How did they do that?! Five creators on building personal brand in 2026
*All sessions will be recorded and shared for future viewing.
How did they grow that newsletter?
How did they build that keynote?
How did they grow that audience?
There is a metric ton of advice on the internet about building a personal brand, but how much of it is by people who have actually done the hard thing?
So we got together our favorite creators in newsletter growth, speaking, LinkedIn “thought/meme leadership”, and Instagram growth to tell you what you need to know to do it too.
Come out for a full day of learnings (and laughs) from some of the internet’s best creators.
Event Lineup and Featured Speakers:
9:30 am ET – Kick off the day and intro with your host, Talitha McCloskey
We'll kick things off with a quick welcome, walk through what you'll be learning together, and share a few tips to help you get the most out of each session. Then we’ll dive straight into building your personal brand so you can follow along with our guest speakers, ask questions, and start creating an authentic presence that showcases your expertise and helps you stand out.
10:00 am ET – Finding your voice online with Sarah Stockdale
Building a personal brand can feel like an (often thankless) part-time job.
You should start a newsletter. Post on LinkedIn. Launch a podcast. Make videos. Speak on stages. Build a following. Somehow become a thought leader even though you barely have time to think.
I promise, you don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to get really clear on what you want, who you want to reach, and how you want to show up.
In this hands-on working session, Sarah Stockdale, founder of Growclass, will help you build the foundation of a personal positioning strategy you can actually execute.
You’ll set thoughtful goals for yourself, dig into what you truly care about, and where that intersects with what your audience cares about. Then we’ll use those insights to decide where you should show up, what you should talk about, and, just as importantly, what you can happily ignore.
You’ll leave with a clearer position, a more focused plan, and concrete next steps toward that newsletter, podcast, speaking career, audience, or whatever you actually want to build.
And you'll leave feeling lighter, clearer, and motivated to get rolling.
About your host:
Sarah Stockdale is the Founder of Growclass, a universe of practical marketing courses taught by experts, and an incredibly kind community. She’s also a TEDx speaker, the author of We Need To Talk About This newsletter, and the Host of The Growth Effect podcast. Sarah has spent her career growing early stage technology companies — focused on digital marketing, scrappy growth strategies, data, and retention. Sarah was one of the early hires at the Canadian Fintech giant, Wave which was acquired by H&R Block in one of the largest Canadian exits of all time. She then led international growth teams at Tilt, which was acquired by Airbnb in 2017 before founding Growclass.
11:00 am ET – The newsletter people actually want to open - A fireside chat with Stacey Lee-Kong
If you’ve ever considered starting your own newsletter — or you started one, sent three issues, and quietly abandoned it — you need to join this fireside chat with Sarah Stockdale and Stacey Lee-Kong.
Stacey is the founder and editor of Friday Things, a smart, funny newsletter that explores the political side of pop culture and asks deeper questions about the celebrity stories, internet moments, and cultural chaos we’re all talking about anyway. It’s incredibly well written, deeply engaging, and has been shouted out by the New York Times and Refinery29.
Together, Sarah and Stacey will get into what it actually takes to build a newsletter people want to open. We’ll talk about how to get started when you’re staring at a blank page, how to keep publishing when the initial burst of motivation wears off, and how to develop a voice and point of view that feels distinctly yours.
We’ll also dig into finding your people, growing an audience without turning yourself into a content machine, building a real relationship with your readers, and figuring out what makes someone go from casual subscriber to loyal fan.
And yes, we’ll talk about money. How do you monetize a newsletter without ruining the thing people loved about it in the first place? Because creative fulfillment is wonderful, but unfortunately, you have bills to pay.
Bring your questions, your newsletter idea, your abandoned drafts, and your curiosity. This one is going to be fun.
About your host:
Stacey Lee-Kong is a writer and editor in Toronto. She has worked as an editor at some of Canada's largest publications, including Flare, Chatelaine and Canadian Living, and has written for outlets including Maclean's, Reader's Digest and The Globe & Mail. She thinks everything is political, and will happily spend hours deconstructing the week’s biggest entertainment stories… like, in our weekly newsletter, for example.
12:00 pm ET – Lunch break
1:00 pm ET – The last great advantage: mastering public speaking with Jay Acunzo
In the AI era, one skill remains defensible, irreplaceable, and more valuable than ever: public speaking. ChatGPT prompts can't replace it. Claude Code isn't taking the stage at your event. Gemini won't be presenting to your boss or team tomorrow either. Your own public speaking skill is the last—and biggest—competitive edge when so much communication can be faked at scale.
In this practical, engaging session, professional speaker and public speaking advisor Jay Acunzo will show you how to make public speaking your superpower. He'll dissect real examples from standout speakers, extract frameworks you can use, and give you tools to immediately apply. The fact remains, stronger speakers succeed. It's easier to convey your value, get what you want, and serve others more deeply wherever you show up.
You'll learn:
The elements that make any talk or pitch more memorable
A repeatable structure to develop better presentations
How to never think about nerves again
About your host:
Jay Acunzo is a public speaking and storytelling advisor trusted by bestselling authors, TED speakers, seven-figure coaches, and brands like Disney, Mailchimp, and Salesforce. Before starting his advisory firm, Jay was a digital media strategist at Google and head of content for 3 organizations, including HubSpot. He’s directed documentaries, hosted podcasts, and created award-winning content for innovative startups and Fortune 500 brands. Today, Jay teaches business leaders how to communicate with greater clarity, influence, and resonance.
2:00 pm ET – Underrated career skill: Being insane on LinkedIn with Bridget Poetker
Disclaimer: This is not a talk about algo hacks. I hate that sh*t. I built my LinkedIn brand by doing the opposite of what everyone tells you to do. I post memes, rants, politics, etc. which is insane but let’s chat about how I turned posting on the briefcase app into tangible career stuff: job offers, ideal clients, brand partnerships, and genuine friendships that turned into real businesses. And do I see the irony in me trying to tell you what I do in this chat? Yes. But this isn’t a prescriptive playbook, this is me telling you my story so that maybe you can start telling yours.
About your host:
I'm Bridget Poetker, a solo founder, co-founder x2, and obviously someone with entirely too much going on. I run my own brand strategy biz, co-founded Creative Little Planet with my best friends, and co-founded Let Her Cook with another bestie. I started my career at an ad agency, then spent 8 years (dog years) in B2B SaaS before breaking out of the matrix to do my own thing. I always knew I’d end up a business owner, I'm an Aries after all. These days, I help brands find their POV and actually have some fun with their marketing.
3:00 pm ET – The no-cringe guide to personal branding with Alaina Booth
Let me guess… you have something worth saying, but you have no idea how to start saying it because you either 1) hate the sound of your voice, 2) think you have no interesting stories, 3) think you have no video skills or suck at editing, or 4) you just need a better system so it actually happens consistently. I hate to break it to you, but every day you don't build a personal brand, someone with less talent and a better Instagram is taking the opportunity that should've been yours — the client, the job, the deal, the audience.
This workshop hands you everything: the exact framework people use to build a personal brand that actually creates leverage, a plug-and-play plan for your first two weeks of content so you never stare at a blank camera again, and the mindset shifts that get you past the cringe that's been costing you money and momentum. You'll leave with a system you can run tomorrow morning.
About your host:
Alaina is a content strategist and brand marketer who grew her own personal brand on Instagram from 9k to 30k followers in 6 months. She's spent 2 years at Stan leading creative strategy and brand — working alongside creators like Steven Bartlett, Gary Vee, and Radhi Devlukia, and throwing a Forbes-recognized Creator Economy party at Cannes Lions on the brand's behalf. She now helps founders and creators turn their story into a content system that builds genuine audience loyalty — the same kind she's built her own following on.
4:00 pm EST – Wrap-up
This event is for people who want to build a personal brand that actually does something for their career or business. Maybe you want to build credibility, attract clients, land your next role, grow your audience, sharpen your newsletter, or get yourself on more stages. It’s designed for founders, freelancers, salespeople, copywriters, authors, job seekers, and professionals who want to turn their digital presence into real-world opportunities.
You’ll leave with practical strategies, real-world examples, and advice from people who’ve actually done it. So you can stop winging it and start building your personal brand with intention.