Christian Ray Flores here —
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in 2025, obscurity is a choice
In 2025, obscurity is a choice.
You have expertise, life experience, insights, and valuable opinions. So why aren’t you building a personal brand online?
Here are the reasons I usually hear—followed by the real ones that hide underneath:
“It’s not my thing.”
“I don’t want to be an influencer.”
“That’s for teenagers.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“I’m not good with social media.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
“Who’d want to hear from me?”
My own social following isn’t massive—around 70k across platforms, plus 12k newsletter subscribers. For comparison, my daughter Bella’s Instagram has 216k followers.
And yet last month alone, my content had over 250k views. That means hundreds of thousands of people considered or acted on something I said—for free. Some became clients. Others shared posts that brought new clients to me. And over the last few years, people inspired by my content have donated more than $200k to causes I support—helping refugees in Ukraine and kids in poverty in Mozambique.
Creating content takes time, talent, and effort. Yes, it’s a skill to learn. No, it’s not too hard. Anyone with a story can learn it. In 2025, you can learn anything, reach anyone, anywhere, at any time. You can build a life, a business, a cause—and genuinely help people.
Is it worth the effort?
You invest time to create one piece of content and make it valuable for others. You give it away for free. That’s generous, authentic, and powerful. Then the media works while you sleep—circulating your ideas, connecting with new people, opening doors. Never in human history has it been easier or cheaper to reach the world.
So let me ask again: why aren’t you building your personal brand?
Here are the real reasons I’ve seen up close:
Fear of failure — “What if I suck?”
You will. Everyone does at first. Then you get better.
Relational cost — “What will they think?”
They won’t. People are too busy thinking about themselves.
“I don’t have anything valuable to offer.”
If you have expertise, passion, or unique insight, it’s valuable to someone.
“There’s no way I can get tons of people to care.”
You don’t need tons. Out of 8 billion people, you just need 1,000 true fans who buy from you once in a while.
“I don’t have time.”
We all have 24 hours. Some invest theirs in things that compound; others don’t.
“The internet doesn’t need another person talking about…”
Maybe not. But some people need to hear it from you.
Whatever you do professionally, you already have a personal brand—it’s just your reputation in your circles. The problem is, those circles are small, and your reputation is often shaped by others more than by you. When you build your brand intentionally, you stop chasing opportunities and start choosing the ones that come to you.
In a few weeks, I’m hosting a small workshop to help people finally launch their personal brand. If this hit home, reply with “interested” and you’ll be first to know when spots open.