on airplane mode), I actually read longer.

So if you want to read more (especially nonfiction) this year, try reading for 15 minutes in the morning with your phone off or in another room. 

Bonus tips:
📚 I read fiction at night to unwind and I love it.
📵 And my phone never sleeps in my bedroom.

If you want to read more nonfiction books this year, you don't need more focus or willpower. You need a better plan and fewer distractions. 

If reading more in 2026 is one of your goals, start here:
✔️ 15 minutes each morning before the day gets started
✔️ Fewer distractions
✔️ Try reading fiction at night to unwind

That’s it.

If you prefer audio, reading more is the topic of today's short, 5-minute episode on my short-form podcast, The Andy Storch Show. Check it out. 

Curious—what’s the biggest thing that gets in the way of your reading right now?

Owning your Personal Brand is not about becoming an influencer. It’s about being intentional with how you show up at work and the reputation you build as a result. 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking and sharing insights with employees at Glaukos Corporation as part of their Glaukos World Cafe series and we had an important discussion about the components of building an owning a personal brand and the benefits of being more intentional. 

We discussed the importance of
🔷 Self-reflection to build self-awareness 
🔷 How you show up and interact with others 
🔷 Keeping your shoes on in meetings (IYKYK) 
🔷 Acting like an Intrapraneur and proactively solving problems 
🔷 Leveraging LinkedIn to build an external brand 

I am very passionate about this important topic because I know that doing quality work is not enough to attract opportunities in today’s corporate world.

We have to be mindful of how we are showing up and who knows about the work we are doing. 

Thanks to Molly (Ottele) Sype, MS and team for inviting me to speak and to everyone at Glaukos who showed up and engaged. I would love to hear your takeaways. 

I am rooting for each of you to build strong, intentional brands. 

And for anyone who didn’t get to attend you can learn the same principals by reading my new book, Own Your Brand, Own Your Career, that I published with Mike Kim last year. We also have a free workbook on our website (link in comments). 

Cheers! 

#PersonalBrand #Ownyourbrand #ownyourcareer #GlaukosWorldCafe

I have been speaking more in companies about personal brand and one of my favorite moments of the sessions is when I ask people to think about someone they have loved working with… and someone they have not enjoyed working with.

The room or the chat window usually lights up with impassioned comments explaining why they loved or hated working with someone and the comments tell an important story.

Because “brand” isn’t your logo.
It isn’t your LinkedIn headline.
It isn’t your job title.

Your brand is the experience of YOU.

It’s what people say (and feel) after:

🔷 a meeting with you
🔷 a project with you
🔷 an email from you
🔷 a tough conversation with you

And here’s the part most people don't understand:

You already have a brand. And even if you’re not intentional, you’re still building one… just by default.

In my keynotes and workshops, we often discuss three simple pillars:

➡️ Self-awareness - Know what you stand for, what energizes you, and what you want to be known for.
➡️ Your interactions at work - The little things matter more than we want to admit: reliability, curiosity, follow-through, how you show up in meetings, how you make others feel.
➡️ Visibility / thought leadership - Not “becoming an influencer.” Just making it easier for the right people to understand your value.

One of the best comments I heard recently in Q&A was this:
“I used to assume people would just know the good work I do. And it’s just not true. People are busy.”

Exactly.

Doing great work is table stakes.
Being known for it is what creates opportunity.

If your organization wants to help employees:

💥 take ownership of their careers
💥 communicate their value without being “salesy”
💥 build credibility and internal influence
💥 show up with more intention and confidence

…I’d love to come speak to your team.

#personalbranding #careerdevelopment #leadership #talentdevelopment #learninganddevelopment

How do you balance humility with building your personal brand? How do you make sure people know about your work without bragging? How does someone who is introverted and shy get past the fear of self-promotion? 

These are questions I get asked a lot and they are not easy to answer. But the are important to ponder. 

Because there is a myth that if you just put your head down and work hard, you'll be rewarded. But the truth is that quality work is the table stakes. But you also need people to know about your work and accomplishments. 

The other myth is that if you talk about your work, people will be annoyed or think you are arrogant. But that's also not true. Because it's all about your approach. 

I once heard that the difference between confidence and arrogance is that confidence is believing in the value you provide and arrogance is believing you have nothing else to learn from anyone. Is that true about you? 

It's ok to be confident in your value and proud of the work that you do. And as long as you know that you still have more to learn (we all do), it's doubtful that anyone will see you as arrogant. 

You can remain humble and still be proud, be excited, and talk often about the work you are doing. The things you're learning. 

And no, you don't ever have to post pictures of yourself doing the "superman" pose on LinkedIn. That's just a bonus :-) 

Are you building your personal brand? 

You can find more insights and concrete, actionable advice, in my book, Own Your Brand, Own Your Career, that I wrote with Mike Kim. Find it on Amazon.

taplio

The Battle

LIAM DARMODY

Andy Storch

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreLIAM DARMODY's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAndy Storch's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

LIAM DARMODY

Andy Storch

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}LIAM DARMODY's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAndy Storch's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreLIAM DARMODY's LinkedIn Performance