When you’ve spent decades telling the planet’s most urgent stories — the ones people would frankly rather ignore — you learn something: Momentum is survival.
Thomas Schueneman has been a journalist, podcaster, and sound engineer for good causes longer than most “thought leaders” have been using hashtags. His passion was never the problem. The threads of his career were powerful, but unfocused. His personal brand wasn’t “selling the whole truth” about his journey — and in Tom’s world, the truth matters.
“I needed somebody to help me consolidate all my efforts; spending every day in the minutia and the daily news, I often lacked the bigger picture, so I was looking for somebody to help me bring it all together.” — Thomas Schueneman
The Challenge: Fighting the Good Fight (and Feeling Like Sisyphus)
If you’ve ever tried to make people care about the fate of the world — on deadline — you know it’s not a job for the faint of heart. Tom captured it perfectly:
“Sometimes when you are dealing with climate change, you feel like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill every day. But this gave me the confidence actually to do that….just the phrase ‘Global Info Worker’ kind of brought it into a container where I can use that every day to focus my work. And that was a big transformation for me.”
And when you live in that cycle — always reacting, always sprinting uphill — it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger story you’re here to tell. Tom didn’t need a new direction. He needed a transformation: a way to weave all the parts of his genius into a single, powerful identity.
The Transformation: Slowing Down to Speed Up
Before we could build anything, we had to slow down. Pause the race. Listen.
Together, we surfaced the real narrative of Tom’s work — not just the jobs he’d done, but the impact he’d had. What emerged was a truth he’d carried all along:
Global Info Worker. A communicator, curator, engineer, and creator, bridging the gaps between urgency and understanding, chaos and clarity.
This wasn’t about crafting a gimmick. It was about naming what was already true — and building a brand sturdy enough to carry it.
Tom also had hidden assets in the form of his background as a sound engineer:
“We worked on organizing the podcast and so now it’s actually a real thing…I do have my audio engineering background and I love to tell stories with sound and visuals. The audiovisual part of it, just (making it) kind of a multimedia podcast, was another transformative aspect of our work together.”
Of course, real life has a way of showing up even in the middle of transformation. Partway through our work, Tom faced unexpected medical issues that threw a wrench into the schedule. Deadlines shifted. Meetings were rescheduled. But guess what? That’s real branding too. It’s not about pretending life doesn’t happen — it’s about adjusting the story, not abandoning it.
The work continued, and with even more depth than before. Because building a true personal brand means embracing the setbacks — not editing them out. As Tom explained,
“I had a knee surgery which went fine, and then I had an infection in my foot, which required emergency surgery. We paused our work together, but when we got back into it, it helped me get my head back into the game.”
The Results: A Stronger Voice, A Bigger Future
Today, Tom moves with the kind of clarity and confidence that only comes from doing the hard work:
- Launched a multimedia podcast that blends sound, story, and social impact like nobody else.
- Unified his messaging across platforms — no more “choose-your-own-adventure” bios, Tom is now addressing his target audience of sustainability leaders and climate action advocates directly.
- Reclaimed his voice and is using it to reach farther, speak louder, and connect deeper.
- Turned a boulder into momentum — and finally feels like he’s winning the climb.
“Before, it was just kind of in my head. Now, it’s actually a real thing.”
Which is a good thing. Because the world needs more voices like Thomas Schueneman — not polished to perfection, but powered by truth.
You can learn more about Thomas Schueneman and view his work at http://globalwarmingisreal.com/.
Feel free to book a Personal Brand Audit with me when you’re ready to Love the Brand You See in the Mirror.
WATCH the video interview with Tom.