Hey friend,

I recently posted on LinkedIn about the results and learnings of my Black Friday email campaign. There were two big takeaways that people wanted to talk about:

Should I really send more emails? Probably.

Does being unhinged actually work? That depends.

The reason neither of these answers is a definitive, “YES, CHEF!”? Because I don’t believe there’s a single source of truth in these things.

But I do believe that being yourself is a great approach to building a brand for a service-based business. Maybe that’s by being unhinged…and maybe it’s not. That’s this week’s issue of Brand Burnout.

Whether you’ve met me IRL (the #blessed few) or online (the majority of you), you know what to expect. Because Burnout, the person I am here is also the person I am in real life. Casual and friendly with a dose of chaos and a pinch of introspection.

The reason my unhinged emails worked is that…well…people know me to be a bit unhinged. It’s expected. I was the party spin instructor, but I’ve also been known to point out the things that make people (business owners) uncomfortable (cringe).¹

But I didn’t just wake up yesterday and decide to be unhinged.² It took a lot of discomfort to get comfortable being this (real) version of myself and bringing it to my work. Because it’s not exactly something that was welcome in my corporate life.

You might be thinking, “But Jamie, I actually don’t think you’re that unhinged.” Or you may forward this to a friend and say, “Look at this normie, thinking she’s unhinged.” That’s because unhinged is a spectrum. You may fall into the completely hinged end of the spectrum. And maybe, if one more AI-written sales pitch slides into your DMs, you’ll become anywhere from slightly hinged to completely off the rails.

You’ve opened this email to discover the secrets of taking your hinges off. But I’m sorry to tell you that that’s not this email. Instead, I’m posing some questions to help you find your version of chaos.

1. What feels easy?

Creating, building, growing, marketing, selling, and sustaining a business is not easy.³ It’s a ton of work and can be a bit of a drain (emotionally, physically, financially) if you’re not careful. So, shouldn’t we make at least some parts of it feel as easy as possible?

That’s where your personality comes into play. And this is why I always talk about finding the best way to build your brand for you. It’s a careful balance of keeping an eye on the market, putting your blinders up, and turning inward to understand what works (and feels aligned) in whatever season of life you’re in.

I know I’m in my zone of genius when writing emails (like this one) and the words come easily. I’m not overthinking, the words are flowing, and I think, “This is what it feels like to let my freak flag fly.” Being your flavor of unhinged shouldn’t feel like a struggle. If you find yourself turning to an LLM to “make this more professional,” or “make this spicier,” it’s likely an indicator that you aren’t letting yourself show up fully as…yourself.

2. What does my audience need?

Are you a lawyer who works in highly regulated industries? Are you an accountant who specializes in managing IRS audits? I’d eat my hat if someone in your audience was looking for someone who is unhinged and chaotic to solve their problem. In scenarios like these, I’m guessing your audience needs a calming, predictable presence. And while you might be slightly unhinged in your daily life, you may decide to button up your approach to meet your audience where they are.

Knowing what your audience needs is (in my opinion) where all things brand start. Once you know what they need and care about, you can speak their language (and in a tone that connects). For example, I know you, reading an email called Brand Burnout, might need a little permission to be more yourself.⁴ So I’m helping you do that by doing it for me.

But, this isn’t about fitting yourself into a box of your client’s needs. It’s about carefully threading the needle and finding the overlap (What do my clients need? How do I naturally show up in the world? Where do I dial things up? Where do I dial things down?)

3. How do and don’t I want to be seen?

When it really boils down to it, brand is all about perception. How do people describe you when you aren’t in the room? How do people feel when they receive my message? I call these brand attributes, and they’re generally positive traits we’re known for. But just as the pendulum swings this direction, it can swing the other way. And the “yum” some folks experience might be other folks’ “yuck.” My friend Sara Strese calls these Brand Shadows, and I’ve latched onto this idea and have implemented it with my clients.

I worked with an outdoor company that created survival-grade equipment for survivalists, mountaineers, you know—the real serious outdoorspeople among us. One of their core attributes is that they are prepared. But, on the flippity flop, if they go too hard into that one direction, they may be seen as alarmist, pessimistic, or melodramatic. Exploring the extremes of your attributes, but giving yourself guardrails to stay out of that dark, shadowy place, will help you hone (and continue to refine) your brand expression.

My only prediction for 2026 is the same prediction I’ve had since 2010: the things that will stand out in 2026 are the things that are real and human. So, dear reader, the question isn’t if you should be more unhinged. The question is how you should be more unhinged.

The answer may be by buttoning things up, or by going completely off the rails.

It’s just got to be your answer.

Thanks for reading,

1  FWIW, the majority of people who felt called out after the newsletter-induced cringe mentioned above are still here.

2  Baby, I was born this way.

3  I have a hunch that if it were easy, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do.

4  This isn’t all of you, but it is some of you (you’ve told me)