Re-think Your Personal Brand

I love personality quizzes. I recently re-took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test as an assignment for my internship, and I wasn’t surprised at all to learn that my number one strength is “responsibility.” Although I believe that being responsible is part of who I am, it’s most likely a part of my identity that will just stay on my resume and be reserved for conversations at job interviews. I can’t really think of a time when I’d want break out my list of Clifton Top 5 strengths when meeting someone for the first time. I’d be like “Hi, my name is Katie and I’m good at following through and being organized”.....awkward, right? So if the professional aspect of our personal brand is so important, why don’t we pay just as much attention to our brand shows up  in common, everyday conversations?

I’ve noticed that the personal brand worn on outside isn’t always positive. We tend to build our brands around our weaknesses or insecurities and then proclaim them to the world. We use phrases like,“I’m just not someone who’s good at saving money” or “I’m not a morning person” to make excuses for things that we are actually in control of.

Sometimes, though, our brands are built around labels that others gave to us that we shouldn’t have believed in the first place. If you’re like me, probably can’t even remember when you started believing these things about yourself. For me, I thought I was pretty boring. I love vanilla ice cream and I’m often in bed by 10pm - sometimes even on the weekends. I don’t mind spending a Friday night alone to read a book or cook a nice meal, but I live for getting up early on Saturday, getting a good workout in, conquering my to-do list and spending time with my family. From many people’s perspective, that was probably the most boring list of things I could’ve told you about myself. I’ve come to realize though that it’s not someone else’s opinion about whether I’m fun or boring that can determine what kind of person I really am. Someone else doesn’t need to put a label on my personal brand and define it for me. What I just shared are really things that I enjoy about my life. I think they’re fun, and that should be all that matters, right?

Whether you’re meeting someone for the first time or hanging out with old friends, start thinking about the brand you want to create for yourself. Think twice before verbally giving yourself the label of “being bad with money” or “not able to get your life in control” - just to name a few. You don’t have let people believe negative things about you. Keep these ideas in mind and your personal brand will develop beautifully. And if you’re “responsible” like me, you’ll probably write down what you believe to be your brand just because it makes you feel organized. :)