The Gentle Note | Why I Don't Fit Into Corporate Boxes (And Why You Shouldn't Either)
From analog nostalgia to AI tech, from spiritual to strategic. Why trying to fit into one box is killing your creativity.
The Niche Advice We All Hate
Every business coach, every marketing guru, every YouTube video tells you the exact same thing: “You need to niche down.”
They tell you to pick one topic, one micro-audience, one specific problem to solve. If you are the “AI person,” you can’t talk about spirituality. If you are the “design person,” you shouldn’t talk about complex tech automations.
For a long time, I tried to listen. I tried to put myself into a neat little box so people would understand exactly what I do in one sentence.
But honestly? It felt suffocating.
The Corporate Flashback
This feeling of being “boxed in” isn’t new to me. I remember back when I was working in the corporate world, at a company called Vermop. In corporate structures, you are assigned a department. You are the marketing person, or the sales person, or the tech person. You stay in your lane.
But I never could. I was always looking left and right. My old boss there actually noticed it. She sent me to trade fairs and gave me projects outside my department because, as she put it: “You look beyond the edge of the plate.” (Du schaust über den Tellerrand hinaus).
That was a compliment, but it also made me realize something crucial: I don’t fit into corporate structures. I don’t fit into a single department. There are simply too many things I am interested in, too many things I can do, to just be one thing.
The “Chaotic” Reality of Being Multi-Passionate
I was born in 1983. I grew up analog. I have a deep nostalgia for cassette tapes (which is why I once wrote a whole newsletter about the journey from the cassette deck to modern tech).
But I also grew up with technology. I’ve probably owned 18 different mobile phones. I love experimenting with AI. I remember the early days of AI, making those clunky, funny Christmas videos where I pasted my family’s heads onto dancing elves. It wasn’t professional, but it was playful.
I am a techie. But I am also deeply spiritual.
I am highly strategic. But sometimes I just want to be fluffy and write a novel (yes, I wrote a novel!).
Sometimes I want to build complex n8n automations, and sometimes I just want to make a cute Pixar-style love story video with Kling AI just for the joy of it.
For a long time, I thought this made my brand chaotic.
The Realization: I Am The Brand
Then it hit me. The people who follow me, the people who buy my products, they don’t just buy a “niche.” They buy me.
They are interested in the tech, yes. But they also wonder: What else is she doing?
When you limit yourself to just one topic, you are hiding the best parts of yourself. You are hiding the human behind the screen.
I finally decided: I’m just doing my thing.
I am the brand. I am the niche.
If I feel like writing a deep, spiritual Substack newsletter today, I will. If I want to share a hardcore AI tutorial tomorrow, I will.
The Permission Slip (Call to Action)
If you are reading this and you’ve been struggling to “find your niche” because you have too many interests... stop looking.
You don’t have to choose between being professional, soulful, chaotic, or structured. All of it is your brand.
Some people will love it and stay. Some people will want a clean, predictable corporate box, and they will leave. And that is perfectly fine.
Stop trying to fit into a department. Look beyond the edge of the plate.
Just do your thing.
Over to you: What is something you love doing that totally “doesn’t fit” your official niche? Let me know in the comments!
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