Let's Talk About Brand

You know I love having a chance to speak with non-marketers! (Then again, is there truly such a thing in the world of personal branding?)Ophira Edut has held many titles: teenage streetwear creator, artist, writer, graphic designer, web developer, magazine editor, feminist anthologist, author, and globally-acclaimed astrologer, just to name a few. We discuss her organic journey between all of these worlds, her motivations, key moments of recognition, and of course the companionship of her identical twin sister, Tali, with whom Ophira shared almost all of these adventures.The biggest message of Ophira's story is: do what you do, put your creativity out there into the world–and if opportunities arise from it, say YES to them!Hear about:Growing up an identical twin in a Middle Eastern family in the MidwestWinning allllllllll the contestsDenim Rebellion and Double Vision(and Urban Outfitters and Raven-Symoné)Getting “Sassy” in NYCHues MagazineBack to NY & getting onlineAstrology as personal insight……and personal brand……and science.Gloria Steinem!Ms. Magazine“Adios, Barbie”Teen Vogue and the birth of the AstroTwins brand“Astro Style”Astrology as a conduit for connectionAstroStyle.comSyndicationElle MagazineWhy Beyonce and Jay Z are still together (it was in the stars!)Bringing individual skills to a joint brandTapping into commonalitiesProviding hope and guidanceFind Ophira:Astrostyle.com “The Astrology Advantage”InstagramTikTok❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

Fab Giovanetti bounds onto any stage she’s invited to “excited and excitable as a Labrador every single day”⏤and it’s highly contagious!On this episode we discuss how Fab transitioned from hiding behind a community she’d built for health and wellness professionals (and being one herself!), to stepping into more of a general marketing and small business leadership spotlight: first as a podcast host, then as the founder of the Alt Marketing School online learning academy. Now she’s taking it a step further as a fractional CMO.Fab’s had several touch points over the years where she’s had to rebalance the boundaries and overlaps of her different positions: as a marketer, as a community leader, as an educator, and as her own vibrant self. Through it all, she’s forged a career all about helping people via stronger systems, more effective marketing, and, above all, a sense of fun!Listen for:“Big Labrador energy”Fab’s start as a business and marketing coach for health and wellness entrepreneurs at Health Bloggers Community (later Creative Impact)Becoming known via community events“I was kind of hiding behind the company because it was more about community, about others…”Alt Marketing School Podcast“I'm going to say the P word: ‘pandemic’”Sharing her journey as a founder and learning in publicBecoming the go-to for marketing business support  “Helping making marketing better for marketers”Working out the Fab, the person, and the personal brand, and the expert would play within Creative Impact? And how did you work out the differences and or similarities of how Fab, the person, would factor into Alt Marketing School? “I'm clear about my mission I'm clear about what I want to do and I'm clear about what I enjoy doing within that as well”“The energy that I bring in is so essential to the school…I embody it by being an absolute doofhead.”Why systems are so essentialShowing upThe boundaries and overlaps between Fab and Alt Marketing SchoolBecoming a fractional Chief Marketing Officer, and adding that to the mixThe drive to help othersWhat Fab truly delivers to people via Alt Marketing SchoolHow long ago were the 80s?Her husband’s fansFind Fab:LinkedInInstagramfabgiovanetti.comaltmarketingschool.com ❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

When people in the know hear the word “community,” they think of Christina Garnett.But Christina didn't always start out specifically working in community; her turning point in her personal branding journey was a specific tweet in December 2020:"If you have less than a 1,000 followers and work in marketing in some capacity, introduce yourself to Marketing Twitter.Say hi, tell us about yourself, and what you like to tweet about. Make friends." You'll hear us talk about that tweet a lot in this week’s episode, and how it wound up changing her life and impacting her professional career in great ways. We also discuss what she was doing leading up to the fateful tweet, what she did with it, and how she has weighed her options since–including starting her own business as a fractional CCO (Chief Community Officer/Chief Care Officer) and advisor, helping companies foster better communication with their communities in all sorts of ways. Listen and learn:Community as a response to COVID-era isolationThe TweetWhy it hitNot overthinking itContinuing to keep it realHaters gonna hatePre-Tweet careerPandemic Medium articleBurnout, vulnerability, reaching out and getting knownWhy people wanted herBeing a connectorData driven strategyThe voice of the communityParasocial relationships with brands, and how personal brands come into play with solidifying that relationshipDeciding not to become an influencerCreating her own job titleWhat drives ChristinaWhy companies need communityWhat Christina specifically brings to the tableThe personal and the professionalFind Christina:TwitterLinkedIn❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

I first met today's guest, Jess Zafarris, as a journalist in the marketing and advertising space (she was an editor for Adweek and is now editor at large at Ragan Communications and PR Daily). But what we're really talking about today is Jess's other career–and other personal brand–as an etymologist and etymology author. On her “Useless Etymology” channels, Jess presents word origins and history in an engaging and entertaining way, and is working on her third etymology book. We discuss how she concurrently built her careers as a journalist and a “pop etymologist” and how she’s balanced both.Listen and learn:Jess’s career in journalism Her Adweek chapter, and building a name for herself“How could you be so incurious?...”Why this topic interests me (Christine) so personallyJess’s research background”It's kind of like linguistic anthropology–linguistic sociology, more so…”Useless Etymology blogBuilding TikTok accounts for both Adweek and Useless Etymology“Once Upon A Word”Jess’s brand voice“I didn't want to jeopardize the career that was affiliated with my primary income…”Growing Useless EtymologyContent lessons“Words From Hell”The violent history of the word “decimate”“Offbeat word origins for curious minds…”Jess’s book development process“Useless Etymology: The Book”!“I actually let my audience choose for me…” What lights Jess up about etymology“Have you ever tried to read the OED?”The positive opportunities “Words From Hell” has opened upWords Unraveled podcastThe topic of Jess’s fourth bookFind Jess:BlogPodcast TikTokInstagramUseless Etymology InstagramBooks:Words From HellOnce Upon A Word❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

Today’s conversation is with a good friend of mine. Paul Ince, a.k.a. BizPaul, is the owner and founder of LikeMind Media, a content marketing agency in Loughborough, UK, as well as the founder of the MarketEd Live conference.We talk about how Paul Ince, regular human, became Biz Paul, content marketing thought leader, back in the early days of social media. We also talk about being in touch with the things that light you up about what you do, and the challenges that can come along with expansion, especially if what your clients are really buying is you.Finally, we get into my favorite thing about a personal brand: no matter what it is that you do, other people do it too, so what really makes you the right person for someone to work with? Because it's not about what you deliver. It's about what you personally bring to the table–and that, of course, is your personal brand.A few of the things we hit in today’s episode:Working for a national technology company How the 2008 Beijing Olympic games indirectly led to @bizpaul Becoming a content creator in the tech space“I had no intention of setting up a business…”Trying to sell an app people weren’t ready for……and deciding to focus on closing that knowledge gap insteadPaul’s first cringey business cardPaul’s first cringey pitch deck (it worked!)Not the footballerHow events changed the gameMarketEd LiveStarting to take on helpBalancing BizPaul and LikeMind Media“I don't really want to be known as the funky-shirted marketing guy…”What keeps him in the gameWhat he truly deliversWhat makes someone a fit—or not a fit⏤or LikeMind MediaWhat people are really buying into when it comes to BizPaul“Maybe it's a Gen X thing. I suspect it might be…”Find Paul:BizPaul.comPaulInce.comLikeMind.MediaLinkedInInstagram❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

Brooke Sellas of B Squared Media was on previously talking about the thing that she is known for: customer care. This time we’re digging into how she got known for it, what it really means to her, and her motivations behind it. This is an especially relatable conversation because despite owning a successful marketing agency, appearing on massive stages such as Social Media Marketing World and Inbound, co-hosting a few prominent podcasts, and writing a book on her topic of expertise, Brooke initially struggled to put herself out there in each of those situations. In all cases, it was a nudge from someone else who believed in her that helped Brooke get to those next levels of visibility and thought leadership. As you'll hear today, she is starting to take the reins a little bit more herself, and recognizing after all these years of all of this external validation showing that, yes, actually she is an expert, she does have something to say that people need to hear from her specifically, she's finally recognizing that these people may be onto something. She’s ready to start not just accepting these opportunities, but creating these opportunities and guiding where she wants her personal brand to go. I hope Brooke takes a listen to this episode and says, “Wow, I sound pretty smart.” (Because she does.)Here’s some of what we get into in today’s conversation:How Brooke came to start B Squared MediaHow she got started in social media to begin withExpanding the agency beyond herselfHer professional point of difference“Think Conversation, Not CampaignTM”Why customer conversations are so vitalStepping into her personal brandGetting on stagesCo-hosting podcastsWriting her book, “Conversations That Connect”The future of Brooke’s personal brandBrooke’s true (professional) loveThe need Brooke truly solves for her clientsThe power of goofinessFind Brooke:LinkedInB Squared MediaBook:Conversations That Connect: How to Connect, Converse, and Convert Through Social Media Listening and Social-Led Customer Care❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!