Hot take: Everyone can benefit from a personal brand! Especially women of color. Whether you’re an employee or a business owner, everyone needs to have a personal brand because only you know what the best parts of you are and how to market yourself. Your dreams come true when you believe in yourself, and personal branding gives you the framework to do just that.

Now, the idea of figuring out your personal brand may seem daunting, but it’s really not. First of all, I am going to share my 3-step framework on how to identify your personal brand, so I’ve got you covered there. And secondly, because your personal brand is really just a blend of your It Factor and how you tell your personal story. People aren’t looking for the most glamorous influencer to follow anymore. The people are looking to connect with real, authentic stories, and that includes your own.

In this week’s episode, I’m going to help  you identify what stage of personal branding you’re in. By using my proven 3-step framework, you’ll be able to market yourself for a better promotion, attract more clients, and present yourself more authentically online. And, there’s a special bonus available for my listeners for free! Tune in to this week’s episode to learn how to identify your personal brand with my 3-step framework! 

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Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio. 

Episode Transcript:

rika: [00:00:00] The truth is that you do not need to be perfect. You do not need to be super interesting, quite the opposite. There is a big shift going on with the rise of AI, with how Instagram used to be. That was just like very aesthetic. What people are really looking for now is raw and real, and really sharing your vulnerable experience and your story.

And I would even argue that you don’t even need a specific niche. You don’t even need to say, I help this person do this. When to start a personal brand. It’s really about telling your story and to you, it might not seem interesting because you’ve lived it, but when other people hear your story, you’d be blown away with how impactful it is.

So I really started thinking about, okay, well what is personal branding and how did I begin to build my personal brand and how do I support my clients in doing it? And what. I learned is that there are three different stages of personal branding, and that’s what I want to walk you through today. 

[00:01:00] 

Hello. Hello friends. Welcome to this week’s episode of Chingona Now Revolution podcast. This is your host, Erika Cruz, and today I have a good episode for you. This is also a late night recording because I have, as you know, maybe you know, maybe you dunno. I travel a fair amount. I travel pretty often and I tend to travel from one location to another, and that’s the beauty of.

Having the type of business that I have, and this was all thanks to really building a personal brand, [00:02:00] being visible, showing up. I didn’t even, I knew what I wanted, but the business I created was even better than I imagined. I couldn’t even. Comprehend that I was going to have a business that allowed me to travel and run my business kind of from anywhere.

So anyway, the point is that I travel a fair amount and I haven’t traveled in about a month, which is a, and I was ready to stay home. I go through these phases where. I’m like, I don’t wanna travel anymore. And then I go through other phases where I’m like, okay, I, I’m ready to go. And I have hit a point where I’ve been home for about a month, which was very necessary.

I was enrolling in my program, I was getting ready for the holidays, doing all these different things. But tomorrow at 6:00 AM I am leaving to go to Southern California. I am going to hang out with some of my dance friends. I might see my brother and his family while I’m out there, but then we’re going straight.

From Los [00:03:00] Angeles to our house in Puerto Erta, and we’re going to a concert there and staying there for a few days. So I’m gonna be gone for a little while and I, and just, you know, thinking about what the topic of this episode is, I wanted to talk about the different stages of, personal branding. I just had this moment where I was going to share that this is a late night recording.

 it’s 9:26 PM I don’t ever record a podcast at this time.

I prefer recording with natural light because as you know, we upload the video onto YouTube and we also use it for different clips and stuff. But done is better than perfect. I am going on this trip, and then my podcast producer Sarah, is also going on vacation. It’s the holidays, so I’m like, we’re just going to record this.

And I’m actually very excited about what I am going to teach because I don’t usually do this. I usually give my clients first dibs on things, but. The podcast is hearing it first because I just created this kind of framework, this step-by-step [00:04:00] framework for building a personal brand. So I have noticed after supporting hundreds of women in building their personal brand and, and even just building my personal brand myself, 

typically share with my clients whenever I have frameworks, but I just came up with it. I mean, it’s always been there, but I just put it in a framework. So I am excited to share with you the personal branding framework that I’ve come up with because here’s, ever since I started talking about personal branding, more specifically, obviously it’s something that I think I’ve always taught, but now it’s.

More specific, and now I’ve created resources for my clients. And one of the objections that comes up, or hesitation that people have is that they really feel like they’re not interesting enough to start a personal brand. They feel as if they need to do all of this branding, like have a logo, have colors, have templates, and the [00:05:00] time of graphics on Canva are gone.

Those like, that stuff’s not working on social media anymore and it’s not what we should be spending our time on. And the truth is that you do not need to be perfect. You do not need to be super interesting, quite the opposite. There is a big shift going on with the rise of ai, with how Instagram used to be.

That was just like very aesthetic. What people are really looking for now is raw and real and really sharing. Your vulnerable experience and your story, and I would even argue that you don’t even need a specific niche. You don’t even need to say, I helped this person do this. When to start a personal brand.

It’s really about telling your story and to you, it might not seem interesting because you’ve lived it, but when other people hear your story, you’d be blown away with how impactful  So I really started thinking about, okay, well what is personal branding and how did I begin to build my personal brand and how do I [00:06:00] support my clients in doing it?

And what I learned is that there are three different stages of personal branding, and that’s what I want to walk you through to today. The purpose of this episode is for you to identify what stage you are in, and I’m going to give you tips depending on what stage you’re in.

But before we get into the actual phases, I wanna talk about why people feel confused or insecure about branding. And one of the. Things is that they think they need to be ready to show up. Like Ready’s just gonna come on their doorstep. And the truth is that doesn’t happen. You have to just kind of decide.

You’re never going to feel ready. They also maybe just try to copy what it is that they see online, and it’s really hard to take somebody else’s vision and then make it fit into you and your life. It’s much better to be authentic, to be imperfect, and trust me, that resonates with people so much more. I know it’s easier said than done because.

We obviously look to others for [00:07:00] inspiration and maybe we’ll see a piece of content that inspires us to do something similar. And I’m not saying don’t get inspired by others, but this idea that it has to look like somebody else’s is not, the case. another thing that gets in people’s ways is that they haven’t done the, like manifestation work.

 the internal work first. And if you go back and listen to my podcast episode where I’m talking about the, the, our self-concept and how the self-concept we have of ourselves is what dictates our lives.It is episode 212, and it is titled This One Thing Dictates Your Entire Life and nobody talks about it. Highly recommend that episode if you find yourself in this place where you don’t feel like you are worthy or interesting enough. Go back and listen to that podcast episode. And Sarah, if we can link it down below, that would be great.

I’ll have my podcast producer link it down below for you all. Another thing is that they don’t realize that there are the stages that I’m going [00:08:00] to share with you today, and each one has its own role, rhythm and resistance. So let’s get into the framework. After coaching hundreds of women through the journey from content creators to career changers to coaches, I’ve noticed a clear pattern and there are three stages in building a brand that’s not just profitable, but it’s also authentic, powerful, and aligned. So let’s walk through them right now. The first stage is what I call rewrite.

So these are gonna be the three R’s. I like to make things easy for people to remember. So rewrite is all about changing the narrative, and this is where you’re still figuring out what it is that you believe, what stories it is that you want to tell, what kind of lights you up. You’re kind of figuring out your direction, your purpose, what it is that you wanna create content on, what you should focus on, and you realize that you’ve been dimming your light.

Or living somebody else’s expectation. So maybe you are, working a job [00:09:00] that you know you don’t wanna retire from, or maybe you, built a business and just kept doing it because it was working, but it was no longer what you wanted to do, and you haven’t allowed yourself to pivot. Or maybe you have been creating content, but you know that you’re not going, like you’re not allowing yourself to pivot or change or evolve.

And this stage is really about self-trust as well as identity and that self-concept that the last episode talked about, episode 212. And it is not about aesthetics. It’s not about having the most perfect image or graphic that you make on Canva. I would even argue like, you don’t even need Canva anymore.

You can just use Instagram or, or LinkedIn or, I mean, maybe if you’re making a carousel, I okay, maybe, but I make mine on Instagram. Anyway, we won’t get into specifics here.

 So this is how you know that you’re in stage one or the rewrite stage. You’re not sure what it is that you wanna post, or you wanna say maybe you try to record something, you save it to your drafts, and then you [00:10:00] never actually post it. Or maybe you watch videos and you’re consuming other people’s content and you, you get inspired.

But you never really take action. So the, you never get to hit posts, but maybe your journal’s full of ideas. Maybe you are, sending memes and, and different content to your friends of the kind that you wanna create, but you don’t actually create it. You also might worry that you’re not interesting enough.

Maybe you are still processing fear of judgment or imposter syndrome. So some of the thoughts that can come up are, what if I’m judged? What if people criticize me? Or I should just be humble. I shouldn’t put the spotlight on myself. So a lot of that cultural conditioning, if that’s very present for you, then that’s a sign that you’re in this stage.

So this stage as a reminder, you have. The desire to build that brand and to become more visible. But what is required [00:11:00] in this stage is that you rewrite the narrative. You rewrite the limiting beliefs. That belief of, oh my gosh, I’m not interesting enough. Yeah, you are. I mean, I think we’ve all watched those videos of people literally restocking their fridge or cleaning, and it’s like, please, that’s like some of the most mundane stuff, but we still love watching it, and I want you to pay attention as you are scrolling.

As you are consuming content, are you consuming content and enjoying content from people who are super aesthetic and perfect? Yeah, I mean, there’s a certain level of aesthetic ness. I don’t even know if that’s a word, but there’s a certain level, obviously if you have a super dirty camera, like if your lens is really, really dirty or if the video is really shaky or if the sound sucks, you definitely need quality so that it’s consumable.

You need good enough quality, but your iPhone is enough. But what I’m saying is you don’t need to go do all this. Extra stuff. People are like, oh my gosh, I need to go build a website first. Please don’t build a website. Even if you wanna start a business, don’t start a website just yet. Don’t jump the gun.

[00:12:00] Don’t go there yet because you don’t even know what the business will turn into. And a website is a big project to take on. I do think it’s a good next step once you’re already making money, once you have. Clients once you have testimonials to put on the website, because then you’ll even know what to write on there.

But if you’re starting from scratch, it’s really hard to do that. 

so the tip for you, if you are in this stage where you want to create the content, you want to build your personal brand, but you are really having a hard time. With taking the action, your tip is to. Become aware of the story that you’re telling yourself. Is it that you are not interesting enough? Is it that you’re afraid of what people might think or say?

Is it that you don’t wanna look stupid? What, what kind of story are you telling yourself? And how can you rewrite that narrative? So is it true that you’re not interesting enough? Is it true that people are going to judge you? Is it true? Like, does it even matter what other people think? And really challenge those [00:13:00] beliefs and rewrite the narrative?

Okay, let’s move on to stage two. Stage two is all about reveal, how to show up even when it’s scary. So this is when you really begin to share your voice, your story, and your ideas, and you’re no longer hiding. Even if your hands are shaking though. So this is like where we really embody courage. This is where courage driven Latina comes in.

Actually, courage driven Latina comes in on the other stage too, because the first thing we work on is rewriting the narrative and changing your mindset and overcoming limiting beliefs. But, if you are a client inside of courage driven Latina, then this is like where your courage project is. This is where the action piece is.

So for those of you who are in stage two, again, this is really where you begin to take the action, even if you’re super scared. So maybe your hands are shaking whenever you hit publish. Maybe you have to go for a walk after you hit post. This is where you build trust, where you grow your audience, and where you deepen your [00:14:00] courage.

And the way that you know that you’re here is through these signs. So you’re posting content even when it feels uncomfortable, you are building your courage muscle. Maybe you’re posting content even though it’s not as aesthetic as you want it to be, even if it’s not edited perfectly. Maybe you are starting really small and you’re just doing stories.

Or let’s say that LinkedIn is your thing and you wanna build your brand for a career pivot. Maybe you just start sharing little updates here, but no photos or anything like that, or maybe no videos yet, but maybe you’re writing things out. you’re really starting to gain some traction. And what I mean by traction is like you are starting to get more confident.

You’re doing it more consistently. Maybe you’re getting a few dms here and there, and it’s really giving you more motivation and you’re no longer waiting for it to be perfect. So the tip for you if you are in this stage is that messy visibility is more magnetic than silent perfectionism. Okay, I am gonna say that one more time.

Messy visibility is more magnetic than silent [00:15:00] perfectionism. In other words, you’re going to attract way more things by showing up imperfectly than if you are staying hidden for the sake of perfection. And you know, obviously I’m breaking these stages into kind of general stages. Within that first stage, there’s obviously a lot of sub stages, and then within the reveal stage, there’s also stages that go in there. I’m just kind of making it general so that way you can get a good understanding that is. Digestible in this podcast episode. So let’s go to stage three, which this stage. The third R is receive, and this is all about attracting aligned opportunities. This is where your brand really begins to speak for you and I’ll, I’ll give you an example of when I knew that I got here. Once I had created courage driven Latina and started talking a lot more about courage, and I started talking about how courage doesn’t mean you’re not [00:16:00] afraid.

It means that you. Take the action despite being afraid, kind of like what we talked about in the previous stage, people started sending me. The word courage whenever they saw it anywhere. I remember there was a girl that I was in a coaching program with and she was traveling through Costa Rica and there was a big mural that said Courage.

And she took a photo of it and sent it to me directly and then put it in our community and tagged me in it. And that same like within that month, somebody else was like, oh look, I saw this courage mug and I totally thought of you. And that is what I mean by whenever your brand begins to speak for you.

You really start to create a name for yourself and what it is that you stand for, and people think of you. When you are at this stage, so at this stage, opportunities really start coming to you, and it’s not because you chase them, but because you were aligned, you showed up and you were consistent.

Another example that I can think of for this is when I was invited to interview Luis FCI for Hispanic [00:17:00] Heritage Month on TikTok Live. I didn’t even have a podcast at the time. I had no interview experience. It really came out of nowhere. I couldn’t have chased that opportunity. Because I didn’t even know it was a possibility, but because I was showing up consistently, I had talked a lot more about being Latina.

I was in the TikTok, uh, what was it called? Latinx Creatives Program. I’m pretty sure it was called Latinx Creatives Program. Uh, it no longer exists. It’s like transitioned to something else. But I was very clear about my story about being Latina, and that’s why I landed that opportunity and it was really my brand that magnetized that opportunity to come to me.

So signs that you’re here are that people are reaching out to collaborate or to work with you, you are being invited to speak maybe on podcasts or in a coaching program, or even in like, you know, for a nonprofit or even at your company, or maybe you’re being asked to teach something or to lead. Another way you know that you’re here is maybe you’re starting to monetize [00:18:00] your brand through either coaching, maybe content or collaborations, and you’ve stopped performing and really started embodying.

And the tip for you here is that magnetism comes from being yourself in public, not from doing the most. So it’s not even about hustling, it’s really about finding authenticity and alignment and showing up as that person. As I mentioned earlier, these are three general stages and there’s a lot of little substeps within them. You’re obviously not going to go from the first stage all the way to the third stage overnight. Of course, it can happen fast, but. Let’s set clear expectations here. It looks like my brand was built overnight because I went from having like no followers to 12,000 followers on TikTok, and then from 12,000 to 25,000, and then worked my way up to a hundred thousand and eventually got to 200,000 and it looked like it was overnight.

But it was not overnight. Before [00:19:00] then, I was already creating content on Instagram. I was running a food blog. I was also became a yoga instructor. I was creating content about all of that. So this was a lot of reps and work and preparing my, my identity. Rewriting those limiting beliefs, which is that stage one, and then revealing, like really showing up.

So just to do a quick recap on the framework, they are the three Rs. The first stage is rewrite, and that’s where you change the narrative. Second stage is reveal, and that’s when you show up. Even when it’s scary. That’s when you lead with courage. And step three is receive, and that is where you attract aligned opportunities.

So wherever you are in the. Framework of building your personal brand. I have a gift for you. So initially this was just going to be for my clients, but after thinking [00:20:00] about it and really believing in the power of building a personal brand, I actually have created a version for the public for you all, and this is a custom GPT that supports you in identifying your personal brand.

This custom GPT is amazing. It is called Manifest Your Marca bot, and it is a personal brand discovery tool for first gen Latinas who are ready to be seen and it’s created by me. So, I mean, it sounds like me. It has my frameworks inside of it, and it really helps you identify.

What story it is that you can tell what it is that you stand for, how to start showing up without overthinking. Ways that you can monetize your, your magic from content to coaching. It even gives you the platform that’s recommended based on your personal brand. So it’s going to help unlock. The personal brand that’s [00:21:00] already within you, this idea that you’re not interesting enough is complete bs.

You are definitely interesting enough and we need more women of color voices. That are being visible because we need to hear each other’s stories. It’s not about being perfect anymore. It’s about sharing your journey. The moment that I started building my, personal brand and the moment I started being visible, actually everything changed for me.

The Louis fluency opportunity came up. Harvard reached out to me about leading meditations for their first gen group, and I had no experience with meditation. It was just because I had. That’s not true. I had some experience being that I liked meditating and I was creating content about meditation, and that’s how I landed that amazing opportunity.

Some of the companies that I had applied to work for when I was in, in the tech industry and didn’t get a job at, they started reaching out to me once I started building my personal brand. So you would be blown away with the amount of opportunities that can come your way. And what I want you to know is that your [00:22:00] personal brand is the one thing that nobody can take away from you.

The current job that you’re at, the company could. Go under, right? Like they could have a reorg. You can be laid off. But your personal brand is something that nobody can take away from you, and it will go with you wherever you are. So whether you have dreams of becoming an entrepreneur or don’t, it’s in your best interest to build your personal brand.

And that is why I created the Manifest your Marca bot.

So in order to get your hands on that, go to the link down below. It’s completely free. You’ll just have to type in your name and your email, and then it will redirect you to the page where you will answer 10 questions. So all you have to do is open the page, fill out your information, and then it will walk you through 10 questions one by one.

And at the end, it will give you your personal branding statement, content ideas, monetization ideas. I am so excited about this. I’ve been obsessed with creating custom bots, and I think you’re really going to enjoy this [00:23:00] one.

I would love to hear your personal brand statement. I would love to hear your feedback on this custom bot. Let me know how it lands for you. Let me know how accurate it is. 

 if you would like to share it with me, either through DM or share it on social media, but tag me because I wanna see it and sharing is caring. So definitely share this with a friend.

and if you would like my support with your personal brand, send me a message. Send me a, a direct message on Instagram because I do have. Just a small number of spots available for my personal branding intensive. Okay, friends, thank you so much for joining me. I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode, and I will see you next week.

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