When most people hear “personal branding” they often think of influencers, Instagram reels, or Gen Z trends. But at its core, personal branding is simply your reputation in a digital format. It’s about showcasing your skills, values, and personality in a way that builds trust and opens doors. This is especially relevant for yachting professionals, whether you’re actively working on yachts or transitioning ashore. Here’s why personal branding matters for you and how you can use it to advance your career.
What Is Personal Branding?
Think of personal branding as your professional story told online. It’s the sum of how people perceive you based on what you share, how you engage, and the expertise you showcase. It’s what people think, feel, and say about you when you’re not in the room—except now, thanks to the internet, that “room” includes LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, professional forums, and other online platforms, like YouTube. A personal brand isn’t about being an influencer or creating flashy content; it’s about showcasing your skills, values, and personality in a way that builds trust, credibility, and connection. In today’s digital-first world, your online presence is often the first impression potential employers, clients, or collaborators have of you.
Imagine your CV: it tells employers where you’ve worked, your certifications, and your skills. Personal branding, on the other hand, brings that CV to life. It paints a fuller picture of who you are, what you’re passionate about, and what unique value you bring to the table.
Why Personal Branding Matters for Yachting Professionals
Whether you’re actively crewed on a superyacht or planning your step ashore back to land life, personal branding can make all the difference in your career. Here’s why:
It Builds Visibility in a Competitive Industry
The yachting world is tight-knit, but it’s also competitive. Recruiters and yacht captains increasingly turn to online platforms, like Facebook to find crew. When employers or recruiters search for crew members, having a professional online presence sets you apart.
Think of platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram: they’re modern tools to showcase your skills, experience, and personality. A well-crafted LinkedIn profile, a professional and dynamic Instagram account showcasing your skills, or even a personal website or landing page can make you more discoverable. By creating an online presence, you show potential employers that you take your career seriously and have the skills and professionalism they need.
It Enhances Your Job Search
Yacht recruiters, captains and managers increasingly look beyond traditional CVs and references. A well-crafted online presence—whether it’s a LinkedIn profile, or a curated Instagram feed—can demonstrate your expertise, professionalism, and interpersonal skills before you even meet.
It Future-Proofs Your Career
Yachting can be a very transitional industry, with many professionals planning eventual careers ashore. A strong personal brand ensures you’re already visible and respected when the time comes to transition to roles like yacht management, charter brokerage, or even starting your own business. Many ex-yachties have built a reputation and shoreside relationships before they step ashore. This assists them with a smoother transition, when the time comes.
An example of this is one of the founders of Our Faceless Crew, Tracey Boston, who used the personal brand she created using her LinkedIn profile, to effectively make connections and relationships that have helped her platform to grow. Through her informative and insightful posts, she earned a gold badge as a Linkedin Top Communication Voice. Her effective personal branding led to meaningful collaborations that have helped her community to grow.
It Creates New Opportunities
Your online presence can open doors you didn’t even know existed. Crew members have landed highly sought after jobs, collaborated with industry leaders, and launched successful post-yachting ventures—all because they made themselves visible online.
Your personal brand isn’t just about finding your next job, though. It’s also about creating opportunities for yourself. Whether it’s being approached for consulting, mentoring new our outgoing crew members, or even launching your own company, a visible and authentic online presence can open unexpected doors and create unique opportunities for you.
How to Start Building Your Personal Brand
Here’s the good news: building a personal brand doesn’t mean reinventing yourself. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s more about showcasing the authentic you, but in a way that’s strategic and impactful. Here are some tips on how to get started:
1. Define Your Brand
• What makes you unique? Reflect on your skills, passions, and experiences. Are you a chef specializing in sustainable cuisine? A deckhand with a passion for watersports or photography? A purser with exceptional organizational skills and new ideas that make work flow easier?
• Identify what you want to be known for and ensure your online content reflects that.
Be very clear with your messaging.
Ask yourself:
• What are my core skills and strengths?
• What do I want to be known for?
• Who is my target audience (e.g., captains, recruiters, industry peers)?
Your brand message should be consistent across all platforms, whether it’s your resume, LinkedIn profile, or Instagram feed. For instance, if you’re a stewardess with a passion for event planning, highlight this and share examples of your work.
2. Choose Your Platforms
Not every platform is right for everyone, so focus on where your audience (employers, colleagues, or future clients) is most active.
• LinkedIn: Perfect for showcasing professional skills and networking. It builds connections that can become future clients or employers.
• Instagram: Great for visual storytelling, particularly for showcasing your life at sea or specific talents like cooking, photography, or events management.
• A Personal Website: A central hub to house your personal blogs, visual portfolio, and even testimonials.
3. Share Valuable Content
• Share your expertise. Write posts or articles about your niche. For example, “How to Prep a Yacht for a Mediterranean Charter Season” or “The Secrets of Seamless Guest Service on Superyachts.”
• Show your work. Post photos and videos of your achievements, be it a perfectly set table, a polished deck, or a sunset shot from your latest voyage.
• Add value by educating or inspiring others. The more useful your content is to others, the more trust you’ll build.
4. Be Consistent
Consistency is key in building trust. Regularly update your platforms with fresh content and ensure your tone and messaging align with your goals.
5. Engage with Your Network
Building a brand isn’t just about posting. It’s about connecting and networking. Engage with others by commenting on their posts, sharing your observations and views, and participating in conversations within the yachting and maritime communities. Whenever you post, stick around for a while to answer any questions or comments that may come in. Don’t abandon the post, please. DO NOT POST THEN GHOST.
6. Monitor and Evolve
Personal branding is a dynamic process. Pay attention to what resonates with your audience and refine your approach over time.
Overcoming the Fear of “Looking Cringe”
One of the biggest barriers to personal branding is the fear of judgment. Many professionals shy away from showcasing their skills online because it feels uncomfortable or “cringe.” But personal branding isn’t about shouting, “Look at me!” and its not showing off either. It’s about providing value to others.
• It’s not about becoming an influencer, even if you become one in the process. It’s about having influence in your space.
• It’s not about creating random content. It’s about building trust by sharing what you genuinely care about and know a lot about.
• It’s not about only you. It’s about opportunities—for yourself and others.
Ask yourself this: Are you willing to let your reputation sit idle while others with less experience or qualifications step up and claim opportunities that could be yours?
Personal Branding Beyond Yachting
For many yachting professionals, the sea is only part of the journey. Whether you’re transitioning to a shore-based role, launching your own business, or pursuing a completely different career, your personal brand remains a very valuable asset.
• If you’re moving into yacht management or brokerage, your online presence can position you as a trusted expert.
• If you’re starting a business, a strong personal brand builds credibility and attracts clients. They may even be clients you dealt with when you were on board as crew.
• If you’re entering a new industry, your personal brand demonstrates your transferable skills, your superpowers and helps you stand out.
The Bottom Line
In our current digital age, personal branding is a powerful tool for us, yachties, to showcase our skills, find new opportunities, and build a future beyond the yacht. No need to change who you are...just allow others see you. Take the leap, start small and authentic, allow yourself to shine and watch those opportunities come to you. You are worth it.
Our Faceless Crew is committed to uplift and motivate other crew to be their best selves both on and off their vessels, in order to 'level up' our dynamic yachting industry. Follow us on socials (Youtube, Instagram, Facebook) @ourfacelesscrew. I
