Defining Your Brand Before Others Do: Lessons From Rita Balian Allen

We spend much of our professional lives helping others grow—designing learning journeys, developing leaders, and guiding employees toward their next role. Yet, as Rita Balian Allen reminded us in her recent ATD Forum web session, many learning professionals forget to do the same for themselves.

Rita, an executive coach and author of Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself and its companion workbook, invited us to pause the whirlwind of projects and reflect: Who am I becoming, and what do I want to be known for?

The Future You Want to Be Known For

She began with a simple but disarming exercise: visualize yourself five years from now, standing on stage as an ATD conference speaker. What are you known for? What story are you telling?

As I closed my eyes, I pictured a session rooted in neuroscience—making complex ideas about the brain, learning, and behavior feel simple, actionable, and truly human. I could almost see the slide that read “The Neuroscience of Learning: How We Sabotage Learners in the Workplace (and How to Stop).”

In my mind, I pictured the audience leaning in as we explored how stress, multitasking, and poorly timed “training dumps” shut down the brain’s ability to encode new information; how attention, emotion, and recovery shape what people actually remember; and how small shifts like spacing learning, pairing it with purpose, and designing for dopamine can transform engagement and retention.

Yet even as that vision energized me, a familiar voice whispered: Who am I to stand here? There are thousands of people way more qualified than I am.

As if on cue, Rita named that whisper: imposter syndrome, the tendency to downplay our own expertise while amplifying everyone else’s. Her message was clear: “Be grounded in what you bring to the table. Don’t take for granted what you do so well.”

The Human Side of Branding

Rita’s framework begins with a truth every learning professional understands: influence starts within.

A personal brand isn’t a logo or tagline; it’s the consistent expression of who you are and the value you bring. Whether you’ve shaped it intentionally or not, you already have one. It requires knowing what you offer others—your value and what you want (such as goals)—and having the wherewithal to ask for it.

In today’s dynamic environment of hybrid work, constant technological disruption, global competition, and demographic shifts, your brand becomes your anchor. It guides you through uncertainty and helps others know when and why to turn to you.

She shared a simple yet powerful question: “What do people say about you when you’re not in the room?”

For each one of us, it is different. However, I hope others see me as someone able to translate the science of human behavior into practical strategies for leadership and learning.

The Three Ps: Building Your Brand Intentionally

According to Rita, the framework for building your brand centers around three phases: preparation, packaging, and presenting.

Preparation

This first phase involves assessment through deep reflection, feedback, and clarity about your value, goals, and differentiators. For most of us, it’s the most challenging part because it requires significant effort, or as Rita says, “On paper, this sounds easy. However, it takes much discipline.”

Journaling, mentoring, and seeking the perspective of trusted colleagues all help quiet the inner critic and strengthen the neural pathways that support self-confidence and clarity.

Packaging

Packaging is about curating and developing the tangible proof of your expertise: your portfolio, which demonstrates how you have showcased your thought leadership. It includes building our thought leadership and subject matter expertise, as well as your credibility, so that people think of you when they think of the talent field. It also includes your social presence and your alliances.

Rita encouraged us to keep an updated resume at all times, not just for job searches but also for opportunities to speak, publish, or collaborate. This session reminded me that packaging isn’t vanity; it’s clarity. When others can easily see what we offer, they can envision where we fit.

Presentation

This final phase is about showing up with presence, energy, and authenticity. It’s the ability to tell your story with confidence and advocate for yourself in ways that feel natural.

Rita’s definition of executive presence resonated: “Understanding your value add, leveraging your strengths, and leading by example.” It’s not only about polish; it’s about congruence—when how you show up aligns with who you are and what you stand for.

From Reflection to Action

At the end of the session, Rita challenged us to commit to two concrete actions to advance our brand.

Here are mine:

1. Ask for perspective. I plan to reach out to a few trusted peers and ask, “What do you see as my strengths? What would you come to me for?” Sometimes others can articulate our brand before we can see it ourselves.

2. Pilot a new product. I’ve created a neuroscience-based leadership workshop for frontline leaders, especially those who struggle to coach their teams through change. My goal is to seek help connecting with others who can assist with a pilot to refine the experience and increase its impact.

These are small steps, but they move me closer to a personal brand that reflects who I am and who I’m becoming.

What Is Your Word?

Rita closed by asking us to choose one word that describes ourselves, and one word others might use to describe how they see us. One participant shared an exercise their team used. Every person’s name was written in the middle of a piece of paper or a poster. All team members wrote what they think this person's primary strength is or what they are known for.

As learning professionals, our credibility depends not only on what we teach but also on how we embody it.

We teach others to learn, grow, and adapt. Perhaps our next important lesson is to do the same for ourselves. How can we utilize Rita’s 3P framework to effectively understand and promote the brand we have for ourselves, consistently highlighting our value within and outside our organizations and within our professional community through our daily actions that support others?