knowledge about personal branding, the development and sustaining of a personal brand and the link between personal branding and career success did not exist in a scientifically structured manner. the purpose of this study was to understand what the elements of personal branding are and what it takes to develop a personal brand in the corporate environment. it was also important to identify whether personal branding is key to career success. the systematic literature review procedure was used to identify, analyse and critically evaluate both empirical studies and popular literature relating to personal branding. the current body of knowledge was ill defined and a six step model detailing how to develop and maintain a personal brand was developed as a result of a content analysis of the available popular literature. a measure of a complete personal brand within the workplace was subsequently developed. in this study, the hypotheses of a possible relationship between personal branding and career success (performance appraisal score, 360 leadership evaluation and talent board placement) were tested. it was found that talent board placement was statistically significant and practically related to personal branding. the study was the first to provide a measurement tool as well as empirical evidence on the relationship between personal branding and career success and, as such contributed significantly to the body of knowledge. this study also opened avenues for further research.