Personal branding for working parents



What is your personal brand?

I read an article earlier this week by Jaleh Bisharat – ‘3 steps to creating your personal brand – and why it matters.’

What immediately struck me was how applicable this is for mothers returning from maternity leave, or for parents who are working part-time. How can we facilitate personal branding for working parents.

We are often consumed just by the logistics of making it into work.  Consider that every morning, most of us need to begin by getting our babies/children/ourselves (in that order!) looking half decent; we then need to get everyone out the house on time and then get yourself to work on time without looking like the way you are probably feeling.  Finally arriving at work can feel like you’ve climbed a mountain – and all before 9am.

Why developing your personal brand as a working parent is important.

As a working parent, most of our early return to work days end up being filled by getting back up to speed factually and skills-wise and then slowly building our confidence back up.  So, developing your personal brand may not feel like it’s at the top of your to-do list.  However, it should be.  Reading Jaleh’s article made me realise how integral your personal brand is to developing your self-confidence, as well as the confidence of others; reintegrating back into the workplace, as well as making a visible professional impact.

Jaleh says ‘even when you don’t know people are looking, they are, and they’re making quick judgements.’

So what is your personal brand?  How would you like other people to describe you?  What do people expect from you, based on what they have heard and what they see about you?  Do you deliver consistently against those expectations?

Jaleh explores 3 key ways to develop your personal brand as a working parent– define it; earn it and then promote it.

Inspiring reading!


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