Package Your Genius Personal Branding Podcast

Drumroll please... I've just reached a major milestone. I've recorded my 100th podcast! I'm so excited! This podcast has evolved over the 2.5 years I've been doing it, and there have been some bumps and bruises along the way. But for the most part, I'm very happy with the journey and where I am now as a podcaster. Thank you for being here! On this special episode, I come to you live from the streets (literally) of Rome, Italy. I set up a podcast studio on the sidewalk, ordered cappuccinos and hit record. I was joined by my frequent collaborator Dr. Reisha Moxley, who you may know from earlier episodes (in the 30s) when we recorded a few conversations on high achievement and psychology. Reisha joined me again today for this retrospective - we discussed the past, present and future of my podcasting journey. She played Oprah and interviewed me about the experience of podcasting to this point. We discussed why you should create a podcast or write a book if people keep asking you the same questions, or you

Muscle memory is defined as "the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement." From Wikipedia: "When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Examples of muscle memory are found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding a bicycle, typing on a keyboard, entering a PIN, playing a musical instrument,[1] poker,[2] martial arts or even dancing." But beyond riding a bicycle (you never forget, right) or playing a musical instrument, there is a degree of muscle memory involved in doing the activities required to build your personal brand in a public way. I was reminded of a time I spoke on a stage during a period of intense personal grief, in the wake of my fa

An old story - everybody has one. Typically old stories are framed by absolutes - "I never..." or "I always..." or "I'm not someone who..." But we have the power to change our actions, and in doing so change our stories. I want to change the story about myself that I'm not adventurous; I don't travel. I'm broadcasting this episode from Italy where I am in the midst of an adventure - an impromptu trip sparked by a friend who was traveling here for a conference. By booking the flight (and showing up for it) I changed my mind about myself. I am a woman who travels and has adventures - I'm not just work, work, work. But you can change any behavior, and the associated identity that goes with it. So what do you want to change? Pick one negative thing you say about yourself - i.e. "I'm not a person who works out..." and then book something - a training session or pilates class - that refutes that idea. )I've found that if I spend money, I'm less likely to flake out). I'm going to spend some time on this trip

If you're a high achiever who's anything like the people I work with most often, you're always thinking about the next step, and pondering how you'll get to your next level. You may be making gains in your career, or putting in the work to build your credibility and your personal brand in the process. But what happens when all your hard work takes you exactly where you wanted it to, but you don't feel quite ready yet on the new level you've rightly earned? Do you shrink or decide you can't cut it here? Or do you challenge yourself, stretch your legs out, and set out to get more comfortable? If you've recently found yourself with a new level of client, speaking on a bigger stage, or recently promoted, things may not immediately click at first.  But give yourself some time, give yourself grace. You're only on this new level because of all the work you put in before.  Lean on the steps you took to get to this point, and be confident in my personal mantra that "You've already done the work..."   *** If

It's not always easy to hear other people's opinions about how you can improve - let's face it, we all have egos.  But in my journey, rarely has my next level of success been on the other side of praise and flowery feedback. It typically only surfaces after I've heard something that I didn't want to hear.  Ouch. I talk to professionals of all stripes who find themselves in one of two positions: on the one hand they may be the recipients of feedback that doesn't feel good. The delivery may have been rough. They get defensive or feel hurt. Or on the other hand they're getting zero feedback - but clearly need it, because their career is at a standstill. Who would you rather be? While it's not always great to hear the ways we can improve, if we have people in our lives who are willing to level with us, that's a true gift.  It's not always easy to welcome it with open arms, but if it can help you fill in your gaps and level up, consider feedback a gift.   *** If you're looking for more media exposure for

Work hard, play hard.  Nice mantra, but I rarely live it. In fact, I find it hard to to play hard - but working hard comes easy.  Maybe you can relate? As a high achiever especially, you may be able to get into your work groove easily, but relaxing your self to play? Not always so easy. I'm working on being more intentional when it comes to playing hard. What's all the work for after all if I'm not able to enjoy the fruits of my labor?   ***   If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us.

So much work we do goes unnoticed and uncelebrated. It's easy to keep our heads down doing what needs to be done. Sometimes it can feel demoralizing when others don't seem to take notice of all you do at work or at home. I recently realized how much of my hard work is getting noticed - even when I don't feel think it is. It made me think of how much of what we do is likely more noticed than we realize... *** If you're looking for more media exposure for your personal brand, check out Maximum Exposure my PR mastermind for established personal brands, and apply to join us in July.

While it's nice to think it's never too late to follow your dream, in reality, some dreams have a shelf life.  Whether they depend on you being youthful, a relevant technology, or your own level of personal freedom, there are periods in all of our lives when it's easier to do certain things than others.  That's why you should strike while the iron is hot. Don't wait to feel ready, don't wait to leap; if you wait too long, you may miss your moment. As a good friend and PR expert shared with me when discussing one of my brand ideas, "the window for this opportunity will close soon...so if you want to make a mark on this issue, do it soon..." I share the same idea with you. None of us are getting any younger. Technology changes at rapid speed. The pace of business is dizzying. If you have an idea that is marketable now, launch it. If you have always dreamed of living abroad and a job opportunity opens up overseas, take it. If you have a book idea and the topic is hot right now, write it. Strike while the

I'm a collector - and have always been. You could call me a digital packrat, and I couldn't argue with you. By that I mean, I don't let content go to waste - as much as possible, I create shareable nuggets from whatever I have to say. No one does this better than Gary V - his entire life is content, and he approaches it as such.  But for you or me, how can we start building a brand library, and how can it help us? For me, making sure to create content that creates a hyperlink has been key to growing my searchability over the years. If you google my name, there's a lot to find, and that's by design. I may not have one million followers, but I have million dollar SEO.  Being searchable online helps clients find me, and has helped corporations begin the process to bring me into speak. But it's because I don't "throw away" my best ideas on Instagram stories or Snapchat. I create a record and a library by putting them here, on the podcast or on the blog. Whenever I can, I'm looking for ways to create a hype

While attending a women's leadership conference in California, I heard one of the presenters drop a nugget that I don't think I'll soon forget. When addressing a room full of junior leaders, many of whom were concerned about "work-life balance" (or more fashionably, "work-life integration") she mentioned that she didn't think she or any of her fellow panelists believed they 'had it all'. "I don't think any of us up here believes that we have it all," she said before pausing. "But then again, maybe we do..." Have you ever considered that you already 'have it all' in this very moment - or at least all that you dreamed of one year ago, or ten years ago? Are you present to the absolute miracles that are unfolding in your personal life, at work, in your business, in your relationships? We tend to tune out the everyday evolutions, the incremental signs of growth -while making sure not to miss that important email, or phone call or text. And in doing so, we're blind to the many miracles we're ironically setting

Your brand needs a process - that is if you want to monetize.  But are you aware of what your process is? Most people aren't aware of it, but we typically have a way we go about getting results for others.  If you can outline step-by-step how you make the magic so to speak, your genius will be much easier to communicate and to sell.

If you're planning to monetize your personal brand - and by that I mean, you're ready to cash in on the expertise you've been unwittingly accumulating over the years, one of the very first things you'll need is a process. And by that I don't just mean a process to sign people up for your service, or a process to accept payments while those are also important processes to have.  What I mean by a process is the actual process you take yourself through whenever you're doing what you do best. It's easy to not even notice your personal process for results when you work within a larger organization - you may confuse your personal process with the organization's process, and the two may be very similar. But more often than not, you bring a degree of personalization and specialization to everything you tackle, due to the fact that you are you. Some of the benefits of having a process for your genius? 1. Your current and future clients will know what to expect 2. Having a process makes you feel more confident i

Too many of us err on the side of humility when it comes to crafting our personal brand messages. But humility won't sell you. Think about the opportunities you're up for - you're likely competing with others. And while you shouldn't view your life as a competition, to a degree it is. When you have to make the case for why you over someone else, your humility can be a liability. Many people fear that they come off as "obnoxious" when they describe why they're the best fit. But if you're telling the truth, there's nothing obnoxious about your truth. It is what it is.   Check out the June 10, 2019 issue of Washington Post Express for a quote by yours truly!

The past 48 hours have been far from ideal. But in retrospect, they could have been far worse. I'm holding onto that nugget as I process the past and attempt to move forward, but quite honestly, earlier today I hit an emotional wall. It is taking some serious self-coaching to get myself back into a good headspace, and I'm not even completely there yet. Thankfully, life has a funny way of giving you perspective when you're too wrapped up in yourself to see how inconsequential the small things really are. What do you do when you hit an emotional or mental wall? How do you bring yourself back? How do you refocus yourself? I'd love to hear how you process.

If you’ve been building your brand for any length of time, you likely have a body of work. But are you leveraging all the work you’ve done and ideas you’ve shared up to this point? I was reviewing one of my websites and realized I have accumulated 6 years of regular content. Yet when people encounter me TODAY, they may only be aware of a small snapshot of what I’ve done. I will be the first to say I could do a better job of sharing stuff from my archives to those who may have missed it the first time. What about you? Remember - good ideas are worth repeating.

When it comes to personal branding, most people will remember the message not the photos or logo. When you eat, breathe ,and live what you care about the most, people take notice. They'll think of your topic and then think of you.   When you stay on message,  you stay top of mind.   You don’t have to be featured in a major publication for people to understand what you’re passionate about. Your passion for what you do should ooze through you at home and at work whether you're delivering a talk on stage or making small talk with colleagues. 3 Ways to stay on message when it comes to what you care about? Rant about what bothers you in the industry Tell personal stories about what has happened to you in relation to your topic of expertise Let your wider network know whenever you get the chance to speak or do formal media on your topic   If people don’t understand what you do, that’s a messaging problem you can fix. My program and others are designed to tackle that. But if people don’t know what you’re

How many times have you formed an opinion based on one person's comment? How many times have you made up your mind about a restaurant, a company, or a city after only having experienced it one time, or reading one bad review? Do you tell yourself a story based on only 1-2 pieces of evidence? And when it comes to going after clients, pitching yourself for media opportunities, or leveling up in your career - have you ever decided to give up after hearing one no? We're all guilty of having done this at least once or twice. But my message for you today? Cast a wider net before you call it quits. This is a wide and vast planet, with over  7 billion people at my last check. While you may not have been able to sell the last person you pitched on your idea, your business or yourself - you have likely not exhausted all of your options. It's impossible to exhaust the option in most things, especially when there are new ones popping up that you may not even be aware of. Here's your reminder of that - before you

I'm not sure if it's a high achiever thing or what, but overthinking has cost me so much as a professional. And it's directly tied to feelings of imposter syndrome. In the past, when feelings of imposter syndrome made me anxious, I would find myself waking up in the middle of the night. If it hit me during waking hours, my stomach would turn somersaults whenever my stress point was triggered. In recent years, I've learned a powerful reframe that I use whenever I start to veer toward anxiety. And that simple mantra? "I've already done the work." Shout out to my friend Dr. Reisha Moxley who gave me that excellent mantra. It's come in handy more times than I can count. If you struggle with imposter syndrome - face it, we all feel like imposters at one point or another - try that mantra on and see how it helps you. Then think if you're letting one failure cripple you indefinitely as I discussed in episode 80. If you find that you are, make a list of every single reason you're ready for this opportunity. An

When I was a little girl, I remember thinking I was always doing too much. In fact, the message was reinforced by the well-meaning adults in my life who I felt wanted to put me in a box. But they probably wanted me to fit in more than anything else. And as a parent now who is in charge of shaping young people, I can relate to the instinct to want your child to fit in at all costs. But some of us were just born to be different. Some of us were born to stand out. Some of us have to do the most - it's just our natural speed. Leaning into this daily podcast challenge has helped me see that doing a little extra is my normal. And while I may not keep the daily episodes going forever, it's certainly easier to pull off than I thought it would be. In part because, I thrive when I'm given a big challenge. I like to be stretched a little more than usual. I'm in my bag when I've got something absurd to achieve.  "Regular" doesn't keep my attention. Reflection questions for you - what were you doing as a young per

I've noticed a funny thing on calls with friends, clients and prospects over the last few days. And that is the idea that because you're giving your skills away to friends and family, they're not worth anything in the marketplace. And it's an easy assumption to make. Think about it - if you routinely offer up your life-changing, career-catapulting, business-building skills to friends and family for free, you'll subconsciously get the message that your skills aren't worth anything. So be mindful when you offer up freebies to those you love. Help friends and family out with your gifts. But don't make the mistake of assuming that just because people don't pay they're not getting massive value from what you're serving up. You're not fulfilling a passion or hobby - you're operating a pro bono business that is already generating value for the world. You just haven't figured out how to extract compensation for the value you provide yet. More on that in a future episode :)