Building a Personal Brand: The Gracious Girl Worksheet

By Mindy Lockard

Etiquette Consultant

Mannerofthemonth.com

We are honored to have you here on the Crane Insider for day two of our personal branding series.  Let’s get down to business! Today we are taking you to the University of Oregon where I worked with 80 women from the Tri Delta Sorority. Armed with my hot little gracious living branding iron—okay, more of a worksheet—I helped them understand the power of a personal brand and how to create one for their individual lives.

Starting with our Gracious Girl Personal Brand worksheet, each member creates her own Gracious Girl; a Gracious Girl that represents the brand they want to communicate…

Incorporating internal characteristics by drawing it on her exterior self. Well not really drawing on herself… here, I’ll show you mine. I’ve been told she looks like a grandma…

I’m totally confident in the fact that I’m a seasoned lady at heart!

What was so fun about this process is that the women were able to connect not only with the Gracious Girl on their inside, but how they want to show her on the outside. Just as we can see the Nike Swoosh and know it represents physical activity and fitness, our own brand communicates what we're all about to those we encounter in our lives. This exercise helped the women think through what they want their personal brand to be. To get them started, I had them write down five things that they want to be known for…

just to name a few…

Girlfriend, not a one night stand

Kind

Caring

Considerate

Engaged

Socially Responsible

Smart

Staying true to our personal brand can be uncomfortable, even hard at times—just ask the cows from yesterday—but it keeps us from wandering away or even getting lost in the social shuffle. With so many social functions and professional opportunities, college life is the perfect time for these women to practice living their brand. With a little self control (this is where it can feel uncomfortable at times) and etiquette, these women will live out a true and powerful personal brand that will help them reach their dreams.

Just because you may be out of college and not a 20-something, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook This little exercise is great for people of all ages. So if asked, “what is your personal brand?”  What qualities do you want to be known for?  Please, do tell…

The Personal Brand: Conform or Stand Out?

By Mindy Lockard

Etiquette Consultant
Mannerofthemonth.com

Sometimes, manners get us so hung up on “the fork” that we lose sight of the big picture. A picture of our total personal brand.  A picture that I have been working very hard to make clear to my 20-somethings clients.

What’s a personal brand? A personal brand is what we are known for, the way others see us. Very similar to the brands big companies are known for such as this…

or this…

or even this…

A personal brand is what we are all about.  Just as when we see the Nike Swoosh we can count on it to be related to fitness or athletics, the brand we build is directly related to the behavior others come to know and count on from us. Are we organized, are we frazzled, are we mindful with our communication, or are we the girl who passes out in the corner at every party? 

Before we tackle how to create a personal brand, let’s get down and dirty - something I only do when invited to a cattle ranch owned by our closest friends. So, saddle-up partner we’re going for a ride…

way…

way…

way out west, for a little lesson from those who live and breathe branding.

Branding is a traditional means of keeping track of cattle on and off the ranch. It helps ranchers identify their cattle among the herds when they are foraging on communal property or…

to know which neighbor to call - sometimes many miles away - when a few ladies show up unannounced.

Quite simply, the branding process is a physical identification that keeps the cattle organized, thus allowing the ranch manager to do his or her job well.

Branding is also the oldest method of cattle identification. A method of taking a hot iron and creating a mark on each cow’s behind. Does it hurt? Just a pinch a ranch manager will tell you. After calves are branded they return to their mother with little to no sign of pain.

The brand on cattle helps them conform to the herd. But our personal brand helps us get to where we want to be in life - to be remembered, to be respected, to stand out from the herd. The way we dress, the way we communicate, the words we speak, and the thank-you notes we write all communicate our personal brand. Sometimes we feel the pinch of the personal brand…especially when situations arise that don’t best suit us and require a little (or a lot) of self-control. Does the pinch hurt? A little, but it is well worth it. After all, it takes hard work and sometimes some hard lessons to create the person you want to be.

Can I get an Amen?

Which leads me to ask… Do you have a personal brand?  Join me tomorrow as I take my gracious living branding iron on the road and help 80 women from the Tri Delta Sorority to help them develop their own personal brand. I promise it won't hurt a bit.

Testament to the Power of the Thank You Note

I wish I had a buck for every time I've written and spoken about the power of the thank you note. I'd be long retired. So rather than write another piece about one of the foundations of civil society, I'll give you a link to an article in today's Washington Post.

This from the owner of a very successful stationery business.

Whether you own a business or not, don't take my word for it, but take note.

Christine Ferrante's Fine-Line Engraved Detail

A little while ago, I shared some tiny details in Peggy Wong's letterpress stationery for Crane's STUDIO collection. Today, we'll focus (literally) on engraving and fine-line detail as expressed in Christine Ferrante's heavyweight folded notes.

And my personal favorite:

Happy Weekend Everyone