The Brand YOU

Many of you know I teach at UCLA. We just completed the Spring 2007 semester of International Marketing. It was a great group of students and it turns out I have really found a home in teaching. It is now part of my brand, my identity. I chose teaching as a venue to give back to the community. I've had the opportunity to learn alot in my life and I want to share it with others. I mentor students and have helped students get into Business School and get great jobs. It's very rewarding.

In class, we spend quite a bit of time discussing branding. There was a book out a few years ago called The Brand You by Tom Peters. It's a great concept. Tom talks about performing a personal brand equity evaluation every so often as a means of finding out what you're marketability is in your professional life.

The word of Tom's day was "reinvention". I call it "transitioning". Both concepts start with Know Thyself, and, in fact, that's what the brand equity evaluation is all about. You must have a baseline understanding of who and what you are and what you stand for. Then you can go about revolutionizing your portfolio of skills every few years to keep the Brand You meaningful to the marketplace.

So starting today you are a brand. You're every bit as much a brand as the iPod, Red Bull, Coke, or Starbucks. Brand managers at those companies ask this question of their brands: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different and unique? What is the promise of my brand?

I want you to do the same. What do YOU represent - in the workplace, at home, in your community, in your spiritual life? What is your promise? What is your committment? Write down words that come to you as the beginning of your journey in Knowing Yourself. It's fun and it's useful. And contact me at beverlymacy@gmail.com if you'd like some coaching in this area. I've got tons of experience to share and would love to help.