How To Build A Profitable Personal Brand Without Quitting Your Job, with Adama Lorna

Adama posted her first YouTube video to about five views, most of them people she already knew, while working full-time as a site reliability engineer. She never quit that job. She built a 180,000+ subscriber channel and she still hasn't left engineering.
And in this episode she gives away the exact system to build, and maintain, 2 full careers exactly like hers.
We get into how she built a personal brand as a full-time engineer without ever going all-in, why she started on the platform with the highest barrier to entry instead of the easiest one, and how she turned "I have 20 different passions" from a branding problem into an actual formula.
She shares the formula she uses with people who feel too scattered to niche down (skills times passion times energy, to the power of values), why she turned down a fitness video that was already pulling 100,000 to 200,000 views because it wasn't the brand she wanted to build, and the real reason her first in-person event sold out almost entirely from YouTube.
Depth beats reach in ways most creators underestimate. 200,000 people on YouTube gets you a sold-out room. 200,000 on TikTok gets you nothing when you need people to show up in real life. Adama explains exactly why watch time built her opportunities in a way follower count never could.
Oh, and she names the one book that reframes every "disadvantage" you think you have as your actual unique positioning. It's a two-word title, and it might change how you describe yourself on your resume.
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
3:59 The opportunities that came from building trust, not just an audience
7:56 Why FOMO, anger, or wanting to prove yourself are legitimate reasons to start
9:04 The "Renaissance" framing that gives you permission to take a season off
12:00 Why she wouldn't take brand deals that spent down her audience's trust
12:35 Why she stopped calling herself a "creator" and started calling herself a founder
16:26 "Crack Mode": the season she disappeared from her social life to write her book
23:00 The Formula: Skills x Passion x Energy, to the power of Values
25:40 Why she turned down 200,000 views on a video that was already working
About Adama
Adama is a site reliability engineer and content creator with 180,000+ YouTube subscribers, known for building a personal brand around self-improvement and multiple passions while working full-time as an engineer.
Connect with Adama
🎙️ Youtube: Adama Lorna
👍 Instagram: @adamalorna
💼 LinkedIn: Adama Lorna
🎶 TikTok: @adamalorna
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson