SELLEST OSAST
What does it take to build a personal brand that leads to real opportunity - not just visibility, but credibility, career momentum and influence?
In this episode of Mad Influence, Helen Saul is joined by Claudia Cardinali, Strategy Director at Great Influence, where she runs personal brands for founders, entrepreneurs and leadership teams, including leaders from brands such as Booking.com, Gousto and MyProtein.
Claudia is also a LinkedIn Top Voice and speaker. She first built her audience by openly talking about navigating a quarter-life crisis, and today advises leaders on personal branding strategy, creator-led thinking and employee advocacy. Her career has grown rapidly from freelance copywriter to director level through consistency and showing up publicly, and she’s now followed by tens of thousands of people for practical, experience-led advice.
As Claudia puts it: “If I was just starting my career now, I would not be making a CV. I would be thinking about how I create content on a platform.”
This conversation explores why showing up online often feels uncomfortable, how influence compounds over time, and what personal branding looks like in an AI-saturated world - particularly for founders, leaders and ambitious early- to mid-career professionals.
Chapters
00:00 Why showing up online feels uncomfortable
04:45 Strategy vs posting without direction
11:05 Authenticity, performance and being ‘real’ online
15:50 Criticism, outrage culture and leadership visibility
18:50 AI comments, bots and the future of connection
25:45 How personal brands drive hiring and inbound opportunity
35:10 The biggest barriers stopping people from showing up
41:53 Confidence, self-belief and career decisions
49:21 Influences, mentors and career-defining moments
52:00 The future of personal branding and reputation
Music written by Joseph McDade
Follow Claudia Cardinali:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccardinali9/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@claudia___cardinali
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/claudiaccardinali/
Follow Helen Saul:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helensaul/
