Balancing Your Personal and Professional Brand as a Young Professional by Tamica Smith Jones

With the surge of social media, we have a greater need to manage our own brand and reputation – both online and in real life.  In today’s workforce, the sensitivity of personal and professional time within boundary varies.  I believe as individuals and as leaders, we have to make a full-time commitment to the journey of defining ourselves and observing the core values that our organizations signify.  This thought will shape the manner in which we will lead and serve others modeling what they see as successful professionals in industry.  My goal in this blog is to inspire you to identify your personal and professional brand, assess any variance between the two and consider blending and balancing your brand to support your level of commitment to your best life and work as a business professional.

Brand awareness is essential to any business and assessing your own personal brand is necessary to support respective visions and missions, development as a leader and advance your career.  Simply stated a brand is a mark of distinction or how others notice, recognize or distinguish you.  Your personal brand should represent the value you are able to consistently deliver to those your lead and serve – in my case collegiate athletes, investors in young professionals at the University of California, Riverside, the Inland Empire and diverse communities across the globe. I have learned that managing your personal brand as a public figure involves being a role model, mentor and/or voice that others can depend upon.  Essentially your personal brand should be a natural and instinctual part of who you are as “a person not a position.” 

Whether in a professional setting with co-workers and colleagues or a personal social with friends and family, I am mindful of what others are experiencing with me and how the message will be managed without me around.  Incongruously, some folks seem to be accountable to others and what/who they want them to be rather than being true to themselves.  So many people are working harder to “act the part.” 

As an educator and business woman in sports, I have enjoyed owning my authenticity, building my brand, sharing the journey as one of only three African American female directors of athletics at the division one level in the country.  It’s black girl magic!  I take pride in sharing the complex story in my memoir “A Ball and a Dream” available for purchase where books are sold. It’s an honor to be an illustration of hope for other underrepresented minorities striving to shatter glass ceilings professionally. 

In closing, be 100 percent authentically you!  Trust that living and managing your brand confidently and consistently will accelerate advancement opportunities, afford you the ability to earn and maintain unconditional respect and ultimately position you to best serve, lead and prepare others for successfully navigating the game of life.

Learn more about Tamica Smith Jones by visiting www.gohighlanders.com or her website www.tjsportscomplete.com and follow on Twitter: tjsports23