First and foremost, I want to thank you for the privilege of serving as Eastern Vascular Society (EVS) president. To see my name on the same list as the past presidents is humbling and the greatest honor of my professional life. The opportunity to work and collaborate with the EVS executive council, committee chairs, and members has been nothing short of an incredible personal and professional experience, one that I will forever cherish and hold dear to my heart. Even though we have shared friendships for years, this year was very special for me in that it allowed me to get to know many of my colleagues at a much more personal level, for which I am indebted.EVS needs to be more than just an annual educational meeting for vascular surgeons. I look at the talent in our Society and cannot help but think that we need to do more. Today more than ever, we need to recognize the importance of our specialty in the vascular workforce, our relevance as vascular surgeons, and our public image. As surgeons, our character is often defined by being ordinary humans that thrive on conquering the extraordinary, particularly when the stakes are high and lives are at stake. For all of us who have been there, we know all too well that it's our bond and love for our patients that gives us the strength to dig deep and provide excellent care. We must be bold enough to unite, cultivate, and empower our patient-surgeon relationship (Fig 1). If we speak with one voice, we will not only be heard loud and clear but also have the opportunity to change the course of vascular surgery for generations to come. This is not a pie in the sky conceptdit's real, and it's long overdue. We can and should lead the way in developing processes and infrastructures that will enable and empower vascular surgeons to be recognized as leaders in managing our patients' vascular health and disease.The privilege of carrying the baton for a year and serving as the president of EVS brings with it a particular sense of duty and responsibility that is unparalleled in my prior experiences. To lead with the best of intentions and impact consequential change, I had to be true to myself in trying to figure out why I was chosen for this role. As a vascular surgeon, I have always found our specialty to struggle in defining "our vascular brand." All successful organizations have brand recognition that clearly differentiates them from the rest. Vascular surgery evolved from general surgery and for far too long has lived in the corridors of the cardiovascular space. As vascular surgeons, what is our brand? One thing is clear: as vascular surgeons, we need to better identify our brand; only then will we have the ability to impact meaningful change.In my Presidential Address, I want to discuss what I believe is the critical missing link to our brand development and recognition. As vascular surgeons, for far too long we have focused on what we do and how we do it. When addressing the public, providers, hospitals, institutions, and even government agencies, we focus our message on ...