A CASE STUDY OF FOUR ENTREPRENEURS ON THEIR QUEST

A CASE STUDY OF FOUR ENTREPRENEURS ON THEIR QUEST TO ACHIEVE PROFESSIONAL
SUCCESS IN THE AGE OF THE PERSONAL BRAND
Kory Michelle Saunders
A Thesis Submitted to the
University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fullfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Business Administration
Cameron School of Business
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
2011
Approved by
Advisory Committee
Martina Gonzalez-Gallarza
Isabel Sanchez Garcia
Luisa Andreu Simó
Vince Howe
Chair
Accepted by
Digitally signed by Robert Roer
DN: cn=Robert Roer, o=UNCW, ou=Graduate School and
Research, [email protected], c=US
Date: 2012.05.22 10:01:27 -04'00'
Dean, Graduate School
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. viii
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 5
Branding ............................................................................................................................................ 5
The Role of Brands ........................................................................................................................... 5
The Scope of Branding ...................................................................................................................... 7
Brand Identity.................................................................................................................................... 8
Brand Image-Reputation ................................................................................................................... 9
Brand Equity ................................................................................................................................... 10
Brand Positioning ............................................................................................................................ 11
PERSONAL BRANDS ............................................................................................................................. 12
PERSONAL BRANDING ........................................................................................................................ 14
The Origins of Personal Branding ................................................................................................... 14
The Definition of Personal Branding .............................................................................................. 16
Personal Branding Across Cultures: From an Individualistic and Collectivistic Perspective ......... 19
The RESOURCE-BASED VIEW ............................................................................................................. 23
The VRIO Framework .................................................................................................................... 24
Application of Resource-Based View of Branding ......................................................................... 26
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND SOCIAL MEDIA ................................................................................. 27
Social Networking ............................................................................................................................ 27
Social Media and Personal Branding Online ................................................................................... 29
ii
PROPOSAL .............................................................................................................................................. 31
OBJECTIVES AND AIM OF RESEARCH ............................................................................................. 33
METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 35
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................................................................................. 39
Objective 1: Identify if There is an Intrinsic Link Between One‘s Personal Brand and his or her
Entreprenurial Endeavors ................................................................................................................ 40
Objective 2: Analysis of the Factors that Contribute to the Personal Brand Positioning ................. 43
Objective 3: Analysis of the Personal Brand Equity ........................................................................ 52
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 55
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................... 57
LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF FUTURE RESEARCH ...................................................... 59
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 61
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................... 68
Appendix A. Participant Letter ......................................................................................................... 69
Appendix B. In-depth Interview Questionnaire ................................................................................ 70
Appendix C. In-depth Interview Transcripts ..................................................................................... 73
Appendix D. Entrepreneurs Biographies and Websites ................................................................... 129
iii
ABSTRACT
Personal branding was chosen as the focus of this study to further the understanding of its
relevance in the marketing discipline and to gain a better understanding of its practical use. We analyzed
the importance of personal branding in business with a concentration on entrepreneurs and their
entrepreneurial endeavors. We first examine its origins in branding and the definitions that are used in the
current academic literature to define and describe the personal branding concept. To gain a deeper
understanding of personal branding from an academic perspective, literature was reviewed in the topics of
branding, the resource-based view of strategy, as well as social networking and social media. A personal
branding framework was proposed based on the literature discussed to examine the significance of these
topics and to investigate if there is a significant correlation between them.
The empirical analysis was performed using the case study method in which four entrepreneurs,
Jessica Styles, Tyshawna Spell, Shaunice Hawkins, and Ashani Mfuko participated separate in-depth
interviews. An in-depth interview questionnaire was created to evaluate how entrepreneurs use personal
branding to market their entrepreneurial endeavors and assess the personal brand image, identity,
positioning and equity created and maintained through the use of a personal brand. The study was
conducted in the United States within the industries of design, social branding, dance as well as
professional development in fashion, arts, beauty and education.
The findings demonstrate that personal branding is a useful marketing tool and has proven to be
an essential part of the marketing efforts used by the participating entrepreneurs. It is imperative to first
understand whom he or she is and what he or she wants to represent when creating a personal brand. The
VRIO framework can be used to help entrepreneurs to describe who they are, how their services are
relevant, and determine what differentiates themselves and their brands from others in their industry.
Entrepreneurs use personal branding to build and maintain relationships with clients, customers,
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partnerships, and expand their opportunity to share their expertise with a national and international
audience. Although traditional media can be used in personal branding social networking and social media
have proven to be imperative factors to capitalize on one‘s personal brand. Personal branding efforts also
have a definitive impact on one‘s personal brand equity and have a definite correlation to one‘s personal
brand equity.
This study is of an exploratory nature due to the limited research on personal branding especially
in its practical sense, thus one of the aims of this study was to further the practical research. Since the
research in personal branding is in its infancy stages recommendations for further research are presented
to give direction on what can be done to extend this study and gain more understanding on how personal
branding can be used in other countries, in other industries, and in other forms of by people looking to
enter, maintain, and or further their career.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to thank God and Jesus Christ for the many blessings that have been bestowed
upon my life. The time that I was in Spain and the writing of this thesis has been an amazing learning
experience that I will be forever grateful for. I would like to thank my father Alonzo Saunders, my mother
Jane Saunders, and my amazing family for their undying support throughout my life, my graduate school
studies and especially my thesis writing process. Thank you Tervarne Carrington for telling me about the
IMBA program, for being such a great cousin and for all of the encouragement you have given me over
the years. I would also like to thank Kya Saunders, Kyra Miller, Ashley Jackson, Brandon Jackson, Willie
Davis, and Patrice Allen for reading my drafts, for their encouragement and for the brainstorming sessions
that we had. Thank you Andrew Hamilton for the chats during that difficult week when I was deciding to
go with the topic that I really wanted to study and understand rather than a topic that I was told and
thought may have been easier for others to accept. A huge thank you to my advisor Dra. Marta Frasquet
Deltoro for your guidance, suggestions, and explanations to help me make this study a success. It was a
pleasure working with you on this important project.
I would also like to give a big thank you to Jessica Styles of The FAB Network, Tyshawna Spell
of TSpell Designs, Shaunice Hawkins of Evolutions Consulting, and Ashani Mfuko of Kiner Enterprises
for their willingness to participate in this study. Their knowledge and use of personal branding was truly
insightful. This thesis would not have been possible without their participation and support. I have learned
a great deal from each one of you and I look forward to being a witness to the continued success of all of
your entrepreneurial endeavors.
As Oprah Winfrey said at the end of the last show of the last season of the Oprah Winfrey show, ―To God
Be the Glory.‖
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Pages
1.
Differences Between Brand Identity and Brand Image ..................................................................... 10
2.
Attributes Defining Individualism and Collectivism and their Antecedents..................................... 21
3.
Characteristics of Case Study Analysis and In-depth Interviews...................................................... 36
4.
Introduction of the Entrepremeurs ................................................................................................... 37
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Pages
1.
Personal Brand Model ....................................................................................................................... 13
2.
Conceptual Model of the People Brand ............................................................................................ 14
3.
The VRIO Framework ...................................................................................................................... 24
4.
Proposal of a Personal Branding Framework ................................................................................... 33
viii
INTRODUCTION
Brands have evolved from the mark that was placed on cattle to identify which farm they
belonged to, to a mark, name, sign or symbol used to identify a product and/ or a service in the mind of the
consumer, the competitor and the world in general. Brands have grown from being used to differentiate
fast moving consumer goods to various other types of goods and services and make a direct, clear and
consistent connection between the symbols used for the product or service (Lair, Sullivan & Cheney,
2005). It is often thought that without a brand a product really does not exist. Places such as cities,
countries, and universities, etc. have begun to establish themselves as brands (Kavaratzis, 2005). The use
of brands for people has thus evolved into a growing branding construct as well although it has very little
acknowledgement in academic literature (Hughes, 2007). Personal branding is a growing phenomenon
that has been used for decades in different facets, for entertainers, sports professionals, authors, chief
executive officers, business owners, and politicians, and has expanded to many other people in various
positions. From students who are or have just graduated from an undergraduate or graduate program now
looking to start their career, to entrepreneurs who are trying to establish themselves first and foremost as a
credible and trusted resource in their chosen industry and there by promote and or sell their products and
services as an extension of that credibility or trustworthiness now use personal branding.
Personal branding has been brought to the forefront by the personal branding article, A Brand
Called You in the magazine Fast Company in 1997 written by Tom Peters and has often been thought of
until recent years as an American phenomenon in which an individualistic culture prevails. With the
recent global economic downturn that has affected many developed countries, personal branding has
grown to include various professionals who are on a quest to gain and/ or keep their current positions by
demonstrating through branding concepts how much of a resource they are to their prospective or current
companies in terms of the value, resources, skills, attributes and knowledge they are able to share with a
company that another prospective candidate would have a hard time imitating. Thus personal branding is
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used to promote what a person has to offer a business, clients, customers, or any other aspect of their life
depending on their goals and objectives. Scott Karp, for example is a publishing and media strategy expert
and now the cofounder and chief executive officer of the media company Publishing 2Inc. and the editor
of the blog Publishing 2.0. He was named one of the most influential people in publishing by Folio
magazine in 2007 because of his personal blog, not for his success as a media director or digital strategist
(Zarzycka, & Waite, 2010). Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Tiger Woods, and David
Beckham have been using personal branding for years to extend their core competencies in various
business endeavors that have made them not only extremely wealthy in terms of their finances but in their
power, prestige and the influence they have globally.
Its increased popularity among practitioners and marketing professionals as well as academic
scholars have prompted a need for a better, more in-depth understanding of personal branding and the use
from both practical and academic perspectives. There have been and still are some questions among
marketing and branding academic scholars, such as Lair, Sullivan, and Cheney (2005); Shepherd (2005);
and Labrecque, Markos, and Milne (2010) in terms of its validity of personal branding due to its origins
and the lack of academic research that has been done however there has been an increase in the academic
literature in recent years. The initial academic literature has attempted to define personal branding and
explore the validity of personal branding from a personal development and theoretical academic
perspective including the marketing and psychological point of view of the self and question if personal
branding can be considered a true marketing discipline (Shepherd, 2005). In addition to questioning the
validity of this topic academic scholars have begun to examine and write about personal branding and its
correlation to traditional branding practices in business that are applied to products, services and
corporations. For example, Lair, Sullivan and Cheney (2005) describe the use of personal branding as a
strategy to promote one‘s self in the business world as nothing new, however the scope of personal
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branding has grown from a ―simple business tactic‖ into an philosophical recognition of the influence that
the business world has over one‘s idea and logic of self.
Although personal branding has been examined in terms of how it is defined and described by the
various practitioners and the growing importance of using these techniques to potentially advance one‘s
self both in academic and non academic writing there is still a gap in the academic literature as to how it is
used in a business setting beyond the confines of trying to gain employment or advance in one‘s current
company. Thus the justification of this study is to fill the research gap around the issue of personal
branding by people such as entrepreneurs that are increasingly using branding techniques. Research that
empirically assesses what are the adequate theoretical frameworks to understand this issue is limited.
Contributing to this research line would benefit the academic community and would provide conclusions
for its practical use by entrepreneurs.
There are two main objectives of this study to better understand personal branding as a process of
identifying and using resources strategically to further one‘s entrepreneurial endeavors. The first objective
is to understand how traditional branding concepts and the resource-based view of strategy perspectives
can be applied to personal branding. The second objective is to understand the benefits that may be
achieved by an entrepreneur using personal branding to promote themselves in tandem with their
entrepreneurial business goals.
As the foundation for this study, secondary sources with a particular focus on academic and
managerial journals, industry articles, and books were used to establish and develop the aspects of
personal branding. Although the proposed personal branding frameworks in the literature have been
discussed they have yet to be fully explored and tested, they were used as a starting point for the personal
branding framework proposed in this study.
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The structure of this thesis is comprised of nine main sections including this introduction.
The second section consists of the literature review to examine the concepts of branding, personal brands,
personal branding, the resource-based view, and social networking, which includes a discussion of social
media. The origins and definitions of personal branding are discussed in detail to give a greater
understanding of the concept and its actual uses. Within the topic of personal branding the context of both
individualistic and collectivistic societies were discussed to understand that personal branding is used and
accepted globally although it seems to have origins from the United States and Western individualistic
philosophies. The resource-based view is used as a theoretical framework along with traditional branding
framework to better understand and evaluate how personal branding is used as a strategic resource to
succeed as an entrepreneur in the marketplace. Social networks including social media were also
researched to understand the significance they have on personal branding and how social networks and
social media are used and perceived in the personal branding context. A personal branding framework is
proposed, illustrated, and discussed in the proposal section, which follows the literature review. Based on
the literature review and the proposal, a set of objectives has been developed and is described in the
objectives and aims section. This study consists of the in-depth personal interviews and analysis of four
entrepreneurs who use personal branding as a key strategic resource for their entrepreneurial endeavors.
The explanation of the chosen methodology will be discussed in the methodology section and will directly
follow the objectives and the aims of this study. The finding section includes an analysis of the results of
the in-depth interviews. The conclusion section will consist of the limitations of the study and suggestions
for further research on personal branding.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Branding
The Roles of Branding
Brands have continued to evolve as a concept defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or
specific combination thereof used to identify a good, service, or idea in the minds of its target audience
and used to differentiate it from its competition (American Marketing Association, 2011). Brands are
often defined in terms of the consumer perspective, the firm‘s perspective, the purpose and/ or the
characteristics of the brand (Wood, 2000).
Brands identify the creator or the source of the product or service and allow the customers to give
accountability for the brands performance to the company and/ or the distributors responsible for the brand
(Kotler & Keller, 2012). A brand also adds an element of distinction used to distinguish it from other
products or services that serve the same or similar needs of the consumer (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The
elements of distinction can be functional, rational, or tangible, which has a literal association to the
product or service‘s performance. The elements of distinction could also be emotional, symbolic or
intangible, which has a more abstract sense associated to what the brand symbolizes (Kotler & Keller,
2012). Brands provide valuable utility for the company‘s business functions. In the supply chain, brands
are helpful and utilized in inventory management to control and organize inventory for products. A brand
can also provide a basis for legal protection through the trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Intellectual
property right laws are used to govern the legal use of brands to ensure the firm can obtain the benefits
from the value that the brand has created for the product or service (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Beside the functional attributes a brand performs, brands also represent the values and a promise
that a company, its employees, stakeholders, etc. embody and communicate over a great length of time
using a variety of tools and resources to then portray that promise to the target audience. It is this promise
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that consumers believe they will receive when they exchange money or another form of payment,
including time, when purchasing the product, or service (Shimp, 2010). This promise is often linked to the
credibility and level of quality that a brand signifies that a customer or client will receive from purchasing,
using, and or experiencing the product or service (Kotler & Keller, 2012). For example, universities,
which represents a high quality and standard of educational services given to its students. They are now
competing for students, highly skilled professors, endowments, and grants as well as various marketing
messages and consumer information from a variety of sources such as the internet, television, and
magazines just to name a few of the many examples. The target audiences‘ knowledge about the plethora
of university ―brands‖ continues to increase compared to previous generations. As a consequence
universities have learned the importance of consistently valuing the satisfaction the students, their paying
customers, the professors who give value to the students through their shared knowledge, and the support
that keeps the university running on multiple levels from endowments, alumni, grants, and corporate
donations (Whisman, 2009). Brands thus have become strategic resources for many organizations that
supersede the products or services they identify and promote in hopes to simplify the decision making
process for its target potential and loyal customers (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Those resources are used to
attract customers by promoting the brand identity through its value, image, prestige, and/ or lifestyle hence
fortifying a positive brand image in the minds of the target consumers (Rooney, 1995).
Concurrently brands are now used as strategic platforms to interact with existing and future
customers to fulfill their ―needs and wants‖ to ultimately create satisfaction and loyalty in addition to
attesting to the specific functional features of the product or service (Urde, 1999; Boarwright, Cagan,
Kapur & Saltiel, 2009). Brands are also perceived to psychologically offer value, reduce the perception of
risk, and add an experiential realm to the product or service that is inherently encompassed within a
consistent brand (Montaña, 2007). Brands thus seek to create a lasting impression on its target audience,
its consumers to ensure that if another product or service is able to replicate the components, design,
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manufacturing processes, distribution outlets, the impression and loyalty created by the brand and the
brand experience will supersede the thought of the consumer switching to another brand (Kotler & Keller,
2009).
The Scope of Branding
According to Kotler & Keller (2009: 151), branding is ―endowing products or services with the
power of the brand‖. The key factor in branding is creating meaningful differences between products or
services in a consumer‘s mind. It is often the role of the marketing or branding professionals to educate
their target audience in ―what the product is‖ meaning the product identity, what the product or service
does, and why the consumer should care and positively respond to the product, usually through purchase
and use of the product or service. Branding is what is used to establish and/ or maintain ―mental
structures‖ within the consumers mind to organize their knowledge and equate it to a need or want they
have and aid them in their decision making process; consequently adding value to the brand‘s company
(Kotler & Keller, 2009). ―Branding is now used in all sorts of contexts, quite distantly related to the fast
moving consumer goods industries that provided the incubator for its growth as a business discipline in
the twentieth century‖ (Fevons, 2005: 118). Branding was first thought to be product based as in the fast
moving consumer goods industry, however, in recent years the branding concept has expanded to include
―non-conventional brands‖ (Butterfield, 2003) such as cause related branding, celebrity branding, political
branding, university branding, country and city branding, tourism branding much like in the case of the
city of Valencia, which itself has become a brand promoted by the Valencia Tourism and Convention
Bureau to increase tourism for the city, and now people or personal branding are also included in the
scope of branding (Fevons, 2005; Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman, 2007; Romero, 2011). Kotler and Keller
(2012: 265) reiterate this by stating, ―Marketers can apply branding virtually anywhere a consumer has a
choice. It‘s possible to brand a physical good, a store, a person, a place, an organization, or an idea.‖
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In addition to the fast moving consumer goods industry where branding continues to be a key
factor in the success of those products, other industries such as banking, politics, and people such as
politicians, popular music and television stars, sports players, other entertainers, businessmen, and
religious figures have also been deemed good examples of branding and the public‘s interest in these
people brands continue to grow (Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman, 2007). Fevons (2005) gives the example of
a sports player who commits an unacceptable transgression that changes the image of the sports player.
This is what happened to Tiger Woods in recent years due to his infidelity to his wife. Woods began
loosing endorsement deals and financial backing from some of the largest multinational corporations due
to the confusion of his ―brand‖ identity of being the respectable, upstanding gentleman on and off the golf
course, that was once insinuated, changed the positive perception and decreased his brand image amongst
his target market; thereby decreasing his brand equity in the eyes of his sponsors.
Brand Identity
Consumers must understand what the brand stands for, which the firm must clearly articulate,
which originates from the firm that developed the brand. The brand identity of a brand originates from the
company and is a combination of attributes and associations that are established and maintained by the
firm to clearly define and position the brand in the minds of the consumers and differentiate its offerings
from the competition (Aaker, 2000; Nandan, 2004). Brand identity is derived from the qualities of the
product or service, the mission statement, the identity of the firm, the intended consumer experience, and
the perceived prestige and success based on what the brand is projecting to the market (Cagan & Vogel,
2002). Ghodeswar (2008) separates brand identity into two categories, the core identity and the extended
identity. The core identity includes the timelessness of the brand and focuses on the features, elements,
service, customer profile, and performance of the brand. The extended identity is organized and unified
around the core components and its meanings to provide consistency, comprehensiveness, and a strong
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meaning that centers on the brand‘s personality, relationships and strong symbolic associations
(Ghodeswar, 2008).
Brand Image - Reputation
Herzog (1963) defines brand image as the total impact that consumers receive from various
sources that are combined in a person‘s mind to create a brand‘s personality and attributes. The brand‘s
attributes are the information that is linked to the memory that gives the brand meaning, value, and
contributes to the knowledge that the consumer has about the brand (Keller, 1993). Keller (1993) defined
brand image as a related set of attributes and perceived benefits that are connected to the brand that a
consumer keeps in his or her memory for an extended period of time. The consumer‘s brand attitude is
thus based on his or her perception of the benefits implied by the image the consumer has of the brand.
A positive brand image signifies quality and positively affects the brand equity. A willingness to
pay a premium price, a higher purchase intention, and brand loyalty are all associated with a positive
brand image (Faircloth, Capella & Ahord, 2001; Lasser, Mittal & Sharma, 1995). Therefore to have a
positive brand image, a brand must be well planned, maintained, and protected so that the consumer holds
the positive image the firm attempts to cultivate through the brand identity (Knapp, 2000). Unlike brand
identity, which is developed by the firm or organization that has created the brand to define and position
the brand, a brand‘s image is a consumer based construct based on the consumer‘s understanding,
connection, feelings and reaction to the brand (Nandan, 2004). To better illustrate and summarize the
differences between brand identity and brand image see table 1.
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Table 1: Differences Between Brand Identity and Brand Image
Brand Identity
Source/ company focused
Brand Image
Receiver/target audience focused
Created by managerial activities
Created by perception of the consumer
Encoded by ‗brand originators‘
Decoded by ‗brand receiver‘
Identity is sent
Image is received/perceived
Source: Nandan (2004)
Brand Equity
When a firm has been successful in branding and has created a brand identity that is reflected in
the image perceived by the target market, the product will acquire an extra value. Brand equity is the
added value imparted on products or services created by a firm (Aaker, 1991; Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Brand equity is directly correlated to the marketing outcomes that are uniquely associated with a brand.
Brand equity is the return of a combination of the different results that stem from the marketing of a
product, service, idea, etc. as a result of its brand and branding efforts when compared to if that same
product, service, idea, etc. was not identified by a particular brand (Keller, 2009).
Brand equity is usually analyzed from two perspectives the financial perspective and the customer
perspective. In the financial perspective brand equity is positioned by the price, market share and the
profitability that the brand seeks to attain. In the consumer perspective brand equity echoes the
consumer‘s perception of the brand based on how the consumer thinks, feels, and reacts to the brand based
on the marketing activities used to promote the brand (Aaker, 1991; Kamakura & Russell, 1991; Keller,
2008). A study done by Yoo, Donthu, and Lee (2000) concluded that in terms of the company or
organization that created the brand; brand equity creates sustainable competitive advantages and is a
strong value addition to a firm‘s core competencies. The competitive advantage and strong value is
developed by an improved perceived quality, strong brand awareness, and the result of brand loyalty,
10
which must be created and developed for the long run through strategically designed marketing initiatives
and investments. In the customer-based approach, marketing and business professionals acknowledge the
important role the customer has in developing a strong sustaining brand (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
In essence, the strength of the brand is determined by the consumers perception and preferences
based on what they have learned from what they have heard, read, seen, thought or felt, in other words a
consumers brand knowledge, about the brand over a period of time. Marketing and brand managers must
remember that although brand equity is heavily influenced by the marketing initiatives set forth by the
organization, all brand related contact, even that which was not initiated by the firm is taken into account
in the perception of the consumer (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Brand Positioning
Brand positioning is used to place a firm‘s products or services and image in a clear and concrete
location in the minds of the target consumer (Ries & Trout, 2000). Well-executed brand positioning helps
to determine and direct the marketing strategy and activities to position the brand in the minds of the
target market to maximize the prospective benefits the business plans to achieve from the consumer‘s
consumption of the brand. A strong brand position clarifies the brand‘s meaning, identifies the specific
goals the brand offers the consumer, and demonstrates its uniqueness compared to its competition (Kotler
& Keller, 2012). Marketing and branding professionals need to understand the various aspects that affect a
brand to successfully position the brand from the firm‘s perspective, the brand‘s identity, and from the
customer‘s brand perspective, the brand‘s image (Ghodeswar, 2008). Brand positioning must have a longterm orientation and be geared toward the present and the future of the brand so that it has room to
improve and grow. For that reason, brands must find the correct balance between identifying what the
brand is and what the brand is projected to become (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
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To be effective the brand positioning must be communicated internally, to everyone in the firm,
and to the target audience, the potential and repeat consumers (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The brand
positioning must strategically place the brand in a category or niche that is congruent to the identity of the
brand to achieve the desired image that the firm is trying to place in the consumers‘ minds to give the firm
a strong competitive advantage (Kotler & Keller, 2012). A range of brand positioning can be used
depending on the desired image the firm is seeking to convey in the consumer‘s mind. They include
competition driven positioning, psychological or emotional positioning, benefit driven positioning,
aspirational positioning, benefit or value driven positioning, or target, driven positioning (Upshaw, 1995).
The positioning strategy chosen must be congruent with the brand identity and desired brand image to
successfully create the niche in the consumer‘s mind to gain optimal success and competitive advantage.
Personal Brands
Most of the brand research and theory written to date makes the assumption that a brand
symbolizes a product, in this case an inanimate (nonliving) object or service of an organization used in
marketing communications to identify the commodity for the target audience. According to the writings of
Boatwright, Cagan, Kapur, and Saltiel (2009), the theory of personal brands is an extension of that brand
theory, in which a person or personality is the focus of the brand rather than a product or service. Thus a
brand whether it is for a good, service or now a person can be conceptualized in a similar manner by a
brand‘s attributes, values, benefits and personality as illustrated in figure one, which was first derived
from Aaker‘s brand equity model, Keller (1993), and Kapferer (1997). It was then modified by
Anselmsson, Johansson, and Persson (2007) and then adapted and further revised by Neal, Hughes &
Dann (2008) to specifically reflect branding for a person.
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Figure 1: Personal Brand Model
Source: Neal, Hughes and Dann (2008)
In an attempt to extend this concept further, Bendisch, Larsen, and Trueman (2007), built a
conceptual framework to illustrate the main dimensions of a brand from the people branding perspective
which includes brand identity, brand reputation, brand positioning and brand equity, the same dimensions
that are used in the traditional brand concept. In this construct the person‘s definition of him or herself and
the purpose of the brand directly influences his or her definition of his or her brand and is used to build
one‘s brand identity. Ones brand identity derives from ones distinct personality and character that others
can identify. The reputation or image of the person is determined from the attitudes, habits, and
characteristics that others perceive based on the abilities, emotions, and actions of the person using the
personal brand (Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman, 2007; Kotler & Keller, 2012).
As depicted in figure 2 there is a reciprocal relationship between both concepts of identity and
reputation as they are both dependent on one another to then create the people brand positioning in the
minds of the target audience. The personal brand positioning is then used to build a competitive advantage
in the minds of the target audience to differentiate the person from his or her competition to ultimately
create brand equity, that which would add value to the person in the marketplace and enhance the
consumers‘ expectations and perceptions of the person as well (Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman, 2007). This
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framework made a direct correlation, which illustrated that a person can indeed become a brand. Although
the conceptual model was used to illustrate a substantial correlation to support the idea that people
themselves can become brands, the model has yet to be empirically tested.
Figure 2: Conceptual Model of the People Brand
Source Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman, (2007)
Personal Branding
The Origins of Personal Branding
It is thought that personal branding derived from the self help movement that can be traced back to
books such as How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and the Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People by Steven R. Covey in which the idea was established that people can succeed
individually in the business world through self-management and self- improvement. The books of this era
are known to be in the first wave of the self-help phenomenon (Lair, Sullivan & Cheney, 2005). Shepherd
(2005) writes that self-marketing has been used for decades by celebrities of entertainers and sport
professionals as well as an increasing number of corporate executives and politicians, often to gain
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credibility, influence and staying power within their respective industries. The difference between a
personal brand, such as for celebrities, sports players, and chief executives from that of a product or
service is more so regarding the level of engagement that the person must have in accordance with his or
her personal brand. The personal brand is more about capturing different aspects of a human being rather
than an inanimate object (Millman, 2010) and using that to engage and build a basis for a relationship with
the person.
Although branding shares some commonalities especially in its humble beginnings with the
previously mentioned books, Lair, Sullivan, and Cheney (2005) argue that personal branding has some
semblance to self-help and self-improvement as well as shares the characteristics of self-packaging.
―Work with what you got‖ is what Peters advised in The Brand You 50: Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself
From an Employee into a Brand that Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! (Peters, 1999). In the
article The Rise of the Brand State, Ham (2001) makes the point that with the right brand, one can surpass
the actual product; presumably saying that it is no longer about drawing upon what the intangible
attributes that a person has from within but only about the repackaging the outside of the person to make
him or her more noticeable. Personal branding as a movement increased its reach from a simple business
approach into an ideological understanding of the corporate world and embraces the influence over one‘s
sense of self (Lair, Sullivan & Cheney, 2005). As an example, the concepts of personal branding became
increasingly important in terms of people marketing themselves to gain employment. The founding
partner of the brand agency Sparkler conquers with the growth of personal branding and believes that it
has become a commonplace in today‘s society. Willis states, ―Everyone‘s trying to sell themselves so
much nowadays that personal branding has become a mass market. Understanding yourself as brands has
become one of the keys to success.‖ (Devaney, 2007: 14) For example, Jon-Michail elaborates on that
further by noting that it is not just the celebrities, politicians, and sports professionals that use personal
branding but there is an acknowledgement that no one is exempt of how important branding one‘s self is.
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So much so that Devaney (2007), concludes the article by illustrating that more and more people are
looking to personal branding and image consultancy groups that offer their assistance to help provide the
tools needed to assist people in branding themselves.
The Definition of Personal Branding
During the past thirteen years, personal branding has grown exponentially since Tom Peters
introduced personal branding on a national scale in the United States with the article ―The Brand Called
You‖. Peters (2007) describes personal branding as the characteristics that make a person different,
unique, and stand out among other people to compete in the world of work. Personal branding is managing
and influencing the perception that others have of a person. This is similar to Martinez and Polo‘s (2007)
definition of a brand, which states that brands are assets that offer opportunities for organizations to
exploit their corporate competencies and connect their unique corporate culture to possess a place in the
heart and mind of the consumer. Peters (2007) also describes personal branding as seeing yourself as a
business, which allows the person to take responsibility for his or her own future. This allows a person to
be more creative, to do inspiring things, and to relate to the world around them (Montoya & Vandehey,
2002).
In a contrasting of perspectives, Goldsmith (2009) believes that ―authentic‖ personal branding is
not just an outward manifestation of the person through personal marketing, image development,
appearance, etc. but should clearly reflect a person‘s purpose, uniqueness, passion, professionalism,
expertise, and values. To have a strong personal brand Goldsmith (2009) believes that an organic, holistic
approach must be used to create and grow a powerful, distinct, meaningful, and memorable personal brand
that is authentic and a true representation of the person. Goldsmith (2009) also gives steps to build,
maintain and cultivate one‘s authentic personal brand. He describes this in the following four phases:
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1. Define and formulate one‘s personal ambitions.
2.
Define and create an authentic personal brand promise, which will be the primary focus and
determinant of one‘s actions and conduct.
3.
Create a personal scorecard or checklist to manage one‘s personal brand through measurable
objectives and goals that have been set when initially creating one‘s personal brand. This will be
used to manage and make improvements or changes when necessary to keep the authenticity and
viability of one‘s personal brand.
4. Put the personal brand to use through implementation and development. A personal brand must be
used efficiently to be effective. There is no value or worth in a personal brand that is not being
used and evolving when necessary.
Coined as the global personal branding guru, William Arruda defines personal branding as ―…
permission to be yourself – your best self. It‘s knowing what‘s authentic to you, differentiating from your
peers and relevant and compelling to your target audience, and using that to reach your goals and add
value to your employer…personal branding is no longer a luxury; it has become a critical survival skill‖
(Martin, 2009: 14). According to Shepherd (2005: 549), the personal branding industry ―is based on the
obvious logic of applying to people the principles originally developed for products and corporations‖;
what Walker (2000) refers to as the ―life-as-company philosophy‖. It is no longer a luxury to have a
personal brand but an important skill for survival (Martin, 2009). Spillane, the founder of the image
consultancy, Colour me Beautiful, denotes that, ―to be memorable we have to have our own brand and
people need to be conscious of how they speak and what they look like if they want to be seen as dynamic
and professional‖ (Devaney, 2007: 15), which in traditional branding terms this would equate to the
packaging of a product and the physical location of a service such as a retail store or restaurant. Spillane
also states that the process of branding a person is not a single occurrence. Much like brands such as
Burberry or Prada who have had and continue to evolve in the fashion luxury sector to be relevant to its
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consumers today (Moore & Doyle, 2010) a person must continually evolve his or her personal brand to
stay relevant and meaningful (Devaney, 2007). In essence, much like how corporate branding is the way a
company projects itself to the world, personal branding is the way in which an individual communicates to
the world as well.
In a study done by Anna Zarkada for the 16th International Conference on Corporate and
Marketing Communications, she compares personal branding to that of corporate branding or corporate
level branding rather than product branding. She bases this on Balmer‘s (2001) explanation that much like
a corporate brand, a personal brand can be defined as a an intentional or deliberate decision to convey
attributes of a person‘s identity through the use of an acutely defined distinct brand position to
differentiate the corporation, in this case a person, from similar people who provide similar services to
enhance stakeholder‘s, the person‘s network, perception of the person‘s capability, knowledge and
resources to execute and accomplish the expectations set by what is offered through the personal brand
propositions. Communication is the main purpose of personal branding and all other marketing functions
are secondary roles to the decision of the type of communication that will be used and to support the
personal brand (Zarkada, 2011).
Companies in turn are also studying how people brand themselves and applying it to their business
models hoping that the personal feel will make them stand out from other businesses in the eyes of their
consumers (Fernandez, 2009). In the corporate business, personal branding can be used as a strategic
objective to help employees grow within the firm as a part of the succession plan for their careers
(Vitberg, 2010).
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Personal Branding Across Cultures: From an Individualistic and Collectivistic Perspective
As presented by Peters (2007) and Montoya and Vandehey (2003 & 2004) personal branding was
seen strictly as an American phenomenon accepted only in western individualistic societies but
transcended as a useful strategy used in other countries around the world. Personal branding has grown in
acceptance in many countries that practice individualism, which is most often associated with western
cultures and collectivism, which is mostly associated with eastern cultures. Many countries around the
world, including Asian countries, have begun to use personal branding and have adapted it to fit the
cultures in which they are a part of (Martin, 2009).
―Individualism/ collectivism describes the relationship between the individuality and the
collectivity that prevails in a given society‖ (Hofstede, 1980). Individualism and collectivism are
frequently analyzed as opposite constructs on the societal/ cultural spectrum and often delineated between
Western and Asian cultures (Hui, 1988; Chan, 1994; Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto & Norasakkunit,
1997; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeir, 2002). It is habitually used in comparison studies both in
psychology and business to better understand cross-cultural societies and interactions (Kim, Triandis,
Kâğitçibaşi, Choi & Yoon, 1994).
Individualism denotes a loose connection to others in a social structure and there is a greater
emphasis on rights over duties (Hofstede 1980; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeir, 2002). It is often
delineated as a practice that is synonymous with Western cultures such as the United States, the United
Kingdom and Australia (Zhuang, Xi & El-Ansary, 2008). People in individualistic societies think with
self-reliance and independently from their in-group (family, tribe, clan). They give priority to their
personal goals and aspirations. The focus consistently remains on the individual. The individual conducts
himself or herself autonomously based on his or her own attitudes, beliefs, needs, and wants versus taking
the in-group members into consideration. Individualistic cultures tend to be more concerned with the
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consequences of one‘s own behavior and the personal affect it would have rather than that of the in-group
(Thomas, D.C., Au, K. & Ravlin, E.C, 2003; Zhao & Chen, 2008). There is a low dependency on others
and less loyalty to others especially outside of the immediate family; this includes one‘s place of
employment thus competition rather than collaboration is often stronger within individualistic societies
and the use of contracts and other legalized procedures and documentation is more important and used
most frequently as well (Susumu & Sekaran 1992).
Collectivism signifies an interconnected social structure in which the group is more important than
that of the individual (Hofstede, 1980). People in collectivist cultures think interdependently within their
group (family, clan, tribe) and give precedence to the objectives and goals of the entire group. The
emphasis is placed on the entire group as a whole and the relationships that are built within them (Mills &
Clark, 1982). Everyone in a collectivist group is supposed to adhere to the interests of the in-group and
only express the opinions and beliefs of the collective group; and in turn the group will protect the
individual (Hofstede, 1983). This creates a strong sense of loyalty and allegiance that the individual has to
everyone in the group in which he or she belongs (Hofstede, 1980).
Table 2 can be found in the Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology: Social Behavior and
Applications, which illustrates a summary of the discussion of the differences between individualism and
collectivism from the perspectives of Triandis, McCusker, and Hui (1990).
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Table 2: Attributes Defining Individualism and Collectivism and their Antecedents
ANTECEDENTS
INDIVIDUALISM
Affluence
Cultural complexity
Hunting/food gathering
Upper social class
Migration
Urbanism
COLLECTIVISM
Unit of survival is food
In-group
Agriculture
Large Families
ATTRIBUTES
CONSEQUENCES
Emotional detachment from ingroup
Personal goals have primacy over
in-group goals
Behavior regulated by attitudes
and cost-benefit analyses
Confrontation is okay
Socialization for reliance and
independence
Good skills when entering new
group
Loneliness
Family integrity
Self defined in-group terms
Behavior regulated by in-group
norms
Hierarchy and harmony within ingroup
In-group is seen as homogeneous
Strong in-group/out-group
distinctions
Socialization for obedience and
duty
Sacrifice for in-group
Cognition: Focus on common
elements with in-group members
Behavior: intimate, saving face,
reflects hierarchy, social support,
interdependence
Source: Berry, Segall & Kagitcibasi, (1997)
When William Arruda started his personal branding company, Reach, in Paris the concept was not
well received. It had an American connotation that was not readily accepted in Europe (Martin, 2009).
Personal branding has been considered very individualistic in nature and resonates strongly with the ―byyour-bootstraps mythos‖ that is synonymous with the individualistic American culture (Lair, Sullivan &
Cheney, 2005). ―Individualistic cultures are universalistic, assuming their values are valid for the whole
world‖ (Mooji & Hofstede, 2010). A survey conducted by Lair, Sullivan, and Cheney (2005) found that
personal branding suggests a strongly individualized workforce where there was little importance for
collaboration or synergy, which supports the argument that personal branding especially in terms of the
workforce is highly individualistic.
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In contrast to the American individualistic argument, Martin (2009) was in fact able to succeed
past the initial hurdle of the individualistic stereotype of personal branding by demonstrating how the
values and attributes one portrays through a personal brand is not only about the person but about how
those values and attributes are delivered to add value to others. When a person knows and can apply what
makes him or her exceptional he or she is able to then support others. Martin gives the example of how
personal branding is used in Asian cultures, which are known for having a collectivist culture where the
―we‖ mentality is prevalent. The identity of the individual is based on the group in which the person
belongs and where saving face is paramount for the individual collective unit (Mooji and Hofstede, 2010).
Martin (2009) focuses on the first phase of personal branding when working with a group in a collectivist
society, understanding one‘s unique values in relation to that of the group and how those values can
strengthen the group as a whole to prosper, rather than gaining visibility and notoriety for the individual
alone. This can be seen as social networking, which will be discussed in a subsequent section.
Personal Branding has been accepted and used in other countries and cultures as well. The chief
executive of Australian-based Image Group International, Jon-Michail is a former fashion designer for
Christian Dior who has built a personal brand for himself that falls in line with his current career position.
Jon-Michail equates personal branding to image and contends that the image consultancy business has
grown to over 25,000 image consultants globally and the trend continues to grow because of the
importance of personal branding (Devaney, 2007). In the United Kingdom, Mary Spillane founded Colour
Me Beautiful, a personal branding firm in 1983 when the field was vaguely known in the United States let
alone any other part of the world. During this time in the United Kingdom the concept was obscure but
Colour Me Beautiful grew exponentially in a short period of time, selling her services to major traditional
corporations (Devaney, 2007).
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The Resource-Based View
The resource-based view emerged in the 1990s as a reaction to the industry based view that
dominated the strategic management field in the 1980s, exemplified by Porter‘s five forces model (Porter,
1980), and created a shift to focus on internal resources of a firm. The resource-based view is a leading
perspective of strategy, which suggests that differences in firm‘s performance are fundamentally driven by
the differences in firm resources and capabilities (Peng, 2009). The resource-based view was developed to
analyze the firm from the perspective of the firm‘s internal resources rather than external factors as in the
industry based view to gain a sustainable competitive advantage amongst its competition. Resources are
inputs into a firm‘s production process that can be distinguished between knowledge-based resources,
which are considered to be intangible, and property based resources, which are tangible resources (Barney
1991; Wilkund & Sheperd, 2003). In contrast to the industry based view described by Porter (1980) that
analyzes the industry that the firm is conducting its business efforts, the resource-based view studies its
internal abilities and supplies to analyze specific perspectives on why and how organizations succeed or
fail, emphasizing the importance of a balanced method for a company to achieve and maintain a
sustainable competitive advantage (Dickson, 1996; Jugdev, 2004).
Wernerfelt (1984) further distinguishes the resource-based view as a compilation of assets that
help to determine the firm‘s internal strengths or weaknesses based on how the tangible and intangible
resources are used, which are intrinsically tied to the firm‘s management. In the resource-based view
Lockett and Thompson (2001) make a distinction between two types of resources, static and dynamic.
Static resources represent a set of assets that can be used during a fixed period of time such as physical
capital, or brand names. Dynamic resources or less tangible assets often reside in capabilities, such as the
skill set and learning capacity of a firm‘s employees (Lockett & Thompson 2001). Similarly, Andrews
(1971) defines the resource-based view as resources and capabilities that are distinctive and superior
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relative to those of rivals and may become the basis for competitive advantage if they are matched
appropriately.
The VRIO Framework
Barney (1991), one of the most significant authors on the resource-based view, originally
describes the resource-based view in that resources must be (V) valuable, (R) rare, (I) inimitable, and (N)
non-substitutable, which the acronym VRIN is used. Barney (1991) later revised the VRIN framework to
the VRIO framework to incorporate the importance of the (O) organization as an important embedded
resource as well. The VRIO framework is used when analyzing a specific firm‘s resources and
capabilities. According to Jugdev and Mathur (2006), resources can be considered ―strategic‖ resources if
they have the combination of being valuable, rare and inimitable. The value, rarity and imitability are
interrelated to the organizational structure to build a firm‘s competitive advantage (Eisenhardt & Martin,
2000). Each component of the framework builds on each other to give the optimal sustainable competitive
advantage as seen in figure 3.
Figure 3: The VRIO Framework
Source: Chandler, Bauer & Erdogan. B. (2009)
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Value
As said by Black and Boal (1994) and illustrated in figure 3, value alone will not yield a strong
competitive advantage. Rather it is dependent on the combination of resources and capabilities as it relates
to the strategy of the firm. To gain a competitive advantage the value must add something to the company.
For example, the supply chain management system has created value for Zara, a multinational fast fashion
retail store. Zara can design, create, and deliver new garments to its stores within 15 days, one of the
fastest paces in the industry.
Rarity
The rarity of a resource or capability is determined by the grouping of its physical rarity,
perceived value, and how the firm uses the combination of resources. It is not enough for a company‘s
resources and capabilities to be valuable but they must also be rare. In the case of Zara, the in-house
supply chain management is not only valuable but it is also rare (Capell, Kamenev & Saminather, 2006).
In Bloomberg Businessweek Rita Clifton stated, ―No one does speed like Zara‖. Many other retail chains
such as Gap and H & M manufacture their clothes and accessories in other locations such as China where
labor costs are lower but lead-time is substantially longer (Coughlan, Anderson, Stern & El-Ansary 2006).
Inimitability
In addition to being valuable and rare, a company‘s resources must also be difficult to imitate. In
terms of inimitability, resources and capabilities can be either tangible or intangible. Tangible resources
are assets that are apparent and easier to measure while intangible resources are assets that are difficult to
observe (Peng, 2009). It is relatively easier to replicate tangible resources such as the designs of the highend clothing that Zara replicates to sell at a lower price point for its consumers. Intangible resources, such
as a corporate culture, or brand loyalty, are more challenging to replicate. Coca-Cola is an example of an
international firm with the inimitable resource of brand loyalty (Slater, 2000).
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Organization
The VRIO structure analyzes the competency of an organization to utilize the valuable, rare, and
inimitable resources (Black & Boal, 1994). When analyzing an organization, Peng (2009) discusses two
key variables, complementary assets and social complexities. Complementary assets refer to the sum of all
of the activities that support the value adding activities. Social complexities are the ways in which firms
organize themselves socially to achieve their goals. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) argue that in addition to
resources and capabilities themselves, the organizational and strategic processes of firms are important
because they facilitate the manipulation of the firm‘s resources into a value-creating strategy. Rouse and
Daellenbach (2002) discussed the examination of the organization on a micro level by including the roles
of managers and the importance of their contributions as a measure of organizational output that could
contribute to the organization‘s competitive advantage (Rouse & Daellenbach, 2002).
Application of Resource-Based View to Branding
Over the past fifteen to twenty years there has been significant discussions about the resourcebased view specifically pertaining to the areas of marketing strategy. In this discussion brands are can be
used as a valuable resource for a firm that could potentially yield a sustainable competitive advantage if
managed correctly (Capron & Hulland, 1999).
Brands are valuable resource when they can successfully differentiate the product, service, idea or
person that it represents in the minds of consumer‘s to achieve the desired benefits of the firm. A brand
can be classified as a rare resource when the brand is unique enough that the benefits attained from the
brand cannot be easily possessed if at all by another firm. In terms of inimitability, the developmental
progression of a strong brand is characteristically based on a significant, often costly investment in
marketing communications such as advertising and sales force efforts to develop and sustain strong brand
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awareness and attitude in the minds of the consumer (Rossiter & Percy, 1997). From the organizational
perspective, a brand must use its complementary core competencies and its social networks as a resource
to understand its consumers to strategically position the brand to create relationships and sustain a strong
competitive advantage. The relationships that are built through the use of marketing communication to
promote the brand and build relationships with the consumers is not easily imitated by other brands,
especially if the relationship that is built is strong not only through marketing communications but through
customer satisfaction and loyalty as well. Brands often signify a high level of organizational complexity
because they are intrinsically linked to the organization, firm or in the case of personal branding the
person‘s ways of conducting business, the corporate or personal culture, and the operational processes and
the professional or personal standards (Capron & Hullard, 1999). Effectively integrating the strategic
resource of a brand with the other tangible and intangible assets and core competencies can potentially
yield quality business processes and relationships with customers when invested and managed efficiently
and effectively (Doyle, 2001).
Social Networking and Social Media
Social Networking
The study of social networks and social network analysis was developed based on anthropology
and sociology and used in those two disciplines as well as psychology, communications, mathematics and
other fields (Reingen, Foster, Brown & Seidman, 1984). Social networks can be defined as a group of
people that have a shared connection through interpersonal means to build relationships based on
combinations of a variety of aspects which include but are not limited to common interests, shared or
differing ideas, shared or similar experiences, influence, advice, and support between members of a social
group (Coyle & Vaughn 2008; Valente, 1996). Social networks are formed in such combinations as an
attempt to satisfy goals under multiple complementary or contrasting parameters that bring individuals
together based on their similarities and/or differences centered around one‘s individual needs to achieve
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one‘s goals through the benefits sought from the network interactions (Kossinets & Watts, 2006).
According to Tichy, Tushman, and Fombrum (1979), there are four areas to consider in social networks,
which they used in the context of analyzing social networks in the setting of business organizations:
1. The transactional content or what is exchanged by those in the social network. This includes the
exchange of affect like in relationships such as friendships, colleagues, business partners, etc, the
exchange of power and influence, the exchange of information, and the exchange of products or
services.
2. The nature of the links within the network, which refers to the quality and the strength of the
relationship and can be described in terms of the intensity, reciprocity, clarity of expectations and
multiplexity, the extent to which two or more in a group are linked in multiple roles, of the
individuals and how everyone in the social network interacts with one another based on the
aforementioned characteristics.
3. The structural characteristics implying the external and internal characteristics, the areas in
which the social networks are used like in a business setting or a personal setting, and the
importance of the individual within the network.
Social network analysis focuses on the study of patterns of relationships among people,
organizations, and states, through various forms of communication such as the Internet through mapping
and measuring relationships and flows between people and groups as well as computers and other
information and knowledge processing systems. In business the term Organizational Network Analysis is
used when management professionals use this theory with their business clients (Jamali & Abolhassani,
2006).
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Social Networks have evolved and expanded from the relationships that are cultivated through
pure human interaction via face-to-face communication, which for the purposes of this discussion will
include the use of the telephone and written communication that is not conducted via the Internet, to social
networks that are created and/ or conducted on the Internet via a computing device such as a computer,
laptop, smart phone or tablet which allows continuous access to the Internet. Today social networking is
closely associated to the Internet through the use of email, messages via social networking sites like
Facebook or LinkedIn. Social networking is also an example of that evolution in that the phrase social
networking is referred to in popular culture and in industry rhetoric as the formation and growth of
specific websites designed to allow users to connect and interact with each other on online social networks
(Coyle & Vaughn, 2008). The relationships that were once created and formulated in the ―real‖ world
have now been extended to the ―virtual‖ world of the Internet, either as another communication tool for
the ―real‖ world relationship, or as new relationship created through the virtual world that may or may not
extend to the real world.
Social Media and Personal Branding Online
―Social media is a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideology and
technological foundations of Web 2.0, that allows the creation and exchange of User Generated Content.‖
(Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010: 60). In marketing, Kotler and Keller (2012) define social media as a method
for consumers and companies to share information via text, images, audio and video messaging with each
other to create and reinforce communication activities. This allows companies to interact with their
customers and clients on a continuous immediate basis and stay engaged, relevant, and innovate. Social
Media and Web 2.0 are terms often used interchangeably however Web 2.0 is associated with the direct
online applications used versus the social aspects created and maintained through the use of those
applications (Constantindes & Fountain, 2008). More specifically Constantindes and Fountain (2008: 232233) define Web 2.0 as:
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―A collection of open-source, interactive and user controlled online applications
expanding experiences, knowledge and market power of the users as participants in
business and social processes. Web 2.0 applications support the creation of informational
users‘ networks facilitating the flow of ideas and knowledge by allowing the efficient
generation, dissemination, sharing and editing /refining of informational content.‖
Social networking sites are an extension of the social network philosophy previously discussed,
whereas Web 2.0 enables users to connect with others by sharing information through creating personal
pages on social media sites, sending emails, creating virtual communities, virtual forum and bulletin
boards, using instant messaging applications and live feed video messaging such as Skype (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010; Constantindes and Fountain 2008). According to Fevorn (2005) the ―rich communication
medium‖ of the Internet allow consumers to proactively discover what they want to know about a brand
instead of waiting for and reacting on the information provided by marketers. This is also true in terms of
personal brands and social media through the use of sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. With
the Internet, the options to build one‘s personal brand have increased significantly. Through presenting in
webinars (web based seminars), contributing to corporate or personal blogs or e-newsletters, using
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, search engine optimization, and other social media sites as a communication
tool, one can expand one‘s visibility (Hyatt, 2010; Vitberg, 2010; Labrecque, Markos & Milne, 2010).
Vitberg (2010) reiterates that point by saying that social media presents ―unlimited‖ personal brandbuilding opportunities for emerging professionals.
One of the main challenges in personal branding online is the information that may be shared or
written about the individual that is out of his or her control. The corporate world is starting to recognize
and understand the importance of managing personal brands and giving strategic advice regarding the use
of social media to project the intended personal brand identity (Labrecque, Markos & Milne, 2010).
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Another challenge that Labrecque, Markos, and Milne (2010) mention is the ability to create ―multiple
selves‖ online, which should be avoided when creating a personal brand to ensure the authenticity of the
brand. Authenticity must be a clear goal to create credibility and trust, which can be diluted from multiple
selves online. Rather, social media should be used as a tool to keep the personal brand message clear, and
consistent. It is also imperative that one‘s online personal branding is congruent with the expectations that
they demonstrate online (Labrecque, Markos & Milne, 2010). This will increase the potential to create and
develop relationships between the community of customers, clients and partnerships needed to succeed in
one‘s business ventures. Relationships whether developed with face to face contact or online through
social networking sites must be authentic. Transparency and authenticity are the only way to survive and
thrive especially in digital age (Schawbel, 2009).
Social networking and social media are used in personal branding to build one‘s brand equity
through the necessary visibility you need to seize opportunities (Goldsmith, 2008). According to Vitberg
(2010), in the accounting field, social media has become important to create personal awareness in the
digital space because information exchanged between people in the digital space has become increasingly
essential. This personal awareness has helped to establish reliability, authority, and increase differentiation
to allow prospects to enter into and build relationships that could lead to potential business opportunities.
Social media in essence is used to build social networks and create new platforms for the rising partners to
distinguish themselves and build their careers (Vitberg, 2010).
PROPOSAL
From the literature that has been reviewed there are working definitions of personal branding and
theoretical discussions of how it could be used. There are also discussions of proposed ways in which
personal branding should be used, however there is a lack research and discussion of how professionals
31
use personal banding from a practical point of view use to benefit their career endeavors. For the purpose
of this study a combination of the definitions previously discussed in great detail will be used as a basis
for the following proposed working definition of Personal Branding.
Personal Branding is the process of identifying and using resources to promote the unique
characteristics that differentiate a person based on what makes a person valuable, hard to imitate
or replace, and memorable, created to influence and manage the perception of other people
through personal marketing, psychological and image development that clearly reflects a person‘s
purpose, distinctiveness, passion, expertise, and professionalism. The personal brand must be
authentic and used effectively and efficiently giving distinct meaning through brand identity and
image/reputation and be an authentic representation of the person to position the brand to build
trust and credibility to create the benefits the person is seeking to achieve.
Unlike the definitions provided in the literature review, the personal branding definition just stated
gives a holistic approach combining both perspectives of personal branding being an outward
manifestation and the view of personal branding having to originate from intangible attributes that derive
from within a person‘s thinking and actions.
A proposed conceptual framework, presented in figure 4, has been developed to analyze the
importance and benefits of personal branding to business professionals as well as the factors that are used
to build and implement one‘s personal brand to successfully acquire the benefits sought. This proposed
personal branding framework is based on the literature review, in which the Bendisch, Larsen & Trueman
(2007) model was used as a starting point. In figure 4, brand identity and brand image or reputation are
used to build the personal brand. The personal branding framework takes into account both perspectives as
described in the aforementioned definition stated above. The resource-based view is used as a basis to
32
understand how one uses his or her personal brand to differentiate himself or herself from others in his or
her industry, trade or line of work to give them a competitive advantage when positioning his or her brand
in the marketplace. This framework also includes social networking through social media as a
communication strategy that is fundamental to position the personal brand. Brand equity, the value that is
added to the product, in this case, the person, will emerge if the branding efforts are correct, and will
manifest in the attainment of the benefits sought such as business growth, trust, credibility, notoriety etc.
Figure 4: Proposal of a Personal Branding Framework
OBJECTIVES AND AIMS OF RESEARCH
Personal branding has become a growing resource for people to use in many stages of their lives.
What some may argue has started in as an American phenomenon to promote an individualistic identity
has grown into a resource not only in the United States but in other parts of the world as well to promote a
person‘s attributes and benefits in terms of what they have to offer; what makes them rare, hard to imitate,
33
and a good fit for an organization or to start their own entrepreneurial endeavors that will give them a
competitive advantage in the business field as well as many other aspects of their lives. It is also my initial
aim in this study to extend the academic research in personal branding especially because it is a new
concept that continues to grow.
From a further examination of the literature, there is a growing list of definitions, many that were
mentioned in the above sections but there is a lack of practical application, thus my research will focus on
the practical application of personal branding, more specifically how it is a resource for entrepreneurs in
the beginning stages of their entrepreneurial endeavors. The objectives of this study are the following:
The main objective of this study is to explore and understand the use of personal branding for
entrepreneurs.
Objective 1: Identify if there is an intrinsic link between one‘s personal brand and his/her entrepreneurial
endeavors, meaning branding is an important strategy for the business.
Objective 2: Analyze the factors that contribute to the personal brand positioning. More specifically:
Objective 2.1: How does the entrepreneur create the brand identity?
Objective 2.2: How does the brand image relate to the brand identity and vice versa?
Objective 2.3: How does the entrepreneur assess and use his/her personal resources to build the
brand? Is the VRIO framework applicable?
Objective 2.4: How does an entrepreneur use social networking to build his/her brand?
Objective 3: Analyze personal brand equity. More specifically:
Objective 3.1. How is personal brand equity measured?
Objective 3.2. Are the branding efforts reflected in greater brand equity?
34
Objective 3.3: Are the branding efforts reflected in the entrepreneurial brand equity?
METHODOLOGY
The methodology in this research began in the form of a literature review to assess and evaluate
the literature and theory that is most relevant to thus lead to the conceptual framework described in the
previous section and illustrated in figure 4 as well as an increased level of understanding the personal
branding topic and its proposed practical application. Personal branding has been considered a new topic
in the academic branding literature therefore there is a limited amount of research regarding this topic,
especially from the application of this topic in practical business usage. This allows for a great opportunity
to further the research done and develop a greater understanding of this area of branding. The case study
method consisting of in-depth personal interviews will be used, as it is an appropriate method for
exploration and understanding of a newer topic. Most case studies can be accomplished using either
qualitative or quantitative research methods (Eisenhardt, 1989). A review of historical materials, archives,
and interviews that allow for the likelihood of direct interaction and possible observations of the subjects
being studied and analyzed as well as questionnaires and statistical analysis are used either separately or in
a variety of combinations depending on the scope of the research (Marschan-Piekkari & Welch 2004;
Eisenhardt, 1989). In a discussion of convergent interviews, in-depth interviews and case research, Rao
and Perry (2003) illustrate a detailed description of several characteristics and the difference between the
case study method and in-depth interviews (see table 3). This includes the strengths and weakness, which
would be appropriate to depict as evidence for the usefulness of using in-depth interviews with the case
study research method in this particular study. This will help to get the maximum benefits from both
approaches while minimizing their weaknesses.
35
Table 3: Characteristics of Case Study Analysis and In-depth Interviews
CHARACTERISTICS
Main Objective
Level of prior theory
requirement
Process
CASE STUDY
Mainly theory
building/confirming
Medium to high
Structured and standard
procedure
Content
Somewhat structured
Strengths
Replication
Weaknesses
Requirement of
sufficient prior theory
Source: Rao and Perry, 2003
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
To obtain rich and detailed
information
Low
Flexible – unstructured to
structured
Unstructured to structured
Replication
Results can be biased
Because of the limited research that has been done in terms of how personal branding truly affects
a person‘s entrepreneurial, career and business organization endeavors it is my aim in this study to do a
series of in-depth interviews. The practical application will consist of how personal branding is used as a
resource-based strategy to increase one‘s business portfolio in entrepreneurship and the link that personal
branding has to one‘s strategic career plan of success. Due to the parameters of my topic and the current
resources available, this study will be based on entrepreneurs based in the United States of America.
Five entrepreneurs were contacted to participate in this study. The participants were selected on
the basis that they have mentioned or referred to the use personal branding either on their websites, blogs,
seminars, through business conversations, or referrals. The participating entrepreneurs have experience in
the following industries: architectural and graphic design, diversity relations, human resources, events,
fashion and beauty, publishing, and entertainment. Of the five entrepreneurs contacted, four of the
entrepreneurs have agreed to be participants of this study. Table 4 gives a brief description of each of the
entrepreneurs who have taken part in this study as an introduction to give the reader a better understanding
of each entrepreneur as their interviews will be discussed in the following sections of this paper.
36
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial
Business
Industry
Business Activities
Highest Degree
Earned
Location where the
company is based
Location Where the
Company is Based
Website
Jessica Styles
Table 4: Introduction of the Entrepreneurs
Tyshawna Spell
Shaunice Hawkins
The FAB Network
TSPell Designs
Creative Industries
(Fashion, Art,
Beauty,
Entertainment) and
Education
Business Owner
Professional
Development Coach
Design
Ashani Mfuko
Evolutions Consulting,
LLC
Social Branding
Kiner Enterprises Inc.
Business Owner,
Graphic Design,
Architectural Design
Business Owner, Book
Author, Lecturer
Bachelors Degree in
Communication
Studies from
Furman University
Master of Architecture
from Hampton
University
2.5 years
1 year and 3 months
New York City Tri
State Area
http://thefabnetwork
.com/
Hampton, Virginia
MBA in digital
marketing, MBA in
Business Management,
Bachelor in
Organizational Behavior
and Communication
8 years part time three
years fulltime
New York City
Tri State Area
http://www.evolutionsco
nsulting.net/
Business Owner,
Professional dancer, Dance
teacher, Radio Talk Show
Host
Bachelor of Arts in Dance
Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic
Studies
http://www.tspelldesig
ns.com
http://www.shaunicehaw
kins.com/
Dance, The Arts
A little over 4 years
New York City
Tri State Area
http://ashanimfukodance.co
m/
http://www.kinerenterprises.
com/blog1/
The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with each entrepreneur individually during the first
and second week of August 2011 to provide a more in-depth understanding of personal branding as it is
currently used in a practical sense. Each in-depth interview was conducted within one hour. The aim was
to conduct all interviews in person but due to location, scheduling, and time constraints this was not
possible with one entrepreneur so that interview was conducted using Skype. The interviews were
recorded and transcribed manually before an analysis was conducted.
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The interviews were supported by a list of questions (see the in-depth interview questionnaire in
the appendix) to help guide the conversation. These questions follow the logic of the personal branding
framework proposed in figure 4. The first question asked referred to the entrepreneurs‘ entrepreneurial
endeavors and why they chose this career path and the industries in which they work. The second question
refers to branding and what branding represents to them. This question was asked to gain a clear
understanding of their idea of branding and if in fact it was congruent with the discussion of branding
presented in the literature review. The third, fourth, and fifth questions relate to personal branding and
how the entrepreneurs chose to market themselves and their businesses using personal branding. The sixth
and seventh questions discuss how the resource-based view and the VRIO framework is used in personal
branding for the entrepreneurs to set themselves a part from other entrepreneurs or companies in their
industry. The eighth question relates to brand identity and what the entrepreneurs intended to create with
their personal brands. The ninth and tenth questions discuss brand image in terms of the understanding
that the entrepreneurs have of how their audience interprets and responds to their personal brand.
Questions eleven through thirteen discuss social networking. While the eleventh question specifically
pertains to social networking in terms of traditional networking and engagement such face-to-face
networking at events or conferences, the twelfth and thirteenth questions include social media specifically.
Questions fourteen and fifteen explore brand positioning and how entrepreneurs use personal branding to
position themselves in the marketplace to build relationships and differentiate them from competition. The
sixteenth and seventeenth questions explore brand equity; more specifically how entrepreneurs measure
the success of their personal brand as it correlates to their business and if the brand equity built is directly
related to their personal branding efforts. Each interviewee was thanked for their time and participation
and was sent a thank you card in the mail to reiterate the appreciation of their participation. Each
interviewee will be kept abreast of the outcome of this research once it is complete and presented to the
academic committee. The interview questions are found in appendix B and the transcripts can be found in
38
appendix C. The extended biographies and a snapshot of the websites of each entrepreneur can found in
appendix D of this report as well.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
In this section we present the findings of the in-depths interviews related to the personal branding
framework. We discuss the findings trying to give answers to the three main objectives stated in a
sequential order.
The first objective of this study was to identify if there are any intrinsic links between one‘s
personal brand and an entrepreneur‘s entrepreneurial endeavors. The goal of this question was to
understand if in fact personal branding is an important strategy for entrepreneurs to use in their business
endeavors. Before discussing personal branding and if there is a link between personal branding and one‘s
entrepreneurial endeavors, it was important to establish what brands mean and/or represent to the
entrepreneurs interviewed. Following the logic of the literature review and the evolution of branding, one
should have a basic knowledge of what a brand means or represents in order to use it effectively in one‘s
business endeavors. The words identity, value, distinguishing name, recognizable and authentic were used
to describe what brands mean. In the interview with Ashani Mfuko, she stated that a brand is who a person
is and represents the values of the person as well as the value that a person will add to the lives of others.
When Shaunice Hawkins of Evolutions Consulting was asked what a brand meant to her, she discussed
branding in two categories, individual and corporate. In her definition of a personal brand Shaunice stated,
―A personal brand represents an authentic self‖. This correlates to and gives validity to the definition
proposed in this study in which a personal brand must be authentic to be used effectively. According to
Shaunice Hawkins, ―From a corporate standpoint the brand is basically the controlled messaging and the
controlled imagery of a particular corporation.‖ Although Shaunice Hawkins made a clear distinction of a
39
personal and a corporate brand the discussion of having a controlled message and controlled imagery can
be transferred to personal branding when analyzing the interviews further, all of the entrepreneurs
interviewed control the messaging of their personal brands by deliberately choosing and deciding what
messaging and images they use for their respective personal brands. It is important to take an active role in
managing a personal brand so that it stays relevant and does not become static. When the brand is used
whether for personal or corporate reasons Ashani Mfuko believes that the person or corporation
creating/using the brand should know what values the brand offers and how it would benefit the lives of
others.
Objective 1: Identify if there is an Intrinsic Link Between One‘s Personal Brand and His orHer
Entrepreneurial Endeavors
Although some entrepreneurs interviewed fell into using personal branding without consciously
realizing it and other entrepreneurs interviewed deliberately used personal branding from the beginning of
their entrepreneurial endeavors, all of the entrepreneurs interviewed agree that personal branding is very
important part of their respective entrepreneurial branding efforts and have made a concerted effort to
cultivate their personal brands in tandem with the branding and marketing efforts of their entrepreneurial
endeavors. Tyshawna Spell, who did not originally realize that she was using personal branding, is an
artist by trade and educational background. When she signed her paintings she always signed them TSpell,
her first initial and her last name. When she did computer graphic work, she signed it TSpell. When she
made architectural 3-D models for clients she signed them TSpell so when it was time to name her
company it naturally came to her mind to name it TSpell Designs. Tyshawna Spell realized that using her
name was extremely important because it allowed people to connect the artist to the products and services
being offered. She says it best when she said,
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“I decided to personally brand myself with my name because it’s what holds everything that I do
together no matter what expertise it is and because I do so many things across the board. I had to
put it under just me and who I am and all that I explore so I had to use personal branding for all
of my products, everything that given, everything that I have and I think that would be the best
way to do it because who wouldn’t. If it’s your skill, your time, your work, your business. I think it
is very good for people to know exactly who you are and who is getting the job done.” Tyshawna
Spell
There was a unanimous response by all four entrepreneurs that personal branding is very
important to each of their entrepreneurial endeavors. As Jessica Styles iterated when asked if personal
branding is used to further her business and career, she replied, ―It‘s the main thing. ‖When asked the
same question Tyshawna Spell replied that through the use of her personal brand ―They (the clients) know
whom they are calling is whom the brand is and that they are guaranteed what they see behind those letters
(TSpell)… The strength you put behind it, the time, the work, everything that shows that it‘s (the product
or service) the quality that you propose it as.‖
Of the four entrepreneurs, two entrepreneurs have two separate personal brands in addition to the
brand of their individual companies. Shaunice Hawkins uses two separate personal brands to connect with
two separate audiences for her entrepreneurial ventures. For Shaunice Hawkins, she uses one personal
brand for her company Evolutions Consulting and uses social media such as twitter to communicate with
her entrepreneurial audience about entrepreneurship, branding/ brand building, social media, digital
marketing, relationships and networking, etc. She uses her second personal brand in tandem with being a
thought leader, expert, author and lecturer to share her expertise on passion, reinvention and burnout.
Because the use of two separate personal brands were deliberately planned, very calculated, and highly
managed they have served Shaunice Hawkins well thus far and have not caused confusion in her target
41
market or audience. Both personal brands are complementary in nature, have a strong authentic base, and
have enough similarities in the underlying messaging to allow both audiences to benefit from either brand
while having enough of a distinction to benefit the specific target audience on their own. Ashani Mfuko
also has two personal brands, one that is directly related to her company Kiner Enterprises and the other
that she uses as an extension of all of her entrepreneurial endeavors that expand beyond the international
staffing firm that she created and owns. Ashani Mfuko uses both brands to build what she calls the ―know,
like, trust‖. The progression of a person knowing one‘s brand and the services one offers, to the same
person liking the brand and service to a person trusting the brand and/or service is what relationships are
built upon. It is how clients and customers decide to try a product or service, buy the product and repeat
the purchase or refer someone else (positive word of mouth) in the future.
“Personal branding, whether it’s for the Ashani Mfuko brand or the Kiner Enterprise brand, it
makes you accessible to people and helps you to build the know, like, trust which is the beginning
of that business relationship or connection. People need to know who you are, they need to like
you, and trust you before they will try your product or service, buy it, repeat that whole process
and then refer people. That’s the process, know, like, trust, buy, repeat that’s how it goes. So
personal branding, putting your face to your company’s brand or your personal brand, it allows
people to see who you are, get to know what you are like and it helps them to build that trust a
little bit more quickly and effectively.” Ashani Mfuko
Thus the personal brand used is a reflection of the person, the owner of the business, the person behind the
personal brand that is intrinsically linked to his or her entrepreneurial endeavor(s).
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Objective 2: Analysis of the Factors that Contribute to the Personal Brand Positioning
The second objective was to analyze the factors that contribute to the personal brand positioning.
This includes the following:
2.1. How does the entrepreneur create the brand idenity?
2.2 How does the brand image relate to the brand identity and vice versa?
2.3. How does the entrepreneur assess and use his/her personal resources to build the brand? Is the
VRIO framework applicable?
2.4. How does an entrepreneur use social networking to build his/her brand?
This analysis takes brand identity, brand image, the resource-based view in strategy and the VRIO
(Value, Rarity, Inimitable, and Organization) framework, as well as how social networks, including social
media, are used to build one‘s personal brand. Brand positioning should focus on the long-term orientation
of the brand. It should take where the brand currently is into consideration as it proactively reflects where
the brand is projected to grow into in the future. Thus the core competencies and skills of the person
behind the personal brand are essential.
In analyzing objective 2.1 in terms of how entrepreneurs create one‘s personal brand identity;
Assessing and developing one‘s core competencies and skills is a direct indication of inner resources that
a person has, cultivates, and uses to position their personal brand and often indicates the type of
entrepreneurial endeavor he or she will likely pursue. Jessica Styles describes entrepreneurship as a
learning curve and the skills and core competencies she has and continues to gain are a direct reflection
from what she continually learns from the learning curves she experiences as an entrepreneur. She then
applies what she learns from those experiences to her personal brand and in turn to her business, the FAB
Network. Developing one‘s core competencies and skills also allow an entrepreneur to use those skills to
be of service to others. Shaunice Hawkins was able to take her knowledge and 20+ years experience in
43
Corporate America and transfer the many skills that she has gained to the work that she does for herself
and her clients through her entrepreneurial endeavors as a teacher, lecturer, and CEO of Evolutions
Consulting. In understanding who she is, Shaunice Hawkins knows that she is an introvert but in her line
of work learning to be an extrovert has proven necessary. Her personal brand allows her to stay true to her
natural tendency to be an introvert, while exploring and using the traits as an extrovert to assist her in her
business endeavors.
“Well, I am an introvert naturally and most people will never know that I am an introvert unless
you know me personally but my personal brand allows me to be extroverted. It allows me to be
outgoing. It is sort of a secondary persona and if I am talking about branding other people, I have
to lead by example. I have to show and prove. So as a personal brand I have to be outward and
external and outgoing and go getting etc.” Shaunice Hawkins
On a personal level, Ashani Mfuko was able to sum up what building up one‘s skills and core
competencies does to enhancing one‘s personal brand into one word and that word is confidence.
According to Ashani Mfuko, ―The more you learn and increase your skills and gain knowledge about
different things, even if it is just trying something new, taking a course or reading a book, whatever it is it
just builds your confidence and increases your credibility.‖
When discussing brand identity for their personal brands, the responses of the participants do vary
to specifically address their business goals and audiences; however some key words were prominent and
essential when reviewing the transcripts of each interview. The words that can best sum up the responses
are, integrity, longevity, strength, versatility, creativity, motivating, inspiring, trustworthy, credible, and
authentic. When discussing what associations they would want their brand to have, the associations need
to be based on the words just mentioned to assure that there is no confusion with their personal brand
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identity and what they intend their personal brand to represents to their target market or audience. The
following quotes by Jessica Styles and Tyshawna Spell are examples of how entrepreneurs identify their
specific personal brand.
“I want my brand to have integrity. I want it to be long lasting. I want it to be classic, that when
we talk about the FAB Network that it is not an outdated service. It doesn’t matter that technology
and all that stuff. Now we have twitter and Facebook. I want my brand to withstand any
technology, anything that is going in the world 10 years from now FAB will still be relevant.”
Jessica Styles
“The values that I want my brand to have are full artistry, full understanding of graphics and how
technology correlates to it. I want it to be able to say what people want to say but are unable to
convey in some type of visual source. I want the value of it to be strong in the way that people can
take it with them forever. I want to have a brand that really shows representations of people’s
thoughts and understanding and give a mind of their own without them having to physically create
it.” Tyshawna Spell
In terms of brand image, which refers to objective 2.2, the entrepreneurs were asked who their
main audience/ target is and if they have a clear image of the person or group of interest. Each person
responded in the affirmative and explained in detail who their target audience is and how their businesses
are tailored to serve their respective audiences. When Tyshawna Spell was asked whom her target
audience is she was able to describe the various groups of people that would be interested in the variety of
services that she offers.
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“My audience is very wide. My audience is businesses who have a marketing department that
needs to articulate different things. My audience is the mother who is throwing a party for her
child and needs those invitations, those things that help decorate the place. My audience is that
person who is starting to brand themselves and trying to find that symbolism that will help them
represent everything they need to. My audience is that person who loves art and wants a portrait
inside of their home. My audience is that school who needs a mural. It is so wide. It covers so
many things.” Tyshawna Spell
Jessica Styles was asked the same question and her response was,
“…there are two arms to FAB one is that I cater to adults and young professionals. The other
bucket most recently is students, middle school students, and intermediate students. So I cater to
people who want to be in the industry. College students who don’t yet have the corporate
experience who are interested in getting internship experience and learning about the industry
before they graduate. Then I cater to professionals working in the industry who already have a
career but just want to network and want to meet new people; so people that are not in the
entertainment industry or creative industry but want to be.” Jessica Styles
When asked how they evaluate the congruency between the personal brand (brand identity) that
they created with the brand image that the target market has of their personal brands, there is a consensus
that the feedback and the growth of their business in terms of gaining clients and building relationships
with those clients as well as other business contacts have let the entrepreneurs know that their personal
brand image is congruent and on par with their personal brand identities that they have cultivated. The
entrepreneurs then leverage the information and learning opportunities that they have gained from the
feedback they have received from the use of their personal brand to improve their businesses. Ashani
Mfuko is confident that her personal brand identity and personal brand image is congruent.
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“I know that it is. I know that it definitely is and like I said in one of the earlier questions,
everything that is done for my personal brand and my companies brand has all been very
calculated and very strategic from day one so I am very cognoscente of what I put out there…
What people are seeing more so is me in my element. It’s either me in my dance world, me at
dance related events or business events or things of that nature, things that my personal brand
really represents. I think that it is definitely consistent and the same thing goes with the videos
that I have out there and the blog posts whatever. How do I know that these things conveying my
brand image? I know it because of the feedback that I get from people. There are times when I do,
I may question it, just I don’t know I am having a day where I am like am I really, is this really
working, am I doing this properly? Then I get an email from someone, or someone will post on my
Facebook fan page, or send me something on twitter, or make a comment on YouTube or
something. That’s confirmation that I’m on it. That’s how I know because people tell me.” Ashani
Mfuko
To establish the personal brand positioning the VRIO framework, which is objective 2.4, is used
as a tool to gain an understanding of how the entrepreneurs understand what makes their personal brand
necessary, relevant, and a strong asset to their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Value
The personal brands of the participants are valuable due to what each entrepreneur inherently
offers to their entrepreneurial endeavors. This includes the formal and informal education each
entrepreneur has received and lessons they have learned from mentors, professors, coaches, etc who have
invested time, knowledge, and commitment to each entrepreneur. Each entrepreneur who was interviewed
also placed a high importance of the level of service that they give to their clients and customers, often
47
placing their clients first, which Ashani Mfuko stated directly, ―You put your business first, which means
putting your customers or clients first, your vendors…and putting yourself second or last in some cases.‖
More than one entrepreneur when asked what makes their personal brand valuable also mentioned
inspiration and motivation. They use their personal brands to serve others as well as to motivate, inspire
and encourage others in various facets, which include helping others to succeed, encourage high selfesteem, promote the arts, and encourage both formal and informal learning and education.
Rarity
The consensus of what makes the personal brands rare is what in essence makes each of the
entrepreneurs rare. For Jessica Styles and the FAB Network, the rarity of her personal brand stems from
how she sought to provide a platform for educating those who want to enter and/or grow in the industries
that the FAB Network represents (Fashion, Arts, Beauty) and fill a need in those industries that either no
one else recognized or had yet to do anything about. For Tyshawna Spell of TSpell Designs, the rarity of
her personal brand is due to the creativity and talent that she was born with but more importantly she has
and continues to cultivate that talent and creativity. She continues to build her skills as well as the
understanding necessary to bring all of her skills, talents and creativity to serve her clients in numerous
ways. Shaunice Hawkins and Ashani Mfuko believe that their rarity comes from their unique life
experiences and God given purpose in life. ―We can all go through the same educational experience, work
experience, life experience but like a finger print no two people will ever be the same‖ as said by Shaunice
Hawkins.
Inimitablity
What makes a personal brand hard to imitate is the person. Much like no two people are the same
no two personal brands are the same if the person truly learns and understand who they are, what value
they have to share, and how to serve others through the unique skills and competencies that he or she
48
possesses. Intangible assets such as perseverance, enthusiasm, dedication, diligence, beliefs, values,
personal mission, purpose, personal background etc. all play a role in creating a personal brand that is
difficult for others to imitate. As Shaunice Hawkins and Ashani Mfuko stated in an earlier question in the
interview, their personal brands are strategically planned and calculated. Knowing and understanding what
their gifts, talents, skills and abilities are helps them to strategically create and build a personal brand that
is difficult for others to imitate. As Ashani Mfuko said when answering this question,
“If someone tried to mimic exactly what I am doing they wouldn’t be able to because they are not
me. There is only one me. I tell that to people that I consult with, that I coach or whatever. It is
great to be inspired by someone but you can never be that person. Let that be something that
motivates you to find out who you are and to be the best that you can be for yourself.” Ashani
Mfuko
Organization
According to the responses from the four entrepreneurs, a personal brand does correlate to the
building of their entrepreneurial endeavors. The work that each entrepreneur has done to create and
cultivate their personal brand is an example of their understanding of brands and branding. The level of
work that they would not only put into themselves to better themselves and share that with others but also
the high level of work that they would put into each opportunity that they are given from the clients that
seek and request their services. In many ways the entrepreneurs themselves are the face and the direct
contact for their business brands. The personal brands that they have cultivated are often directly
connected to their business because of the intrinsic associations that each entrepreneur has and both the
intentional and unintentional links that were created from the use of their personal brand in tandem with
their businesses. For the four entrepreneurs interviewed, the personal brand and the business brand often
work hand in hand with each other as the branding of themselves and their businesses continue to evolve.
49
The four entrepreneurs contribute much of their ability to meet and connect with their target
audience to social networking and the huge role that social media has in relation to other more traditional
forms of marketing. Social networking has been a very important aspect for each of the entrepreneurs.
Ashani Mfuko and Tyshawna Spell iterate this in the following comments,
“How can you grow your brand or your business if you are not connecting with people… There is
nothing that can replace interacting with someone in person…People need to see that you are
relevant and that you are real and that you are out interacting with the world. No one wants to
communicate with someone who they see online but no one ever sees them in real life.” Ashani
Mfuko
“Your social network is one that is very needed because these are the people who are actually
going to take your product and actually put you out there. These are the one’s who are going to
bring your word of mouth into hand. They will be able to do more than what that flyer can do.
Once you have worked with someone and they see what you can do and they are very satisfied,
they are not going to let anyone they know go to anyone else. That has helped me in a lot of cases
get the clients that I have that are out of state.” Tyshawna Spell
Thus going to networking events, meeting your current and potential clients and allowing them to
get to know you aside from what is written about you on the internet and through social media pages is
imperative because it helps to deepen a connection that may have already been established through social
media. It may also invite those who prefer not to use social media or are uncomfortable with the idea of
getting to know or trust social media the opportunity to establish and build a relationship with the person
behind the personal brand in a way that is more inviting and comfortable. With that said, social media
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itself does play a huge role in the personal branding and business branding of the entrepreneurs
interviewed. Social media has allowed each of the entrepreneurs to connect with many of their current and
potential clients, make key business relationships and partnerships, expand their visibility and reach, as
well as serve a larger number of people because of the global access that social media has given them
through the internet.
Of all of the social media tools that are prevalent today, the most common tools used among this
group of entrepreneurs are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, personal websites, and blogs both
written and video. The social media tools are used as a channel to add value to the lives of their target
audience. Social media is also used as a channel to build and sustain relationships, to share information
that would be relevant and important to each entrepreneur‘s respective audiences, and to engage and
interact with their target audience. Along with Facebook and Twitter, Jessica Styles uses blogging to
interact with her target audience. She uses blogging as a tool to document everything that she does. It is a
way for her to keep a record of all that she has done and accomplished while keeping her audience abreast
of all the things that she has, is and will be doing in her business endeavors. This allows their target
audience to interact with them as well. Although some of the entrepreneurs interviewed have used some
forms of traditional media such as flyer advertisements, event sponsorships, press releases, etc; traditional
marketing such as advertising and sponsorships are often very expensive, especially in the current
economic state and many entrepreneurs do not have the financial resources to promote their businesses
using traditional media thus social media has become a viable and often powerful solution.
Making connections through the use of a personal brand and using social media tools for both the
personal and/or business brands allows the entrepreneurs to create a two-way communication stream
between the entrepreneur and his or her target markets/audiences. It also helps to continue the experiences
that the target audience may have had through social networking physical events and opportunities. Thus
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the engagement and interaction is ongoing instead of being limited to a single occurrence. One word that
is often used to describe marketing is an exchange; social networking and social media have given the
entrepreneurs and their target market/audience the opportunity to experience the exchange that is so
synonymous with marketing.
Competition is inevitable in business but knowing if and how one‘s personal brand can be used as
a competitive advantage and a differentiating quality for an entrepreneur is an important aspect to
understand. Although some of the entrepreneurs replied to the question regarding competition did not
initially use personal branding to gain a competitive advantage they began to realize that their personal
brand did in fact give them a competitive advantage.
“I am conscious of a personal brand and that I understand a personal brand. I think that
automatically gives me a competitive edge because some people don’t realize that personal
branding can draw opportunities to you… “ Jessica Styles
Personal branding can also give an entrepreneur a competitive advantage over business
competition because of the relationships that are created and sustained through the use of their personal
brand in tandem with social networking and social media tools. The interaction, engagement and sharing
through the use of a personal brand, social networking and social media tools help to fortify bonds and
enhance relationships. Personal branding also reveals authenticity, creates credibility, cultivates trust and
develops confidence in the entrepreneur and business that he or she has created.
Objective 3: Analysis of the Personal Brand Equity
The third objective studies the personal brand equity of personal brands. More specifically this
objective examines the following:
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3.1. How is personal brand equity measured?
3.2. Are the branding efforts reflected in greater brand equity?
3.3. Are the branding efforts reflected in the entrepreneurial brand equity?
The four entrepreneurs use a combination of a variety of metrics, as in objective 3.1, to determine
the equity of their particular personal brands. Feedback is one measure that all of the entrepreneurs use to
measure their personal brand equity. The feedback they receive gives them an indication of how effective
their personal brand is and gives them a sense of the perception that their target markets/audiences have of
their personal brand and even their business brand.
“I am a solopreneur so I don’t have a staff of fifteen so it is a measure of both but I will say that
using metrics, i.e how many visits do I have to sites, how many people write me and call me, how
many people give me feedback, how many people, for the book how many people like the Amazon
page or how many people write reviews or how many people talk about the book. How many book
interviews have I done or how many podcasts have I done? How many articles are being written
about me? How many people are promoting it? I use things like Klout. I want to see what my
influence score is. And I measure my influence call from month, well week to week. I do it for
myself and I actually do it for my clients too. I measure how many people are retweeting what I
say and how many people are mentioning me. I do that sort of at nauseam to make sure that I’m
watching how effective I am, how far the ripples go. So far they are starting to be cast out a little
further.” Shaunice Hawkins
Trust, credibility, and the relationships that are built are also used to analyze the effectiveness of
one‘s personal brand. The number of people that want to be affiliated and associated with the brand as
well as support the brand by becoming a customer gives a positive indication of the brand equity that the
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entrepreneurs seek to create. This relates to greater personal brand equity, which was the question of
objective 3.2. Although both the quality of the relationships and the quantity of clients also give a
signification of the brand equity generated by the personal brand, after all, the larger not only the number
of clients but the number of pleased loyal clients an entrepreneur has, the higher the probability of
profitability of the entrepreneur and his or her business. Satisfaction of the clientele was stated as one of
the most important factors. Satisfied clients often lead to positive word of mouth, referrals, repeat
purchases of services and products as well as further engagement, positive associations linked to the
entrepreneur‘s personal brand, potential business growth, and the possibilities of other entrepreneurial
ventures.
In objective 3.3, all of the entrepreneurs attest that the results they are receiving are directly
correlated to their personal branding efforts as well as their entrepreneurial branding efforts. There is often
a link between the two. Ashani Mfuko and Tyshawna Spell illustrate the relevance and importance of
personal branding to their entrepreneurial endeavors in the following quotes:
“The moment I came out from behind the scenes and put myself out there whether it was through
photos or videos, writing, etc everything changed. That is when the company really began to
grow. I saw a huge change.” Ashani Mfuko
“I come with a package and I think because I sell my own package and I am very personable, that
really puts the highlight on what I have to bring to the table. I can even remember at the business
conference, I know that if I did not do the presentation and just handed them the book that it
wouldn’t have been the same effect as when I spoke to them and told them what I am about and
what I am trying to make happen. And they were just like yes yes!” Tyshawna Spell
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The number of Facebook, Twitter, blog followers, website page views and subscriptions, LinkedIn
connections, YouTube views etcetera are all good indications of the equity that each entrepreneur‘s
personal brand is garnering but having a happy satisfied client/ customer means that much more, which
can be measured by quantitative metrics. Shaunice Hawkins placed a larger emphasis on the use of both
quantitative and qualitative metrics. The other entrepreneurs may use qualitative metrics but place a
greater emphasis on quantitative metrics. Jessica Styles, Tyshawna Spell, Shaunice Hawkins and Ashani
Mfuko have all had positive experiences and brand equity through the use of personal brands. Although
Jessica Styles is growing her entrepreneurial endeavor to one day stand on it‘s own without the use of her
personal brand she recognizes the intrinsic value that her personal brand continues to have on the FAB
Network. Tyshawna Spell, Shaunice Hawkins, and Ashani Mfuko see their personal brands evolving in
the future and their personal brands will remain an important part of their entrepreneurial endeavors.
CONCLUSION
As discussed in the literature review, branding is not a new concept or idea. The concept of
branding continues to evolve and the uses of branding continue to grow. Personal branding is an example
of that evolution and growth. From the findings of the research conducted it is evident that personal
branding is much more than the definitions that were presented and debated in previous academic
literature. Personal branding is a viable, useful marketing tool to not only promote one‘s self for one‘s
own professional goals to gain employment, gain new positions, and garner promotions as authors such as
Tom Peters and Peter Montoya suggested. Personal branding is also not only for celebrities such as Oprah
Winfrey or Donald Trump as Ashani Mfuko referenced during her interview. Personal branding has
expanded to be included as an important resource and marketing component for entrepreneurs to
successfully gain clientele, customers, visibility, notoriety and business growth. The four entrepreneurs
interviewed give a great deal of credit to their success due to the use of their personal branding initiatives.
55
Whether the goal of the personal brand is to remain an intrinsic part of the branding efforts as the
entrepreneur‘s business strategies, their personal branding initiatives continue to be an important asset of
their branding efforts and they continue to see results whether small or large that they attribute to their
individual personal brands.
Personal brand positioning must be balanced between the identity that the person creates and the
image that the target audience/market receives. The entrepreneurs interviewed understand that the brand
identity of their personal brand is an important component of their personal brand. To create a personal
brand one must have a great understanding of who he or she is and what he or she represents as a person.
The brand identity must be authentic to the specific person and must be a reflection of who the person is,
the person‘s values, and a reflection of the person‘s expertise and knowledge especially pertaining to the
services the entrepreneurs offer and share with their target audience and /or clients.
The VRIO framework is a useful framework in developing an understanding of the strength of
their personal brand. The VRIO framework gave an indication of what differentiates one‘s personal brand
from another and how those differentiating factors can be used in building brand equity for one‘s business.
Social networks and the use of social media tools are imperative factors in utilizing and maximizing one‘s
personal brand. Both social networks and social media tools allow the entrepreneurs to expand their reach
and increase their ability in staying connected with their target market/audience. The personal branding
efforts that the entrepreneurs use definitely have a correlation to the entrepreneurial branding efforts that
entrepreneurs employ.
Notoriety, visibility, and influence are incentives that academic literature suggests in which
someone using personal branding seeks to gain. This is true but the entrepreneurs that use personal
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branding seek and have acquired deeper benefits that have helped to increase their business success.
Through the use of personal branding the entrepreneurs interviewed have not only increased their
visibility both nationally and internationally, they have gain personal brand equity through building
substantial relationships that have yielded business, customers and clients, key business relationships,
partnerships, sponsorships, co-marketing/ co-branding opportunities, etcetera.
There is a direct correlation between personal branding and personal and business brand equity.
Personal brand equity can be measured by both quatitative and qualitative methods. Both the quantitative
and qualitative methods give an indication of how much brand equity has been cultivated. Although
quantitative metrics were proven to be utilized more and have a greater significance in terms of
determining personal brand equity by three of the four entrepreneurs interviewed, the qualitative metrics
do play a significant role as well. Feedback and client/customer satisfaction are of the most important
results generated through personal brand equity.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to use this study as a guide to understand personal branding,
how to create and maintain a personal brand, and the steps to take to obtain one‘s desired brand equity. In
this study, personal branding has proven to be a viable tool for entrepreneurs but much like any other
branding technique personal branding must be used appropriately and efficiently to be effective. Thus this
research could be used to educate entrepreneurs on what personal branding truly is and how it can be
applied to their own individual endeavors. Our study demonstrates ways in which entrepreneurs use their
personal brand within each industry. This was designed on purpose to allow other entrepreneurs to
understand that personal branding can be used by anyone within any industry to promote himself or
57
herself to garner the type of opportunities, clients, customers, business partnerships and relationships that
they desire. Branding and marketing can become extremely expensive but as proven in this study personal
branding does not have to incur the expense that many companies and corporations spend. This is due in
part to social networks and social media. This study illustrates how entrepreneurs can use social networks
and social media as a proven highly cost effective option for entrepreneurs to have in tandem with
building his or her personal branding.
Since personal branding has been established as a useful resource, the following are suggestions to
support entrepreneurs in their goals to obtain a successful personal brand

First and foremost it is important for the entrepreneur to understand who he or she is and what he
or she believes in. This includes what makes the person valuable, rare, inimitable, and how the
person fits into the organizational construct of his or her entrepreneurial endeavors as an
entrepreneur.

It is important to know what product or service the entrepreneur plans to offer to his or her clients/
customers as well as how the product or service will serve his or her clients/ customers.

The entrepreneur must know why he or she wants to use a personal brand and how he or she plans
to use it in tandem with his or her entrepreneurial endeavor.

The entrepreneur must decide how he or she plans to promote his or her personal brand,
communicate, connect, and build relationships through the use of a personal brand.

Finally the entrepreneur must decide how he or she will measure the success of his or her personal
brand, i.e; his or her personal brand equity to ensure that his or her personal brand identity and
personal brand image are congruent with the personal brand created and delivers the results that
the entrepreneur is seeking.
58
LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
This master thesis has attempted to further the understanding of personal branding in its definition
and the practical application of this area of branding by examining the proposed definition and proposed
framework presented in this study. This research is intended to serve as an extension and an attempt to
summarize and clarify the definitions previously used to define personal branding. It is also intended to
provide concrete examples of the practical use of personal branding from professionals who use personal
branding in their business endeavors. Due to the time constraints of this research a decision to limit the
number of participants was employed in order to successfully gain as much information from the
participants interviewed in the time frame allotted as well as the necessary amount of time to analyze the
information to develop strong findings that would have a substantial impact and expand the academic
literature that has already been completed.
This work looks at personal branding from practical standpoint of the perspectives of
entrepreneurs in the United States. For further research of this topic, the practical use of personal branding
in a corporate setting, in which employees use personal branding for personal advancement and
promotions could be explored. Although unintentional, the participants of this study are all female thus
this same study could be repeated conducting interviews with male entrepreneurs as well in order to
analyze if there are differences due to gender. Personal branding is used in many countries all over the
world in both individualistic and collectivist societies. Due to the limited time constraints this is yet
another aspect to the personal branding exploration that could be considered for further research to expand
this study.
Also this study was developed within a single culture, the American (United States) culture,
studies that take a cross-cultural approach to this topic would be of interest to extend this body of
59
knowledge. Another limitation of this study is that it is transversal as information was collected in a single
moment of time, we recognize the potential benefits of adopting a longitudinal approach that could
analyze what are the benefits accrued by the personal branding effort through time. Furthermore a
measure of brand equity could be attempted to analyze how brand equity increases with the branding
efforts of the entrepreneurs.
This exploratory study is thus just the beginning of the practical research that can be done. It is an
underlying goal of this research to entice a curiosity to further the academic and practical research of
personal branding, as it is a topic that continues to grow in the field of marketing and branding.
60
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APPENDIX
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Appendix A. Participant Letter
July 6, 2011
Dear XXX,
I am an International MBA student having studied at the University of North Carolina
Wilmington and currently completing my studies at the University of Valencia in Valencia, Spain. My
concentration is in international marketing and I am currently writing my thesis on personal branding and
how it is used as a resource strategy for young professionals especially in terms of their entrepreneurial
endeavors.
As a part of the study for my thesis, I will be conducting a series interviews to gain a better
understanding of how personal branding is used in a practical sense. I think you and your company have
demonstrated a strong example of that. Per our initial correspondence, I would like to thank you for your
acceptance to participate and affording me the opportunity to study your personal brand and your
entrepreneurial endeavors to further my research. I know that you are very busy so the interview would
not take up much of your time. The interviews should take about 45 minutes.
I will be conducting interviews the second and third weeks of August. Thank you for consenting
to participate in this study. Please let me know of your availability so that I may schedule an interview
with you. You may email me at [email protected] to schedule a day, time, and place that suits you for
the interview and/ or clarify any questions you may have. Alternatively, you may contact me via telephone
at 973-985-9166 after July 19th at which that time I will be in the United States.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to working with you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Kory
Kory M. Saunders
International MBA Graduate Student 2011
The University of Valencia
The University of North Carolina, Wilmington
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Appendix B. In-depth Interview Questionnaire
PERSONAL BRANDING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS
1.Please tell me a little about your entrepreneurial endeavors. How did you get started? Why did you
choose entrepreneurship and your industry?
2. What does a brand mean (represent) to you?
3. Do you use personal branding to market yourself? Why do you use it?
4. How important is personal branding to your entrepreneurial endeavors? How is personal branding used
to further your business and career?
5. How is the knowledge of understanding yourself as a person essential to you building your personal
brand and your business?
6. How has developing your skills and core competencies enhanced your personal branding?
7. What makes your personal brand:
 Valuable?
 Rare?
 Hard to imitate?
 How does your personal brand correlate to building your business (organization)?
8. What are the values that you want your brand to convey? What associations do you want your brand to
have? Which of the ones you have mentioned are essential to your brand?
9. BRAND IMAGE: Who is your main audience/ target? Do you have a clear image of the person/ group
that would be interested in your personal brand?
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10. Do you think the image your target market has of your personal brand is congruent with your brand as
you created it? How do you know the brand image is successfully conveying that message? (How do you
evaluate your brand image?)
11. How important is it to have a social network upon which to build relationships? (For example, to gain
clients and customers, to promote your entrepreneurial endeavors, to learn and grow from others who have
knowledge to share and to share what you have learned with others)
12. What role does social media play in building your personal brand and in increasing your social
network?
13. Which social media tools do you use? How do you use them to help you to build relationships between
you and your potential and repeat customers and/or business partners?
14. Do you use other forms of promotion for you brand? How important is social media in relation to the
other tools used? How do they coincide with social media to convey your brand positioning?
15. Do you think having a personal brand gives you a competitive advantage over other entrepreneurs?
Does your personal brand mean something that differentiates you from your competition in the minds and
perception of your target market?
16. What do you use to measure the success of your personal brand?(person or company), (number of
clients, trust and credibility reputation, loyalty, notoriety, business growth?)
17. Do you think the results you are getting are directly related to your branding effort? (both personal
brand equity and entrepreneurial brand equity?)
18. How do you see your personal brand evolving in the future? Will it remain an intrinsic part of your
entrepreneurial endeavors? Why or why not? If so how?
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BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
19. Name:
20. Age Range: 21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
21. Name of Company (entrepreneurial endeavor):
22. Industry:
23. Educational background (highest degree earned):
24. How many years have you been an entrepreneur?
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Appendix C. In-depth Interview Transcripts
Personal Branding Interview with Jessica Styles of The FAB Network
Conducted on August 2, 2011 at 10:30am in New York City
Barnes and Noble (86th and Lexington)
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
1.Please tell me a little about your entrepreneurial endeavors. How did you get started? Why did you
choose entrepreneurship and your industry?
I am interested in a lot of things fashion, beauty, art, entertainment. My initial thing was to gain
experience. I didn‘t really know if you say you are interested in entertainment what does that mean. So for
me I just kind of jumped right in. I started getting internships. I am from South Carolina but I interned
while I was in college and came to New York in the summers. I interned at Donna Karan, Bad Boy and
BET and then once I graduated from Furman University, which is in South Carolina, I started working for
MTV so my job just kind of… be in the field, be in the entertainment industry, be in the building whether
it was like my ideal position. It just allowed me to learn so much and get the corporate experience and I
think entrepreneurship was just calling me so it all came full circle because I started working for
Givenchy, which is a luxury beauty brand, and entrepreneurship was still calling me and so I just started
talking to myself. What do I want to do with my life? Where do I see myself in the future? I had an idea in
my house, I wish there was an organization that helped people with career development because I am
always the person in my friends or family helping somebody edit their resume, helping somebody
interview where as a lot of people get nervous, I actually like that kind of stuff so creating the FAB
Network was like the best of both worlds. I love professional development but I also love the industry and
I love helping people. I know that was a long answer but it all came full circle. I didn‘t know that I would
be doing the FAB Network 5 years ago.
2. What does a brand mean (represent) to you?
Because the FAB Network is me, so it‘s one person you know that is a part of the company, who I
am as a person on the inside and out to me represents a brand. FAB stands for Fashion Arts Beauty, so it‘s
important that when people see me or when I host an event that I speak fashion, arts, and beauty, that I am
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relevant to the brand. Also that I am intelligent on the industry, that I know what‘s going that I am an
industry expert and in that when I say the FAB Network is believable that people want to listen to me that
I am not only giving advice on things that I have heard but I am a living testament to everything that I
teach when I do professional development so when people think of the FAB Network, I want them to see
an entrepreneur that has a go get them attitude, take charge type of person, someone that represents the
industry, someone that is professional, someone that is positive and that is the kind of energy that I want to
give off. I want the company to be able to give that energy off as a separate entity. I want me to be able to
give off that energy because the FAB Network is me so if I don‘t represent that no one is going to want to
be a part of the FAB network. It‘s one in the same and I think people definitely need to understand that.
3. Do you use personal branding to market yourself? Why do you use it?
Yes, everything that I do is about personal branding. From head to toe, from hair, makeup, you
know it is the tangible and intangible qualities. The tangible things are what you see. I am always going to
you know, whenever you see me I am going to have on my makeup, I am going to have on my
accessories, I am going to make sure that my outfit, you know everything is just tip top shape, you are
going to tell that I was able to put effort into my look. (except for if you see me in the morning j/k )
And the tangible things, I am always going to have my portfolio. Those little things matter so, I
call it the ―Wow Factor‖ so every time that I am having a meeting or I am talking about FAB or I am
representing myself/ the company because I think of it as the same thing, I am going to be representing my
wow factor at all times, If you are not bringing my A game you might as well stay at home. That is my
opinion.
4. PERSONAL BRANDING: How important is personal branding to your entrepreneurial endeavors?
How is personal branding used to further your business and career?
It‘s the main thing. That‘s the first thing people see because no one knows what the FAB Network
is. It‘s not like a DKNY, or a Calvin Klein where the brand can stand up by itself. They have one bad
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fashion show people are not going to all of a sudden stop buying DKNY they are just going to be like oh
that collection sucks but for me I only get one shot. I actually met the principal, which is now giving me
the opportunity to start a program at his school based on your exact question. I was at an event, speaking,
he came up to me and said I love everything that you are doing I love what you had to say. I think my
students would love you. I think you would fit right in. From you know everything, your style to what you
are saying. I think my students would be able to relate to you. So before he even knew exactly what the
FAB Network was my personal brand attracted him and so I that is very important to put it out there, to
attract the type of clients, the type of businesses you want. You are selling yourself every time you step
out the door and you talk about your company, you are selling yourself. You have to be believable.
5. PERSONAL BRANDING: How is the knowledge of understanding yourself as a person essential to
you building your personal brand and your business?
It‘s really important because being an entrepreneur there are days where you think it is too hard
and you want to give up. If you are not a strong secure person in who you are and what you believe your
mission is and what you know, you have to understand your natural talent, you know I don‘t know if
everybody is religious or not but you have to just kind of pray about it and be strong enough to say that on
those hard days the only person you are going to have is yourself so if you don‘t have a good relationship
with yourself it is going to be a difficult road to be able to overcome those challenges because there will
be good days when you are like oh man this is awesome but it is easy on those days when you have a
success but when you don‘t and no one is believing in your idea and everyone is questioning you and you
don‘t have any money, and you don‘t have any resources and your like this is too hard, you have to look at
yourself in the mirror and say you know what, I know that I am talented, I know that I can do this. You
have to be confident in yourself or I am not sure it is possible any other way. Because being in
entrepreneurship is marketing yourself. You are the brand.
6. RESOURCE-BASED VIEW: How has developing your skills and core competencies enhanced your
personal branding?
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I think that practice makes perfect and there is a learning curve. There is no set route or streamline
process on how to start your business or how to do what I do. Everything is me learning, me having
conversations, me hanging around people smarter than me, me asking questions and being engaged and
wanting to know and being okay with constructive feedback. All of that is a learning curve and you know
what I do is I am saying that I am a professional coach. I need to be smarter than my clients. If my clients,
If I go to a meeting and my clients can give me advice and they know more than me why would they pay
me to give advice. I need to make sure that I am reading trade magazine and I know what‘s going on that I
know how to start a company and that I am connected to resources, because at the end of the day what I
am saying is that I can provide you with an intellectual service so I have to have the knowledge in order to
share it so it is very important that I am knowledgeable that is a big part of what I am marketing and what
I do.
7. VRIO FRAMEWORK: What makes your personal brand:
 Valuable?
The thing I love about my personal brand and I keep going back to this the tangible and
intangible. I feel that my brand gives you inspiration, it gives you the motivation to feel like you
can do it but it also not only encourages you, I feel like some times you go to an event or hear
someone speak you are pumped up in that moment, yeah I can do it, then you go back home to
those same 4 walls in your house and your like great that I am inspired. Now what do I do? The
great thing I love about FAB is not only does it inspire you, but it gives you the tools, the
resources, the information in order make it happen because you have to have both. Inspiration
without knowledge will get you no where. You are just going to be turning your wheels so that is
what I love about it. It teaches you. It gives you encouragement but at the same time you can join
and become a FAB member so that you can become a part of a network that is on going. It‘s not
like a hit and run. It is like a family.
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 Rare?
The need that I saw that needed to be filled in the industry, I am a part of a lot of
professional organizations. I attend a lot of events but the education piece was lacking so that‘s
why whenever I host a FAB event there‘s always an educational piece because if you go to an
event and there all these important people there and you passing out your business cards but
bottom line is if you don‘t know how to network, if you don‘t understand the process of how to
ask questions or send out a professional email, you don‘t even know what you want to do with
your life, how are you going to be effective going to those meetings or meeting those people and
you don‘t know what to say. You don‘t know what questions to ask, you ultimately don‘t know
what you want to get out of the experience. So the thing I love about FAB is that we are
providing you with a platform to connect with resources, but we are also giving you the
knowledge and the know how to maximize every opportunity so I think the educational piece is
missing because there is not one organization that I know that is putting you out there, that is
connecting you with professionals, but that is also that has a blog that is not only marketing their
company but resources in general so I am not in competition with these organizations out there. I
am actually promoting them I am a complement to everything that is going on in the industry. So
that is what I feel the niche is missing, the education piece. You are getting a comprehensive
experience when joining the FAB Network.
 Hard to imitate?
I would say me, I think I am a big part of it. I think that when I am selling the FAB
Network I am selling myself, which is why it is so important that whomever I get on my team has
that same enthusiasm. It is that same thing as how many people have a college degree. A lot of
people‘s resume can look the same right, there are a lot of people that can say they are an
entrepreneur, they are a professional coach they know a lot of people but what they are not
bringing to the table is my personality, my perseverance, my enthusiasm, my dedication, all of
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that. No one can be me so when I go to a meeting you may have similar credentials but they will
not be me and I think that is the important thing.
 How does your personal brand correlate to building your business (organization)?
I think that with people, you have to be a role model. You have to set a good example and
I think that building a strong team… no one in my opinion, I think that people are excited to be a
part of your team when they see that you are working just as hard as them, that you are not afraid
to roll up your sleeves and get dirty with them. I am not asking anyone to do anything that I
haven‘t done myself. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that you have to
literally do everything. You have to be the lawyer, the technician, your printer break, your
computer break, the paper jam, whatever it is you have to learn how to fix it. I am on the bottom
right now so when I do have a full staff I will be able to say, you know what, I was there. I know
how long that should take, I know what you are going through and I think that when people see
that humble experience it makes people want to be on your team, want to build up a strong team
which will ultimately take the company to the next level. You have to be willing to be a leader
but also be willing to take advice from your staff and be a team player. You have to play both
roles successfully.
8. What are the values that you want your brand to convey? What associations do you want your brand to
have? Which of the ones you have mentioned are essential to your brand?
I want my brand to have integrity. I want it to be long lasting. I want it to be classic, that when we
talk about the FAB Network that it is not an outdated service. It doesn‘t matter that technology and all that
stuff. Now we have twitter and Facebook. I want my brand to withstand any technology, anything that is
going in the world 10 years from now FAB will still be relevant. Everyone is always going to need
inspiration and resources, and information. Through the end of time everyone at the core is going to want
to better themselves and maximize their opportunities and be the best that they can be. I think that is a
service that will be needed forever.
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9. Who is your main audience/ target? Do you have a clear image of the person/ group that would be
interested in your personal brand?
I cater to basically three buckets of people, well now four. College students... So there are two
arms to FAB one is that I cater to adults and young professionals. The other bucket most recently is
students, middle school students, and intermediate students. So I cater to people who want to be in the
industry. College students who don‘t yet have the corporate experience who are interested in getting
internship experience and learning about the industry before they graduate. Then I cater to professionals
working in the industry who already have a career but just want to network and want to meet new people;
so people that are not in the entertainment industry or creative industry but want to be. They may work in
engineering or finance but their interested in breaking into the more creative industry. Most recently the
students, middle school and high school students.
10. Do you think the image your target market has of your personal brand is congruent with your brand as
you created it? How do you know the brand image is successfully conveying that message? (How do you
evaluate your brand image?)
Yes, It is actually even expanding because FAB stands for Fashion Arts Beauty but now its
expanding into just general professional development and exactly who is a part of the part of the FAB
network is exactly who I envisioned because it is a representation of myself. I am a young person and I am
not to far removed from the things that I am talking about so I think the audience related to me because I
am not an older person who is talking about what I did 30 years ago. I am talking about what I have done
a couple years ago and for them to see that I made a huge leap from being the person that wants to break
into the industry to the person that has broken into the industry didn‘t have any contacts, made my own
contacts, moved from South Carolina, started my own business and is becoming a successful business. I
think people are encouraged by that and want to be connected to me, want to be connected to the FAB
network.
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The fact that I am getting clients that want to work with me. I document everything that I do and
that I am getting positive feedback on the documentation whether it‘s pictures or videos. I am constantly
getting testimonials from any job that I do. I am always asking for feedback. Is it something that I can
approve upon so that feedback helps me to leverage or helps me to recognize what I am doing well and
what can be made better. I think that definitely gives me an idea of my brand image.
11. How important is it to have a social network upon which to build relationships? (For example, to gain
clients and customers, to promote your entrepreneurial endeavors, to learn and grow from others who have
knowledge to share and to share what you have learned with others)
It‘s free publicity and free marketing. From twitter alone I‘ve gotten so many FAB members,
volunteers, and interns. It is free marketing and it is also a way for me to connect to FAB members and
FAB followers. Instead of creating the wheel the people are already there you just need to take your
service, take what you are doing to the people. So it is just an easy way to promote what I am doing and to
connect and for FAB to come alive and for them to see what I am doing. It is one thing for me to talk
about it but when you can see pictures or videos.
12. What role does social media play in building your personal brand and in increasing your social
network?
It makes people want to continue to come back instead of visiting the blog once or just hitting and
quitting it type of experience. It makes people want to continue to engage with you. That is the important
thing. I want the experience to be ongoing. I want people to come to a FAB event and want to come back
because that is going to expand the brand. That is going to expand the membership and through that a
plethora of opportunities will be able to come. Clients, college students are connecting me with their
colleges. For me to have those type of relationships is just, social media is connecting me in every type of
way and continuing that experience instead being like a one time thing.
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13. Which social media tools do you use? How do you use them to help you to build relationships between
you and your potential and repeat customers and/or business partners?
Twitter, Facebook, blog and the website. Those are pretty much my four online presences. I
document everything that I do. Documentation is very important so when you go to my website you are
going to pretty much see everything that I have done, that I am presently doing, and that‘s just going to…
they all work together so when I am talking about an event I am going to tweet it, I am going to put it on
my website. They all work together. I am going to put it on my Facebook so all of those social media
networks need to connect to each other because not everybody that is on Facebook is on twitter so it‘s like
you have to maximize every opportunity and put yourself out there in different spaces because you could
potentially miss somebody. So everywhere that you go I want you to be able to see the same type of
information that I am putting out there. So it‘s going to be on the website, Facebook, the blog, twitter.
Some times if people see it one time they forget but now you see it four times and it just kind of drills that
information in again. I want people to remember the logo, I want it (the logo) to be remembered and when
you see the green logo you know we are talking about the FAB Network.
14. Do you use other forms of promotion for you brand? How important is social media in relation to the
other tools used? How do they coincide with social media to convey your brand positioning?
I don‘t do any advertising because there is no advertising budget. To have social media a tool that
is free really helps out a lot because back in the day you had to put a whole marketing campaign together
for people to know about your company and that would be very difficult right now because everything is
really a grass roots effort so its really social media, word of mouth, I am constantly talking about FAB any
opportunity that I have I am talking about FAB and I am spreading the word so between social media,
email blasts and word of mouth that‘s pretty much how I am marketing FAB.
15. Do you think having a personal brand gives you a competitive advantage over other entrepreneurs?
Does your personal brand mean something that differentiates you from your competition in the minds and
perception of your target market?
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Yes, the fact that I am conscious of a personal brand and I understand a personal brand I think that
automatically gives me a competitive edge because some people don‘t realize that personal branding can
draw opportunities to you that you can meet someone and say that you like their lipstick or say that you
like there earrings and you don‘t even know who that person is. That can be a professional opportunity for
you so at any given time you need to have you‘re a game on and be ready for that opportunity. Sometimes
you are prepared for it because it is an interview you know it‘s at a company. Sometimes the opportunity
may be at Starbuck‘s you are ordering a coffee. The fact that I am conscious of it and I am always ready to
market myself, I look marketable, I am aware of my personal brand on the things that you can see on the
outside but not only that, it is great that you have an awesome outfit and that may be a talking point but
then when you open your mouth that‘s also your personal brand. Are you able to effectively talk about
your company and what your goals are so I definitely feel like I have a competitive edge over that and
CONFIDENCE, people some people don‘t realize confidence, you can be the smartest person in the world
but if you are not confident enough to articulate what your goals and what you company‘s mission is and
what you are doing and how you want to work with me and what you can bring to the table. It is going to
be a little bit more difficult for you. In order to sell something you have to be confident in the product, in
yourself, in your company because if you don‘t believe in it why would somebody else believe in it.
Again I don‘t really consider people as competition. To be honest with you I haven‘t found an
organization that does exactly what I do. There will be an organization, I can‘t really think of the names of
the organizations right now but like there is one that helps people to get their MBA and all of these types
of things. There will be these organizations that do professional development services that will help you
get an internship and that will claim some of the same services that I do but I haven‘t found one, first of all
that‘s niche that caters to the same industry that I cater to, that has a blog, I think that mine is
comprehensive that I have the blog, where I am featuring internships, jobs, career advice, mentorship, etc.
that I am also hosting events that I am bringing in industry leaders to come and speak that I do
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professional coaching and that you get that one on one experience with me and that I am also promoting
other organizations. Whatever organization is out there I am actually promoting them. I am not in
competition but I actually haven‘t found one that does exactly do what I do and that‘s why I actually
created it because I didn‘t see that out there.
16. What do you use to measure the success of your personal brand? (person or company), (number of
clients, trust and credibility reputation, loyalty, notoriety, business growth?)
I use testimonials. I am constantly getting feedback so that lets me know that I am moving in the
right direction. The biggest thing that has happened so far is the contract with the department of education.
Those things let me know that you know … I just pray that if this is what I am supposed to do give me a
sign. Give me progression that lets me know that I am moving in the right direction so when those nuggets
happen it lets me know that you know what I am on to something. This is something that I should be
doing. When I ask professionals to be a part of my event they don‘t really know me, they don‘t really
know the FAB network but once I explain it to them and show them my portfolio and show them what I
am doing and they say automatically I definitely want to sign up to be a part of this event that lets me
know that I am on to something because I have VP (vice presidents) and directors and management
willing to support the FAB network so all of those type of things let‘s me know that I am moving in the
right direction. Every time I hear a yes I am moving in the right direction and if I hear a no it‘s usually a
no with some type of feedback of how I can make it better. I never heard someone say no or that my idea
is stupid. I never heard that so from the get go I knew that I was on to something. It‘s just perfecting it and
taking it to the next level and being patient enough to see it happen.
17. Do you think the results you are getting are directly related to your branding effort? (both personal
brand equity and entrepreneurial brand equity?)
Yes because whenever I go to a meeting I am basically selling myself. If they don‘t believe me
that don‘t even want to hear nothing about the FAB network. If they didn‘t like me FAB would never get a
chance so it‘s kind of like when you don‘t like somebody‘s parents to tend to not like their child either.
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You never even give the child a chance. I don‘t like they mama so I don‘t like you either. If they didn‘t
like me they wouldn‘t want to hear about the FAB network so the first impression is me getting them
reeled in on me on a professional level on an emotional level. It ‗s reeling them in on every type of level
and making a connection with them, once they have a connection with me then their ears are open, okay
what do you want to talk to me about but if they think we suck we can forget it the conversation is not
going anywhere. So that‘s most important, like I said, that I am, my confidence is going to rub off on
FAB‘s confidence. FAB is kind of like a toddler; it can‘t do anything without a parent. It can‘t really walk,
it‘s got one tooth. Without me FAB is nothing.
18. How do you see your personal brand evolving in the future? Will it remain an intrinsic part of your
entrepreneurial endeavors? Why or why not? If so how?
My goal is that, like I said, FAB can do nothing without me. FAB is a little baby right now. My
ultimate goal is that FAB can stand without me. Right now you don‘t know whose behind the YMCA you
just know that the YMCA is a strong company. You don‘t know what the founder of Gucci looks like or
whoever. It‘s like the brand can stand on it‘s own. That‘s what I ultimately want for FAB. Like the Red
Cross, You don‘t know who is behind the Red Cross, we just know that if you get in a fire and need some
help you call the Red Cross. That is the type of branding that I want to create for FAB that if you need
professional development help, if you need programming in your school, if you need career coaching let
me call the FAB Network and at that point it‘s not so much about Jessica Styles, it‘s that FAB can
literally, drive, walk, talk on its own without me.
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
19. Name: Jessica Styles
20. Age Range:
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
21. Name of Company (entrepreneurial endeavor): The FAB Network
22. Industry: Creative Industries (Fashion, Beauty, Art, Entertainment) and Education
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23. Educational background (highest degree earned): Bachelors Degree in Communication Studies from
Furman University in South Carolina
24. How many years have you been an entrepreneur? 2.5 The company was registered July 2009.
25. Where is your company based? Currently works in the New York City Metro area.
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Personal Branding Interview with Tyshawna Spell of TSpell Designs
Conducted on Thursday August 4, 2011 at 11:30am
Via Skype
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS
1.Please tell me a little about your entrepreneurial endeavors. How did you get started? Why did you
choose entrepreneurship and your industry?
My entrepreneurial endeavor is having a design company. When I say design it consists of so
many things. I do architectural work, 3-D modeling, illustrations, photo editing, desktop publishing, logos,
and booklets; you name it I cover so much. I am a full blown out artist. I also have a master degree of
architecture. I started this because I went to high school as an art major then I continued in college as an
architecture major. I learned so much doing graphic design at that time while I was in architecture school
and developed my skills more when it came to painting and when I got out of school there were no jobs
and decided instead of looking for jobs I was going look for clients. I had the skills that can pay the bills
basically and I jumped right into it. I got the business license. As far as me being an entrepreneur I have
always had a niche for being an entrepreneur. It is actually one of my passions. I‘ve been selling things
since I was in the Ready Program in the 3rd grade when I first learned to spell entrepreneur and I had to
sell candy and learn how entrepreneurship works. Ever since then I knew that if you have something that
somebody else wants you can get a dollar for it. That‘s always been something that is a part of me, of who
I am. I use those skills to survive, even in college. I started doing hair and getting paid to do hair and just
went on by selling art, by continue painting and it just continued on from there consistently. I decided to
bring it all together into a business that lets me be creative but also lets other people‘s ideas come to life.
2. What does a brand mean (represent) to you?
What a brand represents to me is your name, something that is recognizable to everyone and that
have some type of idea of what comes behind that. With having a brand it gives you a chance to be
recognized, be known by someone and have some type of recognition for what you are doing and what
you bring to the table. As you brand yourself you are not only your face but you‘re all of the things that
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you do. When people hear about TSpell and TSpell Designs so many things come to mind but everyone
knows that no matter what, I am a great designer. No matter what I am designing or creating and that‘s
what that brand should really push is design. Even by the way I even created how TSpell looks. It‘s looks
like design.
3. Do you use personal branding to market yourself? Why do you use it?
I definitely use personal branding to market myself. I kind of fell into that, it just happened hazardly. I
don‘t think it was something that I was thinking about originally but I realized that as a painter I sign all of
my paintings in the corner TSpell which is my signature and when I went into business TSpell Designs is
what I felt what stuck out the most to connect people to that same person who did those painting or that
same person who did that project and with that connection being there I want them to bring it all to one
place and I am like the man behind the art. I decided to personally brand myself with my name because
it‘s what holds everything that I do together no matter what expertise it is and because I do so many things
across the board. I had to put it under just me and who I am and all that I explore so I had to use personal
branding for all of my products, everything that given, everything that I have and I think that would be the
best way to do it because who wouldn‘t. If it‘s your skill, your time, your work, your business. I think it is
very good for people to know exactly who you are and who is getting the job done.
4. How important is personal branding to your entrepreneurial endeavors? How is personal branding used
to further your business and career?
It is very important to my entrepreneurial endeavors. It is so important because what I do is
something that other people do also and if you don‘t know that this is coming from me, you know that you
are get a product but you don‘t know that it is going to have my touch on it. I do things so elaborately, so
full and so passionately that when people see it they need to know that it is coming from TSpell Designs.
They want to know that I put that little extra thing on it, that I listened closely, that I got those details so
when I market myself and the work comes behind it that brand is what sticks with them. When you go
through the whole marketing process and people don‘t know what you do and they see this TSpell, TSpell,
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TSpell, everywhere, they want to know well what does that have to do with it and they see all the things
that you do and its branded right there. They won‘t forget. I have clients who even told me if you did not
leave this little booklet with me I wouldn‘t have know what to do. I decided I need a designer and I saw
this book on my table with TSpell on it and looked at it and said wow, oh my goodness, I need to call this
girl. That tends to be what happens but they know that who they are calling is who the brand is and that
they are guaranteed what they see behind those letters. They are guaranteed what they see. I think that is
what makes a brand forever. The strength you put behind it, the time, the work, everything that shows the
quality of what you propose it as.
5. How is the knowledge of understanding yourself as a person essential to you building your personal
brand and your business?
You definitely have to have knowledge of yourself. Because your personal branding is so
connected to who you are you have to definitely have to know how you are to know what you represent.
When you represent something in a business and say this is all that I am you want it to be true to who you
are. When you understand your skills and capabilities. What you have to bring to the table and its very
strong in your business in your brand. This is what people expect to see and to know when they see you. If
I represent TSpell Designs and it‘s all creativity from high art, high architectural work, and I have even
been to fashion a lot lately people want to know these are the things that I am passionate about. That if
they came to me and wanted to discuss these things that I would the expert on them. Without these
capabilities and pushing the brand with my name on it, it can fall short if I am not being true to myself. It
can fall very short. I remember Russell Simmons saying ―Do You, be genuine about who you are so‖ So if
he is saying be genuine because that is what really pushes the furthest. That‘s exactly what you need to be
when it comes to having what your personal brand. It‘s not personal and it‘s not your brand If it‘s not all
of who you are. It‘s really not. It‘s needs to be everything you are. It needs to represent you to the fullest
because being genuine is what people love, what people understand and what people will buy.
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6. How has developing your skills and core competencies enhanced your personal branding?
It has enhanced it a lot. Those personal skills are exactly what I need to present all of my
expertise. I have to consistently make sure that I am training in them and becoming competitive in them
because it is so competitive out there. When it comes to my core competencies the gift is the thing that
speaks for who I am. I am gifted in the arts so when I present that it needs to come off very very strongly.
It is grabbing the attention of the customer and letting them know like wow this girl really really knows
what she is doing so I have to consistently keep up with the latest thing on what‘s going on, the latest
digital way to draw, just consistently catching up on what‘s going on and educating myself to make sure
that I am able to present the arts in every way possible being that that‘s what my business is about and I
also am creating new ideas and new ways to present ideas and art work so my core competencies are the
basis of my business all together.
7. What makes your personal brand:
 Valuable?
Well for one, my personal brand is valuable because I am valuable. If I am valuable then my
brand is also going to be valuable. What I have to bring is something that is very different than the
next. It includes a whole lot and the capabilities that I am bringing to someone who doesn‘t have
these things same capabilities. If I am saying that I create and be that creative sole for all the things
that you are thinking of and bring them to life and to have something tangible for you then that is
value in itself. That is saying I can make your dreams come true basically. You can come up with an
idea and I can say what is the idea and give it to you in your hand. I feel like that is more than
valuable. Creativity, that is the first thing that God did when He started creating the earth. Creativity
right off the top and if that‘s not valuable I don‘t know what is.
 Rare?
What makes my personal brand rare is that I include quite a bit of talent when it comes to
my personal brand. I am not just great at one thing but I am absolutely phenomenal in many
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things. I am an artist of many trades and when one comes to me the don‘t have to feel like let me
come to her for this or let me go to her for that but let me go to her because I have an idea and I
know that however it needs to be created it will get done. I think that is where a lot of designers
fall short. They build skills but they don‘t build an understanding of how to bring those skills to
life in multiple ways.
 Hard to imitate?
What makes my personal brand hard to imitate is for one, just the logo alone. It‘s my
signature. You cannot imitate my signature. TSpell will always be TSpell and you know that if
it‘s signed it is signed by me. If you know that you got it on a card it is my handwriting it‘s who I
am and then on top of that, the brand itself of what it carries has a special touch. I don‘t paint the
way of everyone else. My techniques aren‘t the same. My natural ability is shown the way it is
without being a duplication of what it‘s supposed to be but what‘s in my heart. What‘s natural to
you and what you have to give on top the basic skill level you have is what takes it up another
notch. It‘s what builds a stronger brand than the average. It is what takes it to the next level and
the insight that I have with people and understanding people‘s wants and the things that people
imagine. Me being able to listen closely and understand what‘s on people‘s hearts and what they
imagine and be able to have a full imagination that strong enough to take everyone else‘s
thoughts and really duplicate them in my head is what really puts the stamp on top of this brand.
That‘s that extra thing that you have to have. Oh so what makes yours different than the next,
that‗s exactly what makes TSpell Designs different than any other design company the level of
thought that I have and creativity that actually be very close to what you are thinking. To be able
to take it, recreate it and even take it up a notch. Sometimes people just don‘t get it or get
people‘s ideas and I always get it right on point.
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 How does your personal brand correlate to building your business (organization)?
My personal brand correlates to building my business by actually being the main theme
that holds all the pieces that I have together. It is kind of like building a house with a bunch of
bricks so it‘s like my personal brand holds stronger. It really helps with the packaging of what I
have to bring to the table being that there is no individual one thing that represents me, the brand
that pulls everything together and brings the full correlation of what I have to bring to the table
which is why my brochure has my brand name on the front of it and the inside has all those
layers of what it corresponds to. I realize that the for a long time when I tried to tell people what
my business is about it was very difficult but the packaging helps very much. Having that brand
and knowing that I can say all that I need to say behind the name and they will know who this is.
8. What are the values that you want your brand to convey? What associations do you want your brand to
have? Which of the ones you have mentioned are essential to your brand?
The values that I want my brand to have are full artistry, full understanding of graphics and how
technology correlates to it. I want it to be able to say what people want to say but are unable to convey in
some type of visual source. I want the value of it to be strong in the way that people can take it with them
forever. I want to have a brand that really shows representations of people‘s thoughts and understanding
give a mind of their own without them having to physically create it. I want my business to be associated
with art, architecture, and graphic design. Those three things, which are the heavy things that are a part of
it right now and I want it to develop into products. That is where I want to steer the business ultimately. I
want the brand to represent that by being one that‘s open to taking ideas and creating them not only
through art, architecture, and graphics, but also through actually having a physical product and model. It
also is going to have the value of being genuine. Having something that states really, really what you want
to say or really what you want to do and not what you think someone should. I don‘t want to tell someone
who they are when I am creating things for them. I want it to speak to everything that they are trying to do
and what they are trying to imagine. Some of the things, the core things that go along in my business is
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having great communication skills me having a great understanding of who the person is and what they
want. Even if it is a person who is unable to communicate well, I am the communicator that is so strong
that I will almost be able to pull out so many different things for them to where they can point at what it
pulling to them the most. Versatility is very strong for this brand. Being versatile is what makes this brand.
It carries so many things and also availability, being available to produce and have these things for people
as they need them. Those are the things that this business stands on and that I want to represent in this
brand. I remember working with a client, Shennette, and she said ―Oh my goodness Tyshawna you‘re
always just right on top of it. You always know what I am thinking. You always know how to swing it and
you always give me more than what I ask‖ If those aren‘t things you want to represent your business I
don‘t know what is and she knows that when she calls TSpell Designs that she is going to get exactly what
she is looking for.
9. Who is your main audience/ target? Do you have a clear image of the person/ group that would be
interested in your personal brand?
My audience is very wide. My audience is businesses who have a marketing department that
needs to articulate different things. My audience is the mother who is throwing a party for her child and
needs those invitations, those things that help decorate the place. My audience is that person who is
starting to brand themselves and trying to find that symbolism that will help them represent everything
they need to. My audience is that person who loves art and wants a portrait inside of their home. My
audience is that school who needs a mural. It is so wide. It covers so many things. I going to just say You
are my audience. Everyone. You, you, you, and you too. You all need me.
10. Do you think the image your target market has of your personal brand is congruent with your brand as
you created it? How do you know the brand image is successfully conveying that message? (How do you
evaluate your brand image?)
I think that naturally my image is conveying because of me being able to work with so many
people already and they understand how I work and who I am. Because that came along before the
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business started, like I said, it haphazardly became personal branding. It is something that was very natural
for me to come into. I was always one to do exactly what I fell and what I want to do. I have always been
one that is very creative because that has always represented me and what I had to bring to the table.
When it came into going into business all I did was carry all the things that I always had and always done.
I think it conveys in that same way because the art, the design, the illustrations, the pictures it conveys
everything that I am. I actually feel like the brand is even being conveyed stronger than before I even
brought it into a business now that people are seeing it all together under a package, under a brand. I think
it is coming out even stronger.
I evaluate it (brand image) by trying to keep a good idea of the type of projects that I want to work
on. I definitely have value and the clients that I work with, I want them to be going in a positive direction.
I am not really interested in working with clients that are trying to bring things in more of a negative
connotation. I want things to be in my portfolio that is uplifting, that is actually showing great advanced
ideas come together and messages, but not necessarily things that are more of pornographic or vulgar in
language. Sometimes it is very difficult to figure out exactly where you want to draw the line but these
projects don‘t only represent what I do for people but also represent my brand and what my brand carries.
People meet your brand however they meet it. They can meet it through the portrait that you did. They can
meet it through the brochure that you did. They can meet it at a party when they see the program but when
they see this they connect it directly to the brand. My brand is connected to who I am. If that is not
represented of me then that is where I need to cut the line. That is something that we have to be careful
with in design. You can design for almost anybody, anything but when is no, no. That is what I have to
consistently determine because this something that still goes back to who I am and everything that I
represent. It‘s like a partnership when I am with a client. I want to make you happy but I also want to
make sure that what I can bring is something that is full hearted in me. There was a time where I had to
literally give a project back and not do it because it couldn‘t come from my heart and soul because it was
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coming from a place that I was not comfortable with. That is when you know you are not representing
your brand and who you are.
11. How important is it to have a social network upon which to build relationships? (For example, to gain
clients and customers, to promote your entrepreneurial endeavors, to learn and grow from others who have
knowledge to share and to share what you have learned with others)
The social network is extremely number one important thing besides your skill of what you bring
to the table. Your social network is one that is very needed because these are the people who are actually
going to take your product and actually put you out there. There are the one‘s who are going to bring your
word of mouth into hand. They will be able to do more than what that flyer can do. Once you have worked
with someone and they see what you can do and they are very satisfied they are not going to let anyone
they know go to anyone else. That has helped me in a lot of cases get the clients that I have that are out of
state. Once again, Shennette Osario, she was recommended by you (Kory Saunders) at a dinner party, talk
about social network, and from there we just took off. From her the next thing you know I was
recommended to Delta and she needed some help with what she was trying to do and I was able to bring
her brand together and bring Shennette‘s ideas for Delta into something that she could physically hurry up
and go out there and put her name on. All of that is connected. It is so important to have that social
network because that is what‘s going to bring in the money that you need for your business as well as get
your name out there and you want to do a great job in being social and letting people know who you are
even at the business conference, talking to all those people really let them know who I am and what I have
to bring to the table. Things just move along from there. People want who they and if they know that you
are confident in what you bring to the table and they see that you are branded yourself as the one who is
representing this business. They feel like they want to trust and have confidence in what that branding has
and from there you can just give them exactly what they need. Without that network, where are you
going? Who are you working for? Who are your clients? There‘s nothing. It can to me, to me the social
network is even stronger than you having a flyer.
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12. What role does social media play in building your personal brand and in increasing your social
network?
Social media is awesome these days. You can put yourself out there in a matter of seconds. I have
really used Facebook to really help myself with continuing to have clientele and letting people know what
TSpell designs has to offer. It lets people know what‘s going on. It brings what you do to even the closest
people in your life who can‘t even keep up with what you have going on. I am able to show a video of
painting, a video of hairstyles. I just post them. As I finish a project I just post it. People have things to
say, people inquire about it. People repost it on their wall, I mean, this like… social network is the fastest
word of mouth that has ever been and you want people to know that when you put stuff up there who is it
by, TSpell Designs, who is that, what‘s TSpell Designs, oh what is TSpell Designs doing today. Oh what‘s
that? You want it to keep going like that. You want it to be something that you can use to put yourself out
there and show what you are bringing to the table for me it is pretty exciting. I get excited about how
people comment to what I have to bring to the table. You get instant feedback. Instant feedback is good to
really let you know you are going in the right direction. What you have to sell is what people want to buy.
I think that is an awesome resource for any business. First it was just websites and now when it comes to
Facebook and Twitter those are ways in which you can probably meet people that you will never ever see
and they will know who you are before you do and they will be a fan of you. That is just awesome for
business right now.
13. Which social media tools do you use? How do you use them to help you to build relationships between
you and your potential and repeat customers and/or business partners?
The social media that I started to use is right through my Facebook page. As I do projects I start
posting them up on my wall letting people know what is going on with what I am doing. That is going to
change into a business page once I gather all of the things that I need to keep it as consistent as possible
but I started to use that part because I notice that all of my friends know what I do but when they
consistently see it they tend to ask about it more. They post it and put it on their page also. I also use You
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Tube. I like to create videos of my work to show what it is that I am doing and how it comes together. It is
really cool to see my body of work together. When my friends take these things off of my social media
page and add it to their page their friends tend to contact them and they come right back to me and that is
kind of like speaking in volume without everything being a whole meeting with a whole lot of people.
You are actually able to put it up there and reach across friends to other friends to get business, which is
good. That is how you want it to happen. Not to mention the type of work that I do, it is great for people to
see examples and the fact that they can even link back up to my webpage is very helpful also.
14. Do you use other forms of promotion for you brand? How important is social media in relation to the
other tools used? How do they coincide with social media to convey your brand positioning?
The other tools that I use to promote my brand has to do with a different type of network and that
more of a contractual network when it comes to government and different facilities that you can use your
brand that might not just meet you in a social aspect. That way of putting myself out there is a whole
different routine. You need a balance of both, well at least my business does. My business needs a balance
of both because I cover so many types of things and not just one for a certain audience so I have to be
there to meet social media but I also have be there to make sure that I am updated with different
businesses and seeing what contracts are coming out and putting myself out there to get RFPs (request for
proposal) so there is a balance that I have to have. Just straight old regular marketing, getting into the
newspaper, making sure myself if googleble, making sure the flyers are out there showing the things that I
do so you can cover marketing in a massive amount of ways compared to yesterday which is why being
yourself is very important and showing what you have and people know where it‘s coming from really
connects them because you see so many things come pass the eyes every day.
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15. Do you think having a personal brand gives you a competitive advantage over other entrepreneurs?
Does your personal brand mean something that differentiates you from your competition in the minds and
perception of your target market?
That‘s a good question. I honestly never really thought about it. I definitely did not do it in an
intention to be more competitive against someone else or a company. I do know that my personal brand
does represent the level of entrepreneurship that I am on personally and sometimes I think that when you
have your personal brand used and you know the face and person behind the name. If you actually fall in
love with the person and who they are you are most likely to do any and everything that has to do with
their brand. You are most likely to keep up with it, want it, need it and I think my character as a person
has touched a lot of lives and that is why people support what it is that I am doing so much and excited
about what I have to bring and what I am working on and that has definitely been an advantage but I can
say that when it comes to say, another business that can do the same thing, I am not saying that they can‘t
be successful I just feel like when you have your personal brand and it‘s strong in your character holds to
it just as strong, you can be very competitive to say xxxxxx.print.com. It is something that makes people
feel that they can depend on what you can bring to the table but also have a personal connection with you
and who you are. I think that the things that is very neat about personal branding, the fact that once people
can relate to your character and what you‘re doing and how passionate you are about what you are doing,
they will follow along and connect to your product very easily and you can‘t get that the same way as
going to a company that doesn‘t (use personal branding) because you are really just going to the supplier
as a supplier but it is another thing when you are emotionally attached to the supplier. I think that is one of
the greatest things about personal branding, how we connect as humans and the things we can relate to
with that person as well as ……be able to promote things that are going on. I think it is a very powerful
thing. It shows a level of power.
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16. What do you use to measure the success of your personal brand? (person or company), (number of
clients, trust and credibility reputation, loyalty, notoriety, business growth?)
I measure the success of my personal brand by the level of satisfaction from each and every client.
I think for me the person feeling like they are truly fulfilled at the highest point is what makes me feel like
I am going in the right direction. When people know that I understood them so well, that I particularly just
brought the highest amount of joy to their heart, that‘s what lets me know I am doing the right thing. For
me it is not a client count, it‘s not a number of dollars but it that pure satisfaction because that‘s all of who
I am, is really wanting to be a blessing to somebody else. When that artistry can meet it right there and
you know that they will never forget you, or your brand or what you brought to them, that‘s when I know
that my business is hitting it, that I am doing the right thing.
17. Do you think the results you are getting are directly related to your branding effort? (both personal
brand equity and entrepreneurial brand equity?)
Definitely! Definitely! Definitely! I am my own… person and I am going to tell you one thing, I
come with a package and I think because I sell my own package and I am very personable that really puts
the highlight on what I have to bring to the table. I can even remember at the business conference, I know
that if I did not do the presentation and just handed them the book that it wouldn‘t have been the same
effect then when I spoke to them and told them what I am about and what I am trying to make happen.
And they were just like yes yes! Don‘t get me wrong they love the work that I have to bring to the table,
they were amazed but I think they were even more amazed by who the person is behind the booklet to
where instantly they wanted to introduce me to this person and the next person because I am able to say
this who I am, this is what I do this is what want and this how it can bring so much to everything that you
have and people that you know.
18. How do you see your personal brand evolving in the future? Will it remain an intrinsic part of your
entrepreneurial endeavors? Why or why not? If so how?
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Definitely TSpell Designs will be TSpell Designs forever. It‘s always going to be what it is a
creative tool. Like I said, I want to go into product development in the future and do some inventions but
creativity will always be the basis of this. Me being a designer covering so many things I‘m not going to
stop designing. It is a part of who I am and TSpell with always be TSpell Designs.
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
19. Name: Tyshawna Antoinette Spell
20. Age Range: 21-25 26-30 31-35
36-40
21. Name of Company (entrepreneurial endeavor): TSpell Designs
22. Industry: Design
23. Educational background (highest degree earned): Master of Architecture from Hampton University
24. How many years have you been an entrepreneur? 1 year and 3 months
25. Where is your company based? Hampton, Virginia U.S.A.
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Personal Branding Interview with Shaunice Hawkins of Evolutions Consulting
Conducted on Thursday August 10, 2011 at 11:30am
in South Orange, New Jersey
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS
1.Please tell me a little about your entrepreneurial endeavors. How did you get started? Why did you
choose entrepreneurship and your industry?
My entrepreneurial endeavors, I am focused on social branding, as you know or as you may be
aware 70% of small businesses are still not using social media and about 40% of medium sized businesses
are not using social media to brand themselves, to increase their brand visibility, to engage with their
consumers, to increase leads or generate leads so I have just been involved in social branding in order to
help those businesses along. How did I get started? Well it‘s funny because this generation or this iteration
of my business has morphed. It started out as a diversity-consulting firm back in 2000 and has morphed
into a branding firm, which morphed into a social branding firm. That‘s basically how it started. It
changed based on my expertise but it also changed where I was in my career, my mindset of where I was
in my lifetime. Why did I choose entrepreneurship and my industry? Well I think I answered the later part
why my industry because social media is such a thriving business but it is also a very interesting business
so nowadays as it was a few years ago if you weren‘t on the internet you weren‘t relevant now it if your
not in a social media platform you are not relevant so its really just keeping the relevancy. I chose
entrepreneurship reluctantly. I am the reluctant entrepreneurship. I was doing this part time as a diversity
practice but was I guess challenged to do it full time when I was laid off and decided well do I want to go
back to a 9 to 5, do I want to work for another person again and decided, let me try doing this on my own
and here I am. So that is the very long answer to your very short question.
2. What does a brand mean (represent) to you?
A brand represents, well it depends on if you are talking about individual or corporate because
they are two different things. A personal brand represents an authentic self. It‘s basically a visage that says
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this is who I am and this is a representation of who I am. Similar to how a motto represents a brand or a
logo represents a brand but a brand in itself is the authentic self. From a corporate standpoint the brand is
basically the controlled messaging and the controlled imagery of a particular corporation. It‘s saying to a
consumer or an audience this is who I am and this is what I want you to know about me. It is also
authentic but it is controlled as apposed to uncontrolled, which a reputation would be.
3. Do you use personal branding to market yourself? Why do you use it?
Oh absolutely, I manage my personal brand. I have two personal brands and a business brand. I
have my personal brand as a speaker, teacher, lecturer and I have my personal brand as an author. Then I
have my business brand, which is my company, which is Evolutions Consulting. I manage the three
brands simultaneously. It‘s quite fun and a little challenging. I use it to help people, I have different
audiences so I help my twitter audience get in touch with me on one hand so they know me from an
entrepreneurial standpoint. I talk business with them all the time on twitter. On Facebook I have my book,
so I have quotes and inspirational things that surround the content of my book, which is around passion,
reinvention and burnout. Then I have my personal brand which is I go around the country and I teach
different classes and I lecture and speak so it is managing that as a thought leader. That is where I am and
what I do.
4. How important is personal branding to your entrepreneurial endeavors? How is personal branding used
to further your business and career?
I think it is very key because it makes me approachable and reachable. So where my company is a
company, when I brand myself as Shaunice Hawkins, then it‘s like oh I know Shaunice. My personal
brand has a sort of a life unto itself so if you know Shaunice the person, you know that I am this play
maker, the person that gets things done. I can connect you with people, this networker, etc. So knowing
that part about me should say, if I am going to work with her and I am going to work with her business on
social branding then just by her own example, she leads by example, her personal brand then I can trust
her to lead my social brand.
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Personal branding is used to further my business. It‘s helping. It parallels. It helps my business in that you
have an authentic sort of verified individual running the company.
5. How is the knowledge of understanding yourself as a person essential to you building your personal
brand and your business?
Well, I am an introvert naturally and most people will never know that I am an introvert unless
you know me personally but my personal brand allows me to be extroverted. It allows me to be outgoing.
It is sort of a secondary persona and if I am talking about branding other people, I have to lead again lead
by example. I have to show and prove. So as a personal brand I have to be outward and external and
outgoing and go getting etc. so does my corporate brand. I think that is important. They need to know that
I will bring the same energy to their brands that I will do to mine.
6. How has developing your skills and core competencies enhanced your personal branding?
It‘s been incredible because there are a lot of things that I use to incorporate into what I do every
day. My background is in organizational behaviors and communications. It is around business, marketing,
conflict resolution, culture, employee engagement so all of these things, all of these aspects translate on
the business side of my entrepreneurial endeavors to crisis communication and negotiating best rates and
putting your best foot forward, controlling the message, making sure the image is controlled, and making
sure that all of these other aspects that go along with being a brand are taken care of. I am able to take my
experiences from my 20 plus years of working and use them everyday in what I am doing for myself but
also what I am doing for other people.
7. What makes your personal brand:
 Valuable?
Well I guess, value, who measures value, who measures return on investment and return
on equity? I would like to think that the people that have invested in me, my mentors, my coaches
would see a return on investment based on the work that they have done. I‘ve had people put into
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me and I‘d like to think that I‘ve doubled or tripled their return based on what I have put out to
other people. That is number one. Number two, I think that the education, the money that I spent
toward my education had better be applied to that. I mean hello. That is money that I would like to
think is well spent. I think that my experiences have contributed greatly to the work that I have
done because I am able to share a different lens and perspective with clients. I am able to share
from my experience as a spokesperson this is what I would have done in these situations. I had a
client recently who had a major faux pau in their company and it was all over twitter. It was all
over the news. He is a high profile person and a very high profile company. They are being sued
big time and I am working with him to separate his personal brand from the corporate brand
because every time the corporate brand has a faux pau they blame him because he is the head of
that particular area. What we did is we have been able to separate that slowly but surely but on his
part we have been able to build up enough positive content around who is he as a person so this
time he didn‘t get connected to the corporate brand and that was from my own experience because
I had been a spokesperson I had been in his particular shoes many years ago and learned that
that‘s how you make sure that you separate sort of church and state. You keep you brand separate
from the other. You can still brag about what you have done in your corporation but do it and
make sure that it is about you and not about the corporation and that the corporation does not take
ownership alone or separately of all of the things that you‘ve done.
 Rare?
Wow that‘s a very good question. I have to get you a good answer . What makes it rare?
I think what makes my personal brand rare is that I am unique in my own set of experiences, my
set of education. We can all go through the same educational experience, work experience, life
experience but like a finger print no two people will ever be the same. I mean you are a twin
right so I think that you would know this a lot better than I. You have the same experience maybe
growing but you have taken two different very different paths. Well it‘s the same thing. What
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makes me unique is that I have 20+ years experience in diversity, multicultural work and cultural
engagement and conflict resolution and in mediation and in business and in marketing, and in
branding and financial services, and in psychology and then just in life. I am a mom and a wife.
There are some things that come along with being in a relationship for almost 20 years or being a
mom for 16 years that you learn by nature of what you are doing. Just by the very nature so that
is what makes me unique.
 Hard to imitate?
Look at me, no I‘m just kidding. Because I am unique it is very difficult. You can
replicate portions of it but my brand is also authentic but it is not a full disclosure of who I am.
Because I am an introvert it makes me also very very very private so the information that I share
is calculated. It‘s very selective so no two audiences, no two collective audiences will know me
the same. I think that is what makes it (personal brand) very difficult to replicate. You‘d have to
really know me and live with me 24/7 to understand and even my kids don‘t know all of me.
Kevin (husband) probably knows most but he had to work at that. We have known each other for
32 years.
 How does your personal brand correlate to building your business (organization)?
I use my personal brand as an experimental lab, trial and error. If it doesn‘t work for me
then it won‘t work for my client because I am my biggest critic and I am probably the hardest
person to please. So if it doesn‘t please me I know I won‘t please my client. Some of my clients
do not have or may not necessarily have the same level of expectation of me that I have of me so
I will be very hard on my self. My clients may not be as hard so I would say that has to do with
that.
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8. What are the values that you want your brand to convey? What associations do you want your brand to
have? Which of the ones you have mentioned are essential to your brand?
I want my brand to convey that, I guess more succinctly, integrity and honesty. Those are the two
primary things but also that will fight for you that will advise you to the best of her ability, and that will do
what is best for you (the client) in your best interest and making sure that people know that we do
whatever we can to make sure that you are at the top of your game in your respective niche. It (the brand)
won‘t be close minded it won‘t be if I have a competitor in one space and a competitor, if I have two
competitors in the same space that I can‘t be unbiased. I can be unbiased. This is what I will do for you,
this is what I will do for you. You guys compete it out. That‘s not my job. It‘s not my job to compete for
you. My job is to give you the best service. That‘s what I do. (What associations do you want to brand to
have) I guess authenticity would be key. Real, true, authentic, honest, raw, polished, poised and graced.
That type of thing but just straight no chaser.
9. Who is your main audience/ target? Do you have a clear image of the person/ group that would be
interested in your personal brand?
My personal brand, yes the personal brand, like I said I am managing a couple. My speaker brand
would be college students, adults, who are in transition, who are interested in learning about what their
next steps are, who may not have the answer. People who are stuck sort of their either burnt out or stuck
where they are and its sort of me saying here let me show you a different way, let me show you a better
way. Not that I have the answer but this is what I‘ve been through. I can relate to you. Finally, it would be
don‘t give up just keep going, keep moving on. The circumstances that you are facing now are just
temporary. Sometimes temporary last 2 to 3 years, it‘s still temporary. My target audience for the other
part is from the author standpoint is people looking to be reinvented, reinvent themselves; people who‘ve
lost that innocence. When we were kids we allowed our imaginations to roam free and we weren‘t so
hibited by life, bills, work, pressures, and its sort of like those things are realities but you can‘t think about
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that 24 hours 7days a week so tap into something that makes you happy so that you can deal with the
things that don‘t.
10. Do you think the image your target market has of your personal brand is congruent with your brand as
you created it? How do you know the brand image is successfully conveying that message? (How do you
evaluate your brand image?)
Yes, I would like to think so. Of course that is still subjective but I think it is from the feedback
that I get from other people. I have been very fortunate over my lifetime to have met some wonderful
people who have shared with me that I have been effective in their lives for whatever reason that they
have been touched by something I have said or impacted by something I gave them or what have you. I
guess in the long run my faith has a lot to do with this. It‘s about ministering to people its about brining
them, even if they don‘t believe in God or a higher power is at least sharing the God that‘s in me with
them. I think that‘s if there is any association that would be it. Making sure that nothing else that God that
lives in me touches them.
11. How important is it to have a social network upon which to build relationships? (For example, to gain
clients and customers, to promote your entrepreneurial endeavors, to learn and grow from others who have
knowledge to share and to share what you have learned with others)
It is very very key and not just from a social media aspect. Social media is the channel. It‘s not
necessarily the communication stream and I think it is very important. People call me playmaker or the
ambassador of diversity of what have you because having contact and having connection with people is
very important. It is about engagement. It‘s not always about what people can do for you it‘s what you can
do for them. It‘s providing a service and it‘s also allowing people to realize, people want to know that you
are on their mind. People want to know that you are important to them. I think that because I can give that
on a personal level because I genuinely believe that the people in my network I do believe in and I care for
that type of relationship actually allows them to say, I know someone that I trust for your business here let
me give you her name or I know someone that I trust for this let me give you her name. That‘s how I have
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been able to actually build my business based on my own personal relationship and helping people
understand that they are important to me. It‘s hard to get into my world. Once you‘re in my world then
you know you are loved and cared for.
12. What role does social media play in building your personal brand and in increasing your social
network?
It‘s played a considerable role actually because it is able to get my messaging out. So I blog... I
blog for other people. I am supposed to be blogging for myself but yeah, so needless to say I started
blogging for other people one because I realize that I can blog for myself but there are other people with
larger audiences so If I blog for them it will net me in turn a larger audience. I started blogging for a
magazine called NV Magazine. What I realized it that with every blog post that they advertise and
communicate to their twitter followers and Facebook friends, their magazine subscribers. That in turn is
actually netting me more twitter followers, more Facebook followers, LinkedIn followers, more people
purchasing my book and more people reaching out to me. I just started so I haven‘t seen it work out with
regards to clientele yet but I am hoping and keeping my fingers cross so we will see.
13. Which social media tools do you use? How do you use them to help you to build relationships between
you and your potential and repeat customers and/or business partners?
I use quite a few tools. I use the standard, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and those are my big
three. I am going to dibble and dabble in Google+ but Google+ doesn‘t have a business platform yet so I
can‘t tell my clients hey this is what you should be doing. I also use Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. I prefer
Hootsuite over Tweetdeck only because Tweetdeck doesn‘t always communicate my messages equally
across all platforms and it‘s important for me to makes sure that my messages are communicated
appropriately. Finally I think it‘s important to have a schedule so I actually use an editorial calendar and I
schedule the content for my respective audiences so if I have a business audience on twitter and I have a
business audience on LinkedIn so I make sure that I schedule regular tweets with that audience. I have a
regular schedule with my book audience. I have a more sporadic schedule for myself because it is really as
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things come up or I get a whim or what have you but I do try to schedule the other things because I have
standing audiences of a few hundred people in each group so I want to make sure that I stay true to them.
Those are tools that I use but I also use a lot of analytics to make sure that I am being effective. So I will
watch how many people are following a particular content/ content stream. If I am talking about one thing
then I know that that‘s effective so I need to build more content around it because that is what their
(audience) demand is so I need a greater supply for demand. So finally economics comes into play. Supply
and Demand.
14. BRAND POSITIONING: Do you use other forms of promotion for you brand? How important is
social media in relation to the other tools used? How do they coincide with social media to convey your
brand positioning?
I use blogs. Blogs for the most part. Again I am an introvert, I would love to use YouTube. I
actually recorded a video but I won‘t pushed it because I hate it. I don‘t like to be in front of the camera. I
also have to edit it. I don‘t like being front of the camera since that is something I know about me that is
something I have to work on but that‘s for another conversation. I think that it is important to use blogs
and some of these other things and hyper link them and use SEO – Search Engine Optimization type of
works and hashtags and all those things to promote the content so that it gets out.
I have used advertisements, banner ads and stuff like that. There is actually a women‘s conference
coming up in Chicago. It‘s a small sort of church related things and so what did is I took out an ad in their
program book and I sent some books to be sold. Yes, I will use traditional media. I still speak at churches
and do some of the other traditional things. I use email marketing. I don‘t know how traditional those
things are because email is in the digital world but I used email marketing. I use banner ads on Facebook.
When the book launched I used banner ads. I have gone into Google ad words yet but I will be doing that
at the one year anniversary when I do a discount for the book. I do use traditional media. I didn‘t do a
press release, which I probably should and I will probably do one for the one year anniversary which is
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coming up for the book. The book is about to celebrate its one year anniversary and it is still going strong
and is still being well received. I also do a lot of radio interviews and podcasts. I do magazine articles and
do interviews and stuff like that. So yes, outside of the traditional blogging and social networking blah,
blah, blah, yes I do those things. Probably not enough, but yes.
15. Do you think having a personal brand gives you a competitive advantage over other entrepreneurs?
Does your personal brand mean something that differentiates you from your competition in the minds and
perception of your target market?
I think it is a combination of the two. I mean people who actually get to my website, my personal
website they really like it. They say it‘s a nice website. It is designed well and I appreciate that. I really do.
My business website I just relaunched it. I didn‘t tell anybody but hey, I just did so I have yet to hear any
feedback from that but I am starting to get more followers on my business facebook page, which I still
haven‘t promoted yet but that is another story.
I‘m still working on that so I can‘t say definitively yes or no. I think as a person, you know when
you are a solopreneur is very different than you running a business. As a solopreneur I have the flexibility
to change and move as the trends flow. I think I am still a small fish in a big pond but I do think that the
people that I do work for are very satisfied so because they are very satisfied with the work that I am
doing it makes me effective. I just need to on a personal, transparent disclosure type of thing I need to
know how to create bigger ripples in the water. Right now I have small ripples but I need to be able to cast
my pebble a little further so that it creates bigger ripples so I can get more clients and what have you. I am
hoping that, I just been in talks with a marketing consultant recently, as a matter of fact earlier today and
hopefully she and I can brainstorm some ways to do that.
16. What do you use to measure the success of your personal brand? (person or company), (number of
clients, trust and credibility reputation, loyalty, notoriety, business growth?)
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I used for a long time just trust and credibility. This is what people feel about me. Going forward
knowing that trust and credibility doesn‘t necessarily make you more profitable, now I am measuring
profitability because nowadays it‘s not just the quality of people you work with it‘s the quantity. I am
trying to measure both because I am a solopreneur so I don‘t have a staff of fifteen so it is a measure of
both but I will say that using metrics, i.e how many visits do I have to sites, how many people write me
and call me, how many people give me feedback, how many people, for the book how many people like
the Amazon page or how many people write reviews or how many people talk about the book. How many
book interviews have I done or how many podcasts have I done? How many articles are being written
about me? How many people are promoting it? I use things like Klout. I want to see what my influence
score is. And I measure my influence call from month, well week to week. I do it for myself and I actually
do it for my clients too. I measure how many people are retweeting what I say and how many people are
mentioning me. I do that sort of at nauseam to make sure that I‘m watching how effective I am, how far
the ripples go. So far they are starting to be cast out a little further.
17. Do you think the results you are getting are directly related to your branding effort? (both personal
brand equity and entrepreneurial brand equity?)
Absolutely, you have to keep at it. Gone are the days when you just put something up and it just
stays there. Static, you can‘t be static any longer. You have to constantly change. You have to constantly
put more information out there. You have to constantly share and do and I think that‘s important. That‘s
one of the things that I find probably, my greatest challenge is I am building content for myself personally,
two brands personally, and I am building content for my clients and I am also trying to build content for
my company. Where is all of this content coming from? That‘s the hard part.
18. How do you see your personal brand evolving in the future? Will it remain an intrinsic part of your
entrepreneurial endeavors? Why or why not? If so how?
Well, my company‘s name is Evolutions Consulting and my motto is adapt, grow, evolve. If I am
not evolving neither is my business, neither are my clients. Our tagline, or brand promise is we evolve
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brands. That‘s what we do so what I see myself, I will give it to you in three ways. What I see my self as a
person, I see myself teaching more and being more visible and really stretching myself out of my personal
comfort zone meaning that I have to go after opportunities as apposed to being very fortunate that
opportunities come to find me. Being an introvert you go looking for trouble you will find it so I have to
go look for trouble now. From the author standpoint, really promoting the book. Thinking about how to
improve the book maybe doing a second edition and/ or writing a second book if I find something to say
whatever that could possible be and growing book sales as they currently are but also really trying to get
the book into the hands of other people. To me it‘s not just about book sales. It was a message that was
given to me that I thought was important and wanted to share it with other people. Just a glimmer of hope,
it doesn‘t have to be encyclopedic in nature. From the business standpoint which is sort of parallel to my
personal really going out and evolving the brand as a social branding player really getting my hands dirty
and really going after sort of the big fish and not being afraid to reach beyond that. I don‘t always do a
very good job of sharing what I do and I need to be better at that. Yes, I have to take it from intrinsic to
extrinsic.
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
19. Name: Shaunice Hawkins
20. Age Range: 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45
21. Name of Company (entrepreneurial endeavor): Evolutions Consulting
22. Industry: Social Branding, Book Author, Lecturer
23. Educational background (highest degree earned): MBA in digital marketing, MBA and Busniess
Management, Bachelor in Organizational Behavior and Communication, Associates in Business
Administration, Certified Six Sigma, certifications in diversity, cultural studies, Human resources
management, conflict resolution and mediation
24. How many years have you been an entrepreneur? Part time entrepreneur from 2000- 2008 and a full
time entrepreneur from 2009 and eight years part time and going on three years fulltime
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25. Where is your company based? In the NY/NJ metro area U.S.A. I have clients nationally/
internationally
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Personal Branding Interview with Ashani Mfuko of Kiner Enterprises
Conducted on Friday August 12, 2011 at 7:00pm
in New York, New York
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS:
1.Please tell me a little about your entrepreneurial endeavors. How did you get started? Why did you
choose entrepreneurship and your industry?
I own an international dance teaching staffing network. It started off as a dance teacher staffing
agency in the NY metropolitan area. I was teaching dance all over the place and a couple of things
happened, one was that a reached a point where I really wanted to do something of my own because in this
industry nothing is permanent in a sense and you have to really create something for yourself if you want
to have any sort of stability and longevity. I don‘t like depending on other people whether it‘s a business,
studio, or an organization for my livelihood or my future. I don‘t like that so I felt like I needed to create
something of my own, that I will own, that‘s mine that I can build and create a stable future, financial
future for myself and for my future family. That was one thing that was pushing me towards doing it. The
second thing is that I just saw a need in my industry. A lot of the teachers that I would interact with would
say, well how did you get to teach at Alvin Ailey? How did you get to teach at Steps on Broadway? How
did you get to teach at Ballet Hispanico? My answer was really because I know the right people. It wasn‘t
even about skill per se. Obviously I had to have the skills to do it once I arrived at the job but in order to
show people your skills you have to have the opportunity, right so I knew the right people which got me
the opportunities and the rest was history. I started to feel a little bit like it‘s not really fair that there are so
many talented people that don‘t get these opportunities because they don‘t know the right people. That‘s
not cool. I started to get so many job offers and different things that I didn‘t want. Either I didn‘t have
time for it or I didn‘t want to do it anymore. I already have enough so I don‘t need to add on to this so I
was like why can‘t someone else do it. Then at the studios where I taught if someone was sick or had to
call out at the last minute it was like crazy mayhem, like How and going to get someone to cover? Who is
going to cover? Or if I had to call out at the last minute because something came up for me who was going
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to cover for me? Who is going to cover my classes? It was just kind of crazy and it just hit me one day,
why isn‘t there a company that is addressing this problem and helping teachers to get the jobs they want.
Helping the studios to hire teachers or get last minute coverage or whatever. It was a combination of
seeing a need in the industry and also wanting to create something of my own that‘s started me on the
entrepreneurial journey I guess. Why my industry? This is my life. Dance is who I am. I was working in
the industry, which is where I saw the need and its like who knows the industry better than someone who
is in it so it was just like 2+2=4, hello, do it .
2. What does a brand mean (represent) to you?
In general I think a brand is who you are, what your values are. What value you add to the lives of
other people, and obviously, what you do. What are you and what do you do. I think value also plays a big
part in that. I think people should know that whether you are a company or it‘s your personal brand I think
people should know what your values are and how you make other people‘s lives better.
3. Do you use personal branding to market yourself? Why do you use it?
Obviously, yes I do. I have two brands. I have a personal brand and I have a business brand, my
company‘s brand. It‘s all very strategic and it‘s all very calculated, everything that I do. For example,
social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blog, I will stop right there. I won‘t include LinkedIn.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blog, I have those four for Kiner Enterprises, which is my company and
I have those four for Ashani Mfuko because my personal brand is separate. I am building two along side
each other but separate. Having two brands, personal and business you will see first of all a lot of really
really successful people have two brands. Take Donald Trump for example, He has the Trunp brand which
everyone all over the world knows Trump Plaza, Trump Towers, Trump Hotel, whatever and then he has
Donald Trump, the one who creates the show apprentice and the one who writes books and does public
speaking so they are two separate brands but work along side each other. The same thing with Oprah
Winfrey. My company‘s brand is focused on providing value, resources and jobs, and help to dance
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teachers and dance studio owners and dance business in general so a lot of the branding that we do is
surrounding that. A lot of the people that we work with or maybe are affiliated with it‘s all dance related
and all works together to show that we know about this industry, we are adding value to people and we
care. We want to help dance teachers and dance studios owners be more successful. That‘s the company
brand so everything that we do is surrounded by that idea. The Ashani Mfuko brand is something that is
separate in the sense that it broadens me and frees me to do other things outside of dance that may be I am
interested in or passionate about such as writing, motivational speaking, personal business consulting or
things of that nature. It can be dance also but other things that I‘m interested in. Those are the two separate
brands and again I use social media to promote both aspects of the brand personal and business but I keep
them… even though I am the face of my company I also I have another side so things that I would tweet
about through my company‘s twitter account are slightly different from what I would tweet about from my
Ashani Mfuko twitter account.
4. How important is personal branding to your entrepreneurial endeavors? How is personal branding used
to further your business and career?
Like I said, they work along side each other. I think Donald Trump and Oprah are good examples
so Oprah can be in a movie like the Color Purple but she still has Harpo Productions. She still has her
business so they (her business and personal brand) are alongside each other. Personal branding, whether
it‘s for the Ashani Mfuko brand or the Kiner Enterprise brand, it makes you accessible to people and helps
you to build the know, like, trust which is the beginning of that business relationship or connection.
People need know who you are, they need to like you, and trust you before they will try your product or
service, buy it, repeat that whole process and then refer people. That‘s the process, know, like, trust, buy,
repeat that‘s how it goes. So personal branding putting your face to your company‘s brand or your
personal brand, it allows people to see who you are, get to know what you are like and it helps them to
build that trust a little bit more quickly and effectively. Video marketing is really big now. People love
video marketing because they get to kind of meet you without meeting you in person. It‘s a big difference
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between seeing some text on a website or a paper and seeing a person‘s face and how they present
themselves and how they speak and their mannerisms. You get a certain warmth or a certain type of
interaction from that. So branding, I feel like it allows people to get to know you in more of a human
level, whether it is personal or for business and it make it essential to the success of any brand.
5. How is the knowledge of understanding yourself as a person essential to you building your personal
brand and your business?
It‘s essential because if you don‘t know what your values are you are going to be lost. You are
going to be lost in the sauce. You are going to be trying to follow every trend, every this and the other
thing that looks sparkly and shiny and that you think might make you some money or might make you
look a certain way or whatever. Knowing who you are, knowing what your values are, what‘s important to
you, what you stand for, what you believe that all works as a part of your brand. Remember I said the
brand is not just who you are and what you do, it‘s about what your values are and what value you offer to
other people so you have to know yourself and the most successful personal brands or company brands are
genuine. They are real. One of the women that I look up to right now who has a multimillion dollar
personal brand her name is Bethany Frankel. She was on the real housewives of New York and then
transitioned to her own show on Bravo and has a whole brand now. What we love about Bethany is that
she‘s real. She is genuine. She is consistent because she knows who she is and that is what she puts out
there for people to see. That is how she conducts all of her business based on her values, based on who she
is as a person and so you know what you are getting and then we love that so you can be consistent when
you know who you are. If you don‘t know who you are it‘s constantly changing. You get one interview
over here and you say one thing. You get an interview over there and you say something different because
you are all over the place and you are kind of allowing outer sources to define who you are as opposed to
knowing who you are and defining that to the world.
6. How has developing your skills and core competencies enhanced your personal branding?
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I guess building your skills and your competencies really just increases your confidence at the end
of the day. It makes you feel like you know what you are talking about when you talk to people, when you
are blogging or whatever and then it also builds your credibility when dealing with your customers and
clients or whomever so some people will say when it comes to personal branding, well I‘ve never done
that before or I don‘t know how to do that. That‘s no excuse. Go learn. Okay, so you‘ve never done it,
that‘s great, go learn how to do it. The more you learn and increase your skills and gain knowledge about
different things, even if it is just trying something new, taking a course or reading a book, whatever it is it
just builds your confidence and increases your credibility I say to your customers or your clients.
7. What makes your personal brand:
 Valuable?
I would say my personal brand is valuable because I do a lot to help other people succeed
and that‘s one thing even when I started my own business. I guess really for any business owner
especially a small business owners, it‘s almost like having a kid. I always say I had a baby when I
started my company; it‘s like my baby. You put your business first, which means you are putting
your customers first or clients, your vendors or whomever and you are putting yourself second or
last in some cases. So my personal brand has been very helpful to help people get jobs. It‘s been
helpful to help dance studio owners get the teachers that they need so that they can help to run
their business in a successful manner and make more money. It‘s relieved stress of people. It
inspires people. It motivates people. I guess just learning from my experience and the things that
I share with people, they seem to like it based on what I have seen so far. My personal brand is
really about service, helping others to succeed, motivating people, and inspiring people so I think
that is pretty valuable.
 Rare?
I think it is rare because I am an individual. My experiences and my way of thinking and
values and all of that are based on what I have gone through in my life. No one can be exactly
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like me because they haven‘t had my same life experiences, education, training, upbringing,
background, values and all of that so I think it‘s rare in that sense. I believe that each one of us
has an individual purpose, a God given purpose and what God has for you is for you and what
God has for me is for me so we each have something unique to offer. We just have to find out
what that thing is for each one of us. I feel like God has me here for a specific purpose and no
one can do what he has planned for me to do in my life so I feel like I think that‘s rare.
 Hard to imitate?
I think it is the same. I think it is the same things. There is only one me. The way that I
talk to people, the way that I interact with people, the way that I carry myself, my beliefs, my
experiences, my values, my mission, my purpose, it‘s all unique to who I am so even if
someone… I think that is why I love video marketing so much and I love having my radio show
because even if someone tried to mimic exactly what I am doing they wouldn‘t be able to
because they are not me. There is only one me. I tell that to people that I consult with, that I
coach or whatever. It is great to be inspired by someone but you can never be that person. Let
that be something that motivates you to find out who you are and to be the best that you can be
for yourself. I think just my life experience my background, my upbringing, my parents, my
education, my Christian values, it all plays a part. My background as an artist, as a dancer,
influences from my family, from my father who was also an entrepreneurial-minded person,
helps to create who I am. I think that my passions and my interests for technology and media and
all of the new things that are happening sets me a part because I tend to take risks in a lot of
places or in a lot of ways that a lot people in my industry won‘t do because either they don‘t want
to fail or they don‘t know what is going to happen or they want wait and see and I am like I am
just going to jump out there and do it. I do things that I am afraid of all of the time so I don‘t let
fear stop me from doing something. It‘s always better to be the first than to be the second or third
or whatever so for my company was the first ever dance teacher staffing agency, ever. As crazy
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as that may sound, ever, my company is the first one so I take pride in that and even with my
radio show, people say wow this is brilliant. No one is doing this in my industry right now. These
are things that people can try to imitate it but they will never be able to do the same thing and
they won‘t be the first either in a lot of ways.
 How does your personal brand correlate to building your business (organization)? (starts 18min
10secs)
Any sort of visibility, credibility, interest or anything essentially positive that I get for
myself connects directly to my brand, my company‘s brand rather because I am still the face of
my company‘s brand even though I am building my personal brand along side it. It‘s a parallel.
So when people see something about me that they like and want to learn more about me it‘s
going to automatically connect them to my business. That is just how it is set up. Whether it is on
my personal website, on my YouTube page, on my personal blog, twitter, facebook, whatever,
wherever you see things about me, those things are connecting to my business. They work hand
in hand.
8. What are the values that you want your brand to convey? What associations do you want your brand to
have? Which of the ones you have mentioned are essential to your brand?
I would say on one level when people think of my personal brand I would want certain words to
come to mind like positive, powerful, motivating, inspiring, innovative, trustworthy, knowledgeable,
credible, those are the type of words that I would want to be associated with my brand. As far as maybe
other individuals or organizations or companies or something like that, anything that is about Christian
values, empowering women, that‘s about creating opportunities for youth, that‘s about better the lives of
dancers and artists, any organizations or companies that are on that tip I would love to be associated with
them and also companies and organizations that are innovative when it comes to technology and
interactive with their customer base and all that kind of stuff.
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9. Who is your main audience/ target? Do you have a clear image of the person/ group that would be
interested in your personal brand?
My target market for my personal brand is definitely women. I would say women probably
between the ages of 20 and maybe 50. Women who want to start their own business. They want
independence. They want financial freedom. They want to pursue their passions and find a way to build
some sort of revenue off of the thing they are passionate about whatever it is. Women who need help
either with using social media effectively to grow their own personal brand or their business, women who
are positive but at the same time could always use more resources to keep them motivated, keep them on
track, and help them along the way in their careers. I think that‘s pretty much… it doesn‘t matter the race
or anything like that but definitely women who are on that path, young or even older women who are
starting fresh or who are trying to kind of get more up to date with what‘s happening. They are already in
their careers but they want to get more connected with is happening and build from there.
10. Do you think the image your target market has of your personal brand is congruent with your brand as
you created it? How do you know the brand image is successfully conveying that message? (How do you
evaluate your brand image?)
I know that it is. I know that it definitely is and like I said in one of the earlier questions,
everything that is done for my personal brand and my companies brand has all been very calculated and
very strategic from day one so I am very cognoscente of what I put out there. I don‘t put out, let‘s see my
Facebook fan page for my personal brand, you are not going to see pictures of me on the beach on my
Facwbook fan page for Ashani Mfuko Dance. You are not going to see pictures of me, I don‘t know, with
my husband in the park or something like that. There are certain things that I prefer to keep separate. What
people are seeing more so is me in my element. It‘s either me in my dance world, me at dance related
events or business events or things of that nature, things that my personal brand really represents. I think
that it is definitely consistent and the same thing goes with the videos that I have out there and the blog
posts whatever. How do I know that these things conveying my brand image? I know it because of the
feedback that I get from people. There are times when I do, I may question it, just I don‘t know I am
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having a day where I am like am I really, is this really working, am I doing this properly? Then I get an
email from someone, or someone will post on my Facebook fan page, or send me something on twitter, or
make a comment on YouTube or something. That‘s confirmation that I‘m on it. That‘s how I know
because people tell me.
11. How important is it to have a social network upon which to build relationships? (For example, to gain
clients and customers, to promote your entrepreneurial endeavors, to learn and grow from others who have
knowledge to share and to share what you have learned with others)
I mean it‘s imperative, I mean how can you grow your brand or your business if you are not
connecting with people. Well I don‘t know, maybe some people do that but I don‘t know how they do
that. It‘s really important. I will say that many relationships that I have established in person with people
social networking at events and different things have started on social media but we will leave that alone
for the moment. It‘s definitely important because there is nothing that can replace interacting with
someone in person. There just isn‘t anything period, hands down so I think that its important to go out and
meet people and not be stuck in your own box at home, in your office, with the computer, like that‘s not
real life essentially. Let‘s not forget that people are actually people and we need to out and we need to
interact with them. That‘s is how you can build trust with people a lot faster. People need to see that you
are relevant and that you are real and that you are out interacting with the world. No one wants to
communicate with someone who they see online but no one ever sees them in real life. That‘s kind of
creepy, you know so you need to be out and interacting with people getting to know folks. And frankly
there still may be some people who are not active online or maybe not a comfortable or maybe if they are
in order to seal the deal they need to meet someone in person and connect with them on a real level. I
think it is imperative you have to go to networking events or whatever works for your industry where
people are going to be at you should be there meeting people and interacting with them. I don‘t think you
can replace that.
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12. What role does social media play in building your personal brand and in increasing your social
network?
You are talking to someone who obsessed with social media. I feel like it‘s up there. If it‘s not
number one it is number 1.1, basically. Social media has completely changed the scope of my business. As
soon as I got involved with social media, I think I did everything all at once with Facebook, twitter.and a
blog. I kind of did that all at the same time as directed by a good friend of mine. Social media is global.
Depending on your financial resources, your schedule or whatever the case may be you may not be able to
go to a particular event to meet people in person even though it would be something great for you to be at
because you don‘t have the money to go it. You know, that happens. A lot of these events that I see online
are pricy so social media allows you to connect with those people in other parts of the world without
actually being there. It definitely broadens the base and the scope of your business and fan base, the
people that you can connect with. I have actually closed many of deals strictly through social media.
Never met the person. A lot of times I didn‘t even talk to them over the phone but I have been able to
close deals and make money for my business and for my personal brand through relationships on social
media and what I can say about social media is that if you are consistent people are watching what you are
tweeting, what you are posting about on Facebook, and even those people, because I met a few crazies, I
have met a few crazies on social media. Don‘t get it twisted. Crazy People, they can only lie and put up a
front for so long and then eventually the real them comes out so you do get to know kind of what people
are really about over time through social media so that can obviously work in someone‘s favor or work
against them. It‘s really important in building relationships, being relevant. I mean I don‘t really trust
someone who has a business and they don‘t have a Facebook page, some people don‘t even have a
website. You want to be able to connect with them and interact with them on a regular basis. That‘s how
you build relationships with your customers or clients or whomever. Even with a website, say you have a
great website but you don‘t have any links to Facebook, twitter, you tube, or anything, it‘s like number
one are you keeping up with the times? What are you doing? That makes me think twice. You don‘t even
have a Facebook page? What‘s up with that? Besides that I talked about know, like, trust, try, then buy
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and so on and so forth. Connecting with people through social media allows them to kind of walk through
that process of starting to like you, trust you, maybe try a free something, a free tele-seminar, a free
webinar that you do or something like that where they can find out just how credible you are. Then they
can see what other people are saying about you online so social media provides a huge platform for you to
not only build relationships but it makes it easy for people to refer you to other people and just allows you
to interact with your target market on a personal level so it is crucial.
13. Which social media tools do you use? How do you use them to help you to build relationships between
you and your potential and repeat customers and/or business partners? (starts 31min 26secs)
Obviously I have websites, I have a personal brand website and I have my company‘s website. I
have a personal blog and a company blog again separate and then all of the social networks, Facebook,
Twitter, You Tube, and LinkedIn. I‘m on FourSquare. I am on some networks like Ning, which is a social
networking site. I am in some groups on Facebook, a lot of groups on LinkedIn as a matter of fact. But
those are all of the things I am involved in for the most part. B). One of the first things is that you have to
again be adding value. So I am not tweeting or putting Facebook posts about how fabulous my hair is
looking on a particular day. Who cares about that? Nobody cares. You have to add value so I will share
resources that I have found online that I think might be helpful to my potential customers or things that I
have learned, advice or tips that I can offer that can be helpful to them in some way. I do a lot of quotes, a
lot of motivational and inspirational quotes because everybody needs that on a daily basis. I try to keep it
positive and uplift people so things like that. Through my blog I‘ve built a lot of connections and
relationships. I am also heavily involved email marketing, very important. Building a list is very important
because that helps you to stay in contact with people who are directly interested in what you are doing
because they chosen to be added to your list. They want to be updated in what you are doing and that‘s
how you can really tighten those relationships and get them to become your customers. Like I said, just
putting out information that is helpful to people that‘s interesting to people, that uplifts them and making
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whatever I am sharing with folks easy to share with others that are like them that I would want to connect
with as a potential customer or client.
14. Do you use other forms of promotion for you brand? How important is social media in relation to the
other tools used? How do they coincide with social media to convey your brand positioning?
Social media definitely coincides with everything. I feel like that‘s the base because that is how
you stay connected to your potential customers on a daily basis. That‘s really important. I have used other
forms of traditional marketing like flyers that I would have printed and post them up in dance studios or in
dance clothing stores, even Starbucks, sometimes and various places like that, post cards. Public relations
is pretty huge. From the very beginning of my company I‘ve been heavily involved in publishing press
releases all the time for any big news because that for me is a kind of public record of what‘s been
happening with my company over time so that is really important for me so PR is important. We‘ve done
some sponsorships as well. We‘ve been able to get a lot sponsors for things that we do actually but we
have done some sponsorships as well but everything connects on social media. It‘s like it‘s a circle and
everything take you back to that. All roads lead to social media because that is how you stay connected
with people.
15. Do you think having a personal brand gives you a competitive advantage over other entrepreneurs?
Does your personal brand mean something that differentiates you from your competition in the minds and
perception of your target market?
Definitely because of the know, like, trust thing. That whole process is huge because, here is the
thing, there are two companies that offer the same services, let‘s say. One of them you don‘t know who
the person is. They look good. There website looks great. They have a Facebook page. They look cool but
the other it‘s like you seen this particular owner of this business, you‘ve seen some of their videos on You
Tube, you‘ve seen some pictures of them at different events, you‘ve heard people that you know talking
about that person, or you‘ve heard good things about that person. Which one are you going to choose?
You are going to choose someone that is a little more familiar to you, more personal so I know my
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company has new competitors now because we went from being a dance teacher staffing agency to an
online dance teacher staffing network which is our membership site that is all based online so the
competition switched over a little bit but what I can say when I used to look at my competition is as far as
a dance teacher staffing agency goes, which they came a year after my company by the way because we
were first, I look at what they are doing and more importantly what they are not doing and you don‘t see
them anywhere and I think that makes a huge difference because I have dance studio owners let‘s say for
example that I have connected through Facebook or through the blog and they may have never used my
company‘s service before or not yet but they send me messages saying I feel like I already know you.
Thank you for your uplifting quotes and your help. Someone just sent me this the other day that is why it
is fresh in my head. Thank you for your uplifting quotes and all of the helpful resources that you always
share with us. I‘ve never met you before but I feel like I know you. You are so warm and friendly. She is
in California. I am in New York City. We‘ve never met but she knows me because I‘m out there. My face
is out there. My voice is out there through the radio show. My videos are out there so people are
connecting with me in a way that they may not be connecting with another competitor who is not out there
as much. So they are already kind of… It‘s almost like we are in a relationship. You know what I mean
and they are like I trust this person so I would rather try them then try this other person so it plays a huge
part and that‘s why I am so serious about it and so consistent in doing it because it makes such a huge
difference.
16. What do you use to measure the success of your personal brand? (person or company), (number of
clients, trust and credibility reputation, loyalty, notoriety, business growth?)
A few different ways, I don‘t think there is one way to measure it because if you base it just on
numbers let‘s say like how many facebook fans you have that‘s not really… There is a whole scope. I
measure it in a few different ways. I measure it based on the feedback that I get from people, which I think
is the most important thing because people will tell you. Sometimes I ask people. How are we doing?
What do you think about this? How did you find out about us? What have you seen or heard that made
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you want to connect with this company or my brand. So there is that and I think the response to the things
that we do so for example the radio show that I host every Tuesday, I mention this to you before but I will
mention it again. When I contacted this really big time dancer‘s media relations manager and sent her the
link to the page where we have information about the radio show, video highlights from the radio show
and all of that, and she response backs to me ―based on the dance luminaries that you have on your show
and your interview style and the way that you conduct your show I think she should definitely be on your
show.‖ Basically that is telling me that we are doing something right because someone at this level can
look at what we are doing and say I want my person to be a part of what you are doing. And then
relationships that I have built or other organizations that I told you that are about the same thing we are
who come to me and say we want to be a part of what we are doing that tells me that we are doing
something right because people want to work with us. People want to be affiliated with us. They want to
get on board. They want sponsor. Numbers are great too. How many Facebook fans do we have? How
many twitter followers, how many YouTube views and subscribers? The email list again is a good sign
because I know where people are signing up from so people are interested in what we are doing and
people are signing up to join our mailing list that‘s a good sign. They all work together.
17. Do you think the results you are getting are directly related to your branding effort? (both personal
brand equity and entrepreneurial brand equity?)
Heck yea . Yes because without all of the personal branding and the company branding that I
am doing particularly through social media there would be no way all of these people all over the world
and all over the country to know about us. They just wouldn‘t know. For people to spend there money
with us nowadays they really put a lot of thought into it before they pull out a credit card or even choose
to sponsor something with an organization. Anything involving money or someone else‘s brand that wants
to be affiliated with you brand there is a lot of thought that goes into that and they have to really trust what
you are doing and what you are about. The growth of my company… and I can tell you when I first started
my business I didn‘t have a personal brand out there. I did have a personal brand obviously because I was
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in the dance industry. I knew people and people knew me but I didn‘t put that out there. I stayed way in
the background when it came to my business because I didn‘t anyone to know who I was. I wanted to keep
everything separate. This is my company. Don‘t worry about me. Don‘t worry who I am, what I look like,
how old I am, what the color of my skin is, my gender I am. I wanted to keep it all separate. So that is how
I started this business. A lot of times in the earlier days and it was all through emails and over the people
didn‘t know who I was. Which was fine and it worked for a while because people did develop a certain
level of trust but the moment I came out from behind the scenes and put myself out there whether it was
through photos or videos, writing, etc everything changed. That is when the company really began to
grow. I saw a huge change. I was kind of like dang I should have done this a long time ago. I didn‘t
realize that that would have made such a difference. So I have seen… It‘s like night and day. I‘ve seen the
change. If I wasn‘t out there the way that I am I don‘t believe that things would be as… as they are.
18. How do you see your personal brand evolving in the future? Will it remain an intrinsic part of your
entrepreneurial endeavors? Why or why not? If so how?
Yes, definitely, because again whatever I‘m doing since I own a business it is all connected. So
whatever happens to my business is connected to me and whatever happens to me is connected to my
business. The way my brand will evolve, oh it is going to evolve in many ways. I definitely want to write
some books and do more public speaking engagements. I just partnered up with another company who I
connected with through social media. They became one of the sponsors for my radio show and they
provide downloadable choreography for teachers and for studio owners so I am partnering up with them,
essentially taking over their marketing and also I am going to be a guest choreographer. This particular
company is called Dances to Go and my husband will be designing the website. We are basically doing a
rebranding for them, which the owner of the company request that I do so that goes to show you how the
personal branding stuff is working because people will come to me and say can you do for me what you
are doing for yourself and your business. Can you do that over here? I will definitely be doing more of
that, helping others whether it is individual or businesses build there own brand and grow their companies.
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I guess probably more information products, more speaking engagements. I want to get more into
television and possibly have my own TV show at some point in time. I love radio so I definitely want to
continue to have my radio show and maybe doing more radio. This is just the beginning.
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
19. Name: Ashani Mfuko
20. Age Range: 21-25
26-30 31-35 36-40
41-45
21. Name of Company (entrepreneurial endeavor): Kiner Enterprises Inc.
22. Industry: Dance, Arts
23. Educational background (highest degree earned): Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Bachelor of Arts in
Hispanic Studies
24. How many years have you been an entrepreneur? A little over 4 years
25 Where is your company based? In the New York City Tri State Area U.S.A.
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Appendix D. Entrepreneurs Biographies and Websites
Biography of Jessica Styles of The FAB Network
Welcome, to the wonderful world of FAB!
I am a Professional Coach and Founder of The FAB Network, a professional consulting firm established
to foster out-of-the-box thinking and career advancement opportunities to those seeking individual and
personal fulfillment. The creation of FAB was a direct link to me reflecting on my experience as a post
graduate and the inevitable fears and challenges aspiring professionals face as they transition from student
to professional. I now leverage my previous workforce experience as the National Accounts Coordinator
for MTV Networks/BET Networks and Education Sales Manager position for Givenchy/Emilio
Pucci/Guerlain to help others pursue and accomplish their dreams. My internship experiences at Donna
Karan, BET and Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment provided me with practical career building blocks
and the preparation to excel outside the classroom walls. I have treaded many uncharted waters and
succeeded at a very difficult task – having a career objective and tackling the challenges head on! These
career lessons ignited a passion in me to form a platform that provides limitless boundaries for learning
and growth. I am here to help you bridge the gap between career aspiration and career achievement.
Together, we can attain great success!
Much love to all my FAB believers,
About The FAB Network:
Mission:
FAB is a professional consulting firm dedicated to fostering career and social opportunities for young
adults to help build and enhance their careers in the worlds of Fashion, Arts, Beauty and related
industries. We are an organization that provides engaging and creative career development services and
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exclusive industry knowledge that educates and prepares individuals to succeed, both professionally and
personally.
FAB Focus:
1.
STUDENTS: Educate and expose students to knowledge, career options, business culture,
mentors, working professionals and postgraduate opportunities to ensure they are well-informed and
prepared to succeed.
2.
INSTITUTIONS: Develop partnerships with intermediate and higher education platforms to help
bridge the student to professional gap by connecting faculty and students with exclusive career
development curriculum, strategies and resources.
3.
PROFESSIONALS: Inspire and engage working professionals by providing a host of career
services, such as career coaching, workshops, networking events and career camps – all set to advance
existing careers.
4.
COMPANIES: Establish a solid relationship with FAB industry-related companies to help bridge
the gap between corporate companies and young adults by providing career development programs,
internships, jobs and mentorship opportunities to driven and talented individuals.
from The FAB Network Website
http://thefabnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=71
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The FAB Network Website
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Biography of Tyshawna Spell of TSpell Designs
Tyshawna Spell is a multidimensional designer with an extraordinary talent in Painting, Architectural
Drawings, Desktop Publishing, Digital Art, and Model Making. She has a Master‘s Degree of
Architecture from Hampton University and has won several awards as a student of architecture as well as
in art exhibits. She has created TSpell Designs to share her, creativity, talents, and skills with her well
diverse clientele. She has done portraits for clients all over the United States, and has also produced 3D
model images, logos, invitations, illustrations, photo editing and much more. Tyshawna‘s designs are
created with her clients‘ needs and wants as her primary inspiration and has an eloquent level of design
that continues catches the attention of her target audience. Tyshawna continues to advance with her latest
innovative design ideas, in which she continues to develop. Creativity is endless for this talented artist.
About TSpell Designs:
Mission
TSpell Designs Mission is to use creativity in multiple forms of artistry and graphics in order to stimulate
inquiry and connect people to one another in hopes to emotionally make one feel represented at their
highest capacity. TSpell Designs‘ commands a level of design that assures the client‘s ideas are
represented in a manner that preserves the integrity of the original artistic vision, thus upholding the
quality of the product. TSpell Designs takes design anywhere imagination can live and is fulfilled in
many capacities as well as being a key developer of new creative design techniques that are currently
untouched.
TSpell Designs offers design services & consultations that are digitally and physically aesthetic, that can
be used to present the client‘s ideas, product, presentation, event or personal style. TSpell Designs has the
design power to brand new businesses and create new symbols and creative ideas for companies,
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organizations, and personal use. TSpell designs also create paintings that are created from photo images. If
one wants to make any idea tangible this is the design studio to call.
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Tyshawna‘s business website TSpell Designs
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Biography of Shaunice Hawkins of Evolutions Consulting
Shaunice Hawkins is chief executive officer and lead strategist of Evolutions Consulting LLC, a
social branding boutique specializing in promoting brand visibility, strengthening consumer engagement
and increasing social currency.
As an adjunct professor and lecturer, she teaches around the U.S. on standard business practices,
organizational behavior and communications, employee and labor relations, diversity and inclusion,
workplace culture and race relations.
As a speaker and thought leader, she leads keynotes, facilitates workshops, moderates and
participates in panel discussions at conferences, seminars and symposia for academia, business and notfor-profit organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America, Procter & Gamble, ESPN, The Young
Women's Leadership Network, Exceptional Women in Publishing, Howard University, Rutgers
University, Central State University, Cornell University NYSSILR, Drake University, New York
University, Magazine Publishers of America, National Association of Multicultural Media Executives,
Network & Affinity Leaders Congress, New York Urban League, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc., University of Kentucky the New York City Department of
Employment, Churches of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith Inc., and the Bibleway Churches
Worldwide. Hawkins‘ insights have been profiled on a number of syndicated radio talk shows and in
various local, regional and national publications including Heart & Soul Magazine, AMNewYork, Black
Enterprise, DiversityInc., Diversity Woman, FOLIO:, Maynard Institute’s Journalisms.com, MOSO
Nation, The New York Observer, NV Magazine, TimeOut New York, Advertising Age and Target Market
News.
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Hawkins served as Vice President of Member Services where she lead all aspects of the member
services program for Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and its membership of 225 publishing
houses, 1200 magazine companies, 100 vendors/suppliers and 80 international media companies. Before
transitioning into member services role, Hawkins served as MPA's chief Diversity & Multicultural
Initiatives officer where she was charged with working with industry and board executives, publishers and
editors to create, execute and promote diversity and inclusion initiatives that recruit, include, retain and
advance a diverse workforce.
Her many activities encompassed a broad spectrum including publishing several widely
distributed media publications and resources such as How to Build a Career in Magazines, Succeeding in
Magazines, Moving Up the Magazine Masthead, Making the Switch to Magazines, Creating Your
Personal Brand, How to Become a Successful Freelancer, Networking 101: Your Keys to Success, The
Success of Diversity Within the Magazine Industry (with Dr. Ella L.J. Edmonson Bell of Dartmouth
University), MPA Diversity Update, The MPA Diversity Benchmarking Study (with Prof. Charles
Whitaker of Northwestern University), and MPA's online Diversity Resource Center.
Prior to joining MPA, Hawkins spent nearly a decade in financial services (Brown Brothers
Harriman & Co.; Prudential Securities, LLC; Prudential Financial, Inc.; Wachovia Securities, LLC.) in
various business and diversity-related roles, lastly as Assistant Vice President and Corporate Relationship
Manager of Diversity & Workforce Effectiveness.
Hawkins served as an employment mediator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
for several years and continues to serve as a private civil mediator upon request.
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Hawkins is a graduate of New York University, St. John's University, Tulane University, Cornell
University and Villanova University and Rutgers University with degrees and certifications in a variety of
business strategy, traditional and digital marketing, social media strategy, and diversity and human capital
management disciplines. Hawkins has served on the boards of Exceptional
Women in Publishing (EWIP), the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives
(NAMME), MOSO (Mono-/Solo-Entrepreneur) Nation, Scientific Journals International (SJI) and
AutoWordLink, Inc. (AWL) and holds affiliations with a number of professional associations including
the Society for Human Resources Professionals (SHRM) and the Advertising Women of New York
(AWNY). She has (co)founded a number of business resource and affinity groups (including Prudential
Financial's Black Executive Forum and the magazine industry's Multicultural Leadership Council) and is
the former chair of and advisor to the Jefferson Elementary School Diversity Council in Maplewood, NJ;
media sponsor of A. Philip Randolph Campus High Schools Journalism Program in West Harlem, NY and
NYU's Urban Journalism Workshop in New York City. In 2010, Hawkins developed and produced
Grammy-winner Pharrell Williams's national Kidult Youth Leadership Conference in New York City.
Described by her peers as a "playmaker" and the "Ambassador for Diversity", Hawkins is best
known for building strategic partnerships and alliances with key leaders, influencers and stakeholders. She
has been nationally recognized as a "dynamic achiever" for her +20-year, multi-industry career and for her
body of work in the fields of business management, marketing and promotions, branding, strategic
planning, diversity and inclusion, and human capital management.
Hawkins is the author of the book, Passion...Who Needs It? A Practical, Action-Oriented
Exploration of Passion and Purpose, and Steps You Can Take If Your Inner Fire Has Burned Itself Out
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and guest columnist for several publications. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and their
teenage children.
About Evolutions Consulting
Evolutions Consulting provides expert guidance and practical social branding management and
marketing solutions to small to mid-sized businesses so they not only stand out from their larger
competitors, but surpass them. We help companies adapt to the new realities of the marketplace so they
can grow to their full potential and evolve into the successful, profitable brands they are meant to be.
Evolutions Consulting guides businesses so they fully reach marketplace success.
Evolutions Consulting offers companies a combination of visionary strategic services and practical
business solutions. We have extensive experience in:
•
Business strategy and management
•
Social branding strategy, management and positioning
•
Multicultural marketing
•
Consumer behavior and engagement
Led by CEO Shaunice Hawkins, Evolutions Consulting partners with its clients and brings in specialized
talent when necessary to build the team that addresses each client's particular needs. Our goal is to help
your company adapt, grow, and evolve to achieve outstanding success in the years to come.
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Shaunice Hawkins‘ Personal Brand Website
From Shaunice Hawkins Website:
http://www.evolutionsconsulting.net/
Shaunice Hawkins‘ Business Website
From the Evolutions Consulting Website:
http://www.evolutionsconsulting.net/
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Biography of Ashani Mfuko of Kiner Enterprises
Ashani Mfuko is a Professional Dancer/Dance Instructor, Business Consultant, the CEO/President
of Kiner Enterprises Inc., and the host of The Kiner Hour – Let‘s Talk Dance with Ashani Mfuko Internet
radio and Ustream.tv show. She has made appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, Good Morning
America, Showtime at the Apollo, in films, music videos, and live performances at venues including;
Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, and The Joyce — Soho. Ashani
has taught at The Ailey Extension, Steps on Broadway, Ballet Hispanico, and tons of dance studios, public
and private schools, and after-school programs, throughout the New York Metropolitan area. Her dance
articles and tips have been featured on dancebloggers.com, danceadvantage.net, thedance.com blog,
the 4dancers.org blog, the Grosh BackdropsandBackdrops Beautiful blogs, as well as Red Rover
Style.com. She is a leader in the field of dance teacher staffing, personal branding and marketing for
dancers, & social media for the dance biz. She offers all types of tips, tools, and advice for dancers and
dance businesses, on the Kiner Enterprises Inc. Dancer‘s blog. Her company, Kiner Enterprises Inc. was
recently featured in an article in Dance Studio Life Magazine!
From Ashani Mfuko Dance
http://ashanimfukodance.com/?page_id=478
About Kiner Enterprises:
Kiner Enterprises Inc. is the first, international dance teacher staffing network in the world, and gives
dance teachers direct access to dance teaching jobs, and dance studio owners access to the teachers they
need to hire for their studio through an online network.
Our mission is to help make the lives of dance teachers more financially stable, successful, and profitable,
and the lives of dance studio owners less stressful, by providing you with access to the teachers you need
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to hire for your dance studio, and teaching you how to grow your dance studios through social media
marketing techniques, and innovation in technology.
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Ashani Mfuko‘s Personal Brand Website
Ashani Mfuko‘s Business Website – Kiner Enterprises
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