Who Are You, Really? 5 Strategies to Find Your Personal Brand

It easy to say what your roles in life are – parent, friend, son or daughter but who are you really? Loyal? Loving? Courageous?

Mother, leadership trainer and founder of Inspired by Family and Trademark U, Hilary Bilbrey is an expert in branding (or rebranding) yourself.

After a tragic accident left her young son permanently scarred, she went through this process that many of us never muster up the courage to do on our own. Instantly, she went from protector to someone who failed to protect, as she saw it.

Sometimes, this process is thrust upon us – layoff, divorce, accident or near death experience. Bilbrey has 5 tips of how to reinvent yourself for yourself to understand what your own personal brand looks like to use as your bellwether when life gets tough.

Having this strong definition of yourself as you go through life gives you the strength when circumstances change to be able to make decisions that are right for you and your family.

Maybe you have something big going on in your life (or you want to be ready when it does – because it will) so here are the tips to help you galvanize your own personal brand:

Take a hard look at who are you factually. Not just your roles but your core strengths. This may require you to ask a family member or a friend for a subjective opinion. You may think you are organized but your house is a mess. Look at what your virtues are – creativity, perseverance, courage. These core strengths really get to the heart of your personal brand.

Put those together into what you bring – not just “I’m a good mother” but “I’m a joyful person.” These are core definitions that remain constant no matter who you are with or where life takes you.

Are you happy with what you see? Is this how you want the world to view you? Bilbrey says write down what you want to convey, post it on your mirror or Facebook page; make it known to the world. Her examples: “Show my excellence” or “Be Joyful.”

Take stock in yourself and those around you – are they consistent with your brand? Do your clothes speak to who you are? If you are creative do you wear creative clothes or the same clothes everyone else wears? Do your friends and family prop you up to be joyful, creative, courageous, or do they bring you down, criticize you or abandoned you? This can be very difficult to weed out those in your life who may have destructive or even nefarious effects on you.

Her example was a high school student she was working with who dressed provocatively but who was a very good student and a good kid. Bilbrey gave her this analogy: would you walk into a store that was run down, with broken windows and trash around it or would you chose the store that is freshly-painted and clean?

Live it – keep making choices that are consistent to your brand and who you are. 

Her example is a current situation she’s facing in her family life – her husband’s job demands him to be away from the home 5 days a week. This arrangement  is not consistent to what they know works for their family and so now they need to get back to their family brand. It’s not easy but living your brand will help you stay so much happier.

Bilbrey is currently working on a book about this concept of personal branding. She is also the author of two children’s books about safety – “Brecker Bunny Learns to Be Careful” and “Brecker Bunny Asks for Help” and she’s the co-author of “Little Jake Learns to Stop” with Dr. Pamela Beyer about attention difficulties.

About Hilary Bilbrey

(from her website Inspired by Family) Hilary holds English and Education (Secondary English and Drama) Degrees from University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and advanced degree from Cambridge University, UK. Through her own family’s experiences, Hilary continues to find comfort in writing children’s books as a way to both heal emotionally and also to help other families going through similar situations.

She is certified in The Virtues Project and speaks to various organizations and schools throughout each year. Her leadership, peer mediation and kindness programs have had amazing impact on both students and parents alike. Hilary currently lives in Central Wisconsin with her husband, Jeff, and three children, Breck, Jake and Faith. They take advantage of the Northwoods and water as often as they can.