Welcome to the Identity Revolution, I’m so happy you’re here, and I welcome you to our cause.

I want to make sure that everyone has a full understanding and appreciation of personal branding, and why it is so important, and how it affects and involves every single aspect of your life.

Before we can really get into the meat of it, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. 

There are many with strong opinions about what people think and call image, when in reality they are simply talking about fashion. Not even style, but just the clothing itself. And yes, there is a difference. They think it’s only about surface appearance. Just about what people wear. And how they shouldn’t be judged on something so shallow, materialistic, and I couldn’t really agree more.

We shouldn’t be judged – but we are. We can’t help it. Humans are natural visual creatures, and judgements are made within 3-7 seconds on average, based solely on visual stimuli and personal expectations and social constructs. And unless you’re of the small crowd that has gone through emotional intelligence training, and done extensive inner work on self-awareness, and is able to keep themselves in check constantly – not only do you and will you judge, but you get judged. There is not much you can do to get around it. 

There are scientific studies that have proven that how someone is dressed sets an expectation for the viewer on how to accept that person, what to expect from that person, if that person is trustworthy and how that person makes you feel. The term that came out of one of these studies is enclothing cognition – which in summary is how you perceive someone based on how they dress. We’ll dig into that more in another episode, and I really geek out when I talk about it. And there are other research studies, and articles, and discoveries, and so much scientific reporting on the subject.

Oh, and when you combine all that scientific support, and years of experience and training, you get me.

Hello😊.

Another common example we can all relate to – when you’re going to a party or some sort of event, one of the first questions you ask or information you look for is…the dress code. Why? Because you want to belong. Because you want to look like you’re a part of the group, and you won’t stand out for the wrong reason. 

So what is that huge elephant I referred to earlier?

That people say they don’t have or need a personal brand.

I get really upset when people don’t realize, accept, or acknowledge the importance of a personal brand.

Or of how important what you wear truly is, at least in some situations.

And that because what you wear is a reflection of you and what you think about yourself, at least for that particular situation. I get that wearing your comfy pjs at home (which I willingly admit that I change into the minute I get home or step away from my home office) is very different than what you wear to work, or to a party or even to go shopping. 

It’s also that most don’t understand that what you wear is the least important part of your branding, and they get so darned defensive about it.

And I call it the least important because it’s the last thing you need to think about when working on your brand.

....keep listening for more!....

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Email me: karen@karenkbannister.com