Calm, cool, and not super trendy

Figuring out your personal branding.

I just spent a few minutes of valuable time looking up social media trends online to hopefully spark an idea of what to write about tonight. And then I remembered that I’ve neeeeeever been trendy. Nerdy, yes. Trendy? …probably not since I was in 7th grade and pixie haircuts were all the rage. If I seem to be “on trend” in anything other than candy, it was probably due to the suggestion or service of someone else (100% willing to pay people to shop for clothing, housewares, etc. for me.) So, writing something just to be socially “trendy” would be wildly inauthentic.

But if you want to talk about nerdy candy trends, that’s a different story and I’m all over it HERE!

Thankfully when I started Sprinkk, I had the most blessed opportunity to work with a friend on a personal branding idea that she was testing out. And let me tell you my gal Kelli is Trendy with a capital T.

(Enter shameless plug for the brand consultancy, Pepper Strategies, that she co-founded. Check them out if your business or product needs a brand facelift. She doesn’t know I’m writing about her so I’ll limit my fangirling)

Anyway, Kelli led me through this personal branding exercise where we polled a bunch of people that knew me from various angles and gave me golden feedback. Like a professional 360 review, but letting your aunt, your neighbor, and your boss from 3 jobs ago chime in. Somewhat humbling. So priceless.

Here is what I learned…I’m calm, cool, and not super trendy.

Cool and trendy outfit styled by Aya Zacharias and Heather Hooton

Ok, so no one flat out told me that I wasn’t super trendy. But they also didn’t call me cool either (dangit.) They did however notice that I’m a calm, creatively optimistic problem solver, and I think that fits me pretty well. I will absolutely take on the challenge just for the sake of being able to find a solution…and nearly everything has a solution! People also said I was adventurous but strategic, and one of my favorite lines when asked what you can expect from me was…

"The truth, with a little rounding up toward what is possible with aspiration."  

For some reason that just makes me laugh…partially because it came from a C-level leader in manufacturing who dealt with me laying out the harsh technical truth followed with “but we could try…(insert idea that sounds crazy but crazy enough to work)” …and partially because all of the comments combined make me sound like some sort of MacGyver mountain climber leading my team through an obstacle course using only a popsicle stick and bubble gum to joyfully get us all safely across the river.

That’s me in a nutshell. Unfortunately, just not a trendy nutshell.

All that to say it is SUPER empowering to do some personal branding work, and understand what your current personal brand is…because you have one whether you intentionally created it or not!

Having the feedback to look back on is very grounding in moments like tonight when I felt pulled to do something that I thought would fit better on social media than the genuine me. Reminded me that people don’t love or respect me for being trendy (thank goodness).

So in lieu of some super hip cool topic, here are 3 recent and random examples of my personal brand of creative positive problem solving instead…

1. On my last trip to Chicago, my car broke down on my way in on 290. This resulted in:

   • me not paying for city parking

   • getting an extra day to have lunch with a Forest Park friend before taking a last-minute flight back to Omaha

   • borrowing my sister’s truck which meant I could accomplish all of the things that are so much easier with a truck

   • Finding the nicest and most helpful transmission shop in the Midwest (if you are in the Forest Park area, call Joe at Action Transmission).

   • Even with the flight cost factored in, somehow getting the car fixed in Chicagoland came out to be hundreds of dollars cheaper than if I would have parked in the city, driven back to Omaha, and then fixed it. WHAT!?

2. In a pinch, you can use a $2 garage hook from Home Depot as a taffy pulling hook. Just make sure it doesn’t have grooves or holes, is not sealed with anything wonky or toxic, and is not going to rust.

3. By not having a back dock door to your business, you can get a good workout by unloading and reloading pallets by hand to get them through the door. Keep it mind that the truck will likely arrive super early and in the rain after it has been a steady drought…but it is still a nice active start to the day :)

Have you done any personal branding exercises that you loved? If so, what did you discover about yourself that you maybe didn’t realize other people saw in you?

Sweet Fact #8:

Did you know that one of the main flavor components of root beer flavoring is MINT? Wintergreen is a common flavor included in candy root beer flavoring to mimic notes from sassafras. Go find yourself a root beer barrel candy and try it with your eyes closed. See if you taste the mint!