When Your Body of Work Walks in Before You Do

Yesterday I sat in the PBS studio under those bright lights, mic clipped on, talking about ADKWoman… and something unexpected happened.

Anna Channell, the host, didn’t just show up with a few generic questions.

She showed up prepared.

She had been on my website.She had a copy of my journal in front of her. She had read my blog posts and pages from my site.She quoted things I had written in quiet moments at my kitchen table.

At one point, as she referenced a specific page from my journal, I had this internal pause:

“This is what someone finds when they Google my name.”

And in that moment, I felt something I don’t think we talk about enough:

I felt proud.

Not the watered-down, “oh gosh, it’s nothing” version of proud.Not the performative kind where you quickly downplay your own work.

But a calm, grounded, I’ve actually built this kind of proud.

Proud of the body of work I’ve been building when nobody was watching.Proud that the late nights, the drafts, the rewrites, the doubts… turned into something real.Proud that a journalist could do her research and find a story of consistency, contribution, and care.

And it got me thinking about something bigger:

What happens when someone researches you?

We live in a world where people check you out long before they reach out to you.

They Google your name.They skim your website.They peek at your social media.They look at what you’ve written, liked, shared, and stood for.

They’re not just looking for what you do.They’re trying to understand who you are.

And research backs this up. Studies show that a large majority of people will look someone up online before deciding to work with them, hire them, or even respond to an opportunity. We are all, whether we like it or not, leaving a trail - a living portfolio of our choices, our voice, and our values.

Your digital presence is often your first impression.Your patterns online become data points in someone else’s story about you.

So here’s the uncomfortable but important question:

If someone really did their homework on you today…would they meet the person you say you are?

Would they see:

• Your values in action, or just your calendar and your chaos?

• Your heart for people, or mostly your frustration and burnout?

• Your willingness to grow, or your reasons for staying small?

This is not about perfection.It’s about alignment.

We all have messy moments online. We are human. We post when we’re tired. We ramble. We second-guess. That’s normal.

But over time, a pattern emerges.

Every post, every blog, every “about me” paragraph, every podcast episode, every comment you leave on someone else’s page - it’s all building a story.

A story about:

• What you care about.

• What you’re willing to stand for.

• How you treat people.

• How you talk about yourself.

You’re not just “posting on social.”You’re building a public record of your character, your courage, and your growth.

Sitting in that studio yesterday, I realized something:I wasn’t just being interviewed about ADKWoman.

I was sitting inside the harvest of years of quietly planting.

Every time I…

• hit publish on a blog post when I wondered if anyone would read it,

• launched something that felt a little too bold,

• told a story that made me feel vulnerable,

• updated a page on my website to better reflect who I really am…

…I was laying down a breadcrumb.

And Anna had followed those breadcrumbs.

That did something to me.

It reminded me that the things we’re building - the websites, the journals, the communities, the posts that don’t “perform” as well as a funny dog video - they matter.

They become the evidence.

Evidence of your voice.Evidence of your commitment.Evidence that you keep showing up.

A few questions to sit with

As you think about your own presence - online and off - maybe these questions are worth journaling on:

• If someone Googled me today, what story would they read about my life and work?

• Does my online presence reflect my actual values, or just my to-do list?

• Am I hiding behind “I’m not ready yet,” when the truth is I already have something that could help someone right now?

• Where am I editing myself down to be more palatable, instead of being more honest?

• 
  

Because this isn’t just about branding.

It’s about integrity.

It’s about being able to sit in a chair - in a studio, in a boardroom, across a coffee table - and know:

“If they did their homework on me, what they found would be real.”

Not perfect. Not polished to the point of being fake.Just real, consistent, and aligned.

One day, someone will research you

Someone will Google your name.

A potential client.A hiring manager.A journalist.A future collaborator.A person who is quietly wondering, “Is she the one I want to trust with this?”

They will go looking for proof.

Proof that you are who you say you are.Proof that you care about what you say you care about.Proof that you show up when it’s not convenient or glamorous.

And my hope for you is this:

That when that day comes, you can take a breath - like I did yesterday - and think:

“Yes. That’s me. I’m proud of what they found.”

So maybe today is the day you:

• Update that bio to match who you are now, not who you were three years ago.

• Hit publish on the blog post that’s been sitting in your drafts.

• Share the story you’ve been afraid might be “too much.”

• Start building the body of work that future-you will be grateful for.

Because your life is telling a story.Your work is leaving a trail.

And someone, somewhere, is already following it.

Cheers, LeeAnne