You’re more than your job: A holistic approach to personal branding

You might not have known that prominent social worker and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski was also a novelist who penned two murder mysteries, Capitol Offense and Capitol Venture, in the mid-1990s. Senator Mikulski is most well known as a tough politician, but discovering this aspect of her interests reveals there’s much more to her than the obvious.  You, too, have special skills that you can integrate into your personal brand. Your activities outside of work are a big part of who you are, and showing another side of yourself can create a more holistic and authentic personal brand. 

I have written about authenticity before. Being yourself is just as important as discovering your strengths and challenges and what expertise you bring to the table to solve a problem for your audience. Your hobbies are an extension of what makes you you, and this helps you to connect to people on a personal level.  So, if you sing in the church choir and are proud of this accomplishment, share it. But do exercise judgment, as with anything else, to make sure the audience you are revealing yourself to will appreciate what you have to offer.

Read more about things to keep in mind.