Have you ever wondered, what is a personal brand? Why do executives and professionals need to have a personal brand?
A strong personal brand can help you stand out from the crowd and attract numerous opportunities in both professional and personal arenas. In this episode of the Career101 Podcast, Porschia is joined by marketing and branding expert, Stacey Ruth. Stacey has founded 2, multi-million-dollar agencies, has been among the Top 50 Entrepreneurs Under 50 in Atlanta, and has twice been awarded Top 100 “It” Agencies by Experiential Marketer.
Hear Stacey’s guidance on the purpose, importance, and challenges associated with personal branding. She also shares key insights on Personal Brand Statements. Get to know the distinction between professional branding and personal branding with Stacey.
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today, we are talking about personal branding 101. What is personal branding with Stacey Ruth? Stacey Ruth is unstoppable. She founded two multimillion dollar agencies and has been among the top 50 entrepreneurs under 50 in Atlanta and twice awarded top 100 it agencies by experiential marketer as a novice entrepreneur.
She made nearly every business decision mistake. Even as she was doing things the way they were supposed to be done. Her businesses survived personal challenges, the fallout of 9 11 and deep recessions, as she learned how to tap into her own inner wisdom and create an authentic personal brand in order to thrive.
[00:01:00] Today, she coaches other women’s CEOs and executives on how to grow their influence and impact with bold confidence and clarity. Stacey is the author of Own Your Own Shift and her latest book, Inside Out Smart, is now available on Amazon. Hi Stacey. How are you today?
Stacey: I am doing fantastic. I’m so excited to be
Porschia: here with you.
Great. Well, we are excited to have you with us to talk about personal branding. Uh, but before we get into that, we want to know a little bit more about you. So tell me about seven year old Stacy.
Stacey: Seven year old Stacy was, uh, you know what? She was a storyteller. She loved, okay, here’s the deal. There was this old tree in the park that we used to go to and I would collect all of the other little seven year olds that were playing in the park [00:02:00] and we would go to the storytelling tree and I would just make stuff up.
And I would make up these stories and it was really fascinating. Everybody had a good time. And I… Kind of lost that thread for quite a while. And I think it’s what brings me back to wanting to write wanting to speak and wanting to share stories with other women. Wow. Uh,
Porschia: that storytelling, I can definitely see how that shows up in, you know, your career and then also what you do now.
Uh, and personal branding when we think about it. I think there’s definitely an element of telling your own story to that.
Stacey: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It’s one of the things that I actually, um, when I’m working with somebody on their personal brand is for them to articulate their story and the, the difference.
And it is a very, very, [00:03:00] very important difference is that their story must be. It must be authentic. It must be real. And, uh, within parameters, it must be transparent. And so we’re not making works of fiction here and we’re not trying to make ourselves look different than we are, but we do need to present our highest and best self.
Is built on some of our, um, perhaps not proudest moments, but they were our greatest learnings.
Porschia: Mm hmm. Whoa. You said a lot of great information there, Stacey. I, I definitely agree. Sometimes I see people who are creating, um, a story and they think they have to be perfect, right? And I think that they, uh, you know, have to leave out the messy parts.
Uh, so thank you so much for sharing that [00:04:00] with us. We’re gonna, we’re gonna dig more into that, but. You know, to go back a little bit, tell me what was your first job, Stacey?
Stacey: Oh my goodness. My first job, uh, because my parents wanted me to focus on my work and not have a, you know, the, the fast food restaurant or the little retail, um, you know, starter job.
So I actually, my first job, I didn’t tell my parents that I had, I was the editorial cartoonist for our college. Uh, newspaper. And so I got to, um, share whatever opinions I had, uh, in illustrated form, and it was a really, really fun, not terribly lucrative, uh, and made so much more fun because it was just secret.
Nobody knew.
Porschia: Wow. So Stacey, that adds a whole different dynamic to you. Uh, you are already, you know, [00:05:00] multifaceted, but to know that not only were you telling stories and, and helping with kind of, you know, the branding marketing angle, you’re also an artist.
Stacey: I am. I am. Yeah. I started my first. Uh, agencies, uh, I had been a, um, graphic designer, art director, um, and, uh, initially was in illustration.
So I, I always find that to be the most fun expression. Do come back to it, even when I probably should be doing some other things because it is so much fun and so fulfilling. Yeah. Yeah.
Porschia: You’re, you’re a true creative. It sounds like Stacey.
Stacey: To a certain degree. Yes. Yes. I have other facets as well. Yeah.
Porschia: Yeah.
Some of the other facets. You’ve had a really interesting career with, uh, it seems like quite a few twists and turns. Just tell us about some highlights or pivotal moments. in [00:06:00] your career?
Stacey: Well, you know, probably like a lot of your listeners. Um, I found myself kind of going with the flow and when opportunities would pop up, uh, I would, I would follow that thread, whether it was actually the best or most fulfilling.
thread for me to follow didn’t even occur to me. It was what was in front of me and I tended to follow what society at large tells us is the successful thing to do, is the right thing to do, is the strategic thing to do. And I right thing, strategic thing, my way into overwhelm, exhaustion, burnout at the agency that I worked for in Atlanta.
It was one of the Atlanta office. was one of the largest, [00:07:00] um, uh, I’ll say global production companies. I think that’s what people will understand in the world at the time. And I was working from 7 a. m. until 7 p. m. at night, working weekends, eating lunch at my desk, probably sounds familiar to a lot of people, at least pre pandemic, and I had not taken a vacation in five years.
So, when my husband and I, at the time, took our first vacation in five years, and we took ten days and went to Sedona, Arizona, and I literally went on the mountaintop at one of the beautiful vortexes, and there were people meditating. I’d never meditated. Sat there in the stillness, and I actually heard a voice.
No, I didn’t say, Oh, that’s God speaking, but it was very clear and it was very articulate and it said, it’s time to go out on your own. And I literally came down off the mountaintop and [00:08:00] started my first agency 60 days after that. And that was my first real career pivot, where instead of following the flow, I got in the flow.
I became the flow. And I was able to really tap into what my inner desires, what my inner calling really was about. Now I didn’t maintain that a hundred percent, let’s just be honest. And yet that was a very powerful, pivotal moment for me. Wow.
Porschia: Um, thank you for sharing that Stacey, because A lot of people are experiencing that burnout, that overwhelm.
I’m raising my hand. I’ve starred in that movie also. Yeah.
Stacey: I came back to it. It was, it was a recurring role. Yes. Yes.
Porschia: Yes. Starring, uh, featured character recurring role. I love it. And, um, You know, just that it sounds like that, that solitude and then also that clarity [00:09:00] that you received when you were in Sedona, um, was really transformational.
Um, so I guess I also want to know about some of your career challenges. Right. So it sounds like, you know, 60 days later you start that new agency, uh, and you know, we’ve heard a little bit about your success from your bio and anyone who checks you out online can definitely see all of that. But, uh, what are some of those big career challenges that you experienced?
Stacey: Well, one of the biggest ones that I experienced, um, besides externals, I mean, we went through, uh, major recessions, we went through, uh, a lot of reinvention, and I had personal health crisis and also personal challenges outside of work. including two failed marriages, one to a business partner. So, you know, that some people would say that was a mistake.
I’ll call it a [00:10:00] learning opportunity. But what I will say is that the biggest challenge that I brought into my work was As a high achieving woman, I was almost guaranteed to have some experience of this was imposter syndrome. So who am I to be leading an agency? Who am I to be doubling in growth every year?
Who am I to be working for Fortune 500 companies? And it was a man’s world at the time. I’d received, although I didn’t understand I’d taken them on, I thought I was angry at them and I was gonna push them away, but I got the messages from society that said, you know, honey, maybe you should get some help or maybe you should not put yourself out there so much.
And the perfectionism and the [00:11:00] control and the trying to do all the things and the procrastinating. You know, all of those things as a leader in an organization, I did. And truly, I was not a great leader for several years because of that imposter syndrome. And it killed my health because of the stress that it creates in us.
It, imposter syndrome is sure that I don’t have what it takes, is sure that I’m a fraud and I will be found out.
Porschia: Wow. Um, yes. I mean, what you shared is so important for people to hear. And I, I hope people go back and listen to what you mentioned again, um, because you said so many important things. Uh, imposter syndrome is one of the biggest things that our clients struggle with.
Um, especially as they’re progressing throughout their career. Maybe they’re trying to move up a level, right? They’re going from [00:12:00] individual contributor to manager, manager to director, director to executive, or they’re starting their own business, right? They’re an entrepreneur. And that imposter syndrome shows up at different levels throughout your career.
So, um, you know, we could probably have you back for another episode to talk about imposter syndrome later, but, uh, you know, what you shared was so, so powerful. So how did you kind of. Transition out of imposter syndrome, and I’m sure it’s one of those recurring themes to write recurring movies. We talked about recurring
Stacey: role for sure.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I, for me, I really hit a wall with the health crisis that told me something had to change. And, and that was I, I was losing my hair. I had headaches 24 seven for several months, and then I found out I was bleeding internally. So it was, I mean my body was [00:13:00] breaking down because of the stress, the emotional mental and physical stress that I was putting it under.
Nevermind what it was doing to the people who I worked with, and who worked for me. And so. At that time, I read a similar story by Arianna Huffington, and you know, it’s great to say, Oh, I’m just like Arianna Huffington, but it was, it was an opportunity for me to see that it was a choice. It was a set of behaviors, and I could change it.
And It really got me in touch with what mattered to me, and what was uniquely powerful about me, rather than trying to measure up to somebody else’s standard, because, you know, to your point, it’s not just high achieving women that have imposter syndrome, it’s anyone who finds themselves first, only, or different, And we all want to belong, right?
We all want to blend in. We feel like maybe we’re betraying, [00:14:00] you know, our peer group and when we move up or something. And it’s the same thing when we are creating our new community. Thank you. Business, you know, entrepreneurs, 84% have imposter syndrome, and they’re in the middle of really defining who they are for, for some of them in a completely different way.
And that was another experience that I had when I started this new, you know, executive leadership development and consulting work that I was doing so different from my agency. And I, you know, I found myself a little bit back in imposter syndrome, but I also really began to understand the power of personal branding to be able to get us through it in a way that I didn’t even imagine was possible because both the breaking through of imposter syndrome, well, I should say three things, triple the trifecta of starting a new [00:15:00] business or a new role, building a personal brand and really getting in touch with who you are.
And what your unique strengths are, are, are essential to not just our success, but to our fulfillment.
Porschia: Ooh, I, I agree. I agree. I agree. 100% Stacey. Uh, you have a lot of great experience. Like you mentioned, you know, the marketing, the branding, uh, also the leadership work that you do, uh, today we’re going to focus on personal branding, which is a component of that.
I want to start with the basics, though, for some listeners who might not be familiar with personal branding. What is personal
Stacey: branding? Well, you know, the personal branding is really of the individual. Of course, you know, if somebody’s starting a business, They’re certainly going to use their personal brand to influence and shape their business [00:16:00] brand because they’re almost, uh, indivisible.
But the personal brand itself is about how we influence others, how we grow our personal impact in our Organizations in the world. How do we want to be perceived? What do we want to be known for? And in some cases, how do we want to be remembered?
You know, they say it’s what they say about you when you’re not in the room. It’s also what attracts the right employees, attracts the right opportunities. And yes, attracts the right business and clients. And it’s how you build trust. Yeah.
Porschia: Sometimes Stacey, I’ve heard people say professional brand as opposed to personal brand.
Do you think [00:17:00] there’s a difference between those two things or are they the same in your opinion?
Stacey: Well, let me clarify. I, I see a professional brand as the brand, the personal brand of a professional individual versus a business brand. Yes. Yes. And a personal brand certainly doesn’t require us to be in any kind of professional setting.
I can have a personal brand and be, let’s say, You know, a fashion influencer, even though I don’t necessarily have a company, or I can be a celebrity and have a personal brand. Again, you, they kind of are the business and if you’re a professional and you’re building your professional brand, your personal experience, your personal talents, your person, your personality is going to influence.
Professional [00:18:00] brand, and you can’t really separate the two. We try to artificially say professional over here, personal over here, and near the twain shall meet, if you will, but, but they do interact and influence each other and certainly in today’s online social media world, you’re not going to be able to create that separateness, even if you try to.
Porschia: Yeah, you’re right. People are looking you up. Uh, some of the services that we help our clients with, we write professional resumes, uh, cover letters. Um, also we do LinkedIn makeovers for, uh, some of our clients. And so I generally, you know, call them professional branding documents, which I think adds, you know, as an To what you were saying, they’re, but some of our clients say personal brand and I just roll with that too.
But to your point, I do think it’s that professional [00:19:00] side of the personal kind of presentation that you’re putting out there. Yeah. And for executives,
Stacey: I mean, often they need their own. Personal professional website for speaking for their charity activities. You know, a lot of different reasons that even if you’re not a separate business, you may need a separate website.
Porschia: Yeah. Yeah. And to that point, we have some executives that come to us and they want help with, you know, their thought leadership, which is a kind of a newer term that’s come up over the last few years. And to your point, they might be putting together a website that’s going to have elements of their personal brand elements of their professional brand and kind of putting that together.
Uh, For people who find them. So yeah, thank you for for clarifying that. Um, so Stacy, why do you think a lot of people are hesitant or they might cringe at the thought of their own [00:20:00] personal
Stacey: branding? Well, I certainly run across a lot of individuals who, uh, especially Especially entrepreneurs who, uh, don’t just cringe at the idea of personal branding.
They also cringe at the idea of marketing and selling themselves. It feels disingenuous. It feels fake and false. And it also feels like, um, a lot of work that’s exhausting. And I think at the core of anyone who cringes at personal branding, There are two things that they really want to avoid. One is they want to avoid being inauthentic.
And if you’re building your personal brand correctly, you can’t be inauthentic. So there’s a lot of people out there trying to create fake brands. And I understand why people are afraid of being inauthentic. And yet, those are not effective. personal brands. [00:21:00] The second reason is people are afraid of being too visible, afraid that the visibility will somehow get them rejected, will somehow get them, um, uh, in some sort of, uh, shall I say conflict, uh, some sort of argument or conflict or upset someone in some way through that visibility.
I just don’t want to be that visible.
Porschia: Yeah, absolutely. I think both of those are, you know, really common. I’ll speak for myself and some of our clients. I’m an introvert. And so to your point about starting that business, uh, I, I was, you know, confronted with the idea that. Guess what? I’m going to have to be a lot more visible to your point.
And even though I, you know, I don’t consider myself shy. So I make that distinction between being an introvert and being shy. But just to know [00:22:00] that, Hey, I’m going to be putting myself out there more. And so that is something that to your point comes up for a lot of our clients too. Um, so yeah.
Stacey: And there’s ways to be visible without, uh, to your point, you know, the, the introverts don’t want so much input from other people and there are certainly a million and one different ways to be visible without having to expose yourself to that.
And that, I think that’s a very powerful point you made.
Porschia: Yeah, yeah. Great distinction there too. Uh, so how can having a strong personal brand help someone in their career? Sure.
Stacey: Oh, . I almost feel like it’s a necessity. Uh, I mean, everybody has a brand. We already have brands, you know, I mean, the, the real impact of taking over the management and control of your personal brand is that you’re then [00:23:00] saying, I’m going to direct this.
I’m going to send myself in the direction that I choose and that I want. to explore and grow into rather than letting peers, competitors, bosses, the market, whatever, determine it for you because either you’re controlling it or you’re defaulting to let someone else control it. So if I decide that I want to grow my brand as the go to person on the team.
I don’t necessarily want to skyrocket into the stratosphere of executive leadership or start my own business. Then you’re controlling the direction of your career in that way and it’s perfectly okay. The importance is to know what it is that you want and what your purpose and your talents. And your strengths and your desires, what they all play into so that you really are creating something that’s fulfilling for yourself.
I don’t know another way to grow that’s [00:24:00] fulfilling rather than to really take ownership of all of that.
Porschia: I love how you position that Stacey and what came to mind for me, um, in, in what you just said was also thinking about it from, you know, a journalistic standpoint nowadays, people talk about narratives a lot, you know, my, the thought of kind of controlling your own narrative, right?
So it’s not your boss’s narrative, your manager’s narrative, or even the company that you work for narrative, it’s, it’s your own. And so I love that. One thing that people get asked us sometimes is what is a personal branding statement?
Stacey: Well, there’s a lot of different terms and there’s actually a variety of opinions about that, right?
You know, some people treat it as a tagline. Some people treat it as a mantra. I like to think of it kind of as a, a [00:25:00] Uh, purpose statement that really talks about what I uniquely do best, how I uniquely help, and who I uniquely help. So that’s very similar to a purpose statement. And, um, then, you know, there’s some folks that just pick six words that are values and, uh, put those together as I’m this and this and this, and I help do this and this and this.
And, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of different approaches to it. I, I like the purpose statement because it helps me be very clear about what I’m about every single day. I know that I’m doing these things to help these people in this way, because ultimately we’re here to help each other. Yeah, absolutely.
No brand is an
Porschia: island, I guess. Right, right. Uh, so many of the professionals and executives in our community are interested in developing [00:26:00] their personal brands. What advice would you give to them? Uh, or anyone, right? Who wants to improve their personal brand?
Stacey: Well, first, I would look at whether you need to and the telltale signs that I need to improve my personal brand is I’m not attracting the opportunities that I want.
I’m not attracting the not just. Clients that I want, but the right kind of clients that I want, or I’m not keeping, retaining, or attracting the team and resources that I want. If those things are not happening and you’re just working yourself to death, then yes, a personal brand refresh would be a good idea and refinement.
And then I like to start with you. You know, what are your values? What are your strengths? What are your talents, your [00:27:00] passions? Where do you really feel like you can serve? What do other people say about you? What do they tell you? What are your superpowers? What’s your archetype? You know, all of these, it’s the best subject in the world, you.
And let’s really get to know you before we decide how to start expressing that into the world. And then the next thing is to really understand who you’re serving, how you’re serving them, and what they really want, where the gap is that you can fill, and we can go from there. Most people, unfortunately, start with what they’re projecting, rather than starting with themselves.
Porschia: Mm hmm. So, I, I definitely agree. Uh, How would you recommend someone go about doing some of that deep work, Stacy? So I know, uh, you know, you have, you know, books and some resources that we’ll get into, but I’m interested to know [00:28:00] how could someone get started with that, you know, today? Is that pulling out a journal?
Is that, you know, thinking intently or going back and looking at aspects from their career? I just want your insights on that.
Stacey: Well, uh, we could, we could do a, uh, entire episode of this on any one of them. Um, I typically like to start with our values, um, because, uh, many of us look at our values and. We try to embody values we think we’re supposed to.
We try to embody values that might get us where we want to go. Or we try to embody values that someone has told us we should embody. And It’s possible to use any particular set of values that are uniquely your DNA to get you where you want to go. Rather than trying to make the value take you [00:29:00] there, you get to let the values you already have and already embody take you there.
Um, I, I have a, and you may have something similar, but I have a, um, values worksheet, uh, that is available for free on my website for folks to really dig into what it is they truly value. Because between us here on this episode, most people have never taken the time to actually identify their personal values.
And doing that is eye opening when we do it right and don’t just try to Pluck a bunch of values out of the air. Mm hmm.
Porschia: Yeah, I completely agree. We do have a values assessment that our coaching clients generally fill out towards the beginning of their programs with us. Um, And we propose some values and just kind of get them to like scale and rank order those, but you’re right.
I think that’s a great starting [00:30:00] point. So you started, I think, kind of alluding to some of these things earlier, Stacey, but I want to know from your perspective, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see people make with their personal brands? Oh,
Stacey: uh, lack of clarity and lack of commitment. And when I say lack of clarity, they’re not sure that it’s really their personal brand, but they see Jane Smith over here doing something that looks really good.
And I think I’ll try to emulate Jane Smith and then that doesn’t work. And so then they try to go over and emulate, you know, Betty Jones, whatever. Right. And, and so they keep switching it up or. They switch it up this way. I’m going to talk about this and I’m going to talk about that and then I’m going to talk about the other and and there’s [00:31:00] nobody gets a chance to even see.
What their strengths are because they keep switching. So lack of clarity could also be lack of patience. I’m not sure, but, um, but then the lack of commitment is, is really a lack of commitment to themselves, a lack of commitment to, to growing their personal brand in a daily practice, a brand is not a light switch.
It’s something that is developed over time and by. consistently showing up as that brand. Yeah. We’re, we’re in a, we’re in a fast results, fast food, instant deposit kind of world. And we have lost our patience and therefore are undercutting our ability to actually grow our businesses and our careers. Yeah.
Porschia: The, the word that came to mind for me as you started was consistency. [00:32:00] So, yeah, definitely not necessarily fast results when it comes to the personal brand, but I think just being authentic and understanding it can help people, uh, to maybe get out of the timelines and expectations, you know, around that.
Yeah. And
Stacey: I do want to add a third thing. If I may, and that is that with their personal brands, individuals will launch too soon. If I launch my personal brand without having done the diligence and the work to really understand it and be clear about it, you can undercut your personal brand very quickly.
It’s not that you can’t rebuild it, but it’s going to be that much harder.
Porschia: Great point. I’ve, I’ve seen that. I think Stacey with some clients who were entrepreneurs and they were going the personal brand route, [00:33:00] um, and using perhaps their name as like their business and their website and everything, but they weren’t really clear on what they wanted to do.
Um, so sometimes they weren’t getting those results that they wanted. I definitely think that’s a great point. Yeah, absolutely. So tell us about your new book, Inside Out Smart.
Stacey: Well, we do talk a little bit about leadership branding in there. The focus of that book is about being able to make clear decisions.
Innovative decisions, faster decisions, more accurate decisions, using our entire brain, most especially intuition. And I do believe that we all intuitively know a tremendous amount. The problem is that we don’t trust our intuition. We can’t recognize it. We’re not sure if it’s our intuition talking to us or maybe we’re just wishful thinking.
And we don’t know how to pull it forward on demand. [00:34:00] And so what I’m really helping individuals. Understand is the neuroscience behind it because it is a real thing. It’s not just a woo woo thing and it really is making decisions faster and more accurately than our puny little conscious rational thinking process, which is actually very slow and When we tap into that, uh, crossover between our conscious and our unconscious mind, we create synapses in our brain that actually brings intuition forward faster and we begin to recognize it.
And I’ll give your listeners this big tip. If you’re not sure if it’s your intuition, your intuition has no emotion attached to it. It just. It says go here, say this, do that. What happens after that, very quickly after that, is our ego, our personality, which [00:35:00] influences our brand, our ego will jump in and go, Oh, that’s really exciting.
Or that’s really scary or some similar response. That’s not actually that first thought from intuition.
Porschia: Wow. Uh, I love that, you know, the whole idea that your intuition has no emotion attached to it. That’s really deep. Yeah. Really deep. And I think that’s a great marker, a great tip, like you were saying, um, to where people can. Use that to tell, you know, if it’s their intuition, if it’s someone else’s thoughts, if it’s their ego, if it’s, you know, you know, anything else, really, um, I think that that is great.
Stacey: That’s great. Yeah. And I like to invite people, especially when they’re starting to clarify and develop their brand. I love to invite them into [00:36:00] intuitive exercises because it’s really through our intuition. So many people want to know. What’s my purpose? You know, what’s my meaning? And really, our intuition is the fastest, best source of the answers to that.
And we spend so much time looking outside of ourselves. which is what wears us out at work, which is what burns us out at work, and, and not looking inside ourselves for our values, our purpose, our meaning, our mission, and all of that is part of our personal brand. So we’re, we’re letting ourselves be defined externally rather than defining it for ourselves.
internally.
Porschia: So it sounds like we could, we could also think about this episode and this topic of personal branding from, you know, the intuitive perspective, right? What is your intuition telling you? I love that because There are a lot of people that that come to us [00:37:00] and want to know, well, hey, I can’t get started with my career, my business, because I don’t know what my purpose is, or I don’t know what I want to do, you know, I don’t really know who I am.
And to your point, their intuition, they could use that to really check in with themselves and find some of those answers.
Stacey: Absolutely. And, you know, what’s really interesting about intuition is it’s curious, it’s willing to explore. All the possibilities. And that, you know, I don’t know, is our ego speaking.
It’s our, it’s our fear and our personality saying, well, what if, what if you choose wrong? What if you choose this and then you decide you don’t like it? What makes that wrong? You know, I mean, those are the things that we put ourselves in such a straitjacket over rather than allowing ourselves to learn and explore.
Isn’t that what life is all about? I, [00:38:00] I
Porschia: completely agree. I can’t, I would give that like 10 thumbs up. I think that sometimes I talk to people, Stacey, where, whether it be their career, their business, and they’re so scared to get it wrong, they take no action. And then they realize that they’ve been thinking about something for.
Weeks, months, or years, and if they had just jumped in and even if they had done something and they thought, Hey, this was wrong, they could have course corrected and been on a new path or two or three new paths. But instead, because they never jumped in, they’re still at stage one, right? Asking the same question.
Yes.
Stacey: And here’s a little tidbit because I, I also. You know, using intuition. I teach innovation. Um, I’m actually thrilled to be speaking to Johns Hopkins Aerospace Division on innovation next week. And, and that too, that intuition tied with innovation. [00:39:00] Here’s, here’s the secret. Over 90% of new products fail, and those 90% of products are going through all the rigors of product testing, all the focus groups, all the testing, all the research, and they’re still failing.
And that, to me… is part of the problem of our innovative process and our self discovery process is we are trying to get it right before we’ve even tried it. And Apple never did the product testing. Apple just Said, I think this would work. Let’s try this and Albert Einstein was saying, you know, let, let our rational minds be the servant of intuition, not the other way around.
So we’re, we’re trying to do it all up here in [00:40:00] our, our frontal lobe, lobe, the executive functioning and the 5% of our brain that’s slow. And ineffective rather than allowing ourselves to play. And when we play, we actually get insights. faster and we grow faster. And personal brands are about growth.
Porschia: Yeah, that’s fascinating.
Uh, we’ll be providing a link to your website and your other social channels in our show notes so that people can find you online, Stacey. Uh, but what is the best way for someone to get in touch with
Stacey: you? Well, I like to invite people to my website because it is rich with tools and you can connect with me through the website and that is unstoppable dash.
I’m on all sorts of social media under Stacey Ruth says,
Porschia: great, great. So now Stacey, I want to shift gears a little bit. [00:41:00] Uh, what is your definition of career success?
Stacey: My definition of career success is whatever fulfills you in your life. It can’t be one definition because we are all individuals and it’s sad to me.
It’s heartbreaking to me. Really. How many people try to let Society defined for them what their career success is, and it usually centers around money at the expense of rich time. So I’ll put it this way, real career success is doing what you want, when you want, where you want, how you want, with whom you want.
Great,
Porschia: great. So how do you think executives and other professionals can get a positive edge in their career?
Stacey: [00:42:00] Well, a positive edge to me is really growing your visibility. If people see you, then they get a chance to know you, and if they get a chance to know you, they get a chance to love you and trust you.
So, the visibility is really unique to your skill set. It could be speaking, it could be writing, blogging, it could be, um, creating a movement. I’ve actually got a couple of clients that that’s what they really want to do. And, and all of those things are growing our visibility. It’s really connecting with other people and serving other people.
There is no better way.
Porschia: Yeah, grow and grow all of that from growing the visibility. Um, so Stacy, you were so kind to share with us about some of your challenges in your career that you’ve had earlier. I’m interested to know what are your thoughts on work life balance? [00:43:00]
Stacey: I started the business I’m in now in order to create greater work life balance for myself.
I was traveling, um, over 250 days out of the year before I did that. And it just wasn’t sustainable. My pets didn’t know who I was. So, my husband vaguely remembered, right? And so, really, to me, it’s to be able to do the work I love. But let that be just the segment of the pie on the whole wheel of life, so that I get chances to mentor, to be a student and learn, to work in my spirituality, my creativity, my, you know.
to play, to have adventures, all of these things are a part of who I am. And life is the wheel, you know, work can’t balance with life. Work must integrate into life and just be a part of it. [00:44:00]
Porschia: Got it. The work life integration. I love it, Stacey. Well, you have shared a lot of wisdom and insights with us today.
I’m sure that our listeners could use it to be more confident in their careers. I appreciate you being with us. Thank
Stacey: you very much. Lively conversation.
Porschia: Lively indeed.
