What's your secret sauce?

What makes you unique?

How is your approach different from that of everyone else?

What makes you, you?

When it comes time to package a message around one's personal brand, clarity on those distinguishing factors seems to be where most people struggle.

But I've found that our pivotal life moments - the moments that are forever etched in our memories - tell the story of who we really are.

Because more often than not, who we are is who we've always been.

The life moments, our first or earliest memories of feeing disappointed, torn, devastated...

Our first recollections of feeling powerful, exhilarated, energized...

Those first memories of feeling confused, furious, or that life was unfair...

What do you remember?

What sticks out to you, even now?

How did those life events change you? 

***

I have a vivid memory of playing on the playground in elementary school. My elementary school was pretty racially diverse, but socially segregated. Yet somehow I always found myself straddling the line.

Back then your 'cool quotient' was calculated by how fast you could run on the playground at recess. The 3-4 other Black girls in my grade were fast; and as the only Black girl lacking speed, I felt cursed. But I was cool enough, just not as cool as the girls who came in first and second place in every foot race.

I remember one day another speed-less girl - a little White girl - was accused of having the dreaded 'cooties' during recess. The playground suddenly cleared out after this accusation, and the little girl was left dangling on her swing, all alone.

I can remember as the crowd sped away, one reluctant classmate turned back and asked me "Aren't you coming? She has cooties, you can't stay with her..." and there I was, torn between going with the crowd, and doing what I felt was right.

I knew then that I couldn't leave her, that the rest of the students would be alright, that I may have to pay a price for being in such close proximity to her cooties. But it was a price I was willing to pay.

At the end of the day, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her there all alone with no one to play with. It just wasn't in me to do it.

And it still isn't.

Years later, I don't like leaving people behind. It's who I've always been. I have attended expensive conferences only to go home and blog about everything I learned so others could learn, too. When I was a journalist, I dedicated my beat to giving voice to those who didn't have a microphone. And as a PR woman and a coach I've used my skills to amplify the voices of others. I've built a business around unlocking the gifts of people who may not have felt they fit anywhere else. 

And every time I do that, every time I make a choice that may not necessarily be the most popular or profitable, it speaks volumes for my brand on my behalf.

And better yet, it attracts people who are also on that same frequency. 

What are some of the pivotal life moments that you remember?

What memories are etched in your brain and heart, years later, even now?

And what story are those memories - the ones you've held on for decades - telling about you today?

Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy

I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.

If you:

• have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon

Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon

Popular advice from the coaching and co-working world these days is "Do What You Love..."

And how can you figure out what you're supposed to be doing when you're feeling stuck, drained, or uninspired?

Applications are open for the next round of Package Your Genius Academy

I'm excited to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.

If you:

• have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon

Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon

Experts: stop overthinking it!

Visibility does not have to be as hard as we're making it. 

After countless conversations with students, clients and friends, I wanted to establish once and for all how easy it is take what you're already doing and repurpose it for visibility and even revenue, if you're so inclined.

Regardless of where you are in the personal branding process, you can repurpose your advice - the thoughts you have and expertise you share - into more tangible ways to support infinitely scalable more people.

Want to reach more people?

Here are 5 types of advice you can repurpose:

1) 1:1 Client Sessions - Do you have coaching, consulting or strategy sessions with your clients? Do you frequently brainstorm with work colleagues one on one?

If you're frequently giving the same advice over and over again, maybe it's time for you to repurpose that into something bigger. You can repurpose the advice you've given during your 1:1 client conversations into:

• media interviews - sessions provide great fodder for talking points and soundbites 

2) Session Notes - Do you take detailed session notes for your individual or group clients? Do you keep seeing the same themes pop up over and over again? Why not repurpose them into:

• Blank worksheets  - you can give these away to build your email list or use them with new clients

3) Your Speaking Opportunities - Do you do a ton of paid talks? Do you create several slide decks each year to correspond with your workshops? Why not repurpose those into more content like:

• Media Segments/Interview Pitches - if you've prepared a good deck, those talking points are done.

4) Content series - I recently discovered the power of creating video content during an event. You can use your own telesummit or virtual conference to help you develop a massive amount of content for 

• a podcast launch - this is an easy way to create a bank of interviews you can use to launch your new show. 

5) Frequently asked questions and general advice - We all give it. Why not repurpose it? Furthermore, why not monetize it?

• a blog post - the most basic format to repurpose your FAQs; you can even write the most epic blog post and submit it to a larger site like Business Insider if you want to use it to grow your email list

 Applications are open for the next round of

Package Your Genius Academy

I'm ready to work with a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.

If you:

• have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon

Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon

Spring is almost here, and in my opinion, this is the perfect time to be thinking like a planter.

If you owned a farm and were preparing for the spring planting season, what would you be doing?

Likely assessing last year's harvest to determine what worked and what didn't.

You may talk to your customers to find out which crops were most in demand, and which ones you could plant less of.

You'd be spending time making the decisions that would impact your season of growth.

The same can be true for your brand. At this point in the year, you likely know about the major speaking engagements that are on the calendar. You know about most of your major travel. If you're an entrepreneur, you have an idea of the major service or program launches happening soon or later in the fall. 

How are you preparing?

Better yet, how are you planning to make a record of the success you're going to create in the upcoming growth months of the year?

I spoke with a current Package Your Genius Academy student who has a number of big speaking engagements on her calendar this spring. Some of these talks occur at major annual conferences for her industry. I asked her to consider preparing for the opportunities coming her way - not simply by preparing her remarks and shaping her deck; I challenged her to think about how could she be intentional about snagging other visibility opportunities to coincide with her talks.

For example, could she write an op ed and pitch it to either a major national newspaper or an industry publication all her peers read? Could she look at the cities where she'll be speaking and research local news outlets where she could potentially book a segment while she's in town? How can she leverage the hard work she's already doing to deliver an amazing talk and create a way for others in her industry to learn from her? 

How could she plan to make sure there's a record of her being there, saying what she said and delivering her genius?

That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about media. Say what you will about it, media coverage creates a record of what happened. It reminds the world of what you did, what you said, and that you were there. 

In an era of disappearing media as Dr. Richardson discussed on episode 69, it's all the more important in today's digital age to make sure your story is being recorded permanently.

What's coming up on your agenda? What do you want to add to the historical record? What op ed can you write? What coverage can you go after to make a record that you said what you said, did what you did and made the contribution you made?

As Mentioned During the Episode

During the recent Virtual PR Conference I announced a new PR program we're launching specifically for experts who are building their personal brands. Maximum Exposure is an opportunity for you to work with my team of experts to meet with journalists, brainstorm story ideas, fine tune your message and pitch the media every single month. We're accepting applications, so if PR is on your agenda for this year, submit your application and plan to join us. Submit your application

Allissa Richardson, PhD is the assistant professor of Journalism at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. A 2016 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy, Dr. Richardson is also a pioneer in mobile journalism, and was one of the first professional journalists to teach storytelling and reporting using smartphones and mobile cameras. 

Allissa trains youth to use only smartphones, MP3 players and tablets to report news. She calls her students mobile journalists, or MOJOs. At age 25, she joined the faculty of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She served as coordinator of its journalism program, and launched and directed the Morgan MOJO Lab in 2010. Under her leadership, Morgan State became the first and only historically black college in the country to offer mobile journalism courses. 

The National Association of Black Journalists said Richardson empowered her students around the globe “to speak truth to power using new media.” In spring 2012, NABJ recognized her as its Journalism Educator of the Year for her international work. In 2013, Apple, Inc. inducted Richardson into its elite Distinguished Educator program for her innovative uses of its products. 

Richardson is the founder of MOJO MediaWorks. Her firm designs mobile journalism workshops for youth, educators and working journalists. Her clients include The Washington Post, PBS, Black Girls Code, GlobalGirl Media, Journalism Educators Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Black Enterprise has called Richardson’s fast-growing company a “feel-good tech firm on the rise.”

Richardson’s writing has appeared in Oprah Magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, JET Magazine, Baltimore Sun.com, the Miami Herald and the Chicago Tribune. She earned the Weinstein-Luby Outstanding Young Journalist Award in 2002, and the Freedom Forum’s Chips Quinn Scholars award that same year. And Harvard University selected her for its prestigious Nieman Foundation Journalism Fellowship to work on a project that advances the industry.

Richardson holds a Ph.D. in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park, a Master's Degree in Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University's Medill School, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana.

Our conversation touched on

• Personal branding in academia and how Dr. Richardson used her brand to get on the tenure track. 

As mentioned on the episode

On Wednesday March 6, I'm excited to my first ever all day virtual conference. Maximum Exposure is a daylong online event where I'll be speaking with host journalists and experts about how you can gain valuable media exposure for your personal brand. 

Join us for the conference by registering on Crowdcast: http://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register

I'm passionate about visibility, and not because I'm an attention-whore.

I'm passionate about visibility because I know how POWERFUL it can be, and what it can do for your life.

Sharing and becoming visible POSITIONS YOU AS THE EXPERT in other peoples' minds. It makes you visible to your industry and your network. You're already doing the work. Visibility enhances the perception of how valuable you are.

Sharing and becoming visible STRETCHES YOU AND DEMOLISHES YOUR OWN MENTAL WALLS. It disputes the false stories you're telling yourself about yourself. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The mind once stretched by a new idea will never regain its original dimensions." Once you see yourself and are seen for who you truly are by others, you can never go back. 

Sharing your message and becoming visible BRINGS YOU CLOSER TO YOURSELF because you're staying true to yourself. You're being "more loyal to your dreams than to your fears" as author Tara Mohr puts it. It seems counterintuitive to think that you grow closer to yourself by connecting with many others, but it's true. 

I am dogged about visibility because it helps combat erasure. We have to tell our stories, lest history be revised.

I'm dogged about visibility because I know how painful it is to never be seen for who you really are, and what you have to offer. 

I am dogged about visibility because traditionally only certain people have been allowed to be seen. Visibility is about justice, equality and parity.

I was given a gift of storytelling, promotion, packaging and translating people's messages so they can be understood. One of the most powerful ways I know of to turn the volume up on your message and help you be seen, heard, and understood more widely is MEDIA.

That's why I'm hosting a free one day virtual conference on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.

Maximum Exposure - Land Media for Your Personal Brand 

It’s a virtual (read: online) conference – and it’s all about how to land valuable media for your personal brand.

I’ve invited friends of the academy – working journalists, a top podcaster, and a communications exec – to be your thought partners for the day.

Together, we’ll be pulling back the curtain on what it takes to get the MAXIMUM EXPOSURE your mission and message deserve.

Check out the schedule, review the speaker lineup, and REGISTER here >> Maximum Exposure: A Virtual Conference

And do me a huge favor – please invite your friends who are doing big, world-changing things, too!

This event is free, but space is limited.

So if getting your mission out there in a bigger way – even if it’s a little scary – is something you know you need to work on, I invite you to join us. 

Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/PYGAMaximumExposure/register

I wouldn't call myself a 'workaholic', but I admit, I love my work.

I love the actual process of what I do - not just outcome. It makes me happy.

So even when results aren't immediately evident, (you mean I didn't make the NYTimes Bestseller list on the first day??? *flips over a table*) it's okay, because I honestly love the work.

The work energizes me, gives me a sense of purpose, and fills my days with meaning in a way that few other things do.

It's easy to plant seeds day after day, week after week, and month after month because - to extend the planting metaphor - I love the feeling of the earth between my fingers.

I love the process of showing up every day to nurture an idea and help it grow.

I love waking up with the sun, running to the window and surveying the land to see what small changes may have taken place overnight, while the rest of the world was sleeping.

But the downside of loving the work this way is this: it can become easy to get so used to planting, that you forget the harvest is coming eventually.

And reaping that harvest feels almost...unfamiliar.

You get so in the weeds of doing the work, making tiny tweaks, and fighting off threats that you tend to forget what all your maneuvering is adding up to.

But I got a clear reminder last week. Last week was all about harvesting:

• I found out that after two arduous years of pep talks, practice tests, applications, wait lists, and interviews, my children were accepted into our family's dream educational institution - an independent school that will allow them to continue studying Mandarin and even possibly study abroad at sister campuses as middle and high school students.

At first, I was almost in disbelief at the abundance that kept showing up in my inbox. It was overwhelming.

Because quite honestly, I had gotten used to the grind. The pep talks and practice tests and applications had become my fall routine (whoever thought they'd actually get in, lol).

I'd told myself that sitting down and writing the book had been the real work (you mean people want to buy why what I wrote???)

And I'd so fully poured myself into teaching my students that I hadn't given much thought to how those lessons would continue to pay dividends for them.

But it finally dawned on me that *this* is the glorious morning I'd been dreaming about.

This is the ample harvest I had tilled and watered and worked my fingers to the bone for.

So while I may find joy in doing the work, I need to also learn to find joy in the harvest - to expect it, to rejoice in it, to be present to the magic of it.

Firstly because with all the seeds I've planted, it's inevitable, right?

But also because what else, if not this, have I been working towards?

If you've put years into becoming great at what you do, you may have also adopted the identity of 'diligent workhorse' and given little thought to where all of your hard work is taking you.

You may have shown up consistently every day and done your best.

You engrossed yourself in the work.

You hit a major milestone, and then moved on to the next big project.

You told yourself that you weren't doing it for the applause, but still..the applause may be in order.

And when the applause comes, if you're uncomfortable or even caught off guard like I was, ask yourself why.

Standing ovations shouldn't freak you out - you should expect them at this point.

A bountiful harvest shouldn't be a shock when you've been planting, watering and nurturing the seeds day in and day out.

Success shouldn't catch you by surprise when you've put in the work.

I'm still learning that lesson, with each new level.

Elsewhere in PYG-Land...

Get the Books

Order your copy of Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand and/or the Companion Personal Branding Workbook

Kimi Walker is a School Psychologist who teaches how we can use tools of behavior change to make our goals stick. She is the host of the Early Accountability Podcast, and a 2017 graduate of Package Your Genius Academy.

An expert on early accountability, an educator, and a psychologist who personally changed her life by losing over 100 pounds, Kimi has learned what it takes to take new, scary actions and create an environment that encourages our new habits to stick.

With a background in school psychology Kimi regularly conducts psychological evaluations, and is the go-to person when dealing with cases that require behavior change.

The parallels between working in schools and working with adults who are trying to spark a new behavior are many. As Kimi shares during our interview, everyone responds differently to stimuli, so she works hard to assess each client and figure out what each person needs to succeed. She customizes solutions for students and coaching clients alike using her philosophy of "Results, Not Resolutions."

Kimi’s Steps for Sticking to New Goals

1. Know what you're working toward. Set a big goal. Remind yourself of your goal often.

2. Know your achievement style and what works best for you to achieve. What do you need in order to be able to execute?

3. Find something fun you like to do, or a milestone you can work towards that supports that new goal (i.e. Goal - weight loss, Milestone - train for a marathon).

4. Be intentional about getting support and accountability. Find a coach or other expert who can cut your learning curve.

As mentioned in the episode

Get Kimi’s Level Up and Launch Checklist by texting HELPMELAUNCH to 44222

As always, grab Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand on Amazon

Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon

If you’ve done amazing work in your field and you’ve successfully ‘climbed the ladder” so to speak, eventually you may get near the top or at the top of the ladder, look around and realize that A) there’s nowhere else to climb or B) you’re not interested in limbing any further. At this point, you may decide to pivot and use your talents to do something else.

I work with a lot of burned-out corporate high achievers who have been successful in that space for years, but have finally decided to do something new - sometimes personal development centered, since we often want to heal our own wounds by helping others who were in the place we used to be.

But a common theme I’m noticing is a tendency for high achievers to adopt a mindset from the bottom of the ladder. They decide that since they’re essentially starting over and are new to coaching or running their own business or online marketing or being independent - they mentally put themselves at the bottom of this new ladder.

Sound familiar? If so, stay with me.

I want you to imagine two ladders side by side. How will you get from ladder one (your old path) to ladder two (your new path)?

Your first thought, especially if you're a high achiever, may be to step your way back down all the steps, retracing your steps on all the previous rungs of ladder one, to get to the ground so that you can then climb up the second ladder.

But instead of stepping your way down, I want you to imagine yourself  at the top of ladder one,  reaching your hand out to grab ahold and step over to the top of ladder two. From the top of one ladder, the top of another ladder.

Because you’re not starting from zero.

Your credibility transfers.

We are all a constellation of our career and life experiences, our relationships, our networks, our access and our opportunities.

Instead of thinking of yourself as a newbie, as a beginner, or as an ingenue, I want you to ask yourself how can you put all that you’ve done in the past - all of the past work, all of your relationships, all of your political capital - how can you put all of that to work in service of your new dream?

As Mentioned in the Episode

Thank you to LaQuentin Cathey for Your Rave Review of Package Your Genius:

From Amazon:

LaQuintin Cathey  | 5.0 out of 5 stars  |  "Great book, definitely recommend."

February 3, 2019

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon - Order Your Personal Branding Bible Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is also available for order - Order Your Personal Branding Workbook

Amber Cabral founded Cabral Co where she helps organizations identify the ways they can shift their behaviors, tactics and mindsets to diversify the culture of the organization. As Amber says, culture is not just about counting heads, it’s about how it feels to work there. Her work helps move the needle on actually having an inclusive, as well as diverse company culture.

It was only when Amber was asked to sit on a diversity council at her job that she uncovered her passion for diversity and inclusion work. Later, when she switched jobs and the diversity council was no longer present, Amber had an aha moment that the diversity work was what actually lit her up about her job.

How does someone end up working in diversity and inclusion? Timing is everything. Before D & I became the career field du jour, Amber knew she wanted to do something, but the opportunities weren’t readily available. Moving to the Fortune 1 Company - Walmart Stores - she took on a major mentoring initiative for the company, which taught her many professional lessons before she exited the company and ultimately, the corporate world completely from an employee standpoint.

In the interview Amber shares how a “voluntold” opportunity put her on the path to a full-fledged consulting company, and how being open to new assignments can open up your career path.

Hear:

• how she built relationships while working remotely

“Always be evolving and be willing to do the work of change.” - Amber Cabral

Amber’s Lessons Learned:

1. You do not have to live the life you've been told to. You get to decide the kind of life and career you want.

2. Always be evolving. Doing something is better than thinking about everything, be open and eager for change.

3. Bring authenticity to every part of your life: relationships, work, family and everything in between. When someone connects to the authenticity in you, it opens up doors you would otherwise have never known existed.

Find Amber online:

Amber’s Website Cabral Co - Cabral Co

Amber on Instagram @BamCabral

Amber on Twitter @BamCabral

Amber on LinkedIn - Amber Cabral

What I’m reading and listening to this week

Golf Home Owners Find Themselves in a Hole  on the WSJ

Three Brothers Launch Eco-Friendly Candle Company - on BlackNews.com

As mentioned in the episode

Last call for Package Your Genius Academy

It’s the last week to apply for this round of Package Your Genius Academy. I’m so excited about the amazing group that’s already coming together for our February 5 start date! Such brilliant minds. Among the current roster, we have a scientific research funding consultant, a therapist in private practice, and a life coach who is pioneering a new coaching style based on her stage time as an actor.

I still have some room for a few more high achievers who have a track record of professional success and need help framing their story, articulating their value to the clients who need them, and becoming more visible through media and speaking.

If you:

• have had some success in one area, but want to make a shift and do something you’ve never done before,

As always, Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand is available on Amazon

Package Your Genius Personal Branding Companion Workbook is available on Amazon