Lauren
Digital Marketeer and Designer
Lauren is hugely successful at designing stunning websites that perfectly express the vision and product offerings of her clients. Yet something was holding her back from designing her own website and for months, she’d procrastinated.
PROBLEM
Turns out that although Lauren was fantastic at identifying what her clients wanted to achieve with their marketing efforts, even when often they weren’t certain themselves, when it came to understanding what she wished to achieve with hers, she struggled.
As the result, together Lauren and I embarked on a six-week journey to identify and develop her unique personal brand. During our exploration, Lauren was not surprised to learn that developing a personal branding is about taking an active role in managing one’s image, showcasing her strengths and talents. She was also not surprised to learn that maintaining a strong, cohesive personal brand is one of the best ways to build a strong reputation. This is the exactly type of thing that day in and day out, she did with her own clients.
What did surprise Lauren was that the reason why she and so many of her client’s struggled to articulate their brand was that for a brand to be successful, it must be authentic, or true to oneself, and this notoriously difficult to achieve. Since ancient Greece, western men and women have been struggling to follow the advice of one of the best-known Delphic maxims ‘Know thyself’ and in turn, this dampens our enthusiasm to develop effective personal branding.
According to recent survey (https://instituteforpr.org/women-leaders-say-personal-brand-is-vital-for-success-but-most-dont-have-a-vision-or-plan/), although 94% of female respondents said that having a personal brand was important or very important, 55% percent did not have a personal brand. This result even though nearly 60% thought that a personal brand was more important for a woman’s business success than it was for that of a man. In short, although most women believe having a personal brand is important, most have not taken the time and effort to develop one.
SOLUTION
Lauren was happy to learn that astrology provides ready-made symbols that would allow her to identity her brand quickly and effectively.
For example, with her Sun in the curious, communicative, and quick-to-make-connections zodiac sign of Gemini,Lauren's (1) Niche, or that which identifies her from the crowd is that of the archetypal ‘idea’s person’. Little wonder she’s so good at her profession! Yet with her Sun making a tight aspect to the planet Pluto, she isn’t afraid to dig in and get her hands dirty. This is great news because her (2) Vision, or natural vocation/calling, is symbolised by Virgo suggesting she’d more attentive to details than she might otherwise care to admit.
Whilst exploring her (3) Mission, or her natural ‘way of being in the world’, Lauren learned that although she’d accepted what as a child she’d been taught about how girls/women ought not to be competitive, she was very competitive. More importantly, it is precisely her competitive spirit that her own clients most loved. This is a perfect expression of her (4) Needs, or that which makes her feel comfortable and safe, as symbolized by the zodiac sign of Aries.
Whilst investigating her (5) Values, or the core principles which give meaning to her life, Lauren concluded that the one thing upon which she’d always prided herself with her truthfulness and that was something she’d never compromise. Finally, Lauren was pleased to learn that her natural style of (6) Communication is symbolised by the zodiac sign of Cancer. This suggests that she would do well to take her brand into the public domain using inventive, romanticised graphics or ‘mind pictures’, something she was keen to do.
RESULT
As the result of our work together, Lauren has finished her website and with good reason, she’s exceedingly proud of her efforts. Can you find any of the themes developed during Personal Branding at work in Lauren’s gorgeous new website:
goldilockscreative.co.ukLauren says "
working with Debra really helped me refine my brand and be accepting of my competitive nature!"