Build the Operating System Behind Your Personal Brand.
An 8-week cohort for leaders whose public identity needs to catch up to the work they are actually doing.
Enrollment is reviewed personally — a short conversation follows.
— About the Cohort
The Brand Positioning & Visibility Cohort.
Most visibility problems are not really visibility problems. They are identity problems.
At higher levels of leadership, the work changes — the room, the stakes, the decisions. But often the identity holding everything together does not change with it. That is when the public brand starts to lag.
- The bio feels outdated.
- The LinkedIn presence feels half-true.
- The content feels forced.
- The story no longer matches the person making the decisions.
The Brand Positioning & Visibility Cohort is built for that moment. Across eight weeks we move through three pillars — Self, Identity, and Brand — closing on integral visibility: the ability to be seen clearly without performing a version of yourself you cannot sustain.
You read, write, respond, and build alongside peers — and leave with an articulated framework of your own for how you choose, act, communicate, and are seen.
What it is
A small, hosted cohort. Eight weeks across three pillars — Self · Identity · Brand — closing on integral visibility.
Who it is for
Founders, creators, executives, and people in career transition who want to align, develop, build, and manage their brand in a way that feels authentic to them — neither overdone nor underdeveloped. Find alignment, create clarity in your actions, and be seen with integrity.
What it isn't
A retreat, certification, mastermind, or mentorship. Expect shared reading, written response, defense, and disagreement.
At a glance
- Duration8 Weeks
- Pillars3 + Closing Arc
- Time2–3 hrs / week
— On integration
Visibility is the result of clear vision.
How it runs.
Logistics
- Duration8 Weeks
- PillarsSelf · Identity · Brand → Integral Visibility
- FormatWeekly Live Convenings + Reading Between
- Time Commitment2–3 Hours / Week
- Cohort SizeSpace is limited
— Cohort or agency
Decide what's best for you.
An agency builds a brand for you and hands it back. A cohort builds the capacity in you. We offer both — and an agency isn't right for everyone. The real question is whether you want the result delivered, or the ability to author and adapt it yourself.
The agency — done for you
- —A dedicated team builds your positioning and runs your visibility for you.
- —The fastest path to output when you don't have time to build it in-house.
- —Ongoing execution on a retainer, so your attention stays on the business.
- —Best when you want the brand delivered and maintained, not run yourself.
The cohort — built with you
- ◆You author your own positioning — and leave able to maintain it yourself.
- ◆You learn the framework, not just its output, and can run it again and again.
- ◆A room of peers pressure-tests your thinking from angles no single advisor sees.
- ◆Standing alumni access keeps the work — and the relationships — compounding.
- ◆Eight hosted convenings and two private executive feedback sessions, one fixed price.
Prefer it handled for you? We offer full agency services through Ipseity — explore working with the team.
Some brands are best handed off. Some are best built with you. Choose the one that fits where you are.
— What you'll learn & leave with
Theory you can defend. Tools you can use.
You leave with your positioning articulated — and the practical skills and assets to make it visible. Not a binder. A working personal brand you can run yourself.
Clarity & alignment
A grounded sense of who you are and what you stand for — your inner identity and outward image finally pointing the same direction.
Self-direction
The judgment to make your own calls — what to say yes to, what to ignore, and how to act without waiting for permission.
A clean digital footprint
An audited, tidied-up online presence — profiles, search results, and history that reflect who you are now, not who you were.
A sharp brand narrative
A defensible story — who you are, who it's for, and why it matters — in language you can use across site, social, speaking, and press.
Visual identity
Direction for your look, tone, and feel — the visual signature that makes your presence recognizable across every channel.
Content pillars
A defined set of themes you speak to — so what you publish stays focused, on-message, and easy to keep producing.
An authority roadmap
A concrete 90-day plan to keep building your visibility and reputation in your field long after the cohort closes.
An AI workflow
A practical, AI-supported way to create what a modern presence needs — website, social, and content — without an agency.
Toolkit & community
A reputation toolkit and standing access to a peer and alumni network that keeps the work compounding.
— Enrollment
New enrollment monthly.
A new cohort onboards every month. Live convenings run Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9am PT, with open office hours on Thursdays and a private WhatsApp group running throughout.
The Cohort · Self · Identity · Brand
- ◆Live convenings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9am PT, hosted by Cynthia and Ryan
- ◆Open office hours every Thursday and a private WhatsApp group throughout
- ◆Shared reading and field work between convenings
- ◆Guided personal brand audit and digital footprint review
- ◆Positioning, brand narrative, and profile language direction
- ◆Content pillars, visual direction, and an AI-supported workflow
- ◆Two executive feedback sessions
- ◆A 90-day visibility roadmap
- ◆Full reading dossier, reputation toolkit, and standing alumni access
Extensions for website language, content strategy, media or speaker positioning, and visibility implementation may be available upon cohort completion.
$2,600/mo
2 payments · or $5,200 in full
Space is limited. Enrollment is reviewed personally — a short conversation follows your note.
— Hosts
Meet the team.
Cynthia Johnson
Founder & Host
Cynthia Johnson is founder of Ipseity: Academy of the Self, and originator of the foundational curriculum.
She is the author of Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding, published with Penguin Random House. Her next book, forthcoming Spring 2027 with Wiley, explores self-identity and interpersonal brand as the foundation of influence, trust, and leadership.
She has advised, spoken for, hosted workshops, and worked with organizations and institutions on brand-driven growth and identity — including Alibaba Group, Walmart, Within Health, Cigna Healthcare, Ernst & Young, Fowler School of Business, Yale School of Management Women in Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Northeastern University, and others.
Ryan Wegenast
Co-Host · Identity & Presence
Ryan is a PhD researcher, advisor, and speaker whose work centers on identity, presence, and creative expression. He has worked privately with Hollywood actors, Fortune 100 leaders, and founders through coaching and bespoke environments built to reorient how people lead.
His method draws from formal research, field work with indigenous communities, and years at the edge of his clients' most consequential decisions. He does not deliver information; he constructs the conditions under which a person can hear themselves more clearly.
Inside the Academy, Ryan co-hosts the convenings across the eight weeks and runs Executive Feedback I, the early positioning session. His role is editorial and architectural — pressure-testing the questions each member sits with, ensuring the cohort reads as an instrument, not an audience.
Magen Baker
Faculty · Mission Integration
Magen Baker is a brand strategist, creator, and advocate whose work centers on visibility, identity, and the translation of purpose into public presence. Across more than twelve years, she has shaped campaigns, personal brands, and narratives for leaders, institutions, and culture-moving organizations.
Her work has spanned Bell + Ivy, Texas Tech, Texas Tech Medical, USA Today, and Nike, with writing and brand work published in Rolling Stone. She brings a rare ability to see both the person and the platform, helping ideas move from private conviction into language, positioning, and strategy that can be felt.
Inside Ipseity: Academy of the Self, Magen serves as Chief Mission Integration Officer. Her role is connective and editorial, ensuring the Academy's philosophy, programs, and client experience are carried through every touchpoint with clarity, cohesion, and impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this therapy?+
No. This is a structural framework for examining how you make space for more actionable choices — not for deciding which choices to make. Intellectual and operational, not clinical.
Why is it called an 'Academy'?+
Because the work asks for study, rigor, and defense. Treat the material as a shared syllabus: complete the field work, sit with the reading, think alongside the cohort.
What is the difference between this and a leadership program?+
Leadership programs teach you to operate within existing systems. The IA teaches you to see the systems and create new angles for motion. About agency, not management.
Should I join the cohort or hire an agency?+
It depends on what you need. We offer both, and an agency isn't right for everyone. An agency is the right call when you want it handled for you — a dedicated team builds and maintains your brand so your attention stays on the business. The cohort is the right call when you want to build that capacity in yourself: you learn the positioning and visibility framework alongside peers who pressure-test your thinking, and you leave able to run it yourself, again and again. Same expertise, two ways to work — choose what fits where you are.
What happens after the 8 weeks?+
Alumni gain access to a private, lightly-moderated network. You leave with an articulated document of your own decision architecture.
Do I need to be a founder to apply?+
No. The framework applies to anyone in high-pressure environments where identity has become tied to output. Cohorts include operators, creatives, executives, and founders.