How to Build a Personal Brand and Turn Ideas into Success: Lessons from Sara Blakely and Daniel Priestly
Four Key Steps and Why You May Want to Write a Book
My next free webinar for subscribers on Recalibrating and Reinventing Your Professional Life is coming on November 2nd, noon CST
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
—Theodore Roosevelt
When Sara Blakely came up with the idea for Spanx, she had no fashion experience, no financial backing, and only $5,000 in savings.
Unable to afford a patent lawyer, she studied patent law books herself. She hustled to get meetings with manufacturers and used her resourcefulness to build a personal brand centered on innovation and perseverance.
Spanx became a billion-dollar company, and Blakely's story of grit and determination became the foundation of her brand as an advocate for women entrepreneurs.
Let's be honest: most of us won't start a billion-dollar business. But here's the key takeaway from Sara's story: she didn't let the Illusion of Limited Resources (ILR) stop her.
If you want to understand how IRL gets in the way of great ideas becoming reality, here is a quick thought experiment:
What if you could trade lives with someone in your field that you admired for an entire year? You get all their resources, and they get yours. What would your life look like at the end of that year when you get it back from being run by your hero and role model?
Would they have made better use of the same resources you have right now?
If the answer is yes, here's the brutal truth: you don't have a resource problem. You have a resourcefulness problem. The good news? Resourcefulness is free. No complicated sign-up is required—just a decision to tap into it.
You know what else is free? Ideas. Your ideas on how to solve people's problems in a unique way. That's the heart of a personal brand—turning those ideas into something tangible that helps others and builds authority. You don't need to reinvent the wheel; you just need to spin it in your own way.
If you're reading this and thinking, "Yeah, but where do I even start?"—you're in good company. Over the last 20 years, I've started 3 businesses and 2 nonprofits ( some more successful than others), and I can tell you I've asked that same question more times than I'd like to admit.
So, here are the steps I've found that will maximize your chances of success, adapted from Daniel Priestly's book Key Person of Influence:
1. Pitch
Answer the "What do you do?" question with power and clarity. Your pitch should be so clear that even your grandma gets it.
2. Publish
Authority comes from publishing content—a newsletter, book, podcast, or article. There's a reason "authority" has the word "author" in it. Coincidence? I think not.
3. Productize
What's the one thing you deliver at an extraordinary level? Whether you're an entrepreneur or an employee, figure out your "thing." Bonus points if it's something people will actually pay for.
4. Profile
Your visibility matters. You are who Google or LinkedIn says you are—or you're invisible. Don't let your digital self disappear into the internet's black hole. Be known, liked, and trusted in your space.
5. Partnerships
Leverage your expertise to collaborate with others who can amplify your influence and visibility. In other words, find the peanut butter to your jelly and build something great together.
None of this is easy.
If it were, we'd all be TED speakers and bestselling authors by now. But here's the truth:
Building a personal brand with a real impact is easier now than ever. Whether you're a founder, corporate employee, or entrepreneur, a strong personal brand will help you serve more people and have more impact. It may also help you never to apply for another job again.
This newsletter was just a few dozen people before it grew to 21k. Third Drive Media was just me with some skills and a camera before we started developing brands for founders and leaders. Xponential Performance Coaching started with informal coaching that grew over time. Ascend Academy in Mozambique was just an idea of how to get kids out of extreme poverty before it became a reality.
Nothing worth building is ever easy.
No one who has built anything good has ever had all the resources. You need an idea and a steady supply of resourcefulness.
You've never been where you are now, so why not maximize your path forward by creating a personal brand that reflects your passion, expertise, and aspirations for the next season of your life?
Remember, everything new and exciting comes with the temptation of ILR—the Illusion of Limited Resources. Please don't fall for it. Get started today.
An excellent way to kick off this journey is to sit down and write out ideas for the 5 Ps. Trust me, it's a fun (and slightly eye-opening) exercise.
Suppose your P for Publish is about writing a book.
In that case, you'll want to check out my interview with Michelle Prince of Performance Publishing. Michelle is helping me publish my first book, Little Book of Big Reasons to Love America | A Love Letter From an Immigrant, which is coming out this fall. Join the waitlist [here] to be the first to know when it's available and get access to the first chapter!
Recent Guest Spots:
Elevate IT Podcast with Christian Johnson
Exit Your Way Podcast with David Pistulka
My guests you may enjoy:
What Happens After Death -Â with John Burke
Growth Mindset - with David Yeager,
Reinvent Yourself with Mark Talukdar.
What I’m watching:
3 Movies I recommend checking out are - White Bird ( still in theaters) - very touching, although it gave me some PTSD flashbacks from being a refugee at age 5. Saturday Night ( still in theaters) - As a fan of SNL, this movie was a delight, and LEE - Kate Winslet is magnificent, as is Lee Miller, a WW2 Vogue correspondent ( Amazon Prime Video.)