Sydney Twichell LLC

Why Your Voice In Personal Branding Matters

Did you know I used to be a singer? Most people don’t, but here’s proof. 

Yeah, that’s me alright. You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. 

I LOVE to sing. Performing and dancing are fun too, but singing brings out a joy in me like no other. I used to sing on many worship teams in church as it was really my only outlet to sing, and worship has always felt like a grounding pillar of my faith. So… what happened?

One word: ego. Not my ego, the ego of the leadership around me. I was passionate about singing and loved being able to communicate through music or public speaking behind a microphone. I would have pursued a career in these things, but had to walk away. I couldn’t figure out what had killed my spark, until I came across some of my personal equipment for singing when going through storage and remembered.

Years ago, I had been told by an authority figure in my life who I trusted and followed, that my voice was too strong, and I did not look how they wanted their singers to look on the live streams. Yeah, I was too big and too loud.

I began to slowly shrink myself over time. Long after I left that environment and was in a new setting, I still slowly shrunk myself. I had abs at the time and was very muscular, and this comment led to an eating disorder that I would be battling into my late 20s. I began to try and make my voice quieter in all contexts, not just singing. I slowly stopped wearing heels because being 6ft already drew attention. For the first time ever, I was hyper aware that I am just too much. This insecurity really reared its head in 2025. 

I had sung in front of thousands, preached sermons to teens and adults alike, encouraged the entire staff of a thriving company, and had made a name for myself as someone who is bold and uses their voice. Except, I couldn’t find her in 2025. Sure she would pop up at networking events, making sure her hand was the first one up when it came time for questions. But in a more public arena like the internet? Nah, I found every excuse to not put myself out there.

The more I talk to other female founders, the more I discover that this isn’t a unique problem. Lots of other women struggle to put themselves out there in order to build a personal brand. So much of building a personal brand to then establish a business means being vulnerable enough for people to see you. When I started Clever Girl, my face was not on the Instagram page. I’m a professional, I knew that wasn’t going to get me visibility. I knew only posting from my personal Instagram with pictures of me at networking events wasn’t going to get me where I needed to be, I self sabotaged. Why? Because failing feels safer than exposure. 

Let me say that again: Failing feels safer than exposure. 

So we shrink ourselves, and we make ourselves quiet, and we make a cute little Instagram post with dynamic graphics and fun captions. But we keep our face out of it. Or we post the perfectly curated headshot, but we avoid reels where we need to speak and express ourselves so we don’t run the risk of being made fun of. 

Somewhere along the line, someone made you feel like you were too much. Too loud, too big, too excited, too passionate, too quirky, too different. I want to encourage you today and remind you that the clients you are trying to attract, the customers you want to reach, will embrace who you are. They will want to invest in your business because of the personal brand you have embraced. The people who try to make you smaller because you’re intimidating aren’t people you want in your circle. 

You can change your approach, the kind of content you put out, or your niche. But the core aspects of who you are should be preserved, cultivated, and embraced when on the journey of building and maintaining a personal brand. 

So with this reminder, how are you going to show up in 2026?