Package Your Genius Personal Branding Podcast

When it comes to working the land - especially in the Southern region of the United States, this time of year is an exciting time because it marks the season of harvest. But it can be a potentially dangerous time for the farmers who aren't quick enough to get their year's work out of the ground. It's essentially a race against time to harvest before the winter rains when anything you've left out in the field will be rendered useless. Unpicked fruit will be left to rot. A fortuitous conversation with my grandmother revealed this wisdom that's native to Southerners, and I had to share it with you. The similarity between our gifts and a farmer's crops were too stark to miss. So many people have allowed their gifts - their expertise, skills, and wisdom - to ripen for years, but have yet pick their own fruit. Let this comparison to nature be your own cautionary tale: there comes a point when you're not growing anymore. But it may not be because you've simply reached a plateau, instead you're fully ripe and i

High achievers typically do such great work that they're often recruited for opportunities, courted by associates, even pursued by friends.  Instead of being the aggressor, it's not uncommon for them - despite all of their success - to find themselves in the passive role of waiting to be chosen. It's what they're used to after all. If this resonates with you, and you're not in the field you want to be in, on the career track you want to be in, or in a relationship that serves you because you were chosen but did not choose, let me be the first to tell you things can be different. You can choose to choose. Don't settle for what falls into your lap. Decide what you want in every area of your life, and go after it.

Every living thing has its own set of base level requirements for survival.  Every living thing also has its own set of factors that would make it hard to grow. Last but not least, every living thing has certain factors that would take it to the next level and cause it to thrive, regenerate, multiply. The same is true for us. Each of us has our own set of must-haves, deal breakers and multipliers. A part of radical self discovery is paying attention to all three in order to get the clearest picture of ourselves and our personal recipe for success.   *** Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand has officially been in the world for a full year! Thank you to all of you who purchased the book (or the companion workbook), left a thoughtful review, bought the book for a friend and shared this life-changing content.  I am so grateful!

I was reflecting back on a few of my incredible clients and the reflection reminded me what it is I do that matters, and more importantly, WHY I do this work.   As I was thinking about the simplest way to describe what I do, I realized that at the core of my work I help people remember who they are -- even if you've never truly been able to articulate your understanding of yourself, or if you knew it very clearly at another point in your life but somehow drifted away from yourself and forgot, I help you put a framework around yourself so you understand who you are, what makes you tick, what energizes you and what drains you.   In some ways there is nothing more important than this.   Once you get a clear understanding of who you are, you can not only make better decisions, but you can make the BEST decisions for you because you will immediately understand why something doesn't feel right.   Once you get a clear understanding of who you are, you will know immediately what you have to do in order to get yoursel

As you are on the road to package your genius, and you're a high achiever who is used to always being the best, I want you to remember: No matter where you place sometimes just finishing the race is a form of winning when you're doing something new.   *** If you know you have valuable gifts inside you, but you are unclear which race you're running and where's the lane for your gifts and talents, I welcome you to apply for the opportunity to get that clarity during our visibility academy where we can work on it together.   If you've been doing great work and getting results in your industry, but you want to expand your exposure, learn more about our PR mastermind and apply.   Enrollment is open now for the academy and our PR mastermind. Visit www.packageyourgeniusacademy.com to learn more and apply.

Sometimes limits are in our heads, telling us we can't go any further when we have just a little bit of gas left in the take. Other times limits are deeper, and our exhaustion is our body/mind/spirit's way of telling us we need to rest. But the beautiful thing about life is, for most things, we get another day to try again. If you had to put down a work project, take a day off from cooking dinner for the family, or skipped a workout - you can get back on track.  Don't beat yourself up if you drop the ball. Just pick it back up tomorrow.   *** Here are all the ways you can work with me:   Join our free Facebook community where you can meet other podcast listeners and engage directly with me. Join here.   Check out the book Package Your Genius: 5 Steps to Build Your Most Powerful Personal Brand if you haven't read it yet. Pick up the companion workbook - a tool I made to help you think through the questions that can help you get closer.   If you need help remembering how to answer the call, I'd be honored

My mom retired a few years ago, and in the time since, she's been living her best life. She had a goal to see all the states in the lower 48 of USA and as of today, she's officially done it.   She left for a road trip for her birthday early last week, headed with her bestie from Tennessee to New England.   When she initially told me about the trip, I remember catching myself getting wistful. "I sure wish I could take off for ten days at my own pace to see the sights," I thought to myself. "And I sure wish I could spend that kind of quality time with my mom..."   I can't do that because of the kids, I immediately told myself. For the last decade plus, that has been my default reason whenever I get too excited about doing something or going somewhere that will take me away from the DC area. Because the kids have to get to and from school, my husband travels a lot for work so I need to make sure my calendar is clear.   But is that true, really?   At this point, my kids know how to catch public transportation, ma

We've been talking a lot about purpose, but I want to change the conversation and switch gears back to visibility because it's one of the reasons you're here. In this two-part episode on op-ed writing, I share 5 questions to ask yourself to get closer to the op-ed you want to write. In part two, we'll talk to a journalist who will share how we can reach millions of people with our words.    

Do you remember your favorite teacher from when you were in school? Or a teacher who could make a subject you usually didn't like come alive? Or better yet, a teacher who could break down a subject in a way that could make you understand even when others couldn't?   And they may have been saying the exact same thing or reading from the exact same textbook as all the other teachers who taught that subject, but for whatever reason you could just hear it better from them?   Well someone out there is thinking the exact same thing about you.   Someone out there needs to hear your area of expertise, but they need to hear it from you.   Even though there are already people who are saying some version of what you're saying, or doing some version of what you're doing, there are still people out there who still need to get the goods from you.   Why is that?   I can't explain it. Just like you can't explain how two cooks can follow the same recipe but turn out completely different dishes. Even though both taste good, on

I recently attended an organizational effectiveness training retreat for an organization I'm a member of. One of the most powerful things I learned was how easily an organization's culture can get off track, and how possible it is to get things BACK on track.   So think about an organization you're a part of, or even a relationship you have with someone to make it easier to imagine. If you have one bad interaction with someone, you may say "Oh we had a tiff," or "we didn't see eye to eye..." and you chalk it up to a misunderstanding, but the relationship isn't over.   If you have two or three bad encounters, internally you go on alert. You may start to rethink the relationship and even say "We're not in a good place..." But once you get into the four-five range with negative encounters, you're in the red zone. In the training, our facilitator said that 5x is a DECISION that this is how we will deal with each other. This is our culture.   But what I find fascinating is the same way you can make a decision to n

Harlem BY LANGSTON HUGHES     What happens to a dream deferred?         Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like a syrupy sweet?         Maybe it just sags       like a heavy load.         Or does it explode?    

How do you show up when you come to win?   For some reason, we all know how to prioritize our work assignments, our money, our kids, even our health - but when we think of our gifts we go blank.   We get ourselves out of bed and out of the house every day, but suddenly can't figure out how to motivate ourselves to get started.   We multitask, manage multiple calendars and juggle conflicting schedules for our teams and families, but we can't figure out how to find the time to make our dreams happen.   We put together scrum boards and complex project flowcharts, but when it comes to our gifts, we can't figure out the first step to take.   But we need to attack our gifts with the same energy we bring to the places we already excel.   Look at what you're doing well, where you're winning, what you're getting right.   What are your typical patterns?   How do you show up when you're ready to win?   For example, one of the things I feel like I am getting right is cultivating my children. So when I look at how I move

Why does it even matter whether or not you package your genius?   Who cares if you explore what you're meant to do?   What difference does it make if you don't share your genius with others?   Those are the questions I want to explore with you today. Because before I can make the case that you should package your genius, you should first understand what's at stake if you don't.   I believe the mandate of being human - what's written in our genetic code or whatever makes us homo sapiens vs some other species - is to find what we were put on this Earth to do. Your mandate as a human is to fulfill the assignment and complete the mission for your specific journey, your specific life.   That is what I whole-heartedly believe.   But if we're honest with ourselves, our life missions have likely been evident since childhood or adolescence. We've heard the call. But how many of us answered and chose to walk down the path our calling was leading us to?   I can remember being a student in middle school and then again in

If I handed you the deed to the land that contained a diamond mine, how would you feel? Maybe you'd feel excited thinking about your good fortune and your riches, but after you thought about it, would you know what to do with it? Would not knowing overwhelm you? Would it make you walk away?   No way.   You'd do some research, call an expert, and figure out what one does with a valuable diamond mine. You'd figure out who has the equipment to extract the diamond, which people had the expertise to get it out, what the process is to get it up to commercial standards, and who the best buyers are for your specific type of diamond.   You wouldn't throw up your hands and walk away just because you don't have the technical know-how to get these diamonds out of the ground, when you know they're valuable and people want them.   But that's exactly what most of us are doing with our gifts.   We've all got raw materials, but the problem is we don't know how to refine what we have, we don't have the equipment to extract it,

Sometimes you have to take a different route to get where you're trying to go. And while you may not like the idea of alternate routes - especially if you're a recovering perfectionist like me - you must admit, the route doesn't matter all that much. Because if you end up still reaching your destination, who cares how you got there?  I had to learn (still learning!) to give myself grace when the journey doesn't look picture perfect. At the end of the day, all that should matter is that I end up where I originally wanted to go - or someplace even better.  

No season lasts forever, but in every ending there's a chance for some new beginning - if you keep your eye out for it. Whether you're watching something come to an end, or you're ready to start a new chapter, what is it your season to do? Meico Whitlock who I interviewed on Episode 41 - (How to harness your focus and set priorities) and Episode 63 - (How to Create a Vision for Your Life) taught me about the importance of being intentional with your time and setting finite priorities for each season. As Meico teaches in his Mindful Techie courses and programs, once you identify your life vision and mission and set your specific goals, it's important to set no more than two priorities for any given season.  I'm excited about the intentional energy I'm putting behind my writing in this season, and I can't wait to see where that will lead. But I'm clear that it's truly time to prioritize writing after seeing a significant opening in my calendar related to my kids' school.  Again, as one season ends, another

Sometimes your genius needs a break.  And you shouldn't feel bad about it. In fact, you'll likely move further ahead, instead of falling behind as you may imagine. Rest helps you work smarter not harder - and I'm with that! I learned this summer not to beat myself up for needing and taking rest - but to celebrate what happens to my mind, body and relationships when I take a step back and nurture myself in the way that I need. How often do you take the break that you need to rejuvenate yourself? What's your favorite way to rest?    

Change is hard, especially if you like tradition, routine, or growing accustomed to the way things are. Change can also be hard when it's public-facing. You have all those prying eyes to consider. What will people think? How will this change their perception of me? But what I've learned from experience is this: when you make a big change - say your hair color, or even your job - it may register briefly to outside world, but after that, humans do what humans do. Adapt. While you're fretting on and on about that big change you're afraid of making, once you make it, most people will barely notice. And if they do notice, the decision you lost sleep over will likely only register for an instant. The new you will become the current you. And the past you will be all but forgotten. So if the changes we're stressing ourselves out over only register for a brief moment in time, why are we putting our lives on hold, failing to make the changes that could add more fulfillment and happiness to our days? Is there so

I've seen a few posts recently about saturation - one post about there being too many courses. Another post about there being too many coaches. Both posts discouraging people who'd never coached or created courses to even try.   Because saturation.   But saturation doesn't matter when it comes to having a better solution. A more convenient solution. A more you solution.   When you think about coaches and courses simply as education, it makes me wonder why no one ever asks why there are so many schools?   We have public neighborhood schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, Montessori schools, private independent schools. Co-ed schools, single sex schools. PK-12 schools. Middle school only schools. High school only schools. And let's not even get started on college options - from community, to state university to small liberal college to prestigious Ivy League.   No one blinks at education options when we think of children. It's considered an unspoken truth and fact of life that children must be

Today is the first day of July, the first day of Q3, and the official halfway point of the year. Since we only have six months left in 2019, if you've had time to reflect on the six months that have passed, you may be lamenting on how far you are from the goals you set in January.   (Or you may have crushed your goals completely, to which I say, yay you!)   But if you are nowhere near where you thought you'd be, consider this your pep talk - it's time to get back in the game.   I'm here to let you know, all is not lost.   Even if you were asleep from January - June, you can make up the difference with the months we have left. You simply need to revisit your goals, tweak your strategy, and decide what you're going to do differently.   But first, realize you're not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.   I for one am guilty of hopping off the consistency train. At the end of May,