Who you are is not what you do. Your personal brand is not a title.

How do you normally introduce yourself? I am (so-and-so), (job title) of (name of company I work for).

The longer you are in your career and the bigger the establishment you work at, you may find yourself positioning yourself behind a corporate identity. There was a time where a uniform put you a class above others. There was a time where respect was automatically conferred to a title in a hierarchy. There was a time where there is group protocol and you have to tow the line.

A lot is changing and that is why there is so much talk about personal branding or people wanting to #putyourselfoutthere and to build a profile for themselves. But is that profile a collection of more titles such as mentor, volunteer, investor, coach, board of director or should it be something a lot more than that?

For me, personal brand means what I stand for, my beliefs and what gets me excited to get off my bed every morning (or lose sleep over), what I draw energy from. But the best way to convey that is through #storytelling. This is where your brand comes alive and you walk the talk and not JUST say what you believe in.

This is why I have been hosting #Womenchangemakers and we are bringing our 10th to New York, a city which changed my life when I was living here for 4.5 years and a city I return to annually for a month. At Womenchangemakers, accomplished corporate women share their personal journeys of change; not about how they made it in their career or their opinions about gender bias. The most defensible truth is that of your own story and being open and vulnerable about yourself says so much more about who you really are, or what you are made of.

As I was researching for outstanding women to introduce to my newly formed she1Kclub, I came across Laura who broke it down so simply. When you are thinking of your personal brand, consider this:

vision : (eyes) what you see as possible

mission : (hands) what you are going to create with your hands

purpose : (heart) why you? what's the essence in you that will make this happen?

And she added that "purpose" by default means making an impact on others (not self).

Next time you struggle with these buzz words, you now have an easy way to craft your story with.

Since late last year, I have been inviting senior corporate women of more than 15 years industry experience to join she1K, the world's first corp exec women angel network . One of my pitches was our corporate identity may evaporate and our roles stop. Hence start building a portfolio where you could grow and leverage all that you have built and create the impact on the future of change and innovation.

Then I also came across Karen Tiber Leland's talk at Google, sharing the 12 archetypes featured in her book, The Brand Mapping Strategy, I find that it is a useful framework for building your #personalbrand or your story around that. I will be keen to get our speakers and audience pick out which is the dominating archetype they subscribe to on Sept 7 WomenChangemakers NYC. Here's just 9 of them.

1. Synthesizer - integrator, blender, producer
2. Mentor - advisor, teacher, guide
3. Connector - networker, arranger, coordinator
4. Visionary - conceptualiser, idealist, dreamer
5. Motivator - cheerleader, influencer, persuader
6. Maker - artisan, creator, inventor
7. Advocate - activist, campaigner, champion
8. Implementer - achiever, administrator, executer
9. Interpreter - translator, transformer, changer

Which of these resonates most with you? Which of these reminds you of someone you admire?

Follow us on

facebook, instagram and youtube

Join the right club if you are a #womeninmarketing and/or #womenintech