Clips from Presentation Mastermind - EDITING
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Style and Strategy Podcast, where personal brand meets leadership and style. I'm Sonya, a personal brand and style coach who's been exactly where you are juggling career and business success. Personal growth and finding a style that truly fits. After decades in corporate leadership, I've learned that showing up isn't just about what you do, it's about how you align who you are and how the world sees you.
This season, I'm bringing you practical strategies, bold insights, and honest conversations to help you amplify your presence, unlock your next level, and lead with clarity and confidence. Let's dive in.
So this week I am taking you behind the scenes again this time, for a, masterclass that I actually ran for a group of business women. Talking [00:01:00] all about your personal brand and giving you some tips, hints, and some different ways to really. Think about your brand, your leadership, and your style, and how they all integrate together.
I hope you enjoy this little snip from behind the scenes.
Alright, so I want you to all just for a second, imagine this, and most of this is probably true. Uh, I would say you are an absolute expert in your field. You've worked really hard to build your skills. You serve your clients with absolutely everything that you've got and you're growing your business, but for some reason, sometimes it can feel like people don't really see you, the real you.
They don't really recognize your whole value. ~Um, ~and sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes you can feel like there's these opportunities that are out in front of you, but they always just [00:02:00] feel a little bit out of reach. There's that bigger stretch to get to where you really wanna get to. Has anyone ever experienced that or felt like that at times?
Yeah, I can see some heads nodding. You know, we've all been there and, you know, I think it's something that you've just gotta keep in mind as I go through this presentation and see where the opportunity is. Because if I tell you about two people, uh, that I've worked with and know really, really well, so one, Jane was originally.
You know, before we started working. So she was talented. She knew her stuff. She was really, really hardworking. She just struggled. And this was in corporate. She really struggled to gain that visibility and trust that she really wanted out in the marketplace. And she just feel like she was spinning her wheels, she was sweating, she was working it out.
She was doing everything she could possibly do. And then if I think about, um, one of my other clients, [00:03:00] Sarah, who was equally talented, but she had this magnetism I would say about her. Um, she was showing up consistently. ~Um, ~her presence every time she walked in a room, she was one of those people who was like, oh wow, okay, Sarah's here.
Um, she was really magnetic and you know, it gave her opportunities that actually fell. What seemed like to others fell into her lap naturally. So if you compare these two individuals, the question becomes, well, what's the difference between the two? It wasn't skill, it wasn't expertise. There was something about their presence.
There was something about their branding overall. It's how and which they owned who they were as they walked into a room. And so that's really what I'm here today to help you really unlock, um, really the trust and recognition [00:04:00] and how to really step you out as the leaders in your particular field. This is absolutely not about creating a new version of you.
It's about really amplifying what is already inside of you and pulling it out to the outside, because that is really what makes you really unique and different. So before I get started, I really want to dive into what is personal branding. You gave me some comments, um, at the beginning around you're kind of, maybe it's this, maybe it's a bit of, of that.
So I wanna make sure that you're really clear on my perspective and my definition of personal branding and how it can actually become one of the most powerful tools in your toolkit to own your own space and own any room that you walk into.
So when I think about branding, I think about [00:05:00] positioning. I think about you positioning yourself because if you don't do it, the world is gonna do it for you regardless. So, and if you don't do it, you are also gonna end up risk being, I guess what's called invisible to some extent, right? Because if you own your own brand, you become magnetic, and you'll hear me use that word a little bit, today.
And this is a quote by David Breyer. And so really, if you don't give the market your story to talk about, they'll define it for you. And I think if you think about maybe some people you might know, or brands you see out there, you'll see where someone's got a really strong brand and the story that they, they're, they're putting out there for everyone versus someone who may not, and you can't really see who they are.
So. Why does personal brand even matter? It's, if you think about it, the world today is changing [00:06:00] significantly, right? You turn every post, you scroll on Instagram, any business door you open today, what's the one thing we're all talking about? Ai, how AI is gonna help us, you know, improve efficiencies, how tech's gonna do this, that, and the other, right?
So this rise of automation in this world. So you're seeing a whole lot of that. You're seeing an increase in sort of competition when it comes to social media. More people understanding that, you know, maybe creating an online business or doing something as um, you know, part of a portfolio career. So getting online is starting to feel sometimes like it's getting saturated.
So with all these things happening out in the world, you come back to business basics. How do you actually start to get clarity around your brand so that people out there can see you for who you are and what you actually do. So if you think about how do, um, you [00:07:00] normally get clients, how, how do you develop trust within businesses?
If we go back to old school basics, probably initially it was by referral, right? It's by trust because you actually know someone, so therefore you might trust you might be getting a lot of referrals into your business. So they're the ones who are actually getting hired. The same goes in the online world, right?
Because your personal brand will help you stand out and create what's most important, your authentic, sort of unique, connection. So, you know, just reminding again that if you don't shape it the way you wanna do it, then you've got that, potential risk of being overlooked. So that's really why I look at it as why it really matters today's day and age.
So if we haven't met before, as uh, Jess has said, I'm Sonya Cho Osa, uh, I am absolutely obsessed with helping high ambitious, high achieving women [00:08:00] bridge the gap for who they are and how they show up. So they're seen value and recognize for the impact that they actually create. And so why this really matters to me is after spending, you know, 25 years in high level corporate and leadership roles and navigating rooms where perception mattered just as much as skill.
You know, I saw really that it doesn't matter how much you could actually deliver and do and give and hustle, if I didn't have the right perception there, if I wasn't owning, my space in those rooms, then it wasn't enough for people to see value. So now I'm actually working with women to really align their personal brand and their style to take them really into that next level.
So I absolutely understand that feeling when you know you are capable of more, but realizing that something isn't quite right or it's not landing and it's never to do with your expertise, [00:09:00] it's that your brand presence and style really aren't necessarily working for you as much as they could be. And I've seen so many, incredible women who actually can get stuck in this space because they're not really positioning themselves in a way that matched their value.
So that shift, ~if I, ~if I flip back to a bit of a story for years, you know, I climbed this corporate ladder, ~you know, ~doing all the things. But when I sat down and realized that I had built success for, which seemed like for everyone else except for me then, and my legacy, then that's when I kind of realized,~ well,~ hang on a second.
I need to shift something. I need to actually start to focus on my own brand. I need to understand how do I actually navigate those rooms in a different way. And so instead of trying to fit [00:10:00] into somebody else's mold, so you know, it might have been that people were saying you had to dress in a suit. You had to go and network, you know, and go to those mass networking events or do all of those things, which actually didn't really align with my brand.
Then it was about sitting down and working out what was really important to me so that I could actually build out a presence so I could actually, focus in on the individuals that I did wanna resonate with, what was important to me in those particular spaces. So today, again, I really wanna help you unlock whatever shift it is that you need to make.
Because showing up in particular spaces isn't just about the style. It isn't about logos and colors and things like that, or just looking good online. For me, that's all superficial and ~it's, ~it's transactional. It's actually coming back to the root here around owning your value and leading with confidence in how you [00:11:00] can actually do that.
So the world can actually see you for the value that you, bring out. when I think about personal branding and the way my big vision and mission actually works around this, I would say personal branding is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts in business. So before we start to help you build yours, let's, um, break down some myths around this.
So what personal branding is not, it's not just for influencers or big business, it's for you as a coach, practitioner, entrepreneur, employee, because you are the face of your business. It's not just about aesthetics, as I said. So branding isn't just about colors and fonts, it's the entire experience that you bring to any room, whether that's a virtual room or whether that's a room face to face, and whether it's work to weekend, right?
You, your experience is [00:12:00] holistically you. And I think most importantly, it's not about being perfect or polished, that a hundred percent version, right? Because we know you're hearing it more and more. Again, with that rise of ai, people are craving that. Authenticity, not necessarily that perfection,~ uh,~ piece.
So when I think about it, the truth around it is, it's about trust and positioning and building that it's about clarity and visibility, and it's about what I call leadership presence. And I don't define leadership as someone who's leading large teams or anything like that. You are leading your business, you are leading yourself, and you are leading your clients.
So you have a role to play in that. So if you look at this, diagram here, to put it simply the far left circle, there you are really looking at who are you? Internally,~ what,~ what do you represent? What are your values? What do you, stand for internally? And then how does your [00:13:00] external being, your visual presence, the way you communicate, how you hold, all of those pieces?
How do they come together to create a brand, a leadership vision, and a style that is absolutely comfortably you?
So sometimes people think of this, or I describe it in a way, that most business owners will be holding a torch, right? So if you can imagine you might be holding a torch going, I need to find my ideal client. I need to find where, where is that person right ~to, ~to bring that business in? Really kind of chasing those opportunities.
But a strong brand is actually like a lighthouse sitting up on a hill. Why? Because what does a lighthouse actually do? It stands out there confidently sending out a really clear and recognizable signal that attracts the right people to your business and to your brand. [00:14:00] So I want you to think about that for a second.
And if you had to describe your brand's energy in three words, what would you say they are? So maybe I'll give you a second to, kind of jot that down. If you think about it. And remember when I'm talking about the whole brand place, remember I'm not separating your business from you.
It is one and the same because it's too hard to wear multiple hats. I've been there, I've done that, and it doesn't work.
Now, my question to you is, does your social media, does your website, does your communication, and does your style link into that energy that you've described in those three words?
And if you are looking at it going, yes, it does, I'm feeling good that ~you know, ~10 stars, right? [00:15:00] If you are identifying, there's a little bit of a gap there. That's a good thing, right? Because we know now. And so it gives you sort of a, a stake in the ground to start to go, well, let me think about that now.
What does that mean? What do I need to start to shift the direction to? If those three energy words is what I, I not only wanna present to the worlds, but most importantly, what do I want my clients to feel when they engage with my brand? Because your personal brand isn't necessarily what you say. It is how people feel when they interact with you.
~I, ~I think there's a few quotes around the place which actually talk to people. Remember the how you felt in a particular situation. More so than necessarily the, the strategy or the structure or anything else that comes out of that conversation, because it was how, [00:16:00] and that even, you know, applies to people leadership as well.
So now you understand my kind of view on personal brand. Let's talk about how do you actually bring it to life.
Now, I can go into lots and lots of detail around this, but again, I said like, I'm kind of hydroplaning over all three of these just to give you a bit of a taste and feel for,~ um,~ where there might be opportunities for you to really pull the lever and accelerate,~ uh,~ in these particular areas.
So if you think about, again, I've talked about it and touched on it throughout the beginning of this presentation, but if people don't know you, they won't buy from you. Right? We, we know and understand that, it's the whole no, like trust concept, but visibility isn't necessarily about being everywhere.
It's actually more so about being, intentional. I want you to really think about that because I know some of [00:17:00] us, ~you know, ~if you are an extrovert, being visible, being out there, all of those sort of things, you know, be, you'll be like, I'm there. It's all good. I can do that. If you are a bit of an introvert extrovert, so I'm gonna put myself in that bucket.
I much prefer I, I'm a six two by by the way, if, if you're familiar with human design, you know, I much prefer being an introvert, a quiet, like internal and where I need to, I will have to then pull out the extroverted sort of side of me. So it is about much more about being,~ um,~ intentional. So when I think about visibility, here are three key drivers.
I just want you to think about, and consider, and maybe even rating yourself from a one to 10, how, how much of this. Am I doing today? You know, how would I rate myself? And it isn't, is it an area that I can actually think of driving more with to be able to own my brand? So number [00:18:00] one, when I talk about becoming the face of your brand, I want you to think a little bit around, , ~uh, ~when you think about brands that you might know and love who are actually individuals, yes, we all might have our business brand, but in the end, as I said before, people buy from people.
So if you think about some big known brands out there, I'll, I'll just quote a few here. So for example, Oprah, Richard Branson, Brene Brown. You think about those individuals, there's a real level of, okay, I see that person in my mind and I instantly get feelings or what do they stand for, what's important to them, et cetera.
Think about how can you make sure if you're not already, you know, being the face of your brand in some way, shape, or form. And many of you are probably already, ~you know, ~owning that particular space. Number two [00:19:00] is around, you know, communicating your brand clearly. So when I think about that, I think about maybe three key things.
One,~ um,~ is your bio, right? Whether that's if you are on LinkedIn or if you are on Instagram or wherever you are or your website bio your about us paid. Some people don't even give that you know much, uh, thought. Can people immediately tell who you are, the essence of your brand and who you help and what you do?
What about your, I'm gonna call it an elevator pitch for want of a better word, but can you actually talk to your compelling brand in one sentence that is meaningful and people will really resonate , in their words, so they understand it. Your content. How does your messaging really re reinforce your core brand and values and your personality?
And [00:20:00] coming back to that consistency piece, if I think about those examples, Oprah, Richard Branson, Brene Brown, ~to ~to pull that in for you. So Oprah, decades of storytelling, leadership, presence across, you know, multiple platforms. Richard Branson, every time you hear about him, yes he's talking about Virgin, but he's also talking about, he's reinforcing, he's adventurous, he's disruptive, he's playful.
Brene Brown as an example, you know, she's always showing up. So authentically every single interview that she does, her books, her Ted talks, what is she reinforcing? Her message of vulnerability all the way through. There's this beautiful thread and I like to call it a a through line. And we're gonna take that through line all the way,~ um,~ through all these key areas.
And so that comes back around that communicate. And um, then leading into [00:21:00] 0.3 is that consistency, whatever. And when I say consistency, it's what is consistent for you. So, um, you know, if that means consistency for you is one or two times a week doing whatever that is, maybe showing up on social media, maybe it's, it's talking to your clients maybe whatever that looks like, right?
So don't think consistency has to mean seven days a week doing whatever, right? But at least getting that consistency because that is where that trust and recognition really kicks in. So, quick challenge for you, when was the last time you actually Googled yourself?
And then had a critical look, given what we've just talked about so far, to think about, oh, is this really saying and is this really clear about who you are and what you do and where you really wanna be able to show up authentically Those three energy words, right? If you come back to that, does it actually hit the mark or [00:22:00] not?
So that was visibility. Well, I hope you enjoyed part one of the behind the scenes of the masterclass, that I recently ran. If you want to hear, part two, then tune in next week and you'll get the next part. See you then.
