Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey and welcome back
to the Transparent Nature
podcast, where we bring realconversations to help you
navigate your career andworkplace challenges.
It's your host, prince Tate,and I'm super excited that you
are here.
If you've been enjoying theshow, please make sure to
subscribe, share it with afriend and leave us a review.
(00:23):
It really helps us to continueto bring you content to support
your career and workplacesuccess.
Today's episode is all aboutbuilding your personal brand
standing out in the job market.
We've got a lot of greatinsights coming your way and I'm
excited to introduce our guest.
(00:44):
My guest today is RonaBarnett-Pierce, founder of
Perceptible Studios, where shehelps talent acquisition and HR
(01:05):
leaders scale their impactthrough video and content
creation.
Rona is also the host of herown podcast called Throw Out the
Playbook Podcast ReimagingRecruiting for Modern TA
Professionals.
Rona, welcome to the show.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Thank you so much for
having me.
I am doing great.
I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thank you so much.
We're on this journey and Ifeel like you're my sister in
podcasting, even though we justmet.
But you've been supporting meon LinkedIn.
We've been engaging a lot andI'm super excited for this
moment right here.
So thank you for accepting andjust coming on the podcast.
(01:51):
Rona, before we get started,tell us a little bit about you
outside of what you doprofessionally Maybe something
fun vacation, a place you loveto go to, or something.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
That's a great
question.
So for fun, you know why Ican't think of what I do for fun
?
Because I've been stuck in myhouse this past week because
it's been snowing.
But when it's not snowing hereand my car can actually leave my
house, I love doing CrossFit.
That's what I do, and I alsolove traveling.
(02:28):
I am from Panama, in CentralAmerica, so I love, love the
beach.
I live in Oklahoma now andthere's no beach.
So anytime I get theopportunity to go to a beach, I
am there Like my bags are packed.
People tell me it's like oh,would you ever consider moving
anywhere else?
I'm like my bags are packed.
Trust me, anywhere with a beach, my bag, I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.
So let me tell you somethinginteresting.
You say you're from CentralAmerica.
My mother is from Belize, andso I'm half African-American,
half Belizean, and so you knowwe have, I have some roots in
Central America.
So I knew, I knew we were, wewere close, right, like my
(03:12):
sister, right?
So, man, that's awesome.
So let's get into our maindiscussion.
Today and again, we're talkingabout building your professional
brand so you can stand out andbe a great candidate in this
market.
So, rona, can you share with usand for our listeners what is
(03:34):
personal brand and why is it soimportant for job seekers to
have this focus or have someinsight into their personal
brand in 2025?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So there are many
many definitions out there,
insight into their personalbrand in 2025?
So there are many, manydefinitions out there of what a
personal brand is.
I love one from Jeff Bezos,actually, and he says a personal
brand is what people say aboutyou when you're not in the room.
And I love that definitionbecause it's true and it's not
to be confused with personalbranding, which I like to define
(04:08):
as the intentional steps youtake to teach people what to say
about you when you're not inthe room, because, whether you
want to or not, everyone has apersonal brand.
Look, everyone talks about youwhen you're not in the room, but
what they say can be guided byhow, what, the intentional steps
that you take to teach themwhat to say about you when
(04:31):
you're not in the room, andthat's personal branding, and
it's important for job seekersand for anyone.
Really.
It's 2025.
More people are going to meetyou online than in person.
More people are going to meetyou before they actually meet
you, so you want them to havethe correct idea of who you are,
(04:56):
and not whatever story theymake up in their head based on
something that they see outthere, and that's why personal
branding is important.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I love how you talked
about the difference in brand,
your brand and branding.
Actually, I didn't know therewas a difference, and a lot of
people in my world, in the HRspace world, in the HR space
they know me from social media,via LinkedIn.
I could go to an event that'sregarding HR or you know
(05:34):
something career related, and Iwould have individuals just walk
up to me and say, hey, daniel,even though my podcast name is
Prince State, even though mypodcast name is Prince State.
They'll say, hey, daniel, andyou know, hey, I'm just so
excited to meet you and I'm likeI have no clue who they are and
(05:54):
they'll share their name insomewhere in between where we're
talking.
I'll try to find, okay, who isthis, who is this person and,
believe it or not, I've alreadyhad a conversation with them,
maybe two years ago, right.
And so again, as you talk aboutpersonal brand and branding,
what are people saying about youwhen you're not in the room?
(06:16):
And then, even, how do you letpeople know what your brand is
and how they should talk to you?
I just went to an event onFriday and I sit on the HR board
here, our local chapter, andone of our board members,
actually he's the past president.
(06:38):
He was introducing me to someoneand, believe it or not, he
started introducing me and justhitting all the right, all the
right words, and as I wasstanding there listening to him
introduce me, I was amazed athow he views me and just the way
(07:00):
he talked about me.
I would have never talked aboutme the way he did.
Right, you know you got to havea sense of humility, but you
know, the way he talked about me, I was amazed and I left after
that event with just a wow on myface because, again, I think
(07:21):
some people are intentional andsome people create fake branding
Right, but for him it was true,it was authentic, right.
And so, again, as we're talkingabout personal brand and
branding, I think this is areally great conversation for us
to have today and really giveour listeners insight into.
(07:43):
You know tips and tricks.
So how can job seekers useLinkedIn and other social media
platforms to build theirprofessional brand?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It's simple Create
content.
There's so many people onLinkedIn.
There's billions of people onLinkedIn and only like 1% of the
people with a LinkedIn profilecreate content.
So just the fact that you'recreating content makes you stand
out.
But also, again, you'reteaching people what to say.
(08:16):
That story of yours is sopowerful because imagine if you
didn't have anything out thereand someone introduced you as,
let's say, I don't know.
Let's say they said, oh, thisis Daniel, he works in HR
compliance.
And you're like no, I don't.
Do you say that right there?
(08:36):
No, like it's awkward.
And that happens because thisperson, for whatever reason, one
day saw you do one compliancething at work and they decided
that you're the complianceperson.
You're like no, I was justcovering for Jan, who was out
that day.
So you taking those steps, youcreating content, you sharing
(08:57):
what you stand for and who youare, and what you do
professionally is how you canstand out.
And then also, look, I get it,Everyone isn't a content creator
, Everyone doesn't want tocreate content.
Everyone doesn't have the time,the desire, the skills.
I get it, Although the skillsyou can post on the content that
(09:30):
other people create is also anamazing way to get visibility to
you, or like saying like thanks, oh agree, Great.
Like that's not the type ofcomment I'm saying.
I'm saying you saw a post aboutsomething that you really have
(09:51):
an opinion about, or you thinkthat the way the person
explained it was amazing, wasgreat.
Go post, say that and say likeI really love how you you
position this because I usuallysee it this way.
I love how you position thisbecause I usually see it this
way, but you've opened my eyesto this way.
That type of comment, that showsthat you understand what the
(10:13):
topic is about, you have anopinion and that you're adding
value and bringing a differentperspective.
That's the type of content thatis great for your professional
brand.
What's the type of content?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
that is great for
your professional brand.
You know, there are times whereI'm able to go back to my
college, where I graduated from,and speak with undergrads.
You know those individualstrying to get into their careers
and actually in my undergrad Ilearned about LinkedIn.
(10:45):
I had no clue what LinkedIn wasand I still have notes to today
from that meeting that I wentto and they talked about
LinkedIn.
So I said you know what?
Let me create my own profile.
And from then it started.
So a lot of people they thinklike oh, daniel, you're going to
have to teach me how to useLinkedIn.
And I tell people all the time.
You know, this just didn'tstart yesterday.
(11:08):
It took time right to developand learn how to use this
software, this tool to help mybrand and branding.
Often I would share withundergrads.
You need to create a LinkedInprofile.
However, it's not just goodenough to create the profile.
(11:29):
You need to engage, you need toadd value, you need to bring
awareness right for that skillor that industry that you're
trying to get into.
If you're going to conferences,meetups and if you're simply in
class, you know, maybe you justyou know take a picture of
(11:51):
yourself in the class and justtalk about wow I learned today,
or my professor was talkingabout X, y and Z.
But this is my approach Simplethings.
It's something that you don'thave to really the environment
that you're in just utilizewhere you are to create content.
(12:15):
So people get to know you alittle better and, believe it or
not, I'm going to tell you this.
That's how I got my firstfull-time HR job.
I was still in college and thisguy called me.
Well, he didn't call me, hemessaged me on LinkedIn and then
we had a conversation and I wasa little weary because I was
(12:37):
like I don't qualify for theposition that you're talking to
me about and he said don't worryabout that.
And I was like what do you mean?
Don't worry about it.
It said I need one to two yearsof experience and I'm only an
intern right now.
And he said don't worry aboutthat because your work is on
LinkedIn.
And that blew my mind Right,exactly Because people knew who
(13:00):
I was.
And again, I don't.
I didn't even know who this guywas, right, but he found me
because of me being on socialmedia LinkedIn no-transcript
(13:34):
manager.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So they trust me to a
level.
But when I can back it up withlook at this person's profile
and what they were talking about, what they just shared, plus
this is what I found from themin the conversation then they're
like okay, let's talk, let'ssee that opens doors.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So yeah, so I talked
a little bit about this, but
from your perspective, what aresome ways to showcase expertise
and credibility, even withoutyears of experience?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I love that you
touched on it, because my number
one tip is always learning inpublic.
Learning and building in publicis one of the most powerful
ways for someone who doesn'thave a ton of professional
experience to showcase that theyare, what level they're at with
their learning or their skillsright.
(14:31):
So, yes, you're in college.
You're learning something.
Talk about that.
Post about that.
You're working on a project.
Give people the behind thescenes.
Look.
Everyone in this world is nosyand people who say they're not
nosy are lying.
Everyone's nosy.
Everyone wants the behind thescenes, even the recruiters and
the hiring managers.
(14:51):
When you're sharing what you'redoing and how you're doing it,
and if you share video, look,I'm not saying this because I
own a video marketing agency.
I own a video marketing agencybecause I believe in the power
of video.
It's helped me in so manythings in my career.
But if you're doing building inpublic, learning in public, and
(15:15):
you have videos showing howyou're doing it or a little
quick recap of what you learned,that builds trust.
Video is the easiest way to geta stranger to trust you.
So not only are you talkingabout it or posting screenshots
or things like that, but you'retalking to them face to camera,
(15:35):
sharing it.
They can see it, they canreally understand who you are,
what you bring to the table,even if you don't, on paper,
have a ton of years ofexperience.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, yeah, man,
that's some good stuff there, so
let's talk about this now.
You know, we talked aboutLinkedIn and we talked about
engaging right, and when we talkabout engagement, we're
actually talking about reallynetworking on LinkedIn.
So how can networking as wellas community involvement how can
(16:11):
that enhance a person's brand?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
is community
involvement.
How can that enhance a person'sbrand?
At the end of the day, like wesaid, a personal brand is what
people say about you when you'renot in the room.
Right, the more people youconnect with, the more people
are talking about you.
When you're not in the room,the more people are like oh,
you're looking for someone withso-and-so skills.
Oh, I know of this person, evenif they don't know you.
There's been so many times I'vebeen referred to a job from
(16:40):
someone that I've only met onLinkedIn.
We've never met, we knownothing about each other other
than comments back and forth andDMs back and forth, but they're
like I think Rona is the personfor this, because I've seen it
and we've engaged.
It's not enough.
We're all about community andin this day and age, really
getting a job is not so muchabout what you know, it's about
(17:06):
who you know, and we all don'thave these amazing hugely
connected networks.
I learned this the hard way whenI moved.
I moved from a place my parentsare very connected back home.
Just one phone call would getme interviews and things like
that from my parents.
Here I didn't know anyone, andmy husband's in a totally
(17:27):
different industry.
His family is too.
So I had to go out and networkand talk to the people in my
industry, but I don't know them.
But then when you start for meat least it's much easier to
start these relationships online.
It's also important to rememberthat relationships are at the
center of most businesstransactions, and getting hired
(17:50):
is a business transaction.
So, yes, networking andnurturing those relationships
and who you know and who knowsabout you and your skills is
really what opens doors.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, one thing in
regards of the community
involvement aspect that I kindof want to speak to is, even if
you are volunteering whetherthat's at church or volunteering
in your community, you knowhelping other workers.
(18:23):
Or or even you know going tohigh schools and helping high
schoolers understand what aresume is.
High schoolers understand whata resume is.
I think those are differentthings and and you know, I don't
want our listeners to thinklike, hey, you know, just share
everything that you're doing.
No, I think you need to sharethings that really add value,
(18:44):
right, um, and so simplyvolunteering and saying, hey,
this is how we give back to our,this is how I give back to my
community, I think that addsvalue because people see that
you know you're compassionate.
People would see, like you know, that's the type of person I
want to work at my company,whether you have the skills that
(19:07):
they're looking for or not,right.
And so I think that communityinvolvement is important, right,
and so I think that communityinvolvement is important not
just for Gen Zers or millennials, but even for other, you know,
baby boomers and Gen Xers, right, like, we all need to see, like
(19:31):
you know more than just beyondyour skill set, but we also want
to see compassion, and do youhave compassion and are you able
to give back, even sometimeswhen you may not be receiving
right?
So I think that's an importantaspect as well when we're
talking about communityinvolvement.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, for sure,
that's an important aspect, and
I also understand that everyonedoesn't have the ability, maybe,
to volunteer their time,because maybe they are studying,
they're working, they havebills to pay.
You don't have time.
But you can also give back andhave that community involvement
on LinkedIn.
Now, there's lots of people outthere posting about things and
(20:11):
they need help or they havequestions.
You can always do like, hey,let's get on a quick call, I
know about this topic thatyou're wanting to know about.
And yes, it might not be thispublic thing of like, hey,
everyone, look, I helped Danielor I helped so, and so it's like
it doesn't have to be that.
But the people that you helpalways, always remember and I
(20:35):
always go back to something thatmy dad told me many, many years
ago when I was starting mycareer it's like what makes you
successful isn't what you know,how much money you have, it's
who you know and how you treatedthem when they first met you.
So community involvement goesback to that Give back, help
(20:56):
people.
If you can volunteer at acharity, at a church, 100% do it
.
But maybe it's just one personthat you help on LinkedIn that
you saw that needed help, or onInstagram or anywhere.
We're talking about LinkedInbecause it's where both of us
hang out, but there's communityin many, many other places.
There's discords, there's Slack.
(21:17):
There's so many communities forlike-minded individuals.
That's also a way of enhancingyour professional brand.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah.
So I want to talk about this,like okay, I think certain
people they just do too much.
I'm just being transparent,right, and we were talking about
branding.
So what are some mistakescommon mistakes that
professionals make when tryingto establish their brand?
Speaker 2 (21:45):
First big mistake
that I see people make is not
being authentic.
You can't create content orpresent yourself in a way that
you can't back up in person.
To me, one of the funniestthings anytime I go to
conferences, I meet people outthere.
They're like you're just likeyou are on LinkedIn.
Well, how else would?
(22:05):
I can't keep up this act.
No, I'm exactly who I am.
Are there things that I don'tsay on LinkedIn that are
reserved for the group chat?
A hundred percent.
But who I am and how I presentmyself.
I would never present myself asthis person who never cusses.
I cuss a lot.
I'm surprised I haven't cussedat all and we've been talking
(22:26):
for almost an hour.
So it's like that's who I am.
I cuss sometimes on LinkedIn.
I do.
That's just who I am.
So not being authentic is a bigthing.
Not having a plan or goalsclearly defined, that's a big
thing, because that's when youlook at people's content and
you're like, ooh, this is hotmess express Like one day you're
(22:49):
posting about this, the otherday you're posting about this.
It's like who are you?
Remember, you're trying toguide people to have that
experience that you had wheresomeone introduces you and
you're like, wow, they hit themark.
This is exactly who I am andwhat I do for work.
That only happens if you'reintentional about what you're
(23:12):
doing and you have a plan andyou have goals.
And I'm not saying you have tospend hours and hours on
strategy.
I'm just saying know who you'retalking to and what you're
talking about and stick to that.
And it doesn't mean it can'tchange because I'm the queen of
pivots, right?
I've changed.
I talk about softwareengineering and tomorrow I talk
(23:32):
about recruiting, choose a lanefor this period in time and talk
about that.
And the other big mistake thatI see people make is chasing
(23:54):
virality and like vanity metricsinstead of building
relationships.
Likes and follows do not paythe bills, and I say this as a
content creator who has branddeals and sometimes does get
paid because of likes andfollows.
(24:15):
However, likes and followsaren't what get those brands to
come to me.
It's the relationships thatI've built, it's the engagement
that they see on my content, andalso most people aren't out
there trying to monetize theirbrands.
So if you're most people andyou're not trying to monetize
your brand, vanity metricsshould not even be on your radar
(24:39):
.
You should be targetingrelationships.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Man, I love that.
And it's all surrounding beingauthentic, right, being yourself
you talked about.
You know, just being yourself,that you know you're honest,
like, hey, you curse a lot,right.
And for me, you know, I'm onthe opposite end of that Like I
(25:15):
don't curse at all.
That's just my belief.
That's how I grew up, and whenpeople meet me, they're like,
hey, you don't curse, and I'mlike, no, what you see on
LinkedIn, that's how I am allthe time.
And you know that I've beenworking.
You know there's been tons ofnetworking opportunities,
meetups, dinners, and peoplewould ask me, hey, you don't
drink.
And I'm like, no, I don't Justgive me some Sprite and put a
lemon in there.
Or you know like, you know Idon't want to act like I'm not a
(25:37):
part, but you know, I think forme, like I'm intentional on my
values, and those are thingsthat again, being authentic.
And you know, if people don'tlike it, then hey, at least you
know that you're true toyourself, right?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Exactly, and they're
not for you.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, because I think
some people think like, oh well
, you know, yeah, you're thisperson on camera.
I think some people think like,oh well, you know, yeah, you're
this person on camera, butoutside of this, you know, you
may be somebody else.
And I think that people expectthat a lot because of
celebrities that they see onshows.
But, believe it or not, a lotof these celebrities, they don't
(26:15):
really own themselves.
You know they don't ownthemselves.
They're tied to a contract.
You know they don't ownthemselves, but they're tied to
a contract.
You know they have to, you know, be a certain weight for this
amount of period or they have to.
You know they can't do this, sothey can't do that because
they're doing it for the money.
But I think when you talk aboutyour brand and you talk about
(26:36):
being intentional in your brandis okay.
What are you trying to do?
What impact are you trying toshow or give in whatever you're
doing?
Right, and I think that'sreally important.
Let me ask you this what may benot a caveat, but a pet peeve
(27:00):
of yours?
When you talk about branding,you see other people, you know,
trying to create their brand.
What is a pet peeve of yoursthat you like?
Oh I just.
It irks my nerves just seeingthis.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I think a pet peeve
is for me is that when it
doesn't match who the person islike, you'll see a post and it
sounds one way, and you see acomment and it sounds the other
way and it's like wait, who isthis?
And now, with AI, there's somany times where I was like you
did not write this post becauseI've spoken to you, I've seen
(27:35):
your comments, this is not howyou speak, so that disconnect.
And then sometimes you meetpeople in person and it's like
this is not who you are and it'slike no, and, like you said,
it's like imagine if you got onLinkedIn, because it was cool
with a picture of a drink, andthen someone sees you in an
(27:56):
event and you're not drinking,and there's absolutely nothing
wrong with not drinking, sodon't present yourself as that,
because you think that that'swhat you need to do.
So my pet peeve is that when itdoesn't match, because it's
always like wait, who is thereal person- Right, right, right
(28:16):
.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
There's someone I'm
not going to say who, but
there's someone and actuallyit's multiple people on LinkedIn
because people believe it ornot, I get at least one to two
followers a day on LinkedIn andit's continuing to grow because
of the podcast as well.
But there's people that I seeon LinkedIn and it's they're
(28:40):
trying to add value and create abrand, that they're this expert
in a particular field.
And they may be an expert, butit doesn't come off as authentic
.
And when I say that youmentioned AI, like instead of
you, like, I know you have amaster's program, a master's
degree why are you using ChatGPTon every single post, like
(29:04):
every single post?
I know it's ChatGPT, right, andit's like just say what you got
to say in your own wordswithout using AI.
And now, there's nothing wrongwith using AI, but you don't
have to use it 100% of the time,right?
Speaker 2 (29:23):
And when you use it,
you don't.
I use AI all day.
Look my job.
All I do is create content forother people, including myself,
and sometimes I just getmentally drained and my
creativity is gone.
It's like I don't even knowwhat to say.
I tell ChatGPT I want to talkabout this, give me a post.
It gives me a post, and there'sabsolutely no way.
(29:43):
It's like I don't even speakthat way, but it gave me like an
idea of like this is how I canpresent it, and then I polish it
up and change it and make itsound like me.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
That's how you use AI
, but I would never copy and
paste exactly what chat GPT toldme, because look somebody
they've pasted, you know, onchat, gpt it'll say you know
subject here and on the bottomit may say how does this sound?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I believe that, and
people leave that on, it's like,
hmm, who are we talking to?
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yeah, like, how is
this, does this capture your
audience?
And I'm like you may want tocheck your post.
I will do that becausesomebody's helped me in the past
.
It's like, hey, you have amisspelled word.
And I'm like, oh shoot, youknow, sometimes if you're
texting, it's just that's why Idon't like texting.
But you know, hey, you know I'mvery transparent.
(30:37):
They're like, hey, you know,there's something wrong with
your post, you may want to lookat it again.
So, rona, we got to get out ofhere.
This has been such a fantasticconversation.
I would ask you for my lastquestion what are some last tips
that you would share, just highlevel, and how can people find
(30:58):
you and connect with you onsocial media?
High level.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
And how can people
find you and connect with you on
social media.
So my final tip is really starkPut yourself out there, have a
goal.
The main way to get that goalis just think about what you
want to be known for and whoyou're talking about.
Once you have that in mind, andthen think about the problems
of the people or the companiesthat they have.
(31:23):
So if you're targeting aspecific company and you know
that these are the problems thatthey have, talk about that,
Talk to them and the problemsand how you solve those problems
and that's really your personalbrand is really not about you.
It's about what you can do forother people.
(31:44):
So, again, how they talk aboutyou when you're not in the room,
if you talk directly to them,if you talk about the problems
and the things that they careabout.
And it's not all about me, me,me, me, me.
That's how you win at this.
And I'm on LinkedIn.
I post almost every day.
Rona Barnett Pierce.
My company's website isperceptiblestudioscom, and I'm
(32:09):
Rona B Pierce on every otherplatform.
So Instagram, YouTube, Threads,Blue Sky, everywhere.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Rona, thank you.
I always love to end on anencouraging note.
So, as we talk about buildingyour personal brand and letting
your strengths shine, I'mreminded of this verse in
Matthew 5 and 16.
It says in the same way letyour light shine before men that
they may see your good worksand glorify your Father in
(32:42):
heaven.
When you build a strong,authentic personal brand, you're
not just advancing your career,you're creating opportunities
to impact others positively.
So let your light shine and letyour brand reflect the unique
gifts and talents God has placedin you.
(33:02):
Rona, thank you so much forjoining us today and sharing
such valuable insights.
I hope today's conversation hasinspired our listeners to take
actionable steps in building andrefining your personal brand.
Remember, your brand isn't justwhat you do.
It's how you show up, how youtreat others and how you make
(33:23):
people feel.
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I'm Prince Tate, and until nexttime we'll see you on the other
side.