I’ve been journaling since I was 9 and online blogging since I was 15. You can find my words littered across the internet if you search hard enough.
And yet, despite the fact that I (hesitatingly) self-identify as a writer, my writing isn’t widely known in my professional life. I don’t actively hide it, but over the years I’ve been careful to delineate my personal and professional identities, and I recognize that my style of writing is intimate and deeply personal. I’ve been afraid that sharing it would inadvertently lead others to take me less seriously, and so I’ve kept my words tucked in corners of the internet far away from my resume.
But I’ve felt antsy this past year, and have spent a lot of time meditating and reflecting on what’s missing in my life. Eventually I realized that while I spend a lot of time espousing the benefits of bringing your full self to work, I haven’t stayed true to that, at least not on my LinkedIn (aka the online representation of my professional identity). My old LinkedIn bio used to say:
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Digital marketing leader with extensive experience developing and executing integrated digital marketing strategies across paid and earned social media and online media. Strong understanding of social media platforms, digital marketing trends, and best practices. Have conceived and launched multi-channel social media campaigns to drive brand awareness and lead generation with measurable success. Core strengths include campaign planning and development, reporting and analytics, client relationship development, team leadership, and process improvement.
I thrive in fast-paced, high pressure environments and pride myself on being an instinctive problem solver who doesn’t shy away from challenges or issues. I’m passionate about learning new skills (both on the job and independently in my personal life), and part of what I love about the agency world is that there's no shortage of new things to learn.
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Honestly, this doesn’t even fucking sound like me. It’s not that any of it is untrue, it just doesn’t accurately convey how I see myself as a person. I’d crafted that bio after looking at many, many other bios, and I thought that this is how I had to portray my skills and experience in order to be taken seriously as a job candidate. This is how I had to talk about myself in order to get hired.
As I’ve risen in my career, and especially as I’ve become more visible as a Filipino woman in a senior leadership position, it’s become increasingly important to me to set an example for other young women of color - that you can be your authentic self AND find success in the corporate world. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, you don’t have to shed your personality to earn a seat at the table. I want young women to see that the part of me that leads global clients and global teams couldn’t do it without the parts of me that write, practice yoga, pole dance, and read tarot cards. They’re inextricable - I am uniquely capable of doing my job because of the confidence and insight I’ve gained from my hobbies and life experiences.
This is why on this birthday I’m committing to sharing more of my writing - not only on my personal blog, but on my LinkedIn as well. My words are the truest and most authentic expression of me, and I’m no longer interested in fragmenting my identity to better fit within different spaces, or tailoring my voice to appeal to different audiences.
I hope this also inspires you to pause for a moment of reflection. What makes you authentically you? What would have to change to make you feel more alignment between your personal and professional lives? How can you get there?
Since writing again I have felt a greater sense of purpose and meaning - a feeling that’s been absent despite how happy I’ve been in other areas of my life. I’m looking forward to following through on this birthday commitment and becoming the version of myself I’ve always aspired to be.
The one who writes.