Thriving In The Digital Age: Rebecca Chalson and Personal Branding

Rebecca Chalson, a personal branding strategist, discusses the importance of personal branding in today's digital age. She highlights the challenges of building a personal brand, such as consistency and time management. Rebecca emphasizes the value of personal branding for leaders and companies, as it can amplify their impact and reputation. She provides insights on optimizing LinkedIn profiles and using the platform strategically. Rebecca shares her personal journey of uncovering her identity and creating her potential, and encourages others to believe in themselves and unlock their professional brilliance.

Transcript

Joe Crist (00:02.768)
Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Thriving in the Digital Age. Joining me today is award winning personal branding specialist, Rebecca Chalson, the founder of the professional Brilliance Formula and owner of the digital marketing company, Create Your Potential. She is also the co -author of the bestselling Women Who Rise, as well as a speaker, author and trainer. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us today. If you could just the audience a little more about yourself.

Rebecca Chalson (00:31.435)
Sure. Well, thank you so much for having me. This is great. And hello to everybody listening. Again, my name is Rebecca Chalson, personal branding strategist. And I'm excited to talk a little bit more today about what personal branding is, why it matters, especially in today's digital age and professional business age. And yeah, so I also have a digital marketing company where we help spotlight leaders who want to actually

be elevated as thought leaders, paid speakers and consultants. In other words, monetizing their expertise to really create an even bigger impact in their industry. And we offer a number of packages to help people amplify their impact, but the real key is the strategy. And that's where I come

Joe Crist (01:23.747)
Wow, that's absolutely amazing. So that brings up a really interesting question, right? So in a world full of as much noise as we have today, right, personal brand is becoming more and more more relevant. What are the challenges that actually come with building your personal brand?

Rebecca Chalson (01:40.927)
Consistency is one of them. And the reason why I mainly work with C -suite executives, founders, business owners, leaders who are juggling a lot of priorities. They are very busy and very often they manage teams. And it feels like a whole nother job to think of how to manage their personal brands, whether it's social media posting, whether it's

or creating dynamic venue that engages their audience, creating a podcast, maybe even becoming a published author. These are all building blocks of personal branding and it could feel overwhelming to know where to start as well as how to be consistent. And that's where my company comes in because we really simplify the process and we can actually handle it all for

Joe Crist (02:36.122)
Wow, so it really sounds like you're a one -stop shop for everything.

Rebecca Chalson (02:39.477)
Yes, because we not only do the strategy, but also the execution with the digital marketing piece. So one thing I will say as well is the importance of personal branding. More and more companies are investing in the personal brand of their leadership because they recognize that in today's world, influencer marketing is key.

All you have to do is go online and scroll and you see how advertising has completely changed. It's no longer about TV advertising, newspaper ads, billboard ads. Yes, those are there, but more and more companies are investing in influencer marketing. And your biggest influencer is your CEO.

is your sales leaders or is your employees who could really help amplify the impact of your company in a much more powerful way than somebody outside of the company because they understand your brand better than anybody else. So they can be the amplifiers and when companies hire me, I come in and I help them with

Joe Crist (03:53.719)
Wow. You know, that brings up a really interesting point that you mentioned the CEO. So if you look at, you know, Gary V or Elon Musk, a lot of people know those names, but I'm sure a lot of them can't name it, can't really name the companies they all own. know Gary V owns quite a bit of companies. know VanderMedia and that's about it. And Elon Musk, obviously Tesla, SpaceX, the boring company, but there's other things out there, right? But that's really, that is a real big testament

Rebecca Chalson (04:11.136)
Yes.

Joe Crist (04:20.707)
The end is that leadership really does portray in today's modern world. There's so much noise. You're buying from that person. You're buying from their brand and the trust that they create

Rebecca Chalson (04:32.549)
very often companies have their slogans down pat they have their packaging so to speak and the the product you know there's such a focus on that but very often they don't have somebody on the inside that can help them really dig into the personal brand of the individuals that can really help

create more of that personal connection with the target audience. You know, there are a number of statistics that prove this. In fact, LinkedIn did a study, I wanna say Forbes did a study, and one of the statistics is that executives believe that 47 % of the reputation of their company,

is directly connected to the reputation of their CEO. 47 % of the reputation of the company is directly connected to the reputation of the CEO. And you've seen, unfortunately, over the years, the cancel culture, you know, and how because of one person saying something, it impacted the ripple effect of everything else. Reputation marketing is key. And now more than ever,

Joe Crist (05:29.64)
wow.

Rebecca Chalson (05:53.943)
Personal branding is a huge piece of that reputation marketing.

Joe Crist (06:00.686)
Yeah, that brings up so many good points too. In today's world, we're becoming so hyper aware of what's going on, who says what. mean, if you can say the wrong thing, it'll be all over Twitter in a matter of minutes. Same thing with any social media platform. So it's really how you tailor your brand and really does shape the tonality of your messaging too.

Rebecca Chalson (06:14.847)
Yeah!

Rebecca Chalson (06:23.839)
Yes, and you actually hit the nail on the head. Very often, people take, now let's also define what a personal brand is. So I developed the term professional brilliance to describe an individual who really has the ability to spotlight their personal brand in a powerful way. So I'll first talk about what a personal brand is and then I'll explain professional brilliance. So personal brand,

I already mentioned what personal branding building blocks are, right? We're on a podcast right now. That's a personal branding building block, right? Website, blogging, public speaking. There's so many other ones. Social media marketing, there's a whole list. Those are building blocks, but your personal brand is personal. Those are your insights.

It is your personality, your unique experiences, your years of experience, what other people say about you, your strengths. And it really can be challenging for people when it comes to knowing how to articulate their personal brand. There is this lingo out there with AI that has come out is about what is your voice? And people are

wait a minute. I don't even know what my voice is. What does that mean? You know, do you have a sense of humor, right? How do you speak to people? That's all part of your personal brand. How do people feel when they're around you? That's your personal brand. And the reason why it can be so challenging is we tend to take for granted our natural gifts. We tend to take for granted who we are because it comes naturally.

So it's very helpful to have somebody who can give an outside perspective and feedback on our strengths and also our potential weaknesses. You know how they say your greatest strength is your greatest weakness? Also learning how to work with those weaknesses and how to amplify your strengths. So that's also where the strategy sessions with myself can be extremely powerful because

Joe Crist (08:12.082)
Thank you.

Joe Crist (08:26.17)
Yep.

Rebecca Chalson (08:39.051)
When people walk away from a strategy session with me, they walk away with actionable steps. Well, this isn't just fluffy clouds in a sky talk about motivation, although I definitely love inspiring people. This is what can you do after this call to start creating a bigger impact? For example, you and I had a strategy session, right? I would say the number

Joe Crist (08:42.842)
Thank you.

Rebecca Chalson (09:04.267)
Takeaway that somebody should have from today's call from today's meeting with me is look at your LinkedIn profile LinkedIn has over a billion users with more being added daily It is the largest business networking platform in the world Has an international reach It always blows my mind when I see leaders

Joe Crist (09:24.461)
Yeah.

Rebecca Chalson (09:32.575)
and companies and sales professionals in companies who are not really making the most of their LinkedIn and who do not have a strategy for how to optimize it. So one of the ways I work with individuals as well as companies is we have done for you LinkedIn makeovers where we really get to know your personal brand, done for you LinkedIn makeover to really

engage your target audience, but even more so spotlight you as the credible industry expert that you are. So LinkedIn, you want to look at your headline. You want to look at your banner that's behind you. You want to make sure you have a very professional headshot. And there are a number of other key strategies. Here's the thing about, I love about LinkedIn. I do geek out on technology a little bit, especially when it comes to LinkedIn.

Joe Crist (10:02.63)
the global business, and the world economy, is not only about us, it's about the world.

Rebecca Chalson (10:31.543)
As you probably know, Microsoft bought LinkedIn before they bought, before Microsoft bought LinkedIn, it was nowhere near where it is today as far as not just being a directory of profiles, which is kind of more like it was before. Now it is a social media platform on steroids. Sales Navigator, which is behind

Joe Crist (10:57.727)
which is a very important one, is a way of using data to assist to the program and to help them to develop better programs for the program.

Rebecca Chalson (10:59.371)
is a way to use LinkedIn to be strategic in how you connect with other members on the platform. When people use Sales Navigator, sometimes they feel confused about where to start because it is so robust. And again, that's where my company comes in and me specifically is I'll work with companies and individuals to help them make the most of that. Because here, you

Joe Crist (11:10.796)
Thank you.

Joe Crist (11:21.67)
Absolutely, yeah.

Rebecca Chalson (11:28.311)
There's also another statistic that says 90 % of C level executives don't respond to cold calls or emails for obvious reasons. We're inundated by advertising. We're inundated by messages. And even on LinkedIn, CEOs and leaders can get bombarded by messages. But my company has a strategy where we'll actually teach individuals and companies how to

really reach out to their target audience in a way that engages them and shows value. So I gave some tips on LinkedIn, but at the end of today's call, I hope people really, really take seriously their LinkedIn profile because they're sitting on a goldmine.

Joe Crist (12:14.788)
Yeah, absolutely. And the big thing about LinkedIn too, that a lot of people don't think about, it's the majority of B2B selling occurs on LinkedIn, right? And you can really understand the people you're talking to. You're going to understand their history, what they care about, the things they post about, like where their passions really are. And it's an outside channel away from the normal emails, which aren't terribly effective, right? Getting their phone number is pretty invasive sometimes when they get a call out of the blue.

Rebecca Chalson (12:25.166)
Okay.

Joe Crist (12:44.216)
It gives, it gives you know, the prospect that CEO or CEO or CMO or whoever that that security be like, okay, I can at least verify this person is the kind of person I want to talk

Rebecca Chalson (12:53.087)
Yes. It gives them a reference point, you know, so they feel it doesn't feel cold when when they're connecting with somebody on LinkedIn, they can look at their profile, they can. And assuming the profile is set up effectively, like what we teach is it shows that you're credible and worth talking to. that, you

When you think about money, money is just an exchange of value, right? So is time. When people are willing to give their time, that is so valuable, especially when you're on the C -suite level. So it's so important to really prove to people why it's valuable to have a conversation with you.

Joe Crist (13:42.214)
Absolutely. A million percent agree. You have to really position yourself in a way that you're like, look, I am the guy that can solve your or girl, I'm the person who can solve your problems. I'm worth really talking to and sharing this information with as opposed to I'm just another random person trying to get you to pay me for the same service you get offered every single day. Yeah, no, that's critical. So that brings up a really interesting question. So obviously there's a lot of things people can

Rebecca Chalson (14:01.003)
Right?

Yes.

Joe Crist (14:12.046)
Right. But so day one person says, hey, I need to get my personal branding under control. It's a mess. My LinkedIn is a mess, obviously. Like what are the first couple of steps they really should be focused

Rebecca Chalson (14:26.241)
So I gave some first things when it comes to your LinkedIn profile, but you have to have a strategy because very often people, it's almost, I'll use the analogy of putting together a puzzle. If you don't have the big picture, it's gonna be impossible to put together all the puzzle pieces. You have to have a picture to look at. You need to have the strategy. It's very hard to do it, figure it out as you go.

And because very, I did that myself, right? There are so many resources out there for personal branding. There are so many videos, there are so many teachers, so many resources, but it can almost be overwhelming. Yes, it's a great way to save money if you can do it yourself. But the challenge with that is you could also waste a lot of time. Time is money. And you could also end up developing habits that could end up putting you down the road or could hurt your reputation more.

by not having efficiency processes in place. So one of the things that I do when I work with my clients is I'm also an efficiency coach where I help them streamline how they will basically execute on the personal branding strategies. So not only will we set up the strategy for them,

And we will handle all, we can also handle all their social media marketing. We can handle all their video editing, their podcast set up. We also have what's called a speaker success kit that can help them hit the ground running if they really want to monetize their public speaking skills. But all that being said, sometimes people want the initial jumpstart and then they want to run with it. When we set up the strategy,

we actually set up the systems for them to run with it if they want to do that as well. Or we can manage the process for them. So yeah, it's really important to go back to your initial question about what the challenges around personal branding, especially when you're a leader, is having time and being consistent. And that's where working with a personal branding strategist who also has a digital marketing company that can help execute on the strategies is so effective.

Joe Crist (16:44.646)
You brought up an interesting point about systems. Systems really do create efficiency and they create predictability. But the real thing about systems that's truly valuable and why I think it really any... you're one of those personal brand leaders building a company in general, having good systems in place really do matter because the thing about it is it becomes testable. You can test how the system works, if it's successful. If something is working, you

Rebecca Chalson (17:06.591)
Mm -hmm.

Joe Crist (17:12.144)
put more into it, right? You can increase your throughput through the system. And if it's not working, you can change it, right? But because you have a system and it's documented and it's understood, you now have this measurable instrument that you can make adjustments to and you're lowering your risk, right? You know it's gonna go right because it always goes right, right? And if you need to make a change, you can make a change as opposed to winging it every single time and then hoping for the best, which mean, hope's not a real strategy.

Rebecca Chalson (17:40.799)
Right. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's true. And that's why I love LinkedIn, especially if you use and having a CRM. I've talked to a number of people who they are familiar with the CRM because they have one for the company, but they've never thought about having a CRM for their personal brand. And this is what I this is why I want to emphasize the importance of

I'm sure you've heard of the phrase, network is your net worth. Okay, so here's the thing. I also talked to founders and CEOs who have CRMs for the companies. Well, guess what happens when they sell the company and they exit.

Joe Crist (18:11.864)
Yes, many times.

Rebecca Chalson (18:28.791)
They give over their whole CRM, right? They give over all their contacts. It's so important to be, and here's another thing. Let's say you are a sales director of a company, a national sales director. You have so many contacts that you, from your 10, 20 years of experience, you've reached a level of seniority in a company, right? And,

You work in this company and you really leverage their CRM to grow their company even more. But you know what? If somebody were to ask you, how do you track your network? Over the 20 years, what do you have to show for your network? And very often be like, well, I have all these business cards. You know, or they'll say, oh, well, I have LinkedIn.

Yeah, but do you have a strategy? Do you have a CRM that nurtures these leads? So one of the packages that we offer is actually setting up a CRM that's specifically designed for leaders who want to be seen as industry experts, who want to be seen as thought leaders, to be able to really

and organize and be consistent with how they engage and continue to engage their target audience. Because here's the thing. One of the things, let me say this. The one constant in life is change. I'm sure you've heard that quote too. I love it in case you haven't. The one constant life is change. But you know what the other?

Joe Crist (20:13.36)
Yep.

Rebecca Chalson (20:21.393)
Aspect that you take with you no matter where you go. Yes, your job may change your lifestyle may change There's a lot of changes may happen in your life, but you know what the one thing is that you can take with you no matter where you go Personal brand

Joe Crist (20:34.64)
What's that?

Yeah, that's how the world sees you.

Rebecca Chalson (20:39.071)
can take your personal brand. So investing in your personal brand, whether you invest the time or you pay somebody like myself, my company to actually set up the strategy and provide the resources and tools to give you that solid foundation, you'll be able to take that no matter where you go. And here's the thing, if you are a founder,

and you're wanting to, you're in the investor phase of trying to grow your business, it is very valuable if you can come to investors and say, not only will you be getting my company as part of your investment, you know, obviously for a percentage or whatnot, but you will also be getting me. I've built a large network as an influencer.

as a top industry expert, but you can trust that the person at the helm really has the tools and resources to take this company to the level that we intended to go. So you are your company's greatest asset. So why not invest in

Joe Crist (21:44.388)
Yes, absolutely.

Joe Crist (21:50.234)
Yeah. You know, and actually I have an interesting story about that. A friend of mine, I'm not going to say his company out here, his type of work they do, but he is one of the smartest movie I've ever met in my life. Brilliant, brilliant man. And because he's so good at what he does and he carries himself well.

He was able to really convince investors like, not only is this company worth it, but I'm worth it. Guess you are investing in a company, but you're really investing in what I can bring to you and how I scale this company. And he had the credentials, he had the knowledge, but the way he spoke about himself and he spoke to others and really carried his own personal brand made a huge difference. And now the company's worth millions and millions of dollars because the way he's branded himself.

Rebecca Chalson (22:24.289)
Yeah.

Rebecca Chalson (22:30.814)
and then so

Rebecca Chalson (22:38.155)
Mm -hmm

Joe Crist (22:41.178)
That's such a great point though, right?

Rebecca Chalson (22:43.127)
It's true. 90 % of the public, when they are making a buying decision, where did they go before they make their buying decision if they're not already buying it here? You go online when when looking at being hired by a company, you know, if you're wanting

Joe Crist (22:58.072)
I will go online immediately. I will search for

Rebecca Chalson (23:10.275)
leadership opportunities. If you're wanting to transition into other careers or opportunities, the very first place that HR managers go is LinkedIn.

Joe Crist (23:22.011)
Mm -hmm.

Rebecca Chalson (23:23.487)
LinkedIn. So again, it follows you wherever you go. Investing in your online presence is so key and having a strategy for how to do that is even more important.

Joe Crist (23:28.55)
Absolutely. Yep.

Joe Crist (23:38.15)
Absolutely. Exactly. If you don't control your story, somebody else will.

Rebecca Chalson (23:41.899)
That's so true. That's so true. And your story is so powerful. It's so powerful. People are like, well, I don't necessarily have a rise up story. I don't know what I would say or how I would inspire people. Yes, you do. And or you have impacted others to help them create their rise up story. So having somebody who can help you curate that information

Joe Crist (24:05.446)
Absolutely.

Rebecca Chalson (24:11.325)
is so key and knowing how to put that online is powerful.

Joe Crist (24:17.85)
Yeah, that's the thing. We are always our toughest critics, right? And a lot of us don't really give ourselves the credit that's due of all the amazing things we've done. It's nice though when you talk to somebody and they really lay out all the amazing things you've done in your life because to you it's business as usual. But really, in the grand scheme, everyone has done pretty amazing stuff throughout their life, especially those who want to be leaders. That's such an amazing thing to really think about. We all have the potential.

Rebecca Chalson (24:39.903)
Yes!

Joe Crist (24:46.928)
to really show the world how great we are. We just have to believe in ourselves and also get the help we need to really just like get that story out there and share that message.

Rebecca Chalson (24:54.059)
Yeah, we have created. That's the passion behind my company being called Create Your Potential. Because it actually speaks to my own personal journey. I don't know if I've told you this before. Some people, they've read the book, Women Who Rise would know this. But I actually grew up in an environment where I was not allowed to have a personal identity.

I was actually the oldest of 10 children. And when I was 14, my family joined a religious conservative lifestyle that is actually a cult. And if anybody's curious, they can watch the Netflix documentary called Shiny Happy People. That's about it. That actually came out last year. But, and I talk in the book Women Who Rise about

my journey and learning how to uncover my personal identity, as well as how to create my potential. Because very often people believe this other quote that opportunity knocks. I personally don't like that quote because when I hear that, I hear this perspective that you're supposed to just stand.

Joe Crist (26:17.964)
No.

Rebecca Chalson (26:20.777)
inside your house and wait for opportunity to come knocking. But that's not how you create your potential.

I like to say that we do the knocking on the doors of opportunity. We have to go out. We have to put the effort. We have to be consistent. When I was 19 and left home, and just to give you an idea about growing up in this conservative lifestyle, women especially were not encouraged to have a voice or like I said, identity. We were taught to blend in, to not stand

Joe Crist (26:48.006)
and I'm going to try to make it as fun as possible. And I hope that was a good time for you. And we will talk to you later. Bye.

Rebecca Chalson (26:58.059)
So a lot of the limiting beliefs that I had to work through, thank goodness for therapy and business mentors, right? What would we be without our support group? Because I had to learn not only how to overcome these limiting beliefs, but also the steps and strategies to really unleash my personal brand and my potential.

Joe Crist (27:08.515)
Absolutely.

Rebecca Chalson (27:25.687)
in a way that felt authentic. When I dove into digital marketing, like I said, I love technology and it was fun for me. it became kind of a side hustle initially when I was in corporate, to learn all these digital skills. And then over the last 10 years, I've built a company of other people who I can outsource to, which

Very helpful. You can delegate and I can just focus on the strategy portion. But that being said, I have the passion for digital marketing because that is what can amplify your personal brand. What personal branding, that is a very vulnerable experience. You don't have to have come from a cult.

Joe Crist (27:49.879)
Right.

Rebecca Chalson (28:12.765)
Yes, I went through the ultimate vulnerable experience of uncovering my personal friends, but it's a vulnerable experience for everybody. It's hard to be self -aware. It's hard to ask ourselves the tough questions. And very often we have blind spots regarding our limiting beliefs. So a big part of my strategy sessions when I interact with people

Joe Crist (28:14.685)
Thank you.

Joe Crist (28:26.334)
Thank you.

Rebecca Chalson (28:40.329)
is helping uncover limiting beliefs and help them get to the root of their why. Have you ever watched Simon Sinek's powerful TEDx called, Yes, the Power of Why in his book. And he talks about the importance, especially if you are a leader in a company of helping your employees discover their

Joe Crist (28:47.976)
Cool.

Yeah, I have loved

Joe Crist (29:10.202)
Yeah, absolutely.

Rebecca Chalson (29:10.429)
And you understand how to speak to your why because that is how people feel valued. And you understand your why, you know how to connect to other people's why. And that's the real power of personal branding.

Joe Crist (29:32.004)
Yeah, you it's you bring up something that's very powerful. And also, I can feel myself. It's. You know, I've been through a lot of my life to get to where I am right between the military and everything else I've done. One thing I found that really does bind people together and it really builds those relationships is just being open and honest, because we all struggle with things, right? We all we all have our painful memories. We all have our dreams.

We all have our failures. have all these things, right? But it's most people are so embarrassed by it, they feel alone, right? Because they're not sharing it. But really when you share this story, like you're sharing with people who also have similar stories, right? And you build community.

Rebecca Chalson (30:05.567)
Mm -hmm.

Rebecca Chalson (30:14.635)
It's so true, you know, you bring up a great point and for years when I left home at 19, I didn't really know how to interact with society because we were in this very controlled, isolated environment. And I went into the world of workaholism and climbed the corporate ladder because

I knew I had a good work ethic, you being the oldest of 10 children, you learn how to work hard, you know, but little did I know I was trading one cult for another because the workaholism culture is, it's like a cult. It's based, it's so defined by what you do and how hard you work when the real value is who you are in your state of being, which has a ripple effect.

on what you do. And when I learned that it really opened up a world of opportunities and a way to connect with people from a more authentic place. But I had a really hard time coming out about my story. And 2020 was when I was part of this co -authored book and it was the first time that I actually put into writing

Joe Crist (31:13.843)
All

Joe Crist (31:30.574)
I see. was going to that. I'm I shouldn't have said that.

Rebecca Chalson (31:38.515)
my create your potential experience, my journey coming out of a cult and learning how to pave the way for myself, so to speak, in developing and unleashing my identity in the world and learning how to connect in a world that I felt very lost in. But to your point,

Joe Crist (31:40.276)
Thank you.

Joe Crist (31:56.112)
Right.

Rebecca Chalson (32:06.195)
I was very embarrassed to say why I felt lost. I was worried for years. All my twenties and early thirties, I did not want to tell people that I had been raised in a cult. I didn't want to tell people that I was really awkward about certain conversations because I couldn't relate.

Joe Crist (32:06.315)
So, that's what I'm going to next. I'm going start my own forum on this. I'm going to do a little bit of a

Rebecca Chalson (32:31.009)
You know, I didn't go to traditional high school. I didn't go the college route. I didn't go the traditional path because that was not in line with the belief system that we were in. And I went into survival mode for a long time when I left home and I was embarrassed about that. I didn't know how to connect with people.

Joe Crist (32:40.793)
and

Rebecca Chalson (32:51.989)
And I would avoid, that's actually how I got really good at asking questions and networking because I didn't like talking about myself. But to your point, when I went through a time of, I actually hit rock bottom. I was surrounded by a number of people who were stealing ideas. I was being kind of taken advantage of.

Joe Crist (32:59.814)
Yeah.

Rebecca Chalson (33:18.839)
And I did not really have a solid support system at the time. And it really forced me to go inside. And thank goodness for the internet because I was able to surround myself by a support system of influencers, such as Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, Selena Sude also had a big impact on me, Gary V.

Joe Crist (33:25.574)
Thanks for all of us here.

Joe Crist (33:31.406)
And

Rebecca Chalson (33:46.623)
people who remind you to not look at your current situation or your environment as a reflection of your worth. That you bring the worth, you bring the respect, and you bring the value in your personal brand. And so I started diving into my personal brand and I realized it's not just about digital marketing or networking for me, yes.

Joe Crist (33:49.498)
to world and the environment to continue to live in a climate that is not actually in your mind. But there is a way for what you have learned about the states to live in your community and in your personal life. This program is a program that I'm going to introduce to you. And I'm to introduce you to the trust that you in your community and to the trust that you have in your

Rebecca Chalson (34:14.249)
I do that as a contractor at the time. What we're really passionate about is personal branding because I understand the value of developing your sense of identity. And no matter what happens in life, when we have disappointments, when we are going through hard times, what can anchor us is your values, our strengths, our sense of self -worth, our intellect, the things

really make us who we are and that's our personal brain. So anyways, I'm sorry that was extremely long winded, but very passionate about wanting to inspire people because I've been through a lot in my life. That's like the tip of the things that I've been through, but I'm very passionate about encouraging people to not limit yourself. If I can have come from a world of no identity and create it from scratch.

Joe Crist (34:49.238)
I love that. Thank you for sharing

Rebecca Chalson (35:13.607)
It is definitely possible for other people to dig in and unleash, or what I say is unlock and unleash their professional brilliance.

Joe Crist (35:27.184)
Well put, absolutely beautiful. I was gonna actually ask you this question, but I think you really brought it out. So for parting advice for anybody, would you say it would be it? Really just have that belief in yourself that you can actually do this stuff, right? It's possible for anybody and it's hard and I get it, it's hard for me. I'm an awkward guy most of time, right? But when you really believe in yourself that you can do it, it does make a world of difference.

Rebecca Chalson (35:57.129)
Yes. So that's actually one of the reasons why I came up with the term professional brilliance because I wanted to shine a light, no pun intended. Well, actually, yeah, pun intended. I wanted to shine a light on people like what you're saying, who have a lot of experience, who have expertise, who are top experts, who have a lot of credibility, but they don't know how to articulate it.

And these are people who have what I call professional brilliance. They have that it factor. They have that integrity. They have the desire. They have the resilience. They have the stories. They have the testimonials, but they just don't know how to put it all together. And I hate saying that and that's where I come in because I feel like I'm doing an infomercial, but

That is why I'm so passionate about what I do. First and foremost, know, it's so funny. I come from a corporate background as a sales trainer, you know, climbing the corporate ladder based on sales performance and leadership and whatnot.

I did not have a sense of fulfillment. Yes, I had built a track record and I was considered a leader, but I didn't have a sense of fulfillment. I do now because I wasn't selling something that I truly believed in. And that is really the reason behind my company is I want to help people believe in themselves.

Joe Crist (37:33.644)
So that was something that makes me feel good.

This is the reason why I don't talk about this forever.

Rebecca Chalson (37:47.979)
That's what I do is hope them believe in ourselves, give them the strategy, give them the tools and set up the resources to shine the way that they're meant to.

Joe Crist (38:03.906)
That's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. I feel better. I already feel so much warmth right now just talking to you about this.

Rebecca Chalson (38:09.951)
Yeah. Well, that's what I hope. I hope, you know, it's funny because when I was in, know, do you come from a sales background at all or more tacking and more

Joe Crist (38:20.858)
Yeah, I've been tech for a long

Rebecca Chalson (38:24.573)
Right. Well, if there's anybody listening to us today who's in the sales world, they'll understand that or what I'm saying. Every time I would be interviewed for a sales position, one of the things they ask is, so what motivates you? And what's kind of funny is when I got into the role of sales leadership, I realized why that question is asked. And it's because we want to see if you're motivated by money.

Joe Crist (38:42.95)
Okay.

Rebecca Chalson (38:54.635)
because that is how they incentivize, right? It's commission -based typically. And that is how they're able to, especially in the older corporate world, now thankfully more corporate environments are creating a culture that adds other incentives, thank goodness. But sales world is very much dominated by this perspective of how much money do you wanna make so we can help you get there?

And I tell them, I'm not motivated by money. that's, that's not where I come from. I'm motivated by impact. I want to help people create an impact. And by doing that, I know I'm creating an impact too.

Joe Crist (39:40.922)
Yeah, that's I think that's the best way to live. Yeah, I feel the same way. Rebecca, thank you so, so, so much for joining us today. I appreciated that. My gears are already turning about my own personal brand and what I can do. I'm sure the audience will also have that happening

Rebecca Chalson (39:50.679)
Yes!

Rebecca Chalson (39:55.912)
Yes, we're!

Rebecca Chalson (39:59.563)
Yeah, and I would love to give a parting gift to your listeners today. If they would like to take the next step in exploring their professional brilliance, they can go to my website, professionalbrilliance .com and you can take advantage of two resources on there. Both are free. One is they can download Spark Your Inner Genius ebook, which actually

Joe Crist (40:03.747)
Absolutely.

Rebecca Chalson (40:28.331)
has a workbook component to it. So for people who really want to start brainstorming their personal brand, I definitely encourage you to download that. And then two, there's a good chance your listeners may qualify for a free strategy session. When you go to that website, they'll see how they can find out if they qualify for that as well.

Joe Crist (40:44.582)
BWAH!

Rebecca Chalson (40:54.047)
Whether they choose to work with me and my company or not, I guarantee they will walk away from that strategy session feeling empowered with actual next steps to really take their personal brand to the next

Joe Crist (41:08.334)
You cannot beat that at all. And I will definitely make sure we will also drop the link in the description for the podcast below. Yes. Again, Rebecca, thank you so much. I'm so grateful for this. I've learned so much. I feel better. I have much clearer thoughts on personal branding now. To the audience out there, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you guys now understand personal branding a little better.

Rebecca Chalson (41:10.134)
Yeah.

Rebecca Chalson (41:14.591)
Wonderful. Wonderful. Good.

Rebecca Chalson (41:26.593)
Great.

Rebecca Chalson (41:34.052)
No branding's personal.

Joe Crist (41:36.078)
Yeah, absolutely. All right, everybody. Thank you so much, and I will see you all next week on Thriving in the Digital Age. Bye. Bye.

Rebecca Chalson (41:43.157)
Thank you.