A personal brand. Do you have one? Welcome to The Marketing Accelerator Podcast, featuring three insights in about three minutes. I'm Drew Dinkelacker, and today I'm speaking with Ushi Patel. She is the head of All Things Creative at USHI Ink. That's a personal brand building organization. Ushi, what is a personal brand?

Ushi Patel: Well, a personal brand is well beyond a logo or a personal style aesthetic, how you're showing up, your heels or not your heels. It's really how you're showing up moment to moment, and the collective impression that that's leaving. So, that means that you have a personal brand whether you're building one intentionally or not. It means if you're showing up late to meetings - part of your personal brand. If you're able to distill a complex concept into something simple, like you, Drew - that's part of your personal brand. It's at play everywhere, and it's something that most people aren't aware of.

Drew: Where do I start on building my personal brand?

Ushi: Yeah, you got to see before you're seen. You got to know your value, and that's happening at the intersection of your gifts and talents and your lived experience, and why that matters to the audience and the people you serve. And if you don't know it, they're not going to know it. If you don't know how to communicate about it, they're not going to be able to hear it. So, all other efforts fall short. If you don't know your value, you got to start there. What makes you uniquely qualified? Why should they choose you?

Drew: Ushi, why should I invest the time and effort into personal branding? I got to admit, it feels like I'm feeding my ego.

Ushi: Yeah. And that's the most common sort of complaint or obstacle with everyone I work with. And the truth is, is if you're doing it in an inauthentic way, it absolutely can be an act of ego, but it can also be an act of gratitude, where you are appreciating your life and you're appreciating your experiences, and then using that and leveraging that to give impact and to make an impact. Because, really, if you build your personal brand and you're in touch with, as we were saying, that value, you start to show up differently. You start to show up with confidence, you get more yeses, people start to refer you. So, does it have a direct line to revenue? Not always, but it makes your job a whole heck of a lot easier, and it amplifies what you're doing in the world. So, I think it's absolutely valuable, but it's the way you look at it. And it can be an act of ego or it can be an act of gratitude and propel you to new heights. And it's why I say that your personal brand is your power source.

Drew: Tapping into your power source, that's always a good idea. The Marketing Accelerator Podcast is a production of MarketingAccelerator.com where business leaders gain confidence in their marketing efforts and marketers turn into high-performing leaders. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.