Reclaimed Personas: A Podcast Project about Black Professionals and their Online Personal Brands

Personal branding is frequently recommended to current and aspiring professionals as a way to stand out, command respect, and persuade others. However, personal branding proponents often fail to consider the unique professional obstacles of marginalized groups—leading to a one-size-fits-all approach to how personal branding is taught and celebrated. Through the creation of a three-episode pilot, this project launched a journalistic podcast series that captured stories about the journeys and lived experiences of Black professionals building online personal brands. Included as deliverables in this project are audio and video recordings of three pilot interviews, a cover art image, and promotional videos for social media. The show’s concept and initial interview questions were crafted from the themes uncovered in the project’s extensive literature review, which included insights from research on personal branding, online impression management, and Black professional challenges. While this non-traditional thesis project is not intended to be scientific in nature, the literature review will hopefully inspire thoughtful research questions from future researchers who recognize the many unexplored areas of this topic. Meanwhile, the journalistic approach chosen for this project allowed for narrative storytelling that could evoke emotion and feelings of connection within the audience. By embracing the unique identities, experiences, emotions, and perspectives of the Black professionals interviewed, this project rejected the one-size-fits-all approach often used in personal branding discussions.