How Journey Mapping Unlocked My Career As A Personal Branding Coach

As I started to write this article, it dawned on me literally in this moment, as I'm typing that I've been a Personal Branding Coach & Trainer for the last 5 years (while running a public relations firm for 15 yrs). How is that possible? For my Marvel/Avengers fans, it feels like the 2 years of the pandemic was our 5 year blip - time is moving right along with or without us.

The thing is I didn't even really understand what Personal Branding was until I started writing my 1st book on the topic in 2017 to then have it published in March 2018. You see, I've always understood the importance of showing up and the impact that this can have along your journey, but I didn't really give it a name.

I may have seen it more as being aware of the reputation that you were creating for yourself - the fact that we kind of are always "on" - and having the opportunity to curate ourselves because of our unique experiences and our unique journey in a way that no one else can. Giving us a brand, a competitive edge that stands out even in a noisy room, because no one can have quite the exact experience as you.

For someone that didn't end up graduating with a degree, I realized that throughout my career journey, I worked doubly hard to ensure that all the other areas of my of my brand were on point - I had to make it known that I still had something and some things to bring to the table, even without having what was required on paper. I also carried a piece of every experience with me into every new chapter of my life - adding value as I went along.

So back to the book, and what this has to do with Journey Mapping. In writing this book: PR Chick's Guide 8 Steps To Building Your Personal Brand - I had to take some time to reflect on my own journey, looking at all the things that led me where I was in 2017 preparing to write a book about Personal Branding.

It was in doing this introspection that I realized that every single aspect of my personal and professional journey held value - and so does yours. Not just the good things and the career highlights, but the not so great things, the roadblocks, the detours too. I started thinking about the people that helped me along the way, directly and indirectly, and also thought about when I had to literally change gears and calculate a new route.

I shared my own journey in these 8 steps, and to-date I have written 3 additional workbooks on #personal branding, spoken at local and international events and coached and trained hundreds of professionals on how to unlock their own journey and use their skills, knowledge, expertise and experiences to stand out in their own field or profession.

Understanding your journey, and appreciating all the little pieces that become the whole of who you are today is important. It's important as you move forward to your new destination to see what experiences and skills from your previous journey will be coming with you in the carry on (the things we never leave behind) and what you will be leaving in storage, because it no longer serves you.

And more importantly what will you be putting in the extra suitcase that you just checked in for whatever 2024 and beyond has in store for you.

In January, I will be hosting 2 Journey Mapping Workshops to help professionals who may feel like they are at a crossroads in their career journey, or may just be starting the journey or starting over again (and that's ok) or maybe just want some clarity on who they are becoming. It's the way I like to start the year - going back through journey, and appreciating the good and not so good moments in order to move forward and showing others how to do the same.

These workshops are limited to groups of 10 in order to have the full experience, so if you are interested in joining me - simply send me a DM with "journey mapping" or email me at [email protected]

You can also check out this article I wrote for Entrepreneur magazine on Journey Mapping .

The Journey Is The Reward