As a Trainer whose focus is on Confidence and Professional Presence, when people find out what I do for a living, they usually think that I must really care about how I look. Meaning I spend hours on my hair and makeup, reading fashion magazines and shopping.
The reality? Time to do makeup every morning? 5-7 minutes. Hair styling? 1-2 minutes. Getting dressed? 5 minutes. Which is why this phrase in Mike Zimmerman’s interview of Dr. Mehmet Oz stuck in my mind: “[Dr. Oz] sets himself up before so he doesn’t have to think about [his comfort, etc.] during.”
The goal of packaging yourself, and the driving passion behind what I do, is to ‘set it up’ so you don’t have to think about it after. It’s ‘anti-vanity’. We all know that how you look, act and communicate weighs in just as much on how people perceive you as the quality of your work does. Countless studies have proved this, and anyone who doesn’t agree can refer to the case of Susan Boyle. And if you still don’t agree – yes, I understand where you’re coming from, because I was you.
Having grown up as ‘the studious one’, my ego was firmly entrenched in ‘hard work’ and ‘results’. On the basis of this I was promoted to a certain point, then my career came to a complete standstill. And still I stubbornly refused to give up my pinks and chiffon. Then one day I decided to stop complaining about my career and instead focus on what I could do to move my career forward - and along the way learned what a difference packaging makes. Not only did people take me more seriously, I gained a newfound sense of freedom in always being able to ‘forget about how I looked’ with confidence. Best of all, I found that you can be just as strategic about your personal packaging from design to daily execution just as you would any business project. Not only was it effective for my career, in the end I was able to noticeably simplify my life.
As an entrepreneur and mother of 2 kids, time is my most precious commodity. I’ve had the bad skin, the 20 pounds excess weight, the self-esteem issues. I’ve also been through the crazy shopaholic and severe budget challenged phases. And I’m finally at peace with it all because I’ve found a way to ‘set myself up before so I don’t have to think about during’, creating more time in my life to enjoy the things that matter the most – time with my family and friends, time for rest from work, and time to build our businesses with the goal of helping others do the same.
