What Is Your Brand?

ADZICNATASA / STOCK.ADOBE.COM

As a dental professional, you may think this is a ridiculous question…”What is your personal brand?” Most answer in terms of the practice where they work. “We take care of challenging patients to give them the best smile possible” (or something to that effect.) That is not what I am talking about. I am asking who you are and what kind of a professional you are as an individual.

In the marketing field, branding is quite common. You know logos, drug commercials, product placement, etc. But do you know that you individually have a brand? I never really gave it any thought until a couple of years ago when someone pointed this out to me. Think about it…

What do you want people to think of when they hear your name? It is something to give some thought to.

Here is my list.

• Ethical
• Warped sense of humor
• Warm and engaging
• Bright and sharp
• Human…laughs are her own mistakes
• Passionate
• Lifelong learner
• Fashionista
• Kind
• And a Jewish Mother

Yep, even the Jewish mother thing is something that is part of my brand. When coworkers end up with COVID or some kind of illness or injury, I am the queen of making Matzah Ball soup and transporting it to help when needed. (What can I say? It has medicinal powers!) Do you see where I am going with this?

Who you are and what is important to you is your brand. What do you want people to know or think about you? This all ties into your professional life as well. Those same 10 things work in both my professional and personal lives. (Yep, even the Jewish mother bit.) They may be different for some of you, but not for me.

I bet most of you never thought about this before. Do you have a brand? Is it the image you want to have, or do you need to work on it? Do you remember that adage of how people size you up in the first 10 or 30 seconds of a job interview? So true. We do that in our personal lives as well. Isn’t the patient doing this as well when they walk into your practice for the first time? I am as a patient.

During the pandemic, some of us lived on Zoom. It was a lifeline. I was amazed at how “terrible” people looked. I am not trying to being critical or judgmental. I know, it sounds superficial, but life shifted. We went away from the dressy clothing and heels to stretchy yoga pants and being barefoot. Perhaps we started reprioritizing our lives and decided what was important and what we shouldn’t waste our energy on. There have been many who have struggled since 2020. Yes, things are more relaxed and most of us have resumed life the way it was pre-2020. But some have stopped bathing, stopped leaving their homes, and stopped having contact with their loved ones, and that worries me.

Do you see where I am going with this? We make judgments depending on how someone looks. It is wrong, but it is reality. But, it also can make us more aware of those around us who may be struggling.

How you come across publicly matters. This is your brand. My opinion is to protect your brand and think about how you want to come across to the world. Because, once your brand is tarnished, it is extremely hard to bounce back. What do you think?

Email me at diana2@discussdirectives.com and tell me what your brand is. I would love to hear about it.