In today’s business world, empowering young women to take control of their own career has never been more critical. Many successful women have already paved the road allowing the next generation to understand that the sky is the limit in this infinite universe.  Personal branding is more than performance. It is also about visibility; one’s reputation and self-marketing efforts.

If the younger generation of women learned early on that they are a “brand” and how to package and market that brand effectively, only then will they be way ahead of the game. Our experience is that young women need to understand that skill sets are not the sole reason for success. It’s their visibility and image that contribute to the “brand” they create as they move forward in their profession. As well as their image; one that reflects their job, company and meeting customer expectations can be challenging without losing their own sense of identity.

On the corporate side, especially those female leaders who have the ability to shift the culture environment, it is critical that they invest early in the development of such young talent.  And entrepreneurs have to be more aware and disciplined to take the initiative to invest in them.

Many feel that calling a person a “brand” is not very personal.  That is because they hear the word as a product and associate it with an impersonal item such as a car or a soft drink, but the concept is the same. Like any product, you have to package its benefits, skills and abilities and market it correctly.

Companies package products everyday for the marketplace and a person’s talents are no different. In business, a company pays for the service of its employee. They are paying for that person’s talent to get the job done. If female professionals were given the opportunity to develop skills and package themselves accordingly, they could become more in control of their career and marketability of their own brand.

One of the best examples of personal branding is Oprah.  Like her or not, when you hear the name Oprah, many pictures come to your mind, creating an image of who and what she is all about. You tell me one person who would not want to be associated with the Oprah brand. Why? Because it makes money, and brings awareness to serious issues.

Also notice that I only had to say Oprah’s first name and you knew who I was writing about. I wonder what others visualize about you when they hear your name within your business environment. In other words, how do they “see” your brand?

As young women climb the corporate ladder, the focus of success changes from performance to visibility and image. There is no definite time-frame for this shift as it depends on the individual, job, company and many other factors, but it eventually happens.

Planning early for this shift puts upcoming professional women way ahead of the game; helping taking them to the next level of reaching her success potential; enhancing her “brand” as she moves forward.

Most recently, we at CHUVA worked with Deborah Lyra, who holds the title as Top Model of The World 2010. As a 19 year old young woman, Deborah has already taken control of her career. Like most women in the pageant world, they use this platform for visibility and connections to move to the next level.

For Deborah, her exposure to the brand concept was new. Once gaining an understanding she was able to compartmentalize those elements that help create her brand.

Like many of our clients, it is important to learn how behaviors and values affect your communication with others. In addition, learning how to manage body language to convey your messages more clearly you enable you to create a self-brand, which ultimately affects your “branding efforts”.  In addition, knowing how to package yourself is critical in the personal branding process.

Branding is about learning to communicate who you are and what you know to others. It’s about awareness and knowing that you have equipped yourself with tools that help give you confidence.  And, it is confidence that translates into success…this is what branding is really all about!