The Top Voice Badge means f*cking nothing.

It meant a lot to me.

For years of working in startups, I’ve always struggled to get the recognition that I deserved.

I was a loud, opinionated, hard-working Belarusian girl.

And clearly, that is not an archetype that gets Head of Talent promotions.

I ground day after day. I left my house before my ex-partner got up. I came back home when he was already chilling and playing video games.

(no this is not why we broke up).

I put effort, heart, soul, and all my ethics in becoming the best to be recognized one day.

But that day never came.

The times got harder with Covid, the hiring freeze, and then the war.

So I found where to channel my need for recognition. I went on LinkedIn and started to share what I thought were the best practices that helped people to get through the rounds when we had literally 1-2 open roles per quarter.

No content strategy, no calendar, no cadence. And definitely no hooks.

I started to write to help. Them and me.

In 3 years after this, I got my top voice badge while waiting for the elevator. I thought it was a bug.

It felt like the biggest pay I had ever received. I was proud, but I remained humble.

I took my writing even more seriously. I scaled into podcasts, conferences, courses, 1:1s.

Sure, earning more was great. But being that TOP VOICE was even bigger for me.

I even created a folder on my laptop and named it "Proud of me". From time to time, I would allow myself those rare moments of self-appreciation when I would take a screenshot of my account and feel that I am finally becoming who I always wanted to be.

It lasted for 2.5 awesome years but things tend to change.

As much as I don’t recommend anyone relying on their jobs for 100%, you should also not rely on anything else that much.

My main and only platform was this website. I loved it, cherished it, but I also depended on it.

So when I was going to sleep on December 2025, in my deep burnout, I refreshed LinkedIn, the only social media I used back then, and saw that my tag had disappeared.

I hope it was a bug and went to sleep, hoping I would wake up and it would be back. I could not sleep that night. And the badge never returned.

I was devastated. IT’S GONE. WHY? HOW?

I was one of the people who got a sudden restriction due to a tool. But I never expected that years of my work would be washed off just for 1 mistake.

Now, I could keep telling you what I did to understand what happened, and how I never received any type of answer.

But the fact was: my badge was gone, and my reach tanked to the point that I would not be able to reach even 1000 people for another 3 months.

All of this is due to the fact that I was ashamed.

“Am I not worthy anymore?”
“Am I irrelevant?”
“Will everyone see this and stop trusting me?”

Besides mental consequences, I had to face real problems with my business. When 50% of your business is built on reach, you lose real money without it. I could not find new clients as easily, my sessions would not gain as many sign ups, my brand partnerships sank with 40 likes and 3000 impressions.

For the account of my size its a real failure. I was known for my extremely engaged community.

Now my community was forgetting me cause the algorithm did not agree with me. It took me 5 months to recover my reach to 60% of what it used to be.

While everyone, big LinkedIn creators from London, were saying that the LinkedIn game had changed and those who complain are just losers, I could clearly see that my posts were not distributed to anyone to judge whether or not there was any value at all.

And with constant failure, one develops constant doubt. Writing became a painful task that I had to do because there is no other way to grow and make money.

Not a mechanism of expressing myself, and most importantly, supporting those who needed me in their careers.

I managed to speak to 5 people, starting from the Head of Creator Community, to editors, to support, to special case support. I received 0 information on what really happened.

I had a simple story. I had an email scraping tool. I got restricted. I launched a viral campaign with the word shit in it (oops). My reach tanked immediately after (less than 24 hours). My top voice badge disappeared after a week. its an easy thread to follow. but not for the LinkedIn team.

They completely denied the fact that the badge was taken DUE to my restriction. They assured me that my reach is low not because of an algo restriction, but because I write shit. Yeah, I continue to say this word. They promised me that I would be considered for future rounds of top voice badges, but let’s face it, who the fuck needs the badge that pops and disappears without any explanation?

I know we are 1000+ words in, and you are looking for a big learning. I am about to give it to you.

That blue badge was my sign of recognition. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? NOBODY, not even 1 person has asked me where did it go. IMAGINE. I was afraid people would judge me for it, but no one fucking cared. My community stayed with me.

You should always have a plan B. So now I grow. My TikTok, YouTube, and newsletter. Sure, I will write on LinkedIn. It’s part of who I am. I will deliver TONS of value. But I will never rely on them.

I thought I was irrelevant. I looked at other creators who would write nonsense about going viral on LinkedIn and go viral (what a dumb loop ha?) and think: they are better than me. I am old, unsuccessful, and I am not at all where I wanted to be in life. This spiral went that far that my coach had to shake me on a call and remind me who I was.

BUT NOW? That I am through with it? I know who I am. My writing was never about likes; it was never about recognition from the company that does not know what UX means, and it was NOT about monetizing. I wrote to help myself. To express myself. To build my own space. And to support others.

You know the same thing that every super successful creator says? Do not start creating to become rich. You will burn out. I fucking agree with them now.

No, you by no means should be scared of getting yourself out there and building your authority.

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE:

• To give back.

• To self-reflect through content.

• To attract exceptional talent

• To build a reputation beyond your company.

• To have fruitful conversations with people you would not reach otherwise.

• To eventually monetize through speaking, advising, or products.

It opened me the doors that none of my peers are able to access. It earned me money. It allowed me to come to the city I wanted. On my own timeline, budget, terms.

But authority is a responsibility. And we should not forget the main purpose of it, changing fucked up processes and rules, not earning big cash.

So this is my story for you. So you know that we all FLOP hard. But when we do, this is when life gives us a chance to show who we are.

And I know how I am now.

And damn, I am a scary powerful, brave, and creative Belarusian girl.

And no LinkedIn badge can take this away from me.

Read you soon,

Lena