5 Personal Branding Lessons via CurlBOX CEO, Myleik Teele

If we’ve met and we’re instagram friends, it’s very likely that I’ve talked your head off about my favorite instagrammer (and virtual mentor), Myleik Teele. This genius of a woman launched CurlBOX in 2012, by leveraging her instagram following. So when she put out a podcast episode on branding, these little fingers couldn’t take notes fast enough.

While most of Myleik’s advice was about branding in the business sense, it helped me clarify my understanding of personal branding. If you have no idea what a personal brand is, don't worry. Simply put, a personal brand is what people associate with your presence. And more specifically, it is the collection of the work, language and vibe that you put out into the world (online and in person).

And whether you like it or not, you have a personal brand…and it’s accessible to the whole world if you have any kind of online presence. So you can either intentionally shape your personal brand or do nothing and let it be determined for you. Some of my other favorite personal brands are Emmelie DeLaCruz (like the link in her bio says, she really does come off like Cardi B’s College-Educated Alter Ego lol), Mimi Ikonn, and Shirley B. Eniang.

Here are the top 5 lessons I learned from listening to Myleik’s branding podcast – hopefully you can use this to shape your personal brand because a clear personal brand comes from an honest personal mission, which of course, leads to a more fulfilling life.  

 

1. The goal of personal branding is simply to manage how you are perceived

The best way to manage how you are perceived is to decide what you want to be known for. But there will be many other people who want to be known for the same thing, so you will set yourself apart by HOW you deliver everything you put on the internet. I capitalized the how because how you do what you do, is what makes you unique.

You set yourself apart by sweating the small stuff, focusing on good design, and taking your time with the details. Each new blog post, instagram picture and tweet has the potential to be your first impression on someone. You want everything you do to communicate exactly what you stand for.  

 

2. Personal branding is all about satisfying emotional needs

Think about the people whose instagram feeds you go out of your way to check out. What emotion is pulling you in?

Mimi Ikonn appeals to the calm and free part of who I am.

Emmelie DeLaCruz pulls me in by appealing to the college-educated Cardi B in me.

Shirley B Eniang arouses the classy in me.  

Do you see what I mean? A good brand pulls people in by appealing to an emotional need.  

 

3. Great brands ignore trends

I cannot emphasize how much I love this point because it's an encouragement to remain authentic. 

Great personal brands stay in their lane.

They are not swayed by the world.

In her podcast episode, Myleik talks about how Oprah is a great brand because she consistently did what was most authentic to her. She chose to end her show while it was still great, she chose to never take her name public and she never pursued business deals outside of her core confidence.

So with every idea that you put out into the world, ask yourself, is this aligned with who I am? If you are like me, you always want to do more, but that doesn’t mean you should do everything all at once. You should test out the ideas you are inclined to pursue and pivot from there. 

 

4. Attract your tribe by celebrating who you are

You can't be all things for all people, so appreciate the tribe you naturally attract and add value for them in whatever way you can. We naturally connect with people who need us so don’t chase after anyone.

Focus on who is focused on you. 

These are the people who will protect your brand and proudly display being on your team. Case in point, think of what the beyhive does for Beyonce's brand. 

 

5. Know your motto and live it out loud

Whether conscious or sub-conscious, we all have beliefs that inform how we make decisions. Consciously decide what your brand’s motto or tagline is and use it as your North Star. My personal motto is “Vibrant. Joyful. Powerful.” I use it to inform how I make life decisions and also how I choose the pictures, blog posts and messages I share with the world.

Develop yours and allow it to evolve with your brand over time. 

So there you have it:

• Manage how others perceive you by focusing on what you want to be known for
• Branding is all about emotional appeal
• Great brands ignore trends. Stay in your lane
• Celebrate who you are and attract your tribe
• Live out your motto

      “Decide what you stand for and build your brand around that.”

- Myleik Teele

The Rule of Expectations

I’ve never been afraid of public speaking. In fact, I always liked the rush of having to address an audience. The only time this wasn't true, was when I had to speak in a policy analysis class in grad school. My professor was incredibly critical and would give me such harsh feedback that I always walked away feeling slightly less competent. So every time I had to make a speech in her class, I could feel my blood pressure rising. And needless to say, no matter how good I got at policy analysis, I was never my most authentic self in that class – which of course meant, I was only bringing a small part of myself to the game.

The power that that professor had over me is an example of The Rule of Expectation. The Rule of Expectation says that individuals tend to make decisions based on how others expect them to perform. In other words, we subconsciously conform to the stereotypes people project on us. And it’s my personal belief that this is only true if we are not consciously monitoring our thoughts….because we are not sheep.

Several studies support The Rule of Expectations. In one study, researchers at Harvard found that when teachers were told that a randomly selected group of students are expected to do exceptionally well, their expectation of these students rose, and those students ended up outperforming their peers.

You might be a little skeptical right now. Does how others expect us to behave really affect us that much? Think about how you behave around your parents vs. how you behave around your friends. And if that doesn’t resonate, think about how you’ve behaved in situations where you weren’t quite sure of what the other person thought of you. Your behavior probably changed according to what you thought was being expected of you.

Fortunately, we can use the Rule of Expectations to our advantage because it can help us influence how others behave around us. And I don't mean that in a manipulative way, I actually think we can use it to help others guage how to treat us. You know how some people walk into a room and have an aura you respect? That’s them expecting that the world approach them with respect. How about people that radiate joy. Is it as obvious to you as it is to me that those people simply expect the world to greet them with good things?

And best of all, after learning about the rule of expectation, I had to ask myself what my self-imposed expectations were, regardless of what external cues I was being fed. Do I expect myself to be distracted by new people, places, and things or do I expect myself to have unwavering focus? Do I expect myself to succeed in my pursuits? Or do I expect to second guess my goals and back off on my dreams?

It is one thing to say you are a winner. It is entirely another to expect yourself to behave like one.  

3 Fabulous and Easy HeadWrap Styles

Headwraps have become a staple in my wardrobe. I've dressed them up and worn them out, I've dressed them down and worn them on a lazy sunday afternoon. Basically, these bad boys have never done me wrong. Plus, they are the perfect coverup for a bad hair day. 

In case  you want to try these at home, the colorful headwraps in this video are from TheWrapLife and the black one is just a scarf I found in my closet :)

Should I Vote?

Alright buddies. Here it goes. My first guest post for Depth & Candor, and I’m here to talk about the most over talked about subject in US media. The election.

To get it out of the way, I’m voting Hillary, and I’m not ashamed of it. I will say that I voted for Bernie in the primary and I am so proud of that vote, I’ll let Killer Mike explain why. But a Bernie or Bust Bro, I am not. Shit’s gotten too real, and I’m not prepared to “stick to my guns” and risk people’s rights being eviscerated come January. But today, right here, right now, I’m here to talk to you about voting and why you, yes YOU, sitting in a non-swing state, disillusioned by politics, disgusted with Trump, upset that the Democratic Party can’t even get it together long enough to have a stronger email password, or just over it in general, why you should vote.

In writing this article, I thought about all the ways to try and convince you to vote. I thought about linking this adorable Obama video on registering to vote, or this amazing article about the Governor of Virginia who signed 200,000 individual clemency grants to ensure ex-convicts’ right to vote. But all of that seemed too much, like it had been said before, like it wouldn’t resonate with you, or like it was some how “too serious” even for an issue that is actually INCREDIBLY serious.

So instead, I’m going to give you some arguments that I think have teeth, grit, gravitas. I believe each one, standing alone, is good enough to be the reason why you vote on November 8th. And all together, well, let’s just say I think I won the case ;)

1st: I am a black woman.

Black people, we were legally 3/5ths of a person until 1868. And women, we were legally not considered equal to men until 1920. (Note to self: don’t Google “arguments against women’s suffrage” unless you want to make yourself incredibly angry). Without talking about the millions of restrictions like literacy tests, grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and voter ID laws, some still in place today, let’s just say that countless people died so we could vote, and just like I will never agree to sit in a “black section” of anything ever, I will exercise my right to vote. #thanksRosaParks #bigupsAlicePaul #goodlookinoutSojournerTruth #propsHiramRhodes

2nd: I know it’s hard to believe, but YOU can actually affect the election.

There is a real, albeit small chance that we might actually affect the outcome of the election. If there is a tie in the electoral college, then it is decided by the popular vote. That means regardless of where you live, your one vote could be the difference between Voldemort and Madame Clinton. Small chance, but why risk it?

3rd: Need a selfish reason? I got you.

Have you ever considered working in politics? How about in a politically minded organization? Although who you voted for might be private, the fact that you voted is not. Having a record of voting is something that could be very important in your future career, why close off that path this early?

4th: Care about issues? Senators and Representatives matter.

Voting for president is not the only thing that happens on November 8th.  You will be voting for a number of other things when you vote on election day, including US Representatives and Senators. Regardless of a swing state or not, if you care about gun laws, women’s rights, LGBTQ issues, education, health care, etc these people are making decisions on these issues everyday and you get to decide who they are.

5th: Notorious R.B.G.

The next president will pick anywhere from 1 to 3+ Supreme Court Justices.  All of those decisions like Brown v. Board of Ed. (desegregated schools), Roe v. Wade (legalized abortions), Obergefell v. Hodges (legalizing gay marriage). Those could have gone in drastically different directions if the Court had had different justices on it. Remember Becky with the bad grades? Well, let’s just say her absurdity could have been rubber stamped by the highest court in the land in another scenario.  

And remember, democracy is a long game, a marathon. It can only exist and thrive with your participation. See you on November 8th!

by Harya Tarekegn