What a 5 minute interview on live National TV taught me about personal branding (From Data Analyst → Engineer)
Stick around until the end for a snippet of the interview
Its February 2020.
Australia was still half-asleep when I appeared live on national TV at 6.30am.
Why was I on TV? I’d just arrived in Australia from Wuhan on an emergency repatriation flight.
Not exactly the hero journey you brag about in networking events, but a hook is a hook.
I was told the interview would last about 5 minutes. 300 seconds in the spotlight. How bad could it be? After all who is awake and watching at that time?
Once the cameras rolled my inner introverted Analyst took the wheel. Cautious, neutral answers, no hot takes or any colour in my responses.
As uncomfortable as it is to re-watch the playback, it taught me important lessons for AnalystToEngineer, my ongoing personal-branding experiment.
Why personal branding matters in a pivot
Plenty of folks drift into new roles by accident. Its happened to me before but its not my style. So I built a brand that shouts two things loud and clear:
I’m a Data Analyst now.
I’m becoming a Data Engineer next.
Everything I put out there (mostly Linkedin and Substack) from messy pipeline screenshots to LinkedIn carousels on various topics in data supports that arc.
The result? By being intentional I know where I want to get to and so does everyone else.
3 Lessons appearing on TV
1. Signal intent - early, loud, and often
On TV I tip-toed. In content, I megaphone the AnalystToEngineer brand - in my headline, profile and posts. Why the overkill? Because humans (and algorithms) need repetition. Declare your destination often enough and the universe’s matching engine starts piping relevant opportunities, people, projects and mentors your way.
Practical tip: Pin a post outlining your roadmap. Where is the flag being planted for whats next? What can be done to help get there? How can it be broadcast?
My flag was obviously being a Data Engineer. And on the list of things to do to help get there were courses (Data Engineering certificates, bootcamps), projects (job-market API pipeline) and eventually job applications. With the learnings from each of these shared with my network.
2. Add value to what you learn
During the interview, I didnt really add anything new outside of what was already reported. No nuance. I realised repeating content is irrelevant. I need to add colour, insight. So I adopted a remix rule: consume, add value then contribute.
Practical tip: Every time you learn something, ask yourself: How can I push this further? What stood out? How can it be easier for others to understand?
During a Data Engineering bootcamp I re-inforced my learning by visualizing my understanding of the concepts and sharing it on Linkedin. What happened next? My reach grew and I found myself with a few hundred extra followers overnight.
3. Play to your strengths
As an introvert, speaking wasnt for me and this showed in the interview. A former manager once told me they could sense more passion when I communicated in writing when compared with speaking. So I doubled down on writing - posting more on LinkedIn & Substack.
Practical tip: Audit what gives and takes your energy. If you come alive on camera, go all-in on reels or livestreams. If you write like me, blog. Branding thrives on authenticity and consistency but it also needs to be sustainable.
That doesn’t mean I’m avoiding speaking opportunities - but for now choosing to stay within the channels that play to my strengths.
Final thought
If five vanilla minutes could reach an entire nation, what could consistent, deliberate, value-packed content do for my transition from Data Analyst into Data Engineering?
Thanks for reading up until now. As promised, here is a snippet from the interview.
That bring's back memories Brian. Glad (and inspiring) to see that you've really leant into this journey and I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labour, as well as its continuing evolution as you continue to navigate this journey.