Personal Branding—Most Important Thing You Do. Full Video AdobeMAX 2023

Summary

This script delves into the concept of personal branding, emphasizing the human tendency to fall in love with personalities over corporations. It challenges the notion of sanitizing one's image to appeal broadly, advocating for authenticity and leveraging one's unique quirks and passions—termed as 'unmasking your superpower.' Through humor and relatable anecdotes, it differentiates between nerds, geeks, and other societal labels, ultimately guiding on how to build a powerful personal brand. By embracing vulnerability, defining one's enemies, and crafting a personal style, the script outlines a counterintuitive approach to personal branding that resonates with people on a human level.

Takeaways

• 😀 People connect more with personalities than corporations, emphasizing authenticity in personal branding.
• 🧐 Understanding the difference between 'nerd' and 'geek' can enhance self-identification and personal branding.
• 🎭 Embracing one's unique quirks and interests (like being a 'nerd') can be a superpower in building a personal brand.
• 🌟 Aaron Draplin's success is attributed to his charisma, authenticity, and approachability, showcasing the power of personal authenticity.
• 🔍 Analyzing the success of influential figures can provide insights into effective personal branding strategies.
• 📈 Building a powerful personal brand involves unmasking your unique superpowers, often through counterintuitive means.
• 👥 The importance of storytelling and connecting with audiences on a human level is highlighted for brand development.
• 🤝 Establishing a personal brand requires understanding your audience and engaging them with authentic content that resonates.
• 🚀 Developing a unique personal branding framework can involve combining passions, such as cinema and pop culture, with professional goals.
• 💡 The concept of 'ugly branding' illustrates how embracing imperfections and authenticity can differentiate and strengthen a brand.

Q & A

What is the main goal of the presentation?

The main goal of the presentation is to help the audience unmask their superpower by building a powerful personal brand, emphasizing the importance of being authentic and embracing one's unique characteristics.

What key difference between a nerd and a geek does the speaker highlight?

According to the speaker, the key difference is that a nerd must have high intelligence, be obsessed with weird things, and be socially awkward, whereas a geek is characterized by being really smart and obsessed about things without necessarily being socially awkward.

What led the speaker to research the difference between a nerd and a geek?

The speaker looked up the difference between a nerd and a geek after realizing he had been using the terms interchangeably without knowing there was a distinct difference.

Why does the speaker mention the concept of people trying to be like corporations and vice versa?

The speaker mentions this concept to highlight the irony of corporations striving to appear more human and relatable, while individuals often sanitize their online presence to appear more professional or corporation-like, which detracts from their authenticity and personal brand.

What analogy does the speaker use to explain the concept of building a personal brand?

The speaker uses the analogy of comic book mythology, drawing parallels between the characters' origin stories, defining attributes, and the battles they fight, to explain how individuals can construct their personal brand.

What does the speaker suggest is necessary for making meaningful connections?

The speaker suggests that being vulnerable is necessary for making meaningful connections, as it allows individuals to be authentic and relatable.

What framework does the speaker introduce for building a personal brand?

The speaker introduces a framework that includes knowing who you are, your origin story, your community and allies, your defining attributes, and your 'enemies' or what you stand against, drawing parallels to comic book mythology.

How does the speaker suggest individuals can stand out and be different?

The speaker suggests that individuals can stand out by being refreshingly transparent, embracing their full personality, and going in the opposite direction of trying to blend in, much like the example given of Aaron Draplin's approach.

What does the speaker mean by 'adversity is your ally'?

By 'adversity is your ally,' the speaker means that personal challenges and adversities can be powerful elements of one's story and brand, making them more relatable and authentic to others.

What is the 'two-word brand' concept introduced by the speaker?

The 'two-word brand' concept introduced by the speaker involves combining a shadow word (representing a personal challenge or perceived negative trait) with a transformer word, to create a unique and powerful personal brand identifier that embraces and transcends one's vulnerabilities.

Outlines

00:00

📣 Building a Personal Brand: Embracing Authenticity

The speaker introduces the idea that people are more attracted to personalities than corporations, highlighting a shift where corporations strive to humanize their brands, while individuals tend to sanitize theirs. A distinction is made between 'nerds' and 'geeks' through a humorous analogy involving a Venn diagram by comedian Don McMillan. The focus then shifts to the importance of personal branding and unmasking one's superpower, which contrary to popular belief, lies in embracing one's authentic, nerdy or geeky self. Through anecdotes and definitions, the speaker encourages the audience to reflect on their own unique traits that could strengthen their personal brand.

05:02

🌟 Discovering Your Superpower Through Transparency

The narrative progresses to the speaker sharing personal revelations about branding and identity inspired by Aaron Draplin's transparent and authentic approach at a TEDx talk. This transparency is posited as a key ingredient to Draplin's magnetic personal brand, leading to a broader discussion on the power of being genuine and vulnerable in building one's brand. The speaker challenges the audience to be refreshingly transparent in their own branding efforts, arguing that authenticity attracts and resonates with others, forming deeper connections and a stronger personal brand.

10:04

🛠️ Framework for a Powerful Personal Brand

Introducing a framework for developing a personal brand, the speaker outlines four components: knowing oneself, understanding one's community, recognizing defining attributes, and identifying enemies or challenges. This framework is likened to comic book mythology, where characters are defined by their origin stories, allies, attributes, and adversaries. The discussion is framed as a preparation for a detailed workshop aimed at helping individuals unmask their superpowers, with a focus on the unique and counterintuitive aspects of personal branding.

15:06

🧠 Leveraging Vulnerability and Self-Awareness

The narrative delves into the importance of vulnerability and self-awareness in personal branding, using an analogy of selling 'ugly' fruit to highlight how perceived flaws can actually enhance a brand's appeal. The speaker emphasizes that being open about one's shortcomings and embracing one's unique personality traits can lead to stronger, more genuine connections with others. This section reinforces the idea that corporations and individuals alike can benefit from being more human and authentic in their branding efforts.

20:07

💡 Turning Weaknesses into Strengths

Exploring the concept of transforming weaknesses into strengths, the speaker discusses the power of storytelling in branding, particularly through the lens of vulnerability. By sharing personal struggles and how they've shaped one's character, individuals can create compelling narratives that resonate deeply with others. The section emphasizes the effectiveness of authenticity and transparency in building a personal brand that truly stands out.

25:08

🎭 Embracing and Transforming Your Shadow Self

This segment introduces the concept of the 'shadow self' and the importance of acknowledging and embracing one's darker or hidden aspects to create a more authentic and powerful personal brand. Through personal anecdotes and exercises, the speaker encourages the audience to reflect on their own shadows and consider how these aspects can be transformed into strengths. This approach aims to foster self-discovery and genuine personal growth, which are essential for building a meaningful and impactful personal brand.

30:10

🤺 Identifying and Embracing Your Enemies

The discussion shifts to the importance of identifying one's 'enemies' or the challenges and criticisms one faces, and using them as fuel to strengthen one's personal brand. Through creative exercises and examples, the speaker shows how negative feedback and obstacles can be reframed and embraced to create a more resilient and distinctive brand identity. This part of the narrative underscores the value of resilience and the power of turning adversity into an asset in personal branding.

35:10

🌈 Crafting Your Signature Style and Language

In this final section, the speaker emphasizes the significance of developing a unique style and language as key components of a personal brand. Through examples ranging from visual identity to signature phrases and monograms, the audience is encouraged to think creatively about how they present themselves to the world. The narrative concludes with a call to action for individuals to deliberately craft and curate aspects of their identity, turning them into powerful tools for personal branding and self-expression.

Keywords

💡Personal Branding

Personal branding refers to the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It's an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization. In the context of the video, personal branding is central to the discussion, emphasizing the importance of building a powerful personal brand that reflects one's unique superpowers and personality. The video advocates for authenticity and leveraging one's quirks and characteristics to stand out, rather than conforming to corporate or sanitized identities.

💡Nerd vs. Geek

The distinction between 'nerd' and 'geek' is explored through a humorous lens, highlighting different aspects of intelligence, obsession, and social awkwardness. This differentiation serves to break down stereotypes and encourages viewers to embrace their unique interests and intelligences as part of their personal brand. The speaker uses these terms to engage the audience in rethinking their identities and how these identities can be powerful elements of their personal branding.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity is a recurring theme in the video, emphasizing the value of being genuine and true to oneself in personal branding. The speaker illustrates how individuals who showcase their real, unfiltered selves tend to attract more engagement and loyalty from their audience. Examples include discussing figures like Aaron Draplin, who is admired for his charisma and authenticity, and highlighting the importance of showing one's true self rather than a sanitized, corporate version.

💡Vulnerability

Vulnerability is discussed as a counterintuitive superpower in personal branding. The speaker suggests that showing one's flaws, uncertainties, and real experiences can foster deeper connections with an audience. The video uses examples like sharing personal stories and struggles, illustrating how vulnerability can be an asset rather than a weakness in building a relatable and powerful personal brand.

💡Shadow Work

Shadow work refers to the process of exploring and integrating the aspects of oneself that are usually hidden or suppressed. In the video, it is presented as a method for uncovering one's 'shadow word'—a personal trait viewed negatively—and transforming it into a positive aspect of one's personal brand. This concept is used to encourage individuals to embrace and share their full selves, including their flaws, as a way to enhance their personal brand's authenticity and relatability.

💡Comic Book Mythology

Comic book mythology is employed as an analogy for constructing personal brands. The speaker draws parallels between comic book heroes, their origin stories, superpowers, and the importance of adversity, to the process of building a personal brand. This comparison serves to illustrate how personal struggles and unique traits can be leveraged to create a compelling and relatable brand narrative.

💡Adversity as an Ally

The concept of 'adversity as an ally' is introduced to highlight how challenges and obstacles can be transformed into strengths and unique selling points for one's personal brand. The speaker uses examples from comic book heroes whose struggles contribute to their depth and appeal, advocating for viewers to reframe their own adversities as elements that enhance their personal brand and storytelling.

💡Two-Word Brand

A 'two-word brand' is a concise way to capture the essence of an individual's personal brand, combining a 'shadow word' with a 'transformer word' to create a powerful, memorable brand identity. The video emphasizes the importance of distilling one's complex personality and attributes into a simple, impactful statement that can easily be communicated and remembered, serving as a foundation for all personal branding efforts.

💡Enemy Identification

Enemy identification is about defining what one stands against, which is used as a strategy for personal branding. The video suggests that by identifying and naming one's 'enemies'—be they concepts, practices, or standards—one can more clearly define their own stance and values, thereby strengthening their personal brand. This approach helps in creating a narrative that resonates with others who share similar views or experiences.

💡Signature Style

Signature style refers to the unique visual and expressive elements that an individual adopts as part of their personal brand. The video discusses how consistent use of colors, accessories, and even writing style can contribute to a recognizable and memorable brand identity. By carefully curating and presenting these elements, individuals can enhance the visual aspect of their personal brand, making it more distinctive and appealing.

Highlights

Yo Santosa emphasizes the importance of personalities over corporations in building love and trust.

The transformation of corporations trying to humanize and individuals aiming for a corporate persona.

Introduction to building a powerful personal brand by unmasking one's superpower.

Exploring the distinction between nerds and geeks through humor and Venn diagrams.

A personal journey of discovering Aaron Draplin's influence and charm in design and branding.

Aaron Draplin's TEDx talk showcases his transparent and authentic approach to personal branding.

The significance of embracing one's unique traits and imperfections in establishing a personal brand.

Analyzing the 'Ugly' branding strategy to highlight the power of storytelling and emotional connection.

Demonstrating the effectiveness of integrating facts, feelings, and fun in storytelling for brand engagement.

Introducing a personal branding framework that combines elements from cinema, pop culture, and comic book mythology.

Exploring the concept of cultural capital and its influence on personal branding through one's background and community.

The role of personal challenges and 'shadow words' in developing a more profound and relatable personal brand.

Emphasizing the importance of being vulnerable and transparent in connecting with others on a personal level.

Utilizing personal stories and defining moments to illustrate one's brand and character.

Encouraging the reclamation and transformation of negative labels or criticisms into strengths and unique selling points.

Highlighting the need for conflict and challenges in crafting compelling narratives and personal brands.

The significance of adversaries or 'villains' in defining and sharpening one's personal brand and values.

Advising on the strategic use of personal style, symbols, and color to enhance brand recognition and identity.

The power of naming and owning one's narrative, turning personal quirks into trademarks of their brand.

Transcripts

I'm going to share this quote with you

from my friend yo santosa who says

people don't fall in love with

corporations they fall in love with

personalities and here's the weird thing

as I look across the social media

landscape and people are posting content

all the time it's strange to me how

humans try so hard to be corporations to

sanitize everything that you do to wash

it to run it by a legal team or

something so that you don't offend

anybody you don't say anything so it's

really weird corporations are trying to

be more human and humans are trying to

be more like corporations so today I'm

want to talk to you about building a

powerful personal brand and my main goal

is to help you unmask your superpower

and it's counterintuitive it's not what

you think it is it's the opposite of

what you think it

is I've been using this term nerd or

sometimes a geek and I didn't realize

there was a difference and so I looked

it up did you know there's a difference

between nerd and a geek there's this

comedian this joke is totally stolen

from him so I'm gonna his name is Don

McMillan and he's funny because he's the

only comedian who uses ven diagrams and

this is his ven diagram he explains it

right so in order for you to be a nerd

you have to be really smart you have to

have high intelligence quotient and you

have to be obsessed about weird things

and you also have to be socially awkward

so not everybody gets to call themselves

a nerd okay and so you start to wonder

like well what are the other parts of

the VIN diagram so if you're really

smart and you're obsessed that's a

geek and if you're really smart and

you're super socially awkward that's a

dork and the last one's pretty funny if

you're socially awkward and you're

obsessed do you know what that's called

it's totally called a

stalker so you know I'm a nerd I'm a

nerd because I like to think of myself

as all these three things and some of

you are probably feeling like real seen

and heard right now I I see you okay so

uh in

2014 I didn't know a lot about brand or

personal branding and I Came Upon This

video and I have to admit I didn't have

any idea who this guy was and this

designer had asked me like do you know

who Aaron drin is I'm like no and she's

like you're just being so pretentious

like no I really don't know so I had to

go look up on the internet and I see

this video and the first video I've ever

seen of Aaron drin was him at tedex

Portland he gets up on stage and he I'll

give you a little bit of him drain's not

here is he all right cool cuz I make fun

of him the whole time okay he goes up on

stage and like my my name is Aaron James

drain I'm 40 years old and I'm a big guy

trying to make it in the little leagues

I'm not qualified to be here um I'm I

have no credentials look them up but no

warts no nothing and I don't even wear

pants so I was like this is the guy

everybody's talking about what is going

on what is going on here and what what

made him so special so lovable so

desired that people will buy anything

and get in lines like out the door

what's going on with him was it because

he's got some like god-given Talent or

maybe uh he's just really fortunate a

person at the right place at the right

time with the right opportunity or maybe

he won the genetic Lottery like with his

good looks or something so I have a

question for all of you what is it about

Mr drin Mr ajd that draws so many people

to him and you know who you are it's

okay if you just identify yourself right

now what is it Charisma Charisma

authenticity he's really hot he's really

hot he is that you you like the you like

him uh fluffy right

okay all right all right so I think I

know what the answer is and so what I

did was I stopped

shaving I started shopping at the skinny

and shorts store and bought a whole new

wardrobe so I was on my way to becoming

an influencer I swear to you right um

and I just I just want to say a couple

things you know like I know how to use

generative Phill and I'm not even sure

if Aaron even knows how to use Photoshop

so you know Adobe call me we can work

something out but the real aha moment

came to me when I started to study this

video I was like watching it over and

over and over again that's my nature I'm

obsessed like that and he did something

that up until that point I didn't see a

whole lot of other designers do so in

the SE of say when everybody's trying to

blend in we're trying to fit in with the

world he just went the opposite

direction and it doesn't take that much

for you to stand out to be different and

so here's what I came up with and I

think it might line up with why you're

all attracted to too that he was

refreshingly transparent if you just

look at the first 60 seconds of his head

talk he tells you his middle name people

don't usually open up with that he tells

you how old he is and that he's from

Detroit Michigan and he's into this kind

of music and this is his political

affiliation he tells you all of it he

tells you about his attack dog Gary and

he licks the ice cream he's like good

enough for his mouth good enough for my

mouth I'm like

oo overshare I think so there was this

high sense of self-awareness and he was

talking about it he's like everybody was

busy trying to go to India I was just

trying to go to

Indiana and it hit and I started to

understand this guy was bringing the

full weight of his personality and he

was not hiding from it he was opening it

up to show all of you and there's

something about that that I'm going to

talk to you about so I started to know

these patterns and um I developed a

little bit of a framework okay and it

combines my love for Cinema for pop

culture and I say that because if I

don't I think there's some IP copyright

infringement here so it's really a

critical analysis of Pop Culture media

film and Comics Disney don't sue me okay

so I'm really into this stuff and the

framework looks something like this and

I do want to say something here which is

typically I'm doing personal branding

workshops that are 8 to 10 hours long

I've done my best to squeeze it into a

60-minute talk so that's I'm just going

to pull the highlights for you okay and

I'm going to share things that would

normally be interactive we would do this

together I'd make fun of you you would

try you would fail I would make fun of

you it would work something like that

but I'll just show you what some of the

answers look like you don't need to

worry about this because I'm just going

to pull it apart but there are basically

four components to this thing knowing

who you are your origin story where

you're born your parents all that stuff

that's cultural capital that we trade on

all the time you know how when you see

somebody like oh you're from the same

town that I I went to or you had that

teacher you went to that school or you

use that same software we connect with

each other that way and then there's

this larger thing the people that

surround us our community um the city in

which we live in our allies or Sidekicks

there's a lot of comic book references

it gets deeper than this okay and then

there's your defining attributes the

things that make you you your your

catchphrases your your quirks your

idiosyncratic nature those are the

things that you want to learn and tap

into and then there's this element that

most people ignore which we'll just call

the enemy the things that you stand

against the things that are that the

things that you're trying to get rid of

in in in terms of the world and that's

what it kind of looks like and I started

to see these overlaps between comic book

mythology and building a personal brand

so today I'm going to talk to you about

building a powerful personal brand the

Adobe Max 2023 version of this and my

main goal is to help you unmask your

superpower and it's counterintuitive

it's not what you think it is it's the

opposite of what you think it is and I'm

going to do this in a couple of parts so

part one is the ugly story now the ugly

story has a story too because my wife

and I were really good

partners um I I don't ever do the the

grocery shopping on occasion I actually

go into the store usually I just sit in

the car and wait for her uh because she

doesn't like to be rushed that's the

problem so I'm there like let's just get

this and move on so I go there and this

thing catches my eye off the shelf it's

just screaming at me at Whole Foods and

it says hello I'm ugly I'm like are you

talking to me wait who's ugly you're

ugly or I'm ugly and so I picked this

thing up purely based on design and

packaging so for those of you who don't

believe design and packaging works this

is an example and I'll tell you why

because now I'm telling their story to

you which you might tell someone else

and they paid me Zar for that okay also

available call me hash sponsor post okay

so I'm going to share a couple things

about this package their story and I

want you to pay attention to it as if

we're doing a workshop together okay and

there's this concept called the three FS

um it was introduced to me by this guy

named Brenan Kane who was able to grow a

million followers in 30 days or

something like that it's ridiculous what

he's able to do 30 days thanks thanks

Alex okay so he talks about when you

tell a story humans most humans connect

to facts feelings and fun so if you only

talk about facts you lose a lot of

people if you only talk about feelings

or fun then you you're potentially going

to miss a third of your audience so

whenever you tell a story you try to

include all three things so I'm going to

ask you to pay attention I'm going to

read to you what is on this package and

try to identify what is a fact what is

fun and what is feeling and then we'll

go over it okay as if we're working

together so here's what it says it says

beautiful on the inside 100% upcycled

peaches so that's a term upcycle I I

know that term I've not seen it used in

food like this before ugly fruit is

thrown out because of the way it looks

but you should never judge a fruit by

its

cover and by buying this package you are

preventing two and a qu pounds of ugly

fruit from becoming waste and then more

peaches are thrown away in California

than the state of Georgia produces and

ually right the state known for peaches

according to Justin

Bieber right and then lastly at the back

it say pit happens while we do our best

to remove all the pit traces from our

product sometimes Mother Nature just

won't let go so how did the ugly company

turn an unremarkable Bland ho hum

product into a charismatic brand one

that we will talk about and it's not

because of the product itself CU it is

pretty ugly there's small small pieces

of dried

fruit okay it's not because of that it's

not because it tastes any better so

number

one they were able to turn a weakness

into a strength that something is that

is discarded becomes something that we

value more than the discarded thing and

they trade on our guilt for landfill and

food waste and food scarcity into gold

quite

literally okay so were you paying

attention to the three fs and they told

the compelling

story okay so I broke it down for you so

the waste that's a fact that they throw

that we throw out more fruit in

California than Georgia produces that's

a fact and here's where it gets real

interesting judging on

appearance that's a feeling and so for

those of you who have ever been judged

or have judged someone and regretted it

you're going to start to connect to that

story there's an emotional bond that's

happening there and then when they say

pit happens we know what they mean they

don't really mean pit happens so that's

just them having fun so we wink at each

other we're in on the joke and we're

part of that story now and lastly it's

just full of Personality they humanized

a pretty bland category I've never paid

attention to drive fruit in my life I

don't know about you but now all of a

sudden I'm paying attention to it

because it made it human and it made it

relatable and I'm going to give I'm

going to share this quote with you from

my friend yo santosa who says people

don't fall in love with corporations

they fall in love with personalities and

here's the weird thing as I look across

the social media landscape and people

are posting content all the time it's

strange to me how humans try so hard to

be corporations to sanitize everything

that you do to was it to run it by a

legal team or something so that you

don't offend anybody you don't say

anything so it's really weird

corporations are trying to be more human

and humans are trying to be more like

corporations now that doesn't mean that

if you have a lot of personality that's

a guarantee for Success there is this

graphic that I want to share with you

doing a little research from the cut I

don't know what the cut is but they have

this ven diagram because there's plenty

of personalities that we hate apparently

so this is the diagram of people we hate

okay so it's a it's a diagram between

tries too hard doesn't try hard enough

and crimes against other celebrities

okay so you'll see it's kind of weird so

in the tries to hard category you have

Kim Kardashian Chris Jenner gwenneth

palra Madonna and hathway I think it's

pretty accurate I don't know why but

they're all women and there's something

interesting about this you'll see where

this goes okay and then there's some

people who don't try hard at all

universally agreed right Lindsay Lohan

like come on okay and then crimes

against other celebrities they're all

men John Mayor Jay Leno Jesse

James oh there's an argument happening

over here you okay with this graphic you

you want me to amend it okay we can do

that later all right anyways and then

the overlap is quite interesting between

the tries too hard and crimes against

other celebrities Taylor Swift Angelina

Jolie and Ashton Kutcher and doesn't try

hard enough and tries too hard at the

same time

he's able to pull it off kind of true

this is a damn good graphic isn't it

that's why I stole it now I want to ask

you who do you think oh I'm sorry I

messed that part up who who doesn't try

enough and commits crimes against other

people Kristen Stewart It's amazing so

who do you think tries too hard doesn't

try hard enough and commits crimes

against other

celebrities Kanye

Kanye I think he tries too hard mostly

okay but you're you're pretty good here

um Chris

Brown right okay so what is the moral of

this lesson besides me just trying to

steal a joke is I guess the rule in life

is to try but not too hard and just

don't hurt other people pretty good rule

to live by so we want to make some

effort but we definitely don't want to

hurt other people on our way up okay

part two of this is the 21st century

brand and that's what we're here trying

to help you do so that you can become

more influential so you can create those

kind of opportunities so you can

magnetize yourself and draw those things

to you it's a wonderful thing when it

starts to happen for you and so we're

all using the same language I'm going to

refer to Marty newers definition of

brand a brand is the person's gut

feeling about a product service or

organization so it's not what you say it

is it's what they say it is right so we

we know this products are made in

factories where brands are built and

made in the hearts and the minds of

people hearts and Minds just remember

that and then I came upon this article

at in the Harvard Business Review uh and

there was this thing it like build your

personal brand what an amazing okay not

that great of an article but they said

that your brand is built basically

around every

interaction that you have that people

are forming an opinion about you and if

that is true like there are a couple

hundred people in this room and

everybody here will have a separate

opinion about me and each other so does

that mean there are possibly infinite

versions of

ourselves possibly

well I had to do that because I needed

to show the slide that maybe we're

living see how it works you guys in the

Multiverse and you notice the last

couple of years maybe the last 10 years

the conversation on the Multiverse is

increasing across different media it's

really interesting I'm I'm fascinated by

these kinds of Concepts well at least in

the Marvel Cinematic Universe the

Multiverse is a bad thing like there's

one true you and then there's alternates

right and so season two Loki's out

that it's awesome the best series you

know the other one's not so good that

there's a whole time variance Authority

that's trying to prevent these variants

from existing so much so that he who

remains is trying his sole job is to

maintain the sacred timeline the one

version and actually eliminate the other

versions of you so we're kind of at war

with these different versions of

ourselves that's at least my

premise now I want to ask you this

question

What If instead of us fighting against

these different versions that we are all

meant to be a more unified whole that we

can learn to live in peace with these

different

versions and so that we can go from this

disjointed self that's misaligned to

something much better something more

cohesive and whole I'm going to talk

about

that so this is the new brand Roi this

is a big concept because a lot of times

when people see me they hear about

branding personal branding they think

I'm going to teach them social media

hacks how to hack the algorithm what you

to post it ain't about that that was a

trick to get you here I want to do

something that's more meaningful more

Soulful to you so it takes a little bit

of work for me to establish the

foundation for this but I tell you it's

completely worth it okay so I believe in

this idea that there's karmic equity and

if you think of a bank it's like you

make a deposit every time you do

something that's good and you expect

nothing in return and the more that you

can do this over time without taking

anything out it builds in a compounded

way it builds exponential

but every time you ask for something it

resets back to zero your account gets

drained back to zero does that make

sense so when you post a piece of

content and it's to Market your course

or to hire you or to give you an

opportunity or to review your portfolio

or your resume you are emptying your

bank out again and to me karma is just

the energy you use to reset that balance

that's what we're trying to do so I Came

Upon This the old rules of brand

awareness and it's pretty solid here

make something for everyone tell our

story attract customers and to build

brand awareness a lot of you are doing

this very Playbook right now the the new

rules look something like this

understand the customer story make

something that they want not what you

want give them a story to tell and

create brand Affinity so I take you back

to the ugly company the ugly fruit

company what they did was they

understood my story what I want to do

which is to reduce

waste and to um not fill up uh the the

dump with things that we we don't

necessarily need to throw away so it's

like into conservation all those things

and it's now I'm going around telling

their story and that's what you really

want and so we're trying to find this

balance between the things you have to

do for money versus the the long-term

game which is to build massive brand

value and these are at odds with each

other so that's what the Harvard

Business review article talks about that

Performance Marketing is good for

short-term Revenue but it comes at the

cost of long-term brand building value

so it's Revenue versus value and I'm

going to show it to you and how it looks

okay so instead of playing the

short-term game we're going to go play

the infinite game the game which we get

to play forever for as long as possible

and that's the whole point of the game

in itself now I Came Upon news piece for

Reese Witherspoon and I think she's a

pretty awesome person a pretty awesome

actress but not like the best and I

didn't realize this but she has grown a

massive social following 29 million

followers on

Instagram and here's what she's been

able to do with the the 29 million

followers on Instagram she's turned this

into a book club with two and a half

million people reading books anybody

here part of her book club okay a couple

people all right all right you don't

have to be shy about it I see you I they

can't see you I see you it's okay all

right yeah okay it's all right to be a

you know

so here's what she's been able to do she

takes her her General brand awareness

and the connection she's being able to

build with fans of films that she's been

on she creates a book club and she

recommends books now here's the really

interesting thing in order for you as an

author to have your book circulated

within the book club you have to Grant

her the media

rights rude woman so she can make movies

TV shows or whatever she wants but then

you're thinking isn't that exploiting

the author how many authors would like

to get their book in front of two and a

half million hungry Minds that would be

fantastic for the author so it's a

win-win and optioning your movie rights

doesn't mean they don't get money either

they get money when the movie's made as

well so she has this ultimate data

collection machine which is I think

these books are good you read them then

they tell her these books are great and

BAS on that she knows what TV shows and

movies to produce so she sold her

company her production company hello

sunshine for $900 million good on you

girl girl next door does all right so it

got me to think like okay so you're not

in movies uh you're not a nepo baby

whatever so what can you do to become a

more attractive character okay so I've

been thinking about this and I usually

would do this in Workshop so I would ask

people think about somebody throughout

time in history that has held a a place

of high esteem and Regard in your mind

right so you might think of some people

like Mother Teresa Gandhi or the Dal

Lama and then I asked now now really

think about them why are they so

attractive to you what is it about them

and I would do this with a large group

of people and we almost always end up

with the same three

characteristics they are they're

self-confident they're self-aware and

they're

vulnerable think back to ugly fruit

company they're confident they're

self-aware and they're

vulnerable so we can borrow these

Concepts and we can start to apply them

when we look at our own personal brand

so now I'm going to break down the more

specific components of it okay the first

really counterintuitive idea is that we

must be willing to be vulnerable to

build meaningful connection that's a

Berne Brown quote I have a slide for

somewhere so you're Perfectly Imperfect

the way you are it got me into looking

into Carl Young and he describes like

ourselves in a very different way than

Freud does that there's this Persona and

all of us are in our Persona right now

it's how we want the world to perceive

us it's what we do to get along with

everyone else and then the ego regulates

the Persona our front-facing self versus

our real self our shadow self this stuff

that is private that we rarely show to

anybody maybe to our only our trusted

best friend or a partner in life or

maybe a sibling or a parent and when

there's conflict between these two the

public and the shadow South at least in

the comic book world that looks

something like this I love the

Incredible Hulk because he is the

manifestation of a split personality

disorder you have the cold stoic Dr

Bruce Banner who is like an incredible

intellect and then you have the Hulk who

raging emotion the angrier he gets the

more powerful he gets so therefore he

has unlimited power as long as he

remains angry it's kind of an

interesting character not just Hulk

smash so here's the problem if we all

show up at as our Persona how we want

the world to perceive Us and how we get

along or how we show up to get along

what happens when you spend so much time

doing that and my fear and my belief and

observation is that we forget who we

really are you pretend to be somebody

long enough and you forget who you are I

this is also my theory that why people

like actors and actresses who pretend to

be lovers in a movie actually fall in

love afterwards cuz they go through the

same emotions that you would have have I

don't think your heart and mind can

figure out the difference so this is the

battle that we have to work through so

personal branding is not so much an Act

of Creation it's an act of

self-discovery your self story your

self-concept who are you and what makes

you

you so back to the world of comic books

there are characters who have no

difference between their public Persona

and their secret Alter Ego or identity

Reed Richards Mr Fantastic is the same

person he doesn't have to hide anything

in his world he's a hero he's wealthy

he's respected so I think that's a clue

cuz sometimes I think these stories are

designed to send a message to us in a

more palatable form that's easier to

consume and so what I'd like to do is do

a little Shadow work with you this is

the part where you're going to have to

take out a piece paper I think or just

write it with your iPhone or whatever

you have okay or pixel or whatever you

use um you know how I feel about that

okay so and I just want to say this uh

as I invite you to try to participate

and be vulnerable and EXP a different

darker side of yourself that I'm not a

mental health professional not even

close to one and sometimes when we do

these exercises we open cans of warms

that I do not know how to deal with I'm

not trained to deal with so I I just say

you you you need to do this under that

understanding that we can only go so far

here okay so here's the first prompt for

you it's the very easy prompt what we do

is we peel back the the the layers of

the onion we start easy and we get more

and more like progressively more

difficult okay how do most people people

see

you how would they describe you your

personality how would they describe what

it is that you do so you just want to

write like one or two Word answers to

this okay now obviously you're not going

to be able to work through the workshop

here in 90 minutes or 32 minutes left

now okay so just that's the easy part we

can always describe what it is we do I'm

a designer I'm a photographer I'm an

illustrator I'm I'm a social media

manager whatever it is that you do you

can write that and most people see me as

something okay so I'm going to share

with you happened when we were on our

European tour when I actually did the

workshop some of the answers some of the

people are in this room I won't say who

they are we'll see okay so my friend

Annalie she's a brand strategist she's

kind she's caring she's nurturing she's

deeply empathetic uh she's a public

speaker and instructor she's got this

really warm supportive inclusive tone

and she's she's this blonde woman so

she's like this ray of sunshine and that

might be literally the kinds of answers

you might write to that first prompt

as you can see it's just like what the

public sees now the second prompt to

this is but what they don't know is that

I really struggle with this

thing right so some of you might see me

as this gregarious outgoing person who

creates a lot of content it's everywhere

all the time what you don't know is I

just gasping for air over there with

stomach pains just minutes before coming

up on stage so now we start to kind of

show the world the other side the side

that we very rarely show other people

and there's this rule from entrepreneurs

organization EO and EO is an incredible

organization anybody here EO

members we got to work on that they're

all

millionaires okay so maybe you'll be

there soon or you're already there but

you didn't join yet they're all they had

this thing called a 5% rule so what they

say is about 90% of what you share you

share with the world right it's the top

five and the bottom five that you hide

from everyone so if you have an

incredible opportunity if you close a $3

million gig you don't go on Instagram

and share that cuz you're afraid people

judge you there's that expression that

people want you to see you do well but

just not better than them so it creates

feelings of jealousy right that's why

when you when you get a new whip you

might not want to post it because you

know your friends from your old

neighborhood might judge you in a

certain way or they might come and Rob

you either

way and then there's that dark stuff

like uh abuse uh divorce that you're

going through a really tough time

whatever it is that's the stuff you

don't share but in EO they say leave the

90% to the rest of the world show us the

5% your high highs and your low lows and

so I think that's a that's a hint for us

as to what we need to do and what we

need to get in touch with so an's going

to go a little bit deeper so she

struggles with self-confidence so

there's the opposite side the side that

she she shows people what they see and

then there's the side that's really her

so she struggles with self-confidence

that she feels guilt about wanting to be

in the spotlight because she's Swedish

and she there's this thing it's the idea

of the law of yante where you're not

supposed to stand out everybody's equal

everybody's the same a bunch of

Europeans here whether you're Swedish or

not know what I'm talking about they

feel the same way there's many

expressions for this in Europe in

America we love ourselves we praise

excellence and exceptionalism the rest

of the world they don't know what we're

doing here they think we're all crazy

okay so she has a lot of

insecurity that she's like approval

seeking and that she's like too

emotional those are her things so what

we want to do is we want to start to

generate a bunch of words that start to

make us feel really uncomfortable that

are us inside that we're afraid to share

with the

world this is really scary stuff but

this is your Shadow word okay um so when

we do this in Workshop forat you can

imagine because everybody's seeing

everybody like no one wants to say

anything but when it opens up the gates

just go crazy and then it's a flood of

emotion it's a beautiful thing for me to

witness I feel like when I run these

workshops if people are not crying I

failed I've totally

failed okay so Tom he was at one of the

workshops he says I struggle with being

a people

pleaser okay let's work with that James

struggles with substance abuse he's a

recovering addict Phyllis struggles with

age discrimination she's gone through

multiple careers in her life and so

people look at her like shouldn't you be

doing this by

now okay so I'm going to take it back to

analie here so her Shadow word is

attention

seeker and then I asked her like what

lesson did you learn from your Shadow

word I think all the challenges that

have been put in front of you were

designed to teach you a lesson the

problem with most of us is we don't

recognize that as a gift we see it as an

obstacle we don't learn what we need to

learn and guess what happens we're

doomed to repeat it over and over

again so she had a really difficult time

she goes Chris being an attention seeker

is really bad considering where I come

from the society and the culture in

which I was

raised but what did you learn from it

anal and how did you overcome this and

how did it make you stronger and this is

the path towards healing from this thing

that causes you pain to figure out where

you need to

go so if you're a recovering addict what

did you learn if you're a people pleaser

what did you learn now you've settled

into what your Shadow word is we're

going to change it by adding a

Transformer word a Transformer word

changes the meaning of original word so

your Shadow word could be one or two

words probably not more than that and

then you add a Transformer word and so

here's literally what Tom did at the

workshop and I was just so pleased that

somebody actually had some success so it

was great it was a good feeling for me

so Tom said I'm a proud people pleaser

is that okay Chris I'm say if that fits

with you and it feels good to you you

know run with that but it's interesting

because Tom builds communities and if

you don't know who Tom is Tom is the

founder of design Cuts he is the

community guy and he wrote a book on

this called the community guy or

something like that so that becomes a

thing of strength for him now let's go

back to

analie analie uh and we're trying to

work through this and it took a lot to

get this out maybe she's a reformed

attention seeker that feels a little

soft to me U maybe she's a conflicted

attention seeker or a conscious

attention

seeker it's not going anywhere so we we

have to kind of rethink this and then we

say like maybe she's an attention

Economist but then that takes away the

original Shadow word right now it's like

you're doing something different you're

like Gary vaynerchuk or something you

day trade attention all of a sudden

right so we have to be careful when we

add the Transformer word that we don't

wash it of the real meaning and the

power it has for

us okay instead of being an attention

Economist maybe you're an attention

Trader same meaning but then I started

thinking like what's another word for

traitor like a day Traer your an

attention broke her

and then we have fun with the way that

we write it so that it's a reminder for

herself that if you're not careful

attention will break you and that's a

lesson that she needs to learn in all

different ways and I think she's on to

something here okay so if you can do

this take three words you can turn them

into two words or you can combine two

words and make them into one hybrid word

you get bonus points if you can use

alliteration or rhyme but what I C you

against is making it cute when we do

this people are like oh I can use three

Rs but it means nothing or It Sounds

Clever but it has no real emotional

value to you I didn't ask James for

permission now there's lots of James in

the room I just say it's a

James I I can do it okay so he started

coming with ideas like design addict art

addict

tic that got some eyebrows James see

what I'm saying yeah but he likes that

he likes that it's sounds funny like

he's an arct maybe he has an an art

dition or maybe he's a designoholic

okay so when we do this exercise people

are like yeah but I'm still struggling

okay okay well there's more ways to do

this we can lean into the people who

hate us and we can just embrace them

with the warmest hug and we can take

back our power so another problem that

you can look at is what would your

naysayers your worst critics and your

cynics and trolls say about you

excluding family what would they say

about you so I'll show how this exercise

looks right so if you like like Phyllis

she they might say she's old she's past

her prime she's she's a has been washed

up a gezer Dusty ancient dinosaur

grandma Jerry atric remember she's a

late career switcher who's also a brand

strategist and she did this not with me

I'm just using her as an example here I

can't take credit for it so she uses

grandmother as

grandmother I'm like you're so clever

Phyllis you should run this Workshop

but she's not here so I'm running it

okay so here's what somebody uh who

talks about business and marketing a lot

a woman and so these are some of what

the critics might say about her that

she's business obsessed she's greedy she

doesn't have a priority straight she's

money hungry she's a gold digger a

capitalistic Covetous Material

Girl and she takes Gold Digger and she

turns into gold digger and this is Jenna

Kutcher she has like the number two

podcast for marketing I

believe I'm not

jealous not at all okay so my friend

Rick Morris he's a freelance designer

art director creative director so he he

calls himself a noble

assassin and then my other friend Ash

Thorp who's like had tremendous success

uh and an amazing body of work some of

you guys know who Ash Thorp is he calls

himself an art prostitute he's not

beating around the bush he's just

keeping it real and we we know people

who are ghost writers I'm like you're a

ghost writer shouldn't you just be a

growth writer so there's this thing that

if you if you say it by withholding your

tongue with a lith you can sometimes

hear it differently so if you're I'm a

go fighter then you can write it out

differently you can have fun with that

and then I saw this on a on um on a food

truck uh the guys who bake they're the

yeasty

boys that's pretty good right okay it's

who they are it's what they too and

there's this other person on social

media he's a real Fitness buff he runs

like militant workout programs he goes

by the name of Primos

swolder okay and and then I have a

friend who does speech uh he coaches

people on how to be a better speaker he

has a program called Mind Body Spirit

and he really believes in martial arts

and Jiu-Jitsu I'm like Marshall what

just call it martial art why you working

so hard okay so I said earlier that

staying vulnerable is a risk that we

have to take if we want to make a

meaningful

connection and here's the problem and

the reason why I would encourage you to

reduce down what it is that you describe

yourself not what you do but how you

describe yourself there's a big

difference here it's about you your

personality is to make it as simple as

possible to understand because

complexity is the enemy of comprehension

retention and execution and what you

want to do is be able to create

something that other people can tell the

story for you without you being in the

room that's how you know your story is

really good so it requires a lot of

editing for you to arrive at your

two-word brand the two brand is not your

entire story it's not even part of the

story it's just to get people to become

interested in saying tell me more what

does it mean to be a brandother what

does it mean to be a primal

Soldier so when when you arrive at your

two-word brand you can then now use this

as a way to tell stories and I'll give

you an example of how I do this okay so

story I'll give you some of the

structure too now when we look at story

I think like who are some of the best

storytellers who have multi-billion

dollar intellectual property of course

Marvel and DC and Stanley is the master

at creating characters uh he's created

some of the most iconic characters and

there was a a lecture that he gave I

think at UCLA on how he created

Spider-Man he goes what we have to do is

we have to just figure out the hardest

thing to do is figure out your

superpower and then once you figure out

the superpower you can give it a name

and then we have to invent some personal

problems so he was sitting in his room

and he saw a fly crawling up on the wall

he's like that's a superpower what if

you can crawl up on the wall so that he

figured out the superpower was the

hardest part he what we call him uh

Mosquito Man fly man that's not cool

Spiderman and as he tells the story he

runs to his editor he says I got this

hero it's called Spider-Man he say

that's the dumbest idea Stan don't you

know people are afraid of spiders he

goes what else you got well you don't

even understand like he's a teenager he

goes St no heroes are teenagers only

Sidekicks can be

teenagers well you know how this story

works out so he's the wall crawler he's

Spider-Man and he's a teenager and this

is a clue for you on how you can tell

your story your superpower begins with

your two- word

brand and it defi it starts to tell

people a little bit about who you are

and what makes you unique and different

so now we're able to to dive into the to

the origin story now he knows his powers

he knows what he's going to call him he

knows a little bit about his problems

and so a lot of people uh don't know the

full story of Spider-Man he was an

orphan raised by his uncle Uncle Ben and

Aunt May he's an ordinary kid who gets

picked on by a lot of people being

bullied um and he's kind of a really

super smart geek nerd and he's bitten by

a radioactive

spider and when he does so he

immediately uses this newfound power to

get revenge to seek Fame and to money to

to gain money and there was this pivotal

moment in his life in his storyline in

which a criminal was running out of a TV

studio and the cops say stop him and

Spider-Man's like or Peter Parker says

it's not my job not my job and you know

what happens to the rest of that story

right so a lot of people think Peter

Parker becomes Spider-Man when he was

bitten by radioactive spider that's not

when he became Spider-Man that's when he

gained the power but when he decided not

to

act and to do the right thing that's

when he became Spider-Man because what

happened was that criminal who got away

from him was the exact person who

murdered his Uncle

Ben and that's a tragedy of Spider-Man

and he's one of the most tragic

characters in the Marvel Cinematic

Universe like every time I think about

him I just want to cry because he feels

so guilty for using his power for

himself that he's always putting his

needs second every single time and if

you haven't seen it uh across the

spiderverse and into the spiderverse i

ball like a baby I highly recommend you

watch that so this also kind of gives

you a clue as to why certain characters

are so sticky like why we remember them

and we'll talk about them and our

children and our children's children

will talk about them and how they

architect and design these things and

the necessity of tragedy and Trauma in

building up your story and Robert mcke

who wrote the book story who's a story

consultant he says there's if there's no

conflict there's no story stories have

to have

conflict and in the in the fictional

world we can see this and that almost

all these Heroes they're orphans or

they're abused and whatever is going on

black panthers father was killed in a

terrorist attack according to MCU uh

Clark kenel his whole planet was

exploded like all of his people died his

parents died is like that's a pretty

tragic

beginning Tony star parents killed Tony

Stark is an alcoholic Daredevil's mom

was the nun that he didn't find out till

much later in his life vision's father

homicidal AI robot blackbolt killed his

parents accidentally by

speaking you know Batman's

story so there's this part where I start

to wonder like why is it that some

characters go through a traumatic

experience in their life and emerge a

hero and while some become a villain do

you guys know why the adversity and

Trauma like how they process this so my

my feeling is the hero

overcomes and becomes stronger because

of the trauma whereas the villain stays

victimized and wants to get revenge and

wants to hurt other people as a

response so when you're crafting your

story and you're trying to tell your

story adversity is your ally tap into

that let people in you become much more

relatable and real for this so how do

you use this in storytelling now I first

came up on stage and I introduced myself

as a loud

introvert and it's not a great example

of a two-word brand but it's mine I'm

using it okay and the way I use this in

storytelling is when I want to make a

post I want to make sure that the post

ends on Chris is a loud introvert he's

socially awkward he struggles with all

this public speaking stuff okay so I was

going through a batch of my old files or

my old phot photos and I came ACR across

this one where I want an Emmy for a

title that I designed and I was like

what am I to write about this I'm not

going to write like yeah congratulations

to me I'm so proud of me my team

whatever blah blah blah so I wrote about

the story about how painful it was for

me to think about the 30 seconds that I

have to say when I accept my

award and then my knees are shaking and

I'm in the audience and a whole bunch of

weird things happen in that moment and

this is the post that is the most liked

and engaged post I've I've ever put up

on LinkedIn you can see has almost 8,000

likes or points of Engagement so if you

figure out what your two-word brand is

and you search for the stories it should

dovea into that that reinforces your

two-word brand does that make sense

everybody okay good you guys had more

energy earlier I get it end of day I

know I'm throwing a lot of stuff at you

it's cool okay um here's another way for

you to find out who you are in your

story because it's not easy to know

yourself it's one of the most difficult

things to do uh is the

mentor and some of you know this uh you

know Batman's Mentor his teacher is also

his enemy razag

Gul you know who my mentor was Jose

cabay and he and I are the exact

opposite and there was a period in time

where he became my Nemesis it's kind of

weird how that works so some of you have

a parent that plays both roles both your

mentor and your Nemesis and if that is

your story tap into that it's very

interesting for me to see like who's

whose teacher Tony Robbins one of the

most powerful wealthy successful

personal development people you know his

mentor was Jim ran he met Jim ran when

he was like 18 or 19 years old and that

changed his life and Jim Ron's Mentor

was a guy named Jay Earl scha whose

Mentor was also James beckenridge it's

quite interesting how the mentor shapes

You by just saying this was my mentor we

make assumptions about who you are and

your values and your beliefs just

because we know who your Mentor is is so

tap into that it's really interesting to

me that Gary ve often cites his mom now

more than his dad as his mentor first

half of his story was all about his dad

the hustle thing immigrant working

really hard now it's about empathy

kindness I already mentioned Bruce White

so here's the next promp for you who

shape your thinking your values and your

beliefs what did you learn from them and

here's where you add the conflict back

in how did you initially resist so for

me and Jose Jose is like let's go make

videos on YouTube I'm like dude I do not

want to do that I'm too

old I say things that piss people

off and I don't want to risk my business

you do it and you know when he told me

I'm not doing this unless you do

it I need you not behind the camera but

in front of the camera and him doing so

changed the course of my life and I'm

very grateful for him for that

so think about who your Mentor is figure

out the conflict and why you resisted

and what lesson you learned tell that

story I mentioned before about the the

the community and the culture the city

says a lot about you the city in which

you were born and the city in which you

choose to live in it's part of your

cultural capital so ask yourself like

okay what do these things say about me

where I live and where I was

born and so most of you here live in Los

Angeles right there's a lot of people

here from La this works better when

we're not in La so right so we we we

know what all the common stereotypes are

about people from La this this plays

much better outside that there's a lot

of

superficiality plastic surgery

everybody's Super Hyper health conscious

everybody's fit in drinking green juice

right not everybody here obviously not

judging that it's like everybody's

flashy and Loud city of stars or

celebrities everywhere where you can

live the big dream and horrific traffic

most of this is true so when we when we

lean into this like what assumptions do

people have about the city in which you

live in you embrace it you don't fight

it and I used to live on the west side

there was a church a very Progressive

church and they have the most amazing

messaging and marketing branding

campaign I've ever

seen this is what they say come in for a

faith

lift good right from a church come on

this is winning like gold Awards

writing remember that Lis thing it comes

in handy sometimes so the villains the

villains are as important as the heroes

in the story and I would argue probably

even more important in your story than

what you say you do because true fans

need true critics um Freddy O from snas

a Swedish agency he has a book and he

has this concept make enemies the order

is important make enemies and gain fans

because when we find out what you stand

against we we like okay the enemy of my

enemy is my friend so what you have to

do is you have to learn how to pick a

fight you have to fight against

something and so here's the interesting

thing I think the reason why these

characters I'm going to share with you

are successful is because look at

they're villains they're brilliant

they're usually the equal and opposite

of the hero Superman's all powerful he's

a little dumb he's the Boy Scout Lex

Luther's brilliant genius uh and and is

super wealthy but he's very weak

physically Batman's super strong Joker's

crazy Batman has a code of conduct Joker

has a Cod of

chaos and then Spider-Man's enemies go

on and on and on including just being a

misunderstood

teenager it's tough to be Peter Parker

so when you start to look at the

villains in your story ask yourself what

annoys me what makes me mad because your

complaint can become your

calling there's a rule that somebody

shared with me you're allowed to

complain about things one time if you

complain about it twice you're just a

whiner so whatever I tell my kids do

something about it stop complaining

invent the solution to your problem so

make a list of some villains in your

story and give them a cute

nickname when you label them you own

them and nobody's better at this to

Donald Trump he's the master this is a

master class Harvard CH teacher class

about this okay there's a guy who who

blew up on the Internet his name is

Andrew Tate a very controversial

character and he basically says anybody

who doesn't believe what I believe

you're the enemy you're just the Matrix

and when press explain what the Matrix

is he doesn't even explain it but

there's a bunch of young men out there

like the Matrix Man The Matrix is out to

get me he's arrested indicted The Matrix

The Matrix and on a less serious note

there's this company that's done a

brilliant job in marketing I think

they're based out of San Diego called Dr

Squatch and I saw these ads they didn't

pay me I watched all of them from

beginning to end multiple times to study

so Dr Squatch the one of their funny ad

is a guy who's in the woods takes the

dish he throws against a rock and breaks

he goes you're you're a man you're not a

dish doesn't even make

sense and he goes do you know what's in

your soap it's mostly

detergents chemicals things you can't

even

pronounce so their enemy they just made

them up it's big soap they borrowed the

language of big farma big tobacco and

they just made it up and I became a

customer like 2 and half years is going

now it's the power of identifying an

enemy giving them a name and saying now

we're against this I'm against big

anything big government big soap

whatever You Got Me In Dove their

enemies beauty

standards brilliant

campaign I'm a Mac I'm a

PC right oh well okay all right we're

going to go there I think you might be

outnumbered friend but we'll see and

then there's this oat company called

Oatley oat milk it's like milk but made

for humans the Dairy Farmers sued them

for this oh yeah they won it's all right

and seven up the way they they launched

the brand stun

Cola Patagonia we're in business to save

our home planet you know who the enemy

is so what you want to do is you want to

Galvanize your community by aligning

them a common cause to fight against

something I think the only way that

humans will have world peace is when we

get invaded by aliens

now we'll put aside our petty

differences and we'll go fight the enemy

it's the only time we'll come together

so just ask yourself we're in business

to end

what not to make nice with but to end

this idea and so when we look at the

future when we describe ourselves I I

know I piss off people when I say this I

think of the future as private art

school without the crippling debt shots

are

fired okay style we're coming to the end

of the presentation here

style is like the icons and lexicons

your language and your symbols so you

want to start to develop and be very

intentional about how you present

yourself because packaging does matter

and this is the package because you are

the

package and style defined by John Prince

or prime is if you keep making the same

mistake long enough it becomes your

style so you look at da Punk seea wanted

to keep herself out of the media the

Limelight so she wears his wigging

becomes super iconic it becomes part of

her brand Warhol word is wig it just

becomes him Steve Jobs mock turtleneck

and mom jeans needs to consult somebody

on that but whatever you know and and

lizo right so you you embrace all these

parts about you the good the bad and

ugly and so you ask yourself and I like

to reframe it like this instead of like

what makes you ugly and bad like what

were you blessed with so I'm

bald I have shiny oily skin and I'm

nearsighted so I just think it's time to

accessorize based on that okay so I

start wearing hats and the hats becomes

my I like part of my identity and

opportunities have happened there we

won't get into that I'm nearsighted why

not make the most of your

eyewear so I wear these big bulky frames

so that you can recognize me they're

part of my identity so when I used to

work in the motion design industry I

studied animation and I don't know if

you know this but when they design

characters for animation they look at

their silhouette first before they

design any of the details you can tell

each and every single character who PO

is who's the Mantis who's the snake and

so you start to think about this and

then you start to think about color and

I want to show you how powerful color

can be in the Identity or design of your

identity okay here everybody looks

exactly the same all I'm have to do is

put Red Socks one person they stand out

but we can keep going we can give them

red glasses or a red hat a red watch and

a t-shirt with a red X over it so we

start to design our identities so that

people can see us and recognize us and

it becomes part of who we are and our

part of our personal brand so what can

you do with the color pink and

white well kareim Rasheed has built an

entire personal brand around this pink

and white if you don't know who he is

look him up so what you should do is you

start to design and develop your own

mood board collect the things that you

start to think okay this could be me not

now but maybe in a couple years and work

towards building these things this is a

mood board I built a while while ago and

then I eventually bought everything

that's on here okay set the intention

then do it did you know that your

signature can become your signature

style so just out of curiosity how many

of you guys would identify as graphic

designers just raise your hand and keep

your hand up a lot of you now how many

of you you keep your hand up if you're a

logo

designer okay so about half of the

designers okay thank you all right so

for you non-graphic designer logo

designers it's really interesting all

you have to do is take a bunch of

different instruments markers pens a

twig a brush dip them in ink and just

write your name over and over again like

a hundred times with different

instruments on different types of media

and eventually you'll come up with

this or this or

this you guys recognize that signature

right yeah I love Andrew Schultz bid on

this he says I can't vote for Biden he

don't got merch Donald Trump got merch

merch game is strong you can't even

argue that again whatever your political

affiliation is doesn't matter the thing

that you can do and and uh is to look at

your initials and design your own

monogram and so I have a couple here

just to share with you some of you might

recognize and then I will show you my

example here this is my name and so I

take the C the D and the O and I put it

in here this is my system my icons my

lexicon my phrases and the last bit I

want to share with you is once you know

who you are what you stand for your

story you can take a little snowflake

and you keep building on that until it

becomes an avalanche and it's a

beautiful thing um and whenever possible

in the world of ideas to name something

is for you to own it if you can name an

issue you can own it and here's evidence

of this More's laws Murphy's Law you get

the drill so what we want to do is we

want to take our own name our own

identity our logo our signature our

Expressions our beliefs we start to

create something from that so this is

how I show you so you could you can

screen capture this if you want I would

like for you to practice this once you

figure out your name and your personal

brand you you'll you'll come to

something here try adding something

before your name try adding something

after your name and see what happens

okay so now here we go so we call our

super fans the donuts our community

donation our office space the dojo the

newsletter that we don't write a daily

dose the the podcast maybe raw do my AI

robot is called doot a blockchain that

I'm not working on is called crypto and

maybe tools that I'll develop is called

Play-Doh and it can keep going right so

you can have lots of fun with this so

I'm going to work on a book called for

sales strategies called dofu the way

right maybe our models don't not worry

and if I started a software company

probably called

Adobe and what if you wanted to write a

book maybe it's called pocket full of D

it just works okay here's the summary

here here's all the things in one slide

here weak is strong perfect is boring

real is relatable stop selling start

serving complexity is an enemy adversity

is an ally not to to to run away from

figure out what you two word brand is

and your two-word brand is going to be a

shadow word that creates some pain for

you that's piece of truth and you that

you've been hiding from the rest of the

world add a Transformer and you can own

it I I'd like to end it on this before I

get out of here a quote from Picasso the

meaning of life is to find your gift and

the purpose of life is to give it away I

wanted to make an amend amendment to

that that you are the gift so here's my

resources everybody these are the

books I'll pause here so you can take

it okay I'll pause here and you can take

it thanks very much everybody I'm at

Booth b230 if you want to come by I'd

love to see you thank

[Applause]

[Music]

you