May 27, 2025 • 33 mins
What if the key to building a powerful brand isn't found in fancy logos or clever taglines, but in truly knowing yourself? This thought-provoking conversation with branding expert Hersh Rephun challenges everything you thought you knew about personal branding.
"Know yourself before you brand yourself" isn't just Hersh's motto—it's the foundation of his revolutionary approach to helping entrepreneurs discover their authentic voice. He reveals why so many business owners end up sounding like everyone else despite their desperate desire to stand out. The culprit? Skipping the crucial step of deep self-awareness and failing to uncover what he calls your "hidden assets."
Through his concept of "holistic brand therapy," Hersh demonstrates how traits you might consider undesirable or irrelevant to your business could actually become your greatest branding superpowers. Those quirks, personal stories, and unique perspectives aren't distractions from your professional image—they're the very elements that make your brand impossible to replicate.
Perhaps most fascinating is Hersh's childhood memory exercise, where he guides you to connect pivotal moments from your early years to your current business direction. This seemingly simple practice often reveals surprising throughlines in your personal narrative that become the foundation of an unforgettable brand story. As Hersh explains, "The way that you end up talking about yourself is unlike anybody who works in the digital space because it's your story."
For those struggling with imposter syndrome or feeling misaligned in their business, this episode offers a refreshing perspective: that feeling of "masking" might be signaling that you haven't fully integrated your authentic self into your brand. The solution isn't necessarily changing who you are, but stepping fully into the multidimensional person you've always been.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hersh (00:00):
The way that you end up talking about yourself is unlike
anybody who works in thedigital space, in the course
creation space, in the highticket space, because it's your
story.
Alyssa (00:15):
Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes
you behind the scenes of some ofthe most inspiring digital
products created by solopreneursjust like you.
I'm your host, alyssa, adigital product strategist who
helps subject matter expertsgrow their business with online
courses, memberships, coachingprograms and eBooks.
If you're a solopreneur withdreams of packaging your
expertise into a profitabledigital product, then this is
(00:37):
the podcast for you.
Expect honest conversations ofhow they started, the obstacles
they overcame, lessons learnedthe hard way and who face the
same fears, doubts andchallenges you're experiencing,
from unexpected surprises tobreakthrough moments and
everything in between.
Tune in, get inspired and let'sspark your next big, brilliant
idea.
Hirsch lives by the motto knowyourself before you brand
(00:59):
yourself, and he's here to sharewhy.
Digging deep into who youreally are is the foundation of
a powerful brand.
In this episode, we're going todive into some really important
topics the biggest mistakespeople make when they skip
self-awareness, how to flipimposter syndrome into a
branding superpower, and justhow far branding really goes
beyond just logos and design.
(01:19):
Whether you're just startingout or looking to give your
brand a refresh, hershey'sinsights are sure to help you
build an authentic standoutpresence.
Let's get into it.
Welcome to the show HirschExcited, you're here.
Hersh (01:34):
I'm really excited to be here, alyssa, thank you.
Alyssa (01:37):
Yeah, of course, and so I just want to talk about this
idea because I've been readingabout you, the idea of know
yourself before you brandyourself.
Now, for most people who arehearing this, they're probably
thinking, well, yeah, that'slike kind of obvious, Like when
you're a business owner, likeyou have to know yourself.
But for many entrepreneurs, Idon't know if it is that obvious
(01:59):
, especially when there areparts to yourself that you might
not think are quote unquotelike brandable.
So I would I want to ask youwhat would you consider a big
mistake when people skip thestep of branding a business
without them actually being init?
Hersh (02:14):
Well, one one thing that's likely to happen is, you
know, if you start building abrand from the outside.
So, in other words, they have agreat product idea, they're
thinking about the audience,they know how they can help and
they're constantly told you know, the audience doesn't care,
they don't want to hear aboutyou, they don't care about you,
(02:35):
they care about the problemyou're solving and to an extent,
that's very true.
But if they forget to lookinward and really find out
what's unique about them that noone else does that is their
secret sauce, their spark thatsets them apart, and they don't
(02:55):
really look into that stuff Thenwhat will happen is they'll
find themselves sounding likethe same old stuff.
And clients will come to mewhen they first start working
with me and they'll say I don'twant to sound like everybody
else.
Why does my website sound likeeverybody else?
And I don't like the cookiecutter thing?
(03:16):
And I'll be like well, yeah, Itotally understand that.
But what we have to do is goback into your story and figure
out where you somehow started tosound like everybody else, and
it's probably to do with lookingat what is working for other
people and thinking somehowthat's going to work for you.
Alyssa (03:38):
That makes sense and then I like that idea.
I do understand that from aperspective of you know cookie
cutter because you're, becauseonce you are an entrepreneur,
you are playing into that gameof comparison and you can easily
fall into that trap whereyou're constantly looking at
other people and how they'rebranding themselves and thinking
, well, if I just adopt that,then it will work for me.
(03:59):
I have done that in the pastand it has not worked for me at
all.
I have done that in the pastand it has not worked for me at
all.
But then I want to talk aboutthis where.
What about with traits that arelike, if you're looking inward
to yourself and you're thinkingto yourself, okay, well, what is
my story, what are my littlecharacteristics or traits that I
have?
But what if they think thattheir traits are undesirable?
(04:20):
Like, for an example, someonewho struggles with, like they're
not really feeling, like theirwork is good enough.
Or there's someone who isn'tlike a world traveler, they like
staying home.
There's someone who you knowthinks that by being themselves
whether you know they're funnyor they're, you know, you know
whatever, you know traits thatthey have.
Maybe they think well, if I, ifI'm being myself, my clients
(04:43):
are not going to really like myreal self, you know.
And so this is kind of when youget into this whole like double
, you know that double facewhere you're just like you're
masking in front of your clientsand you're not really being who
you really are, and then oncethat computer turns off, you're
just like you're real, you'rereal self.
And so how do you kind of turnthose self-doubt thoughts into
(05:06):
like a branding superpower?
How can you take some of thosetraits that you think are
undesirable and into somethingthat is like it's actually
really good and your clients cansee who you really are and can
relate to you and things likethat.
Hersh (05:21):
Well, there's a couple of different ways that this
happens.
One is that there are thingsyou know you need to fix, that
you haven't fixed yet and you'vebeen reluctant to fix them.
So that's one way that this canhappen.
Another way is that you justthink that they're not going to
(05:45):
be interested in somebody who isunique or has a different way
of operating.
And there's a happy medium inthere where you take the things
and this is one of the firstthings I work on with clients is
I look for what I consider tobe hidden assets.
(06:05):
I look for the things that theymay think have nothing to do
with anything, they don't haveto do with business.
It's a baseball game when theywere seven, it doesn't matter.
But I'm very good at listeningfor those things.
And when I hear those thingsand I may say, oh well, the
whole reason you do this isbecause of this, and then
(06:27):
they'll say, oh yeah, that makessense.
Well, now the quirkiness or thething that didn't make any
sense to them now makes sense.
Now they have confidence inthat part of themselves.
So a lot of it is.
That's why I call it I kind ofloosely call it holistic brand
(06:47):
therapy, because it is liketherapy.
It is like therapy for yourbrand.
I'm not a psychologist, I'm nottrained, I'm not even
necessarily trying to fixanything, but what I am trying
to do is get to the bottom ofwhy you're struggling to really
connect with your audience, andsometimes that know yourself
(07:11):
thing is more complex than theythink.
Because they haven't wanted toreally know themselves, because
they think that, in order toserve the people they want to
serve, they have to be different.
And that's the biggest thing.
It's improving your voice, soto speak, is not about
(07:33):
necessarily being a differentperson.
It's about stepping into the360 person that you're maybe not
being.
Alyssa (07:42):
Or are afraid to be because you don't know, or
afraid to be.
Yes, there's a bit of a fear.
Hersh (07:48):
Imposter syndrome, melissa, is also people masking,
like you say.
Like they're on stage andthey're saying these things and
they're doing well even, butthey feel like they're fooling
people.
Well, that requires someexploration.
Maybe they aren't beingthemselves in those speeches.
(08:11):
You know, when I was doingstand-up comedy I love stand-up
comedy but I used to do it ascharacters.
I used to only do characters and, believe it or not, I didn't
really feel comfortable.
I felt like I was hiding behindthere and that the person
behind the accents and thecharacters and all of that
(08:34):
wasn't funny and that was wrong.
And I learned to prove thatwrong.
And once I was just wearing ablack t-shirt, like I used to do
like character thing, go and doa costume change and a whole.
I did like a one man show typeof act.
And then when I started to justwear the black t-shirt, not
(09:02):
change anything externally andtell my story as myself, with
the characters peppered in, itfelt natural.
Then I felt confident.
Even though I was loud beforeand probably kind of funny, it
was something was off.
I was kind of hiding.
Alyssa (09:16):
Yeah, and you feel really misaligned when you're
stepping into something and youknow it's not really you and you
know that's when it that's whenit leads to burnout,
essentially because when you'rean entrepreneur and you're
trying to be this person thatyou created for yourself, and
then you have to show up as thatperson, and then you feel deep
down that that's not really whoI am, because there is that like
(09:40):
that, that deeper fear there ofreally having to show who you
really are.
Like for me, like for for me.
For example, like, um, I'm a,I'm a professor by trade, so I
have a level of like the, theway that I operate my business
is from a very professionalstandard, but only like.
(10:00):
It's very hard for me toseparate, like to be very casual
, because I'm not like that.
I've been in corporate for, youknow, my entire career.
I was a professor, I'm still aprofessor, I'm very well
respected, I'm senior level, andso I have.
It's just ingrained in me thatI'm not somebody who is super,
(10:23):
you know, super funny and casualand just like can just let
loose, like some otherentrepreneurs online, like they
can just be themselves, and Iwould love to be that, but you
know, I still even have work todo with trying to just let it go
, just be funny.
It's okay, you know, but it'ssomething that you have to
continue to work on becauseyou're dealing.
(10:44):
If you're an entrepreneur andyou've, you know, have come into
your business but you've beenworking somewhere else for so
many years, you kind of adoptthat whole personality or that
identity as being someone whohas to be a certain way because
that's what they've taught youfor so many years.
And then having to transitioninto like, but no, like, I'm
(11:04):
allowed to.
Like have no filter and likeshow up as I want to.
You know, that transition, Ithink, is a.
It takes a while to do.
Hersh (11:13):
Well, that's a that's a very interesting scenario that
you presented, which is are you,do you think that that the
reluctance to kind of be casualcomes from somewhere that you
trace it to and you'd be like,well, I would rather not be like
(11:34):
that.
Or is that just yourpersonality and you're really
comfortable with formality, withformality and being formal and
being a professorial?
Alyssa (11:49):
you know, personality is really what works for you, but
you just think that that may notwork so well for
entrepreneurism that is true,like you know, because now I
feel like in the online space itis very casual and less of the
formality and because you know,you know you're I'm dealing with
clients who are not likethey're very just just business
(12:10):
owners that you know they'vebeen doing this for 15 years.
It's kind of like their ownidentity, they've been
themselves.
But for me it's like you know,I've had to kind of work on work
on that and and also this is agood question for you, because
in the context of being anentrepreneur, if you are being
yourself, can they still takeyou seriously?
(12:31):
That's interesting.
Hersh (12:34):
Yeah, well, ok.
So when you say being yourself,you mean if you're being casual
, if you're being funny, youknow, if you're using humor can
they still take you seriously.
So from my personal experienceyou know it's one of the
interesting things that hashappened is I talked about how I
(12:55):
used to do accents and dialectsand characters.
I really don't do it anymore,even though it sometimes is
natural to me.
I used to.
When I was speaking to someonefrom the UK, I used to always
fall into a British accent andit was fun and it was funny and
they didn't take offense to itbecause I was doing it in a very
(13:19):
jovial way.
But I did learn over the lastmaybe five years of really
focusing on personal branding,where I'm really front and
center.
I'm working one-on-one with theclients, not about being behind
the scenes, writing orproducing, you know, advertising
and coming out for dinners.
(13:41):
You know I'm literally workingone-on-one with clients every
day.
I have ceased to do that kindof silliness, you know, which I
kind of miss.
But at the same time I do feellike they have to know who
they're talking to.
Now I do believe that in yourcase, for example, you should, I
(14:07):
would say, lean into who youare and how you feel most
comfortable, because casual issupposed to mean another word
for comfortable.
So if you're super comfortablewith somebody and you're still
rather formal, that they'regoing to read your comfort,
they're not going to read yourformality.
(14:27):
There's also ways to lean intoyour personality and how you
work, and I'm sure you would dothis too and say I know I come
off a little formal, but that'smy background as a professional,
a corporate person, a professor, but really you're allowing
(14:54):
yourself to bring everythingthat you have to offer your
clients to the fore, and that'show I look at it.
So when they and one of myfriends said something funny to
me a few months ago and said, oh, you know, so-and-so is the
funniest person I ever met, andfor a minute I thought, aren't I
(15:19):
the funniest person you evermet?
And they said, no, I mean,you're funny, you're really
funny.
I would say you're one of thesmartest people I ever met.
And I really liked that becauseI was like okay, so during the
time that I thought I wasn'tbeing taken seriously because I
was funny, I was being takenseriously but there was
(15:42):
something missing, which was Iwasn't using all of my skills,
you know, and so I think it's.
It all comes down to beingyourself, and then you can do
self-improvement.
Right.
If you say, okay, I have habitsI want to break.
You know I put things off.
(16:02):
I you know I'm a procrastinator, okay, well, once you're
yourself and you're presentingas yourself, you can shape your
brand and you can hone thingsand you can sharpen or soften
the edges.
But you have to be yourselffirst, and so I think that
that's the best place to start.
(16:22):
That's what I try to do with myclients by going backward a
little bit.
I start where they're at, Ilook back at their life so far,
what have they accomplished,what have they yet to accomplish
, and just get a sense, you know, get a bearing, and if you're
good at reading people, you cankind of figure out where their
(16:45):
happy place is.
Alyssa (16:47):
Yeah, that makes that's a lot.
That's so interesting, likewhat you said about just being
yourself first and thenself-improvement after now.
And it's always funny Causelike I always thought that like
I was too like outlandish kindof cause, like I'm a very
sarcastic person, which is likemy, which I think is like I
would think maybe it's anundesirable trait, but most
(17:09):
people I think are have a littlebit of sarcasm to them.
So, um, so that's one traitthat I would love to bring
forward, you know, into mybusiness and you know, and so
because that is so differentthan because with you know, when
I'm teaching I'm very strict,I'm very serious.
You know I have a lot of youknow, that whole credibility
kind of plays into this whole.
(17:30):
Like I need them to see me asthe authority.
But you know also, I mean, Ithink I, you know, as a teacher,
I think it's a different career, so you kind of have to uphold
those certain professionalstandards, like regardless.
But I think for the averageentrepreneur like me, who's, you
know, making content, I think Ican bring that sarcasm and that
(17:50):
humor into things, because itactually feels a lot more
relatable and I always, wheneverI post things that are like
funny or, you know, sarcastic orthings about me not related to
like my business.
I get a lot of engagement andso I feel like that would be.
I have to do more of that.
Hersh (18:09):
Yeah, oh, that's a really .
It's an interesting indicator,you know, when you find a style
of humor that you like, it'sreally, it's really liberating.
The thing is, the challengingthing on social media is that
sarcasm doesn't always read whenit's written Right, think about
(18:30):
it.
You know.
You, someone says to you oh, doyou want to?
Uh, do you want to come to my,to my sister's birthday party on
Thursday?
And you write back yeah, that's, that's something I'd really
love to do, right, yeah, you maybe thinking, yeah, that's
something I'd really love to do,but but, uh, you know, uh, it
(18:51):
may not work.
And I and I, and I remember Ihad a company with with three,
with my three best friends, forseveral years and it was
successful company, but it wasvery stressful because we, we
knew each other really well butwe weren't used to this
correspondence thing of businessand combining business, and so
(19:11):
you know they would thinksomething was sarcastic or that
I was kidding and I was sayingsomething that was serious.
And so you know they wouldthink something was sarcastic or
that I was kidding and I wassaying something that was
serious, and it was like we,there was all this
miscommunication and then, andthen we'd see each other and
we'd be like all stressed outand so I said, okay, we have to
create a different system.
The email stuff is all business, it's all straightforward.
The humor stuff when we're inperson didn't work.
(19:34):
It didn't really work, but theidea is that you know the
sarcasm would be an interestingway to explore communication for
you.
Have you written a book?
Alyssa (19:48):
yet.
No, not yet, no, maybe in 10years.
Hersh (19:53):
Oh well, because a book with a sarcastic title would
indicate to the reader thatthere's sarcasm ahead.
Right?
I often on LinkedIn, I willhave to put in a comment you
know, sarcasm alert or whateverit is Because there's a lot of
(20:15):
what do you call it?
There's a lot of satire onLinkedIn, for example.
A lot of people are verysatirical, they're very funny,
but you don't know who to takeseriously, cause they're kind of
making fun of people.
You know they're making fun ofgurus, or they're making fun of
you know best practices, orposting incessantly, whatever it
is, but it's so like on thenose you don't know if they're
(20:39):
kidding or not.
Alyssa (20:40):
Sometimes, yeah, yeah, that's whole fear of confusion,
you know, and fear of confusion,yeah yeah no, that makes a lot
of sense.
No, I and I'll you know I try tolean into that, but also, not
everybody can read that sarcasm.
That's what I have to keep inmind as well.
Yeah, so now this brings me tomy next segment.
(21:01):
It's called the Brilliant Biteof the Week.
You're going to love this.
This is where we're going toshare.
You're going to share aninsight, a mantra or a strategy
to help my listeners startthinking about their brand and
themselves and what to do next.
Hersh (21:17):
So what I would say is when you first let's assume that
they're kind of first startthinking about their brand or
it's a new direction, a newdirection that they're going
into, I would say one thing todo is to think of a very pivotal
moment in their childhood,preferably one of their earliest
(21:40):
memories, like something at sixyears old, you know, seven
years old, something like thatand then look at what they're
about to do and bark on and drawsome kind of parallel between
the two.
You know, and I would almost becertain, I would almost
guarantee, that it will somehowconnect, but that they may not
(22:08):
be able to figure out at firstexactly how it connects.
But what they will do is draw aparallel between their earliest
kind of alpha version ofthemselves and where they are
now and where they're going.
And they're going to take logic, professionalism, all those,
(22:28):
all the things that you know,that that you you mentioned
early on.
You know you bring this kind offormality.
They're going to take somethingfrom a time that was rife with,
you know, informality, withunbridled enthusiasm, with
imagination, and marry those twothings together.
And they would love to hear ifpeople do stuff and want to
(22:52):
share this, because they willcome up with a new voice in that
moment that is different fromwhat they've done before.
Now, that's a first step.
The next step is to start tofollow those lines.
You know, where does that?
(23:12):
Where does that help?
Now Start thinking about the,the who the audience is.
Now start thinking about um,what is the message, how is it
different?
But don't start right out ofthe gate thinking, okay, I got
to come up with a great tagline,or I got to come up with a
great name, or I got to come upwith a great logo.
Don't do.
My advice to them would bedon't do any of those things.
(23:36):
You know it's the opposite ofhow it works in theater.
You know, I did a lot oftheater when I was in college
and sometimes when you put thecostume on, right it as an actor
, actor, it really makes youfeel the parts.
Now, that's great.
Doesn't work so much that way.
In in building a brand, itstarts inside.
(23:57):
It starts with the dream, itstarts with the imagination and
then it takes on the propertiesof reality, of practicality, of
professionalism okay so thatstarts with the story
Alyssa (24:12):
starts with a story from your, from your early childhood
, as early as you can, as earlyas you can recall a really
pivotal moment now do thesepivotal moments like can they
just be like everydayexperiences, or do they have to
be like something that hadchanged or that's?
Hersh (24:30):
dramatic.
It can be literally.
It can be literally anything.
Well, why don't we try with you?
Let's, let's try with you,alyssa, if you, if you, if you
were thinking back to yourchildhood and you said, uh, okay
, I'm, you know what?
What's an early memory that Ihave?
That?
Alyssa (24:49):
Yeah, I mean you know.
So my mom bought me.
Um, I think I was like seven oreight years old and my mom
bought me this dollhouse and shesays we're going to, we're
going to make it, we're going tobuild it together.
And I was like I can't do this,like I'm a kid.
And so she's like, no, we'regoing to like do this together.
And then we built every pieceof furniture, we painted it,
(25:13):
like, we did it.
You know, those woodendollhouses like those, like like
with the furniture, the minifurniture, and I just was so
obsessed and I still have it.
I refuse to get rid of it andit's like an accomplishment
because it was the firstintroduction to being like
creative, like where my mom waslike, just, you know, just do
(25:34):
whatever, decorate the way youwant it, we put like lights in
it and like we had like thelittle plates and everything and
we put the hardwood down and itwas like I think it was just my
first like introduction tobeing artsy and creative.
I think it was just my firstlike introduction to being artsy
and creative and I think that'swhere it came from.
It just I mean that's where itmaybe had started from, because
I was obsessed.
(25:55):
I mean, I'm still obsessed withmany houses since then, but I
think that I mean I don't knowhow that relates to me as a
business owner, but maybe we canfind that.
Hersh (26:05):
Well, that's the next thing.
That's a great story, okay.
Alyssa (26:31):
That's a next thing.
That's a great story.
Okay, that's a the operations.
So they give me their productideas and I take their ideas and
I run with that and I createtheir sales funnel and I create
their digital product and I,like you know, and so it's a
very creative business.
Hersh (26:47):
Yeah, okay, business, yeah, okay.
So now, if you take thedollhouse analogy and you say,
okay, so let me think about this.
So what did I have to do tobuild this dollhouse?
I had to, number one, becreative.
So we've got that building.
I was creating something.
Secondly, I had to have areally good attention to detail.
(27:09):
A dollhouse is very detailed.
There's a little furniture,there's little pieces, there's
it's a miniature house.
So if you and how old were you?
Alyssa (27:19):
I was seven or eight seven or eight years old.
Hersh (27:21):
Perfect, so you say.
When I was seven or eight yearsold, I built a dollhouse with
my mother that I have till thisday, that had all the detail of
an actual home.
Now, if you had become a homebuilder, that'd be a little
specific.
But this is even better,because now you're like I'm
building courses, I'm building adigital presence, I'm building
(27:42):
all of these things for clients,and you're doing it with
precision, with collaboration,right, because you were doing it
with your mom and here you havea client.
So there's parallels already.
But what's especiallyinteresting about it is that it
immediately, if you, let's say,you started your bio with some
(28:04):
version of that story, right, itwould mean that your entire
experience has a through line ofthat.
And if you went through yourhistory, your work history, we
would find that through line,through there, and then your
story is guess what?
Not like anyone else's story inthe world, and so the way that
(28:28):
you end up talking aboutyourself is unlike anybody who
who works in the digital spaceand the course creation space,
in the, in the you know highticket space, because it's your
story and uh, and that's, andthat's what I think we're all
going for.
But we have to.
You know, look at our lives are,at this point, a pretty, pretty
(28:52):
comprehensive story, right?
So you know, if we've gonethrough a little bit of life and
we've gone through business andwe can't put everything in
there, you see, some of theLinkedIn profiles the about is,
like you know, at 2,600characters or whatever the max
is, but it's, it's a lot ofstuff.
(29:13):
All the awards, all the degrees, all the stuff, those are not
all super valuable.
They have a place in yourexperience.
But think about that dollhousestory.
That would be much moreinteresting, uh, than you know.
And I'm not criticizing yourLinkedIn profile, I don't know
(29:33):
what it has, but if it doesn'thave the dollhouse story, then
you know, then it's worth a try,because you never know.
Alyssa (29:43):
That is so interesting.
Thank you, my pleasure it's.
You know what?
It's one of those things whereyou feel like you have to be,
you have to put all these awardsand all these degrees and all
these things, because that'swhat I mean.
I think old LinkedIn was likethat, where it's just all about
your achievements and even likeI teach a course on LinkedIn as
(30:04):
well with my students, and it'slike that.
It's like very like put yourresume on there or be very
formal, but it's like that.
It's like very like put yourresume on there, be very formal,
but it's like you know what.
I'm going to try it out, youknow, because that is very
unique.
I guess I haven't reallythought that would be unique
because it's like.
I mean, I guess not many peopledo build dollhouses from
scratch.
(30:24):
So that is an interesting story.
That is an interesting storyand it's it's.
Hersh (30:27):
It's also it's not even Eliza, that you know that.
It's that the story itself islike.
It's not like we were abductedby aliens and then live there
for 10 years on Mars, and youknow it's.
It's a very normal, human,relatable story, which is part
of the charm, yeah, but it'smore the through line to who you
are.
(30:47):
Now.
That is interesting becauseit's it supports your, your,
your narrative of who you are,and it it stills confidence in a
way, and it also is sharingsomething personal.
And so, and remember this foreverybody, you know and I don't
(31:12):
use one in my about sectionbecause, again, it's not, it's
not a cookie cutter process,it's it, but it's this first
idea is, you know, an example oflooking within and pulling out
something and using it to createa thread and um, and that's
always interesting.
Alyssa (31:32):
No, definitely.
That really helps a lot and Ireally appreciate that.
Oh, I'm glad.
Well, um, I just want to say so, thanks so much for coming on
to the show today, cause youknow, um, I have learned so much
from you and I'm actually goingto take your advice and do that
little exercise about listingthose earliest memories.
(31:53):
I think that's a really goodstart for a lot of people and
for myself as well yeah, I'minterested to see what you uh,
what you come up with, pleaseyeah please share it, of course,
and so where can my listenersfind you online?
Hersh (32:08):
they can find me at yesbrandbuilderscom and
everything is really there.
My blog is there.
There's a link to my newsletterthere.
If they want to pre-order mybook Selling the Truth, which
comes out May 1st, they can dothat.
(32:29):
See a little bit of my comediesup there, you know, just for
kind of sentimental, a littlebit of background, like like I
was saying.
You know, I think that that'svery unique, that I have this
background.
So to figure out where it goesis important.
It's not on the homepage, it'snot like hey, I did look at
these clips of me doing comedy,but it's there as a facet of my
(32:54):
personality.
But yes, brandbuilderscom isprobably the best place to go
and, of course, I'm on LinkedIn.
Alyssa (33:00):
Great, awesome.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Hersh (33:04):
My pleasure.
Alyssa, Thank you so much forhaving me, of course, and to
everyone listening.
Alyssa (33:08):
Just make sure to download chapter one or to
pre-order Hershey's new bookSelling the Truth as Somewhere,
with Insights for Life andBusiness it's in the show notes
and also connect with him onLinkedIn, youtube, instagram and
Facebook.
All the links are in the shownotes, so please check him out.
If you did enjoy this episode,please subscribe, leave a review
and share it with anothersolopreneur who needs to hear
(33:30):
this.
Thank you so much for tuning intoday and I'll catch you next
time on another brilliant idea.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of brilliant ideas.
If you love the show, be sureto leave a review and follow me
on Instagram for even moreinsider tips and inspiration.
Ready to bring your next big,brilliant idea to life?
Visit AlyssaVelsercom forresources, guidance and
(33:50):
everything you need to startcreating something amazing.
The way that you end up talking about yourself is unlike
anybody who works in thedigital space, in the course
creation space, in the highticket space, because it's your
story.
Alyssa (00:15):
Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes
you behind the scenes of some ofthe most inspiring digital
products created by solopreneursjust like you.
I'm your host, alyssa, adigital product strategist who
helps subject matter expertsgrow their business with online
courses, memberships, coachingprograms and eBooks.
If you're a solopreneur withdreams of packaging your
expertise into a profitabledigital product, then this is
(00:37):
the podcast for you.
Expect honest conversations ofhow they started, the obstacles
they overcame, lessons learnedthe hard way and who face the
same fears, doubts andchallenges you're experiencing,
from unexpected surprises tobreakthrough moments and
everything in between.
Tune in, get inspired and let'sspark your next big, brilliant
idea.
Hirsch lives by the motto knowyourself before you brand
(00:59):
yourself, and he's here to sharewhy.
Digging deep into who youreally are is the foundation of
a powerful brand.
In this episode, we're going todive into some really important
topics the biggest mistakespeople make when they skip
self-awareness, how to flipimposter syndrome into a
branding superpower, and justhow far branding really goes
beyond just logos and design.
(01:19):
Whether you're just startingout or looking to give your
brand a refresh, hershey'sinsights are sure to help you
build an authentic standoutpresence.
Let's get into it.
Welcome to the show HirschExcited, you're here.
Hersh (01:34):
I'm really excited to be here, alyssa, thank you.
Alyssa (01:37):
Yeah, of course, and so I just want to talk about this
idea because I've been readingabout you, the idea of know
yourself before you brandyourself.
Now, for most people who arehearing this, they're probably
thinking, well, yeah, that'slike kind of obvious, Like when
you're a business owner, likeyou have to know yourself.
But for many entrepreneurs, Idon't know if it is that obvious
(01:59):
, especially when there areparts to yourself that you might
not think are quote unquotelike brandable.
So I would I want to ask youwhat would you consider a big
mistake when people skip thestep of branding a business
without them actually being init?
Hersh (02:14):
Well, one one thing that's likely to happen is, you
know, if you start building abrand from the outside.
So, in other words, they have agreat product idea, they're
thinking about the audience,they know how they can help and
they're constantly told you know, the audience doesn't care,
they don't want to hear aboutyou, they don't care about you,
(02:35):
they care about the problemyou're solving and to an extent,
that's very true.
But if they forget to lookinward and really find out
what's unique about them that noone else does that is their
secret sauce, their spark thatsets them apart, and they don't
(02:55):
really look into that stuff Thenwhat will happen is they'll
find themselves sounding likethe same old stuff.
And clients will come to mewhen they first start working
with me and they'll say I don'twant to sound like everybody
else.
Why does my website sound likeeverybody else?
And I don't like the cookiecutter thing?
(03:16):
And I'll be like well, yeah, Itotally understand that.
But what we have to do is goback into your story and figure
out where you somehow started tosound like everybody else, and
it's probably to do with lookingat what is working for other
people and thinking somehowthat's going to work for you.
Alyssa (03:38):
That makes sense and then I like that idea.
I do understand that from aperspective of you know cookie
cutter because you're, becauseonce you are an entrepreneur,
you are playing into that gameof comparison and you can easily
fall into that trap whereyou're constantly looking at
other people and how they'rebranding themselves and thinking
, well, if I just adopt that,then it will work for me.
(03:59):
I have done that in the pastand it has not worked for me at
all.
I have done that in the pastand it has not worked for me at
all.
But then I want to talk aboutthis where.
What about with traits that arelike, if you're looking inward
to yourself and you're thinkingto yourself, okay, well, what is
my story, what are my littlecharacteristics or traits that I
have?
But what if they think thattheir traits are undesirable?
(04:20):
Like, for an example, someonewho struggles with, like they're
not really feeling, like theirwork is good enough.
Or there's someone who isn'tlike a world traveler, they like
staying home.
There's someone who you knowthinks that by being themselves
whether you know they're funnyor they're, you know, you know
whatever, you know traits thatthey have.
Maybe they think well, if I, ifI'm being myself, my clients
(04:43):
are not going to really like myreal self, you know.
And so this is kind of when youget into this whole like double
, you know that double facewhere you're just like you're
masking in front of your clientsand you're not really being who
you really are, and then oncethat computer turns off, you're
just like you're real, you'rereal self.
And so how do you kind of turnthose self-doubt thoughts into
(05:06):
like a branding superpower?
How can you take some of thosetraits that you think are
undesirable and into somethingthat is like it's actually
really good and your clients cansee who you really are and can
relate to you and things likethat.
Hersh (05:21):
Well, there's a couple of different ways that this
happens.
One is that there are thingsyou know you need to fix, that
you haven't fixed yet and you'vebeen reluctant to fix them.
So that's one way that this canhappen.
Another way is that you justthink that they're not going to
(05:45):
be interested in somebody who isunique or has a different way
of operating.
And there's a happy medium inthere where you take the things
and this is one of the firstthings I work on with clients is
I look for what I consider tobe hidden assets.
(06:05):
I look for the things that theymay think have nothing to do
with anything, they don't haveto do with business.
It's a baseball game when theywere seven, it doesn't matter.
But I'm very good at listeningfor those things.
And when I hear those thingsand I may say, oh well, the
whole reason you do this isbecause of this, and then
(06:27):
they'll say, oh yeah, that makessense.
Well, now the quirkiness or thething that didn't make any
sense to them now makes sense.
Now they have confidence inthat part of themselves.
So a lot of it is.
That's why I call it I kind ofloosely call it holistic brand
(06:47):
therapy, because it is liketherapy.
It is like therapy for yourbrand.
I'm not a psychologist, I'm nottrained, I'm not even
necessarily trying to fixanything, but what I am trying
to do is get to the bottom ofwhy you're struggling to really
connect with your audience, andsometimes that know yourself
(07:11):
thing is more complex than theythink.
Because they haven't wanted toreally know themselves, because
they think that, in order toserve the people they want to
serve, they have to be different.
And that's the biggest thing.
It's improving your voice, soto speak, is not about
(07:33):
necessarily being a differentperson.
It's about stepping into the360 person that you're maybe not
being.
Alyssa (07:42):
Or are afraid to be because you don't know, or
afraid to be.
Yes, there's a bit of a fear.
Hersh (07:48):
Imposter syndrome, melissa, is also people masking,
like you say.
Like they're on stage andthey're saying these things and
they're doing well even, butthey feel like they're fooling
people.
Well, that requires someexploration.
Maybe they aren't beingthemselves in those speeches.
(08:11):
You know, when I was doingstand-up comedy I love stand-up
comedy but I used to do it ascharacters.
I used to only do characters and, believe it or not, I didn't
really feel comfortable.
I felt like I was hiding behindthere and that the person
behind the accents and thecharacters and all of that
(08:34):
wasn't funny and that was wrong.
And I learned to prove thatwrong.
And once I was just wearing ablack t-shirt, like I used to do
like character thing, go and doa costume change and a whole.
I did like a one man show typeof act.
And then when I started to justwear the black t-shirt, not
(09:02):
change anything externally andtell my story as myself, with
the characters peppered in, itfelt natural.
Then I felt confident.
Even though I was loud beforeand probably kind of funny, it
was something was off.
I was kind of hiding.
Alyssa (09:16):
Yeah, and you feel really misaligned when you're
stepping into something and youknow it's not really you and you
know that's when it that's whenit leads to burnout,
essentially because when you'rean entrepreneur and you're
trying to be this person thatyou created for yourself, and
then you have to show up as thatperson, and then you feel deep
down that that's not really whoI am, because there is that like
(09:40):
that, that deeper fear there ofreally having to show who you
really are.
Like for me, like for for me.
For example, like, um, I'm a,I'm a professor by trade, so I
have a level of like the, theway that I operate my business
is from a very professionalstandard, but only like.
(10:00):
It's very hard for me toseparate, like to be very casual
, because I'm not like that.
I've been in corporate for, youknow, my entire career.
I was a professor, I'm still aprofessor, I'm very well
respected, I'm senior level, andso I have.
It's just ingrained in me thatI'm not somebody who is super,
(10:23):
you know, super funny and casualand just like can just let
loose, like some otherentrepreneurs online, like they
can just be themselves, and Iwould love to be that, but you
know, I still even have work todo with trying to just let it go
, just be funny.
It's okay, you know, but it'ssomething that you have to
continue to work on becauseyou're dealing.
(10:44):
If you're an entrepreneur andyou've, you know, have come into
your business but you've beenworking somewhere else for so
many years, you kind of adoptthat whole personality or that
identity as being someone whohas to be a certain way because
that's what they've taught youfor so many years.
And then having to transitioninto like, but no, like, I'm
(11:04):
allowed to.
Like have no filter and likeshow up as I want to.
You know, that transition, Ithink, is a.
It takes a while to do.
Hersh (11:13):
Well, that's a that's a very interesting scenario that
you presented, which is are you,do you think that that the
reluctance to kind of be casualcomes from somewhere that you
trace it to and you'd be like,well, I would rather not be like
(11:34):
that.
Or is that just yourpersonality and you're really
comfortable with formality, withformality and being formal and
being a professorial?
Alyssa (11:49):
you know, personality is really what works for you, but
you just think that that may notwork so well for
entrepreneurism that is true,like you know, because now I
feel like in the online space itis very casual and less of the
formality and because you know,you know you're I'm dealing with
clients who are not likethey're very just just business
(12:10):
owners that you know they'vebeen doing this for 15 years.
It's kind of like their ownidentity, they've been
themselves.
But for me it's like you know,I've had to kind of work on work
on that and and also this is agood question for you, because
in the context of being anentrepreneur, if you are being
yourself, can they still takeyou seriously?
(12:31):
That's interesting.
Hersh (12:34):
Yeah, well, ok.
So when you say being yourself,you mean if you're being casual
, if you're being funny, youknow, if you're using humor can
they still take you seriously.
So from my personal experienceyou know it's one of the
interesting things that hashappened is I talked about how I
(12:55):
used to do accents and dialectsand characters.
I really don't do it anymore,even though it sometimes is
natural to me.
I used to.
When I was speaking to someonefrom the UK, I used to always
fall into a British accent andit was fun and it was funny and
they didn't take offense to itbecause I was doing it in a very
(13:19):
jovial way.
But I did learn over the lastmaybe five years of really
focusing on personal branding,where I'm really front and
center.
I'm working one-on-one with theclients, not about being behind
the scenes, writing orproducing, you know, advertising
and coming out for dinners.
(13:41):
You know I'm literally workingone-on-one with clients every
day.
I have ceased to do that kindof silliness, you know, which I
kind of miss.
But at the same time I do feellike they have to know who
they're talking to.
Now I do believe that in yourcase, for example, you should, I
(14:07):
would say, lean into who youare and how you feel most
comfortable, because casual issupposed to mean another word
for comfortable.
So if you're super comfortablewith somebody and you're still
rather formal, that they'regoing to read your comfort,
they're not going to read yourformality.
(14:27):
There's also ways to lean intoyour personality and how you
work, and I'm sure you would dothis too and say I know I come
off a little formal, but that'smy background as a professional,
a corporate person, a professor, but really you're allowing
(14:54):
yourself to bring everythingthat you have to offer your
clients to the fore, and that'show I look at it.
So when they and one of myfriends said something funny to
me a few months ago and said, oh, you know, so-and-so is the
funniest person I ever met, andfor a minute I thought, aren't I
(15:19):
the funniest person you evermet?
And they said, no, I mean,you're funny, you're really
funny.
I would say you're one of thesmartest people I ever met.
And I really liked that becauseI was like okay, so during the
time that I thought I wasn'tbeing taken seriously because I
was funny, I was being takenseriously but there was
(15:42):
something missing, which was Iwasn't using all of my skills,
you know, and so I think it's.
It all comes down to beingyourself, and then you can do
self-improvement.
Right.
If you say, okay, I have habitsI want to break.
You know I put things off.
(16:02):
I you know I'm a procrastinator, okay, well, once you're
yourself and you're presentingas yourself, you can shape your
brand and you can hone thingsand you can sharpen or soften
the edges.
But you have to be yourselffirst, and so I think that
that's the best place to start.
(16:22):
That's what I try to do with myclients by going backward a
little bit.
I start where they're at, Ilook back at their life so far,
what have they accomplished,what have they yet to accomplish
, and just get a sense, you know, get a bearing, and if you're
good at reading people, you cankind of figure out where their
(16:45):
happy place is.
Alyssa (16:47):
Yeah, that makes that's a lot.
That's so interesting, likewhat you said about just being
yourself first and thenself-improvement after now.
And it's always funny Causelike I always thought that like
I was too like outlandish kindof cause, like I'm a very
sarcastic person, which is likemy, which I think is like I
would think maybe it's anundesirable trait, but most
(17:09):
people I think are have a littlebit of sarcasm to them.
So, um, so that's one traitthat I would love to bring
forward, you know, into mybusiness and you know, and so
because that is so differentthan because with you know, when
I'm teaching I'm very strict,I'm very serious.
You know I have a lot of youknow, that whole credibility
kind of plays into this whole.
(17:30):
Like I need them to see me asthe authority.
But you know also, I mean, Ithink I, you know, as a teacher,
I think it's a different career, so you kind of have to uphold
those certain professionalstandards, like regardless.
But I think for the averageentrepreneur like me, who's, you
know, making content, I think Ican bring that sarcasm and that
(17:50):
humor into things, because itactually feels a lot more
relatable and I always, wheneverI post things that are like
funny or, you know, sarcastic orthings about me not related to
like my business.
I get a lot of engagement andso I feel like that would be.
I have to do more of that.
Hersh (18:09):
Yeah, oh, that's a really .
It's an interesting indicator,you know, when you find a style
of humor that you like, it'sreally, it's really liberating.
The thing is, the challengingthing on social media is that
sarcasm doesn't always read whenit's written Right, think about
(18:30):
it.
You know.
You, someone says to you oh, doyou want to?
Uh, do you want to come to my,to my sister's birthday party on
Thursday?
And you write back yeah, that's, that's something I'd really
love to do, right, yeah, you maybe thinking, yeah, that's
something I'd really love to do,but but, uh, you know, uh, it
(18:51):
may not work.
And I and I, and I remember Ihad a company with with three,
with my three best friends, forseveral years and it was
successful company, but it wasvery stressful because we, we
knew each other really well butwe weren't used to this
correspondence thing of businessand combining business, and so
(19:11):
you know they would thinksomething was sarcastic or that
I was kidding and I was sayingsomething that was serious.
And so you know they wouldthink something was sarcastic or
that I was kidding and I wassaying something that was
serious, and it was like we,there was all this
miscommunication and then, andthen we'd see each other and
we'd be like all stressed outand so I said, okay, we have to
create a different system.
The email stuff is all business, it's all straightforward.
The humor stuff when we're inperson didn't work.
(19:34):
It didn't really work, but theidea is that you know the
sarcasm would be an interestingway to explore communication for
you.
Have you written a book?
Alyssa (19:48):
yet.
No, not yet, no, maybe in 10years.
Hersh (19:53):
Oh well, because a book with a sarcastic title would
indicate to the reader thatthere's sarcasm ahead.
Right?
I often on LinkedIn, I willhave to put in a comment you
know, sarcasm alert or whateverit is Because there's a lot of
(20:15):
what do you call it?
There's a lot of satire onLinkedIn, for example.
A lot of people are verysatirical, they're very funny,
but you don't know who to takeseriously, cause they're kind of
making fun of people.
You know they're making fun ofgurus, or they're making fun of
you know best practices, orposting incessantly, whatever it
is, but it's so like on thenose you don't know if they're
(20:39):
kidding or not.
Alyssa (20:40):
Sometimes, yeah, yeah, that's whole fear of confusion,
you know, and fear of confusion,yeah yeah no, that makes a lot
of sense.
No, I and I'll you know I try tolean into that, but also, not
everybody can read that sarcasm.
That's what I have to keep inmind as well.
Yeah, so now this brings me tomy next segment.
(21:01):
It's called the Brilliant Biteof the Week.
You're going to love this.
This is where we're going toshare.
You're going to share aninsight, a mantra or a strategy
to help my listeners startthinking about their brand and
themselves and what to do next.
Hersh (21:17):
So what I would say is when you first let's assume that
they're kind of first startthinking about their brand or
it's a new direction, a newdirection that they're going
into, I would say one thing todo is to think of a very pivotal
moment in their childhood,preferably one of their earliest
(21:40):
memories, like something at sixyears old, you know, seven
years old, something like thatand then look at what they're
about to do and bark on and drawsome kind of parallel between
the two.
You know, and I would almost becertain, I would almost
guarantee, that it will somehowconnect, but that they may not
(22:08):
be able to figure out at firstexactly how it connects.
But what they will do is draw aparallel between their earliest
kind of alpha version ofthemselves and where they are
now and where they're going.
And they're going to take logic, professionalism, all those,
(22:28):
all the things that you know,that that you you mentioned
early on.
You know you bring this kind offormality.
They're going to take somethingfrom a time that was rife with,
you know, informality, withunbridled enthusiasm, with
imagination, and marry those twothings together.
And they would love to hear ifpeople do stuff and want to
(22:52):
share this, because they willcome up with a new voice in that
moment that is different fromwhat they've done before.
Now, that's a first step.
The next step is to start tofollow those lines.
You know, where does that?
(23:12):
Where does that help?
Now Start thinking about the,the who the audience is.
Now start thinking about um,what is the message, how is it
different?
But don't start right out ofthe gate thinking, okay, I got
to come up with a great tagline,or I got to come up with a
great name, or I got to come upwith a great logo.
Don't do.
My advice to them would bedon't do any of those things.
(23:36):
You know it's the opposite ofhow it works in theater.
You know, I did a lot oftheater when I was in college
and sometimes when you put thecostume on, right it as an actor
, actor, it really makes youfeel the parts.
Now, that's great.
Doesn't work so much that way.
In in building a brand, itstarts inside.
(23:57):
It starts with the dream, itstarts with the imagination and
then it takes on the propertiesof reality, of practicality, of
professionalism okay so thatstarts with the story
Alyssa (24:12):
starts with a story from your, from your early childhood
, as early as you can, as earlyas you can recall a really
pivotal moment now do thesepivotal moments like can they
just be like everydayexperiences, or do they have to
be like something that hadchanged or that's?
Hersh (24:30):
dramatic.
It can be literally.
It can be literally anything.
Well, why don't we try with you?
Let's, let's try with you,alyssa, if you, if you, if you
were thinking back to yourchildhood and you said, uh, okay
, I'm, you know what?
What's an early memory that Ihave?
That?
Alyssa (24:49):
Yeah, I mean you know.
So my mom bought me.
Um, I think I was like seven oreight years old and my mom
bought me this dollhouse and shesays we're going to, we're
going to make it, we're going tobuild it together.
And I was like I can't do this,like I'm a kid.
And so she's like, no, we'regoing to like do this together.
And then we built every pieceof furniture, we painted it,
(25:13):
like, we did it.
You know, those woodendollhouses like those, like like
with the furniture, the minifurniture, and I just was so
obsessed and I still have it.
I refuse to get rid of it andit's like an accomplishment
because it was the firstintroduction to being like
creative, like where my mom waslike, just, you know, just do
(25:34):
whatever, decorate the way youwant it, we put like lights in
it and like we had like thelittle plates and everything and
we put the hardwood down and itwas like I think it was just my
first like introduction tobeing artsy and creative.
I think it was just my firstlike introduction to being artsy
and creative and I think that'swhere it came from.
It just I mean that's where itmaybe had started from, because
I was obsessed.
(25:55):
I mean, I'm still obsessed withmany houses since then, but I
think that I mean I don't knowhow that relates to me as a
business owner, but maybe we canfind that.
Hersh (26:05):
Well, that's the next thing.
That's a great story, okay.
Alyssa (26:31):
That's a next thing.
That's a great story.
Okay, that's a the operations.
So they give me their productideas and I take their ideas and
I run with that and I createtheir sales funnel and I create
their digital product and I,like you know, and so it's a
very creative business.
Hersh (26:47):
Yeah, okay, business, yeah, okay.
So now, if you take thedollhouse analogy and you say,
okay, so let me think about this.
So what did I have to do tobuild this dollhouse?
I had to, number one, becreative.
So we've got that building.
I was creating something.
Secondly, I had to have areally good attention to detail.
(27:09):
A dollhouse is very detailed.
There's a little furniture,there's little pieces, there's
it's a miniature house.
So if you and how old were you?
Alyssa (27:19):
I was seven or eight seven or eight years old.
Hersh (27:21):
Perfect, so you say.
When I was seven or eight yearsold, I built a dollhouse with
my mother that I have till thisday, that had all the detail of
an actual home.
Now, if you had become a homebuilder, that'd be a little
specific.
But this is even better,because now you're like I'm
building courses, I'm building adigital presence, I'm building
(27:42):
all of these things for clients,and you're doing it with
precision, with collaboration,right, because you were doing it
with your mom and here you havea client.
So there's parallels already.
But what's especiallyinteresting about it is that it
immediately, if you, let's say,you started your bio with some
(28:04):
version of that story, right, itwould mean that your entire
experience has a through line ofthat.
And if you went through yourhistory, your work history, we
would find that through line,through there, and then your
story is guess what?
Not like anyone else's story inthe world, and so the way that
(28:28):
you end up talking aboutyourself is unlike anybody who
who works in the digital spaceand the course creation space,
in the, in the you know highticket space, because it's your
story and uh, and that's, andthat's what I think we're all
going for.
But we have to.
You know, look at our lives are,at this point, a pretty, pretty
(28:52):
comprehensive story, right?
So you know, if we've gonethrough a little bit of life and
we've gone through business andwe can't put everything in
there, you see, some of theLinkedIn profiles the about is,
like you know, at 2,600characters or whatever the max
is, but it's, it's a lot ofstuff.
(29:13):
All the awards, all the degrees, all the stuff, those are not
all super valuable.
They have a place in yourexperience.
But think about that dollhousestory.
That would be much moreinteresting, uh, than you know.
And I'm not criticizing yourLinkedIn profile, I don't know
(29:33):
what it has, but if it doesn'thave the dollhouse story, then
you know, then it's worth a try,because you never know.
Alyssa (29:43):
That is so interesting.
Thank you, my pleasure it's.
You know what?
It's one of those things whereyou feel like you have to be,
you have to put all these awardsand all these degrees and all
these things, because that'swhat I mean.
I think old LinkedIn was likethat, where it's just all about
your achievements and even likeI teach a course on LinkedIn as
(30:04):
well with my students, and it'slike that.
It's like very like put yourresume on there or be very
formal, but it's like that.
It's like very like put yourresume on there, be very formal,
but it's like you know what.
I'm going to try it out, youknow, because that is very
unique.
I guess I haven't reallythought that would be unique
because it's like.
I mean, I guess not many peopledo build dollhouses from
scratch.
(30:24):
So that is an interesting story.
That is an interesting storyand it's it's.
Hersh (30:27):
It's also it's not even Eliza, that you know that.
It's that the story itself islike.
It's not like we were abductedby aliens and then live there
for 10 years on Mars, and youknow it's.
It's a very normal, human,relatable story, which is part
of the charm, yeah, but it'smore the through line to who you
are.
(30:47):
Now.
That is interesting becauseit's it supports your, your,
your narrative of who you are,and it it stills confidence in a
way, and it also is sharingsomething personal.
And so, and remember this foreverybody, you know and I don't
(31:12):
use one in my about sectionbecause, again, it's not, it's
not a cookie cutter process,it's it, but it's this first
idea is, you know, an example oflooking within and pulling out
something and using it to createa thread and um, and that's
always interesting.
Alyssa (31:32):
No, definitely.
That really helps a lot and Ireally appreciate that.
Oh, I'm glad.
Well, um, I just want to say so, thanks so much for coming on
to the show today, cause youknow, um, I have learned so much
from you and I'm actually goingto take your advice and do that
little exercise about listingthose earliest memories.
(31:53):
I think that's a really goodstart for a lot of people and
for myself as well yeah, I'minterested to see what you uh,
what you come up with, pleaseyeah please share it, of course,
and so where can my listenersfind you online?
Hersh (32:08):
they can find me at yesbrandbuilderscom and
everything is really there.
My blog is there.
There's a link to my newsletterthere.
If they want to pre-order mybook Selling the Truth, which
comes out May 1st, they can dothat.
(32:29):
See a little bit of my comediesup there, you know, just for
kind of sentimental, a littlebit of background, like like I
was saying.
You know, I think that that'svery unique, that I have this
background.
So to figure out where it goesis important.
It's not on the homepage, it'snot like hey, I did look at
these clips of me doing comedy,but it's there as a facet of my
(32:54):
personality.
But yes, brandbuilderscom isprobably the best place to go
and, of course, I'm on LinkedIn.
Alyssa (33:00):
Great, awesome.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Hersh (33:04):
My pleasure.
Alyssa, Thank you so much forhaving me, of course, and to
everyone listening.
Alyssa (33:08):
Just make sure to download chapter one or to
pre-order Hershey's new bookSelling the Truth as Somewhere,
with Insights for Life andBusiness it's in the show notes
and also connect with him onLinkedIn, youtube, instagram and
Facebook.
All the links are in the shownotes, so please check him out.
If you did enjoy this episode,please subscribe, leave a review
and share it with anothersolopreneur who needs to hear
(33:30):
this.
Thank you so much for tuning intoday and I'll catch you next
time on another brilliant idea.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of brilliant ideas.
If you love the show, be sureto leave a review and follow me
on Instagram for even moreinsider tips and inspiration.
Ready to bring your next big,brilliant idea to life?
Visit AlyssaVelsercom forresources, guidance and
(33:50):
everything you need to startcreating something amazing.
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