Description:
What happens when the version of yourself you think looks “professional” isn’t really you?
In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down again with Rachel Lee, co-founder of Neo Genesis, to explore what it means to build a brand around the person you actually are. Rachel shares how trying to fit into a traditional, polished version of entrepreneurship eventually became exhausting… and how embracing the energy, personality, and “weird” she had been hiding became one of the strongest parts of her brand.
The conversation goes beyond logos, colors, and visual identity into something deeper: branding as a tool for growth. Rachel explains why a brand doesn’t have to simply capture who you are today. It can create a container for who you’re becoming. Matt and Rachel also explore how authenticity helps attract the right clients and relationships, how founders can balance personality with professionalism, and when it makes sense to separate a personal brand from the business you’re building.
Key Takeaways:
- Professional doesn’t have to mean personality-free. Credibility and personality can coexist, and the tension between them can actually give a brand depth.
- The things you’re tempted to hide may be your strongest differentiators. Rachel discovered that the youthful energy and expressiveness she once worried would undermine her credibility were part of what attracted people to her.
- Your brand can help attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. Being intentional about how you show up makes it easier for clients, partners, and communities to recognize whether there’s a natural fit.
- Build a brand you can grow into. Instead of constantly repackaging the person you were yesterday, Rachel sometimes helps clients create a brand around the person or business they’re working toward becoming.
- Founder growth and business growth are connected. In founder-led companies, the capacity of the person running the business can become the ceiling of the business itself.
- Know when the brand needs to become bigger than the founder. Personal brands can be powerful early on, but as teams grow, the business may need its own identity and room for other people to step forward.
Rachel Lee
Rachel’s the creative force behind every brand Neo Genesis puts out — and she’s helped over 100 clients with their brand throughout her career. She’s an artist and designer who makes “professional” and “weird” work together without even trying. She shows up in all black, treats everyone like a bro, and carries herself like a skater chic who squeals over cute things. Her dream is to make art that inspires people to be their boldest, messiest selves — and do that for a living.
Outside of work, she creates characters — strange, exaggerated, slightly unhinged little beings that each represent a different part of her personality. Beyond that, it’s EDM runs and being bossed around by Levi — the studio cat who genuinely thinks he’s in charge.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- Owning Your Weird
- Why professionalism can flatten a brand
- Showing people who you actually are
- Finding the balance between personality and credibility
- Building a Brand Around the Whole Person
- Why people and brands are more than one-dimensional
- Bringing seemingly opposite qualities together
- Adjusting the “volume” on different parts of your personality
- Taking Off the Professional Mask
- Rachel’s struggle to fit into traditional business culture
- When playing a role stopped feeling sustainable
- Discovering that what she was hiding was actually a strength
- Finding the Right Rooms and the Right People
- How your environment shapes the way you show up
- Moving beyond someone else’s definition of business
- Using your brand to attract people who naturally fit
- Using Branding as a Growth Mechanism
- Building for the person and business you’re becoming
- Creating a brand you can grow into
- Why personal growth and business growth often happen together
- Personal Brand vs. Business Brand
- Knowing which brand makes sense for what you’re building
- Moving from “I” to “we” as a business grows
- Why founders remain an important part of the story
- Building a Founder-Led Brand
- Bringing the founder’s personality into the business
- Creating trust without sacrificing professionalism
- Building a brand that can eventually grow beyond you
Check out these related Episodes:
- Episode 290: Rachel Lee – Learning What Fits (and What Doesn’t) on the Way to a Creative Business
- Episode 289: T. Christian Helms – Building Brands and a Creative Life Through Relationships and Resilience
- Episode 287: Allan Glanfield – Building a Snack Brand by Turning Travel Problems Into Kids Snacks
