I Made a Pitch Deck About Myself — and Accidentally Invented Marketing Therapy

 

Yep. I did it. I made a pitch deck about myself.

Not for a startup. Not for investors. For me — the freelance human trying to explain what I do without using the word “synergy.”

Somewhere between “What’s your brand voice?” and “You need a stronger call to action,” it hit me: freelancing in 2025 basically means you’ve become a walking LinkedIn carousel. You’re not just a person anymore — you’re a one-person brand ecosystem, complete with mission, metrics, and a tagline you probably came up with in the shower.

So yes, I built a deck. And somewhere between “MY EXPERIENCE” and “HOW I WORK,” I realized: we’ve all become startups with feelings.

 
 

Everyone’s a Brand Now — Even Your Dog

Once upon a time, “personal brand” sounded like something only influencers or Guy Fieri needed. Now, everyone’s got one. The yoga instructor. The engineer. The guy selling artisanal honey at the farmer’s market (and honestly, his logo is awesome).

We’re all running tiny marketing departments in our heads:

  • Creative: “What if I start a Substack?”

  • Analytics: “Only 12 likes? Maybe the algorithm’s mad at me.”

  • PR: “If I post this opinion, will I get canceled or hired?”

It’s chaos — but kind of empowering chaos. Because somewhere between the metrics and the mission statements, real questions start sneaking in:

What do I actually stand for?
What kind of work lights me up?
What do I want people to feel after working with me?

Turns out, self-branding isn’t just marketing. It’s therapy with nicer typography.

 
 

Building a Deck, Finding Myself

My “Me Deck” started as interview prep and turned into a Rorschach test for my creative brain.
It made me put into slides what I’d been doing instinctively all along:

  • Start with people, not platforms.

  • Let creativity and data dance, not duel.

  • Keep everything deeply, stubbornly human.

Writing your own KPIs is weirdly clarifying. You start listing things like stay kind, be curious, don’t panic — adapt. Sure, I can track click-throughs and conversions. But how do you measure connection? Or creative growth? (If I could, I’d make a dashboard for it.)

 

Branding as Self-Reflection (and Mild Chaos)

Being your own brand feels like running a campaign for a product that keeps changing — because the product is you. You’re always in a loop: discover → define → design → deliver → debrief. That’s a lot of verbs for one human. But it’s also how you grow. You experiment, collect feedback (emotional and literal), and adjust.

At some point, marketing stops feeling fake. It becomes a language — a way to tell stories, build empathy, and understand yourself better. If you let it.

 

The Upside of Selling Yourself (Without Selling Out)

Yes, we all have to “market ourselves” now. But maybe that’s not tragic — maybe it’s creative evolution. Because when you treat your work like a brand, you learn to:

  • Articulate what you value

  • Build systems instead of one-offs

  • Communicate clearly across worlds (and time zones)

  • Reflect, refine, repeat

It’s not about pretending to be a business. It’s about designing a creative ecosystem around what makes you you.

My Final Note

Here’s how my deck ends:

I love working with people who care deeply — about their mission, their audience, and their craft.

And honestly, that’s the heart of it.

Good marketing — the real kind — isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about listening better. To your audience. To your collaborators. To yourself.

So if you ever find yourself making a pitch deck about your own career, don’t cringe. Lean in. Add a transition. And remember: you’re not selling yourself — you’re just telling your story, slide by slide.

 
Laurel Burgam