How 'Spotlight on Self' can help in discovering your Personal Brand

Recently, I have been offered to be featured in The Spotlight on our newsletter, it is not a biggie. Every new member on the team gets this opportunity to be featured to promote the act of getting to know each other. But I took this opportunity to keep a "Spotlight on Self" with laser focus (a technique I learned from the "MakeTime" book), as these days ‘Personal Branding’ topic is intriguing me the most. With that respect, I have answered simple and fun questions exploring myself in search of who I am. Oh boy! That exercise introduced a new self to me and helped me in discovering my Brand. I suggest everyone should try this exercise for fun, as you may discover your Brand too.

Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room! - Jeff Bezos

Since I love sharing, here are a few tips that I have followed to put a 'Spotlight on Self' that helped me in discovering my personal brand:

1.????First write a summary about yourself, that describes you and your personality (in short and impactful words)

2.????Pick few simple and fun questions, but keep the effort in answers, where they portray your perception towards life and events.?

3.????Answer the questions with statements that illustrate your values (it takes time, you may have to scribble, scratch, and rewrite, but it'll be worth it in the end). Keep it to one or two sentences with crisp, condensed, and clear messaging.?

4.????Be genuine and authentic in your answers. Keep it simple and make sure you don’t go overboard.?

5.????No one is perfect, it is okay to talk about failures and small stuff, add a little sense of humor where you can.?

Here is the fun 'Spotlight on Self' write-up:

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Mythreyi "my3" Vattikuti is a Program Manager/Coach by role, Technologist on mind, and Problem Solver at Heart. She is a computer science master's graduate from UTD and has 20 years of professional experience across multiple domains like Health Care, FinTech, and Search Engine Optimization. For My3, her three (1 husband + and 2 kids) are the world, and they keep her life adventurous and fun-filled.

Building high-performing teams, facilitating great collaboration and making positive impacts are her trademarks. Solving problems with creative and innovative solutions is her energy. Networking, connecting with people, and maintaining friendships are her oxygen. User experience, Customer satisfaction, and Employee engagement are the items she thrives on and focuses on. She believes in “Happy Humans Yield Greater Outcomes” hence, she always brings fun and cheers to the table (along with her baked creations)!

What was your first job and what do you do now? Tell us a little about your career path.

If I can count my on-campus job, my first job was as a Data Entry Operator at ISA (Indian Student Association) at UTD. Once I graduated, I started as a Programmer Analyst at a Healthcare company and became Sr. Software Engineer at Ernst Young. Then I became a Lead Software Engineer at a SEO based start-up company where I had to work with Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search Engines in creating effective and optimized Ad Platforms. My passion for Agile made me step into a Scrum Master role at MedAssets. That switch in career transformed me to grow into a collaborative leader and enabled me in helping many teams to become self-organized and high-performing. Later, my quest to explore Agile at a Large Scale made me try different roles as an Agile Delivery Lead and Program Manager at CapitalOne, with the focus on delivering secure login and authentication experiences to card and bank customers via web and mobile platforms at the shared services layer. To explore the experience of being part of the Product Aligned Organization transformation, I have joined Chase. Now, I am a Program Manager /Product Agility Lead (PAL) at Chase Auto and thoroughly enjoying the stride on this product transformation ride.

What’s a small moment in your daily life when you feel completely at peace?

When I sip into my morning coffee (Indian-style creamy coffee, you can call it Cappuccino). I keep my mind free of everything to enjoy it thoroughly every bit of it. Yes, morning coffee is my meditation. ??

If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?

Anything related to flying. Either it could be flying jets/planes or becoming an astronaut. I believe that the sky is not the limit and I always want to explore beyond the sky (space that is).

What’s your idea of a perfect getaway?

Getting lost in nature is my perfect getaway, whether it's the creek behind my house or a mountain in Colorado, a valley in California, or any exotic tropical destination. I enjoy sunrises, sunsets, stargazing, and the moonlight wherever I am.

In what ways do you demonstrate leadership at work?

For me, Leadership is not a position or a title, it is an action or a behavior, I demonstrate by living it every day. I believe in “Be The Change You Want to See In The World” when you become the change, that is when you led by example and took part in the self-less act of creating many leaders.

What’s your favorite season?

The Spring season, as it represents growth and progress. Sprouting, new leaves, and a new life in Spring brings me immense joy.

What energizes you at work? What drains you at work?

Solving customers’ problems with effective and innovative solutions in a collaborative environment, with open and honest communication, energizes me the most at work.

Bureaucracy, backtalking, hidden agendas, manipulation, and monotony drain me the most at work.?

What do you do for fun? What are some of your hobbies?

Exploring places by travel and expanding time with experiences along with family is fun for me. Traveling the world is my dream, and I visited 10 countries so far. Cooking, gardening, filming, and video editing are other fun hobbies.

If you had to pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

my3 – (lol)!

It would be ‘Jasmine (pure & bliss)’ - I want to be like that flower, it can be the light in the darkness, and can spread its impact(scent) even when unseen/hidden.

What was your favorite subject in school??

I love numbers since I was a kid to till today. Mathematics was my favorite subject in school, even now I borrow my kid’s math textbooks to compare with my childhood math (yes, I get eye-rolls from my kids for that). Trigonometry, Calculus, and Algebra all give me goosebumps. I have received many honors and scholar awards in Math Quizzes and Talent search exams during school days.

What are some of your favorite books?

#1 "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch is my favorite book, it motivated me to leave something for legacy and that thought helped me in starting my food blog. (www.yummyodds.com)

#2 "INSPIRED" by Marty Cagan is the book that inspired me to explore more into Product Development with Customer Experience emphasis.

#3 "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie – is a self-help book that keeps me grounded and helps me in leading a quality life with balance. (I keep this book on my desk within reach for reference from time to time.)

If you had to choose a different career, what would it be?

It will be something related to food or math. I always have wild thoughts of having a food truck business or creating my brand of culinary products or establishing a math academy.

?What is your favorite memory?

There are 2 memories, that will be my lifetime favorites since those two memories recreated me. The first one is when I got the state 6th rank in 10th grade, it is not about the accolade itself, but a small-town girl from a small school attaining it created a buzz. That gave me a new identity and boosted my confidence in what I am capable of. The second one is when I heard two heartbeats inside me and the experience of entering motherhood, which gave me a whole new identity as a Mother. I am blessed to be a female/woman to have that experience and am proud of it.

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Here is the outcome, My Personal Brand that evolved from the above write-up:

Once you have gathered the content and keywords that describes you and your core values, then you need a format/framework to consolidate them into a brand statement. I have explored many branding frameworks and really liked Anna Lundberg's branding template and adapted mine from it.

At the end, with this exercise, I have learnt that, we already have a unique brand and living it everyday with set of core values and strengths, but keeping a spotlight on your self enables you to discover it, makes it visible that helps others perceive you the same way you are.

Disclosure: this article is not to brag about myself, just to share my fun experience of how spotlighting on self with real focus, helped me in discovering and drafting my brand. Our brand could change/differ over time as things around us evolve and we grow to those situations, it is best to keep this exercise frequent every couple of years to see how your brand is evolving too.

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