June 6, 2025 • 32 mins
This summer, All Things STEM With Ashley is hosting a new series starring Men In STEM!
Please welcome our guest, Abdie Mohamed!
Are you ready to take control of your future? In this video, we dive deep into how to build your personal brand in 2025 and beyond! Whether you're an entrepreneur, freelancer, or career professional, developing a strong personal brand is essential for standing out in today’s competitive job market.
💼 With constant changes in the economy and increasing job uncertainty, having a backup plan and creating multiple income streams is more important than ever. I’ll share proven strategies for personal branding success, how to grow your online presence, and tips to position yourself as an authority in your industry.
🎯 Discover how to use LinkedIn, social media, and content creation to establish your brand identity, build trust with your audience, and future-proof your career. These personal branding tips will help you create long-term opportunities and stand out from the crowd — even in uncertain times.
📈 Don’t wait for opportunity—create it. Watch now and learn how to thrive no matter what the market throws at you!
Meet Abdie Mohamed! Abdie Mohamed is a seasoned professional with over six years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in cloud governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). Currently serving as a Lead Cloud Governance Engineer in the Aerospace Industry, Abdie has made significant strides in reducing organizational waste, saving millions of dollars through innovative strategies for cloud cost optimization. He also addresses complex security risks in cloud environments by implementing robust governance frameworks and scalable risk management practices.
A passionate public speaker, mentor, and educator, Abdie is dedicated to inspiring and empowering others to take action in their careers and in the tech space. Abdie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management Information Systems from San Diego State University and a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland Global Campus.
His impressive list of certifications includes AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, CompTIA Security+, LPI Linux Essentials, HashiCorp Terraform Associate, and Certified FinOps Engineer. With a strong focus on leadership, communication, and technical expertise, Abdie is not only an advocate for effective cloud governance but also a driving force behind modernizing GRC practices. Whether it's through speaking engagements, mentorship, workshops, or helping others achieve their life goals, he remains committed to fostering innovation, building secure cloud environments, and guiding others to achieve their professional and personal aspirations.
👉 Like, comment, and subscribe for more videos on career growth, career journey tips, and more!
#PersonalBranding #CareerTips #JobMarket2025 #BrandStrategy #Entrepreneurship #SideHustle #CareerSuccess #BackupPlan
Please welcome our guest, Abdie Mohamed!
Are you ready to take control of your future? In this video, we dive deep into how to build your personal brand in 2025 and beyond! Whether you're an entrepreneur, freelancer, or career professional, developing a strong personal brand is essential for standing out in today’s competitive job market.
💼 With constant changes in the economy and increasing job uncertainty, having a backup plan and creating multiple income streams is more important than ever. I’ll share proven strategies for personal branding success, how to grow your online presence, and tips to position yourself as an authority in your industry.
🎯 Discover how to use LinkedIn, social media, and content creation to establish your brand identity, build trust with your audience, and future-proof your career. These personal branding tips will help you create long-term opportunities and stand out from the crowd — even in uncertain times.
📈 Don’t wait for opportunity—create it. Watch now and learn how to thrive no matter what the market throws at you!
Meet Abdie Mohamed! Abdie Mohamed is a seasoned professional with over six years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in cloud governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). Currently serving as a Lead Cloud Governance Engineer in the Aerospace Industry, Abdie has made significant strides in reducing organizational waste, saving millions of dollars through innovative strategies for cloud cost optimization. He also addresses complex security risks in cloud environments by implementing robust governance frameworks and scalable risk management practices.
A passionate public speaker, mentor, and educator, Abdie is dedicated to inspiring and empowering others to take action in their careers and in the tech space. Abdie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management Information Systems from San Diego State University and a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland Global Campus.
His impressive list of certifications includes AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, CompTIA Security+, LPI Linux Essentials, HashiCorp Terraform Associate, and Certified FinOps Engineer. With a strong focus on leadership, communication, and technical expertise, Abdie is not only an advocate for effective cloud governance but also a driving force behind modernizing GRC practices. Whether it's through speaking engagements, mentorship, workshops, or helping others achieve their life goals, he remains committed to fostering innovation, building secure cloud environments, and guiding others to achieve their professional and personal aspirations.
👉 Like, comment, and subscribe for more videos on career growth, career journey tips, and more!
#PersonalBranding #CareerTips #JobMarket2025 #BrandStrategy #Entrepreneurship #SideHustle #CareerSuccess #BackupPlan
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello everyone, and welcome to all Things Then with Ashley.
I'm so excited to have you here today. I am
your host, Ashley, and I'm so excited to have Abdi
Muhammad here as our guest.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Abdy is a seasoned.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Tech professional with over six years of experience specializing in
cloud governance, risk and compliance. As a lead cloud governance engineer,
he saved his organization millions of dollars while tackling complex
security risk in the cloud. Abdy is not only a
practitioner in the GRC space, but also a passionate public speaker, mentor,
and educator dedicated to inspiring others to achieve their professional
(00:44):
and life goals. With the Master's in Cybersecurity Management and
Policy and a wealth of certifications including AWS Solutions Architecture
Associate and Certified ben OPS Engineer, Avdy brings a unique
perspective to modernizing GRC practices and building care, cost effective
cloud environments. We're thrilled to have him today to share
(01:04):
his insights, experiences, and advice for those building their personal brand.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
So Ovdi, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to
start building your personal brands. So for those that you
of you that don't know. Abdy is a worldwide speaker.
He speaks on cloud engineering. He's a great mentor. He
speaks at conferences all around the United States and eventually
he will be worldwide. He also just has a great
LinkedIn presence, a great social media presence, and he's super encouraging.
(01:35):
And so for people that want to navigate for being
an individual contributor to actually making it impacting their communities
and giving into the next generation of STEM leaders, can
you give us some tips on what inspired you to
do this and how you started building your own brand
outside of your job. Because his brand speaks to other companies,
not just in his company, So tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, So I realized, you know, working corporate America after
a year or two.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
That getting fired or getting laid off is legitimate possibility.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
No matter how good of a performer that I may be,
no matter how much money I saved the company, no
matter how much money I've made the company, there is
a possibility that I could be let go. Right and
then the event that I'm let go, what can I
fall back on? What can protect me and potentially in
my family in the event that I.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Lose my nine to five job. And that's where personal
branding comes in right.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
For me, you know, I always thought to myself, eventually
I want to get into the speaking space.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
I want to get into inspiring others.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I want to get into mentoring others, give them, you know,
tangible skills that they can use in their daily lives
to push their lives forward.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
And for me, it was very important that having a
strong personal brand is what.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
It wasn't an option, it's it's something for me, like, no,
I have to do this for a very fruitful career.
If I want that next promote front of that next
job or that next client and you know that I
want to work with, I have to have.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
A strong personal brand.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And a part of having a strong personal brand is
having good relationships. And to have a good relationship, you know,
it takes initially a lot, a lot of outreach online,
a lot of posting online, you know, letting people in
a little bit, sharing your experiences and putting that all together,
and then going for the copy chats, the lunches, the dinners,
(03:25):
you know, meeting people at conferences, doing the podcasts right
like we're doing right now, right, That's all a part.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Of the personal brand. So for me, you know, getting.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Started was realizing that that I could be fired any day.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
You know what am I doing to protect myself?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
That's excellent, Auntie.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I'm glad and you definitely have this as a safety
that you're great at it, and you also have so
many great nuggets wisdom. So I'm so excited for you
to share with us today. So what were some of
the busiest challenges you faced when you first begin to
shape your personal brand? So you're starting, you know a
lot of people may not know you yet. What are
some challenges you faced.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, one of the biggest challenges I faced when I
started to develop my personal brand was.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Was I was scared.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It was scary, Like, yeah, like, what do you mean
post on LinkedIn?
Speaker 5 (04:18):
What are you talking about? Post on LinkedIn? I'm gonna
get called out. No, I'm not posting on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I don't want to look quote unquote unprofessional, look quote
unquote you know, unintelligent.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
Right, It's it's scary. So if you're scared to post
on LinkedIn, trust and trust me. I get it.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I was you.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I was that person I was terrified posting on LinkedIn.
So I was the biggest struggle. It was getting out
of my own way, just getting to posting, right, understanding
that there are definitely a lot of other people on
a platform like LinkedIn who are more knowledgeable.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
That's definitely true.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
However that that same note is also true, there are
people who are less knowledgeable than you in your field,
and there are people who who could greatly benefit by
you posting on a platform like LinkedIn. You posting your journey,
you posting you know, doing that project, you posting doing
that community service or that mentorship program.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Right, A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Can benefit from that, right, And fear was a big thing.
I was terrified of posting on LinkedIn. I felt like
I was I wasn't qualified quote unquote. I didn't want
to be called out for you know, sharing sharing incorrect information. Right,
So I'd say that was the biggest challenge and just
understand put yourself out there. It's scary, yeah, but it's
(05:43):
going to be a net positive more people that are
going to benefit from your contribution. You have something to contribute.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I love that, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So next with that, I want to ask how did
you define define your personal brand and how has it
evolved over time? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Brand just like the Presonal brand.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Essentially in essence, it's who we are, right and who
we are as people that evolves over time. So for me,
originally I kept it very very professional. For example, I'm
talking about LinkedIn here, right, I kept it very very professional.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Even the way I spoke on LinkedIn was you know,
very very professional, like like like to the tea, right.
Speaker 5 (06:27):
And then I realized over time was that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't need to sound smart. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It's one of those things we realized where like, if
you're truly intelligent and you know what you're talking about,
then you could break it down in the way anyone
can understand.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
I don't need to use big words, right, I don't
need to use like.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
You know, tense syllable world where you know, you know,
cutting edge, checking out all these all these buzz words,
you know, engineering.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
We love theseuss words.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
We love making ourselves feel so smart, right, like like.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No, no, no buzzwords, you know, no, no trying to
sound smart.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
When I first started, I was always obsessed with that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Now I asked myself, Hey, with what I shared, can
I make it more simple.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
For anyone to understand? Right?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Obviously something some of the topics I talk about my LinkedIn,
Like I'll talk about you know cloud. You know, I
talk about you know, risks in the cloud, I talk
about cost optimization. Right, maybe some of those topics, you know,
I might I might go a little deep into them.
So it may not make sense to everybody, but I
try to communicate in a way that am I communicating
in a way that is simple and.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Easy to understand it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So so now that's a big change my brand. And
another thing is now I post a little.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
Bit more about my social life LinkedIn. Originally I didn't
really post much at my social life.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, now I post a little bit more about my
social life. Let's say, like, right now we're recording this podcast, right,
I'll probably take itself and say, hey, recorded.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
A podcast with my good friend Ashley.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Can't wait for it to come out, right, Like, I'm
more comfortable doing that.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I'm more comfortable posting a picture with you know, with
with with with with.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
My niece, my niece, my nephews at the park height
this weekend, taking time off. This is what I'm doing right,
Grant that I don't show everything, say my brand I
wanted to evolve to you know, it's evolve over time
to be just strictly a professional.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Now I might share that I ran.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
A five K yes, right, or I did I did
this this, this big, this big, I went to this
big food for us.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Why might post that?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Right?
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Because I think at the same time, I want people
to know that I'm a human being. I'm not a robot.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It's not it's not always you know, sitting behind the
computer all day, you know, hacking away at my keyboard.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
No, it's it's it's a lot of other things.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, I love that. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So you already have spoke on what the first steps
someone should take when turning about their brand, you know,
get yourself out there, you know, start making LinkedIn just
face that fear. But how did you identify your unique
strengths or niche when building a personal brand? Because you
could have done cooking five k's sports. What made you feel.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Like, Okay, I want to do it in the professional realm.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yeah, so that's a good question for me. I felt that.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
You're passionate about this. Are you passionate about your job?
You're passionate about what you do? Is that kind of
what FEDS like?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, yeah, I would definitely got that right that you
think you hit on the nail.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
When I first started, I wasn't very passionate.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
However, the passion came with time. It came with me
getting better at being able to service more people that
started to develop that passion. So I would say, for me,
you're integrating my professional career into my social media.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
You know that. You know that?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
For me, yeah, that was a no brainer because I
started to develop a lot of passion for the work
that I do. And also for me, you know, I
see mysel you know, getting into more of the leadership consulting,
leadership training space. So part of being an effective trainer
or a speaker that speaks on topics like leadership and
(10:10):
communication is you got to show proof that you've actually.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Use the tools that you're talking about right.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And my engineering career career is all about using the
tools that I want to talk about exactly right.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
So for me, you know, it all aligned well and
I felt.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
That, you know what, I can inspire many people and
I can service a lot more people, you know, by
posting on social media and by you know, creating a brand.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
That's bigger than me. It's not about me.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
It's more about the impact.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
The impact, Yeah, the impact that the people will get
to serve.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I love.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
That's that's why I started this channel, the impact and
having people that look like us, that are young like us,
that are experimenting in this new world. It's different than
the nineties. It's different when our parents were in the workforce.
And I really want this platform for people that don't
have that mentor don't have that community to talk about
these things on how do I move forward in my
stam care or are there people that have done this
(11:02):
like me? How did they wish like, how did they succeed?
What are things they wish they had known? What are
things they wish they had done better? So that's why
this is so important and why I get great guest
speakers that have a lot of great gems and knowledge
and wisdom because I'm learning from my friends as you
all are learning, and I definitely hear some tips through
different interviews that I wish I had known in my
collegiate years or early in my STEM career.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So so thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I'll be So my next question is how do you
think social media influences personal branding today and what platforms
do you feel the most effective?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, so social media is is the golden key, you know,
when it comes to personal branding at at a large scale.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
At a local level, though.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I would say, you know, personal branding is also the
way you treat others, yes, you know, the way the
way you treat your family, your loved ones, the way
you treat your coworkers, yeah, or your customers that you
know that that that you ever or you know, the
people at the mosque or at the church, you know,
like you want to you want to understand that personal
brand is also the way you treat the janitor at
(12:09):
the gym.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Right.
Speaker 6 (12:10):
There's lovels to personal branding, right, and you want to
make sure to the best of your ability that it's consistent. Right,
you're consistently known as a person who values kindness, who's
a leader who takes initiative.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
You know, at every level. Now at a global level.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
For you to get that global exposure, you can't be
every rep same time. However, social media allows you to
get your message across the many many people all around
the world.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
So I would say, you know, definitely social media is key.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You know, you got to make sure that you're using
social media intentionally. You know, even me, I have to
remind myself like, Hey, what I'm about to polse is
is this post about how awesome I am? Or is
it this post about you know, the people I can
potentially impact?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
And this is this is a hard thing because social
media is it doesn't encourage good behavior. Yeah, I'm just
gonna say it.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
It doesn't encourage good It doesn't encourage it doesn't encourage selflessness.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I'll say that social media For me, I believe social
media encourage you to be to make.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It all about you where you know, you should try
to use your social media to make it about the
people that you're you're blessed to serve and whatever your
calling is. So you know, I'd say definitely LinkedIn is
a really good one, especially for professionals. If you're a professional, definitely.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Get on LinkedIn. You know, build relationships at a global level.
You know, you never know you could be doing business
with these individuals one day. You know you could you
could potentially have that next job or that next client.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Right, it's it's it's it's We've never had more opportunity.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Today than we did years ago. Today, today is the.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Best time because now you get to actually define your
personal brand and leverage that any way you want through
social media.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I agree, I think that's wonderful. So professional step. I
utilize LinkedIn. Are there any other ones maybe that you
like other than LinkedIn? Do you feel like your Instagram
helps or.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Facebook or Yeah? I said, Instagram definitely helps. So my
LinkedIn Instagram are very very similar.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I get into the weeds a little bit more on
my LinkedIn on the technical stuff, but definitely on my
Instagram do talk about the technical stuff, and I show
I show a little bit of my day to day
is like maybe going to the gym, run or you know,
hanging out with friends.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
I show a little bit of my social life on
Instagram as well.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
But I would say, you know, there's definitely that that
consistency there. I would also recommend, you know, using other
social media platforms such as Twitter could be good.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
You know, TikTok TikTok's legit is legitimate. You know, I know,
we just got it back, get it back, We got
it back. All right, We've got TikTok back.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hopefully bout the time this show airs, maybe it will
be here, maybe it will not.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But yeah, yeah, so so y'all would say those for
me personally, I'm not on every social media platform.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
It's just too much to manage it is. I don't
have a TikTok. Yeah, my younger sisters are on it.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They love it, have friends who teach on TikTok, reliable
insights on technology, cybersecurity, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I know folks who are really.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Big on Twitter, who talk about these topics and educate
a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
For me, I can't take it. It's just too many,
too many platforms. I stay to Instagram on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And that's that's great though, And he's built a strong
brand on just those two, So.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I want to kind of get into the networking and
relationships realm of building your personal brand, and I want
to ask how do networking and building personal relationships go
into personal branding for those that don't know.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Yeah, so networking in relationships.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
So if you if you're telling yourself that, hey, you know,
I want to brand myself as someone who has a
lot of integrity, Well you can only do that if
people you have relationships with or people other people say
that about you. Yeah, I can't say my name is
Adi and I'm a man of integrity.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Okay, yes, but but but that doesn't really matter. Proof.
Where's the proof?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, other people vouch for that. Have you had that
experience with others?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Other people have to vouch you. That's part of a
strong personal brand. A strong personal brand is other people
saying that, Hey, you know this person is that person?
They are a thought leader in this space, They are
an educator. There are you know, a very accomplished engineer.
You want other people to say great things about you
and that and that comes with building relationships and putting
(16:35):
investment forward and just being a kind human being.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
You know. I think that goes along with you.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Thank you, OPTI.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
My next question is how can you leverage collaborations with
others to grow your personal brand.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Collaboration is the cheat code? This is it? This is it?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, collaborations everything. Think about it like this right this,
This is what I realized. This is me taking an
economics class back.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
In community college.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Is that we have this pie, right, We're.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Told that, hey, this pie is a small piece of pie.
You know, there's not enough for everybody. Instead of you
and me competing for this beautiful, lovely, tasty piece of pie,
why not make a bigger pie? Yes, that way, not
just you and me, but everyone else could get a
slice of the pie. I love that, right, And that's
what collaboration is.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Collaborations when you take two talented individuals and make something
even better happen. Collaboration is the cheat code, right, and
what does that do for your personal brand? It also
creates more people, more audiences that can say, you know
what this person is good at X y Z.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So, collaboration is the cheat code even in our daily jobs,
even if you're.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
A solo preneur or entrepreneur. Right, collaborations how you get ahead?
Without collaboration. You know, we wouldn't have everything that we
have here today. We wouldn't have this camera. We will
collaborating on mistake ye right. You know all the products
and services, the tools that which you they were use.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
In our daily lives, people collaborated, So you know, I
would say collaboration is how you accelerate.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
It's the cheat code that no one talks about. Enough.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, thank you, afty, that's excellent, thank you.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
What's the best way to manage both online and offline
relationships while maintaining ensuring that they align with your personal brand?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
So I would say, well, first off, I want to
answer that last question.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
First, he's an alignment.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Right. You have to audit the people that are in
your professional life and your personal life. You have to
audit them, right, not audit them as and have them
sitting down and question, you know, go through a checklist
of questions, but ask yourself, you know, is this individual
engaging in behaviors that I am okay with or I'm
(18:50):
okay with with my sibling or my family around this person? Right?
Speaker 5 (18:55):
You probably you probably don't want to be around that person, right.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
You know, you have to ask tough questions and on
it because as you will move up in your career
or we'll open your business, right, there's an image about
you and you have to be very keen on honoring
who's in your circle, right because that could be the
Dutch to be your Dutchman.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
It could be you know, it could be problematic, right.
You know, you want to.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Make sure that the people in your circles, they're your advocates,
they're championing.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
You when you're not in their rooms. So I definitely,
you know, definitely strongly encourage people.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
To audit their circles as often as they can and
ask yourself, hey, you know, this person should probably just
be an acquaintance.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
They should be a friend.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
That's okay, that's what's wrong with an acquaintance, right, you
show love from Afar, show love to everybody from Afar. Right.
But you know, you have to audit your circle because
that's that that's believed or not, that affects you.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It does.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
That affects you.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
That affects your ability to the ability to be effective
at your job, be effective as a business owner, effective
as a father or husband, whatever whatever you are, you know,
pastor whatever. Right, like you, you have to audit the
people that you're around.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And what was the first part of that question to give.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
It was just saying the best way to manage both
online and in personal relationships while still aligning with your
personal brand.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Okay, so the best way, yeah, the best way to
do that, right, this is what you do.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Sometimes people they think because they have.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Thousands of followers on Instagram, thousands of followers on LinkedIn.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
They believe those are all their friends. Right.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
No, No, some people watch just to watch for real.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Listen, they get that power already every Friday. Ye just
watch and just watch them. No, not a like, not
a comment, not a ricos just yeah, so so something
be mindful of Just.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Because you have plenty of followers does not necessarily mean
you know that that these people are your friends.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Right. Something to also consider it too, is the relationships
you make online.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
That's important.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Make those relationships online, right, that is part of your
personal brand.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You want to build relationships with people online, not just.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
For your benefit, for their benefit, but for everybody's benefit.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
The better relationships you have with people online, you know,
you know people in your community.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Just say you're a technologist and you're connected with other technologists.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
That's a good thing, that benefit for the tech community
because now you two are going to collaborate and create
something together. Yeah right, Yeah, And I would definitely say
that use online as an initial connector, right.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
But the real way to build relationships.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Is this, Yeah, in person.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
In person.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
That is like, again, it's not that you can't build
relationships online.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
But if you are in that city, reach out to
that person, say hey, let's meet for coffee. I mean,
I'm in Atlanta right now, I've reached out to all
my friends in Atlanta said hey, I want to see
you while I'm here. When my friends are in Dallas, hey,
let's reach out while you're here building and growing, those
relationships help and you meet those lifelong friends and friends
that can help you, help you grow, help you succeed
and continue networking as well.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
So not to take over that was it? Take it away?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Actually got well, that's awesome. I'll be thank you for
that advice. What are some common mistakes people make when
initially building their personal brand and how can they avoid them?
Speaker 8 (22:19):
I would say an initial mistake is not knowing your
values and what you value, right, It's you have to.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Be honest with yourself. What is it that I value?
And there's no shame in value what you value? That's
that's your values, right I I.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Can't you value you know, going to Stopbucks every more?
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I value getting.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Duncan values That makes sense?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Value? Yeah, no, no, no, know what your values are.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
If you're not comfortable you know, talking about your personal
life at all on social media that.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
Don't talk about your personal life, don't talk.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
About your family life, don't talk about you know, you
go into movies with your nephews, even though I do that,
I talk about it.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Okay, because you know your balance and your boundaries and
your niche.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Right, so you know?
Speaker 7 (23:21):
Right?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
So yeah, those are my values, right, But everybody's values
are different.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Some people you know, they value for example, they value
talking about travel, right.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Right. You know.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You've given us so many great tools for success and
so many gems on how to build your personal brand.
Can you share with us a resource or a tool
that has been particularly helpful in you growing your brand?
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I would say a good tool to growing your brand
is definitely YouTube.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
There are a lot of free resources on YouTube that
talk about what is personal branding, how to brand yourself
on social and a lot a lot of free resources,
and that's really really good tool. I'd say reading Reading
helps out a lot because when you read, it gives
you a larger vocabulary.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
So now you have a lot of you.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
Have a lot of tools, a lot of words in
your repertoire that you can use to communicate.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
You know, part of a strong personal brand.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
Is your ability to communicate, you know, reading communication, verbal communication,
non verbal communication.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Right, So I would say read a lot because it
definitely will expand your mind, your ideas, and you know
it will grow you.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
As a human being.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
So as you continue to develop your reading skills, your
communications continue to.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Develop, and that will.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Help you be a better communicator of your personal brand
and your values.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
So what's important to you?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Thank you, EPI.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Also, I want to ask one thing you wish you
had known when you had started your personal brand.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
When I got started, I will I wish I knew
that I'd be just fine if I made a post and.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
It was incorrect, Right, I talked about a technical topic,
but it was actually incorrect that I posted incorrect.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I wish I knew that posting incorrect information, you know,
it's not a good thing, but.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
You'll lift That's not the end of the world. You know.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I've had a couple of posts on LinkedIn, you know,
where I posted something and what I posted was incorrect,
or someone disagreed with what I posted in my opinion
or something, and.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
I used to obsess over that. Now, unless I was
already there's already a relationship with this individual, I don't.
I don't. I don't. I reply to everybody who comment,
generally speaking, but I don't. I don't go into it personal. Yeah,
I don't take your personal I don't. I don't.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
I don't reply get offended. I don't reply to messagers.
Even if I do get offended. Sometimes I get offended
I get my feeling. Sometimes not everything response right right.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Sometimes I'll catch myself responding a long paragraph. I'm like, wait,
this is the Internet.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Let it go.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Because people, some people, they're committed to misunderstanding you, they're
committed to disagreeing with you. They they it's not it's
not the post that pisces them off or that that
frustrates them.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
It's not the post that frustrates them. What frustrates them
is that.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
You have chosen to put yourself out there, and that
reminds others at times of their their own incompetence and
their own fear of putting themselves out there. Right, So
sometimes snarky comments on your posts can look like someone
you know can't like someone's trying to educate you or
correct you. But sometimes it really is them not being
(26:54):
secured and being secured themselves. Yeah, So just understanding that,
you know, for me, what I wish I knew earlier
was that not to take.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
Things personal online.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
People say things online that they would not have the
goss to say to even person.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
So just keep in mind that most of the people
who were real.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Courageous and brave online, they're not really brave and courageous.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Yeah, to say that people who make those outragous con.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
That's what I'm talking about, Like people that are hating, hating, Yeah,
people that are trying to be on your demise, right
instead of praising you or correcting in a nice way.
Speaker 7 (27:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, So that makes sense. That's good.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's good to know, and it's good to see how
successful you are, even if something wasn't one hundred percent
are in that moment or if people didn't agree with you,
So thank you. I want to ask, so you've spoken
at a lot of conferences around the country. How did
those opportunities present themselves when you first started? Were you
going to them networking when you were at the conference
and then they called you back the next year.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Do people just email your personal brand email.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And say hey, I saw this on LinkedIn or YouTube
or how does that interaction start finished?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Can you tell us a little bit about that process.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, that's a great question. So first, when I when
I got started, I did have to do a lot
of outreach, right, It's a lot of pitching. Even now
to this day, I still pitch certain conferences that I
believe that are that are aligned with me and who
I am, and I feel it's a golden opportunity.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
I still pitch today.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
However, when I when I got started, I had to
do a lot of pitching, and I had to you know,
I had to do a lot for free. Now I
don't do everything free, so I still do a little
for free, A little.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Right, I do it.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, I do something for free, but you know
I get paid now more. And you know, when I
first got started, you know, I had to.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Be okay with doing things for free.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I have to be okay with putting myself out there,
you know, and understanding that. You know, whether it's a
crowd of two people or a crowd of one hundred,
I have to bring it right. So I would say
getting started was really about networking with people and asking,
you know, people that I knew at different tech conferences
because I was going to conferences anyways.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Right, So now I'm saying, okay, I see how the
people on stage? Why do I get on stage right?
I go to this leadership development, So how do I
get on station right?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And you know, I realized that you know, when you build,
when you put your best foot forward and you build
general relationships and you get very clear that.
Speaker 5 (29:11):
Hey, I'm not. I'm not talking to you because I
just want something from you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
I'm talking with you because I have a genuine curiosity
for what you do and what your mission is in
this world, and I want to help you in that campaign.
Right when you when you, when you approach life like that,
a lot of people.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Are going to be more willing to help you.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Right, your tribe will naturally find you, and more opportunities
will come from that. So initially I was doing a
lot of conferences, networking with people, breaking bed with people, a.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
Posting online, you know, going to this conference, who's going
to this conference?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Okay, this conference, and then a friend will say, hey,
I'll be speaking at this conference.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
You should speak there too. That's good, and it just
it's like a snowball. It just kept wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
So as you progress more into your career of speaking,
how did you learn to monetize? Did you get someone
to help you write your contract? How do the contracts work?
How did you start thinking this? This is a good
time for me to start saying, can you buy my
flight and lodging? Do you ever say just do my
flight and lodging, and that considers payment or how do
you navigate it?
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yeah, so it depends on how our large scale of
the conference is. You know, every conference budgets are going
to look a little different. You know, I have I
have some conference. If it's a really close friend of mine,
for example, you know, i'd say, hey, what's what's your budget?
Speaker 6 (30:22):
Man?
Speaker 5 (30:22):
D you know you're just getting the ball rolling with
this event. Okay, fine, no I even worry about it.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
You know, I'll drive to where you're at, you know,
or you know, just pay for my flight will be
a good no speaker for you nothing, Just pay for
my flight will.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Be We're just fine. I would say, I did. I
actually do have a mentor. He was a big, big speaker.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
He happens to be a doctor, and you know he's
he's a doctor in San Diego actually, and he.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Owns multiple clinics.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
And he actually taught me how to create a speaker contract,
how to communicate your value. You know. We're actually working
on a website right now, so it's not out there yet,
but definitely do need that website because people keep asking, hey,
what's your website.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I'm like, ah, man in production.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, and we can see your catalogue where you have
spoke and you know you're recording, so awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I just want to ask for you know, people that
want to build their band like you, where they can
start how to navigate if they're in the middle of it,
or getting more seasons like you, to start getting the
courage to ask, hey, can you pay for my flight
and lodging and I'll talk, or hey, I would like flight,
lodnging and compensation because I feel like that's a conversation.
People don't know how to navigate, and like you said,
your mentor got to help you. So reaching out to
(31:27):
mentors asking questions. I just wanted to ask that question
because some people get nervous about asking for the compensation
or don't know how to navigate once they have been.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Speaking for a while how to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
So, as you mentioned, your mentor helped you, so definitely
reach out to mentors and there probably are resources online.
So thank you, Avdy, And just so everyone knows, I
will be sharing Avdi's LinkedIn in the meeting notes so
you can see more about him, read some of his
articles and posts, and see just a little bit more
about him. So, Audi, thank you so much for joining
us today. Thank you for sharing tips on building our
(31:58):
personal brand. I hope you all learned a lot. I
learned a lot. I'm so glad and again thankful that
you got to come here today. So thank you all,
Thank you so much, thank you all for watching. Please
like and subscribe to All Things Do with Ashley and
we will see you next time.
Hello everyone, and welcome to all Things Then with Ashley.
I'm so excited to have you here today. I am
your host, Ashley, and I'm so excited to have Abdi
Muhammad here as our guest.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Abdy is a seasoned.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Tech professional with over six years of experience specializing in
cloud governance, risk and compliance. As a lead cloud governance engineer,
he saved his organization millions of dollars while tackling complex
security risk in the cloud. Abdy is not only a
practitioner in the GRC space, but also a passionate public speaker, mentor,
and educator dedicated to inspiring others to achieve their professional
(00:44):
and life goals. With the Master's in Cybersecurity Management and
Policy and a wealth of certifications including AWS Solutions Architecture
Associate and Certified ben OPS Engineer, Avdy brings a unique
perspective to modernizing GRC practices and building care, cost effective
cloud environments. We're thrilled to have him today to share
(01:04):
his insights, experiences, and advice for those building their personal brand.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
So Ovdi, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to
start building your personal brands. So for those that you
of you that don't know. Abdy is a worldwide speaker.
He speaks on cloud engineering. He's a great mentor. He
speaks at conferences all around the United States and eventually
he will be worldwide. He also just has a great
LinkedIn presence, a great social media presence, and he's super encouraging.
(01:35):
And so for people that want to navigate for being
an individual contributor to actually making it impacting their communities
and giving into the next generation of STEM leaders, can
you give us some tips on what inspired you to
do this and how you started building your own brand
outside of your job. Because his brand speaks to other companies,
not just in his company, So tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, So I realized, you know, working corporate America after
a year or two.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
That getting fired or getting laid off is legitimate possibility.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
No matter how good of a performer that I may be,
no matter how much money I saved the company, no
matter how much money I've made the company, there is
a possibility that I could be let go. Right and
then the event that I'm let go, what can I
fall back on? What can protect me and potentially in
my family in the event that I.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Lose my nine to five job. And that's where personal
branding comes in right.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
For me, you know, I always thought to myself, eventually
I want to get into the speaking space.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
I want to get into inspiring others.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I want to get into mentoring others, give them, you know,
tangible skills that they can use in their daily lives
to push their lives forward.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
And for me, it was very important that having a
strong personal brand is what.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
It wasn't an option, it's it's something for me, like, no,
I have to do this for a very fruitful career.
If I want that next promote front of that next
job or that next client and you know that I
want to work with, I have to have.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
A strong personal brand.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And a part of having a strong personal brand is
having good relationships. And to have a good relationship, you know,
it takes initially a lot, a lot of outreach online,
a lot of posting online, you know, letting people in
a little bit, sharing your experiences and putting that all together,
and then going for the copy chats, the lunches, the dinners,
(03:25):
you know, meeting people at conferences, doing the podcasts right
like we're doing right now, right, That's all a part.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Of the personal brand. So for me, you know, getting.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Started was realizing that that I could be fired any day.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
You know what am I doing to protect myself?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
That's excellent, Auntie.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I'm glad and you definitely have this as a safety
that you're great at it, and you also have so
many great nuggets wisdom. So I'm so excited for you
to share with us today. So what were some of
the busiest challenges you faced when you first begin to
shape your personal brand? So you're starting, you know a
lot of people may not know you yet. What are
some challenges you faced.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, one of the biggest challenges I faced when I
started to develop my personal brand was.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Was I was scared.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It was scary, Like, yeah, like, what do you mean
post on LinkedIn?
Speaker 5 (04:18):
What are you talking about? Post on LinkedIn? I'm gonna
get called out. No, I'm not posting on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I don't want to look quote unquote unprofessional, look quote
unquote you know, unintelligent.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
Right, It's it's scary. So if you're scared to post
on LinkedIn, trust and trust me. I get it.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I was you.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I was that person I was terrified posting on LinkedIn.
So I was the biggest struggle. It was getting out
of my own way, just getting to posting, right, understanding
that there are definitely a lot of other people on
a platform like LinkedIn who are more knowledgeable.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
That's definitely true.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
However that that same note is also true, there are
people who are less knowledgeable than you in your field,
and there are people who who could greatly benefit by
you posting on a platform like LinkedIn. You posting your journey,
you posting you know, doing that project, you posting doing
that community service or that mentorship program.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Right, A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Can benefit from that, right, And fear was a big thing.
I was terrified of posting on LinkedIn. I felt like
I was I wasn't qualified quote unquote. I didn't want
to be called out for you know, sharing sharing incorrect information. Right,
So I'd say that was the biggest challenge and just
understand put yourself out there. It's scary, yeah, but it's
(05:43):
going to be a net positive more people that are
going to benefit from your contribution. You have something to contribute.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I love that, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So next with that, I want to ask how did
you define define your personal brand and how has it
evolved over time? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Brand just like the Presonal brand.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Essentially in essence, it's who we are, right and who
we are as people that evolves over time. So for me,
originally I kept it very very professional. For example, I'm
talking about LinkedIn here, right, I kept it very very professional.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Even the way I spoke on LinkedIn was you know,
very very professional, like like like to the tea, right.
Speaker 5 (06:27):
And then I realized over time was that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't need to sound smart. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It's one of those things we realized where like, if
you're truly intelligent and you know what you're talking about,
then you could break it down in the way anyone
can understand.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
I don't need to use big words, right, I don't
need to use like.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
You know, tense syllable world where you know, you know,
cutting edge, checking out all these all these buzz words,
you know, engineering.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
We love theseuss words.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
We love making ourselves feel so smart, right, like like.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No, no, no buzzwords, you know, no, no trying to
sound smart.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
When I first started, I was always obsessed with that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Now I asked myself, Hey, with what I shared, can
I make it more simple.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
For anyone to understand? Right?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Obviously something some of the topics I talk about my LinkedIn,
Like I'll talk about you know cloud. You know, I
talk about you know, risks in the cloud, I talk
about cost optimization. Right, maybe some of those topics, you know,
I might I might go a little deep into them.
So it may not make sense to everybody, but I
try to communicate in a way that am I communicating
in a way that is simple and.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Easy to understand it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So so now that's a big change my brand. And
another thing is now I post a little.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
Bit more about my social life LinkedIn. Originally I didn't
really post much at my social life.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, now I post a little bit more about my
social life. Let's say, like, right now we're recording this podcast, right,
I'll probably take itself and say, hey, recorded.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
A podcast with my good friend Ashley.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Can't wait for it to come out, right, Like, I'm
more comfortable doing that.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I'm more comfortable posting a picture with you know, with
with with with with.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
My niece, my niece, my nephews at the park height
this weekend, taking time off. This is what I'm doing right,
Grant that I don't show everything, say my brand I
wanted to evolve to you know, it's evolve over time
to be just strictly a professional.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Now I might share that I ran.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
A five K yes, right, or I did I did
this this, this big, this big, I went to this
big food for us.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Why might post that?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Right?
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Because I think at the same time, I want people
to know that I'm a human being. I'm not a robot.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It's not it's not always you know, sitting behind the
computer all day, you know, hacking away at my keyboard.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
No, it's it's it's a lot of other things.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, I love that. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
So you already have spoke on what the first steps
someone should take when turning about their brand, you know,
get yourself out there, you know, start making LinkedIn just
face that fear. But how did you identify your unique
strengths or niche when building a personal brand? Because you
could have done cooking five k's sports. What made you feel.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Like, Okay, I want to do it in the professional realm.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yeah, so that's a good question for me. I felt that.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
You're passionate about this. Are you passionate about your job?
You're passionate about what you do? Is that kind of
what FEDS like?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, yeah, I would definitely got that right that you
think you hit on the nail.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
When I first started, I wasn't very passionate.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
However, the passion came with time. It came with me
getting better at being able to service more people that
started to develop that passion. So I would say, for me,
you're integrating my professional career into my social media.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
You know that. You know that?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
For me, yeah, that was a no brainer because I
started to develop a lot of passion for the work
that I do. And also for me, you know, I
see mysel you know, getting into more of the leadership consulting,
leadership training space. So part of being an effective trainer
or a speaker that speaks on topics like leadership and
(10:10):
communication is you got to show proof that you've actually.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Use the tools that you're talking about right.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And my engineering career career is all about using the
tools that I want to talk about exactly right.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
So for me, you know, it all aligned well and
I felt.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
That, you know what, I can inspire many people and
I can service a lot more people, you know, by
posting on social media and by you know, creating a brand.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
That's bigger than me. It's not about me.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
It's more about the impact.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
The impact, Yeah, the impact that the people will get
to serve.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I love.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
That's that's why I started this channel, the impact and
having people that look like us, that are young like us,
that are experimenting in this new world. It's different than
the nineties. It's different when our parents were in the workforce.
And I really want this platform for people that don't
have that mentor don't have that community to talk about
these things on how do I move forward in my
stam care or are there people that have done this
(11:02):
like me? How did they wish like, how did they succeed?
What are things they wish they had known? What are
things they wish they had done better? So that's why
this is so important and why I get great guest
speakers that have a lot of great gems and knowledge
and wisdom because I'm learning from my friends as you
all are learning, and I definitely hear some tips through
different interviews that I wish I had known in my
collegiate years or early in my STEM career.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So so thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I'll be So my next question is how do you
think social media influences personal branding today and what platforms
do you feel the most effective?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, so social media is is the golden key, you know,
when it comes to personal branding at at a large scale.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
At a local level, though.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I would say, you know, personal branding is also the
way you treat others, yes, you know, the way the
way you treat your family, your loved ones, the way
you treat your coworkers, yeah, or your customers that you
know that that that you ever or you know, the
people at the mosque or at the church, you know,
like you want to you want to understand that personal
brand is also the way you treat the janitor at
(12:09):
the gym.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Right.
Speaker 6 (12:10):
There's lovels to personal branding, right, and you want to
make sure to the best of your ability that it's consistent. Right,
you're consistently known as a person who values kindness, who's
a leader who takes initiative.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
You know, at every level. Now at a global level.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
For you to get that global exposure, you can't be
every rep same time. However, social media allows you to
get your message across the many many people all around
the world.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
So I would say, you know, definitely social media is key.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You know, you got to make sure that you're using
social media intentionally. You know, even me, I have to
remind myself like, Hey, what I'm about to polse is
is this post about how awesome I am? Or is
it this post about you know, the people I can
potentially impact?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
And this is this is a hard thing because social
media is it doesn't encourage good behavior. Yeah, I'm just
gonna say it.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
It doesn't encourage good It doesn't encourage it doesn't encourage selflessness.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I'll say that social media For me, I believe social
media encourage you to be to make.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It all about you where you know, you should try
to use your social media to make it about the
people that you're you're blessed to serve and whatever your
calling is. So you know, I'd say definitely LinkedIn is
a really good one, especially for professionals. If you're a professional, definitely.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Get on LinkedIn. You know, build relationships at a global level.
You know, you never know you could be doing business
with these individuals one day. You know you could you
could potentially have that next job or that next client.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Right, it's it's it's it's We've never had more opportunity.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Today than we did years ago. Today, today is the.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Best time because now you get to actually define your
personal brand and leverage that any way you want through
social media.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I agree, I think that's wonderful. So professional step. I
utilize LinkedIn. Are there any other ones maybe that you
like other than LinkedIn? Do you feel like your Instagram
helps or.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Facebook or Yeah? I said, Instagram definitely helps. So my
LinkedIn Instagram are very very similar.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I get into the weeds a little bit more on
my LinkedIn on the technical stuff, but definitely on my
Instagram do talk about the technical stuff, and I show
I show a little bit of my day to day
is like maybe going to the gym, run or you know,
hanging out with friends.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
I show a little bit of my social life on
Instagram as well.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
But I would say, you know, there's definitely that that
consistency there. I would also recommend, you know, using other
social media platforms such as Twitter could be good.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
You know, TikTok TikTok's legit is legitimate. You know, I know,
we just got it back, get it back, We got
it back. All right, We've got TikTok back.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hopefully bout the time this show airs, maybe it will
be here, maybe it will not.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But yeah, yeah, so so y'all would say those for
me personally, I'm not on every social media platform.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
It's just too much to manage it is. I don't
have a TikTok. Yeah, my younger sisters are on it.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They love it, have friends who teach on TikTok, reliable
insights on technology, cybersecurity, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I know folks who are really.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Big on Twitter, who talk about these topics and educate
a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
For me, I can't take it. It's just too many,
too many platforms. I stay to Instagram on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And that's that's great though, And he's built a strong
brand on just those two, So.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I want to kind of get into the networking and
relationships realm of building your personal brand, and I want
to ask how do networking and building personal relationships go
into personal branding for those that don't know.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Yeah, so networking in relationships.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
So if you if you're telling yourself that, hey, you know,
I want to brand myself as someone who has a
lot of integrity, Well you can only do that if
people you have relationships with or people other people say
that about you. Yeah, I can't say my name is
Adi and I'm a man of integrity.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Okay, yes, but but but that doesn't really matter. Proof.
Where's the proof?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, other people vouch for that. Have you had that
experience with others?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Other people have to vouch you. That's part of a
strong personal brand. A strong personal brand is other people
saying that, Hey, you know this person is that person?
They are a thought leader in this space, They are
an educator. There are you know, a very accomplished engineer.
You want other people to say great things about you
and that and that comes with building relationships and putting
(16:35):
investment forward and just being a kind human being.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
You know. I think that goes along with you.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Thank you, OPTI.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
My next question is how can you leverage collaborations with
others to grow your personal brand.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Collaboration is the cheat code? This is it? This is it?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, collaborations everything. Think about it like this right this,
This is what I realized. This is me taking an
economics class back.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
In community college.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Is that we have this pie, right, We're.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Told that, hey, this pie is a small piece of pie.
You know, there's not enough for everybody. Instead of you
and me competing for this beautiful, lovely, tasty piece of pie,
why not make a bigger pie? Yes, that way, not
just you and me, but everyone else could get a
slice of the pie. I love that, right, And that's
what collaboration is.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Collaborations when you take two talented individuals and make something
even better happen. Collaboration is the cheat code, right, and
what does that do for your personal brand? It also
creates more people, more audiences that can say, you know
what this person is good at X y Z.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So, collaboration is the cheat code even in our daily jobs,
even if you're.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
A solo preneur or entrepreneur. Right, collaborations how you get ahead?
Without collaboration. You know, we wouldn't have everything that we
have here today. We wouldn't have this camera. We will
collaborating on mistake ye right. You know all the products
and services, the tools that which you they were use.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
In our daily lives, people collaborated, So you know, I
would say collaboration is how you accelerate.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
It's the cheat code that no one talks about. Enough.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, thank you, afty, that's excellent, thank you.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
What's the best way to manage both online and offline
relationships while maintaining ensuring that they align with your personal brand?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
So I would say, well, first off, I want to
answer that last question.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
First, he's an alignment.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Right. You have to audit the people that are in
your professional life and your personal life. You have to
audit them, right, not audit them as and have them
sitting down and question, you know, go through a checklist
of questions, but ask yourself, you know, is this individual
engaging in behaviors that I am okay with or I'm
(18:50):
okay with with my sibling or my family around this person? Right?
Speaker 5 (18:55):
You probably you probably don't want to be around that person, right.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
You know, you have to ask tough questions and on
it because as you will move up in your career
or we'll open your business, right, there's an image about
you and you have to be very keen on honoring
who's in your circle, right because that could be the
Dutch to be your Dutchman.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
It could be you know, it could be problematic, right.
You know, you want to.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Make sure that the people in your circles, they're your advocates,
they're championing.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
You when you're not in their rooms. So I definitely,
you know, definitely strongly encourage people.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
To audit their circles as often as they can and
ask yourself, hey, you know, this person should probably just
be an acquaintance.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
They should be a friend.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
That's okay, that's what's wrong with an acquaintance, right, you
show love from Afar, show love to everybody from Afar. Right.
But you know, you have to audit your circle because
that's that that's believed or not, that affects you.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It does.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
That affects you.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
That affects your ability to the ability to be effective
at your job, be effective as a business owner, effective
as a father or husband, whatever whatever you are, you know,
pastor whatever. Right, like you, you have to audit the
people that you're around.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And what was the first part of that question to give.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
It was just saying the best way to manage both
online and in personal relationships while still aligning with your
personal brand.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Okay, so the best way, yeah, the best way to
do that, right, this is what you do.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Sometimes people they think because they have.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Thousands of followers on Instagram, thousands of followers on LinkedIn.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
They believe those are all their friends. Right.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
No, No, some people watch just to watch for real.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Listen, they get that power already every Friday. Ye just
watch and just watch them. No, not a like, not
a comment, not a ricos just yeah, so so something
be mindful of Just.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Because you have plenty of followers does not necessarily mean
you know that that these people are your friends.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Right. Something to also consider it too, is the relationships
you make online.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
That's important.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Make those relationships online, right, that is part of your
personal brand.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You want to build relationships with people online, not just.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
For your benefit, for their benefit, but for everybody's benefit.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
The better relationships you have with people online, you know,
you know people in your community.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Just say you're a technologist and you're connected with other technologists.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
That's a good thing, that benefit for the tech community
because now you two are going to collaborate and create
something together. Yeah right, Yeah, And I would definitely say
that use online as an initial connector, right.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
But the real way to build relationships.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Is this, Yeah, in person.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
In person.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
That is like, again, it's not that you can't build
relationships online.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
But if you are in that city, reach out to
that person, say hey, let's meet for coffee. I mean,
I'm in Atlanta right now, I've reached out to all
my friends in Atlanta said hey, I want to see
you while I'm here. When my friends are in Dallas, hey,
let's reach out while you're here building and growing, those
relationships help and you meet those lifelong friends and friends
that can help you, help you grow, help you succeed
and continue networking as well.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
So not to take over that was it? Take it away?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Actually got well, that's awesome. I'll be thank you for
that advice. What are some common mistakes people make when
initially building their personal brand and how can they avoid them?
Speaker 8 (22:19):
I would say an initial mistake is not knowing your
values and what you value, right, It's you have to.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Be honest with yourself. What is it that I value?
And there's no shame in value what you value? That's
that's your values, right I I.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Can't you value you know, going to Stopbucks every more?
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I value getting.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Duncan values That makes sense?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Value? Yeah, no, no, no, know what your values are.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
If you're not comfortable you know, talking about your personal
life at all on social media that.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
Don't talk about your personal life, don't talk.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
About your family life, don't talk about you know, you
go into movies with your nephews, even though I do that,
I talk about it.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Okay, because you know your balance and your boundaries and
your niche.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Right, so you know?
Speaker 7 (23:21):
Right?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
So yeah, those are my values, right, But everybody's values
are different.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Some people you know, they value for example, they value
talking about travel, right.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Right. You know.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You've given us so many great tools for success and
so many gems on how to build your personal brand.
Can you share with us a resource or a tool
that has been particularly helpful in you growing your brand?
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I would say a good tool to growing your brand
is definitely YouTube.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
There are a lot of free resources on YouTube that
talk about what is personal branding, how to brand yourself
on social and a lot a lot of free resources,
and that's really really good tool. I'd say reading Reading
helps out a lot because when you read, it gives
you a larger vocabulary.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
So now you have a lot of you.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
Have a lot of tools, a lot of words in
your repertoire that you can use to communicate.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
You know, part of a strong personal brand.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
Is your ability to communicate, you know, reading communication, verbal communication,
non verbal communication.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Right, So I would say read a lot because it
definitely will expand your mind, your ideas, and you know
it will grow you.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
As a human being.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
So as you continue to develop your reading skills, your
communications continue to.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Develop, and that will.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Help you be a better communicator of your personal brand
and your values.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
So what's important to you?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Thank you, EPI.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Also, I want to ask one thing you wish you
had known when you had started your personal brand.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
When I got started, I will I wish I knew
that I'd be just fine if I made a post and.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
It was incorrect, Right, I talked about a technical topic,
but it was actually incorrect that I posted incorrect.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I wish I knew that posting incorrect information, you know,
it's not a good thing, but.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
You'll lift That's not the end of the world. You know.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I've had a couple of posts on LinkedIn, you know,
where I posted something and what I posted was incorrect,
or someone disagreed with what I posted in my opinion
or something, and.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
I used to obsess over that. Now, unless I was
already there's already a relationship with this individual, I don't.
I don't. I don't. I reply to everybody who comment,
generally speaking, but I don't. I don't go into it personal. Yeah,
I don't take your personal I don't. I don't.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
I don't reply get offended. I don't reply to messagers.
Even if I do get offended. Sometimes I get offended
I get my feeling. Sometimes not everything response right right.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Sometimes I'll catch myself responding a long paragraph. I'm like, wait,
this is the Internet.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Let it go.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Because people, some people, they're committed to misunderstanding you, they're
committed to disagreeing with you. They they it's not it's
not the post that pisces them off or that that
frustrates them.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
It's not the post that frustrates them. What frustrates them
is that.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
You have chosen to put yourself out there, and that
reminds others at times of their their own incompetence and
their own fear of putting themselves out there. Right, So
sometimes snarky comments on your posts can look like someone
you know can't like someone's trying to educate you or
correct you. But sometimes it really is them not being
(26:54):
secured and being secured themselves. Yeah, So just understanding that,
you know, for me, what I wish I knew earlier
was that not to take.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
Things personal online.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
People say things online that they would not have the
goss to say to even person.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
So just keep in mind that most of the people
who were real.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Courageous and brave online, they're not really brave and courageous.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Yeah, to say that people who make those outragous con.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
That's what I'm talking about, Like people that are hating, hating, Yeah,
people that are trying to be on your demise, right
instead of praising you or correcting in a nice way.
Speaker 7 (27:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, So that makes sense. That's good.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's good to know, and it's good to see how
successful you are, even if something wasn't one hundred percent
are in that moment or if people didn't agree with you,
So thank you. I want to ask, so you've spoken
at a lot of conferences around the country. How did
those opportunities present themselves when you first started? Were you
going to them networking when you were at the conference
and then they called you back the next year.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Do people just email your personal brand email.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And say hey, I saw this on LinkedIn or YouTube
or how does that interaction start finished?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Can you tell us a little bit about that process.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, that's a great question. So first, when I when
I got started, I did have to do a lot
of outreach, right, It's a lot of pitching. Even now
to this day, I still pitch certain conferences that I
believe that are that are aligned with me and who
I am, and I feel it's a golden opportunity.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
I still pitch today.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
However, when I when I got started, I had to
do a lot of pitching, and I had to you know,
I had to do a lot for free. Now I
don't do everything free, so I still do a little
for free, A little.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Right, I do it.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, I do something for free, but you know
I get paid now more. And you know, when I
first got started, you know, I had to.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Be okay with doing things for free.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I have to be okay with putting myself out there,
you know, and understanding that. You know, whether it's a
crowd of two people or a crowd of one hundred,
I have to bring it right. So I would say
getting started was really about networking with people and asking,
you know, people that I knew at different tech conferences
because I was going to conferences anyways.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Right, So now I'm saying, okay, I see how the
people on stage? Why do I get on stage right?
I go to this leadership development, So how do I
get on station right?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And you know, I realized that you know, when you build,
when you put your best foot forward and you build
general relationships and you get very clear that.
Speaker 5 (29:11):
Hey, I'm not. I'm not talking to you because I
just want something from you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
I'm talking with you because I have a genuine curiosity
for what you do and what your mission is in
this world, and I want to help you in that campaign.
Right when you when you, when you approach life like that,
a lot of people.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Are going to be more willing to help you.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Right, your tribe will naturally find you, and more opportunities
will come from that. So initially I was doing a
lot of conferences, networking with people, breaking bed with people, a.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
Posting online, you know, going to this conference, who's going
to this conference?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Okay, this conference, and then a friend will say, hey,
I'll be speaking at this conference.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
You should speak there too. That's good, and it just
it's like a snowball. It just kept wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
So as you progress more into your career of speaking,
how did you learn to monetize? Did you get someone
to help you write your contract? How do the contracts work?
How did you start thinking this? This is a good
time for me to start saying, can you buy my
flight and lodging? Do you ever say just do my
flight and lodging, and that considers payment or how do
you navigate it?
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yeah, so it depends on how our large scale of
the conference is. You know, every conference budgets are going
to look a little different. You know, I have I
have some conference. If it's a really close friend of mine,
for example, you know, i'd say, hey, what's what's your budget?
Speaker 6 (30:22):
Man?
Speaker 5 (30:22):
D you know you're just getting the ball rolling with
this event. Okay, fine, no I even worry about it.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
You know, I'll drive to where you're at, you know,
or you know, just pay for my flight will be
a good no speaker for you nothing, Just pay for
my flight will.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Be We're just fine. I would say, I did. I
actually do have a mentor. He was a big, big speaker.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
He happens to be a doctor, and you know he's
he's a doctor in San Diego actually, and he.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Owns multiple clinics.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
And he actually taught me how to create a speaker contract,
how to communicate your value. You know. We're actually working
on a website right now, so it's not out there yet,
but definitely do need that website because people keep asking, hey,
what's your website.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I'm like, ah, man in production.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, and we can see your catalogue where you have
spoke and you know you're recording, so awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I just want to ask for you know, people that
want to build their band like you, where they can
start how to navigate if they're in the middle of it,
or getting more seasons like you, to start getting the
courage to ask, hey, can you pay for my flight
and lodging and I'll talk, or hey, I would like flight,
lodnging and compensation because I feel like that's a conversation.
People don't know how to navigate, and like you said,
your mentor got to help you. So reaching out to
(31:27):
mentors asking questions. I just wanted to ask that question
because some people get nervous about asking for the compensation
or don't know how to navigate once they have been.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Speaking for a while how to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
So, as you mentioned, your mentor helped you, so definitely
reach out to mentors and there probably are resources online.
So thank you, Avdy, And just so everyone knows, I
will be sharing Avdi's LinkedIn in the meeting notes so
you can see more about him, read some of his
articles and posts, and see just a little bit more
about him. So, Audi, thank you so much for joining
us today. Thank you for sharing tips on building our
(31:58):
personal brand. I hope you all learned a lot. I
learned a lot. I'm so glad and again thankful that
you got to come here today. So thank you all,
Thank you so much, thank you all for watching. Please
like and subscribe to All Things Do with Ashley and
we will see you next time.
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