Jennifer Folsom is the DC Metropolitan area Director of Momentum Resources, a boutique staffing firm specializing in placing professionals in flexible and reduced hours positions with smart organizations.
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what's your brand? (part 2)
by Julie Kang
Thursday, June 04, 2009 07:18 AM
We will return to Gabrielle Bernstein in the next 2 blogs. Next will be a Q&A with Gabrielle. She shares her personal stories including how she launched her career. In the last blog, Gabrielle demonstrates the steps she applies to help others reach their goals.
If you read “what’s your brand?” you know the importance of managing your brand image. I received several emails from readers who assessed their own after reading the blog, and are now in the process of creating an image that best reflects who they are and that sends the right message to potential employers and/or clients.
Here is one of the emails I received from a reader.
“I wanted to thank you, because the blog about ‘branding’ yourself was very encouraging. I think that everything you said was right on. It actually encouraged me to do some cleaning up. I had been trying to find out how to hide my Facebook, blogs, etc. from online searches. Believe it or not, I was in denial about people searching for my name or email for the longest time, until I found myself conducting online searches on some of my colleagues...
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If you read the last blog, you now have an idea of who Gabrielle Bernstein is. In the video, Gabrielle describes her personal story of how she discovered her dream, shares her passions, and describes how she helps others reach their goals. I love the metaphors Gabrielle uses to describe what she does. One that I especially like is how she perceives herself as a “plumber.” She explains that she helps you clear your channel and insides so that you can receive the inner guidance that resides in you. More details are in the video.
Here’s a chronology of some of the main events that occurred in Gabrielle Bernstein’s life.
• 1997 summer before college (first existential crisis – my mother taught me to meditate)
• 2001 Graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in theater and no interest in being an actress
• Summer 2001 – Wrote the desire statement: I want to work with people, publicize things I believe in and wear my gym clothes to work (I need to be an entrepreneur!)
• Fall 2001 – Created W.E.N the Women’s Entrepreneurial Network – worked as a freelance event planner/publicist
• Fall 2002 – Incorporated first For Profit Business SparkPlug Communications – (boutique pr firm in nyc)
• 2003 – Began speaking publicly in local NYC Universities on vocational topics
• October 2, 2005 – Second existential crisis – Shifted Gears...
Since I began the HeelsConnect journey, I’ve met so many amazing, talented, successful women. The support I have been and am receiving from friends and strangers (now friends) has been overwhelming. People are constantly introducing me to fabulous women, and I, in turn, connect them to others. It really is a small world, and even smaller when you start examining it closely.
Shortly after HeelsConnect launched, I received an email from Bevin Reilly. Bevin introduced herself as the Brand Ambassador for the social networking Web site herfuture.com, and asked if we would be interested in collaborating with herfuture.com to promote both websites (I love this kind of tenacity). Bevin then went on to describe Gabrielle Bernstein, the founder of herfuture.com, and after reading about Gabrielle, I knew I had to contact her.
About a month ago, Gabrielle and I spoke on the phone, and we met in person when she was in Los Angeles on a business trip. This is best way I can describe her.
When you were in high school, I’m sure you knew girls who seemed to have it all. The popular ones, who were pretty, looked great in everything they wore, and were liked by all the guys. Then you get to know them and discovered that they were bitches – for no good reason other than that they can be and get away with it. And you hate them. But, once in a while, you meet one who possesses all of the enviable qualities, except she is smart and genuinely NICE. And you want to hate her even more, but you can’t, because she is so likable. And that, ladies (and a few gentlemen), is how I best describe Gabrielle Bernstein.
When Ed asked me this question I immediately thought of shoe brands. I love Kate Spade heels – just one of the many that bankrupts me at times. But this is not what Ed was asking; he was referring to ME! Who am I as a brand?
Ed is a brilliant marketer. At my last company, when anyone had a question related to branding and marketing, Ed was the go-to guy. And just as every product is branded, every person is branded. Let me repeat this so that you thoroughly understand that YOU ARE A BRAND.
Think of your resume as the wrapping around YOU. Interested shoppers (potential recruiters) are looking for a pair of shoes (potential employees) to see if there is a good fit. Shoppers try on several pairs of shoes (interviews) hoping to find a pair to purchase (hire). Just as the wrapping around a product entices the shopper to look closer, your resume serves as a vehicle to a potential interview.
Pretend that you are hired (or don’t pretend if you’re currently employed). Your resume looked great and you passed several rounds of interviews with flying colors. An offer was made and you are now on board. Should you stop “branding” yourself because you have been purchased? NO! It is just the beginning.
Being “bought” does not mean that you are indispensable...
My laptop crashed this past weekend. I can handle most crises – small or monumental – relatively well. But, when it comes to technology, I lose it.
The first time I watched the Sex and the City episode where Carrie’s computer crashed and she found out that people back up their work, the same thought went through my head. She asked “Does everyone secretly go home and back up?” or something along that line. The last time my computer caught a virus I lost most of my work – which almost killed me. You would think that I would have learned the lesson but I didn’t; I still didn’t back up afterwards.
This past weekend, I dealt with the computer breakdown drama, and finally purchased hardware to back up my work. Tuesday morning, I tried to forget everything and start a new week with a positive attitude. My morning routine is walking through a nearby park with my dog, Rocket; this is when I do my best thinking. At the other end of the park is a Starbucks where I get my morning coffee. Tuesday morning, when I reached for a five dollar bill to pay for the coffee, I realized it fell out of my pocket. I was annoyed, but began to walk back through the park to return home.
Then I realized I had lost more than five dollars; I lost my set of keys to my home and car. I didn’t even have my cell so I really needed to find my keys. Replacing my Toyota Prius smart key alone costs at least $500. Here I was hoping for a great start to a week after an awful weekend – no such luck. I’m running around frantically looking for a set of keys in a park.
The park is huge; it is at least a mile wide. Rocket and I usually run through the park – not in a straight line but all over the place – so I couldn’t really trace my steps. Finding keys in this park is like finding a needle in a haystack. The joggers felt sorry for me, but I could tell they were thinking the same: ‘good luck trying to find keys in this park.’
I walked around for an hour and was just about to give up when I saw a group of students with their gym teacher. I sprinted (faster than I ever have) over to the teacher as they were leaving the park and asked if they could stay for 5 minutes longer to help locate my keys. When he said “No, we have to get back to school,” I heard one of the kids say “I can help. I’m very good at finding things.” Then another joined and another. The next thing I knew there were about twenty-five 5th graders spread out in the park looking for my keys. After 10 minutes,...
