WHY YOU SHOULD BUILD THE PERSON BEFORE YOU BUILD THE BRAND // A thought ??

Over the past 4 years of running The Powerclass Masterclass I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with and working with over 400 women through our masterclasses, workshops, events and our 12-week programme - all focused on helping women reclaim their power.?

Everything we have done over the years is because sadly I witnessed far too many women kill their dreams due to lack of confidence, self-esteem and opportunities. I was surrounded by aunties who gave their all to their families only to be treated like a doormat. I went to events and met young women who had been abused at a young age and robbed of their confidence. I had conversations with friends who had massive dreams that they let go of because life handed them some tough cards. And yet, in the midst of all of that, I knew that we deserved more.

Our 12-week programme is usually split into 3 parts:

Part 1: Personal Development and Confidence

Part 2: Social Media Marketing and Branding

Part 3: Business and Finance

And in that exact order with every single cohort that I welcome.?

This order is particularly important because it is a direct reflection of how we should lead our lives. I am a big believer in women building their own wealth as whether we like it or not, money is leverage, leverage that I believe every woman should have. And yet money, business, wealth still comes last, even after marketing and branding.?

Founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos once said: Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. I believe that this definition is the closest to how I perceive branding. Branding is your reputation. It’s what people believe about you before you’ve even opened your mouth, and once again, whether we like it or not, each and every one of us is a walking brand. We all represent something, so I personally believe that we might as well represent that something, well.

And yet even that doesn’t come first.?

Personal development i.e. working on ‘you’, not employee you, not business owner you, not even mum or dad you, just ‘you’, is the most important area of our lives to build. I’m talking about the ‘you’ that you are when nobody else is watching. The ‘you’ that has to live with yourself when everyone has left the room. The ‘you’ that you would be if everything in your life was stripped away. That is who I’m concerned about, especially with women who more often than not, tend to make everything about everyone else as we neglect the very thing that we should honour to the highest degree: ourselves.

We’ve all seen it before, the people who seemingly had it all - the lifestyle, the money, the fame. But in their core they were lost and broken. So when I say that you should build the person before the brand, it’s because while all the other stuff is amazing, it means nothing if you’re not well mentally, emotionally and spiritually. All it does is dress the wounds with silver and gold, all of which have to be removed when you’re home alone anyway.?

But when you’re able to work on yourself, everything else that comes from you: the cars, the lifestyle, the job, the brand, the career, the children, it all comes from a place of overflow. It can’t consume you, and if lost it can’t break you - because it wasn’t your foundation.?

So let me challenge you this afternoon. If I were to ask you, outside of all the “stuff” or the “brand/ business”, or even the career, have you actually taken the time to work on you? What would you say?