We often treat confidence like a purely internal project, something we must manufacture from scratch, alone. But while confidence is deeply personal, it's also profoundly relational. It's shaped by the rooms you enter, the voices you prioritize, and the way others reflect your value back to you long before you've claimed it yourself.

This is what Paula calls borrowed confidence. Whether it's a mentor naming a capability you haven't yet articulated or a colleague introducing you in a way that makes you sit up straighter, these moments aren't just nice gestures. They're how confidence actually grows.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar continues the Confidence Factor Series by making the case that confidence is not a solo project. She breaks down why proximity is a personal branding strategy, how to build a personal board of directors that actively supports your growth, and what to do about the proximity issues that may be keeping your brand smaller than it should be.

1:29 – How a high-level introduction can help you connect dots about your own value that you might be missing

2:29 – Why it is sometimes necessary to lean on someone else’s belief in your capabilities while you’re still building your own

3:31 – Why high skill levels often feel like uncertainty when you’re operating in a narrow or stagnant environment

5:24 – How confidence grows in reciprocal relationships between you and members of your personal board of directors

7:48 – The psychological impact of surrounding yourself with people who "play small" versus those who normalize growth

8:20 – Why personal branding clarity is the essential manual that tells your network exactly how to advocate for you

8:48 – Your question and assignment for this week

Mentioned In Borrowed Confidence: Why the Right People Accelerate Your Personal Brand

When Comfort Becomes Complacency: Protecting Your Personal Brand Before You Need It

The Four Confidence Leaks That Are Undermining Your Personal Brand

How to Assemble and Leverage Your Personal Board of Directors

Personal Branding Strategy Sessions

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Follow & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform!

Want more ways to grow your personal brand? Make sure you’re signed up for my upcoming webinars and workshops.

Conferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

If you care about your personal brand, you should care about what happens after you’re gone.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, I sit down with Carl Forbes Jr., founder of CFJ Law and a leader in estate planning, to talk about something too many professionals avoid. If your personal brand is about how people experience you and what you leave behind, then estate planning is not optional. It is part of the strategy.

We get into the real implications of not having a plan, the mistakes even lawyers make, and why legacy is more than money. It is about control, clarity, and making sure your values, your family, and everything you built are protected long after you are no longer in the room.

If this episode made you think differently about your brand and your legacy, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

And if you have not handled your estate planning yet, this is your sign.

1:22 – How Carl defines personal brand and sees himself, his favorite quote, and the Rick Ross song he played when traveling to work

4:24 – Life lessons learned from a Brooklyn upbringing

5:17 – How competitive debate, fraternity life, and student leadership laid the groundwork for Carl’s practice centered on family, community, and legacy

13:07 – How a family death inspired Carl to focus on wills, trusts, estate planning, and real estate law in his practice over being a generalist

17:48 – How Carl defines legacy and its connection to personal branding

19:31 – Why estate planning is about protecting your brand, your family, and ensuring that your story continues

22:13 – The reality of what really happens when you don’t plan and let the law decide who inherits your assets

26:03 – What estate planning on the cheap will cost you and why not planning at all is the wrong mindset to have

34:53 – Real estate investment and ownership as a tool for building generational wealth and overcoming historical disadvantages

39:39 – How Carl’s experience as a former Metropolitan Black Bar Association president has shaped his brand and impacted his legacy

45:21 – How Carl wants his legacy to be remembered, personally and professionally

49:05 – What Carl does for fun, the aspect of his brand that Paula sees as uncompromisable, and what he brings to a room full of people

Mentioned In Your Personal Brand Will Outlive You So What Happens Next with Carl Forbes Jr.

CFJ Law PLLC

Metropolitan Black Bar Association

Sign up for Paula’s Upcoming Webinars

Personal Branding Strategy Session

Call to Action

Follow & Review: Help others find the podcast. Subscribe and leave a quick review.

My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

Sponsor for this episode

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

You can be talented, prepared, and experienced and still feel uncertain. That does not mean you need more credentials or more time.

Sometimes the issue is not building confidence. It is that your confidence is leaking.

Most people try to fix confidence without first diagnosing where it is breaking down. When you apply the wrong solution to the wrong issue, you stay stuck.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar breaks down the four confidence leaks: comparison, invisibility, perfectionism, and environment. Each one impacts how you show up, how you are perceived, and how your personal brand is experienced.

She explains why comparison distorts your perspective, why invisibility weakens your feedback loop, why perfectionism delays the exposure that builds confidence, and why your environment may be the real issue, not you.

This episode will help you make targeted, strategic shifts.

Because confidence is not the absence of nerves. It is the presence of trust.

1:18 – Why measuring yourself against someone else’s curated presence creates a distorted reality

3:10 – The psychological toll of a "culture of invisibility" and how it forces professionals to internalize silence

4:24 – How perfectionism acts as a mask for professionalism while effectively starving you of necessary evidence

6:41 – How shifts in your environment can trigger a dip in confidence that has nothing to do with your actual capability

7:54 – A strategic guide to choosing the right "plug" for your specific leak

8:58 – How reframing physical nervousness as readiness can shift your experience in high-stakes moments

10:12 – One intentional question you can ask each week to stand by your brand with more certainty

Mentioned In The Four Confidence Leaks That Are Undermining Your Personal Brand

When Comfort Becomes Complacency: Protecting Your Personal Brand Before You Need It

Personal Branding Strategy Sessions

Subscribe to The Branding Room Only on YouTube

Call to Action

Follow & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform!

Want more ways to grow your personal brand? Make sure you’re signed up for my upcoming webinars and workshops.

Conferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

Knowing AI exists is one thing. Knowing how to use it in a way that sounds like you, supports how you lead, and strengthens your personal brand is something else entirely. That gap is where a lot of professionals are stuck.

Gabrielle Kohlmeier has spent years helping people move through that gap with more clarity and confidence. As a lawyer, tech leader, and transformation executive who led global legal AI adoption at one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, she brings a practical, strategic, and dignity-centered perspective to the conversation. Her approach is rooted in grit, growth mindset, and a belief that change should be led with intention.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar and Gabrielle Kohlmeier explore why AI fluency matters for personal branding, how to use AI as a thought partner without flattening your voice, and how the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession’s 21-Day Grit and Growth Mindset AI Challenge helps professionals build confidence, fluency, and momentum.

1:23 – Gabrielle’s complicated relationship with personal branding

3:49 – Three short self-descriptive phrases for Gabrielle, two favorite quotes, and her eclectic mix of hype music

7:18 – How Gabrielle’s unique childhood turned into a powerful lens for reading the room, understanding multiple perspectives, and leading with humility and curiosity

9:34 – Gabrielle’s entry into law and discovery of growth mindset

12:18 – What grit and growth mindset mean and why Gabrielle is so passionate about these concepts

17:05 – How Gabrielle’s 21-Day Grit and Growth Mindset AI Challenge helps build your AI fluency and moves you from fear into informed experimentation

28:08 – How Gabrielle uses AI tools to process things out and why you might feel hesitant about adopting AI

34:24 – Why women and underrepresented professionals need to engage in AI for governance, branding, and positioning purposes

39:58 – Favorite AI tool, how Gabrielle uses it in her work and personal life, and why AI isn’t perfect

43:18 – One of Paula’s favorite use cases for AI and why it produces more valuable outputs

46:00 – How to start using AI in a way that enhances your voice rather than replaces it

49:24 – Why Gabrielle will never compromise on dignity in terms of her brand as technology advances

50:56 – How Gabrielle uses AI when traveling and exploring for fun

52:59 – The no-seats-left, standing-room-only experience Gabrielle brings to the room

Mentioned In Use AI Like You Mean It: Personal Brand, Fluency, and Leading with Dignity with Gabrielle Kohlmeier

21 Days of AI: A Grit and Growth Mindset Challenge

The Grit and Growth Mindset Project on ABA

Gabrielle Kohlmeier on LinkedIn

Sponsor for this episode

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

Are you leaving your personal brand up to luck? Some professionals do, and they'll insist that the great opportunity or recommendation that appeared at the right moment proves it. But while luck certainly plays a role in life and careers, there's a clear distinction between welcoming luck and relying on it as a strategy.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar walks through seven areas where people often leave their personal brand up to luck and why that is a mistake. From how you prepare your references to how you show up at conferences, shape your narrative, and advocate for opportunities, each decision becomes part of a deliberate strategy.

Luck may open a door, but intention is what helps you walk through it. Paula breaks down where professionals are leaving too much to chance and what it looks like to build your brand with clarity, consistency, and intentional action instead.

1:38 – Why preparation matters long before someone calls your references

2:41 – The differentiator between those who benefit the most from conferences and those who don’t

3:40 – Strategic visibility as a reputation boost to draw attention to your work

4:31 – One thing you must take control of to ensure people understand your value

5:21 – How real advocates for your brand are rarely the result of random encounters

6:09 – Why waiting to be invited or recognized isn’t a reliable brand strategy

6:51 – How growth itself can be strategic for your personal brand

7:50 - Final thoughts to wrap up the show

Mentioned In 7 Ways You're Leaving Your Personal Brand Up to Luck

Personal Branding Strategy Sessions

Subscribe to The Branding Room Only on YouTube

Call to Action

Follow & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform!

Want more ways to grow your personal brand? Make sure you’re signed up for my upcoming webinars and workshops.

Conferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

After years of hard work, many professionals finally reach a point where things feel stable. The role fits. The team works. The urgency slows down. But that sense of comfort can quietly turn into complacency if you stop investing in your personal brand simply because things feel “fine.”

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar explores the difference between comfort and complacency and why personal branding requires ongoing maintenance—even in seasons of stability. Through real examples from her work with clients, Paula explains why visibility, relationships, and clarity about your value should be built before disruption forces you to.

In this episode:

• Why comfort and complacency are not the same
• How stability can quietly weaken your personal brand
• Simple ways to maintain your brand even when your career feels settled

00:35 – The subtle line between comfort and complacency

2:02 – What happens when your reputation only lives inside your organization

4:19 – Personal branding as an often-overlooked discipline

5:20 – How comfort can sometimes become an identity you get wrapped up in

6:07 – Two examples of how disruption exposes branding gaps

8:45 – The power of intentional discomfort to facilitate growth

10:08 – Simple branding gut check and how to create a little intentional discomfort this week

Mentioned In March Into Confidence: When Comfort Becomes Complacency

How Sharing Your Wins Strengthens Your Personal Brand

Curated Resources from Paula

Personal Branding Strategy Sessions

Subscribe to The Branding Room Only on YouTube

Call to Action

Follow & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform!

Want more ways to grow your personal brand? Make sure you’re signed up for my upcoming webinars and workshops.

Conferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

Wanting to be on a board and being ready for board service are not the same thing. Some people spend years building relationships, understanding governance, and positioning themselves as trusted advisors. Others rush the process and undermine their credibility before a real conversation even begins. Sonya Olds Som, Global Managing Partner and leader of the Legal, Risk, and Compliance Practice at DSG Global, conducts executive and board searches across industries. In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar and Sonya break down what truly signals board readiness, why mindset matters as much as experience, and how your personal brand either builds trust or raises red flags in the boardroom.

1:10 – The best piece of professional advice Sonya has received, habits that keep her focused, and one surprising fact about her

5:29 – How the boardroom impression “nose in, fingers out” changes the way you talk about your expertise and value

12:20 – The kinds of people boards are always looking for and how opportunities have opened up in the last few years

15:14 – How to pivot to make yourself attractive to boards with less directly-connected experience than what they typically look for

17:56 – How to answer tough experience questions in an interview without selling yourself short or pretending to be something you’re not

21:24 – One of the best ways to prepare yourself to be a board member (and why treating it as “easy money” is a bad move)

34:10 – Ways to maximize your visibility and presence without oversharing or feeling like you're self-promoting too aggressively

41:39 – How nonprofit boards, school communities, and passion projects can quietly position you for paid board opportunities

48:11 – General mistakes you should avoid when positioning yourself to be a board member

52:41 – How to approach your first board seat so it strengthens, rather than strains, your personal brand and your life

Diversified Search Group

Sonya Olds Som on LinkedIn

The Strategic Power of Intentional Connection with Sonya Olds Soms

Girls Inc. of Chicago

The American Writers Museum

Dressed in Joy

Sign up for Paula’s Upcoming Webinars

Follow & Review: Help others find the podcast. Subscribe and leave a quick review.

Conferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

Your inner voice can either talk you into your greatness or talk you out of it. That little voice shows up when you're about to take a risk, ask for something you want, or step into a room where you're not sure you belong. Most people either ignore it completely or let it run the show. Neither works. The real question is whether you know how to catch it, redirect it, and make it work for you instead of against you.

Amber Lee Forrester built Quartz Wellness Collective on the idea that your inner voice shapes everything about your brand. She works with executives and incarcerated youth, bringing positive psychology and strengths-based coaching into spaces that need psychological safety and honest reflection. Her approach is direct: if you can identify the thought patterns that derail you, you can redirect them toward what you actually want.

In this episode, Paula T. Edgar and Amber dig into imposter syndrome, why it shows up even for high-performers, and what to do when that voice tries to take over. Amber breaks down her framework for catching thoughts before they derail you, why reflection matters more than just pushing through, and how to lean on your strengths when your weaknesses try to speak louder. They also talk about why community and psychological safety matter for doing your best work, and what it actually looks like to build a brand that feels like you on purpose. If that voice has ever made you second-guess yourself or shrink back from something you wanted, this conversation gives you tools to shift it.

1:33 – Amber’s personal brand definition, three ways she describes herself, a Friedrich Nietzsche she often uses, and her Beyoncé hype song

4:27 – The childhood contrast that explains Amber’s comfort in very different rooms

5:37 – Amber’s post-private school pivot from her original plan to her purpose

11:25 – Amber’s definition of imposter syndrome and an example of how it showed up for her

16:10 – How imposter syndrome affects your brand and the way you show up as a leader

19:54 – How positive psychology helps you challenge narratives that undermine your confidence and branding

22:40 – The framework Amber uses to move people from self-doubt to self-belief

28:14 – Misconception about imposter syndrome, the importance of reflection, and how your answer to a simple question impacts your brand

32:27 – Amber’s high priority around creating safe community spaces, paving the way for brave spaces

36:56 – Strengths-based anchor that helps you stay steady when your mind tries to hold you back

42:46 – What Amber does for fun (and how even that ties back into her brand)

Mentioned In Rewrite Your Story, Rewire Your Personal Brand with Amber Lee Forrester

Amber Lee Forrester

Quartz Wellness Collective

POISED to Prosper Mentorship Program

My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.

PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.

Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.

To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com.