Over the last few months, I’ve been working closely with my marketer on something that sounds very big and very corporate. And therefore should not have required me to stare into the depths of my soul to answer.

My personal brand.

I used to take this completely for granted at every company I worked for. They had a mission statement. Values. A whole corporate identity baked into everything they did. And I honestly never appreciated how much effort that took - I know I was rolling my eyes during those town hall meetings.

Short of going back in time and giving twenty-something Monica a stern talking to (I’m almost 40 now guys that was HALF MY LIFE AGO) , I’ve developed a new appreciation for how much a company’s values shape everything. How people react under pressure. The kinds of questions they ask. The decisions they make when things aren’t obvious.

I see this with my clients too. When there’s alignment on values and a clear North Star, it’s just… easier. Easier to improve processes. Easier to get buy-in. Easier to make change actually stick. Change lands better when it lines up with what the organization already believes it stands for.

So, after a surprising amount of reflection, here’s my North Star and Personal Brand:

Continuous process improvement.

I was at a work conference last week where we were asked to write down the problem we’re trying to solve. Normally, that would be a tough question for me at 7 a.m., before coffee. But because I’ve been thinking so much about my North Star lately, I didn’t hesitate.

I wrote: being 1% better every day.

And honestly? That’s it.

It shows up everywhere. Not just in my work, but in how I live.

I’m a lifelong learner. A bit of a lean nerd. Always identifying bottlenecks. Always looking for small improvements. I listen to all the audiobooks. I single-handedly keep my local library in business. I absorb anything I can about improving my business, my time management, and yes, my happiness.

Once I saw that pattern clearly, everything clicked.

This is where I’ll be candid.

One thing that’s been bugging me lately is how often I hear people describe themselves as “AI Specialists.”

To be clear. I love AI. I use it constantly. It’s powerful. It’s changing how we work.
But to me, AI is a tool. Not a destination.

Process improvement is my thing.
Operations is my thing.
Systems, workflows, and making work calmer and more effective is my thing.

AI helps me do that better.

So here’s my hot take. (And yes, I’m slightly wincing knowing this is now public and difficult to walk back.)

I don’t think you can just be an “AI Consultant” without another angle.

It’s like saying, “I’m proficient at Excel.”
Great. Proficient at Excel to do what?

Build dashboards?
Reconcile data with extreme attention to detail?
Train other people to use it effectively?

Those are very different value propositions.

Same with AI. You might be great at building agents. But to solve which problem? Or maybe you’re great at teaching others how to build agents for their specific needs. In that case, you also bring curiosity, requirements gathering, and solution design to the table.

AI amplifies expertise. It doesn’t replace the need for one.

If you’re curious what your own personal brand or North Star might be, here are a few questions to start out with:

This is how I started consulting - I asked myself, close friends and family the same questions and gathered a lot of data about… myself. I do recommend involving others here, because you’re probably sitting in a ‘curse of the expert.’ This is where just because something is easy for you to understand, you think it’s easy for everyone. Not true!

What’s your North Star? The question you always come back to. The angle you can’t ignore. The thing that maybe keeps you up at night or wakes you up at 5:30 a.m. because you have to figure it out. The thing everyone comes to you for…. I want to know.

And if you have no idea - ask a friend (or me!)