I’m good at branding, in fact I’ve helped transform and establish some household names. Even my personal brand is strong but I realised recently that there are so many people I consider friends that don’t really know the real me.
We all know the stuff on the internet is a lie and while I don’t purposefully try to mislead people, I don’t exactly post photos of me working from my bed surrounded by bags of crisps.
I try to be really open about my struggles with anxiety and impostor syndrome, especially when they catch up with me. But 75% of the time, I am the confident boss bitch people see on social media.
I was talking to my best friend (hi, Nell!) about this recently and she said that even before I had a shiny outward-facing brand, she felt there was a disconnect between the big things I was doing and, I quote, ‘the gremlin working in her pyjamas’.
I don’t feel the need to change my brand and how people perceive me but I just want to reassure people that, deep down, I am just a mildly anxious nerd who’s doing her best. I have the same struggles as many other people and some days I do just get in bed and watch TV while reading spooky Reddit threads on my phone.
But, of course, there are other days when I have to do live radio, speak to three clients, coach a racing driver, take a German lesson, and go to the gym. It’s all about balance.
The same goes for anyone out there that you admire or look up to. They’re just like you and me.
New Branding and Showreel
As part of creating my shiny outward-facing brand, I had the incredible Cammie Sturch create a new logo for me. It feels very ‘me’, which I really like and it’s quite exciting to start a new journey as Jess Shanahan: Speaker, Author, Presenter.
I also had a talented friend, Adam Johnson, create two new showreels for me. One for my motorsport work and one for automotive. Honestly, the process was stressful, dragging up all sorts of impostor syndrome feelings but now they’re completed, I feel so empowered by them. Here’s the automotive showreel from my (recently rebranded) YouTube channel.
Jess Recommends
💻 Join Me: LinkedIn Thought Leadership Webinar with Hethel Innovation — I’m joining Hethel Innovation to host a free webinar on using LinkedIn to establish you and your business as The Expert. It takes place on Thursday 5th Nov at 10am.
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