Discovering Your Authentic Brand with Paula Mattisonsierra

“That's where we start with personal branding. Start with a dialogue. What's your ‘why’? Who are you? Number two, what makes you happy? And of course, three, what's your end goal?”, shares Paula Mattisonsierra, founder of Power Marketing SF with over 25 years of marketing experience. She helps business owners discover and cultivate their personal brand. Today, Paula joins Mike Horne in conversation to discuss the intricacies of marketing and why having a strong, authentic personal brand is vital for the success of any business.

When people first hear the words ‘personal branding’ they often think first of social media and overly filtered, perfect Instagram photos. However, social media alone is not enough to lock in your personal brand and get your message out there. The first step is to really sit down and think about your ‘why’. Who are you? What is most important to you? Once you have discovered your ‘why’, you can move on to figuring out your end goal and how you intend to get there. Your personal brand and messaging is vital, because it will attract the attention of clients, vendors, and investors who have similar interests. Nowadays, people don’t want to do business with just anyone. They want to do business with companies that reflect their values and owners they feel they can trust.

If you present some perfect, polished and ultimately fake version of yourself on social media, it will eventually backfire, because at some point your true self will come out. Embracing authenticity from the start will get you further in the long run. Tune into this week’s episode of the Authentic Change Podcast to learn more about how to develop your authentic personal brand, how marketing goes beyond social media, and how to recognize and accept help when it is offered.

• “For me, marketing and operations are very tied together. It's a love story. They're locked and loaded together.” (9:33-9:39 | Paula)
• “Not everyone who smiles at you is your friend. And not everyone who's irritated with you is your enemy. Know the difference.” (13:13-13:21 | Paula)
• “People already know the answers. They're sometimes not confident about the answers. But I realized that as business owners, they're in it every day…They're seeing everything and not realizing they're seeing everything.” (14:42-15:10 | Paula)
• “I think when people hear the words ‘social media,’ suddenly Instagram comes to mind. Everything always seems staged and fixed up. Let me tell you something about those people out there who are filtering and seem overly pulled together, it does not last, because eventually you become yourself. And that never works out well.” (17:57-18:20 | Paula)
• “When it comes to personal branding, start with a dialogue. What's your ‘why?’ Who are you? Number two, what makes you happy? And of course, three, what's your end goal?” (19:09-19:22 | Paula)
• “Yes, it would be wonderful to start today, but it's so much better to start with a plan first.” (36:52-36:58 | Paula)