On Tuesday, April 28th, Pamela Wise will share her expertise on personal branding at the CPRS professional development event, Building Brand YOU, at the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver. In this Q&A preview, Emily Marroquin, CPRS volunteer and research coordinator at Peak Communicators, speaks with Pamela on her passion for branding and asks her to reveal a few successful personal brands.
How did you become interested in personal branding?
From working in casting and managing talent, I am curious about the X factor in people and whether that transfers to camera, or now especially, online. The essence of observing one’s brand is similar to casting – we are trying to match character to storyline, or in a business modality, one’s values to one’s vision.
What are some of the major personal branding faux pas in the current marketplace?
Online they can run the gamut from passport photo vacant, to glaring narcissism, to insincere cheesy sales person. Unless that is truly who your ideal client is; these impressions are limiting.
How long, in your opinion, can it take to recover from a negative personal brand?
We can’t fully remove every reference to us online, but we can replace them with a long stream of positive ones. The strongest opportunities for recovery are person to person, by resetting those misconceptions, and letting individuals decide for themselves.
What is the value to learning about personal branding?
The value would be understanding and affecting your impact in your community, how you are perceived, and when people respond best to you. Ultimately you want to influence others to want to connect with you – resumes and job details are the final stages of those intentions.
Can you give any examples of people you feel are doing personal branding well?
Jackie Ellis, owner of Beaucoup who is described as a lifestyle entrepreneur on her website,www.beaucoupbakery.com is my favorite local example. She breathes her brand and when she shares in person or online, it is a cohesive and natural extension of herself. Her Instagram feeds are a delightful walk through her most treasured passions of food, travel and education. She shares small, lovely moments that feel intimate and connect us much more deeply to her brand’s inspiration and values.
On a grander scale, the Obama’s truly amaze me! They are solid examples of brand consistency; they don’t waver from their core truths. And they have used their trusted brands to further some powerful initiatives. They seem to be having fun too, now with viral videos and showing some spirit that highlights other elements to celebrate their success in a lighter way.
You are presenting at a CPRS event on April 28th. Who do you feel is the ideal audience for your talk?
My ideal audience is one that is interested in marketing, and wants to develop their own provocative and powerful brand.
Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity see a world-class talent agent’s unique perspective on personal branding. Her expert advice and unique insights will surely help you create an effective personal brand–and more success.
