“Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My my, just how much I’ve missed you?”
Here we go again! 10 years after the first Mamma Mia film was released in 2008, they released a sequel this week. I was invited to see the movie and I will be honest: I did not have high expectations, I thought the first one was an ok movie. But ……….. this one ROCKED!! Way better than the first one and such an amazing feel good movie. If you like ABBA, romance, adventure, mother daughter films and Cher, then you are at the right place.
Don’t you just love Cher? Remember when she said this?
“Mother told me a couple of years ago, ‘Sweetheart, settle down and marry a rich man.’ I said, ‘Mom, I am a rich man.'”
She really said it, hahahahaha! Look at the video here.
Ok back to the movie. I love how it is about motherhood and the relationships mother and daughters have. Our mothers are our first role models. Especially for women they play a pivotal role. In fact I know that working women are great role models for their daughters.
I read this: “In 2015, Harvard Business School released a working paper that helped many professional women, intellectually at least, see that there is a silver lining; that in fact, it benefits our children (especially our daughters) if we have a career. Researchers found that, on average, the daughters of working mothers were paid 4% more than their peers and they were more likely to be promoted into senior positions. One in three daughters of working mothers were in manager positions, compared with only one in four from non-working mothers.”
So drop the guilt and just have the career you want. In fact I didn’t need Harvard to tell me that I just followed my own amazing mom who taught me this amazing personal branding lessons.
Be confident about who you are.
My mom always used to say: love yourself, because if you don’t, who will? And by doing this, she always was perceived as a confidence woman. But guess what always gave her confidence. When she used to go out she wasn’t insecure about how she looked, in fact we nick-named her Alexis Colby (from Dynasty), because she always used to dress like she owned the place hahahaha. Love her. Yes, confidence makes people believe in you, because they know you got it handled because you believe in yourself. It is the same in the Mamma Mia film, Meryl Streep character is a single mom who was not afraid to live by herself on a Greek island.
You need to be confident to do that. And that leads to my next lesson which I learned from Meryl Streep (another great mother to 3 daughters).
Surround yourself with the right people.
When director Stephen Frears approached Streep about starring in Florence Foster Jenkins, she knew it would be a “yes” before even reading the script. “I said yes because Stephen said he had a project. And I’ve wanted to work with him forever,” she remembers. “So he said, ‘I’ve got a film for you.’ And I said, ‘OK, yes.'”
But I really LOVE this lesson from her:
“What makes you different and weird, that’s your strength.”
Anyway, Mamma Mia is a lovely film for music lovers and weird people like me. Go and see it. I don’t have stocks in the film, so this is just me, a weird musical loving woman, talking.
XOXO,
Nancy
PS: Have you signed up for my free personal branding course yet? Get your lessons here!
Music
Madonna once sang:
“Music makes the people come together
Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel”
And this is the truth. I saw this video recently of this Saudi woman rapping her way about finally being able to drive her own car. And it just made me think about how we are all affected by music, and that it crosses all cultural boundaries. But I what I love about the video is that she is using Hip Hop to express herself.
Like Sister Sledge once sang: “We’re lost in music….Feel so alive”.
Every week I get to write you about my favorite subject, personal branding, and music is the tool I use to make things clear to you. And I have to admit music still brings me joy every single day.
If everyone would just discover the healing powers of music then perhaps we wouldn’t be so depressed and burned out. Research says it can heal emotional suffering. And girl, I really believe that. I mean just the physical effects of getting your blood flowing when you dance or not being in your head but just feeling your body.
I even read somewhere that premature babies who they played Mozart to had lowered their heart rate and helped induce sleep in New York.
And a new study even claims that attending a music concert once every two weeks can add nine years to your life. Read more about it here.
Can we deny the effects of music? NOOOO!
So when I feel blue I listen to my 2 aunties: Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. And when I listen to Sade it always makes me think of my time studying and living in London. I just heard she will be releasing a new album soon. Can’t wait to hear that. Her music is so timeless. It feels like she is the big sister I never had and who I go to for man troubles hahaha.
So who is your favorite music auntie or sister? Who do you listen to when you are feeling blue?
Tell me girl!!
XOXO,
Nancy
PS. Have you registered already for my FREE personal branding course here?
Mamma Mia
“Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My my, just how much I’ve missed you?”
Here we go again! 10 years after the first Mamma Mia film was released in 2008, they released a sequel this week. I was invited to see the movie and I will be honest: I did not have high expectations, I thought the first one was an ok movie. But ……….. this one ROCKED!! Way better than the first one and such an amazing feel good movie. If you like ABBA, romance, adventure, mother daughter films and Cher, then you are at the right place.
Don’t you just love Cher? Remember when she said this?
“Mother told me a couple of years ago, ‘Sweetheart, settle down and marry a rich man.’ I said, ‘Mom, I am a rich man.'”
She really said it, hahahahaha! Look at the video here.
Ok back to the movie. I love how it is about motherhood and the relationships mother and daughters have. Our mothers are our first role models. Especially for women they play a pivotal role. In fact I know that working women are great role models for their daughters.
I read this: “In 2015, Harvard Business School released a working paper that helped many professional women, intellectually at least, see that there is a silver lining; that in fact, it benefits our children (especially our daughters) if we have a career. Researchers found that, on average, the daughters of working mothers were paid 4% more than their peers and they were more likely to be promoted into senior positions. One in three daughters of working mothers were in manager positions, compared with only one in four from non-working mothers.”
So drop the guilt and just have the career you want. In fact I didn’t need Harvard to tell me that I just followed my own amazing mom who taught me this amazing personal branding lessons.
Be confident about who you are.
My mom always used to say: love yourself, because if you don’t, who will? And by doing this, she always was perceived as a confidence woman. But guess what always gave her confidence. When she used to go out she wasn’t insecure about how she looked, in fact we nick-named her Alexis Colby (from Dynasty), because she always used to dress like she owned the place hahahaha. Love her. Yes, confidence makes people believe in you, because they know you got it handled because you believe in yourself. It is the same in the Mamma Mia film, Meryl Streep character is a single mom who was not afraid to live by herself on a Greek island.
You need to be confident to do that. And that leads to my next lesson which I learned from Meryl Streep (another great mother to 3 daughters).
Surround yourself with the right people.
When director Stephen Frears approached Streep about starring in Florence Foster Jenkins, she knew it would be a “yes” before even reading the script. “I said yes because Stephen said he had a project. And I’ve wanted to work with him forever,” she remembers. “So he said, ‘I’ve got a film for you.’ And I said, ‘OK, yes.'”
But I really LOVE this lesson from her:
“What makes you different and weird, that’s your strength.”
Anyway, Mamma Mia is a lovely film for music lovers and weird people like me. Go and see it. I don’t have stocks in the film, so this is just me, a weird musical loving woman, talking.
XOXO,
Nancy
PS: Have you signed up for my free personal branding course yet? Get your lessons here!
One Way Or Another
I was at the Modefabriek last Sunday, which is where retailers meet designers and brands, and it made me think of iconic fashion looks of the past and that made me think of Debbie Harry of Blondie.
She had the most iconic punk style. There was no other. She was a brand. Her style was a huge example of the 1970s New York punk scene with its black leather, deconstructed T-shirts and edgy haircuts. On the internet you will find many articles about her famous style and looks that still influence people in arts, music and fashion.
But there is more to her than just lessons in style. There are other lessons we can learn from Debbie Harry that we can apply in life and career. Personal branding is about authenticity after all, and this woman magnifies that word.
Here are the 5 most important personal branding lessons I learned from her.
– You can change your career if you want to.
Before she formed Blondie with her then boyfriend Chris Stein, she worked as a secretary, a waitress, a dancer and a Playboy Bunny. She also was in other bands before, but she found her place in life as the lead singer of Blondie.
– You can take something of yours that people see one way and turn it around to your advantage.
She named the band Blondie after men on the streets of New York catcalled her: “Hey Blondie!” When a journalist once asked her why she decided to make this the name of the band she said: “It seemed pretty obvious, I felt that it was something so deeply embedded in everyone’s consciousness, that it was a no-brainer.”
– She worked in an all male environment, but did not let that bother her.
She could have let the boys in the band write her hit songs, but she didn’t. She co-wrote new wave anthems such as “Dreaming” and “Call Me”. And without Debbie Harry there is no Blondie. She is undeniably the most important member of the band.
– She did things her way in an era where it was not so normal.
Firstly she never married and she remained childless. “I’m not the only woman in the world who never had children….. And I always thought: there are a lot of children in the world. I didn’t need to add to that, you know?” she once said in an interview. To me that is so totally Punk: do what makes you happy, not what others expect of you.
– She never let people put her in a box when it comes to music.
Her band Blondie was known for bridging punk and disco. Debbie even rapped in Rapture. You can’t put them or her in just one genre. Their music because of this still sounds fresh.
“One way or another, I’m gonna find you,
I’m gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya”
I chose this song because of the lesson I learned from it : -)
The song was written about Debbie Harry’s ex, who stalked her after their breakup. The lesson to be learned here is that if you stalk a songwriter, they will forever immortalize your evil behavior in a song ;-). No, the lesson learned is use your craft to show them what you are good at!
If you want to find out more about my Rock ‘n Roll branding method, sign up here for my free personal branding course. And remember, sharing is caring, so forward it to any ladies you know that are serious about their careers!
XOXO,
Nancy
Moving On Up
‘’Cause I’m movin’ on up, you’re movin’ on out
Movin’ on up, nothin’ can stop me
Movin’ on up, you’re movin’ on out
Time to break free, nothin’ can stop me, yeah’
OMG, this song was a huge hit back in 1993 and was by this British band called M People.
I had to think of this song because of the feedback that we have been receiving from ladies who attended the high tea.
What I love about the feedback is that all the ladies were looking for ways to move up in their careers. And let me tell you, nothing makes me happier than that. I mean, that is why I started BrandedU: to help women move up the career ladder.
That is why our slogan is: built to increase the visibility of women in business.
That is also why I devised my free online course: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
This free course is all about helping you move up! I believe that you can move up. You just have to believe it yourself. That is the number one rule when it comes to personal branding. Identity is part of a belief.
So how do you change your belief system, so you can move up?
• Awareness: become aware of the different parts that make up your beliefs.
• Let go: release the emotions held in those beliefs.
• Replace: change your perspective, so you can see that it is not the truth. It’s just a belief.
There is only one belief you should know: you are of value. The value you bring can help others. I think we are all here to help. No matter what your purpose is, it all leads to helping another person.
I hope you get what I am saying.
Helping people makes me happy. If I can share my knowledge, I hope that I can at least help one woman step up the career ladder.
So next Tuesday the 3rd of July I will be holding a free personal branding masterclass, because I am here to help. It is so important that you realize personal branding is not a self promotion campaign but a leadership tool. How? You become more aware of who you are and how you can be of value. And that is what true leaders do. They are aware of the value to their communities.
That is why I was really happy to hear the new mayor of Amsterdam will be a woman: Femke Halsema. We need more female leadership.
If you are ready to find out who you are, what qualities you have and how you can add value to the people you work with, join this free masterclass on Tuesday. If you can’t make it you can follow my free course online here.
Get started now.
Don’t delay.
Step up your game and move on up!
XOXO,
Nancy