Becoming a Brand

I have been thinking a lot about how I am about to be shoved out of academia-land and into that Fire Swamp called the job hunt (hold the R.O.U.S's please) and I'm not going to lie...it terrifies me.  But somewhere underneath the noise in my mind, I had an idea.  Now hear me out, this is going to sound like your worst nightmare corporate robot idea (plus--it's in no way original), but I am convinced that there is a correlation between success and building a successful personal brand.

Here's how my brain-child was conceived.  Project Runway Allstars has been one of the worst shows I have ever seen on television which is ironic because the original Project Runway is one of my all time favorites.  But here's where Allstars goes wrong.  3 words: Fake Heidi Klum.  I don't even know her full name, Angela something, and I don't care.  I could have forgiven her for not being Heidi if she had just one quality that sold her as a personal brand.  She is by far the most dry television host I have ever seen.  She fails to sell herself, whereas Heidi makes you believe that Project Runway is the best show ever.

In Allstars defense, Isaac Mizrahi, Georgina Chapman and Joanna Coles are awesome as judges and mentors.  All three of them are very successful at selling their own personal brand.

Lastly, there is one designer on the show that I don't think is going anywhere and that's because he fails again and again to show any personality or integrity.  He doesn't seem to know who he is...(I may have to eat my words if he wins tomorrow, but then I'll just be watching to see if he can make anything out of his win.  I highly doubt it.)

Okay, enough about the Runway.  I have gotten a lot out of observing this twist on my favorite show and it has taught me a valuable lesson.  For the next month, I am not going to look at another job posting.  I am going to create my brand.  I want to interview well and part of that is successfully communicating my personal brand to potential employers.