Clients and the general public often ask me what is personal branding.  It seems the term “personal branding” is as foreign and confusing to people as is the substance behind the term.

Simply put, personal branding is what people say about you behind your back.  What do people remember about you when you are not there? This is why I always harp on finding a way to be memorable and standing out of the crowd.

We’ve all at some point in our lives been involved in a conversation where we are trying to describe someone, who is not with us at that time, to our companion.  We often say things like, “She/He is the one with that great….posture, curly hair, smile, deep voice, height, green suit, etc.  Or else we say something like, “She/He is the one….who was grumpy, wouldn’t look you in the eye, had that really short skirt on, had that weird laugh, couldn’t describe her business.” You get the picture.

So the work we do with our personal branding clients is to allow clients to be in control of the personal brand they project and leave behind…for clients and prospective clients.  This involves work on appearance, behavior and communication, all the while being genuine and maintaining their integrity.  At the heart of our personal branding work is building self-confidence in everyone so they shine internally and externally and leave a great first impression and thus, a great personal brand.