The shift to hybrid and remote work has fundamentally changed how professionals build relationships, earn trust, and advance their careers. As visibility becomes less about where you work and more about how you show up, intentional habits can make all the difference. Samantha Russo, Vice President, Corporate Affairs at M Booth, shares practical strategies for cultivating a strong professional presence and creating opportunities regardless of location.
When I got my first PR agency job in the fall of 2012, fresh out of college and eager to make an impact, the playbook for success was simple: show up early, sit where senior leadership could see you, and make sure you made yourself known around the office. Then the COVID-19 pandemic came and completely rewrote the rules. Suddenly, my office was in my kitchen, and I was thrust into a world of part-remote, part-office hybrid schedules, fully remote teams, and digital-first company cultures. For new grads entering the workforce, or anyone trying to pivot in a modern agency environment, the old playbook is now obsolete.
I began my career full-time in the office pre-pandemic, adapted to hybrid work on the fly, and then transitioned to working 100% remotely from Florida for M Booth. Operating thousands of miles away from my agency’s NYC headquarters, I quickly realized that if I wanted to build a memorable personal brand and make an actual impact, I had to completely redefine what being visible meant for me. I was happy to learn firsthand that I didn’t need a physical desk to establish proximity with my team and my clients; I just needed an intentional digital strategy for my personal brand.
Through plenty of trial and error, I learned how to show up, stand out, and build trust from afar. If you’re entering the hybrid workforce and unsure how to navigate the virtual landscape, here are some tips that worked for me in making my presence known and building an undeniable personal brand:
Raise your hand early, and often: This starts with the everyday work you were hired to do. When a leader asks for a volunteer to own a new client request, aim to be the first hand up. If you don’t have the immediate bandwidth, walk them through what’s currently on your plate and propose a realistic timeline for when you can tackle it. Even if you don’t end up owning the task, your visibility and proactivity will be noticed.
And don’t let your hand raising stop at explicit roles and responsibilities. Did you hear another leader mention they wanted to plan a team happy hour soon? Shoot her a note and offer to scope out local spots around the office. Join internal committees and employee resource groups aligned with your interests, or volunteer to support agency-wide initiatives that will benefit the collective, like evolving the onboarding process based on your experience as a newer employee. Your agency or organization is full of hidden opportunities to make an impact; treat it like a treasure hunt and put yourself out there to uncover them.
Overcommunicate to make the invisible work visible: Before remote and hybrid work became the norm, senior leaders didn’t need an update to know you were grinding away at a task; they just had to pop out of their office and see you heads down at your desk. In today’s workplace, that physical cue doesn’t exist, which means proactive communication must become your new best friend.
Shake off the feeling that you’re being ‘annoying.’ I promise, senior leaders want to know what’s on your plate so they aren’t left wondering if a brief period of radio silence means you’re lounging on your couch watching Real Housewives of New York at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday (unless you’re on a mental health day, in which case, get your binge on). Don’t wait for them to ping you for a status report. Give them peace of mind with proactive, bite-sized updates; a quick “Just wrapped up the first draft, layering in some sources before flipping to you around 3 p.m. today” goes a long way in building trust.
Guard your calendar (and sanity): It’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of staying glued to your screen when working remotely. When I started working for M Booth in 2022 while based in Florida, I briefly fell victim to remote performance anxiety; if nobody can see me at my desk, then I have to answer every message within 4 seconds to prove I’m here, right? WRONG. Constantly staring at a glowing screen for 8 hours isn’t sustainable, and it’s a fast track to burnout.
I now swear by the Pomodoro way of working, a productivity tactic where you set a timer for hyper-focused work for 25 minutes, and then take a 5-minute breather to stretch, grab a glass of water, or briefly check in with teams. Breaking your workday into intervals stops decision fatigue and gives your mind the quick reset it needs to maintain the creativity you were hired for. Guarding your time makes you sharper and more clear-headed. Trust me, that email or Slack thread can survive 5 minutes without you.
Be ‘camera on’ as much as possible: Back in the early days of my career, we used to take conference calls huddled around a single speakerphone. I may be in the minority here, but one of the major silver linings of the post-pandemic workplace is that we now take video calls on Zoom, Teams or whatever platform of choice. This is a massive opportunity for remote employees; you don’t need to be IRL with your team or your client to be engaged - if you do it right.
And that means being camera on. Let your clients and your team see you laughing at a joke someone made. Let them see you actively listening as they’re sharing ideas, or taking a pause to thoughtfully think before responding. That said, Zoom fatigue is real. For your own peace of mind, embrace a 90/10 rule: keep your camera on for 90% of your most important calls, and selectively choose that remaining 10% to take a well-deserved screen break. If you do take that screen break, be unafraid to proactively communicate that.
Connect with people as human beings: The members of your team are people first, colleagues second. While you don’t want to overshare in the workplace, we are all human beings who thrive on genuine connection. Does someone have a poster of a band you love visible behind them on a Zoom call? Shoot them a quick message saying you love Bleachers, too. If a client mentions they’re taking PTO for a trip to California, ask them what their favorite part of it was when they’re back.
At M Booth, we have Slack channels dedicated to personal passions; I’ve built meaningful connections with team members simply by sharing the same opinions on West and Amanda in our #BravoTea channel (spoiler alert: we are NOT a fan of those two!). It’s not just about making the workplace more personable and less corporate and cold - connection lays the foundation for impactful collaboration. The best ideas don’t come from sterile, transactional exchanges; they come from people who actually know, trust, and like working with each other.
Maximize the impact of your IRL days: If you’re on a hybrid schedule, don’t view office days as when you ‘have to’ commute in; look at them as opportunities you ‘get to’ engage strategically with your teams. Map out your calendar so your 1-on-1s with peers and senior leaders land on your in-office days, ensuring you get the full value of that 30-minute meeting. Encourage everyone to go take a walk to grab lunch together, or ask the person sitting next to you if they want to walk to the kitchen to grab coffee together - even if you never work with them. The organic magic of water cooler conversations hasn’t vanished in a hybrid world; it just looks a little different than it used to. And different is good.
Eventually, my career path came full circle. After navigating the shift from full-time in-office, to hybrid, to fully remote, I now call New York City home. Today, I enjoy a hybrid schedule that offers the best of both worlds (something I practice gratitude everyday for). But the lessons I learned while working thousands of miles away haven't changed. In fact, they are more relevant than ever.
In a hybrid world, professional growth isn't about where your laptop is plugged in; it’s about how intentionally you show up for the people around you. You don’t have to choose between burning out at a desk or being a digital ghost. By turning your camera on, overcommunicating your wins, and treating your employer like a treasure hunt of opportunity, you can build an undeniable presence and make your zip code irrelevant.
