How to find your personal brand's DNA

Do this exercise to find — and communicate about — the threads that bind you

“Personal brand DNA? What’s that?” you might wonder.

As I sit here writing this piece, I have a notion of what “personal brand DNA” means because I know what I want to share with you.

But because I’m not entirely sure if what I’m thinking has already been said yet or not, I asked for a little help from Google.

Here are the top three results, numbered in order according to date: Social Media Examiner, Everyone Social, and Entrepreneur. (I always plunder the latest sources first when researching just about anything!)

First up, Social Media Examiner.

This post on SocialMediaExaminer.com is based on a podcast interview between Michael Stelzner and Rory Vaden, co-founder of the Brand Builders Group. In it, the two talk about why you should care about building a personal brand and how to start developing it based on your message, the problems you solve, the research you’ve conducted, and the results you’ve generated. It then goes into the Group’s proprietary process, which doesn’t mesh with what I’m thinking about your personal brand’s DNA.

NEXT!

Second on the list is a post from Everyone Social.

This post is half “why you need a personal brand,” half “nine steps to building a personal brand.” Those nine steps are more about what to do once you DISCOVER your personal brand’s DNA. My thinking, which I’ll share with you soon, goes into that discovery aspect.

NEXT!

The third source is Entrepreneur, with a 2016 how-to piece on how to create your personal brand.

This piece starts with why you need a personal brand, followed by seven sentences under the heading, “Define your brand DNA clearly.” Six of those seven sentences are questions, which makes this Entrepreneur piece the closest to (but still a far cry from) what I want to share with you about how to discover your personal brand’s DNA.

And I’m excited to actually share my method with you, starting now.

Clues to your personal brand’s DNA

My inspiration for the exercise that follows comes from Anne Trubek, founder of Belt Publishing, an independent press that publishes works related to the Rust Belt and greater Midwest.

Anne’s newsletter, “Notes from a Small Press,” has given me a glimpse into what I find to be a fascinating subject — running a small press.

She talks about profits (Belt’s and its authors), print on demand, editing, fact-checking, returns, what a publisher actually does, and a whole lot more.

One of her recent issues, “Words are not things. Words are things.” fired me up because it helped me to recognize a thread that has been running through my own life from an early age.

Here, I share two paragraphs from Anne’s piece (shared with permission, emphasis mine). See if they stoke the fire of introspective inquisition for you, too.

Two things stand out:

1. Ann discovered that she’d been focused on the same thing since she was 16 years old.
2. A single thread connected her decades of experience, although people looking at her CV wouldn’t see it.

Same goes for me.

People looking at my CV would see seemingly disconnected experiences: accounting gigs, a bachelor’s in accounting, a master’s certificate in professional and technical writing, and an almost 20-year stint as a self-employed marketing writer and editor.

I also completely relate to Anne’s experience of having others point out the thread that had woven itself through her life.

She almost cried!

I so get it!

Here’s the second paragraph that struck me:

Everything she’s done has revolved around books.

After reading that newsletter, I wrote to Anne for permission to quote her because I knew I had to write this post. Anne’s story helped me to recognize and articulate MY thread. And I knew it’d be a great example to help you discover yours.

Next up, I’ll share my thread with you as another example. It’s a bit long, so if you’re not interested in reading it, just scroll on down to the exercise section. I won’t be offended :)

An example: the thread that reveals my personal brand’s DNA

My thread begins with a handful of blurry memories. I see my mother, reading in her worn, golden-toned armchair, feet tucked beneath her slim legs, glasses perched on her petite nose, a steaming cup of tea cooling on the table to her side.

This daughter wanted to be a beautiful, sophisticated reader like her dear mother.

That's me on top, my mother, and my three little sisters.

I also see my parent’s tall, tall glass bookshelf that, to my then-tiny self, seemed to reach to the sky. Top to bottom, those shelves overflowed with a potpourri of science fiction, history, and reference books, many of which, like my dad’s “Odd Book of Data,” I took with me when I left home for the first time. A love for those types of knowledge-y books has stayed with me, and I passed that love on to at least one of my children.

The next strand of my thread appeared in seventh grade, when my English teacher, Mr. Black, asked me to write a column for the middle school paper. I still see Mr. Black in my mind's eye now. He has a neatly trimmed mustache and wears always-shiny black shoes. Mr. Black once called me “congenial” and said I had a nice smile. When he asked me to write for the paper, I was surprised and more than pleased; I had never thought of writing — my writing — as anything particularly special until I looked back on this memory.

I also see my tenth grade English teacher, Mr. Lombard, a lean, graying, distinguished fellow, rolling up his sleeves and, with relish, teaching me words I loved (and still love!) to roll off my tongue — ubiquitous, epitome, mellifluous, zenith.

And although her name is forgotten, I see my eleventh grade English teacher, a cute pixie of a lady with flowing, colorful skirts, a bob haircut, and a warm, friendly smile. She is reading my Beowulf poem aloud to the class. I am so proud! After all, this is honors English, and I am surrounded by so many senior hunks! She wanted to submit my poem to a literary publication, although I don’t recall whether it ever happened.

After graduating high school, I went straight into the workforce, taking on increasingly responsible accounting jobs until I could rise no more without benefit of a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

While working, I continued to write, submitting articles to Family Circle, Women’s Day, and other publications. I eventually landed an assignment from Grit Magazine, which published two of my pieces — one on how to create a home aquarium, another on odd associations, for instance, the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and the Association for the Preservation of the Coelacanth (a fish).

I kid you not: https://gombessa.tripod.com/

Also while working in various accounting jobs, I wrote for local papers, regional and specialty magazines, and chambers of commerce. I even created, wrote, and published a newsletter for the non-profit I was working for — as a bookkeeper.

When I decided to get my college degree, the writing thread grew stronger, thicker. I remember Professor Harrison, with his large-rimmed black glasses, neatly buttoned baby-blue oxfords, and color-coordinated, wrinkle-free navy slacks. He appears the very picture of intelligence, poise, and confidence, a look that complements his rococo speaking style and thick, Caribbean-tinged British accent.

I see Professor Harrison pushing a rickety cart filled with his very own, precious copy of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). I see him sharing his love of etymology while writing with flourish on the board, and encouraging us to think critically rather than to simply regurgitate content.

I’ve always wanted my own copy of the OED, but not enough to fork out more than $1,000 for it. I wouldn’t want to buy it used; for the most part, I like my books fresh, crisp, and clean, thank you very much.

Want your own copy of the OED? It’s just $1,155 on the Barnes and Noble website!

Even an online subscription to the OED has always been too expensive, at somewhere around $300 a year.

I check pricing regularly.

Happily, while looking up a word on the OED early this year, I discovered that a subscription to the online version of it was ON SALE for around $90.

$90!!

A no brainer, especially considering my life-long zeal for words and their histories.

I subscribed.

Look at those olde sentences!

This is my first time, ever, “owning,” at least for a year, the Oxford English Dictionary!

I’m so happy! And Professor Harrison would be so proud.

The writing thread grew thicker still during my second semester in college with Professor Harrison as my professor again, this time for English 102.

One day, as class ended, he asked me to stop by his office. When I got there, he handed me a copy of my first Bill Bryson book, “The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way.”

Inside, he wrote, “For Renae. Continue the good work of reading, writing and research! Best wishes, Harrison. April, 1994.”

Touched, I was.

Also during that meeting, he asked about my degree path. It had been, at the time, accounting, because I’d been working in accounting jobs ever since my first job as an after-school bookkeeper for a small auto-parts store.

“Accounting?!” Professor Harrison said, wagging his finger. “No no no no no. You must become an English major!”

Wow. I’d never thought of that, at least not seriously.

Could I actually ditch accounting for a totally different profession? I was intrigued, and seriously began to research and consider it.

A degree in English might allow me to get work as a librarian. I love libraries!

Or maybe I could teach English on a college campus! I love college campuses!

How about a museum curator?! I love museums! YES, please!

I was one breath away from making the change when well-meaning relatives encouraged me NOT to major in English because, they said, I’d never make any money.

A good argument for accounting.

I did really enjoy accounting. And I was good at it.

I also enjoyed English. I was good at it.

But would a career as an English major make enough money to allow me to pay off student loans?

No, I daresay it would not.

With money being the deciding factor, I choose the accounting route.

Professor Harrison, when I told him, was theatrically devastated.

“No no no no no!” he bellowed. “Please, I BEG OF YOU, reconsider! You will SOAR as an English major! It is what you are here for! It is your destiny!”

I did mention theatrical, did I not?

But boy, it sure felt good to have someone I respected like my thinking and writing enough to beg me to join his profession.

I’ve never forgotten my time with Professor Harrison, likely because that time revealed a super-hefty, thick area of the thread that defines my personal brand’s DNA.

That thread continued to weave itself, unbroken, through my accounting career.

Employers and colleagues regularly asked me to write and edit letters, resumes, and brochures. I remember how pleased I was when the Finance Director at the Town of Longboat Key asked me to write a letter for him.

Me?!

I was the Town’s utility billing clerk.

Of course I did though; I wrote the letter. And of course he liked it.

This type of thing continued, with me writing up debits and credits and letters and brochures until one day, after having my third child in four years, I happened upon a book called something like … “How to Make $60,000 a Year as a Freelance Copywriter.”

I gobbled that book down in just a few hours.

By the time I got to the end, I was like, “Huh. I could do this. And I’m a better writer than he is!”

(Cocky, I was, back then.)

I invested $20 for a month’s membership on Elance (now Upwork), telling myself and my husband that if I made my $20 back, I’d re-up for another month.

I re-upped for several months, and then hired a developer to build my first website. Here’s a snapshot of it, thanks to the WayBackMachine.

My first website, captured by the WayBackMachine, on June 30, 2002

And … well … here I am, just shy of two decades later.

In hindsight, the writing thread running through my life is obvious, just as I suspect your thread will be.

• Being asked to write for the middle school newspaper by an English teacher who called me “congenial” and said I had a nice smile
• Fond memories of my 10th grade English teacher and the amazing words he taught me
• Being honored to have my 11th grade English teacher read my Beowulf poem aloud to the mostly 12th grade class — and wanting to publish it in a literary magazine
• Writing articles for local and national publications
• Being asked to create a newsletter for a non-profit organization where I worked as bookkeeper
• Professor Harrison begging me to become an English major

There’s actually more to the story, but I’ve shared enough for you to get the gist: writing, English teachers who liked and encouraged me, paper, creating content, editing.

Those pieces compose my thread. They’ve made me who I am today, a marketing writer and editor with a keen eye for detail and a love of words, learning, and the world.

If you’ve stuck with me throughout my story, THANK YOU!

Now, it’s time for you to discover YOUR personal brand’s DNA

Are you ready to uncover the thread that reveals your OWN personal brand’s DNA?

You might already have an inkling of what that thread may be, but by asking yourself a series of revealing questions, that inkling may turn into a sure knowing, the kind that will work to buoy and differentiate you in this crazy, competition-filled, Internet world.

And listen … if you want more than “knowledge,” then I encourage you to treat this exercise seriously. Get out a journal, open a new electronic page, or use this fillable PDF workbook to record your answers.

If you want the questions only, scroll on down; they begin underneath this workbook image.

THE QUESTIONS: Discover your personal brand’s DNA

Whether or not you use the free, downloadable workbook, allow yourself at least 30 minutes of quiet time to reflect as you answer.

The thread, if it’s there, will reveal itself.

PART 1: You, through elementary school

1. What did you like or love to do as a child?
2. When you think of and picture yourself as an elementary or middle-school child, what do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel?
3. As you look back, what is someone’s experience of that younger you? What do you want people to remember about that younger you?
4. Are there one or two incidents from your elementary and middle-school years that you look back on fondly, or with love and yearning?
5. What do you love and appreciate most about that younger you?

PART 2: You, through high school and college

1. What did you like or love to do when you were in high school? What did you like or love to do when you were in college?
2. When you think of and picture yourself as a high-schooler and college student, what do you see? Hear? Feel?
3. As you look back, what is someone’s experience of that younger you? What do you want people to remember about that younger you?
4. Are there one or two incidents from your high-school and college years that you look back on fondly, or with love and yearning?
5. What do you love and appreciate most about those high-school and college versions of you?

PART 3: You, throughout your career

1. What has your career path looked like? What roles have you held?
2. What was your focus in each of those roles?
3. What did you enjoy most about each of those roles? What did you hate most in each of those roles? Where there tasks or projects you enjoyed most? Hated most?

PART 4: The threads that bind you, today

1. Have you noticed any threads while answering the previous questions? Do you see major threads? Minor threads? What do those threads tell you about your personal brand’s DNA?

Did this exercise help you to discover the thread that binds YOU?

If so, leave a comment below, or look me up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. I’m all over the place online, and am easy to find.

I’d love to hear from you!

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