Sales POP - Purveyors of Propserity
LOG IN
Login with Username or Email Register
🎧 The Personal Brand Playbook for Middle Managers
Podcast Leadership / PodCast / May 17, 2026 / Posted by Anne Candido & April Martini / 1

🎧 The Personal Brand Playbook for Middle Managers

0 comments

April Martini and Anne Candido are co-founders of Forthright People, a leadership performance company that helps ambitious professionals build influence from the inside out. April is a certified life coach, TEDx speaker, U.S. Army veteran, and Procter & Gamble alum. Anne brings deep PR and brand strategy expertise from her work on household consumer brands. Together, they co-host The Strategic Counsel for Forthright Business podcast and have just released their new book, The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things.

In this Expert Insight Interview with John Golden, April and Anne explain why the jump from doer to leader derails so many high achievers — and how deliberate personal branding becomes the competitive advantage that carries them through.

Topics covered in this episode:

  • Why middle management is the career stage that breaks most playbooks
  • The four-part framework: characteristics, appearance, behaviors, and actions
  • How AI is reshaping what “searching yourself” actually means for your reputation
  • Managing imposter syndrome when you start showing up differently
  • The critical difference between a persona and a personal brand
  • Where to start if you only have 20 minutes a day

Ready to stop letting other people define your brand? Book a free consultation at forthright-people.com.

Visit us on Apple Podcast You can also find SalesPOP! on all major podcast stations.

View comments (0)
About Author

APRIL MARTINI and ANNE CANDIDO are the authors of The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things, and co-founders of ForthRight People, a leadership performance company focused on building high-performing leaders from the inside out. They believe a leader’s Personal Brand is their greatest competitive advantage - and when understood and activated intentionally, it becomes a powerful driver of influence, credibility, and impact in pursuit of a leader’s “Big Thing.”

They bring more than 45 years of experience navigating middle management and coaching hundreds of leaders through career inflection points. Having lived the challenges of the “struggling middle,” Anne and April bring practical frameworks, candid stories, and real-world application to help leaders move from a state of struggle to one of clarity, intentionality, and credibility.

Together, they challenge the idea that Personal Brand is something you manufacture. Instead, they teach leaders how to uncover what’s already there - and use it to guide decisions, shape presence, and accelerate growth for themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Comments

About Author

APRIL MARTINI and ANNE CANDIDO are the authors of The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things, and co-founders of ForthRight People, a leadership performance company focused on building high-performing leaders from the inside out. They believe a leader’s Personal Brand is their greatest competitive advantage - and when understood and activated intentionally, it becomes a powerful driver of influence, credibility, and impact in pursuit of a leader’s “Big Thing.”

They bring more than 45 years of experience navigating middle management and coaching hundreds of leaders through career inflection points. Having lived the challenges of the “struggling middle,” Anne and April bring practical frameworks, candid stories, and real-world application to help leaders move from a state of struggle to one of clarity, intentionality, and credibility.

Together, they challenge the idea that Personal Brand is something you manufacture. Instead, they teach leaders how to uncover what’s already there - and use it to guide decisions, shape presence, and accelerate growth for themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. For information on cookies and how you can disable them, visit our privacy and cookie policy.