Release:
October 5, 2022

Women of NATE Today Newsletter
Volume 4, Issue 10

Happy October, Women of NATE!

I just returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, the beautiful host city for our 2^nd annual Women of NATE Leadership Summit. 105 women from 24 states and two countries attended the one-day Summit. The energy at the Hotel Albuquerque was palpable. Centered around the theme for the day’s event, “Define Your Legacy,” we heard from attendees that the sessions, including topics on leadership, a Keynote on developing talent and building a culture, our storytelling series, dealing with stress, sales strategies, speed networking, and the event-concluding Networking Reception were all educational and empowering.

I was so inspired by each of our speakers, the input from the audience, and the conversations that were had throughout. I heard stories by so many women that attended, that will stay with me for a long time. If you were one of those women attendees, thank you, and if you found that you could not attend this year, we hope to see you next September in Dallas. You really do not want to miss this opportunity.  Having a community of women to collaborate, exchange ideas, and inspire each other is more important than ever. I am really proud of what Women of NATE has brought to the NATE family, and our industry, and blessed to work with the most talented and brilliant women, both on our committee and on the NATE staff, to bring these initiatives to the forefront.

This is my favorite time of year for so many reasons, especially now with the yearly Women of NATE Leadership Summit on the calendar, and I find myself seeking ways of renewal when the leaves start changing colors. For many people, that is done at the start of a new year, but for me, that feeling of starting a new school year in the fall has always stayed with me. I make lists, including new things I want to learn, schedule trips to see people and places that inspire me, and identify things I want more or less of in my life. In this month’s newsletter article “How To Build A Personal Brand in 5 Steps,” there are provoking questions on what our core values look like, what is our expertise model, and what is our WHY, that align perfectly with the yearly updating of my schedule and goals. I hope it speaks to you, as well.

Women of NATE looks forward to continuing to create opportunities in education, collaboration, and growth in the industry. If you have session ideas or speaker suggestions for upcoming virtual sessions, NATE UNITE, the Leadership Summit, have questions, or want to be a part of Women of NATE, please reach out anytime.

NATE UNITE 2023 will be held in Orlando, Florida February 20-23. Women of NATE will have educational sessions, host an annual 5K, and are preparing a Meet and Greet event. We hope to see you there!

WON Profile: Ashley Skitt

Where will you find the Women of NATE?

Take Women of NATE with you!

Are you traveling for work or taking a leisure vacation? Take a creative photo holding a Women of NATE (WON) logo in front of a landmark that lets us know where you are. 

(Above) NATE's Director of Finance and Human Resources, Kari Stein, and Events and Meetings Manager, Shari Wirkus, travel to Portland, Oregon for the CCA Annual Convention. Portland is home to Forest Park, which is the largest urban forest in the country.

(Above) Women of NATE Committee member, Therese O'Brien of TESSCO Technologies attended the MDDCWA Golf Event in Ijamsville, Maryland, sporting her WON pin.

Upcoming Events

Recent Event Highlights

(Above) NATE's Director of Finance and Human Resources, Kari Stein, and Events and Meetings Manager, Shari Wirkus, meet with Bill Jauchler of Rosenberger Site Solutions, LLC at the CCA Convention in Portland, Oregon.

Women’s Leadership Summit Recap

(Watertown, SD) – The Women of NATE (WON) announced that the Women’s Leadership Summit held on Tuesday, September 20 at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town was a tremendous success. Beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the host city for the event, which was focused on defining your legacy by women, for women, and of women. This one-day summit featured educational sessions, keynote conversations, and ended the day with an outdoor networking reception.

“The Women’s Leadership Summit started strong with a powerful interactive presentation by Betsy Allen-Manning,” stated Women of NATE Chairwoman Andy Page Lee, Vice President of Operations for Lee Antenna & Line Service, Inc., Springtown, Pennsylvania. “Attendees travelled across the country to connect with new and old friends through many networking opportunities. This event was made possible because of the outstanding support of our sponsors,” Andy continued. “We encourage all Women of NATE members and non-members to get involved with Women of NATE and look forward to our next Women’s Leadership Summit in September 2023 in Dallas, Texas.”

The Women’s Leadership Summit showcased the following educational sessions:

Reset and Recharge
Impact Leader
Betsy Allen-Manning, Motiv8uEnterprises

Conscious Leader, Back2Basics
Leticia Latino, Neptuno USA, Corp

Befriending the Body for Success
Dr. Alexandra Milspaw, Director of Health Services

Storytelling Series: Path to my Legacy…A Personal Journey
Christy Hall, Texoma Contracting, Inc.
Kat Clemmons Lea, Elk River, Inc. & Jelco
Loui McCurley, Pigeon Mountain Industries (PMI)
Amanda Stegall, MILLERCO

Sales Strategies for the Digital World
Monica Vink, Ontivity

Speed Networking
Jordyn Miller-Ladner, MILLERCO

How to Build a Personal Brand in 5 Steps

Most entrepreneurs build their personal brand in the wrong order. Let's talk about the correct order for you to build your own strong personal brand!

I once heard a saying that hit me hard. It goes like this: "We all die twice: the first time when we take our last breath and the second time when our names are said for the last time." Powerful, right?

It made me think of personal branding. First of all, most things make me think of personal branding, because I own a personal branding agency, but there's also another reason. You see, personal branding is becoming a buzz concept of sorts, with many people fearing that it's simply a fad. To me, however, personal branding is about much more than social media likes or selfie videos or a follower count. To me, personal branding is a powerful tool that allows us to build equity in our names. And what, if not our names, stays with us forever, until our last day and perhaps even beyond?

As an entrepreneur, I work hard on creating equity in the corporate brand of my business — my personal branding agency called Brand of a Leader. Yet I am also well aware of the non-linear journey my business will likely experience (I have faced a business crash in the past and know full well that no business is immune). Even if we continue to rapidly scale as we have to date, we might decide to eventually exit. And what happens when we exit or lose our business? We feel that we exited part of our identity along with it.

A personal brand protects us from that. It protects us from the ups and the downs and the pivots along the way, giving us constancy and portability. And the best news for many of you: Personal brand can be built entirely off social media! Here are the five steps we employ to build entrepreneurs' personal brands at Brand of a Leader and recommend you follow to build yours:

Step 1: Identify what makes you unique

What makes you stand out from others? You might not be able to think of anything that makes you stand out in your particular vertical, but the good news is that it doesn't matter. A personal brand is about WHO you are and not WHAT you do.

Start by identifying the strongest and most pertinent aspects of who you are. What you determine will become the cornerstone of your personal brand.

As a company that works uniquely with entrepreneurs, we understand that no two entrepreneurs are alike. That same idea applies to how each person will determine what makes them unique. What we do is a series of deep dives to unveil what's prominent about the individual, which can emerge by asking a series of questions:

• What are your core values?
• What is your personality?
• What is your expertise?
• What is your story?
• What is your WHY?

Without a differentiator, there is no brand — there is simply a reputation, so take the time you need to identify yours. This step is crucial.

Step 2: Gain clarity on your target audience

As business owners, we all know what a target audience means. But how it applies to personal branding varies from the corporate marketing term we're used to.

When our agency is working on building a personal brand strategy, we focus on two target audiences. The first one usually reflects the target audience of the entrepreneur's business (typically their core client).

The second one is entirely different — it is an audience that is not being monetized in any way. I encourage you to think of an audience of people that you would want to inspire with your personal brand.

Step 3: Figure out your brand descriptors

A brand is all about associations and the consistency of communicating them. When we talk about brand descriptors, we're trying to determine how you want to be perceived. As human beings, we can all be described in a hundred different ways. However, if we're all things at once, then there's nothing that actually sets us apart.

I suggest building a list of three to five words that you would like people to consistently describe you with. Then build a list of three to five words that you don't want people to describe you with.

Want to have a quick self-awareness test? Text 10 people who know you well enough but are not overly close to you, ask them how they would describe you, and see whether their adjectives match those on your list.

Step 4: Narrow down what you're going to talk about

This brings me to content pillars — the topics you want to be associated with. We get this question all the time at Brand of a Leader: "I am ready to put myself out there, but what am I going to talk about?" When you're choosing the topics, you want to become synonymous with, I recommend sticking to two to four.

First, identify one or two key topics that will allow you to build your credibility. Then pick an additional one to two topics that will humanize your credibility. These can be anything you are passionate about. If you were going to a barbecue with friends or even employees today, what are some of the things you would most definitely be talking about?

Step 5: Choose a platform that works for you

We all need platforms to build visibility. However, I am not only talking about social media platforms. Social media gives scale, but it is possible to build a very strong brand by writing a book or giving talks. Seth Godin is an indisputable thought leader in marketing, and yet his social media presence is underwhelming. Rather, he has published a plethora of bestsellers, gives high impact talks and has a uniquely awesome daily newsletter. Choose one platform that you can go all-in on and start building your visibility on it before adding another one to your self-marketing mix.

And there you have it, fellow entrepreneur: Five steps that will entail a lot of soul-searching and internal deep diving. If you follow these steps, you will be much further ahead than people who go in the completely wrong order — first choosing a platform, then deciding what they should be talking about and thinking about their audience — never becoming intentional about their brand descriptors or a unique differentiator. Happy brand building, and may your name be talked about for decades and centuries to come!

Article previously published on Entrepreneur website on August 9, 2022. https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/5-steps-to-building-a-strong-personal-brand/431380