LinkedIn for Introverts: How Lissa Appiah Built a Personal Brand That Converts

Rhona Pierce (00:00.086)
Everyone talks about what introverts can't do in content creation. Like, what do you think introverts do better than extroverts when it comes to building a personal brand?

I've been able to move up in my career and land multiple promotions and it's often because I use my listening skills, I use my observation skills to identify needs, to identify gaps and become a solution to whatever problem there was.

When you first started creating content, did you feel like you had to become someone else to succeed?

would say yes, because when I was starting off, felt that there are the big creators on LinkedIn who are telling you, like, this is the way you succeed. And so at some point, yes, I did. I did put Instagram, by the way. I feel like just generally LinkedIn is a great place for introverts to thrive because of

Welcome back everybody to the Workfluencer podcast. A lot of LinkedIn advice sounds like this, post every day, be bold, get visible. But what if your power comes from showing up as yourself, not following someone else's playbook? Lisa Appiah built a thriving business, became a LinkedIn top voice and landed speaking gigs all while staying true to her introverted self. Today, we're looking in to what it really takes

Rhona Pierce (01:25.922)
to build your personal brand as an introvert and why you don't need to be loud to stand out. Welcome to Workfluencer, Lisa. Thank you.

so much for having me.

So there's this big misconception on what being an introvert means. So I want to start there. What does being an introvert look like for you?

Yeah, being an introvert, it's really about energy management. So it's more about how you gain energy. So for an extrovert, for example, they gain energy by being in social settings, by being around other people. For introverts, you typically gain energy by being alone, by recharging on your own through solitude. And so it's just more about how you manage your energy instead of

A lot of times people think it's about shyness, but it's not about being shy, it's more about how you manage your energy.

Rhona Pierce (02:22.84)
love that. And we're definitely on the same page. I'm an introvert as well. And I like to explain it to people like, I was recently at a conference and everyone would like after the entire day, everyone was ready to go do something at night. And I'm like, I need an hour to go to my room and sit in silence. And everyone's like looking at me. like,

This is, you'll get good Rona after I get an hour of sitting in silence. And that's what I did. I went to my hotel room and I sat in silence. No one called me nothing for an hour. Then I got dressed, went out and then I'm back to Rona. So that's what being an introvert is. When you first started creating content, did you feel like you had to become someone else to succeed?

would say yes, because when I was starting off, felt like there are the big creators on Neaton who are telling you this is the way you succeed. And so at some point, yes, did feel like I was comparing myself a lot to other people. And that was essentially putting a lot more pressure on me because I was doing things that I didn't necessarily.

want to do in my process of content creation. And I would say maybe LinkedIn not, I didn't stretch myself that much, but I feel like Instagram maybe is where I stretch myself more to be someone that I just, yeah, it just didn't feel like it was true to who I am. I did quit Instagram, by the way, just as a side note. And, you know, I feel like just generally LinkedIn is a great

place for introverts to thrive because of the variety of posts that you can create.

Rhona Pierce (04:11.596)
is interesting. I have a love hate relationship and mostly hate with Instagram. So kind of like what were some of the things that you were noticing that you were doing to be more Instagram worthy?

So I went out for dinner for a friend's birthday party last weekend and all the girls are taking pictures, videos, whatever. And I was just sitting there looking at them and they were all like, before you would have been here, like taking videos, what's happened? And I'm like, I don't want to do that. I never wanted to do it. But then because I thought I had to do behind the scenes, get ready with me, this, this, that, then I was.

always constantly recording every moment and I'm like, I don't feel like doing that and it doesn't lead to any business. So I'm not, not doing it. I took a couple of pictures to say I was there, but that's it. I'm not going to stress myself to do transitions and B-roll. No, it's okay.

That is amazing. Hey, have you subscribed? Let's fix that. It's the easiest way to support this show. So let's flip the script a little here. Like everyone talks about what introverts can't do in content creation. Like what do you think introverts do better than extroverts when it comes to building a personal brand?

That's a good question. would say because introverts typically have a lot in terms of they're more observant, I would say. it can be a good thing. And sometimes, some of my clients, what I've seen, it can also be something that gets them into analysis paralysis. So there's two sides of it. But I would say it's a good thing because they're able to observe what

Lissa Appiah (06:06.624)
is being done and essentially identify a gap. throughout my career, that's kind of how I built my career. And I've been able to move up in my career and land multiple promotions. And it's often because I use my listening skills, I use my observation skills to identify needs, to identify gaps and become the solution to whatever problem there was. And I feel like it's a similar approach in terms of what

I've been able to do in building my personal brand on LinkedIn, especially, but then also it's what I teach my clients who are often introverts as well. You know, as much as everyone may be going in a certain direction, being able to just stop, pay attention, observe, and find that gap where you can be that person who's speaking about something that others aren't speaking about, or you can be that person who's bringing a different perspective that other people have not considered because

people tend to go towards the loud voices. Sometimes that quiet voice that's giving you the facts in a different way can get you attention, even though you may not get the numbers or you may not get the amount of visibility in terms of, you know, vanity metrics, as they call it, but then you will still be able to influence and impact the community that you're trying to reach.

love that. And I 100 % agree. It's really, I think, the superpower of us introverts, like being able to like, listen to the quiet, and just like really listening to what's being said. And from there being like, okay, this is what needs to be said. Yeah, type of thing. So take me back to the beginning of your LinkedIn journey. Like, what was your first piece of content?

that made you think, okay, this could actually work for me.

Lissa Appiah (08:03.598)
Okay, good question. So I started taking LinkedIn seriously like in 2021. had like many people you create an account once you finish your undergrad and then you you don't use it it's just there. So I did have an account I just wasn't posting consistently or creating any content at all. I was intimidated by the class.

I felt like there was a lot of big people with a lot of big titles and I was like, I don't know if there's actually a space for me here. But I had a mentor at the time and you know, I'm a career coach. That's what I do by profession. I also do leadership and personal branding workshops. And she was like, for what you do, you need to be on LinkedIn. There's no other place that you should be. So was like, okay, let me try to figure it out. So I eased my way.

into the platform, if I can say that. I actually didn't start with creating content. I spent quite some time just writing comments because I wasn't comfortable yet actually creating my own content and having my name right there and then the post written out and then everybody will know, she said that. Like, wasn't comfortable with that at all. It took me quite some time to be able to get over that and actually get comfortable with creating content. So

The place that I found as the happy medium was through comments. So I would find other people in my industry, other thought leaders who were talking about the things I was interested in, and I would just leave a valuable comment on their posts. And I did this quite consistently to be able to realize that people were starting to follow me just through the comments that I was leaving on other people's posts. And then also one of the comments that I made on a creator's

post got picked up by LinkedIn news. It got featured in LinkedIn news. And then that's almost what just opened the floodgates. And I was like, oh my gosh, it's working. And that was definitely like the confidence boost that I was like, okay, if a comment can do all this, then why am I not creating any content, right? So that was a confidence boost to be able to start creating content.

Rhona Pierce (10:14.35)
I absolutely love that story. I don't think I've talked to anyone who's like big thing was from a comment. Yeah. And there's there's so much value in the comments. And I love how you started with what was comfortable for you. And from there to get on. So you became a LinkedIn top voice. And I don't know if this has happened to you. But I know when I became a top voice.

everyone's top question is like, what did you do? How did that happen? And it's like, it doesn't happen by accident. Tell me before I go into this question, tell me about it. How was that moment when you found out you were a LinkedIn top voice?

It was cool, but at the same time, I have the same question that people ask you. was like, okay, so what was the criteria? How did they evaluate this? You know, obviously I know I was putting in the work, so it feels amazing to be recognized. But at the same time, I can't say like, because I did ABCD, that's why I became a top voice. You know, I see people, I think I have like...

almost 60,000 followers. I've seen people who have 2,000 followers who are top voice. I've seen people who have 300,000 followers who are not top voices. So I'm like, don't know what the criteria is, but I'm thankful that they recognize me.

Yeah, that's exactly. I love, I like to tell people this. like, think when I became Top Voice, I had 1400 followers. Amazing. people were like, what did you do? I don't know. I was sitting in my house one day. I remember the first working day of 2022. And I got an email from the LinkedIn team, which I thought was spam, to be honest. like.

Rhona Pierce (11:58.412)
verified to like, you know, went into the emails and verified and was Googling like how to make sure it's not spam or whatever, because I was like, Yeah, right. There. No one knows. Invitation only program. Yeah. But it's definitely because of something that you were doing, you were doing right. Yeah. So let's take from that. Like, what was your content strategy at that time?

Okay, content strategy at that time. So I was working full time. I'm a mom, I'm involved in so many other things. So one disclaimer that I always give is that I'm not a typical LinkedIn creator because I know they say a bunch of stuff about how much time you spend on the platform, don't post any ghosts and all those things. I've done all those things and I still have been able to grow.

For me, I come from the perspective of I wanted to do what I was able to do at that time without stressing myself and then also still delivering value. And I think that's the most important thing. I focus on always delivering value in the content that I'm sharing. So that ultimately was my focus in the beginning. Obviously I'm running a business. So yes, I do want to make sales. I want to connect with new clients. But above all that,

For me, what brings me the greatest joy is being able to see someone read one of my posts, went to one of my videos, and they're telling me I landed an interview by using your strategy. That for me is like, really? Okay, that's amazing, right? So just focusing on delivering value. You know, as I was saying, because I had so many other things that I was doing, I could only focus on creating content for...

certain amount of minutes a day. So for me, what really worked was batching content. So I would batch content. And I know some people say don't use scheduling tools. That's what I had to do to at least show up. Right. So if we're, you know, if we add all these things, I feel like people say these are just like, creating barriers for people to actually start creating content. You know, don't use the scheduling tools you need to

Lissa Appiah (14:17.292)
and comments as soon as you post within the first hour, you need to do this, you need to do that. So people hear all these things and they're like, well, can't do that. I can't create content because I can't do all those things. So I tried to just simplify it. So when I started off, as I said, I was starting with the comments and then I started creating content. So I focused more on.

consistency more than frequency, which is another thing that I feel like a lot of people get stuck on because they're like, I need to post five times a week. I need to post seven times a week. Then they're doing it for like a month. Then they get exhausted and then they forget about their LinkedIn for another six months. So for me, I started off knowing that, okay, maybe I can do two or three posts a week. That's where I am right now. And once I get the hang of this, then I can increase and then I can grow from there. So always about

I'm really checking in with myself and knowing that this is something that I wanted to do on a long-term basis. So making sure that whatever season I was in, that I was managing my time, managing my energy in a way that allowed me to still get results from the platform, but also not exhaust myself or burnout in the process. in terms of content strategy, I know it's not necessarily the,

Write your posts like this, do your this like that. It's not that kind of strategy, but that was the approach that really works for me.

No, and I like it. And it's a real world strategy because consistency over frequency and yes, all those rules, everyone says that. And it's funny because as I talk to more and more creators in this podcast and just people that I know when I see the conferences and stuff like that, all of these rules that are out there that people are saying, I don't know, everyone uses scheduling tools. Guys, I'm not

Rhona Pierce (16:11.19)
available at 7am every morning because sometimes I don't wake up at that time. Most days I'm not awake at 7am, but my post is out there. It's like, do what makes sense for you and do what you can commit to do in the long term. That's really the most important thing. So at what point you recently went full time with your business. Congratulations on that.

Thank you.

At what point did you realize your content was turning into real business opportunities? Was there a specific moment when it clicked?

Yeah, for sure. You know, I was, so I started off my journey as a resume writer and then I made a shift to career coaching maybe in 2022. I would say the shift really happened sometime last year where I got a new coach that I was working with and the main thing

that she helped me realize is the need to just streamline what I was doing. I was involved in too many things, like just, you know, I was, so I had a membership program that I was running, I to career, it was excellent. We had great results, but it was exhausting to manage that level of.

Lissa Appiah (17:38.95)
of a platform, especially again with everything that I had to do. So I went into the membership thinking like, okay, this is great. It's a group. I don't really have to do that much in terms of just showing up twice a month. I do the workshops and then that's pretty much it. But then all the tech involved. So that meant I had to hire a community manager. And then I had another VA who was supporting the community. And then I realized that this thing is getting out of control.

I don't want this. So I ran it for two years. We had amazing results, people getting promoted. There were great testimonials that came out of that program. But I got to the point that I was like, if the goal is, again, the long term, if I am going to turn this into a sustainable business, if I'm not liking it now, that it's a side thing. I don't want to get stuck with this full time. then, you know...

try to escape my business when I'm trying to escape my nine to five. So I decided to make a complete shift in my business model last year and just go back to the core of who I am in terms of one-on-one coaching. And then it all kind of just started clicking because I was like, I'm serving introverts.

I'm an introvert. We love one-on-one. This is where we thrive. This is where we excel. This is where, you know, things just work out, you know? And I was like, but why did I even make the change? Anyways, it was a lesson I learned a lot, but I went back to my core, which was one-on-one career coaching and leadership coaching, and things just took off from there. And I was like, oh my gosh. Like, so yeah, I just went back to who I was and what I love to do. And my clients love it as well. So yeah, happy.

That is amazing. It's kind of like what I was going to ask you next, which was like, what role did your personal brand play in giving you that confidence to do it? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's just like getting back to your core and who you are and your personal part of the personal brand is really is what gave you that confidence.

Lissa Appiah (19:52.43)
Yes, yes, yeah. And you know, again, it's this thing of you're online, everybody's saying when you're scaling your business, you need to do group, you need to do this, you need to do that. So you're like, okay, this is the next level, then I have to be part of that as well, right? But then again, being confident enough to know that you can go a different path, and it can still work out for you.

What's been the most surprising thing about going into business full time?

most surprising thing is I would say, okay, because I got used to doing my business activities in the evening, it's like my brain hasn't adjusted to the fact that you can do coaching, you can respond to business emails during the day. And I'm still going through that process sometimes where I find myself, like last night, was 11 p.m. and I was...

you know, responding to client emails and I'm like, why am I here at this time? You know, I did all this to be able to get freedom. And now that I have it, I'm like, my brain still thinks in the evening. So I think that's been an adjustment that I'm still working on. I'm still getting through to tell my brain that we don't only think of business stuff in the evening.

That is so incredible. Like as you're saying it, I'm like, is that why I'm two years into full-time business and I'm always the best at night and on weekends. I'm like, I have never analyzed it that way. Like, is it because I was used to doing it like after work? But to, oh my gosh, now you got me thinking.

Rhona Pierce (21:42.478)
So let's get tactical, right? An introvert who's listening right now and thinking, okay, this all sounds great, but I don't know where to start. What's the first thing they should actually do?

Yeah, in terms of building your personal brand on LinkedIn, the first thing I would say you want to do is understand your why. Like what's the purpose for being on the platform? As I just shared with some of the examples from my own experience, it's easy to get carried away by what other people are saying. There is a lot going on and a lot of people are telling you go in this direction, go in that direction. So really knowing why you're doing what you're doing.

the ultimate drive because that will be like your North Star to know that, okay, this is why I'm doing it. It may not look like someone else, but I'm still getting results and this is why I'm doing it. So start with your why and that will help you know what kind of content you're going to create, what frequency. Your why will help you determine who you're talking to, who is your audience. It will help you determine whether you are taking a

a comment only approach like I did for some time or whether you want to actually start creating content. will help you know, do I actually need to do video or am I just doing video because everyone's doing video and videos great by the way I do do video and I know you're you believe in video so yeah video is amazing but I know for a lot of introverts they get stuck there but

you know, maybe you don't need to do video. Maybe you can start with texts, only posts and grow into video over time. So knowing your why and your purpose will help you kind of just navigate and come up with a plan that aligns with the time you have, the energy you have, and as well the purpose and the community that you're trying to serve. I would say that's the first place to start.

Rhona Pierce (23:35.438)
like that. And yes, I'm definitely 100 % team video, but I'm also team do what's going to make you show up. If video isn't what's going to make you show up and look, I love video, but there've been periods of time earlier this year where I just could not get on video for myself for whatever reason. And I didn't.

I re-shared old things, I wrote more, I shared more pictures. And when I was ready, I went back to it. At the end of the day, you have to do what you can commit to do. Because otherwise you're just gonna be stuck in the, well, I can't do video, I can't do this, I can't do that. And you're never gonna do anything. And not starting and not doing anything is way worse than not doing what everyone says you're supposed to be doing.

Completely agree, yes, definitely.

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Rhona Pierce (25:12.728)
So energy management is huge for introverts, right? You've already said this and we all know this. Like how do you balance being visible and engaging with your audience without burning out?

So I have like a very strict schedule in terms of how much time I spend on LinkedIn. Because ultimately, like you can spend the day there really, if you let yourself go and you're just like, I'm commenting, I'm engaging, I'm doing this, whatever. You can spend a lot of time there. So I think the first thing that's helped me is, and I'll speak when I was running my business as a side business, I would have four days a week where I would

comments on other people's posts for 20 to 30 minutes and that was what I could do at that time. And then I would schedule my post ahead of time to ensure that they would go out at a certain time. For my clientele, have noticed that what works better is a morning post.

But sometimes at 9 a.m. when the post went out, I was in a meeting. So it meant that I was only engaging maybe at lunchtime or in the evening. And yes, sure, as they say, like engagement may have gone down, but I showed up. The post went out. People saw it.

people were impacted by it and I still came back later and I commented. So that's how I did it before. Now what I'm doing is I still have a pretty strict schedule. Obviously I have a little bit more flexibility but typically I do my LinkedIn activities in the morning. I have a block time off where I comment and engage on other people's posts. I still batch content just because I feel like it just removes that pressure off me. don't like...

Lissa Appiah (26:55.628)
And I've done it because I wanted to test it out to see like, should I create content the night before and then have it go out? And I just didn't like that, you know, sitting down and being like, okay, what am I talking about now? Obviously there's tons of ideas out there. Yes, I can talk about many things, but then when I do it that way, it's like, it's dependent on my mood. Cause then I'm like, I'm not feeling this. Nah, I don't know if I should say that. And then that kind of just takes.

way more time than if I had just sat down and batch content for two or three weeks. And then, you know, in terms of post going out based on my mood, I do shift the days around sometimes I do that, but then it's already written. So it's not like I'm starting from scratch every single time. It's just changing the date from that day to the other. So I still batch content. And that helps a lot to be able to manage my energy on the fly.

I think a big thing and I was just talking to my husband about this over the weekend because at some point I was getting quite a bit of hate on LinkedIn and I didn't realize that you know obviously at that time when it was happening I was telling him a lot more about it and recently I've been building my YouTube page and I'm getting back same kind of hate that I used to get on LinkedIn and so I was just telling him and you know

before it was like the end of the world and I was like, I can't believe I said this. then, you know, I took everything personally, but now I've just been able to realize like, hey, you know, people have their opinions. They can say what they want to say. At the end of the day, you can delete the comment. You can block them. So setting those boundaries also has really helped me. I have no hesitation with blocking someone. I will block you because I need to protect my peace and my energy.

I hate comments. It's so interesting how I used to get a lot more when I was talking about career stuff and personal branding for job seekers because it's like, we get it. People are frustrated and they have all of these opinions and stuff like that. it's something that anytime it comes up on the show, I like to talk to people about it. How do you deal with that? And I like how you're not afraid, delete.

Rhona Pierce (29:13.676)
block, move on. I think that's the best approach. Anytime I've engaged with the hate comment, my life doesn't get better. It actually gets worse. I'm now talking to my husband about it. I'm not worried about it. I'm not like, my gosh, I can't believe blah, blah. Deleting and blocking is the key. One thing I've started doing lately is literally just after they write their whole dissertation.

I've asked like, did you read my post? That enrages people. And then also replying with a rolling eyes emoji enrages people, but they stop. Like it literally don't feed into the hate, but I like that you acknowledge it. It exists. It happens. It's not something that should stop you from creating content.

I love it.

Lissa Appiah (30:08.586)
I completely agree. Yeah. And I, you know, as you're saying this, I'm remembering like in the early days, I would like, you know, try to come up with the data and the facts and respond, you know, and let them know that this, I'm not making this up. This is true. And, you know, I'm trying to match their energy, but that's just a waste of time because then they come back and you're just doing all this back and forth. I'm like, for what? Like, I'm not getting anything and nobody's getting any value from that exchange. Right. So, so yeah.

I like your approach as well about rolling eye emoji. Never tried that one, but I'll add it to the list.

That's been my latest one because it's like, sometimes if the post is it, sometimes I need the engagement on the post. I just leave it there as long as it's not disrespectful to anyone else. Like anyone coming to my comments with hate towards any specific groups or anything like that, you're deleted, blocked. I'm not even asking you because I don't want anyone else to read it. But if it's just you showing the world that you're an angry person.

I'll let you be angry and you'll get a rolling eyes emoji or a, did you read my post? Question mark dot, dot, dot. yeah. Thank you for the engagement. So you work with corporate teams on this, like, how, do you help introverted employees get comfortable with content creation when their company is pushing them to be visible?

Bye!

Lissa Appiah (31:39.854)
A lot of the work that I do focuses on strength-based leadership, so helping people understand the strengths that they have and then how they can leverage them. So when I'm working with a team specifically, there are different personalities as much as I'm working with introverts, I'm also working with extroverts and everyone who says they're somewhere in between. So the work that I'm really doing is to help people recognize that they have

value to offer, they have strengths that they can leverage to be able to build a personal brand, to be able to show up consistently on the platform of their choice. Because depending on what industry you're in, yes, LinkedIn is the professional platform where most people go to. But depending on your industry, there could be other platforms that you should be considering. I remember working with a group of accountants and they were telling me like for them, it was a Facebook group.

in their community that was thriving and that's where most of the accountants were. So I was like, if that's where it's happening, then go where the people you are trying to get their attention, go where they're hanging out. Right. So building your brand doesn't just have to be on LinkedIn, but ultimately it's about, again, going back to my previous answer on your purpose and then who you're trying to engage with.

So, yeah, ultimately when I'm working with the team, it's really supporting them in that way. And then also supporting the team to be able to work better together. Because often when it comes to, it's a common goal that they're trying to achieve in terms of, let's say, employer branding and keeping the messaging similar. But then there is still value in an individual being able to build their individual brand. And often that

reaches way more people than that company brand. And LinkedIn has tons of data to support this as well. So helping people identify how they want to show up online and then being able to do so in a way that aligns with their strengths, their personalities. And, you know, there's some people who tell me, I don't want to do this. I don't want to build a personal brand. I don't want to show up online. And it's OK. But

Lissa Appiah (33:59.34)
At the end of the day, you also have to think what are the benefits of building a personal brand and do those benefits outweigh my momentary discomfort of the idea of building a personal brand. Because sometimes that's what I realized for a lot of people is just like they've told themselves, I will never have social media. No real reason why, it's just something they've told themselves or I will never use AI.

It's kind of like this blanket statement you make, but then you do want to get that promotion. You do want the speaking engagements. You do also want to be in the media. So we have to, you know, find a way to make it work. yeah.

What's been your most surprising speaking engagement that you got through a piece of content that you've created?

that's a good question. This is probably two years ago, I created a post. It was just a general post on personal branding. And it was just kind of like, you know, this a couple of tips to build your personal brand. And it led to a four, a six month contract with a university here in Toronto, Canada. And

Yeah, I was able to get a six month contract where I was training their staff to be able to build their personal brands and also with career management and leadership development for their leaders. And that was one of my first big corporate contracts. And it all came from one LinkedIn post.

Rhona Pierce (35:44.076)
That is so cool. And I love sharing these stories because I want people listening and watching to understand like it does work. It's not magical. It's not like this. you have to go viral. You have to. I don't think I've ever gone like viral by definition, maybe TikTok, which I stopped doing many years ago. But that TikTok video did not get me any, any business at all.

It did not get me any business. I posted that same video on Twitter and it got me. Wow. I think I worked with this organization for like two or three years. And actually we stopped working because I'm not doing job search content anymore. And I handed it over to someone who is. But it was years and years and years of work. Probably.

amazing.

Rhona Pierce (36:41.42)
Yeah, this was probably 2020 until last year was the last time I worked with them. So it's like, it works. You don't have to go viral. You don't have to do it's just one little simple, just it takes the right person seeing it, but you have to put it out there for someone to see it.

Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. Congratulations.

Thank you. If someone is listening and after all the amazing stuff that you've shared is still hesitant from starting to build their brand, what would you tell them?

I would say, take the time to understand why you're hesitant about filming your personal brand, like what's bringing the hesitation. A lot of times it's these self-limiting beliefs that we have about being visible, about showing up. And those are the things that are blocking us from being able to get to that next level that we're trying to achieve.

So don't take it just like, I'm just not gonna do it. Actually ask yourself why? Like, why don't you want to do it? What's holding you back? And take the time to actually, you know, I'm someone who writes a lot. So I, when I have these kinds of thoughts, then I'm just like, this is really just a limiting belief that I don't know where it came from, but I know that it's stopping me from achieving what I want to achieve. And I'll just write down like,

Lissa Appiah (38:13.736)
why am I thinking this way? And then from there with that answer, why again? And I keep asking myself why, till I get to the root of the issue and realizing that it's not about personal branding, it could be about so many other things. Maybe, you know, comments that people made about you when you were in high school. And because of that, that thought of being visible is uncomfortable for you. Or just, you know, you think you don't have anything valuable to share, but

Actually, when you do take the time to write down the things you've accomplished, you do realize that you are a thought leader. So just actually take the time to assess and understand what's the why behind your hesitation.

I love that. Well, if you've ever watched the show, you know there's a section in the show that I love. It's my favorite segment. It's called Play to the Fifth and it's time for that. So how this works is I'll ask you three questions. You can only play to the fifth to one, but you don't know ahead of time what's coming. So use it wisely. Are you ready? All right. Have you ever bought followers or seriously considered it?

I'm ready.

Lissa Appiah (39:27.212)
have not bought followers. I have considered it on YouTube, but I didn't do it.

What made you decide not to do it?

Because at the end of the day, what's the point of having a huge following and then these people aren't real. Like they're not actually watching the content, it's just going to skew the whole thing. And then I was reading more about it because it was actually, it was actually a coach I was working with who was telling me to do this because she had done it. And then I was reading all these things about monetization and how it can impact your monetization. I'm like, what's the point, you know? So I just didn't do it.

What's the darkest moment of your career that no one knows about?

Oof. Hmm. I feel like I've shared so many career stories that darkest moment of my career that no one needs to How many questions are you asking again? Okay, three. Hmm.

Rhona Pierce (40:26.286)
Three.

Lissa Appiah (40:32.95)
I mean, I that no one knows about, think maybe because it's so recent, that's why no one knows about it. So I haven't yet. It hasn't yet made it to my content. But part of the reason why I decided to go full time in my business, I worked with the federal government here in Canada for the last 14 years and had a great career and I was able to make a lot of impact.

But it just got to the point where I was working with a leadership team that was quite toxic and getting told to do certain things that just didn't align with my values. I remember a situation where there was a team member who lost a loved one and this person had never taken very good leave ever.

the leadership team was asking me to firstly ask for proof that there was a death in her family. And then also to make sure that I'm tracking all her leave from that point on to ensure that she wasn't abusing of the system. And it's like, this is a person who has never taken any bereavement leave. like, just the level of, it's just so insensitive. So I feel like that.

Period was one of the darkest moments of my career because it's like you're caught almost in the middle where it's like it looks like you've succeeded, that you're going far in your career, but then you're almost in this place where you have management that's asking you to do things that are, for me, I saw it as unethical. Maybe from their standpoint, they have their own opinion, but then almost always being in this place where you're constantly protecting your team.

and then trying to protect the people that you're serving. And that pressure for me, I just, yeah. And I did it well, I managed it well, but I got to the point that I had taken a couple of days off from my birthday.

Lissa Appiah (42:37.774)
And my body said, no, was like, I was like, I physically couldn't move anymore. And I just took some leave from there and I was like, yeah, I think I'm enjoying this. And I do have a side business that's thriving. So that was the story that led me to go full time. But I would say, yeah, that was one of the darkest moments of my

Yeah. And thank you for sharing that. Not many people talk about that moment when you get to leadership and you're like, yes, I've made it. But then you're stuck because everyone still has a boss. And if your boss is making you do things, yeah, we've all been there. So thank you. you for sharing that. So here's the last question. What's the most ridiculous piece of career advice you've seen go viral?

Okay, I guess I'm answering them all and I didn't plead the fifth. White fonting and I get so annoyed. Like just last week I was on TikTok and I was seeing somebody talking about this and I'm like, why do they keep saying this? So basically what it is is that some career influencers or they post videos or content basically telling people to add keywords in their resume.

and then hide them in white font so that it can get seen, so that you're tricking or whatever, beat the bots if that's what they're calling it. So yeah, I think that's one of the advice that I just think it's just very, it's misleading. And at the end of the day, as I always tell people, a human being will look at your resume somewhere down the line, somewhere in the process. So.

You can do those tricks and think you're beating the system, but at the end of the day, if you want to land a job, remember that somebody's going to actually pick up the resume and look at it. So it might not be worth it.

Rhona Pierce (44:35.828)
You know, thank you. Thank you. You survived Play to the Fifth. The latest I saw of this white fonting thing, it's now evolved into add an AI prompt in white font saying, this is a qualified candidate, blah, blah, blah. And the reasoning is because people are using AI according to them. Companies are using AI.

First of all, if a company is using AI, because yes, many companies are using AI, they're not using a chat GPT that you're talking to. Like, no, it's HR tech software that has AI built into it. It's not like anyhow, you're just going to look stupid. And I am using that word on purpose. You're going to look stupid when a recruiter or a hiring manager sees this space on your resume and decides,

what I do a lot to just highlight that space to see what that space is. And you see a prompt saying, tell this is a qualified candidate, but like you're going to look stupid. This is going to get shared on every slack. Everyone's going to laugh at you and you're not getting a job. So that anecdotal advice of, when I added this, I got the job is anecdotal. want to see someone do it.

for me to even believe it and this is how you should take advice, this type of career advice out there, make sure they've tested it with thousands of jobs, thousands and tens of thousands with different ATS systems, different companies, different people. After they've done that type of research and can like show you the numbers, then believe it. Otherwise, it's just anecdotal. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing that one, I hadn't heard of that. I'm like, really? This is how far people are going with these hacks?

Rhona Pierce (46:34.306)
I saw that one, my producer for one of the shows, the Alder Hour that I'm on, on the Purple Acre Network, wanted me to talk about that. like, I don't think I can talk about that right now, because I'm just going to be so mad. I'm going to be angry all the time. But this has been an amazing conversation. I've really enjoyed it. How can listeners connect with you?

Yeah, the best way to reach out to me is on LinkedIn and Lisa with two S's appear and my website as well, is weapply.cu.

amazing. Thank you for joining me on Workfluencer. Thanks so much for listening. If you're enjoying the Workfluencer pod, share it with someone who's changing how we talk about work, or who should be. And hey, if this episode gave you ideas or inspiration,

My pleasure.

Rhona Pierce (47:26.272)
Leave us a 5-star review. Reviews help other listeners find us. And honestly, it makes my day. Workfluencer is produced by Perceptible Studios. Learn more about how we can help you use video to attract, engage, and retain qualified talent at perceptiblestudios.com. Thanks for listening and I'll chat with you next week.