EP 4: Are You Representing The REAL YOU? - Mastering The Brand Called You!
Apr 05, 2024
Isai
Are you genuinely expressing your personal style, or have you fallen into the trap of dressing and styling based on others' preferences?
This week I'm sharing the concept of personal brand identity, going beyond the surface of clothing, hair, and makeup. I'll discuss the importance of authenticity over conformity and challenge you to assess if your style truly reflects your individuality or if you're simply mirroring someone else's style.
As a well established hair artist, I'll be sharing first-hand insights and practical tips on how to find a style that embodies your true self. We'll discuss the role social media can play in emphasizing your personal brand, and the importance of using it to your advantage. So let's get it y'all!
Thank you for listening to "This Is Some Crazy Sh*T" with Cheron Hamner.
Are you genuinely expressing your personal style, or have you fallen into the trap of dressing and styling based on others' preferences?
This week I'm sharing the concept of personal brand identity, going beyond the surface of clothing, hair, and makeup. I'll discuss the importance of authenticity over conformity and challenge you to assess if your style truly reflects your individuality or if you're simply mirroring someone else's style.
As a well established hair artist, I'll be sharing first-hand insights and practical tips on how to find a style that embodies your true self. We'll discuss the role social media can play in emphasizing your personal brand, and the importance of using it to your advantage. So let's get it y'all!
Thank you for listening to "This Is Some Crazy Sh*T" with Cheron Hamner.
You are listening to, this Is Some Crazy Shit. With Sharon Hamner. This podcast is for you if you are tired of living day to day, feeling unfulfilled, you are frustrated and you are doing too much with no return. This is for you if you are ready to take charge of your life, if you are ready to let go of managing other people's insecurities and their expectations and live life your way. Here we have dope conversations about saving yourself, so we can get off these street corners and stop waiting for Captain Saviour Ho. You ready? Let's go, because this is some crazy shit. Who are you really being out here in these streets? Who are you identifying yourself?
Speaker 1:
As we hear this word called brand identity and we think of brands like Nike, coca-cola, pepsi. When you think about those brands, you think about the colors, you think about their slogans, you think about their commercials, what they try to portray to us, to have us evoke a feeling and to purchase their goods. And what we don't realize is that we all have a personal brand that we are reflecting out into the world, based on the hair that we wear, based on the clothes that we put on our bodies, our perfume, our nails, our makeup. Everything that we put on is a reflection of our brand and who we are. And I want to ask a question are you representing the real you in your day to day basis? I know for me as a hairstylist, I have clients frequently coming in and they're like oh Sharon, can you help me? I don't know what to do with my hair because my mom says that I shouldn't get bangs because it's going to make me look blah, blah, blah. Or my girlfriend told me that this happened to her and if I got that done it's not going to look good on me. And a lot of times I just sit there and I listen to them and I'm conflicted because I'm not really sure sometimes if they want my professional opinion or if that belief of their friends and their mom is going to trump anything that I say, because it is ingrained deep down within them. So I ask you, what are you? Well, how are you presenting yourself and is it true to who you really are in your identity? Are you stuck in with a hairstyle that is based on what your ex-husband or ex-boyfriend thought would look good? So you just like maintain that hairstyle to make him feel comfortable, when you know sometimes it could just be they hate and then don't want you to like look and feel your best. They keep you in a box.
Speaker 1:
And I can remember growing up I went to the salon with my mom. Ever since I was a little girl, we had a ritual of going every two weeks to get our hair shampooed and style. So I grew up going to this lady. She worked like right around the corner from my house, was in walking distance. So as I got older, I would just begin going after school, walking by myself, and I would like flip through all these magazines that she had in the salon and I would flip to the page and I'm like okay, I want my hair like this, I want my hair like this. Every time I would walk out of there, my hair would not look like that picture at all. And then one day she told me she's like well, that is too grown for you. And I'm like well, that's what I really want. So I was. I left there. I was so frustrated, I was mad, I was angry because I'm like why isn't this lady doing what I want? I told my mom about it and she was able to locate a stylist for me that was up on trends, who knew newer hairstyles and I said to her that very first time I met her I got my first haircut and I just kind of told her a little bit about what I wanted. And she took it from there and that feeling that I had finally getting a style that I felt confident in like changed the game for me so much that I wanted to create the same type of things and that's why I became a hairstylist, because I knew how, like important having a hair that represents who you are in these streets like just giving you confidence, and not only that I feel confident. I would get compliments from other people, and that also elevated my confidence and made me feel good. So I wanna ask you like are you really living the brand that you desire to have, or are you just complying with what's being pushed out on the social media streets?
Speaker 1:
One of the activities that I do about twice a year I go through what I call, like the fashion bibles, vote Magazine. I know people don't like magazines these days, but Vote Magazine puts out two copies every year, in the spring and in the fall, of what's hot in fashion. I typically will go through those magazines, the physical magazines, and I'll pull out pages from the magazines of the things that I like, that I'm attracted to, that catch my eye and this is something that I like to do unconsciously. Just go through and you can do this exercise. You can set a timer, go through and just pull out. Don't think about it, just pull out the things that catches your eye and catches your attention, and then I would take those clippings and put them in a magazine and go through and reflect on what it is that I like about this picture. What am I being attracted to about this particular hairstyle, which is also something that I like to do with my clients during their consultations? And sometimes oh my God, sometimes these consultations is like pulling teeth, because it's hard to really focus on the things that you like because of the programming of somebody saying that you shouldn't get this because dot, dot, dot. So I would like to encourage you to take the time with each of the photographs and see what it is that you like.
Speaker 1:
After you've done that, go to your closet, go through your clothes and see. Do you have anything that evokes that same feeling in the clothes that you currently have? Look in the mirror. Are you wearing a hairstyle that reflects how you really want to express yourself, or are you wearing a dated version of yourself based on how somebody else wanted you to feel and how somebody else wanted you to look? And make a decision that you can elevate your brand. Make a decision what you want your personal brand to reflect, what you want your personal brand to say to the world. Do you want your personal brand to say that I'm sporty Like? Are you more of like an athletic type of gal where you like to wear sweatpants, and more of a athletic, leisure type of look, and are you representing that brand? Well, because there is a difference between just getting some sweatpants at Walmart and getting a nice set by Nike. There is a difference. So go through everything that you have and identify. Is this a true representation of what I want to portray to the world?
Speaker 1:
And a great experiment that you can do is to get dressed in the way that you want to be experienced in the world and just go about your day paying attention to the response that you get from people. This is a very eye-opening experience. I like to pay attention to the vibe that I am receiving from other people and you will be amazed at when you are in your element and feeling good about yourself and feeling confident. The response that you get from people is amazing. Like people will just, I like to say, they will cater to you, they will open doors for you as a woman. Men will give you compliments. Women will give you compliments when you are feeling good about yourself, when you are expressing yourself with how you want to be received. It goes a very, very long way. So go ahead and work on your personal branding.
Speaker 1:
Hey sis, you have been listening to this Is Some Crazy Shit. I am Charon Hamner. Make sure you like and subscribe to hear more dope conversations on this podcast. You can check me out on my website at wwwcharonhamnercom or on all of my social media platforms. I look forward to seeing you in these social media streams.
