What is Your Personal Brand?

I was invited by my alma mater, INSA Business School Barcelona, to conduct a masterclass for postgraduate students on ways to navigate the job market. I decided to focus on personal branding, not because I'm an expert, but because I'm interested in sharing my knowledge and learning from diverse students from all over the world about their take on personal branding. Also, as a consultant, I find myself constantly having to market my brand.

We talked about:

1. Our shared understanding of a personal brand

2. Their passion, skills, and values

3. And how can they can use all three to come up and promote their brands

Here are my takeaways from the engaging session:

1. While the students are very familiar with branding and marketing, not many of them think of their personal brands.

2. We all agreed that everyone needs a brand.

3. Some of us have varied passions and skills, and it is sometimes complicated to use all of them when presenting ourselves.

For example, one lady from Brazil is a medical professional and a singer who is now studying digital marketing. (Yes, we asked her to sing, and wow, it was the highlight of my session!)

4. We all know that we are more than just a brand, but our brand is what most employers or potential business partners would think of immediately.

After the session, I had tapas and drinks (we are in Barcelona, after all), with some of the students who attended the session. We went to the bar that my friends and I frequent when I was a student there. The students said they'll start to think of their brands more especially since they are graduating soon. I also had the chance to chat with the directors of the school.

It was such a special moment for me to be back there. When I was a student, I always wondered if they'll invite me to do a masterclass after graduation. I'm so happy they did!

Now, I'm back in the Philippines and I'm ready to go back to work!

Reach out to me if you want to run a similar session for your university or organization.

Click here to view my presentation made with Canva if you wish to get inspiration and run a similar session yourself.