You are the Brand!

It doesn’t matter if you want to be a reality tv star or make it big as the next viral sensation on social media. In the end, you are the Brand. To be successful it is important that you love yourself, embrace your view on the world and be willing to share your brand with the world.

As a Casting Director for a warmup, we often ask people to describe themselves or how would your friends describe you? This question often produces a mixed response. Sometimes people will say things like, I’m nice, outgoing, shy (never say shy), life of the party. None of these responses really tell us anything about a person and often are thrown away in the edit presentation. The better question for casting is, Describe your brand. What do I mean by this? I mean, how do you like to present yourself? What makes you tick? What is your voice and perspective on what is happening around you. You see each one of us are own character in the story and some of us are just better at being ourselves than others (again, never say I’m shy).

How do you know what your brand is? Your brand is what comes most naturally to you and is the purest part of you. As a character, you might be the “bad guy”, or “mean one”, or “judgmental one”. You could also be the “smartest person in the room”, “the mom”, or “the diva” None of these are bad, they are part of the mix that makes life interesting and engaging. It might not seem intuitive, but in today’s world people response to others who know themselves and put it out there. Dress how you like to dress, talk how you like to talk, and for sure have an opinion on the topic.

When it comes to a personal Brand there are of course many layers, and once you have established yourself in the media world, it can be difficult to be seen for something other than what you were initially discovered doing. The truth is, if you allow yourself to evolve you can stretch into any area that you have an interest in. There are examples all over television today of Singers, Doctors, Dancers, Lawyers, Chefs, etc. All transforming into something new while entertaining, asking questions, teaching, learning, and connecting with others.

It's you, your voice that matters. I can’t stress the importance of this enough. Be yourself when you are talking about any subject. This is how you will continue to grow your audience and hopefully spread love and joy in the world.