I have the immense privilege of sitting down at my computer every day, sometimes with a cup of iced coffee from Seven Stars Bakery and studying for my graduate-level marketing courses. I understand that not everyone has this opportunity to seek higher education, and I do my best to take as much as I can from it.
My coffee is my trusty steed, my cheese scone is my sword, and the extra sweet treat I save for later is my will to survive strategically rationed like a medieval peasant preparing for finals week.
Currently, one of my classes is about building my personal brand. Ashraf Malik, Personal Branding Consultant, explains in a July 2025 LinkedIn article that personal branding is “a purposeful and strategic effort to define and communicate what makes you unique and valuable in your field.”
While I see this as a fun challenge that requires creative problem solving, an ability I claim proudly in my resume, I also recognize it as a formidable adversary. Perhaps it comes with being in your twenties and just emerging professionally, but it takes a certain insight to explore your strengths and weaknesses and determine how they can help you professionally.
It’s been over a month since the start of this term, and I’ve already gained a substantial amount of knowledge. I would never have thought that joining the smallest, most obscure social media platforms could have just as much impact on your brand as joining large platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.
While not every platform has the same level of outreach as those with millions of monthly users, that doesn’t mean they’re any less constructive. Similarly, just because I’m a small creator doesn’t mean my impact can’t be greatly felt. One app I ventured through had a total of six users, and they were all really into chocolate-covered espresso beans. While this revelation led to my departure, I meant no hate to this community; I just felt as if my time could be better spent elsewhere.
I’ve figured that if you were up for entertaining me today, we can study personal branding together, but with a twist! Let’s explore what personal and professional branding are through the lens of Sylvia Plath. Yes, that Sylvia Plath!
Sylvia Plath and Her Legacy
Let’s explore Plath’s tweets and Instagram stories, or rather, let’s time-travel back to the appropriate era and examine her journals, letters, and carefully crafted literary persona.
If Sylvia Plath had access to social media, one can only imagine the discourse. Would she have thrived on Tumblr? Absolutely. Would she have tolerated algorithm changes? Less certain.
I first discovered Plath’s poetry as a wide-eyed high schooler already sick of the patriarchy Plath wrote so disdainfully about. I’ve always been drawn in by Plath’s unapologetic feminism and her strong desire to just take a bite out of the world and spit it back at the feet of all the men who hurt her.
Plath took to writing as a newborn baby takes to breathing; it wasn’t just second nature to her; it was, deep down, who she was.
Laying Down the Personal Branding Groundwork
First, by reviewing Inkbot Designs’ personal branding outline, we must examine what a personal brand entails. This includes your personality, passion, experience, and purpose. This structure seems easy to apply to Plath. One might argue that Plath’s answers could be that her personality was extremely driven, that her passion lay in her writing, that her experience stemmed from her mental health and family struggles, and that her purpose stemmed from an immense need for success.
Plath’s high school journals showed that her drive for literary success ran deep; she worked tirelessly to earn awards and recognition. To reach her goals, Plath strayed from the frazzled and emotional woman history has portrayed her as. Instead, she valued structure and rigidity; under those circumstances, she thrived most.
Additionally, Plath’s longing for structure seeped into her interests, such as beekeeping and studying nature. There was always a deep drive to obtain control and order in her life, where perhaps there wasn’t any to begin with.
There is something both poetic and deeply on-brand about seeking control and order through meticulously organized hives, arguably one of the most disciplined communities imaginable.
Creating Your Elevator Pitch
Elevator pitches don’t just reside when pitching a new book or movie concept; they’re also integral to having structure in a personal brand. When considering what goes into your personal brand’s pitch, consider the following
- Who are you?
- What do you offer?
- Who do you serve?
- What makes you unique?
A potential personal statement written for Plath and for discourse surrounding branding/identity might look like the following:
Sylvia Plath was a mid-20th-century poet and novelist whose work combined formal discipline, symbolic imagery, and persona-driven storytelling to challenge cultural narratives around gender, ambition, and selfhood.
Further topics within personal branding have post-dated Plath. For instance, there’s checking to see where across the internet your brand is mentioned; social media profiles, personal websites, and other images, videos, press releases, etc.
Once you understand your personal brand, the next step is to create the new platforms you wish to communicate on. After the creation period, you can market yourself, build your audience, and reach your goals through projects like guest posting and collaborations.
Establishing Your Own Legacy
It’s integral for anyone looking to establish their personal brand to be in control of their legacy as much as possible. Of course, it’s impossible to completely control what will happen once you’re deceased; it can become easy for your legacy to spiral beyond what’s intended.
Unfortunately, with Plath, her legacy has ventured beyond her writing successes and settled into being about her untimely death and mental health struggles. Discussing these topics isn’t inherently bad; both conversations touch on very real, vulnerable topics that deserve more light, but there was more to Plath that the world should have seen.
Those suffering from mental illnesses and abuse are so much more than their struggles; they’re full of heart, passion, and empathy, as well as anger, pain, and frustration. They share the same emotional turmoil as everyone else and deserve the same respect and love.
It’s clear that Plath wanted the public to better understand the struggles with mental health through her writing, particularly in The Bell Jar. However, that novel was published using a pseudonym until the time of her death, so Plath wasn’t intending for people to know if it was her work. While only those closest to her can know her truest intentions, perhaps it’s not too far a jump to conclude that there were more pressing things on her mind than gaining recognition for her mental health journey.
Conclusion
Plath didn’t live during a time when consciously crafting your personal brand was common, yet her pillars and legacy remain intact and well known to this day. She’s still known for her strong feminist language and for her raw, honest poetry. These attributes only come from a well-defined personal brand, even if she didn’t have access to social media or a website.
Plath had her words, the drive to succeed, and a host of publications to showcase her skills, and she turned them into something still remembered today. It can be easy to want to be known for your success today, but the world is ever-changing. Perhaps it’s worth considering how your personal brand will be viewed years or even decades from now, when technology and societal views will look completely different.
No matter your goals or the kind of creator you are, it’s recommended that you understand your personal branding. Whether you meant to or not, you already have a personal brand; it’s formed every time you post on Facebook or repost a TikTok video you enjoyed. Your personal brand tells the story of who you are and how you want people to view you.
Be smart about what you post; always make sure you’re a warrior with your trusted technology strapped to your hip, ready to whip it out at a moment’s notice. Sylvia Plath had to work with far fewer resources than we have today, yet she still built a personal brand and a lasting legacy. Once you’ve sharpened your tool kit, familiarize yourself with personal branding. This can prove to be a fun exercise in self-reflection and inner exploration.
With a world ready to explore and a legacy to protect, take faith in yourself and your capabilities. You’re worth putting the time into, and I can’t wait to see what kind of content you create!
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