Living Your Authentic Personal Brand
There’s lots of stuff I have to do to keep my business thriving that, quite frankly, I don’t like to do! But what makes up for the work I don’t like to do is the work I absolutely ADORE doing. Like taking photos! When I’m behind my camera, I feel like my authentic, true self. Another thing I absolutely adore is working with amazing people.
Christopher Jones from Authentic Leader is one of those amazing people. Chris speaks, coaches and advises leaders on becoming more effective, confident, and consistent. Chris also hosts the Authentic Leader Show podcast, which is fabulous. (Check out my interview on his podcast, BTW!) I’ve known Chris for years and he “walks the walk.” He’ll often reply to one of my email newsletters with a kind word or congrats on a recent success story I’ve shared for no other reason than to demonstrate his generous kindness.
Chris and I did a personal branding photoshoot together here in Richmond. When I asked Chris why he was investing in his executive photographs, he said he was ready to “level up” his business and brand.
Alright, Chris!
I love photographing clients at my photography studio, but I also love doing photo sessions on location. I talked to the amazing owners of LaDIFF and they agreed to let us host the session in their amazing showroom. Since Chris often coaches and consults with different types of clients in their businesses, we wanted to have different location looks for his personal brand images.
During my consultation with Chris prior to his branding session, I asked Chris what his three branded words are: these are the words that we want our prospects, customers, team members and others to know and believe about us. Chris’s branded words are Authentic (no surprise!), along with Transparent and Relatable. (If you listen to Chris’s podcast, see him speak or work directly with him, you know his branded words are right on!)
One of the things I ask all my clients to do is share their experience in working with me. This gives me an opportunity to appreciate my clients’ experiences. This is what Chris had to say about working with me:
“I had an excellent experience working with Kim Brundage Photography. I was impressed with her professionalism including our pre-photoshoot consultation, the upscale experience working with her stylist (to select my wardrobe in advance of my photoshoot), and makeup (my first time wearing makeup). Kim went out of her way to create an exceptional on-site photoshoot with an extremely diverse choice of settings. I highly recommend working with Kim Brundage and her team.”
— Christopher R. Jones, Authentic Leader
Thanks, Chris!
Since our personal branding photoshoot, Chris has really leveraged his new images. He was intentional about how he would share his photos. Part of our branding consultation was to help identify all the possible ways that Chris could use his new photos. We identified opportunities to use his branded images in places like his:
Website
LinkedIn profile
Facebook and Instagram profiles
Podcast
Online courses and promotions
I always ask (and often advise) my clients on how they’ll leverage their photos. This helps me identify how to compose the photos. For example, I like to provide my clients plenty of negative space in the photos so they can later add text on top. Because of this branding consultation, I provided Chris the images he needed so he could use for his marketing efforts.
So, let me ask you: when do YOU feel the most authentic in your work? What are those activities where you flourish? Those are the activities that you MUST keep doing! You can’t outsource your gifts! As for those other tasks that drain your battery … can you delegate them? Can you eliminate them altogether?
For me, I try to delegate as much as possible that I don’t enjoy doing. This allows me to focus on what I love and do best: picking up my camera and working with amazing people like Chris! That’s when I feel the most authentic.