The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 66: Creating Your Personal Brand with Isaac Saldana

Brian chats with serial entrepreneur and SendGrid founder Isaac Saldana about his new venture Memo, which helps people build authentic and trustworthy personal brands. On the episode, Isaac opens up about how his introversion initially made it difficult for him to sell his expertise online, and how he's now using his experiences to help other entrepreneurs and creatives effectively showcase their talents. He also gives tips for being a leader with your natural personality and for using your values to navigate difficult business decisions.

Episode Highlights

Mission-driven businesses move mountains.

Mission-driven businesses share a motivation to make the world a little bit better. Issac says you know your level of motivation is right as a business owner when you have the passion to move mountains.

"If your motivation is big enough to move a mountain, then you've found the right motivation and the right mission," he said. 

Personal brands build new connections.

Establishing a personal brand on social media can help convey trust and demonstrate your knowledge. While some people think the purpose of a personal brand is to be popular online, Isaac sees its true value as building connections. 

"If your purpose is to connect with other people, specifically new people that you don't know, a personal brand could be influential," he said.

Establish your company values early.

One of the first things that Isaac did with his new company, Memo, was to establish a set of values, which spell out the word HAPPY: humility, adaptability, peers, passion, and you.

Issac prioritized creating values for Memo early on because being an entrepreneur requires making decisions even when there's no right answer. In those instances, he believes it can be helpful to lean on your values.

"You can't go to Google or ChatGPT and ask them to give you an answer," Isaac said. "You need something to help you make decisions, and values do that." 

Build a culture around your values.

Establishing company values can help with more than just making decisions. Building values into a company's culture can lead to a more efficient and happy workplace, and conveying a company's values online can help build trust and credibility with an audience. 

"I can talk about values for a long time because I truly believe they make a huge difference," Isaac said. "Many entrepreneurs don't focus on that early on." 

Resources + Links

• Isaac: LinkedIn, Crunchbase, X (formerly known as Twitter)

• Memo: Website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter)  

• SendGrid: Website, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter) 

• Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast

• Follow Brian Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter), Forbes

About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast 

Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.