Our culture focuses on the hustle. Do more, work harder, grow your business or career. When you are an achiever or have a goal-driven personality, it’s essential to make sure you are not pushing too hard to grow that you are no longer true to yourself.

We finish season 1 by looping back to the importance of your personal brand but focusing on being true to yourself in our hustle culture. I’m joined in episode 12 by Chelsea Northrup. Chelsea and her husband are publishers, photographers and YouTubers. My husband Ray and I have followed their channel, Tony & Chelsea Northrup, and their journey for seven years, and I am excited to have her join me for the show.

CONNECT

When you are entering an industry — or maybe you’ve been in the industry for years — and you are the only one that looks like you, it can be intimidating. Chelsea and I both discuss having careers in male-dominated fields, and how intimidating it can be to pull up a seat at the table and show that you are worthy of the invite to the discussion. 

It can feel like a lot of pressure when you are invited and are the only woman, person of color, or maybe someone with a unique background, education, sexual orientation or gender preference. But just remember, you got the same invite others did, so be confident in your involvement. It’s also important to remember when you are the only one representing a group of people that your being there will help those in the room and the event/meeting host to recognize the value you brought. Maybe they will be more open to inviting more people like you to the next discussion. All that being said, be confident in your skills and blaze trails for others.

Chelsea shares, “I had to learn how to respect my own skill set and my value in my space. It’s still challenging to hold your space in a place where you don’t always feel welcome and reassure yourself. I belong here. I have value here, and I need to be myself here. This is something that I work on all the time.”

CHANGE

While Chelsea and her husband Tony work together and are both photographers and publishers, they both approach the business with their own individual skillsets. This is key to remembering that you may see others in your line of work doing X to approach a problem, but that doesn’t mean that you have to go that route.

“I think that it’s really about respecting balance. I named our series Art & Science of Photography, and that is us. I’m the art and he’s the science, and we need those two things to work,” Chelsea shares.

Because no two people — whether they are photographers, podcasters, marketers or salespeople — go about the same process with the same approach and intention, it’s critical for us to remember it takes all types. There is no one right way. As we change and become honest with ourselves and our processes, we are more self-assured in what we feel is the right way to get the job done. But that’s not the only way. That’s why we sometimes have to check ourselves to see if we are pushing our bias, our confidence, on others as the right way, and proclaiming theirs to be the wrong way. 

“I think that seeing the value of other people is a skill. I see it all the time in the photography world where people value the skill that they have. If they are a very technical photographer, they think that is the only part of photography that matters. If you’re a very artistic photographer, that’s the only thing that matters, the art. The same thing happens on any team in business.”

As you grow, change and evolve, that means your personal brand and your approach to work and business will also transform. This is when it’s important to do a gut check and see that you are still staying true to yourself. It could be that your current role has evolved and you no longer enjoy the work you are doing or the responsibilities you’ve taken on. Maybe it’s the opposite and you are realizing that you could do your job in your sleep, but it’s not challenging you the way you need to be pushed. Check out my personal brand evaluation guide. You can download it for free to see if you are still the person you think you are, or determine if maybe it’s time to be true to yourself and move into the next phase.

CHALLENGE

Like many of the other episodes in season 1, the week’s challenges are focused on personal evaluation in the near term of two weeks to 30 days.

1. Identify two hurdles you have encountered that you feel held you back from putting yourself out there. Write them down. Now, if those hurdles come up again, how do you get past them? Think ahead for a plan and approach to not let them slow you down the next time they arise.
2. Find two opportunities for your business to work with customers or collaborators that will enhance your brand, but still stay true. Write down those audiences that still fit within your business strategy and look for ways outside of your current approach to reach new customers.

If you found this discussion and topic helpful, check out my free personal brand evaluation guide to help you form, establish or rehab your personal brand to help and not hinder your professional development. Visit connectchangechallenge.com/brand.