Week 2: YOUR BRAND
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
Dolly Parton
Singer, Songwriter, Humanitarian, and Businesswoman
Dolly Parton Productions, Inc
Week 2 is all about determining how you see yourself and how others see you. The overlap of these two things forms your personal brand.
According to personalbrand.com, your personal brand is the reputation you’ve built based on your experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large.
Stated another way, your personal brand is what people know you for based on what you’ve done in life.
Once you are crystal clear on what your personal brand is, you can be more intentional in using it to build your business and make a bigger difference in the world.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s jump right in.
Day 8 Goal
Your goal this week is to come back to present day and determine how you see yourself right now. What is your personality like today?
How to Make it Happen
No matter where you are in your life and career, you’ve developed expertise and skills. Now, you may not be exactly where you want to be, but between your innate abilities and the things you’ve learned over the years, you’ve already developed a reputation somewhere for something.
This is the foundation for your personal brand. The concept of the personal brand was first mentioned in 1997 by Tom Peters in his Fast Company article, “The Brand Called You.”
There, Tom suggested that you should be the CEO of Me Inc., and use corporate marketing strategies to, in his words, “sell the sizzle” not the steak (and yes, you’re the steak).
Since then, two distinct groups have emerged—those who love personal branding, and those who are grossed out by the thought of selling themselves like the sizzle of a steak.
Champions of this personal brand concept believe it open doors of opportunity. Those who oppose it say that human beings are too complicated to be treated the same as consumer products like steak, socks, or iPads.
Plus, in the era of influencers, filters and VSCO girls, personal branding can seem…fake. To quote Cardi B and Offset, it feels like people are doing everything for clout.
I fall somewhere in the middle off all of this. It is powerful to have a personal brand known for doing high-quality, impactful work in a field that you are passionate about.
How your personal brand can help with your business
A personal brand rooted in authenticity can bring you new projects that are a natural fit.
Being authentic is critical. However you’re making money and getting new opportunities, it must be based on things that you can back up with actual expertise, capabilities and results. If it ain’t real, it ain’t worth doing, having or being.
Recognizing this, you have to figure out, and get comfortable with, how you must create a reputation and personal brand that stay true to yourself and share your brilliance with the world.
Today’s goal asks you to be honest and self-reflective about your current attitude and personality.
While the question is quick easy, your answer may be a little more difficult to write. As such, I suggest you take the 16 Personalities test. I like this test because it is free, based on scientific research, and includes a full assessment and report at the end.
If there are testresults that resonate with you—good or bad, write them down in your workbook on page 23.
After you’ve had a chance to answer the 16 Personalities questions online, send me your results! I’m INFJ.
You can share it with me on social media by tagging me @shontaviajesq on all platforms and using the #VisionChallenge hashtag so that I can see it. Or, you can comment directly below.
If nothing else, take a picture of your completed workbook page(s) so that I know you’re doing the homework! 😀
Join my support network
In addition, studies show that you’re more likely to meet your goals when you have accountability partners! To work together with a supportive community of other side-hustlers, creatives and entrepreneurs, you can join my private group by clicking this link or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find accountability partners and other content there that I may not share elsewhere.
New to the #VisionChallenge? You can learn more about it, and sign up to take the challenge, by clicking here.
Sometimes I will refer you to other books, products or services. While I may be an affiliate of these companies, creators, or authors, these are all things I have used and trust. I would not recommend these things to you if I hadn’t experienced them myself.