Stand By Me

“Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me”

Of course I had to start with the royal wedding song! Did you watch it? Well I was in Spain with 12 other lovely women for the BrandedU business retreat, but we stopped the workshop and watched Meghan Markle walk down the aisle. We love Meghan because she is a self declared feminist and because she is a role model for young girls. Did you see this video of her (on Nickelodeon in the nineties) talking about how she convinced a company to change their TV add because it was female unfriendly when she was only a young girl?

But this Ben E King song represents more to me than just another song a choir sang at her wedding. What are the personal branding lessons we can learn from the song and Meghan?

1. Quality is the base for talent.
The song was released twice by Ben E King, in 1961 and 1986 (because of the film with the same titel. Remember River Phoenix… That boy was fine ;-))! It also appeared in a Levi commercial in 1987, remember those? And both times became hits.
So find your ‘Stand By Me’! What is your best talent and how good are you at it? Meghan has pledged to ‘shine a light’ on women’s rights once she starts her new role.

2. Everyone can be a role model and make an impact.
There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song, performed by many artists. Needless to say the song made an impact. In 1999, BMI named it as the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century. WOW! And he wrote the song, which at the time was not the normal way for artists.
And just like Meghan when she wrote that letter, you too can do something that has an impact. Just focus on what you think is important. Others will follow that, if it is real.

3. We all need to feel empowered.
The titel of the song shows how much we all need support. I loved it when Meghan (who previously was an ambassador for UN women) said ‘women don’t need to find a voice, they have a voice, they need to be feel empowered to use it. And people need to be encouraged to listen’. That to me is one of the fundaments of why I started BrandedU. If I can encourage you to really use your talent and voice, instead of holding back because of limiting beliefs, that makes me super happy!

If you are serious about empowering yourself through personal branding… look no further! There are 2 great events coming up.

1. My free personal branding masterclass on the 10th of June. Sign up here if you are serious about yourself and your career and can use help profiling yourself.
2. The high tea with Harper’s Bazaar at the Pulitzer hotel on the 24th of June. This will be our one and only high tea this year. So get your tickets before it is sold out!

And then I need you to stand by me! Tomorrow the new Privacy law starts and if you want to keep getting these weekly newsletters, please click here!

XOXO,

Nancy