Master Personal Branding & Storytelling with Lisa McGuire

You can find Lisa McGuire at
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-mcguire/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/your-passion-purpose-and-personal-brand/id1592213066
Newsletter: https://www.thediyframework.com/so-much-more-subscribe

Lisa McGuire Podcast Transcription

[00:00:00] Kris Ward: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Win The Hour, Win The Day, and I am your host, Kris Ward.

[00:00:05] And today in the house we have Lisa McGuire. She is a marketing and personal brand strategist, and she’s going to talk to us about brand positioning. Now, listen, before you think that’s a heavy topic, we got it. We’re going to dive in quickly because it’s really all about you and everything you should be doing and things I definitely am not.

[00:00:24] I’m going to talk about that today. So it sounds like a heavy corporate word, but let’s get to it, Lisa. Let’s dive right in. What are we talking about when we talk about brand positioning?

[00:00:35] Lisa McGuire: So the first thing of all Kris, thank you so much for having this conversation. I’ve been really excited. I love your energy and I know that it’s going to infuse into what we’re going to talk about today, but I want to hit on brand positioning.

[00:00:50] Immediately when people think brand positioning, they’re thinking about the color of your logo or what things look like. Our brand is really a couple of different areas. It is part of your look. And so when I’m talking about that as a personal brand strategist, how do you show up, what do you look like?

[00:01:07] And then also, what do you sound like? What is your tone of voice? What is your positioning as far as what is your point of view of talking about? What do people think about you when you’re not in the room? I think all of that goes together in personal brand positioning and how I like to work with people is how is it that you do show up versus how you want to show up? And so that’s really what I work with people on.

[00:01:34] Kris Ward: Okay. So you said a couple of things I think matter that I’m still unpacking. So one is how you show up. And for many years I thought, okay, you show up and try to look professional. And I was more of a veneer version of myself. So obviously I have given that up and two, it’s to my benefit because people often comment that somebody said the other day, they were commenting on one of my posts and they said, Oh, I was so excited.

[00:01:56] I got to connect with the high energy Kris. And I was like, Oh my gosh. Okay. So that’s a compliment. Whereas before I was always fearful, came off juvenile, my enthusiasm. So I tried to water that down and look like a grownup. Didn’t work. Okay. So I gave that up. Then the other thing too, is having a point of view, I still struggle with, it’s not that I don’t have lots of points of view, but it took me a long time to be really strong with them online because like I was always fearful of, I don’t want to criticize or insult another business or whatever. And even though I would never name another business, like for example, and this is new for us to really be coming out guns a blazing VA agencies do not work.

[00:02:40] They spend a lot of money. You get locked into contracts. You spend a lot of money for a virtual assistant and the VA is actually way underpaid. And worse than that, they have to sign a non disclosure. And so you think you’re paying them eight bucks an hour and you’re paying them two, right? This is crazy.

[00:02:54] I was like, Oh, who am I to be critical? That’s their model. I don’t agree with it, whatever. So I was hesitant because I didn’t want to look negative or mean, or I don’t know, it’s just not my jam. I try to be nice and polite, but that’s not working because if I don’t talk about that, then it’s like behind the scenes stuff.

[00:03:11] I’m not sharing my point of view. I’m not helping or educating people, but I think a lot of us, I know I deal with business people all day long and they’ll say I don’t want to slam somebody else in the industry, but it’s really not slamming. It’s saying my point of you is different. I don’t think that I don’t think that’s a good setup.

[00:03:28] Lisa McGuire: Yes, you’re exactly right. And I understand that line that you’re walking. People have to understand what is it that you stand for? What do you stand for? And what do you not stand for? And so when you’re talking in your situation, Kris, about V. A. Agencies and this is the problem with them. It’s not necessarily slamming them.

[00:03:48] It’s your inside of their brain trying to figure out what is the difference. What is the difference? So what you’re really doing is you’re advising them. This is what you need to watch for in my expertise, in my world, these are things you need to look for. Are they having their people sign a non disclosure agreement?

[00:04:09] What are the things that, that you need to be looking for? And here’s how I’m different. I do this in my business.

[00:04:16] Kris Ward: Hold on. I want to jump in there for one second. Yeah, sorry to interrupt. There’s a big distinction you just gave there, which is very profound. So if I am mindful of that, what I could say instead of being bold about it or being afraid that I’m being too aggressive in my claim or against another company, I could say, Listen, VA agencies tend to have this, make sure you ask about this.

[00:04:40] Make sure you ask, do the VAs have to sign a non disclosure? Ask these questions. And by virtue of me educating them, and I did used to do that in sales calls back in the day if you’re shopping around, you’ll find my competitors don’t charge you extra for this. And I do not.

[00:04:54] So it’s really, if you’re uncomfortable with it, it’s the, I can say everything I want to say and just say it’s slightly different and be more comfortable with that.

[00:05:02] Lisa McGuire: Yes. And the point is very well taken is you’re educating people. Yeah. One of the best lead magnets I ever saw was someone who educated in the lead magnet like these are 7 things you need to ask when hiring a wedding photographer, right?

[00:05:20] Yeah. So it, it equips the prospect. It equips your audience to understand. Okay. These are things I need to be looking for. It’s not my expertise. This person is helping me do this and by doing so, of course, that person is going to come out on top based on what they’re asking.

[00:05:40] Kris Ward: And I know that as a consumer, and sometimes I say, I know that, or I forgot I knew that, or I knew that, but I didn’t know how to transfer it.

[00:05:48] So I know that as a marketer, that’s a great thing. Here’s five things you need to know, la. But then when you’re coming from, I want to say something. And you just think, Oh, that’s going to, I, cause I’m all about being positive. I don’t need to put anybody else down to build me up. It’s not my game.

[00:06:03] It’s not my game. It’s not my jam. So then I felt I’m putting the agencies down and there’s so many of them and I don’t need to get in a fight with them. And also they have their formula. Who am I to criticize, right? But if I change the intro, I can say all the things I want to say, just rephrasing it ever so slightly.

[00:06:20] This is gold. Gold Lisa, sorry. Continue. I had to point out your goldness there.

[00:06:25] Lisa McGuire: That’s great. That’s right. Yes. And how I do it is, when I talk about personal branding, most people, when you think of personal branding is what image am I going to craft? So people will hire me in my rock in my shoe.

[00:06:40] So to speak, the thing that irritates me about that is when you show up, you need to show up in person as the same person that you show up as online, right? Okay. Like, when I meet you, if you are someone totally different than what you positioned yourself to be, just because you wanted to get my business, that doesn’t rub well with me.

[00:07:04] So that’s where I’ve developed what’s called a personal brand of integrity. Okay. Is who you’re going to get all the time. I’m not going to be any different when I’m offline than when I am online. And so doing that, we have to do the work to understand who is it that you really are. I believe a lot of people when they’re trying to position themselves, and especially if you’re starting out as a consultant, coach, author, speaker, whatever it is.

[00:07:32] You’re trying to figure out what is the value I bring. And particularly if you’ve left a job or you’ve left corporate, a lot of times you’re bringing those bullet points of that job description with you, and that’s not who you really are. So we dig deep and there’s three areas that we dig deep in. Okay.

[00:07:49] One are the stories you tell the world. Now that is what is forward facing public facing. That’s what you put out there on social media when you show up at networking events. That’s what the world believes. Okay. But then there’s another way you see yourself. And those are the stories we tell ourselves.

[00:08:07] Those are the things that I can’t do this until it’s perfect. I need to please this person. So they’ll like me. I need to try something new cause this is not working. All of those things get in our way, but we dig deep into those. And then the third one are the stories buried inside of your soul. The stories we tell the world, the stories we tell ourselves, and the stories we bury inside that are buried inside of our soul.

[00:08:34] Those are the stories that we came into the world with of who we were supposed to be until the world started telling us who we’re not. So we look at those 3 different stories, kris. The stories I tell the world, the stories I tell myself, the stories buried inside of myself, those are three different stories.

[00:08:51] I call that a fractured brand. We’ve got to consolidate those to know who you really are. And that’s what I call a personal brand of integrity.

[00:09:03] Kris Ward: Oh my gosh. This is like my head. This is like deep stuff. Okay. Because this is like business therapy, because I think, you know what? And let me jump all over the place.

[00:09:16] Cause I’m known for that. So when we were talking at one point, I was saying, okay, give me an example. Cause when you hear stories, we, some of us get a little bit of pushback because I think there’s people oversharing or being overdramatic or insincere or tugging at your heartstrings, there’s all kinds of things.

[00:09:31] So then I tend to pull back because it’s when there are stories we think they’re not interesting. And but yet I see other people tell stories. I’m like, I have that exact same story and I didn’t tell that. So you had given me the example of, listen, you talked about.

[00:09:43] Let me tell you about your life. Pay attention, Lisa. You talked about having foot surgery and then you were telling people, “Hey, so tell me that little story. And then I’m going to make a comment about that.”

[00:09:53] Lisa McGuire: Yeah. So yeah, when we had chatted previously. Yeah. So what happened is I found out I was going to require foot surgery and it wasn’t just a little procedure.

[00:10:03] It was going to be. It was a six month on ramp before the surgery of all kinds of tests because the doctor was going to go in and have to basically rebuild my foot. I wasn’t going to be able to get out networking the way I had. I would have to structure my business differently and it caused me, I had to take some time away.

[00:10:21] So I ended up telling the story how rebuilding my foot caused me to rebuild my business, right?

[00:10:30] Kris Ward: Okay. So let me jump in right there. Did you tell that story as it’s happening or after the fact?

[00:10:36] Lisa McGuire: After the fact. Okay, and the difference in that is, and I want to address what you’re talking about when people talk about oversharing.

[00:10:45] I see that all the time. And the biggest challenge people have to know is, where is the line that you cross? Now, what I did do on social media is I did prepare and say, hey, I’m going to be away for, a little bit, but I’ll be back, but it was 4 months later that I told that story. I’m sorry, 6 weeks later that I told the story.

[00:11:07] It was a 4 month not driving, but 6 weeks later, I told the story and the reason why I told it was not for people to go, Oh, I’m so sorry. And all of that. It was to give a lesson. So when we tell stories, if you’re telling it in the midst of the story, that’s therapy, right? If you’re telling it after the story is over and this is the lesson I learned and you could take this lesson and find wisdom in it, then that is telling it from the scar.

[00:11:37] So when we tell stories, we want to tell it from our scars, not our wounds.

[00:11:43] Kris Ward: Oh, that’s everybody write that one down. Okay. I like that. Oh, that brings great clarity to me because I have always, even somebody I saw yesterday and she did a post and she said, Oh, I’m so excited. I’m feeling really productive.

[00:11:58] And she listed all these things that she had done. And in those things, though, she was saying, okay, I finished my copy for my masterclass. I’m doing in January, blah, blah, blah. So what she was really telling me is, Hey, what’s coming up for her business? And I think, Oh my gosh, that was so well done. I just don’t do that.

[00:12:16] I get either caught up in the moment or I’m enthusiastic or I don’t know. I still see that imaginary curtain of I’ll show you when it’s done. Or I just don’t see that as a story. Cause I’m always working on something. So I think I still really struggle with. And I have been criticized for this in the past.

[00:12:34] I’m getting better, but I did have one time many years ago, this guy was saying to me, we were at a breakfast event, a chamber thing. And he said, Kris, you’re fun and you’re all these personal things, but he said, it takes some time to get to know you. You’re all about business.

[00:12:46] We were at a chamber breakfast. I thought we were talking business, whatever. I got up at six o’clock in the morning on a winter’s day to frigging do this. So you’re sitting beside me. I thought we’re talking business, foolish me, whatever. And he said, but when we get to know you, you’re really fun and warm and stuff.

[00:13:00] So I was annoyed about that. And I was explaining to my husband what the hell? Whatever, right? Cause he was always saying it’s relationship. So then he said to me, I’m like, that’s annoying. And he said, listen, babe, do you do understand that you can’t read a book or take a course here and how to be warmer?

[00:13:14] Like you do understand this is not another thing for you to study. I was like, Oh, I’ll show them, I’ll take the course and be warmer, right? I’ll be warmer. Yes, but I don’t, it’s really an effort for me. I, and I’m now putting it in my, after I saw that last week and talk to you, I’m going to try to, I would call it personable, not personal, but personable post and say, okay, what am I working on?

[00:13:37] What can I talk about? Because I just, I don’t know, it’s a flaw of mine. I really have to be mindful to mine a story. Like I just don’t, it doesn’t, I don’t know why it doesn’t come natural to me, but I do understand it’s the power of people getting to know you.

[00:13:52] Lisa McGuire: Yes, it is. It’s, it makes you approachable. It makes you relevant and makes you relatable, but I would offer this tip.

[00:13:59] Start with what is the one controlling idea you want them to take away. From reading that from that video from that interaction and my thing that I wanted in the rebuilding my foot caused me to rebuild my business was to look at and say. You don’t have to keep on the same track, take a step back, which was my next post.

[00:14:23] The power of the pause, take a step back and really look at what you’re doing. And I think this is what you do so well, Kris let’s take a look at what you’re doing. Does it still make sense? Does it matter for where you want to go in your business? Is that going to be something that’s fruitful to help you get there?

[00:14:43] And that was another benefit is when I stepped back, literally, I saw things I was doing that at 1 time I thought was good, but it was no longer beneficial for where I wanted to go.

[00:14:58] Kris Ward: I, yeah. Cause I know I’ve talked about this before, but I literally had to have my arm twisted like nobody’s business to talk about the fact that I was pulled away from my business for about two years when my husband passed away.

[00:15:11] And I was like, I didn’t want that to define him or me and I wasn’t looking for sympathy. And so even at the time when I was going through it, afterwards. You’re in that horrible grieving stage and people would try to like, put all the sympathy on me. And I would say, listen, everybody has something, this is my something right now.

[00:15:28] Like it just, it wasn’t how I navigated any part of that journey. And so when the book came out, people were like, Kris, they’re just going to think you’re annoying and you’re organized. And that’s you’re just one of these annoyingly organized people. You have to tell that story. And I did a horrible job of telling it in the beginning.

[00:15:44] And I still it’s uncomfortable. Like I’m not going to lie. I had to think twice right now and offer this and have a conversation in my head before I brought this up again. It’s not. It’s just something I’m not, and it’s not because of the sadness of it. It’s just, it’s, I feel like I’m playing it, I don’t know, a cheat card or something.

[00:16:01] It’s just not what I’m looking for. But then I do also realize now, listen, as I tell this story, I will say, look, when I first started my business, I worked insane hours. And I, as I told you, my, I was told about after the two year mark, I was starting to lose some of my charm because I was exhausted all the time.

[00:16:17] And that’s when I went from working 16 hours down to six and it didn’t happen overnight, but that, and I always say that’s a whole story on its own, but here’s why it matters. Because when this happened, my husband, I was present able and have no regrets about that journey. But now I realized, you know what?

[00:16:30] I can go back and tell those stories of the craziness of when I was working that hard and the silly things that I did that I thought were logical and how I did get from 16 hours a day down to six. So if I don’t want to bring this story up as much, I can go back to those stories. And I think we also forget.

[00:16:47] It took me a long time also to learn that just because of the story, the distance has increased, like now it’s five years, 10 years, it’s still a defining story.

[00:16:54] Lisa McGuire: It definitely is. And it’s part of your story. And it was an inciting incident that caused you to maybe see things differently. But Kris, I think the other part is when you talk about what happened, there are other people experiencing that too.

[00:17:10] So when you talk about your struggles, how I see it is you’re not doing it for you. You’re doing it in service of others, for other people to say, I have that too. I feel that way. Oh, she gets me, right? And so when you’re doing it, it’s not all about me. I look at it as it’s all about you and you’re not going to find me until I pull back that curtain a little bit to say, this was me. This was me.

[00:17:43] Kris Ward: And I think I’m not one of these people that are positive you’re on fire and then I go, Oh, it’s lovely to be warm, right? I’m not a naively or because I do think there’s a point of being positive where it’s just ridiculous. Like it’s denial, right? But I do try really hard, like when things were towards the end and getting whatever, difficult and I went into evan who works on my team.

[00:18:03] I’m like, okay, I don’t even know when I’m going to, this is happening now. I still struggle with the word dying. Hello. There you go. If you think what the hell is she talking about? And I said, I don’t know when I’ll like, I don’t know. I don’t even know what I can call you, whatever.

[00:18:14] And Evan said to me, but I try to be positive about everything because I don’t like to be unhappy. And I do think in every dark moment there. There is precious moments. Everything’s not all bad. And Evan said to me, Kris, if you come in here with one more gut wrenching story and try to put a positive spin on this, he said, I can’t take it anymore.

[00:18:30] Do this, right? He said, this is killing my soul and you’re breaking my heart. So the point is. I think that’s also some of us are not good at bringing that up. Now, I can tell the stories of where, I did insane things when I was really crazy busy. There was one time because I worked so many hours, I looked at the clock and for a split second, I didn’t know if it was 10 a. m. or 10 p. m. because I was in a room with the windows and because I worked so many hours. I had no reference of, Oh, it’s this time because I’ve had lunch or there was no interruptions in my day that dictated what time it was. And that’s when I was like, Oh my God, this is scary. I don’t know if it’s morning or night.

[00:19:07] So there are stories I could tell that are sarcastic or funny or identifiable in nature. So I guess lean toward what I’m comfortable about, because I’m not good at the emotional side because I don’t want to sit in it. So I’m not going to revisit it to drag you through it. And,

[00:19:21] Lisa McGuire: it doesn’t have to be the whole story.

[00:19:23] It could be one snippet of, it was a really hard time when this is happening because I was trying to, I was trying to be present and yet juggle everything to, that’s a good point. Give people something to relate to just a nugget of something for them to lean in, to lean in and say, Oh, I get it.

[00:19:43] Kris Ward: Okay. The distraction of trying to be thinking that I can run back to work and do something is like, Oh, my brain. Okay. So what are some of the other things you’re highlighting some really profound things I don’t think are very often highlighted. So I’m not vain. What are some other things that you think go amiss when we all hear the word story or even our brand?

[00:20:06] Lisa McGuire: Yes, I think, when we hear storytelling and it’s everywhere you go, people feel like they have to tell a story about their company, or they have to tell a personal story, but really what you want to do is you need to flip the script and think about what is the story your audience needs to hear.

[00:20:27] What is the story your audience is looking for? They are looking for you with you as a business. What is it like for them to work with you? So what is the story of them coming into your business? And what would it be like to work with you? So it might be telling a story of a customer journey. I did this on my LinkedIn post today.

[00:20:48] I talked about this event planner who came in, she had her business for about eight years at that point. And she was really struggling to figure out clarity on the next steps. Now you would think somebody who had been in business. And I think so many business owners, I worked with another gentleman, been in business 15 years.

[00:21:08] You think they’ve got their act together, but guess what? The marketplace changes, the world changes. And so how do I… how do I position myself for this new clientele coming in? COVID is a great example. The people we were in 2019 are not the same people we are today. Things have happened. Our attitudes have changed.

[00:21:34] Priorities have changed. So how do you need to reposition yourself to understand what is it that they’re struggling with now and what is a viable solution that they are really looking for?

[00:21:47] Kris Ward: Okay. That makes so much sense. And even at the time when that was all happening, I remember being on podcasts and I would be whispering because again, it’s I didn’t want to tell you so much controversy and like politics about COVID and I just didn’t want any part of that.

[00:22:03] But what I was saying in the beginning, which I should have said louder. I was saying this will change, like we will never go back as far as business go because I remember my friend, she’s in HR and her business, people were asking, could we work from home on Fridays or when your kids off for PA day? And they’re like, no, we can’t afford the infrastructure and all that, cut to in five days. 450 people now can work from home. And I was saying they, this will be like when the wartime, when the men went off to war and the women came into the workplace, it will never go back to the way it was. These people are going to learn how much they spent on infrastructure.

[00:22:37] It’s going to change everything. And because I didn’t want to speak so boldly or get. Throw my opinion out there and then have all these people yelling or fighting and there’s all this stuff about everything and needles. I just kept it to myself, but those were wise words and I was right. So I didn’t tell that story because again, I was like, Oh, I’ll just stand over here and be with the masses.

[00:22:58] So I think it’s it does show where your perspective is, whether you’re a thought leader and getting comfortable, I think in using your own voice.

[00:23:07] Lisa McGuire: Yes, I think that’s really true. And I think also Kris is understanding that not everyone’s going to agree with you and that’s okay. You need to be polarizing enough to attract the right people and send the wrong ones.

[00:23:20] And I don’t mean people are wrong, but yeah, and the people who don’t agree with you, there are other people that can serve them well. And I think the other thing when you ask about branding is really understanding, knowing who you are and the value that you can provide to others is also a way to help structure your business.

[00:23:40] So 1 thing that I do when I work with clients, rather than trying to fit themselves into a business model that they are not wired to do. Let’s figure out who you are and how you were designed. And let’s create that business around you. Let’s create, let’s create marketing in a way that feels natural to you where you’re not selling your soul.

[00:24:04] Yeah, I think what’s going to happen now is marketing the way it has been is no longer going to work. These gurus who have these formulas and all of this. It works for some people, but it doesn’t, it didn’t work for me. I find my own way.

[00:24:20] Kris Ward: Yeah. You’re so right. Because also I, with the type of people I work with, and I know I did this for years too.

[00:24:26] is I, what I would call be in hysterical mode. I’m, if you took our quiz, you’ll have different personalities and I’m a recovering rush a holic. Okay. So I would rush into things because, you’re flying by the seat of your pants. You’re working on these crazy hours. Everybody else is moving too slow, talking too slow.

[00:24:41] And I thought if I, Showed my pearly whites and gave you a big smile that you would not notice the tension in my jaw because I’m screaming in my head. Oh my God. I thought this meeting would take 10 minutes. Now it’s taken 14. I am four minutes behind and I, but people can smell that off you, right?

[00:24:57] And it’s a totally different vibe. You get it. They may not understand cause they may be thinking, Oh, I think she’s annoyed at me or whatever. Cause they feel the tension. And so you’re is if we don’t align ourselves with who we are and therefore it amplify our brand and our brand is just our true personality.

[00:25:16] Cause I hate the word authenticity. People say you got to be authentic. Nobody’s going to try to be inauthentic. That’s never the goal. So I’m doing the best I can here. I need some more direction than be authentic. You know what I mean? So I think what you’re saying is when you try to be your professional self, cause you think that’s the right thing to do, it just doesn’t pan out.

[00:25:35] Lisa McGuire: And S and so the, if you look at the word, when I talk about personal brand of integrity, Integrity is wholeness. Okay. Which is another word for authenticity, which I didn’t like either. So that’s where I came up with this integrity. It’s the truth of who you are. It’s understanding who you are and the value you bring.

[00:25:55] And yeah, do we have flaws? We all have flaws, but if we’re doing the work then you get a pass for that, right? I know it’s got flaws, but I’m doing the work. I’m aware of them. I’m willing to confront them and encounter them and go through the dark night of the soul to be able to get on the other side, to have that courage to do that.

[00:26:17] Kris Ward: Oh my gosh. All kinds of wisdom here. This we could be chatting for hours, people. Do you have a long road trip because we say this for that? Okay, Lisa, where can people find more of your brilliance?

[00:26:30] Lisa McGuire: My bro I’m on LinkedIn quite a bit. I also have a podcast called Your Passion, Purpose and Personal Brand.

[00:26:38] And the other thing is I would love if people would like more of this content. And I have a newsletter called The So Much More Newsletter and where I came up with it was, I feel like so many of us are settling in our lives when there’s so much more that we can embrace so much more potential that we are not yet ready to step into because we don’t know how so I, I call it so much more.

[00:27:04] It’s how you can get to the end of your life and not have any regrets.

[00:27:09] Kris Ward: That’s fantastic. All right, everyone share this episode with a business buddy. Don’t let them strangle and struggle by themselves, please. And you know what? We also read every single review. We appreciate and love them. Love hearing from you. And we will see you all in the next episode. Thank you so much.

[00:27:26] Lisa McGuire: Thanks, Kris.