[00:00:00] Christine: Hey friends. Welcome back to the milspouse mastermind show. Today, we are diving into a topic that I am pretty excited to talk about. I want to talk about this one thing that is super common in the content creator, influencers, social media space, but it’s something that I think is super valuable for every military spouse.

[00:00:22] It’s building a personal brand and you might be thinking Christine, or what has gotten into you. I am just a stay at home mom or I homeschool my kids. What does a personal brand have to do with me? Well, today we’re going to dive into what a personal brand is. Six questions you can ask to get yourself started on the process and how this applies to your life.

[00:00:48] Whether you’re looking to build a business today, whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, whether you work full-time or you’re currently in school, this can apply. And really benefit your life. So last dive in and get started.

[00:01:54] Tell me if this sounds familiar. You have gotten to this place where you’re just not satisfied with the way life looked today. You find yourself getting a little lost in life as a military spouse, because you’ve put your passions, your dreams, everything that you did that really lights you up has gone on the back burner.

[00:02:17] And it’s just not accessible to you today because of where you lived or because of lack of childcare. Or whatever the circumstances of your life are, you feel like you’ve lost a little bit of yourself and you’re you start to search for something that will give you that sense of meaning and purpose in your life.

[00:02:38] Again, that will make you feel like yourself again. Your first thought is, well, maybe if I was earning money for myself, that would give me that sense of meaning and purpose. But you also know that you really want some time, freedom and flexibility, and you’re, you may be in a job, but you’re not loving your job or.

[00:02:59] I want a job, but I don’t want to commit to those hours and not be able to be there for my family and take off when my spouse has time that they can actually take off. So what could I do to make this work? And so that’s when I see a lot of spouses start looking for that side hustle and that’s something we talked about back in episode 64, where you’re like, okay, how could I make some money from home?

[00:03:25] And so you start exploring. What are some ways that military spouses make money from home. So you start researching all these different MLM companies. Could that be your side hustle? Maybe you’re really crafty. And you’re like, oh, I could start my own business. I’ll start it at C shop. Um, or maybe you go onto Facebook groups and you ask the question.

[00:03:44] Okay. Who has a legitimate work from home business that doesn’t require me to be salesy. Does this sound familiar to any of you? I think all of us at once. One point or another have at least had this thought maybe if I just had my own money and I could work from home, that would get me that sense of meaning and purpose.

[00:04:05] But is that the answer? Well, if you’ve listened to episode 64, then you know that there is a problem with this approach because while there’s a lot of ways you could get started. There’s one key piece of the puzzle that you’re missing. Do you know what it is? You haven’t taken the time to assess whether that thing actually aligns with your sweet spot and whether it’s actually going to move you towards what you really want out of life, who you want to be, what goals you’ve set for yourself, whether it aligns with your passions, what you care about and how you want to serve.

[00:04:45] So you can. Spend all of your time and energy pursuing this work from home opportunity, but it’s never going to give you what you really want, which is this sense of meaning and purpose in life. You can spend 60 hours a week building an MLM business and realize that this doesn’t actually light you up.

[00:05:06] We have to look at what this opportunity is and whether that aligns with our suites. So I’m going to help you solve this conundrum today by talking about building a personal brand. What in the world is a personal brand? How do you get started building a personal brand? And why do I believe that every military spouse should build a personal brand or at least create eight? The idea of a personal brand.

WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND?

[00:05:33] First of all, what in the world is a personal brand? Well, depending on who you ask, there’s going to be different definitions, but the definition that I am using is really using your uniqueness to serve others and building a brand around that service. I know a lot of people will teach you to just look up.

[00:05:59] Look at a personal brand, from the perspective of what do I like? What do I enjoy? If you were to take a, uh, Instagram influencer course, they would tell you to probably narrow down what you talk about to between three to five topics that you focus all of your time and energy on. And you just share about things within those of.

[00:06:23] So, yes, that’s building a brand around yourself, but this is a little bit different because this is building a brand around your purpose about what you do and how you use your uniqueness in service of. If you were to go start a business around your brand, this would give you so much greater clarity and help you use this skills.

[00:06:49] Use the things that light you up to make an impact and have an income. But the personal brand component is really all about how we start pursuing a life of purpose. It gives us a framework for decision-making and it prevents us from getting over committed and doing things that don’t actually, that we don’t actually care about.

[00:07:14] And that don’t lead us to the life we actually want. So before we get started in figuring out how do you start building this personal brand? I want you to get the founding. First, and that is that you have something to offer the world you were made with and for a purpose. So the first thing we have to get clear on is that each of us has a purpose, a calling, a reason that we are here on this earth and our.

[00:07:43] Is to go search that out, to look for ways to use our uniqueness, to serve and bless those around us. And the more clarity we have about what lights us up and what causes we care about and who we want to serve and how we want to show up. The more that we are able to live with greater joy and less overwhelm.

[00:08:03] And the closer we moved to discovery who we are mint. So, I’m not telling you that you need to go start a business around your brand today, but I’m telling you that regardless of what season of life you’re in getting clear on these things are going to make a huge difference for your life. Clarity matters.

THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR  PERSONAL BRAND: SIX QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

[00:08:23] So these six questions that I want you to get clarity on that will help build the foundation of your brand are number one. What are your core values? I know I talk about core values a lot, but when you read anything from high performers, about high performance habits, about high achievers, about making big impact, they all know their core values and they make decisions.

[00:08:53] Based on their core values. So if you don’t know what matters most to you, you can’t prioritize those things. You can’t make those decisions. So the first step is getting clear on our core values. That’s why I have this free assessment for you, and you can get that assessment work through the worksheet and figure out what your core values are by going to mil boss mastermind.com forward slash.

[00:09:18] The second thing we get clear on. Are your skills, your passions in your experiences? What is it that makes you you? The third question you need to get clarity on is what causes you care about. There are so many different causes out there. Good things that people are doing to show up and serve the world.

[00:09:39] And this is a great indication that each of us were made for a specific. Purpose. That’s why a cause that may speak to you. Doesn’t speak to me and vice versa. There are so many great things that we can get involved in and we can’t commit to doing all the things. So we need to understand what things speak to our heart and what things don’t.

[00:10:04] The fourth question that you need clarity on is who you want to serve. Sometimes it’s the person that you want, where you think about things that you have overcome, what you’ve learned in the process of your life so far, who is at least one step behind you. How can you serve them? Who is on your. Question number five is what problems do you want to help solve when you look around and you see all of the problems going on in the world, what is something that speaks to you?

[00:10:40] What problem do you want to be a part of the solution? And I know this is going to take some time and energy. If you haven’t sat down with a piece of paper and said, What is it? That is speaking to me right now, because this is where we get into our, why this is what’s going to drive us and keep us going.

[00:10:58] That keeps us living a life of purpose when life gets crazy, when we feel overwhelmed, when we want to give up. But as we’ve talked about before, Having a sense of purpose is what drives us. It’s one of our core fundamental needs to finding fulfillment as a human being. So if we are not serving others, if we are not using our uniqueness to serve others, life is going to feel off.

[00:11:25] We’re going to feel like we’re missing something. And so we need to get clear on what this is so that we don’t give up when the going gets tough. And then the six question I want you to ask is how do I specifically want to help others? There’s something that speaks to your heart. The ways that you show up.

[00:11:47] If you were to take any kind of personality, tests, drinks, tests, spiritual gifts tests, there are certain things that you are more gifted in and certain things that you are less gifted in, right. There’s ways that you like to serve that your friend doesn’t like to serve or that your spouse doesn’t like to serve.

[00:12:05] There are things that you are better at doing. How specifically do you want to help others? What things do you want to help them? Okay. Let’s say that you’ve taken the time and you have answered these six questions. This is the foundation of your personal brand. And no, we haven’t put it in a pretty box with a pretty bow yet, but you at least have the pieces you need to get started.

HOW DO YOU USE THESE PERSONAL BRAND QUESTIONS?

[00:12:31] So what does that look like for your life and where you are today and where you want to go in that next? Let’s say you are in a job. You’re looking for a job, whether it be in a different location or you’re working from home, that’s going to give you greater clarity on which jobs you should take, which jobs you should be looking for, which jobs you should be applying.

[00:12:58] Because you’re clear on what it is that you want to do, who you want to serve, how you want to help, what your strengths and passions are. That’s going to give you so much greater clarity as you look for a job. And as you find a job that aligns with who you are, you’re going to learn things through every job that you do.

[00:13:20] You’ll learn what really lights you up, what really doesn’t where you shine, where you feel more passionate about. So getting clear on this personal brand part can help you in your job search or in your current job and in finding ways that you want to grow within that organization. Okay. Let’s say you already have a business.

[00:13:43] You are self-employed or you’re working for a network marketing business. How does this apply to your life? Well, I would say that the most important part of your business success is you, especially in the network marketing business, there are lots of people selling. You are exact same product or a similar product to you.

[00:14:05] And the biggest differentiating factor is you. So really choosing to build a brand around you, your strengths, and how you want to serve is going to be what sets you apart from everybody else. This is the path to true success. If you have a business that you have built from the ground up, you are the face of your business and you are setting the tone and intention for everybody, whether you are a solo preneur, or whether you have already built a team getting clear on who you are and what you care about is going to help your entire business.

[00:14:47] Now, let’s say that you were currently a stay at home mom. Now this is a super broad category because you might be in school full-time right now, or you might be homeschooling your kids and you don’t have a whole lot of extra time, and you’re not looking for anything else to add onto your. Or you might be wanting something you might be just feeling stuck in the chaos of life with littles.

[00:15:14] And you want a little something for yourself, but you’re not sure how to make that work or how to fit it into your schedule. You might be actively looking for something because your kids are going to school and you’re wanting a little something else to fill your time, or your kids might already be in school.

[00:15:28] And you’re trying to figure out where your place is now that you have. Kids and you’re trying to figure out, do I volunteer? What do I do? So when we say the umbrella of stay-at-home mom, um, this is a much larger percentage. I think of military spouses, just because of how hard it is to maintain a career when you’re moving all the time and when you don’t have that consistent childcare.

[00:15:55] Um, so this is probably a larger group that encompasses a lot of different factors. Let’s say you’re not looking for a change. You’re doing your thing. You have your plans. You’re not looking to add anything else to your schedule, your calendar right now. But what I want you to do is think long term because whatever season of life you’re in right now, you’re probably not going to be in forever.

[00:16:18] At some point you are probably going to move. You’re going to PCS and you’re going to need to make some new decisions. Do you have a purpose and do you know what your purpose is for this season? And do you have a plan for making decisions when you move? What are the things that you will get involved in?

[00:16:39] Because if you do are not clear on what you want and what is important to you in, and if you do not put having a sense of purpose into your schedule, then your schedule is going to be crowded and filled with. Things that are everyone else’s priorities and your going to stay at the bottom. You’re not going to be able to prioritize the things that bring you life that use your giftings to serve others.

[00:17:06] But if you get clear on these, this foundation of a personal brand, it will help you make decisions both for your next duty station and for your next season of. Now, let’s say, you know, that you have littles at home and you don’t have a lot of extra time right now, but you still want something for yourself.

[00:17:29] And you’re at this place where you don’t necessarily need the income right now, but you would like to have something as your kids get older, you want to start building the thing that you care about. Long-term. And while you can go out and start working for a network marketing company, I would really encourage you to consider.

[00:17:49] Building a brand around yourself and about your uniqueness to serve others. This is what the milspouse mastermind show is. It’s a brand around the things that bring life to me that I care about and how I can use what I’ve been given to serve others. It’s a long-term plan and it has income producing potential.

[00:18:15] But it can start really small. It can start when you take the time to say, okay, what is it that makes me unique and how can I use my uniqueness to serve others? And how can I build a brand around that? And while you may only have five hours a week that you can carve out during kids’ nap times or before they awake in the morning or after they go to bed at night.

[00:18:42] All of those little steps will help you build this long term success to use your uniqueness, to serve others, to make an impact and make an income in the process. So I’m not going to go into other details of how you actually turn that brand into a business. But what I want you to understand is the core of what a personal brand is and how.

[00:19:09] Getting clear on these things, asking these questions can be beneficial for your life because. Wherever, whatever season of life you’re in right now, you’re not going to be forever. And the more clarity you have for today, the greater impact you will have in the future. So whether you are a stay-at-home mom, whether you work full-time, whether you work from home, part-time, whether you’re self-employed, whether you work for a network marketing company or whether you are completely confused about your next step.

[00:19:41] There is an answer and it starts by getting clarity and building that foundation of the brand, a brand of your uniqueness and how you want to use that to serve others and ultimately impact the world for. You, my friend has something valuable to offer. There is something inside of you that the world needs.

[00:20:00] An even if your contribution feels really small right now, I want to encourage you to take that next step to plan for your current season and for your next, I hope you have an amazing week and that you live feeling filled, fueled, and full of joy.