Friday, August 13, 2010

Featured Follower: Kelly Green - Brand Smart

Meet Coach Kelly




Welcome, my name is Kelly Green and I am your Personal Brand Blueprint coach! But, I’m also a Certified Wellness Coach. If you know anything about either of the two, you’re probably wondering what one has to do with the other. Let me explain:


The Background:
I spent 15 years as a marketing executive in the entertainment industry. During that time it was my job to market and promote recording artists from obscure unknowns to popular household names; and I did it well. Many of them received Grammy Awards and multi-platinum status, the highest accolades for a recording artist. But in 2005 it all came to an end, when the debilitating effects of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) became too much to manage in the fast paced, stressful world of entertainment. This eventually led to my being laid off.


I had been diagnosed with MS in 1992 at the age of 22 and up until the time I was laid off, I managed to “hide” the disease from most  people. Deep down I knew that it was becoming harder and harder to not only get around physically, but I had also become mentally fatigued and was having trouble concentrating. No one knew this of course, I tried to stay as far under the radar as possible. In the meantime, I was still traveling the world, networking at all hours, getting little sleep and I was not taking care of my health. I assumed that because I was still able to walk, that I was keeping the disease at bay - so I ignored it!


When I got laid off, I was hurt, angry and embarassed, but most of all I had no idea what I was going to do next! My ego wanted to continue living the lifestyle I had been living for 15 years, but deep down I knew that I needed a mental and physical break from it all.


The Turnaround:
In my attempt to find alternative ways of treating the MS, I was introduced to a health and wellness coach. After that meeting I was hooked! I decided to get certified as a wellness coach and begin a new career and a new life. Becoming a wellness coach allowed me to not only talk to people facing similar health challenges, it also gave me the flexibility and the less stressful lifestyle that I was looking for.


During my coaching sessions I began to notice an underlying theme among most of my clients – they had lost their identity in the illness. Whether their health issue was diabetes, MS, Lupus or being overweight, they had all lost sight of the person they were before the illness.


The AHA!:
That’s when it all clicked for me! I was not only coaching my clients to make better lifestyle choices, I was coaching them on how to reposition themselves. Although they did not know the technical term for what I was helping them to do, I was teaching them the importance of developing a Personal Brand.


The Result:
The Personal Brand Blueprint was created to empower people, regardless of where they are in their lives to define, distinguish and deliver their Personal Brand in the most authentic, holistic way!


www.thepersonalbrandblueprint.com 

Monday, August 9, 2010

Industry Innovators: Sharonne D. Jones - Signature Colorist

Hues International Hair Color Education

BIO: SHARONNE D. JONES

Hello! I am SHARONNE D. JONES of Hues International Color Education. For 31 years I have enjoyed working in the beauty industry. I have found this experience very rewarding. I would now like to share my story with you in hopes that it will inspire you to do great things as well.

I started at the bottom like many of you, working as a shampoo assistant for the first 3 years of my career. This was followed by a 2 year apprenticeship. Ultimately, after obtaining my Master Cosmetologist license I became a premier Signature Colorist.


I did not get to this point over night mind you. It was only after years of frustration with obtaining unsatisfactory hair color results, that I decided to take my first color class. In that class, it seemed as though the instructor was speaking a foreign language. Still, I persevered because I was determined to overcome any obstacles.

I continued to invest in myself through more classes, symposiums, books, and trade literature. FINALLY I GOT IT! I’ve studied under the best in the industry. I’ve even had the privilege of studying at the world’s famous Vidal Sassoon Academy in London, England.

Now I am revered by my fellow colleagues in the industry as a hair color expert. I consistently maintain the integrity of my client’s hair in good condition. I am highly skilled at working with every imaginable type of relaxed and color treated hair. Now I want to share my expertise with you.

The education you will from receive Hues International will always be from your perspective – the perspective of the dedicated professional stylist. I have been where you’ve been. I’ve walked in your shoes. I promise to provide you with a level of understanding that will help you to avoid the frustrations that I experience earlier in my career. After studying with Hues International and completing our course, I am convinced that you will never have to fear or guess about expertly coloring hair ever again!

I am thrilled and excited to impart my knowledge unto you. You will receive pearls of wisdom, priceless experiences and a wealth of information. I anticipate meeting and exceeding your expectations. My expectation is that you leave well informed and READY to go put what you’ve learned to work immediately….for the professional and financial betterment of YOU!

This course has been in the making for 10 years and I assure you there is no other education available in the industry like Hues International Color Education.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Image: Protect Your Good Name


by Vince Rogers


William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest arbiter of Western Literature to have ever lived. In his masterpiece of treachery and envy, Othello, he may have also delivered the most useful idiom to remember while continuously building your personal brand. In Act 3, Scene 3, of the play, the villainous Iago delivers a soliloquy that summarizes the essence of building your brand and managing your reputation:


"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;

'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him,

And makes me poor indeed."


Personally, I first learned these powerful words from my beloved grandmother many years ago. She tried to instill this valuable lesson in me time and time again. Grandma was a great proponent of Strategic Branding and Reputation Management long before these terms were in vogue. She just prescribed these maxims under the general heading of lessons you need to learn in order to be regarded as a good person.


Nowadays numerous books, seminars, dvds and cd programs are available to purchase on the topics of personal branding, brand management reputation management and various nuances and augmentations of these themes. Many of these products have information that is vital and if applied can make a great deal of impact in your life. As you continue to follow this column, I will share many such valuable tools and resources that I have developed or researched especially for you. However, I am convinced that many of the most essential, powerful and easily implementable keys to building your brand are the things you learned just as I did as a child.


I have identified Six Keys to Success that are essential to building a winning Success Plan. While these attributes are the key to implementing your overall Success Strategy, they are also integral to building your personal brand as well. These Six Keys to Success have been adapted to meet the complex demands of modern day enterprise building. However, you should realize very quickly that they are based on simple lessons that we've all learned over the years. Integrity in dealing with people, common sense in matters of good judgment and exercising good stewardship over the resources at your disposal are the essential requirements for successful personal branding.


1) Information: Become known as a trustworthy subject matter expert in your field.

2) Image: Go out into the world every day and look, sound and act the way you want to be treated.

3) Initiative: Always act on the basis of sound planning and good research, which leads to the pursuit of effective strategy.

4) Confidence: Through dedicating your self to winning small victories, you will be emboldened with the confidence that you've done your best; this will be the basis of the momentum that propels you to success.

5) Capital: The greatest source of future revenue and profits for your business will be determined by the purchasing and cost decisions you make today.

6) Contacts: You must assemble a winning team. You alone will never possess all of the skills and abilities required for perfection, nor will you ever be able to earn every certification or degree needed to answer every question.


In summary: You and you alone are responsible for controlling the quality of your brand. The image you present and the information you transfer to the public are signs of your dedication to quality and the soundness of your ideas. Many vital aspects contribute to successfully building a powerful personal brand. In most instances, if we would heed the vital life lessons we learned from our parents, grandparents and even the sage wisdom from the tales written by the Bard of Avon, we would be just fine. The answers we seek most often come when we remember to keep it simple, keep it honest and keep it consistent.


Vince Rogers is a highly skilled resource manager and communications consultant; trained in economics, marketing, project management and commercial real estate management. He possesses many years of successful experience in financial asset and real estate wealth building. He is the Principal Change Agent at Vince Rogers & Associates http://www.vincerogers.biz Contact us to help you to formulate a winning Success Plan for reaching your desired personal and professional destination. Please continue to visit this blog Disguised Limits @ http://disguisedlimits.blogspot.com to find more information you can use to Discover Life's Unlimited Opportunities!!!!