Why Personal Brands Are the Ultimate Career Leverage, with Danielle Canty

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t really know what a personal brand is” or “how do I even start a personal brand???”, this episode is for you.
Today I’m joined by Danielle Canty, former co-founder of Bossbabe, to break down one of the biggest misconceptions about personal branding:
You don’t start a personal brand. 
You ALREADY have one.
Danielle shares how she went from working in the medical field to co-founding BossBabe, one of the most recognizable online business brands of the last decade, and how she now thinks about personal brands as leverage. Not the business itself, but the thing that opens doors, builds trust, and compounds opportunities over time.
We also talk about the mindset blocks that stop people from showing up online, why perfect content actually hurts engagement, and how building community matters far more than going viral.
Mentioned in this episode:
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👩‍💻 Holly Maglin — Early Career Recruiting Strategy
If you're a founder or startup team hiring Gen Z talent, check out Holly Madeline. She helps companies modernize how they recruit early-career candidates.
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02:30 You already have a personal brand
09:34 The truth about reputation and online presence
13:31 Why personal brands create leverage
16:41 The cultural excuses people make about showing up online
17:17 “You are what you say you are”
19:41 How mindset shapes growth and motivation
36:05 Perfect content hurts engagement
37:45 The power of imperfection in building trust
About Danielle 
Danielle Canty is an entrepreneur and the former co-founder of BossBabe, the online education brand that grew into an eight-figure business supporting hundreds of thousands of women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Since exiting the company in 2023, Danielle focuses on helping founders turn ideas into scalable businesses through clear systems, predictable revenue, and strategic simplicity.
She has generated $35M+ in online revenue, built multiple seven-figure businesses, and her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Elle, and Success Magazine.
Connect with Danielle
📲 Instagram: @daniellecanty
💼 LinkedIn: Danielle Canty
🔗 Website: danielle-canty.com/
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson