The Untrue Story You're Telling Yourself About Your Brand
I DON'T HAVE A STORY TO TELL
That's one of the biggest objections to personal brand photography I hear. Or, "I have a boring job," "there's nothing photogenic about what I do.” I’ve even been hearing that creating stories feels fake and misaligned with your identity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I hear you. It goes hand in hand with that whole “fake it ’till you make it” phrase that I loathe with a passion. I don’t want to fake it. I want to be me.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But look…I can tell you that today, I made a cup of coffee, chopped up some fruit and showered. I sat down at my computer and went to work.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And that DOES sound pretty boring, doesn't it? So let's try it again.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“On Sunday, Rob and I went to the farmers' market and stopped by our favorite coffee vendor for a cup before shopping. Their coffee is always so rich and flavorful, we actually make special trips to the market to buy beans to take home. This week, there was this new coffee they had, toting flavors of grapefruit, shiraz, and cocoa powder. Say whaaa?
So today, I made some of it for breakfast and OMG. I’m honestly not even sure I could make out the individual notes of the flavors it advertised, probably because I’m not a coffee-oologist (yes I made that word) but hol-ee mol-ee. The combination of those flavors must work because it was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve had in a while. It was seriously such a great start to my day.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This isn’t lying and it’s not even embellishing. It’s something called radical awareness: taking a minute to become in tune with the genuine feelings you experience during the day. And it’s the glory of being able to grow a personal brand. You can be you and tell people about you in a truthful and honest way, while engaging them in the process. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you’re on the fence about showing yourself and your business to the world because you think you need to be fake to do it, I get it. But the thing is, people won’t be buying from the fake you — they’ll be buying from the real you. Let’s show them who that is.
