The Mediaweek Academy brought its fourth session to Nova Entertainment in Pyrmont.
Attendees returned to the session focused on building a personal brand, led by facilitator Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, Mediaweek’s contributing editor and MFA Hall of Famer.
Front and centre with Sparrow were industry Legend Sunita Gloster of Gloster Advisory, alongside superstar Andrea Rule, head of enterprise at LinkedIn ANZ – who stepped in at the last minute for Lara Brownlow.
See also: Mediaweek Academy legend Sunita Gloster reveals the key to building a personal brand
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Rule told Mediaweek: “Personal branding is an important tool in modern-day careers because it helps individuals differentiate themselves, communicate their value, build credibility, expand their networks, and exert control over their professional path.”
Rule added that in today’s marketing, investing time and effort in personal branding gives professionals a sense of control and agency over their career trajectory amid ongoing changes.
Rule noted that she hoped the Mediaweek Academy attendees understood that defining a personal brand does not require a perfectly crafted statement or an elaborate personal PR plan.
“It’s perfectly acceptable for personal branding to be a journey, emerging from your values and a genuine desire to make meaningful contributions in specific areas,” she said.
“Secondly, and being transparent about my bias as someone working at LinkedIn, I believe that amplifying these aspects within your community on platforms such as LinkedIn can boost your personal brand and, ultimately, open doors to more opportunities,” Rule added.
Rule shared that she was impressed by the emerging talent asking about personal branding.
“A few years ago, personal branding wasn’t even a significant topic of discussion. So, to hear from the audience today that many people already grasp the benefits and foundations – makes me excited to think about where emerging talent will take personal branding in the years to come,” she said.
Summer Treseder, strategy manager from Initiative, enjoyed the session and said: “it was a bit different from the other sessions we’ve had so far and more personal to how you can build your own personal brand first in a particular skill area.
Treseder noted that the extrinsic aspect of personal branding resonated with her. She said: “I’ve always considered it an internal thing, like your values. But it was interesting to see how you extrinsically show it, for example, across socials such as LinkedIn, even Instagram, and Facebook.”
Following the session, Treseder shared that she would be highlighting more of her personal brand going forward, such as updating her ‘about’ section on LinkedIn and interacting and making more posts on the platform.
For Rick Sillan, client lead at Atomic 212°, the session was inspiring and encouraged him to think deeper about himself and his career trajectory.
One thing that resonated with Sillan, in particular, was about consequences and contribution.
“If you’re contributing and doing a good job, then everything else can flow from that, and that’s a good basis point to start.’
Sillan shared that as a team leader, he hopes to implement projecting himself as a brand and as a person.
“My brand filters down into the team, so it’s all about trying to be a good person and stand for what I believe in, as it affects everyone in my team and how they work.”
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Top image: Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, Andrea Rule and Sunita Gloster
