The BLAZE BYOB guide to personal branding

In December 2020, BLAZE by Safaricom held its first ever digital career fair that saw 36,000 youth from across the country digitally engage with experts on matters encompassing entrepreneurship, mental health and the future of work.

The career fair was part of Safaricom’s Twende Tukiuke campaign, and it sought to challenge the youth to go beyond what is thought possible and achieve their dreams. Attendees of the fair had an opportunity to engage and learn from various professionals and Safaricom employees. There was something for everyone.

One of the most interesting topics at the fair was personal branding, which is the starting point for anyone looking to be successful in business or employment. The session on personal branding was steered by image and performance consultant Mwenesi Musalia, who went into details on how to create and sustain a good personal brand. According to Mwenesi, anyone can build a personal brand as it is simply the mark that you leave on people, as opposed to being well known or recognised as a celebrity or influencer.

Building a personal brand starts within your circle. This includes your friends, family, school or workplace. It is therefore essential to be deliberate on what mark you are leaving on people, so that the mark lasts long enough for them to think of you whenever they have opportunities that fit your profile.

In the words of Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”

Within the first three to seven seconds, people are already assessing your ‘brand’, so you need to bring your A-game. But that is where the work starts. When presenting yourself, you need to go beyond achieving a good first impression, because your last impression matters too!

A good brand is built on three important things: trust, influence and being phenomenal. As a young person entering the professional world, having these skills is more important than technical skills because it enables you to stand out from others with similar qualifications.

Trustworthiness is particularly important for young people starting out their careers because at this point, you do not have a reputation or serious CV to back you up, and whoever has put their faith in you is doing so based on a belief that you can deliver.

Influence is the ability to persuade people to do something, and if you show people that your ideas have merit, then their belief in you grows. Being phenomenal is simply about exceeding expectations whenever you are given an opportunity, because that is how you make people remember you.

Personal branding is a mental picture that people get whenever they think about you. It is also a promise that tells other people what to expect when dealing with you. This means that you cannot ‘fake it till you make it’ because people will see through the ruse. You need to be yourself and play to your strengths. You also need to know your target audience. Depending on who you are, certain people will be more receptive of your brand than others. So it is important to identify the people who your brand aligns with.

Once you know who you are and who you are for, you must find opportunities to be seen or heard by your target audience. If people don’t see you or hear from you, you will remain anonymous and will be overlooked whenever opportunities arise. Every time someone encounters you, your brand becomes stronger, so attend those fairs, join those meetings, raise your hand and speak up!

Building a personal brand takes time. You need to keep doing what you do over and over until it sticks. So, ensure you are consistent in what you do because it takes time to build a brand, and seconds to destroy it!