Yep,
She is turning 60 today, so we have to talk about: Madonna.
This woman is an icon and through the years she has taught us so much about what it means to be a well-known brand. Her way is an ‘either you love her or hate her way’ but girlll it made her really successful.
So what can we learn from her? What can you apply on a day-to-day basis, when it comes to your career and building your personal brand.
When I was a teenager I once saw a live show of her on tv and the show started (if I remember it correctly) with her saying this:
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star. I didn’t know anybody. I wanted to dance. I wanted to sing. I wanted to do all those things. I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to be famous. I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard and my dream came true.”
So that brings me to the personal branding lessons I learned from her:
1. What you focus on expands
She has always completely been focused on getting to where she wanted to be. Madonna has taught us to think big and to set goals. That is why I love it when she said: “A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want.”
Basically she says: don’t let fear be your guide and don’t get sidetracked by the opinions of others. This is also a lesson about not feeling insecure and having self-confidence. So really focus on what you want, instead of what you don’t want (which is what most of us do!).
But yes, first you have to know what you want.
After her number one album ‘Like a Virgin’ was released a journalist asked her “What’s next?” Madonna replied, “I want to rule the world.”
2. Stand for something
Madonna has said “I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.”
Yep here she is telling us to: do your own thing and really believe it. She has always been so self-aware, I am sure this has helped her over the last 30 years to truly fight for her beliefs. She has had bad publicity and even that has worked in her advantage. Like she said “I’ve been popular and unpopular, successful and unsuccessful, loved and loathed and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore I feel free to take whatever risks I want.”
So ladies, you have to stay true to your beliefs.
3. Appearances matter
I don’t know if you are old enough to remember this but she was a fashion leader back in the eighties. Girls used to copy her look and dress exactly like her. This was when she appeared in the film “Desperately Seeking Susan”. And when Madonna cut her hair for the True Blue album we all where shocked in disbelief. But she knew early on that you get judged by your looks, especially if you are a woman. So she used this to her advantage and often shocked us with her looks to make headlines.
Like the bras she had designed by Jean Paul Gaultier that she used as outerwear. If you look back at her looks they all define a period from her life and what she stood for. They all tell her story. That is what we want, for our looks to truly represent us.
4. Take care of your business
Time Magazine has called her one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century” and there is a reason that she has been called the smartest woman in business.
She’s been one of the highest paid artist for over 30 years. Madonna was smart enough to look at the decline of record sales and leave her record label Warner Music to sign with Live Nation and focus on touring income. She understood that to have a successful business, you must understand your market. She retains 90% of gross touring revenues and 50% of endorsements.
5. Change is good
She has always been about constant transformation and exploring new things. She has successfully transformed herself from from a material girl, activist, actress, yoga fan and author to a humanitarian. This is the most consistent thing about her personal branding.
We can count on her to teach us new things but also to transform herself whilst doing it. She truly embraces change and doesn’t look at it as something scary. It is a way to stay innovative and discover new things about yourself. Like discovering hidden treasures and also a way to challenge yourself to feel new things.
Listen, all brands evolve over time and no human being ever truly stays the same. So, if we can embrace this process like she has perhaps it wouldn’t be that scary.
So, what have you learned from Madonna? Share it with me, that’s what sisters do.
And talking about sisterhood, our next Network Academy-event with Harper’s Bazaar is coming up. It is all happening at the College Hotel on the 5th of September. Get more info here if you want to join us.
XOXO,
Nancy
“Cause a rose is still a rose
Baby, girl, you’re still a flower
He can’t lead you and then take you
Make you and then break you
Darlin’, you hold the power”
A rose is still a rose
Last week we lost a queen. And for once I was lost for words. All I could do was listen to her songs and feel my emotions with every one of them. The lyrics to this one kept going on in my head.
I consciously fell in love with Aretha in 2003 when I entered an HMV store in London. Her greatest hits was being played and I not only bought a cd for myself but ended up buying one for my mother and my late grand mother. And every month since then I have listened to her songs.
Why?
Her songs have taught me to be strong, to take care of myself, but most of all to have empathy for other women. We need to look out for each other.
But:
We need to also put on our oxygen mask first. When I get tired I go back to my breathing. That then brings be back to my intuition.
Intuition is a sense that we need to use more often. Intuition doesn’t lie.
I recently watched the documentary called INNSAEI on Netflix. It is the Icelandic word for intuition. The documentary focuses on the different theories surrounding the subject. But what I took away from it is that I have to listen better to my gut feeling.
Because of self care.
Because of empathy.
Because of self love.
All the stuff Aretha sings about in her songs.
If we look at her career, the main personal branding lesson is explained here in her own words:
“We didn’t have music videos. You weren’t an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.”
Trial and error.
When you fall, get up. When you fail, keep on moving. What ever you do, keep on growing.
“Let your life be in the sunshine
Not the darkness of your sorrow”
Xoxo,
Nancy
Who’s that girl?
Yep,
So what can we learn from her? What can you apply on a day-to-day basis, when it comes to your career and building your personal brand.
When I was a teenager I once saw a live show of her on tv and the show started (if I remember it correctly) with her saying this:
She has always completely been focused on getting to where she wanted to be. Madonna has taught us to think big and to set goals. That is why I love it when she said: “A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want.”
Basically she says: don’t let fear be your guide and don’t get sidetracked by the opinions of others. This is also a lesson about not feeling insecure and having self-confidence. So really focus on what you want, instead of what you don’t want (which is what most of us do!).
But yes, first you have to know what you want.
After her number one album ‘Like a Virgin’ was released a journalist asked her “What’s next?” Madonna replied, “I want to rule the world.”
Yep here she is telling us to: do your own thing and really believe it. She has always been so self-aware, I am sure this has helped her over the last 30 years to truly fight for her beliefs. She has had bad publicity and even that has worked in her advantage. Like she said “I’ve been popular and unpopular, successful and unsuccessful, loved and loathed and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore I feel free to take whatever risks I want.”
So ladies, you have to stay true to your beliefs.
Like the bras she had designed by Jean Paul Gaultier that she used as outerwear. If you look back at her looks they all define a period from her life and what she stood for. They all tell her story. That is what we want, for our looks to truly represent us.
She’s been one of the highest paid artist for over 30 years. Madonna was smart enough to look at the decline of record sales and leave her record label Warner Music to sign with Live Nation and focus on touring income. She understood that to have a successful business, you must understand your market. She retains 90% of gross touring revenues and 50% of endorsements.
We can count on her to teach us new things but also to transform herself whilst doing it. She truly embraces change and doesn’t look at it as something scary. It is a way to stay innovative and discover new things about yourself. Like discovering hidden treasures and also a way to challenge yourself to feel new things.
Listen, all brands evolve over time and no human being ever truly stays the same. So, if we can embrace this process like she has perhaps it wouldn’t be that scary.
So, what have you learned from Madonna? Share it with me, that’s what sisters do.
And talking about sisterhood, our next Network Academy-event with Harper’s Bazaar is coming up. It is all happening at the College Hotel on the 5th of September. Get more info here if you want to join us.
Seat at the table
We need to talk about diversity. I used the album titel of Solange Knowles because it sort of reminds me of a conversation I had with someone about us women demanding a seat at the table when it comes to higher positions.
Then I saw that feminist movement De Bovengrondse changed the names of 12 streets in Amsterdam to female names because only 242 street names were based on females and over 2000 on men.
Basically we need to wake up. Because even in 2018 there is hardly any equality in any business.
Only 20% of songs played on the radio are by female artists. This makes it more difficult for them to get managers/agents/gigs etc. etc. That is why I love this quote by Beyoncé from the Vogue September issue :
They will hire the same models, curate the same art, cast the same actors over and over again, and we will all lose.”
Only 5% of Fortune 500 companies are run by women. That is why I was so sad to hear Indra Nooyi was stepping down as CEO of PepsiCo after 12 years!
Diversity is a win-win situation. I really loved watching the latest series of ‘Orange Is The New Black’ on Netflix. Because so many different people from so many different backgrounds were represented. SEE, DIVERSITY IS NOT THAT HARD IF YOU MAKE IT A PRIORITY.
“Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” – Oprah Winfrey
Make yourself visible, add value, let your voice be heard and most of all take that Seat At The Table!
XOXO,
Nancy
P.S. isn’t ‘Beyoncé Boulevard’ a much better name than ‘Rokin’ ;-)?
P.P.S. let me give you a hand with getting that seat at the table: follow my FREE personal branding course here
What a feeling!
What a feeling
Bein’s believin’
I can have it all
Now I’m dancing for my life
Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive
You can dance right through your life
Remember FAME? The series I mean, not the movies. I used to love this song ‘What a feeling’ by Irene Cara. It gave me the feeling of being able to conquer the world. The song made me think of TED-talks. Why? Well girl, please allow me to explain!
Did I tell you about the time I used to work for TEDxAmsterdamWomen as a volunteer? It was the best move I could have made after I quit my job in the Music Industry. The reason why it was such a great move is because it opened a new kind of network to me!
I had never experienced something like that before and it completely changed my mindset to pro-actively manage my career.
I still watch a lot of TED-talks because they can help with your self-development. So, I thought I’d share my 5 favorite TED-talks this week for some summer inspiration. Let me know if you have any good ones too!
– Sheryl Sandberg, Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders
– Brené Brown,The power of vulnerability
– Thandie Newton, Embracing otherness, embracing myself
– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We should all be feminists
– Lauren Zander – No One is Coming to Save You! Becoming Your Own Hero
TED-talks are also a great inspiration for women who need some ideas on which books to read. For instance, Sheryl, Chimamanda and Brené all have released great books. Now, I am going on a holiday in about 2 weeks.
Which books do you think I should be reading? Let me know!
XOXO,
Nancy