I recently completed a Branding Program which was essentially a freshen up of a Program recorded some years’ ago. It’s a brilliant Program and one of the co-collaborators is someone who used to work with the likes of Michael Jackson, Martin Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, the list goes on. He’s produced million dollar TV commercials for the American Super Bowl. So he knows a thing or two about brands. Today I wanted to share my journey over the past few weeks’ of completing this Program and how I’ve transformed who I am and who I am being.
Without doing a review of the Program, I wanted to share my personal experience in the hope that it will give the reader some insights into how important it is to thoroughly understand who you really are in order to understand your audience. The Program really allowed me to look a lot closer as to who I’ve been over the decades. We are essentially who we really are when we were kids’. We had no filter – we just were. We were fun and fun loving. We were joyful and playful. We were wide-eyed and open to the world’s experiences. And I am constantly reminded of this fact by observing my 7 year old son and how he responds to people and the world around him. He just embraces life and gives everything a go. I remember being that way. But during the course of our lives, we learn behaviours. We learn to put up our guard. We learn that other people can hurt us. We learn to not trust. And just as we can learn, we can also unlearn. It took me some time to realize this.
So I sat for a time and considered what happened in my life to change my behaviours. In my teens I was very rebellious and had good reason to be – I moved around a lot whilst my Mother was institutionalized with mental illness. I was abused. When I got to my 20s, what I had learned was to not trust anyone, don’t let anyone get close and prove to those who abused me that I could actually be something and thus I became the over-achieving career woman. The sort who never wanted to marry nor have children. Pushed any sort of meaningful relationship away and – in not my finest moments – I used men for what I wanted. Just being raw here. In my 30s, I did get married and have a child and I put that child and my husband before me. What happened in doing that, I lost myself and had two nervous breakdowns. I wore baggy clothes so as not to get any negative attention from men. I married someone significantly older than me and much more stable and steadfast. Unlike me. After 7 years’ of marriage and 4 years’ of being a Mother, I realized that I really wasn’t happy and something was missing. What was missing was me. I was far too busy being a Mother and a wife that I lost myself. I wasn’t doing the things that ignited my fire. I was too busy being the support. When I got to my 40s, I met my current partner and that is when things really started to shift for me. I went through my mid-life crisis and started partying and doing the things I used to do in my 20s. Again, not my finest moment but it was a time of chrysalis. And now in my 50s, here’s I am. I love myself. I am that little pretty little girl (except now I consider myself a beautiful women) who enjoys wearing nice clothes and doing her hair instead of wearing daggy baggy jeans and jumpers and ugly shoes. I LOVE my wardrobe now. I LOVE my shoes and handbags. I LOVE my various hair extensions. And I LOVE wearing make-up. I have returned back to being who I really am – that vibrant, funny, fun-loving, joyful and playful little girl. I’m back to making people laugh. And I’ve fully embraced my life purpose and that is to support people to creating freedom and a lifestyle they love – whatever that means to them via coaching and home business. This is LIVING to me.
And I got all of this from a pretty simple Branding Program. Crazy, right? It has really supported me in getting clear not only on my target audience/niche, but who I am. Who I am being. What I stand for. Why I do what I do. How I show up. I spent so long on focussing outwards and writing out who my niche was and what she looks like. I even drew out a stick figure and wrote down all of the words that I felt best described her. What I failed to notice was that I was really describing myself. What a revelation! I am all of those things. And unashamedly so.
I don’t normally do this, but I am more than happy to share this Program with you. It’s $US1497 and is all online. It’s just over 11.5 hours’ of content in webinar style. Reach out to me if you are interested and I can arrange immediate access. Branding is not just about your business – it’s about life. It’s about being the best version of you possible and being totally and completely authentic. And feeling great in your own skin. That is for absolutely everyone.