Concepts & Ideas · from Proxemics 002

A career reputation that outlasts your title

Titles change; what people remember about you compounds. What Reza Amirul’s agency-to-corporate-to-founder journey teaches about building a reputation that travels.

5 min read · 18 May 2025 · Source: Proxemics 002
The short answer

A job title is temporary; a reputation is portable. The professionals who compound are known for a way of working — judgment, reliability, a specific strength — not for a role. Reza Amirul’s path across agency, corporate and founding his own shop shows the through-line, not the title, is the asset.

Key takeaways

Listen & watch

The YouTube player is the source episode; the Spotify and Apple embeds open the series.

Why titles are the weakest part of your CV

A title tells people where you sat, not what you’re good for. It’s granted by an org and expires the moment you leave. What travels between jobs is the reputation attached to your name — what colleagues say about you when you’re not in the room.

The through-line beats the ladder

Reza Amirul’s career reads as one continuous story: agency taught range, corporate taught depth and consequence, and founding Iluminar was the payoff of both. The lesson isn’t the ladder — it’s the consistent way of working that made each move make sense.

How to build a reputation that travels

Be known for one specific strength, be consistent enough that people can predict your quality, and be useful before you’re asked. Across roles, that compounds — until your name, not your title, opens the next door.

Frequently asked questions

Is a title worth chasing?
A title helps in the moment, but it’s borrowed. Chase the reputation underneath it — that’s the asset you keep when the title changes.
How do you build a portable reputation?
Be known for a specific strength, be reliably consistent, and be useful. Repeated across roles, that compounds into a name people trust.
Does changing industries reset your reputation?
Not if there’s a through-line. A clear way of working carries across sectors — the context changes, the judgment doesn’t.
Watch the source episode
Proxemics 002 — Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, & The Birth of Iluminar
Full show notes, people, and transcript →
By the White Wood editorial desk · Produced by White Wood for Proxemics · An exploratory explainer extending Proxemics episode 002.