Why I Never Wanted Fame — And Never Needed a Personal Brand
I’ve never wanted to be famous. Not even a little bit. And despite running a successful platform like Creative Boom for nearly 16 years, I’ve never been interested in building a personal brand either. That might seem unusual these days. We live in a world where everyone is encouraged to be the face of something, where visibility is currency, and the personal brand is the product. But for me, that was never the point.
I got briefly swept up in it last year. Maybe it was the vulnerability that came with my back injury. Being stuck indoors, laid up for months, gives you far too much time to scroll. I watched brilliant and smart people showing up daily, front and centre—polished, present, and promoting. I thought, “Maybe that’s what I’m meant to do now, too.” So I dipped a toe in. I shared more, showed more. But something never sat right.
You see, those of us who come from journalism and media—we’re wired differently. We know it’s not about us. We’re trained to be behind the camera, not in front of it. We’re the observers, the storytellers—the ones who shine a light on others, not ourselves.
It’s not that we lack ego or ambition. It’s that we’ve always understood the value of being in the background. The integrity of letting the work speak for itself. The pride in curating, amplifying, facilitating—not performing.
Creative Boom was never about me. It was about the community, the brilliant minds and unsung heroes in the creative industries, the artists and designers who deserved a spotlight, not the person holding the torch.
And I like it that way. I’m still here, doing the work. Quietly, consistently. Playing an important role, but never wanting to be the main event.
That said, I do have to be transparent. When you’re building something like Creative Boom, you also think about its future. You leave the door open for the possibility of selling one day—or at least handing over the reins. That’s hard to do if the brand becomes too closely tied to one person.
Besides, we’re a team these days. There’s more than just me running the show. And I love seeing our writers out there—at events and festivals, on press trips around the world—getting stuck in, being part of something bigger. It’s never been about one voice. That’s the whole point.
Sure, I sometimes wonder what I might do next. And that’s when the doubt creeps in—should I build more of a personal brand? Maybe it would help, professionally. Maybe it would open doors one day.
But then I remember: I’ve built something pretty real, without needing to be centre stage. And that’s more than enough for me.