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Bad Blood

We need to talk about women not supporting other women, especially succesful women!

I really am so tired of situations like what is happening to Taylor Swift right now. It is exactly what she sang about in “Bad Blood”.

“Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted
Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it’s all rusted
Did you have to hit me, where I’m weak? Baby, I couldn’t breathe
And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you’re laughing right at me

Oh, it’s so sad to think about the good times, you and I

‘Cause, baby, now we got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you’ve done
‘Cause, baby, now we got bad blood”

I read an article about how the media is writing about her in the Guardian: “It was only a matter of time before the talented, successful, unapologetic, in-control young woman was fodder for critics, reduced to comparisons to “annoying” Anne Hathaway and almost-annoying Jennifer Lawrence (notice it’s never men who are annoying?), “Mean Girls gone wild”, and the hashtags #TaylorSwiftisOverParty and #KimExposedTaylorParty.”

I believe there is enough for everyone. We as women need to be more supportive and enjoy each other’s successes.

I applaud Taylor’s success. Ever since I saw her on the Oprah show when she was just a teenager, she has always seemed focused on reaching her goals. What is wrong with that?

When will we realize that the more women become successful the more our chances of becoming successful increase.

It is called having role models. Like this interview link of Leslie Jones talking about the time she first saw Whoopi Goldberg on tv. That is why I promote sisterhood.

So, let’s help each other to all achieve our dreams.

See you at the BrandedU seminar November 21st!

XOXO,

Nancy

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You’ve got a friend

You just call out my name.
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come running, to see you again.
winter, spring, summer or fall
all ya have to do is call.
And i’ll be there yeah, yeah, yeah
You’ve got a friend

I love love love Carole King and especially this song “You’ve got a friend”. If you haven’t heard of her just listen to Tapestry, released way back in 1971, it featured hits such as :
• “I Feel the Earth Move”
• “So Far Away”
• “It’s Too Late”
• and of course “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”—— we all know this song because it was made famous by Aretha Franklin, but few people know it is by Carole King.

She is an amazing singer-songwriter, before the name even existed. I thought of “You’ve got a friend” because I love what is happening in the BrandedU Sisterhood. Our sisters are all coming together, helping each other. I’ve heard so many amazing and supportive stories and it only makes me want to give more to the sisterhood. So instead of waiting till December, like we did last year, we will be holding a special summer High Tea just for you. I want you to really understand the value of a great network (one of the most important lessons in personal branding) and what your BrandedU Sisterhood can do for you.

Let me give you 6 ways networking can help your personal brand:
– it raises your profile
– you can get your message out in a natural way
– you make a stronger first impression
– people remember you easily
– you have more influence
– it sparks growth in your personal brand

So save the date! Sunday the 14th of August in the afternoon we will be holding a special networking sisterhood High Tea. Learning and connecting with each other over food, well that sounds like my ideal summer :-).

Can’t wait to see you there,

XN

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Do You Know Where You’re Going To?

Do you know where you’re goin’ to?
Do you like the things that life is showin’ you
Where are you goin’ to? Do you know?

Those are lyrics from the song “Do you know where you’re going to” by Diana Ross. My first concert was in 1982, Diana Ross Live at the Ahoy’. Best. Concert. Ever. I was just in awe of her.

www.brandedu.nl

But the song was in my mind because of a question that someone asked me recently which was: Can you help me to stay focused?
The first thing you need to do is find out where you are going to. What are you aiming for and what should the result be? Where do you see yourself in 3, 4 or even 5 years? Then work back and start building your dream brick by brick.

Of course things will come along the way that might cause distraction, that is inevitable. Just as yourself this question: is this serving my goal or purpose? Will this help me get to where I want to go?

The song then goes:
Now looking back at all we’ve planned
We let so many dreams just slip through our hands
Why must we wait so long before we see
How sad the answers to those questions can be

Basically, you can’t wait for your dreams to come true. You have to go out there and work at them! Nobody is coming to save you. It is like Lauren Zander said in her TEDxAmsterdamWomen talk, you have to become your own hero because nobody is coming to save you.

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She ends the song singing:
Do you get what you’re hopin’ for
When you look behind you, there’s no open doors
What are you hopin’ for? Do you know?

Do you? Do you know what you want to be known for? That is the fundamental question you need to ask yourself before building your personal brand

With love,

Nancy

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Glory days

Did you miss me?

I am sorry I didn’t send you a newsletter last week….. but that was only because after a succesful BrandedU edition I was enjoying my glory days. Like Bruce Springsteen sang:
Glory days well they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days

Yep, you better start enjoying your successes more because they pass you by in the wink of an eye.

Really we all want to get glory days, but how do you get there? If there is one lesson I learned from Bruce it’s that you have to stay authentic. This guy really stayed true to what he valued the most and did not let his succes define him. He continued with the same band, lived in the same town and wrote about the same real people he encountered. This has been the key to his career.

In my search for glory days, I was inspired by this article about the 13 differences between busy and effective people. And then particularly by this one idea:

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I have to say I have been able to move more to the right side but it took me a long time to get there. BrandedU has been my lesson. The seminars have thought me to stay focused on helping women become more visible. And it is working, I was so proud when one of my clients just made the cover of PS Parool and I could not have been any prouder of her.

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So in case you missed the seminar check out the photo’s here. But don’t worry we will be holding the next seminar on the 19th of September.

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XOXO,

Nancy

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