As a PR major, I'm surprisingly horrible at "About Me" sections. Maybe it's that constant nagging feeling that I have to be liked by everyone, thus I need to censor what I say or maybe, even scarier, I don't yet truly know who I am. Ask me to brand your company and I'll happily scurry away to my world of creative liberties and round table discussions, however when it comes to myself, where do I start?
In a PR class a couple semesters ago, we were asked to create a brand for ourselves. This "brand yourself" project was probably the hardest project I've had in my almost four years of college because when it comes to matters of the heart and mind, it's impossible to hide behind words or numbers. As a self-proclaimed nerd/dork, this project pushed me to come out of my shell so to speak. Obviously I couldn't research the Tylenol Crisis of the 80's and draft a well thought out research paper on crisis communications or some other defining PR case study. This introspective project forced me to look inside myself and figure out who I want to be and who I currently am. But, needless to say, I'm still working on that part.
The other day I was watching the movie You, Me and Dupree when I got to thinking about what Owen Wilson's character is actually talking about in the end. After a string of dead-end jobs, Dupree eventually writes an inspirational book on finding that inner 'ness. So it started me thinking, if someone asked me, what defines your 'ness (Ashley-ness), what would I say? I love so many things, but I still have so much trouble defining myself.
As the time approaches to enter the world of PR, one I love so dearly, I feel that now is the time to truly create my "brand." Now is the time to leave prior inhibitions aside and focus on finding myself. Who do I want to be today, tomorrow, and in 10 years? Will I ever be able to stop caring so much about how others perceive me and figure out how I perceive myself?
These, dear readers, are questions yet to be answered. But hopefully '09 will be my time to define.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Ashley, you are SO well defined as a personal brand that there's SO much to say about you that it's tough to keep it simple. Come see me again soon and I'll give you a couple things to focus in on...and personal observations. Sometimes it takes asking others what they think of us and then, boom: you start to get a clear picture of who you really are... ;-)
Post a Comment