What’s Your Brand?

A brand is what people think of you. When your name comes to mind, what they think about, that’s your brand. — James Rubart

It can help to know what your brand is when you do anything entrepreneurial because then you stay true to who you are, to what drives you, to what keeps you aligned with your values and ideals.

I asked others about this on Facebook recently, and some people answered with a list of things they do or roles they fill rather than ways their presence affects a room or the person in front of them. They came up with

• friendly, smiley, tall
• chubby curmudgeon
• great hugger, a safe place
• too touchy, weirds people out
• weirdo
• mostly off the wall
• scarves
• introspective, kind of weird, crunchy mom
• strict, baby factory, grammar nazi, word lover
• consistent
• caring, objective, empathetic, hugger
• eclectic, creative geek
• mother, grandmother, writer … hopefully loving, patient, wise

When I asked others what they thought my brand is, I got

• HGTV fixer upper of self-help books
• salty
• smartypants
• helper, a deep sense and desire to help people find that which makes a difference in their hearts, minds, souls, and lives
• shamrocks and lucky stars
• God inspired
• pun loving
• teacher
• fun, humorous
• witty
• genuine
• forthright
• level headed, with a bit of an Irish devil sprite on one shoulder

I think it’s interesting that no one was willing to say anything negative about me whereas in their descriptions of themselves, they were sometimes more likely to look at what they thought people thought was wrong with them rather than what was great. I know that God always sees the great stuff he’s put in us. He doesn’t entirely care what others think. He knows he’s made a good ‘un.