Relationships as a personal brand
One thing made me think of something else and here we are
You know how sometimes one thing triggers something else for you in your mind?
Well, that happened to me a few weeks ago after I gave a presentation at work about two of my favorite topics: social media and personal branding. For whatever reason, those two topics made me think about relationships from two different viewpoints:
The impact of your words
When it comes to relationships, the way you approach them can contribute to your brand. The things you express about yourself and your relationships become associated with your brand. For example, if you consistently say negative qualities about yourself in relationships, such as being "clingy" or having "baggage," these traits become part of your relationship narrative and brand.
Nurturing your relationships
Nurturing relationships is also important for branding. Consistency is critical, whether it's in maintaining an online presence or being present in your relationships. Repeated actions build a solid online and offline foundation and help establish trust in your brand.
With nurturing relationships also comes engagement. When you’re on the interwebs, engaging with your audience is essential for both growing a following and cultivating a community. This mirrors the effort we put into relationships – actively listening, showing up, and investing time and energy.
While I felt that those two were similar, I did find one key difference between your digital brand and your relationship brand is the depth of connection. On social media, some of your connections will remain superficial, while our relationships aim typically is deep emotional bonds (“soul ties is crazy.” IYKYK - I always sound this acronym out before I type it).
My presentation randomly led me to think of the nuances of human connections. It also helped remind me that just as we curate our online brands, we should maintain and nurture the relationships that bring joy and be like Marie Kondo to others. I don’t know why I am always mentioning Marie Kondo, BUT she was really on to something.
Random thoughts but anywho, here are a few other things I thought were worth sharing this week.
TO READ: I can't decide what I enjoyed more about this Zendaya interview - the photos or the actual interview. But honey, Zendaya is really that girl.
“Sometimes characters who are messy and conflicted and wield power over other people are reserved for [actors] who don’t look like me, so when I get an opportunity to play a character like that, I’ma take it!”
Who are these adult people who don’t read? Well, here’s a reading guide to get them into reading. The tip I enjoyed the most is knowing what you like in other forms of media, e.g., what interests you and what you like in TV, movies, and video games.
“They have a lot of books that tie into movies. If you can find a movie that they’re interested in, a movie that they saw in the past and you can tie it to a book, that’s a great source right there.”
With hip-hop celebrating its 50th anniversary, it’s only fitting that those who shaped some of the imagery and styling, like Misa Hylton, are getting their shine. Misa is an icon responsible for iconic looks like Lil Kim’s half-titty outfit. This interview was such a good read and here are some of the quotes that stuck out to me:
“[On the “Crush on You” video styling] It was inspired by The Wiz (the 1978 musical starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross). There were all of these different monochromatic scene changes, which I was very excited about because I love a monochromatic look. I wanted to take it to the next level, so the hair had to match the clothes. It wasn’t like today, when you can buy colored hair extensions anywhere. So I had to go to a costume store on 14th Street and buy a blue wig, a yellow wig, and a green wig.
The great thing about that moment was that she crossed over to MTV, which was a huge deal at that time. Not many female rappers, Black artists, or hip-hop artists crossed over. But when you did, you made it. So because of that video and the creativity of it — people had never seen anything like that before — along with all of her talent, it was the perfect recipe for success. She was a game changer. And from there, it went up and up and up. We had no idea the fashion heights we would reach together.”
“I don’t think about wanting to create looks that will go viral … they just do.”
A good read on women in hip-hop. A few reads on one of my favorite times of the year, BAMA FUCKING RUSHHHHHH:
’s piece on it, and NYTimes’ article on it. I love the concept of thinking of your life as semesters. I think this could be a good idea when you’re goal-setting and thinking of how to space them out.TO LISTEN TO: Victoria Monet released her new album, Jaguar 2, which is so good. One thing I love about Victoria’s music overall is the horns. She always has them in her production, making all the music hit more.
This somewhat qualifies as both a listen and a read, but in one of my favorite newsletters
by she did a great deep dive into her favorite podcasts, and I added a lot to my rotation.I can’t stop listening to this song by Ariel - such a summer vibe.
TO WATCH: I finally watched Past Lives, and I loved, loved, loved it. I can finally stop showing everyone the trailer.
Elaine Welteroth stays with a job and is now one of the hosts of Hulu’s The Conversation Project along with Chef David Lawrence and Andscape’s Senior NBA Writer Marc J. Spears. The conversations on the show span everything from reparations, the N-word, grief, religion, and more - I loved it. Watch the trailer below:
Lastly, I watched Hijjack on AppleTV with Idris Elba, and I thought the show was chaotic yet interesting. The ending was lackluster, but if you did watch it, let’s discuss it.
That’s it for this week, I’ll holla at you later.
