Valuable and Visible: Redefining Personal Branding by Leading with Impact Over Image - Hardcover

by Vanessa Errecarte (Author)

Build credibility and make a meaningful impact without chasing followers

You've built real skill. You've solved real problems. But in a world that rewards visibility, doing meaningful work isn't enough. Recognition matters. Yet the modern version of "personal branding" feels exhausting.

Somewhere along the way, personal branding became synonymous with self-promotion, follower counts, and algorithm-chasing. For thoughtful professionals and students like you, that version feels performative at best and misaligned at worst. And yet invisibility is no longer neutral. If your work is going to matter, your ideas have to travel.

In Valuable & Visible: Redefining Personal Branding by Leading with Impact Over Image, award-winning marketing lecturer Vanessa Errecarte offers a different path: a service-first approach designed for professionals who want credibility, not clout.

Real-world case studies and success stories that come from professionals like an optometrist, an embryologist, a leadership coach, a reality TV contestant, and more demonstrate how service-first personal branding transforms careers across diverse fields.

This is not a book about becoming famous for being famous.

It is a smarter way to become known for something that matters.

For MBA students, graduate students, mid-career professionals seeking career advancement, entrepreneurs, leaders, undergraduate students, and academics ready to build owned audiences and measure success by contribution rather than clicks, Valuable & Visible proves that when substantive value drives visibility, credibility follows despite an increasingly performative marketplace.

Through Errecarte's proven EPIC Framework, readers learn how to clarify their positioning, package their knowledge into intellectual property, and build sustainable visibility rooted in valuable contribution.

Readers will also discover:

• The TRUTH framework and Fab Four question set that positions your expertise in a counterintuitive, novel way that captures attention and establishes authority with your target audience.
• A recycled social strategy that prioritizes consistency and value over algorithm hacks, allowing busy professionals to maintain visibility in just a few hours per week.
• The SERVE script for creating authentic video content that overcomes vulnerability and builds genuine connections without performance anxiety or self-promotion.
• Practical exercises for building owned audiences rather than relying on platforms controlled by others.
• Strategic methods for measuring success through impact and professional opportunities rather than follower counts.

Front Jacket

Let's be honest: personal branding has become tired.

It can feel self-promotional, performative, and exhausting, like a system shaped by algorithms and attention for people who love the spotlight. And yet, many professionals quietly sense the truth beneath the discomfort: if your work is going to matter, your ideas travel, and your purpose turn into real possibility, being invisible isn't an option either.

This tension is where Valuable & Visible begins.

We live in an authenticity-starved world, saturated with polished images, inflated titles, and carefully curated success stories that look impressive but deliver little real value. In this environment, visibility without value feels hollow, while value without visibility goes unnoticed.

In Valuable & Visible, award-winning marketing lecturer and branding expert Vanessa Errecarte offers a different path.

This is not a book about self-promotion.

It is a redefined approach for students, professionals, academics, and leaders navigating an increasingly performative marketplace who want to build a personal brand rooted in credibility, service, and lasting impact, without performing or becoming someone they're not.

Drawing on decades of experience teaching and advising across industries and institutions, Errecarte reframes personal branding as an act of contribution rather than ego. Through practical frameworks, real-world case studies, research-based insights, and deeply human storytelling, she shows how to clarify true value, articulate it with confidence, and show up in ways that drive long-term growth and genuinely help others.

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR VALUABLE & VISIBLE

"A gifted educator and thought leader, Vanessa Errecarte transforms personal branding into a discipline rooted in purpose and generosity. Her service-first approach to personal branding provides readers with an authentic, practical and empowering guide to sharing their expertise with the world."
--GARY S. MAY, Chancellor, University of California, Davis

"As a two-time Teacher of the Year, Vanessa Errecarte embodies a rare generosity and actionable wisdom that inspires her students every day. She is a true giver who helps others shine. Valuable & Visible is no exception as she redefines personal branding with remarkable impact and possibility for its readers."
--RAO UNNAVA, Dean, UC Davis Graduate School of Management

"In today's fast-paced digital-first world, where personal branding is no longer optional for professionals, Vanessa Errecarte brings a future-focused, innovative approach rooted in humanity rather than hype. Valuable & Visible reflects her unrelenting ingenuity and deep commitment to advancing the success of those she mentors."
--WARNER L. THOMAS, President and CEO, Sutter Health

"Vanessa's approach to personal branding feels like talking to that one friend who believes in you before you believe in yourself. Valuable & Visible helped me see that authenticity and service matter more than any algorithm. If you're chasing your dreams while trying to stay true to who you are, this book will feel like a green light."
--KEVIN LEUNG, Survivor contestant, creator of @kev.fitness90, Meta professional

"As an author, I know how easily visibility can feel like performance. Vanessa Errecarte's Valuable & Visible grounded my ambition in purpose and service, and honestly, it changed the way I move through the world as a writer."
--JESSICA GUERRIERI, award-winning author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Both Can Be True

"Vanessa helped me find the professional satisfaction I'd been longing for. Her guidance gave me clarity, confidence, and a way to serve others more powerfully. Valuable & Visible will undoubtedly do the same for readers, sparking a movement of genuine and generous thought leaders who package their gifts into meaningful, fulfilling impact."
--DR. LISA HORNICK, Optometrist, Speaker and Author

"Yes, you can spread your message widely without getting dragged into the fetid swamp of 'influencers.' Valuable & Visible is packed with practical instructions and inspiring stories. Make it your first step on the way to doing well by doing good."
--JOSH BERNOFF, coauthor of five books including the social media bestseller Groundswell

Author Biography

VANESSA ERRECARTE, MA, MBA, is an award-winning lecturer and marketing consultant who created and teaches one of the nation's only for-credit MBA courses in personal branding at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. She also teaches an array of other popular marketing courses and has been twice named Teacher of the Year. A Poets & Quants "Best & Brightest" MBA honoree recognized her as a "favorite professor," and she considers it one of her life's greatest honors to be trusted by students as they chase their dreams.

For more than two decades, Vanessa has helped thousands of organizations and professionals clarify their value, stand out, and create meaningful impact. She is the founder of Marketing Simplified, a widely recognized consulting and training agency honored as Business of the Year, a frequent speaker at major industry events, and a contributor whose insights have appeared in the Financial Times. Dedicated to service, she lends her expertise to multiple boards and philanthropic efforts. Outside of work, she's happiest soaking up time with her family and friends...and earning the carbs she loves with her workout shoes.