Account Manager @ Kurogo | Creating Industry Leaders through Personal Branding

I eat, sleep and breathe FMCG brands and pop culture.

And if I’m not doom-scrolling into the latest trend rabbit holes, I’m talking about it on LinkedIn.

The rest of the week, I’m an Account Manager specialising in driving strategic outcomes for clients through data-led insights and delivering high-impact marketing strategies.

To craft banging brand strategy, I:
👉🏻 Research (i.e. stalk) my clients and their industries until I know them better than they know themselves
👉🏻 Keep my finger on the pulse of what’s happening in their field
👉🏻 Genuinely root for them and their business 

That’s the mix I use for my clients, and so far I’ve achieved some pretty insane results across 20+ CEOs and Founders including:

- An inquiry from Dragon’s Den
- £700k angel investment directly attributed to LinkedIn 
- Features in podcasts, panels, publications

Ultimately, people buy from people.

Not dry, faceless brands.

Alessia Doyle

Today marks 3 years at Kurogo.

(Or 1,097 days of building CEO and Founders’ brands and leading strategy to be precise.☝🏻)

In numbers, it looks like this:

→ 37 client campaigns led
→ 2,634 posts published
→ 19 million impressions (!!)
→ 257,155 reactions

Yep, counted them all myself.

But it’s not just been all about the numbers (as much as I do love my spreadsheets).

In that time, I’ve also:

Attended 6 team socials 
Worked every role on the delivery team
Supported 7 clients at special in-person events
Secured a client as a lead sponsor of the Olivier Awards
Directed campaign video shoots from our London Studio
Built a client personal brand that led to a £750k in investment
Remotely worked from Bristol, London, Milan, Barcelona, Zadar and Cape Town

But by far, the best bits have been the clients I’ve worked with (4 of which have returned to work with me which means more than any impression count ever could!!) and my incredible teammates.

It’s been a huge 3 years of many highlights, wins and learnings at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency. 

Very excited for whatever the next 1,097 days bring. 🪩

Serious about brand strategy. Not that serious about myself x | Brand, Partnerships & Culture | Live, laugh, love branding

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“Personal branding is cringe.”
Only until it works.

For one of my clients, it ended up bringing in £750,000 of their £1.5m investment raise.

No paid ads or big PR splash.

Just showing up consistently with a clear story about what they were building and why it mattered.

Behind the scenes it was pretty simple:

→ I led the positioning and brand campaign direction
→ Irene wrote the posts, translating the business’ wins into content
→ Ilaria handled engagement, keeping conversations going with the right people

A few months in, investors started appearing in the comments and DMs.

Some just curious.
Some asking questions.
And some eventually wiring money.

It wasn’t overnight, and it wasn’t flashy. But it worked.

Personal branding gets a bad rep because people picture buzzwords and vain hustle bros. 

In reality, it’s just making your work visible to the people who might care.

Sometimes that leads to a like.
Sometimes it leads to £750k.

Ecstatic client not pictured, so here’s me the moment I got the news instead. 

(Secretly manifesting that my own personal brand also leads me to a jackpot x)

Content @ Kurogo | LinkedIn Creator Accelerator

I just moved from Bangalore to London on a fully sponsored writing job. Here's my story so far:

Age 17: did 4 internships in a gap year before my undergrad
Age 18: started writing online on Instagram, Medium, and LinkedIn
Age 19: signed my first ghostwriting client
Age 20: graduated uni with first-class distinction
Age 21: one of the youngest members of LI's creator accelerator, got paid lakhs to write here (wild)
Age 22: beat 700+ people to get my dream job in personal branding
Age 23: dropped out of a Masters degree from KCL
Age 24: moved back to London for work

I've had quite the unconventional story. 

The fact I'm the proudest of isn't any of the "achievements" but that I did it all my way.

I write mostly to my younger self. 

My journey is an example of how your life can change if you refuse to conform and earn the right to play your own game.

Today, the clients I work with at my job are multi-millionaires dominating their industries. I'm lucky I get paid to learn from them everyday.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, email me at varunkhadri@gmail.com.

Varun Khadri

I manifested moving to London at 24.

I started telling friends and family I was planning to move back months before my company agreed to sponsor my work visa.

When they said they'd be open to it in my annual review, the first thing I did was give notice to my landlord and decide I wanted to move back home to save on rent, to financially prepare for how expensive London is.

Then, for the next few months, I nagged my manager each month to get the long sponsorship process started.

UKVI kept changing the immigration rules so at one point it wasn't looking too promising.

I asked myself: "what do I need to do to make myself important enough to make my employer jump through all the hurdles in front of us, how can I work so hard and prove myself beyond a doubt to such an extent that they finally give me what I want"?

I was getting more and more determined.
I was also getting more delusional.

I set my laptop wallpaper to the London skyline as a visual reminder at the start of each day to remind myself of the end goal.

There was simply no other option in my head than to make this work.

I remember starting to look for flats and flatmates in the city the second we submitted my visa application.

Whenever I met new people and they asked me about myself, I'd casually say "I work in marketing, it's a remote job but I'm moving to London soon for it".

8 months after that first conversation with my manager about this, we finally made it happen.

Unhinged self belief + relentless action ➡️ whatever you're manifesting coming true.

Writer at Kurogo | We’ve built 350+ leading personal brands | LinkedIn Creator Accelerator alumni

I'm 25. This weekend I demolished a whole pizza by myself and downed 5 beers.

Did it all on my own.

No handouts from parents.
No assistance from my "friends".

I set myself a goal, believed in myself, and did it.

Discipline. Confidence. Growth.

This is what being truly self-made looks like.

My daily non-negotiables:

- 3 min meditation
- 5 mins of reading
- 5k steps
- 1 LinkedIn post
- Phoning family
- Tracking my calories
- 2.5L of water

None of these are particularly big.

People usually aim for 10k steps or 10 pages a day.

But these are my minimums I can do even on bad days, weekends, and on vacation.

Consistency > intensity for me.

At 22, I walked into a hospital and got told I had high cholesterol during a routine health checkup.

This was a wake up call and I needed it.

Back then, I was:

- Overweight
- Drinking & smoking every other day
- In a bad relationship
- Miserable freelancing
- About to do a degree I knew was wrong

At 25, I’m:

- In decent shape
- Have no vices
- Love my own company
- Working a job I love
- Living in London

No 22 year old should have high cholesterol.

But I’m glad I did, because I’d never be here today without that wake up call 3 years ago.

Writer at Kurogo | We’ve built 350+ leading personal brands | LinkedIn Creator Accelerator

100 years ago, even the richest people in the world had no hot showers, died from a simple infection (no antibiotics), and took 5 days to get to NYC from London - by ship.

The average life today is miles better than the best life just a few decades ago.

An EXTREMELY underrated skill if you're a young person looking to maximise professional growth:

Learn how to be presentable.

"Can I put this person in front of clients"?

That's what every leader is secretly asking themselves while hiring you (or not).

This means:

- What you wear
- How polished you sound
- How much you speak
- Your LinkedIn headline
- How experienced you SEEM
- What you post online

It all matters. A lot.

Having an audience gives you unparalleled confidence.

I have less than 20k followers here, yet I know that:

- I’ll never struggle to get a job again 
- If I start a business, the first couple of leads will be easy
- 80% of the connection requests I send are instantly accepted
- It’s easier to make new friends because people trust you faster
- I can monetise my audience and make extra income whenever I want

A personal brand makes EVERY aspect of your life easier.

Short-form video is dying imo.

Endless talking heads, recycled hooks, entirely AI-generated scripts saying nothing new.

What once felt raw and human now feels mass-produced.

What’s replacing it isn’t another format.

It’s depth, its longer thinking, it's stronger points of view.

Content that rewards attention instead of hijacking it is winning.

The creators still winning aren’t posting more.
They’re saying something worth stopping for.

Short-form video isn’t dead because people suddenly hate video.
It’s dying because people are tired of being treated like dopamine machines.

BIG IRONY:
Watch the attached video to learn about 3 more reasons why I'm betting against short-form video 😅

All the best people I know are a little obsessive.

They associate their identity with what they do.

Their job isn’t just clocking in and clocking out, it becomes who they ARE.

Their health isn’t just their another asset to them, they’re addicted to being in shape.

When they’re trying to grow in one aspect of their life, they get obsessed with improving it and happily have tunnel vision and sacrifice everything else.

This isn’t advice, I’m not advocating for mad obsession. I’m not even saying it’s healthy.

Just saying that the people I admire and the people at the top, are usually not the most balanced.

I've been writing for a long time so very little rattles me anymore but this made me want to ragequit.

Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency turned 5 last week 🥳

It's been such a pleasure being here for half that time.

I've worked with many different agencies in my short career based all over the world.

Nothing comes close to the way we're run.

2026 is a big, big year for us (record months already).

Excited for where the personal branding industry is going, and happy we're the face of it 🏆

3 ideas in my head I’ve been obsessed with this week:

1. Your ability to enjoy and thrive in solitude determines the quality of your relationships. A lot of people settle for friendships and relationships they don’t really want to be in just because they can’t bear to sit alone with their thoughts. If you’re fine with or without them, you’re more likely to only seek out high-quality, high-agency people that meet your standards.

2. Your ability to tolerate uncertainty determines how much you can grow and succeed. At every stage of life and business, you have the choice of choosing the safe, familiar path or the uncertain, less safe path. The less-trodden path is almost always the road with the highest potential upside (BECAUSE there are fewer people there). Whenever you make big leaps, whenever you force yourself to have the courage to leave behind the familiar, you open yourself up to the possibility of things turning out way better than you could’ve ever expected. But it all starts with learning how to tolerate a high degree of uncertainty.

3. You can get very far in life by just being someone who does what they say they will. Sure - people will trust and respect you more. But sticking to your word is how YOU start believing in and respecting yourself. By doing what you say you will, you teach your brain to take you seriously. What this means in practice: wake up when the alarm rings, be in the gym when you decided you would, phone the friend you said you would, stick to deadlines assigned at work.

Why and how I’m using AI to replace myself ⤵️

Exactly 8 months ago, I moved to London.

The predominant thought in my head about living here:

I HAVE to make this worth it.

I have to make the absolute best of this.

London is a beautiful city.
But I'm not here to kick back and relax and have fun.

I still enjoy the city and have fun.

But I can't forget what I'm here for.

I'm here to put my head down, work ridiculously hard, and leverage this move to be the most beneficial it can be for my life and career in terms of growth.

No time to lose and def not the time to take it easy.

Can't afford to rest on my laurels when I have the opportunity of a lifetime.

Two years ago, the current version of my life was my dream.

Now it’s normal.

And I still catch myself thinking about what’s next… what’s missing… what I haven’t cracked yet.

That’s the trap.

We’re wired to measure the gap, not the gain.

But pause for a second.

You’re probably standing in a chapter you once hoped you’d reach.

The client you wanted,
The confidence you were building,
The skills you doubted you’d ever master,
The conversations you were once too intimidated to have.

Progress doesn’t feel like a big deal when you’re inside it.

It feels messy.
Too small.
Too slow.
Uneventful.

Until you zoom out.

I’m not where I want to be yet.

But I’m closer than I’ve ever been.
And that counts.

Yes I have places I still want to go, but where I am now isn't so bad after all.

I’ve been ghostwriting for the last 5 years. Over this period I’ve got thousands of versions of the same question: how do you start? A good friend asked me this a few days ago, this is what I said to her (simplest possible way to get started) 👇

Something nobody likes to hear but I need to say:

Instead of asking for free value from others, leverage the internet to create opportunities for yourself.

When I started creating content, I didn’t ask anyone for feedback or handouts.

When I was trying to get my dream job, I didn’t ask anyone for referrals or tips.

When I wanted to move to the UK, I didn’t text random people who had a work visa for advice or hacks.

Even when I wanted to start therapy, I just looked up different therapists and platforms on google maps.

Whatever I wanted to do, I just started.

I asked GPT, I spoke to personal connections about their experience, I watched tutorials and YouTube videos.

I’m not against helping people.

I’m just saying there’s so much free info out there today that you don’t have to rely on a stranger’s kindness to go after what you want.

Feb ‘26 recap (my most honest one yet):

1. Sometimes I forget just how beautiful London really is.

2. Getting to be at OT during our first unbeaten run for years was special.

3. Lifting consistently for the first time in my life, baby steps but can see progress already.

4. My biggest motivation to be active physically is so that I can eat like this.

5. Being around people who push me and have high standards inspires me like nothing else.

6. I have enough friends but sometimes I find it so calming to get in a pint alone.

7. There’s nothing that makes Londoners happier than sunlight (did I just call myself that!?)

8. I’ve had insomnia for years so used to take melatonin. I quit, now only get 5 hours a night on average sadly.

9. Nature (the moon, the stars, trees, sunsets) soothe me like nothing else ever can.

10. Indian food will always, ALWAYS be my favourite cuisine in the whole wide world.

How was Feb for you?

2.5 years ago, on the first day of my job, my boss Sam G. Winsbury politely told me everything I'd learnt until then was wrong.

I'd written blogs, worked at multiple agencies, and had been ghostwriting for years at that point.

But I had to learn how LinkedIn copywriting in particular, works at the highest level.

It was humbling. But also a really fun process.

True mastery is impossible if you're not willing to accept that you'll always be a student of the game.

I recently wrote a guide for new content writers who joined our team, a guide to content writing at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency.

I haven't got it all figured out by any means, but it's a full circle moment to be able to pass on what I've learnt from the best.

Long way to go, but nice to look back on how far I've come :)

P.S. 
Hit me with your weekend plans in the comments 💬

13 things I never ever regret doing:

Being kind when I have reason not to be.
Going on a walk.
Going on a run.
Travelling to new places.
Waking up early to write.
Staying up late to write.
Having a pint with a good friend.
Going to bed on time.
Drinking more water.
Playing more sports.
Calling my grandma.
Lifting harder.
Eating fruits.

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Varun Khadri

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The Battle

Alessia Doyle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alessia Doyle's LinkedIn Performance

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