For months, my website sat finished but unlaunched. Beautiful design, compelling content, ready to go live. But there was one problem: the domain name wasn’t right.
It wasn’t TopeAjala.com.
Instead, it would live under LifeToATee.com - which, while part of my brand ecosystem, felt incomplete. Like wearing a blazer without the matching pants. Technically functional, but not the full picture.
So I waited. And waited. And in that waiting, I learned one of the most expensive lessons about brand building: the cost of perfectionism disguised as patience.
The Weight of Misalignment
Here’s what they don’t tell you about building a personal brand: when something doesn’t feel right, it affects everything else. That domain name issue became a mental block that rippled through my entire business strategy.
My to-do list grew longer. Projects stalled. The team kept asking when we’d launch, and I kept saying “soon” while knowing it wouldn’t happen until the alignment felt complete.
Because here’s the thing - you ARE your brand. And when your brand doesn’t fully represent who you are, it creates this uncomfortable tension that seeps into every decision you make.
The Corporate Conundrum
This tension becomes even more complex when you’re building a personal brand while representing a corporation. I’ve watched countless professionals navigate this space, and there’s a pattern I can’t ignore:
White executives build personal brands alongside their corporate roles without question. Asian leaders speak at conferences, write books, launch side ventures - and it’s celebrated as thought leadership.
But when Black professionals do the same? Suddenly it’s a “conflict of interest.” Suddenly, there are questions about divided loyalty. Suddenly, success becomes threatening instead of celebrated.
Let’s call it what it is: there’s a different standard, and it’s exhausting.
This is why owning your domain - literally and figuratively - matters so much. When you control your narrative, you control how your brand is perceived and positioned.
More of this in part 2.
The Moment Everything Changed
Last week, after settling into the reality of LifeToATee.com, I got a message from my friend and one of the smartest engineers I know - Edem Kumodzi:
“Tope, your domain is available. The person didn’t renew it a month ago.”
My heart dropped. Then raced. Then dropped again. I was sitting at a restaurant eating grilled fish with yams and decompressing with friends, and a smile beamed across my face.
TopeAjala.com was finally mine.
In that moment, I realized something profound: sometimes what feels like divine intervention is actually the universe rewarding your patience - or testing whether you’ve learned to move forward despite imperfect circumstances. (while lifetoatee was up and running, my baby was finally mine)
Sorry to whoever let that domain expire. With so many Tope Ajalas in the world, I wanted to be the one who claimed the digital space for our name.
The Real Cost of Waiting
But here’s what this experience taught me about the hidden costs of brand patience:
Lost momentum - How many opportunities passed while I waited for perfect alignment? (Trust me a lot)
Mental energy drain - The cognitive load of an “incomplete” brand affected my confidence in other areas. (I will unpack later)
Delayed impact - The people who needed to hear my message were still waiting.
Compound hesitation - One misalignment created doubt about other brand decisions.
The irony? I was so focused on having the “right” foundation that I forgot the foundation isn’t what people connect with - the building is.
Living Your Brand to a T
I am Tope Ajala. I teach people how to live their lives “to a T” - with intention, authenticity, and unapologetic ownership of who they are.
But I wasn’t living that lesson myself. I was letting a domain name dictate my timeline instead of trusting that alignment comes from action, not perfection.
Your brand isn’t just your logo, your domain, or your color palette. Your brand is how consistently you show up as yourself, even when the conditions aren’t perfect.
What’s Next
Now that I have TopeAjala.com, I’m rebuilding with intention. But more importantly, I’m launching with imperfection because the cost of waiting for perfect alignment is higher than the cost of course-correcting along the way.
The lesson: Own your brand, own your narrative, and own your timeline. But don’t let the pursuit of perfect branding stop you from building something meaningful.
Sometimes patience is a virtue. Sometimes it’s fear wearing a more acceptable outfit.
What’s the cost of patience in your brand journey? Have you ever delayed launching something because it didn’t feel “complete”? Share your story in the comments - I want to hear us normalize the messy middle of brand building.
Coming up in Part 2: The specific strategies I’m using to align my personal brand with my executive presence without compromise - and why this balance is crucial for Black professionals in 2025.