EP 4: Are You Representing The REAL YOU? - Mastering The Brand Called You!

Are you genuinely expressing your personal style, or have you fallen into the trap of dressing and styling based on others' preferences? 

This week I'm sharing the concept of personal brand identity, going beyond the surface of clothing, hair, and makeup. I'll discuss the importance of authenticity over conformity and challenge you to assess if your style truly reflects your individuality or if you're simply mirroring someone else's style. 

As a well established hair artist, I'll be sharing first-hand insights and practical tips on how to find a style that embodies your true self. We'll discuss the role social media can play in emphasizing your personal brand, and the importance of using it to your advantage.  So let's get it y'all!

Thank you for listening to "This Is Some Crazy Sh*T" with Cheron Hamner.

To connect with Cheron: CLICK HERE

Connect with Cheron on her social platforms:
Instagram
Facebook

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You are listening to, this Is Some Crazy Shit.
With Sharon Hamner.
This podcast is for you if youare tired of living day to day,
feeling unfulfilled, you arefrustrated and you are doing too
much with no return.
This is for you if you areready to take charge of your
life, if you are ready to let goof managing other people's

(00:23):
insecurities and theirexpectations and live life your
way.
Here we have dope conversationsabout saving yourself, so we
can get off these street cornersand stop waiting for Captain
Saviour Ho.
You ready?
Let's go, because this is somecrazy shit.
Who are you really being outhere in these streets?

(00:46):
Who are you identifyingyourself?
As we hear this word calledbrand identity and we think of
brands like Nike, coca-cola,pepsi.
When you think about thosebrands, you think about the

(01:10):
colors, you think about theirslogans, you think about their
commercials, what they try toportray to us, to have us evoke
a feeling and to purchase theirgoods.

(01:30):
And what we don't realize isthat we all have a personal
brand that we are reflecting outinto the world, based on the
hair that we wear, based on theclothes that we put on our

(01:53):
bodies, our perfume, our nails,our makeup.
Everything that we put on is areflection of our brand and who
we are.
And I want to ask a questionare you representing the real
you in your day to day basis?

(02:14):
I know for me as a hairstylist,I have clients frequently
coming in and they're like ohSharon, can you help me?
I don't know what to do with myhair because my mom says that I
shouldn't get bangs becauseit's going to make me look blah,

(02:35):
blah, blah.
Or my girlfriend told me thatthis happened to her and if I
got that done it's not going tolook good on me.
And a lot of times I just sitthere and I listen to them and
I'm conflicted because I'm notreally sure sometimes if they

(02:57):
want my professional opinion orif that belief of their friends
and their mom is going to trumpanything that I say, because it
is ingrained deep down withinthem.

(03:18):
So I ask you, what are you?
Well, how are you presentingyourself and is it true to who
you really are in your identity?
Are you stuck in with ahairstyle that is based on what

(03:43):
your ex-husband or ex-boyfriendthought would look good?
So you just like maintain thathairstyle to make him feel
comfortable, when you knowsometimes it could just be they
hate and then don't want you tolike look and feel your best.

(04:04):
They keep you in a box.
And I can remember growing up Iwent to the salon with my mom.
Ever since I was a little girl,we had a ritual of going every
two weeks to get our hairshampooed and style.
So I grew up going to this lady.

(04:25):
She worked like right aroundthe corner from my house, was in
walking distance.
So as I got older, I would justbegin going after school,
walking by myself, and I wouldlike flip through all these
magazines that she had in thesalon and I would flip to the
page and I'm like okay, I wantmy hair like this, I want my
hair like this.

(04:46):
Every time I would walk out ofthere, my hair would not look
like that picture at all.
And then one day she told meshe's like well, that is too
grown for you.
And I'm like well, that's whatI really want.
So I was.
I left there.
I was so frustrated, I was mad,I was angry because I'm like

(05:08):
why isn't this lady doing what Iwant?
I told my mom about it and shewas able to locate a stylist for
me that was up on trends, whoknew newer hairstyles and I said

(05:28):
to her that very first time Imet her I got my first haircut
and I just kind of told her alittle bit about what I wanted.
And she took it from there andthat feeling that I had finally
getting a style that I feltconfident in like changed the

(05:51):
game for me so much that Iwanted to create the same type
of things and that's why Ibecame a hairstylist, because I
knew how, like important havinga hair that represents who you
are in these streets like justgiving you confidence, and not

(06:16):
only that I feel confident.
I would get compliments fromother people, and that also
elevated my confidence and mademe feel good.
So I wanna ask you like are youreally living the brand that
you desire to have, or are youjust complying with what's being

(06:39):
pushed out on the social mediastreets?
One of the activities that I doabout twice a year I go through
what I call, like the fashionbibles, vote Magazine.
I know people don't likemagazines these days, but Vote

(07:00):
Magazine puts out two copiesevery year, in the spring and in
the fall, of what's hot infashion.
I typically will go throughthose magazines, the physical
magazines, and I'll pull outpages from the magazines of the
things that I like, that I'mattracted to, that catch my eye

(07:27):
and this is something that Ilike to do unconsciously.
Just go through and you can dothis exercise.
You can set a timer, go throughand just pull out.
Don't think about it, just pullout the things that catches
your eye and catches yourattention, and then I would take
those clippings and put them ina magazine and go through and

(07:52):
reflect on what it is that Ilike about this picture.
What am I being attracted toabout this particular hairstyle,
which is also something that Ilike to do with my clients
during their consultations?
And sometimes oh my God,sometimes these consultations is

(08:14):
like pulling teeth, becauseit's hard to really focus on the
things that you like because ofthe programming of somebody
saying that you shouldn't getthis because dot, dot, dot.

(08:36):
So I would like to encourageyou to take the time with each
of the photographs and see whatit is that you like.
After you've done that, go toyour closet, go through your
clothes and see.

(08:56):
Do you have anything thatevokes that same feeling in the
clothes that you currently have?
Look in the mirror.
Are you wearing a hairstylethat reflects how you really
want to express yourself, or areyou wearing a dated version of

(09:17):
yourself based on how somebodyelse wanted you to feel and how
somebody else wanted you to look?
And make a decision that youcan elevate your brand.
Make a decision what you wantyour personal brand to reflect,

(09:40):
what you want your personalbrand to say to the world.
Do you want your personal brandto say that I'm sporty Like?
Are you more of like anathletic type of gal where you
like to wear sweatpants, andmore of a athletic, leisure type

(10:04):
of look, and are yourepresenting that brand?
Well, because there is adifference between just getting
some sweatpants at Walmart andgetting a nice set by Nike.
There is a difference.
So go through everything thatyou have and identify.

(10:29):
Is this a true representationof what I want to portray to the
world?
And a great experiment that youcan do is to get dressed in the
way that you want to beexperienced in the world and

(10:52):
just go about your day payingattention to the response that
you get from people.
This is a very eye-openingexperience.
I like to pay attention to thevibe that I am receiving from
other people and you will beamazed at when you are in your

(11:16):
element and feeling good aboutyourself and feeling confident.
The response that you get frompeople is amazing.
Like people will just, I liketo say, they will cater to you,
they will open doors for you asa woman.

(11:37):
Men will give you compliments.
Women will give you complimentswhen you are feeling good about
yourself, when you areexpressing yourself with how you
want to be received.
It goes a very, very long way.

(11:58):
So go ahead and work on yourpersonal branding.
Hey sis, you have been listeningto this Is Some Crazy Shit.
I am Charon Hamner.
Make sure you like andsubscribe to hear more dope
conversations on this podcast.
You can check me out on mywebsite at wwwcharonhamnercom or

(12:23):
on all of my social mediaplatforms.
I look forward to seeing you inthese social media streams.