You Are Not Your Job Title: How to Start Separating Your Identity from Your Employer
We need to talk about something a lot of high-performing professionals don’t realize until it’s too late:
You are your brand—not the company you work for.
This message comes straight from Tip #57 in Career Gymnastics, and I believe it’s one of the most important truths for anyone trying to build a sustainable, long-term career. Because here's what happens—we work hard, we show up, we pour ourselves into our roles, and over time… our job becomes who we are. The company name becomes part of our identity.
And while it’s great to be proud of where you work, it gets tricky when your entire sense of professional worth is tied to a brand that you don’t actually control.
Companies change.
Managers change.
Priorities shift.
Layoffs happen.
And when they do, if you’ve wrapped your identity in your employer’s brand, you’re left scrambling to figure out who you are without the title, the logo, or the recognition.
So let’s pause right here and ask a simple question:
If your company’s name disappeared from your resume today, what would be left?
What would you still be known for? What’s your brand?
Because that’s the part that matters. That’s the part that carries with you from job to job, opportunity to opportunity. It’s your reputation. It’s your leadership style. It’s your ability to solve problems, connect people, and deliver value—independent of the organization you work for.
And here’s the good news: you get to shape that narrative.
So if you’ve never thought about your career this way before, now’s the time.
Start noticing how often you lead with your company name instead of your own voice.
Start thinking about how you want to be described when you’re not in the room.
And start giving yourself permission to take up space outside of the logo on your email signature.
Because the most successful professionals?
They know how to leverage where they work—but they don’t let it define who they are.
This is the first post in a 5-part series based on Tip #57 from Career Gymnastics.
In the next post, we’ll explore what a personal brand actually looks like—and how to identify yours.
And if you’re ready to take full ownership of your career journey, grab your copy of Career Gymnastics—available now wherever books are sold.
#CareerGymnastics #PersonalBrand #CareerIdentity #LeadershipDevelopment #BeyondTheJobTitle