Dearest gentle reader,

(Can’t you tell I’m in my Bridgerton era?)

In 2020, I blew up my content.

Not on purpose. Or maybe it was. I had just pivoted my entire business direction, and everything I’d been posting before – the cozy corporate-y content my audience had come to expect – suddenly didn’t fit anymore.

I had to post differently. Think differently. Show up differently.

And yes, I lost LinkedIn followers. I lost email subscribers. It stung a little. Okay, more than a little.

But here’s what I’ve come to understand since then, having changed my content direction not once but a couple of times now: losing people is part of leveling up. When you step into a new version of yourself, your content has to reflect that. Not everyone is meant to come with you. The people who are meant to find you next? They’re looking for the new you. They don’t know the old you exists.

I was reminded of all this just last week in Tampa Bay, where I delivered two personal branding sessions. One theme came up again and again – and it’s not unique to Tampa. I hear it everywhere I go.

“What if nobody sees it?”
“What if people think it’s bad?”
“What if I post and… nothing happens?”

Here’s what I told every single person in that room, and what I want to tell you now:

The algorithm changes.
Your audience changes.
You change.

None of it is permanent. None of it is supposed to be.

The content you post today is data. It’s practice. It’s figuring out what works, what lands, what sounds like you – and what doesn’t (AI robots beware).

Some of it won’t land. That’s the point. You experiment. You iterate. You move on.

I need to be honest with myself about something.

Some of my content from the last four months may not be resonating with you anymore. You might still be nodding along (and thank you for that). Or you might be quietly wondering where the old Leanne went.

Both reactions are valid. And I’m at peace with it. Because I know the new version of what I’m building is going to attract the people who need exactly this.

That’s the thing about thought leadership content. Corporate-employee content is safe. Palatable. It doesn’t ruffle feathers. But it also doesn’t make people lean in.

Thought leader content has a point of view. It says something. And something that says something will always lose some people – while pulling the right people closer.

You don’t need more confidence before you start posting. You need a sandbox mindset. Try things. Build things. Let some things fall. The algorithm will shift again next week anyway.

The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is practice.

If you’re ready to stop playing it safe and start showing up like the industry expert you actually are, I put together a free guide just for you: 30+ content prompts designed to help you shift from employee-style posts to thought leader content.,