Why 'work should speak for itself' is outdated

What if the thing holding you back from building a public presence is exactly what would make you stand out?

In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc Baselga and Ben Erez sit down with Mallory Contois, VP of Growth at Maven, to unpack why this is the perfect moment for product leaders to start sharing publicly—even if they don’t feel polished, interesting, or like they have it all figured out. Mallory explains how we’re leaving the era of glossy, aspirational influencer content and entering one where audiences crave authenticity, relatability, and actionable takeaways.

They tackle the three biggest mindsets that hold people back: the “influencer hater” who rejects performative content, the person who doesn’t think they’re interesting enough, and the professional who believes their work should speak for itself. Mallory breaks down why good work alone isn’t enough, why consistency beats virality, and how to find your authentic voice without trying to game algorithms or chase trends.

If you’re a product leader who’s been holding back from sharing publicly, wondering whether anyone would find your perspective valuable, or questioning whether personal branding is worth the effort—this episode is for you.

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Interviewing at Uber, Figma, Stripe, or DoorDash?

If you’re a PM preparing for interviews at Uber, Figma, Stripe, and DoorDash… we think you’re going to love Insider Loops. You can read about it in Ben’s LI post, Marc’s LI post or check out the site directly below.

In this episode, we covered the following topics:

* (01:30) Why this moment is uniquely important for personal branding

* (03:27) The three mindsets that hold people back from building a public presence

* (04:45) Unpacking “my work should speak for itself” and why good work alone isn’t enough

* (16:45) How to find your authentic voice without trying to game the algorithm

* (26:02) The pressure to figure out your 10-year path before creating content—and why that’s backwards

* (27:27) Curation versus creation—different ways to dip your toe in

* (31:40) Why product people struggle with personal branding, it’s not an A/B test

* (40:27) Gathering smart people and facilitating conversation is content too

* (46:20) How Mallory uses AI: as a thought organizer, not as a writer

* (58:31) You have to pick your people and be “for someone”—which means you’re not for others

* (01:01:35) Why it’s human instinct to maximize options, but that actually makes you less safe

* (01:04:20) Gratitude Corner: Shoutout to Fiona Monga (former COO at Substack) and Gagan Biyani (CEO at Maven)

* And more!

Resources / People Mentioned:

* Good Work by Mallory Contois: https://www.readgoodwork.com/

* The Old Girls Club: https://www.jointheogc.com/

* Mallory Contois: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorycontois/

* Mallory’s post about Blowing it all up: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mallorycontois_reminder-its-never-too-late-to-blow-it-activity-7401245453733957632-w-ga

* Building a Personal Brand (Course by Mallory): https://maven.com/mallory/building-a-personal-brand

* Fiona Monga: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-monga-40621414/

* Gagan Biyani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaganbiyani/

* Grace McCarrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracemccarrick/

* Joseph Monroe Olender: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmolender/

* Lenny Rachitsky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

* Tim Ferriss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timferriss/

* Immad Akhund: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iakhund/

* Chris Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrislee/

* Make Something Heavy: https://www.workingtheorys.com/p/make-something-heavy/

* SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma: https://www.instagram.com/subwaytakes/?hl=en

* LLM prompt for EOY:

* “i’m reflecting on 2025- can you answer these questions for me?

- what did i spend the most time thinking about in 2025?

- what was the strangest question i asked you in 2025?

- what would you say i learned about myself this year?”

* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/

* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/

If you’re a new subscriber, we encourage you to check out some of the recent episodes you might have missed:

To support the podcast, please check out the links below:

* Supra has teamed up with Maven to bring you something special – courses that our own community members have personally curated. And because you’re part of the Supra family, you can get up to 35% in some of these handpicked selections with code SUPRAxMAVEN.

* Preparing for Meta-style Product Sense & Analytical Thinking interviews? Check out Ben’s AI Practice Copilot for Meta-Style PM Interviews and top-rated Maven course: Product Sense & Analytical Thinking Bootcamp for Meta-Style PM Interviews (selected by Lenny as a top course in product 🔥). Get 25% off the course with promo code `suprainsider` (auto-applied here).

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