Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Crafting Your Personal Brand for Career Transition Success | Ep #147
Episode - #147
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] shannon russell: Is your personal brand ready for the spotlight? If not, join me for the BrandHer Workshop happening the week of June 24th. This workshop is all about mastering personal branding for career transitions. We're diving into everything from resumes to networking to websites to coming up with your personal brand story.

So if you are thinking about changing careers, getting back into the workforce or starting your own business. Join me for the BrandHer Workshop. Go to secondactsuccess.co/brandher. Let's create your personal brand that will help connect your past experience to what you want to do in the future.

Register now to join us at secondactsuccess.co/brandher. I'll see you there on June 24th.

Okay.

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Second Act Success Career Podcast we are about to dive into a secret behind making a successful career transition. What am I talking [00:01:00] about? I'm talking about personal branding. And if you're thinking about branding, as far as advertising marketing. No, no, no. What we're talking about is your personal brand, your story, and how you can portray yourself in your resume. LinkedIn interviewing, networking, how you present yourself to the world. We will be talking about the power of personal branding and how polishing your personal brand will be a game changer for you as you prepare for a career change.

Before we dive in, let's start with the basics. What is personal branding? Personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself and your career as a brand. It's how you present yourself in the world, highlighting your unique skills. By creating a brand that really represents you and your past experience. It will highlight your skills, but also your experiences, your [00:02:00] personality, everything that you bring to the table from your past, as you transition to the future, to where you want to be to where your next career move will take. You. Let's think about it this way. When you are making a career transition, your personal brand becomes your professional calling, right?

It's your calling card. It is what sets you apart in a sea of candidates it's what helps potential employers, clients, business partners, understand why you are the right fit to work with.

So, let me ask you a question. Is your personal brand nailed down. Are you able to go to a networking event tomorrow and tell someone. What you've done in the past what you're working on now and where you want to go in your career?

If not, don't worry. I'm going to give you some really tangible action steps that you can start taking throughout this episode. And I just want to mention that I'm having a [00:03:00] personal branding workshop happening at the end of June. It's my BrandHer Workshop.

During that workshop we're actually going to meet Monday, June 24th, on Wednesday, June 26th. And if you select the VIP option, you will also join me on Friday, June 28th. During that week workshop.

I am going to walk you through exactly how you can go out there and stand out to get that next career you were looking for. If you're interested in taking what we're talking about today to the next level, then you can head over to secondactsuccess.co/brandher I will also link to it in the show notes as well.

All right enough about that. Let's get to it.

Why is personal branding so powerful during a career transition?

Let's break it down. I have three key reasons why personal branding is a must have, as you prepare for your second act. And here we go. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. [00:04:00] First up establishing credibility and authority.

When you're moving into a new field. You might not have all of the direct experience in that industry that you're moving into. And that really is okay. However, a strong personal brand can position you as that expert. You will be designing a way to take your past experience in all of your skills, all of your accolades, everything from your past and move it into the present and future by creating a brand that really represents who you are that puts it all together for you.

By doing this, you will be positioning yourself as an expert and a thought leader. Based on the skills and experience you have and how those skills and those experiences can transition into this new industry.

How can you start doing this? You can share content on social media, on your LinkedIn page, on your website, you can write articles and blogs. You can engage in discussions [00:05:00] related to this new field you're interested in. I often tell my clients that on LinkedIn, especially when you are looking for. A new opportunity in a new industry that you want to write that right there in your bio, right there at the top of your LinkedIn. That this is who you are. And what you are looking for. It doesn't matter that you haven't worked in that exact role. You are showcasing that you are moving into project management, you are moving into accounting, you are moving into opening your own business, whatever it is you want to show that. And then you'll back it up with the experience underneath. You can do that by again, sharing articles, writing blogs about the industry that you're moving into, taking your past experience in all of the research you have done to decide on this new career field and write that and share that online.

So you have those links in those articles to really [00:06:00] back up why you are choosing that industry and why you are moving towards that role. This not only demonstrates your knowledge and your experience, but it shows your commitment to a new industry

also that you are confident that what you have done up until this point. Is going to help you Excel in your new industry. Here's an example. If you are transitioning from marketing into say data analysis, right. You're really niching down into the data of, at all. What you could do is maybe start a blog. Or even a newsletter on LinkedIn, for example. And discuss the intersection of these fields. In marketing, there are people who analyze the data on how the marketing is doing. And so there's that correlation. So what you could actually write or share on LinkedIn you can also contribute to discussions. In LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, wherever you can get yourself out there into the conversation.

And [00:07:00] what you can do is really talk about how these fields really go together. You can share case studies, you can share examples of your own experiences. And you can really portray. More about what you have done. With data analysis in your marketing role, because a lot of times on the resume itself that you might show people it's just a little bullet

or maybe it's something that you don't have on your resume currently because you weren't hands on with it. But you have probably in your marketing role. Analyze those data analysis reports. You have probably had meetings about how your marketing is affecting the data and what the results are of your marketing campaign.

You have familiarity with that field? And so you can talk about it

this will help really bring it out that you do have knowledge of this field. And this is how you're taking your past experience in marketing. And moving into this new field of data [00:08:00] analysis.

Again, this just builds your credibility and it really showcases your analytical skills and what you can do and what you want to do.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Okay. That was number one, establishing credibility in the field that you want to move into. Now let's talk about number two. Showcasing your transferable skills.

Your personal brand should really highlight the skills and experiences. That are relevant across different industries. This could be leadership, communication, project management, or problem solving skills,

These are general skills that are great to have and can be used. Across many, many industries. So if you have experience in any of these fields, whether you've worked directly in the industry that you're moving into or not. You have experience with communication, leadership, project management, budgets, problem-solving presentations, whatever it is.

Think about all of those skills that you currently have that you've used in the [00:09:00] past. And even if it's something mundane that you think everyone knows how to do, they probably don't. Don't discount those skills and experiences. Let's think about how you can use those skills. And really hype them up for where you're going.

You might be thinking, okay, Shannon.

Well, how can I do that? And how will that stand out amongst everyone else who has those skills as well? Well, you're going to create your career story. You are going to write your narrative. Around your career journey and how you started your career and what you've learned over the years and how you've moved up and how you've won awards and how you've managed teams, whatever it is, or maybe you switch industries already.

And what you learned from that and how you're taking all of that past experience, all of those skills, all of that leadership and management experience. And you're going to correlate how that connects. With what you are moving into.

You can have all of this information. [00:10:00] On your resume, but you need to be able to convey it in conversation and be able to show it in a different way than just bullet points on a page. once you write this story and it can be as simple as an elevator pitch of really your story and why you are trying to move into the field that you're looking into.

Once you have that summary of your career story, your narrative, you can then update your resume, update your LinkedIn profile.

If you have a portfolio or a website showing your work, you can update your story. Uh, to, to look the same and be cohesive amongst everything that you have to offer people when they ask. The most important part is to make sure that you are telling a story that you're thinking about what connects your past to your future goals. I often talk on this podcast.

About the thread, that thread that connects you throughout your life, throughout your [00:11:00] career.

When you think about that thread? That is your story. Do you use myself as an example? I started as a television producer, I took an idea and made it into something that you watch on TV. So how does that correlate to my second act, and opening my first business.

I didn't know. And for a while I struggled to think, how am I going to move what am I going to do? And I started thinking about the thread, when I decided to open my first business, that thread connected.

What I did as a producer, I produced television shows. I took an idea. I helped write the scripts. I shot the film I directed. I manage budgets. I manage teams, all of that. Pulled along with the thread into my first. business that I started running after I left television. Where I took an idea of a business. And I grew it.

I had to mark it. I had a budget I had to hire, I had to produce the idea of the business. Into [00:12:00] fruition. And to thread the thread a little bit further when I opened my second business.

Second act success. I was able to now take that experience and help others. Transfer their skills and start a new second act career. And I'm using my production skills with my podcast and writing scripts and writing blogs, and now writing my book. So that thread, if I was to create this narrative of my career story, Is cohesive. And I know that if you think about your past your skills, your experience and where you're moving into, you can find that commonality as well.

As you craft that narrative, You are showing it to the world, you're nailing it down so that you're able to say it when you're networking and when you're in interviews. And when you meet people,

, you are crafting your career story, your personal brand story. That no one else has. It is personal to you and you can convey that to others and stand [00:13:00] out in that way. Another example I have is, say management, We think, oh, everyone's been a manager at some point in their career.

First. That is not true. Second. Management has a lot of different layers to it. But if you have led teams say in some of your previous roles, you can emphasize how those leadership skills, that management experience. Can translate into your new career. And whether it's in tech, finance, or any other field. Leadership management can transfer, but how do you want to take your management experience from your first act into your second?

Are there specific skills or stories that you can tell and why, what you learned in that role is going to really help you stand out in your next role.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

All right, let's hit upon number three of the key reasons why personal branding. Is your best friend when it comes to career [00:14:00] transitions?

In this one, we are talking about building a professional network.

Your polished personal brand will attract other like-minded professionals. And that's just fact, when you start talking to people and telling them what you've done, what you're looking to do, they're going to say, oh, I have someone I can introduce you to, or you know what?

You really should join this group online and networking there. It's just going to open up new opportunities for you. And you're going to meet some other like-minded professionals and even potential employers. You're going to expand your network.

And that is really what helps us all as we build our career and we take that next step, moving up that ladder, or as we open a business, whatever it might be that we're thinking about for our second act, having a network around you is extremely important.

Also, you want to make sure that people in your network. No, what you do. I'm sure you can think right now of people that you went to college with, that you've worked with in the [00:15:00] past. And you're thinking, gosh, I'm not even sure what they do right now. I'm connected to them online, but I have no idea what they actually do.

So you want to make sure when you're. Creating this story of yours, this personal brand that people can easily. No. What you do and what you can offer, you want to make it clean and simple and unique. By doing that, you're just going to expand your network. And build those relationships to help you get to where you want to go.

Engaging on platforms like LinkedIn, like Twitter, like any, you know, industry specific groups that you can join online. Those are all going to help you. Participate in discussions and really get out there to meet more people. And it not only expands your network, but it also increases your visibility in that field. You might think that you're scrolling every day on LinkedIn. You're trying to read all the blogs and stay up to date on this new industry that you're moving into. But what you really want to do is [00:16:00] be contributing to those conversations. Reaching out to people that are in the network that you're thinking about moving into, trying to meet new people, trying to add to the conversation.

If you wrote a blog about a topic that someone is discussing online, share the link with them, contribute to the discussion. Networking is really more than making the connections. It's about building those relationships. And if you add something to the conversation, someone new might see it and say, oh, I didn't realize that she does this.

That's a really great perspective. And you're just staying. Top of mind with these people that either, you know, personally, professionally, or just a part of the same group online, and you have these interests in common.

I hope you can see how building. This personal brand, this career story of yours can really help you share your journey by networking and asking for advice and offering [00:17:00] help when you can online. It just builds that stronger network and helps give you the support that you need. And show you as an expert, a thought leader. So share your journey. Seek advice, help others when you can

a strong network, both personally and professionally really can help support you as you're supporting other people. And as your looking for opportunities, and it really can give you more insights, on where you want to go in your career transition,

you can learn a lot from joining in these groups, sharing your story and building this network. And you really never know where those relationships can go.

Okay. So we covered those reasons about why personal branding. Is so important. And in my BrandHer Workshop, that's coming up in a few weeks. I am going to really dive into this so much more with resources, with ways that you can take action right now to [00:18:00] start crafting your story. I'm so excited with the resources that I've created and the opportunity for live Q and A's and really digging into your resume.

Your LinkedIn. Your website, your branding colors, really knowing what to say and how to craft that story. These are all elements that we are going to dive into during the BrandHer Workshop. So again, you can head over to secondactsuccess.co/brandher.

To really get a deeper dive into what we're discussing right now in this podcast episode.

Before we leave. I want to talk about some actionable steps that I promised you that you can take right now to start polishing your personal brand.

The first thing you can do is audit yourself. And what I mean by that is a review, how you're showing up online. Take a look at your socials. Take a look at your website. Audit where you are now and start thinking about how you can change that, to correlate with the story that you are creating for yourself. This will all help [00:19:00] align you to your career goals.

Next is define your message. What is your personal branding story, start thinking about it, start writing it, and that will help you be able to really take that next step into creating everything else that goes along with it.

Lastly, engage, engage with your network. Start taking that story. Start getting involved online, start going to in-person networking events. Going to virtual networking events. Start just chatting and commenting and adding to discussions online.

Do your research and start being active. don't be a passive observer, really engage and contribute meaningfully that will help you stand out. And that is going to also help people know, Hey, she knows what she's talking about.

You never know where your relationships will go, but start engaging now.

Most importantly, my friend, remember that personal branding is not a [00:20:00] one time activity. It really is an ongoing process. And it's going to change when you get this next dream career role that you are going after you are going to sit pretty and have fun and soak in that new change. but then, you know what. A year or so from there you might be considering another change or you've added more skills to your resume and you've grown your confidence and you're becoming an even bigger thought leader in that field.

And they're your career story, your personal branding expands.

Keep refining your brand as you grow in your new career. And also stay authentic, stay consistent and stay proactive.

Thank you for spending some of your day with me today here on the podcast. For more information on the BrandHer Workshop go over to secondactsuccess.co/brandher. Until next time, keep striving for second act success in your life.

My friend. I will [00:21:00] talk to you soon.

[00:21:01] shannon russell: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to 2nd Act success. To view show notes from this episode, visit 2ndActSuccess. co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell and this is 2nd Act Success.