Recently, our TwoRoads team left the serene farmland of Lancaster County for the concrete jungle of Philadelphia. It was Digital Summit, and if you work in marketing, it’s the conference you don’t want to miss. We had two packed days in Philly filled with workshops, presentations, and roundtable discussions about the future of digital marketing.
Between the caffeine, note-taking, and marathon of back-to-back sessions, one talk led by Hilary Sutton stood out. It was about how successful brands build trust: Not with campaigns. Not with taglines. Not with logos.
Hilary said:
“Buyers trust people. As leaders, your personal narrative is an extension of your brand.”
And that hit home, because it’s the truth we see every day at TwoRoads: the brands that win attention are the ones that sound like someone worth listening to.
But here’s the hard part—knowing how to bring your personal voice into your brand without it feeling forced, inconsistent, or like a LinkedIn overshare.
That’s where AI can play a surprisingly supportive role. Not by writing your story for you, but by helping you clarify, capture, and align it with your brand.
1. Authenticity Isn’t a Marketing Tactic — It’s a Compass
Before AI enters the picture, you have to know who you are.
Most brands start with messaging like “we value integrity” or “we believe in innovation.” But those aren’t stories — they’re slogans.
A personal brand story starts when you dig into the human layer. Asking questions like, ‘What moment made you decide to do this work?’ ‘What do your clients or customers thank you for most often?’ ‘What beliefs shape how you show up in the world?’
Those aren’t marketing prompts — they’re reflection prompts. And when you take the time to answer them, AI can help you articulate them with more clarity and consistency across your content.
2. Use AI to Find the Thread in Your Story
Think of AI as your creative mirror. It can surface patterns you don’t see and connect dots you didn’t realize were related.
Here are just a few ways to get you started.
Feed it your existing content. Blog posts, captions, emails, speeches — anything that already sounds like you.
Ask it to summarize your voice. “How would you describe my tone, values, or point of view?”
Look for patterns. Maybe you talk a lot about curiosity, or transformation, or empowerment. Those patterns could begin to reveal your brand DNA.
From there, AI can help you organize your story into a clear brand narrative — one that sounds unmistakably like you, just a little more polished.
3. Create a Brand Identity and Voice — With the Right Balance of Human + AI
Once you’ve defined your personal narrative, AI can help you build the scaffolding of your brand voice:
Clarify your message pillars. Ask AI to distill your story into 3–5 key themes your audience can easily remember.
Generate consistent phrasing. Have it draft brand statements or taglines — then edit them in your own words.
Test tone for alignment. Paste sample posts or emails and ask, “Does this sound aligned with my brand voice?”
The goal isn’t to make your brand sound more robotic — it’s to make it sound more consistently human.
AI gives you the blueprint. You bring the heartbeat.
4. Make Every Story Audience-Centered
A brand story isn’t really about you—it’s about how your experience helps someone else.
AI can help bridge that gap by showing you what your audience actually cares about.
A few tips to get you started:
- Use sentiment analysis tools like MonkeyLearn or Talkwalker to understand emotional tone in comments, reviews, and mentions.
- Ask AI to summarize common themes or questions from your customers.
- Let that insight shape your storytelling — not to manipulate emotion, but to respond to it.
Your audience wants to see themselves in your story. AI just helps you listen more closely.
5. Align Your Story With the Brand — Not the Other Way Around
This is where many leaders get stuck. They either hide behind the brand (“I don’t want to make it about me”) or overshadow it (“I am the brand”).
The truth sits in the middle: your personal story gives your brand credibility, direction, and emotional depth.
When working with founders and executives, AI tools can help you map where personal narrative meets brand mission. Look for:
- Where your experience informs your values.
- Where your leadership overlaps with your customer’s journey.
- Where your purpose aligns with your product.
That intersection — that overlap between who you are and why you exist as a brand — is the story people will remember.
The Real Lesson from Philly
As we started home, the city felt like a metaphor in motion. Centuries-old buildings, carved in stone and rich with story, stood shoulder to shoulder with sleek glass towers, buzzing with innovation. Two seemingly opposite worlds, each beautiful on its own, but extraordinary together.
That’s the real lesson.
AI isn’t replacing human connection in marketing—it’s reminding us how essential it is.
The future belongs to brands that use technology not to automate authenticity, but to amplify it.
To tell stories that are informed by data but inspired by people.
Because the goal of marketing isn’t just to be seen.
It’s to be understood and remembered.
So here’s your question to answer:
What would your brand sound like if it finally spoke in your real voice—and what if AI could help you get there?