So today was my birthday and here are the bests gifts I've received so far:
$25 from my uncle who I believe is the cheapest man alive
A homemade cake from my mom, even though that's not what I wanted
Red Velvet Sprinkles cupcakes from my co-workers (so thoughtful)
A few dedicated away messages on aim (so much love!)
A dinner party at Sizzler... that's a whole other story
but the best gift was a phone call and a GOOD explanation from a special somebody who was on his way out. I'm such a girl! More birthday news later... the night is still young...
One of my annoying little New Year's Resolutions was to work on my career and part of the career-building plan is to develop my personal brand. *crickets*
I've been doing a little reading up on personal branding and the daunting task of developing my brand is looming on the heels of another 20-something birthday and well, all of this self-exploration and self-identification just isn't any good for the quarter-life crisis I'm already struggling with.
But alas, here's the best of the best tips I've gathered so far:
1. Personal branding is identifying who you are based upon your expertise, profession or craft. It differs from product branding, because it's not about how you advertise yourself. In fact, the personal brand is defined by what other people think about you.
Well I'm a writer... my focus is black history, race, social issues, pop culture and randomness I suppose? I'm not too sure what other people think my expertise is.... one of my co-workers told me that I have a unique eye for highlighting the social context/pretext for pop culture happenings.
2. You can cultivate and manage your personal brand by being clear about who you are and who you're not, by understanding your unique promise of value, and by being consistent and constant.
Uh oh. Here's where we run into problems. If I'm not sure about who I am, how can I be clear about my brand? ....and "Unique promise of value"...? ... Okay and "consistent" and "constant" are definitely not words that describe me accurately. I'm neither. I change like the weather. I guess I'll have to figure out what the few things that are constant about me and run with those?
This reminds me of an episode of Daddy's Girl's where Angela and Vanessa were struggling with whether or not the decision on whether or not to take the money from the club owner in exchange for an appearance because they wanted to maintain their "brand clarity"... (I'm so in love with their show... and secretly, their lives too!)
3. Articulate what you're doing in your profession and expertise. If you want to create a brand then be very, very specific. Capitalize on your own interests and fulfill them by actively participating and creating an identity around that interest.
Um? *crickets* How do I do this?
4. A lot of people think a personal brand is the way you package yourself, but that's incorrect. You don't own your brand, it's owned by the people around you.
Hmmmm I wonder what you all REALLY think of me? I might have to do some research.
5. Personal branding transcends the commodity and people begin to come to you and offer opportunities.
I mean... It started out harmlessly enough. I'd seen her around and thought she was strikingly beautiful and extremely nice so naturally I'm going to wonder what went wrong. Mainly so that I don't fall prey to a similar demise.
I found out her name from an old picture of the pair tagged on his Facebook page and couldn't help copy and pasting it into the Google search box and bam!... Hundreds of little details about this girl I'd've never been able to discreetly ween out of him. I found out everything about her from her high school (she's younger than me) and her last few places of employment (thanks LinkedIn) to her hopes, dreams and aspirations (courtesy of an unlocked Myspace page).
Unfortunately for me I'm a pretty awesome girl who only dates pretty awesome guys who only date pretty awesome girls... Therefore the ex-girlfriend competition is usually pretty stiff... and this chick did not disappoint. Model, fashion designer, entreprenuer and as it appears she's all of these things genuinely and not just in the fake I-just-pretend-to-be-on-my-grind LA kind of way (well at least from what I can see)- she's on her shit.
Here's the dilemma:
Now that I've sized up the competition, my next action is to figure out how to counteract... only, technically she hasn't done anything to respond to. She doesn't even know I exist. So what, exactly, am I counteracting? Should I actually be focused on pre-empting some unforeseen attack? Am I making too much of this?
I know that I shouldn't have been Googling her in the first place... did I wait too late to draw the line? Was I wrong to do a little innocent research on the ex? Should I have just ignored her altogether? I mean... he's not with her for a reason. Right?
I love Jazmine Sullivan's Grammy-nominated(!) music and I have to say that the best song on the entire C.D. is Lions, Tigers, and Bears! I'm so excited that this is her next single. When this song hits the streets I think it'll solidify her place in the music world. Here's the video for it:
That's 5 Grammy nods you're watching right there. She got nominated for Best New Artist, Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal, Best Traditional R&B Vocal, and Best R&B Song for Bust Your Windows. She's gotten the most Grammy nods of any female nominated this year. Amazing! I can't wait to see her career sky rocket.
I think I listened to her CD about three times on the way back from Vegas last weekend and I think somewhere around Barstow I figured out what it was that I loved about it- it's whimsical theme. All the songs sound like scores from some urban musical.
I can see the girl meeting the guy and being all excited yet when they go on the double date Switch starts playing and all the patrons in the ice cream shop that they're in turn into dancers. Then later in the play, when said couple are in love but having a little drama, I can see her and her homegirls come on to the stage, dressed in all-black and leather snapping their fingers as they sing along to the beat about what they're about to do and as soon as the song end "Wham!" the glass shatters and the last line plays: "I bust the windows out your car..." the lights go dark, exit stage left. When she gets confronted by the guy about why she's trippin', I imagine them in some sort of romantic setting like a beach or no, a forest(!) as she dramatically sings Lions, Tigers, and Bears (oh my!).
Okay, clearly I have a hyperactive imagination but if I were a drama teacher at a high school/aspiring playwright I'd capitalize on this genius I'm spitting out here. I'm just saying...
Anyways, so I'm a Jazmyne fan as you can see and I was totally amped to hear that she was going on a 16-city tour with Ne-yo... only problem is, the LA stop on Feb. 7 at the Nokia Center is the night of my birthday party (sad face). Of course I looked at the schedule, praying for a San Diego show but I guess they just don't have time for that. The nearest shows are in Vegas on a Thursday and Oakland on a Friday.... neither of which I think I could make without a plane ticket. But I did hear that Jet Blue just started doing daily flights out of LAX... so that Feb. 20 show in New York might get a second look...
Honestly I don't need to be that thirsty over Jazmine... I'll just wait....
He brings up some good points to consider ladies... please excuse the poor sound quality.
Charles Hamilton Ringtone Rap
I like how he uses the line "I just like the way it sounds" with the sample of Beyonce's "Single Ladies"- "If you like it then you should've put a ring on it." Artistic!
I'm so in love with the lives of little Sasha and Malia! I can't wait until their father's tenure is over and they'll 15 and 18 years old with their own cute little teenage reality show.
On second thought. Who am I kidding? Barack is not going to allow that!
But still, imagine Malia's prom! What about Sasha's first day of high school? Oh and the day they follow in their mom's footsteps and become AKA's, I'm going to truly be a proud (imaginary) parent! (I mean come on, their dolls are already wearing pink and green for Christ's sake!)
We're going to grow up with this cute little girls no matter how hard the Obama's try to keep them out of the spotlight and it's already started.
I just read that Malia and Sasha have been made into Beanie Babies! So cute!
Outside all of the cuteness you have to think about the gravity of the dolls. Denise Gary Robinson, president of DollsLikeMe.com said "Girls all over the world, of all colors, will be looking for these dolls. They want to identify with these two girls." Little bronze-colored dolls! Wooooowwwwww!!!!!!!!!
Pictured are Sweet Sasha (left) and Marvelous Malia (right)
Things that I love: Down South/Bay Area rap and R&B, NCAA March Madness, 80s teen movies, YouTube, Barack Obama, 90s black comedy films, AIM, Vibe magazine, performing arts of all kinds, community service, VH1, the color green, carne asada tacos from El Unico on Crenshaw, randomness, Nestle Chocolate Turtles, atypical people, horror movies, the cold side of the pillow.
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