Step Up Magazine recently featured an article from MBA candidate Sonya Denton, in which she explores the development of her personal brand by tracing her career trajectory.
Titled “Your Career Might Not Define You But Your Personal Brand Certainly Does,” Sonya’s piece examines the intersection of career success and the clarity that comes from understanding our values and goals in the professional space. She argues that equating one with the other is limiting, while achieving the latter is everything.
Sonya writes that for her, early in her career this came to mean “using words and images to make people feel the same mix of emotions that I did.”
That motivation served her in a ten-year career in front of the camera in the broadcasting industry, using her personal brand goals as a compass for career success. She translated her desire to craft emotional significance out of words and images into the traits of a good journalist:
“1. A strong on-camera persona. 2. Persuasive communication skills. 3. Using the power of stories to touch the heart,” she recounts in the article.
In spite of her success in the media space, in examining personal branding more critically, Sonya came to realize that the value of human capital transcends a prescriptive career path, and evades any singular definition of success – leading her to an exciting career change, and (lucky for us),to the MBA program at Schulich.
“I didn’t have to be a journalist to pursue my passion for experiential storytelling,” she writes. “I knew I could be more effective behind the camera, combining emerging technology, business strategy and media.”
Check out Sonya’s insights on the importance of investing in your personal brand:
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