6/1/16- Personal Branding for STEM workers

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a presentation hosted by the Society of Women Engineers Phoenix Section, titled "Personal Branding for Women Engineers." The presentation was given by Dr. Robyn McKay of She(ology).  It was an insightful presentation, and I'd like to share my take away from the presentation.  And what I learned can apply to most women and men who are in STEM careers (at least I think so :-)).

The beginning of the presentation started out with defining what Personal Branding is.  Here's my summary of what Personal Branding is (from my presentation notes):

• Know who you are
• Know your values
• Know your mission, vision, and purpose

Know all of the things listed above so that you can have confidence to: stand up for something you're passion about (fall in love with an idea) and standout as a leader (be a person of influence).  

Next, Dr. Robyn talked about taking your temperature, and had us do an exercise where we assessed how well (we thought) we were doing in the following 4 pillars:

1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Love
4. Perfect Self-Expression

She had us assess on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being super awesome and 1 being really poor), how well we thought/felt that we were doing in each pillar.  Then, she had us break into groups based on our individual rating (for each pillar) and discuss with each other why we felt that we were that rating (e.g. 8-10 grouped together, 7-4, and 3-1).  

It was a great discuss with my fellow engineers-- it was that feeling of knowing you weren't alone on how you felt about career and all the 4 pillars.  I recommend doing your own self assessment, and if you can do it with a partner, family member, friend or colleague, even better.

Dr. Robyn Presenting to SWE Phoenix

Next, she talked about what are you tolerating in your life?  If you ranked low in one of the pillars (rating of 3-1), that could be an area where you are tolerating.  For example, if you ranked a 3 in wealth, ask yourself why?  Maybe it's because you haven't got that promotion yet, or you feel you aren't saving enough.  

Finally, she wrapped up with one last exercise, and it was to tell a story to someone else when you were at your best.  First that felt good to say out loud (what my accomplishment was).  Second, my take way on that was to keep in mind when you are at your best, and that should be integrated into your personal brand, along with the bullets mentioned above.

The presentation was insightful and inspiring.  It got my intuition flowing, and I realized what I was tolerating in life (which no offense to you, I don't want to share here; just how I prefer it).  It also made realize that I can fix what I was tolerating.  In the long run, I will be better. I will succeed in my career, but more importantly, succeed in my personal passions (like family, friends, STEM outreach, writing).  Overall, I feel like I can succeed in my life.  I hope you have found this post beneficial. Go forth and brand yourself!  Ha, ha! :-)