Trust, Design, Attention, Authenticity: 4 Signals You Should Be Watching
What’s worth paying attention to right now?
Between newsletters, LinkedIn posts, TikToks, podcasts, and whatever breaking news is popping up on your phone, it’s hard to know where to focus.
There isn’t one perfect answer, but there are a few signals worth watching more closely than others.
Lately, I’ve been paying attention to 4 big shifts that impact all of us — whether you’re a founder, work in a nonprofit, or you’re a creative trying to build something meaningful.
Let’s walk through them.
1. Consumer trust is at an all-time low
We’re living in a time of deep skepticism.
People are constantly asking:
Who’s behind this?
What’s their agenda?
Can I actually trust this brand or this creator?
Whether you’re a founder, you work with a nonprofit, or you’re a creative, your job now includes rebuilding trust. It’s no longer just about generating awareness.
Flashy doesn’t cut it anymore.
People want to see:
Consistency – you show up the same way over time
Values – you stand for something, beyond the tagline
A human presence – a real person they can relate to
I always say: people follow people, not logos.
Trust comes from showing up — not just showing off.
2. Design is your reputation (whether you like it or not)
In a world overloaded with noise, design has become a shortcut to credibility.
Design is the first layer of trust.
It’s not just about looking good — it’s about feeling credible.
Good design tells me:
You’re intentional
You pay attention to detail
You care about how your message is received
You don’t have to be a “creative” to respect design.
You can:
Invest in a clean, functional, well-designed website
Tighten up your visual identity so it feels cohesive
Make sure your decks, one-pagers, and profiles aren’t an afterthought
If your brand looks scattered, outdated, or confusing, people will assume the rest of your operation is too — even if that’s not true. Fair or not, design is part of your reputation now.
3. Attention vs. brand: the long game vs. the quick hit
Everyone is chasing attention right now:
Views
Clicks
Virality
But if you zoom out, the brands that are actually winning aren’t just the ones going viral — they’re the ones that have been building trust for years.
I often say things like:
Tactics are temporary. Platforms shift.
Brand is what sticks around.
Short-term attention is not the enemy. It can be useful, but it has to ladder up to something bigger.
In this attention economy, the real flex is:
Being consistent, not just loud
Playing the long game
Showing up with the same values, tone, and voice over time
That’s what people remember when the algorithm changes — and it will.
4. Authenticity vs. AI: the tension is getting louder
We’re in this interesting moment where content can be more polished than ever, thanks to AI — but also more empty than ever, if we’re not careful.
There’s a big difference between:
Polished content
Genuine content
I use AI tools myself. They can absolutely help you:
Write better
Work faster
Organize your ideas
But they cannot replace:
Your story
Your lived experiences
Your actual point of view
We don’t need more perfect posts.
We need more real ones.
The context, the insight, the integrity — that’s all you.
Now what?
A few questions for you:
What’s your filter for deciding what to trust?
Who to follow?
Which brand to support?
Which creator to listen to?
If you’re feeling skeptical and exhausted by the noise, your audience probably is too.
That’s the opportunity: To be the brand, founder, or creative who is clear, consistent, human, and trustworthy in a world that often feels like the opposite.
Build something people can actually trust.
If this resonated with you, here are a few simple next steps:
Audit your presence. Look at your website, socials, and content as if you’d never seen them before. Would you trust you?
Tighten one thing this week. Maybe it’s updating your About page, cleaning up your LinkedIn, or simplifying your brand message.
Start showing more of the human behind the work. Share a story, a lesson, a moment of honesty — not just a polished announcement.
If you’re a founder, nonprofit leader, or creative who’s trying to navigate all of this while actually growing something meaningful, I write about these intersections often.
I can also support your Personal Brand or Brand Strategy.
