CEimpact Podcast

Establishing Your Personal Brand (and why it is important you have one!)

October 11, 2023 • CEimpact

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In the competitive pharmacy world, defining and separating yourself in the profession are keys to success. Far too often we overlook the benefits that can come from establishing a personal brand in this profession - at first glance, it can be a daunting and unfamiliar task.

Join Jen Moulton, President of CEimpact, as she interviews Ashlee, VP of market strategy and the Founder and Executive Career Coach of RX Ashlee, about the process of defining oneself in their profession and how even the slightest changes in how we brand ourselves can have massive benefits on our careers. 

During this episode, the two discuss:
     - Ashlee's experience in personal branding & career coaching
     - The keys to establishing an effective personal brand
     - How these keys can translate into career advancement opportunities 

To access Ashlee's course through our Pharmacist by Design membership, click here. 

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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to this week's episode of Level Up, where we discuss the most current and relevant best practices, new technologies and staffing resources to truly level up your pharmacy career and your practice. And now get ready to level up. Well, hi, this is Jen Moulton and welcome to this week's Level Up. This week we have a little bit of a switch. We've turned the tables and I am going to be interviewing Ashley. So I know you're all used to hearing Ashley's voice and she just does such a fabulous job of interviewing people on this podcast, and I'm super excited to interview her today because she is actually doing this month's CE for Pharmacist by Design and Technician by Design. So we're super excited to talk about that and we're focused on personal brand. So welcome, ashley, thank you.

Speaker 2:

This is fun. So much less pressure to be on the other side.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I know and I'm realizing why I have you do it, because it's a lot of pressure to be the interviewer. It is, it's hard.

Speaker 2:

It's hard. I think it's definitely a skill set that takes practice, and it's tough, yeah. So I'm sorry, but here we are.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, it's sort of fun. But now I know why I'm not in the media. So this is not my skill set, but anyway it'll be fun because I know you and so there isn't a lot of pressure, so that's great.

Speaker 2:

No pressure.

Speaker 1:

So I want to start by asking you how you got interested in the topic of personal brand, like just personally and obviously professionally, but why is this a thing for you?

Speaker 2:

Good question. I think I mean a lot of people have this problem, have this answer of this wasn't really an intentional thing, Like I didn't intentionally go to pharmacy school to then go into marketing or helping people or pharmacists develop a personal brand. I mean, I had no idea what a personal brand was until like five, 10 years ago. My, what I think landed me here was just being frustrated that my family members and my closest friends and colleagues struggled landing the jobs that they deserved and I would see under qualified or people with just not the accolades or the experience or the background they would land the jobs or get promotions or advance in their careers, whatever that looks like. And you know my friends wouldn't or my like close, close colleagues wouldn't, and that really bothered me. So I started doing something. I just started researching and I started looking at. I started looking into LinkedIn, looking at Facebook groups, just talking to people, and over a six month period this is crazy, I don't even think I've ever told you this, jen, but over a six month period.

Speaker 2:

This was now in 2016, I reviewed like 5000 resumes over six months because I was posting on LinkedIn like, hey, I'm just going to review your resume for free, I have nothing to gain from it. Like I just didn't care. I was working, but it wasn't. I wasn't super passionate about the work I was doing, I wasn't super excited. So I was like, what can I do in my spare time before I had a kid, before I had kids to fill your bucket? Fill my bucket just to like give back and learn and help people.

Speaker 2:

And over that period I just realized there was a disconnect between what people were saying they were good at and saying what they did on a day to day basis, versus what they were writing in their resumes or CVs or cover letters or LinkedIn profiles, whatever branded document I was looking at. And so I started posting about it online and it's kind of one of those things that just built upon itself and I started charging. And then after six, eight months I realized like, oh my gosh, I'm putting a lot of time and energy into this.

Speaker 1:

And I also saw people like doing.

Speaker 2:

you know they would make the changes that I would suggest them to. I think they would get the thing that they wanted. They would get the promotion or they would get the job, and over a period of six 12 months, I started talking about it online and then I started charging like very minimally, like very, very low, low amount, and I don't know. It's just kind of built from there. I have since realized there's this thing, there's this topic called a personal brand or value proposition or building your niche in a marketplace, and there's tools and a skill set on how to stand out, and so I love that concept. That's what gets me really excited seeing people earn money that they deserve or seeing their business grow because they have a great product. But we just need to help growth, and I think part of that is just understanding the techniques on how to communicate the value that they bring whether it's a business or an individual to the marketplace.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, and you have a real gift for it, because it isn't easy. And I remember I hired you about a year ago and I remember some of that conversation, like I had seen you everywhere. So I was like, oh gosh, why is she applying for a job with us?

Speaker 1:

Like she's doing all these amazing things, but I remember you saying, like I wanna help you transition, like we as a company we have always developed all this really great content, like we are really good at content development, but saying what it is and like putting it out into the world is really hard.

Speaker 1:

It's definitely a skill set, that, of course most pharmacists don't have necessarily that creative or marketing brain. So there's that. But I remember you saying I'm gonna help you develop your personal brand and I am a little bit more of a private person, like I'm on social media, but mostly to observe. You know I'm not like super, I'm a lurker and I'm not in a creepy way by any means, but I just am not like, I don't love to put myself out there and I don't want it to be about me.

Speaker 1:

I guess that's the biggest thing is I don't want it to be about me and I remember you saying it isn't about you, you're just the vehicle for what you have to offer the world, and that was really impactful, the way that you kind of switched that thought in my head that it's not about me, I'm not making it about me, I'm really just like being the vehicle for that information to be out there, and that's really helped me. I mean, I think, like you know, in developing Jen's Desk, like that's another, if anybody gets that email, if you don't get it, it's sort of fun. We do it every Saturday and that you know I didn't want my name on it, I didn't want it to be about me. And you're like, nope, just trust me, trust me. And everybody I see and talk to is like I love that email because you're always just talking about something different.

Speaker 1:

You know it's a little bit of personal, but it's also like what's happening in the world. Just a couple of paragraphs, but it's not, you know, it's more about them and it's just like helping people realize you know what their place is in. You know what's happening in the media. So, anyway, I just remember that and that was really impactful for me. So I so appreciate you developing this course on it, because I think it will help people to really switch the way that they think about having a personal brand, yeah, and you're totally right.

Speaker 2:

When it feels icky and weird and awkward and uncomfortable to talk about yourself and I kind of want to flip the switch and or flip the script and say exactly what you said when you can get past that stage of it's actually not about you. It's the problem that you solve for someone else and having someone turn to you for advice or to look at you for the go-to person. That's what a personal brand is. It's not necessarily like here's my kids and here's how amazing I am and look at my perfect life, and I mean that's like a. That's what a lot of the misconception is, I think because of social media and because of some would say like the influential marketplace. But I think you can be influential and have a personal brand and it feel very aligned and it could be anything you want it to be. It's just really about what you outwardly present to your audience.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So what advice do you have for somebody who wants to focus on developing a personal brand.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a great question. It's a loaded question, I think that's what I mean. We created a one hour CE for Pharmacist by Design, but it could really be a lifelong experience. I mean it could really be a life or a weekend long workshop on just how, the how to the where, what tools do I need, where do I get started. But I think what it takes is a moment of reflection. The first thing is first is a moment of reflection.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And thinking about what type of legacy do you want to leave behind, or thinking about what is most important to you in your career, or and or what is most important to you in your life. I think those are really three questions. That sounds simple but sometimes are very tricky to answer, and I think that is where majority of people just skip over and they just say to themselves, like I just want to get a job, I just want to get a promotion, or I just want to grow my business, or I just want the next thing. But unfortunately, just wanting something isn't the same as actually focusing on your strengths and making those strengths align with the value that you propose, the value that you bring to the marketplace.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, reflection is hard.

Speaker 2:

I mean, it's super hard.

Speaker 1:

It's hard and sometimes you don't want the answers that you give yourself. So it's hard, I agree with you, it's hard to really like take that quiet time and really reflect, because I think, well, it's just hard to do and our lives are so busy and so so often we're just like what's the next thing? There's so much noise that it does to quiet your mind and really reflect on it as hard, but it's also like the answers that you get might take a little bit of work then after that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so maybe that's why we don't want to do it Totally. I think also along those along that same message is sometimes the answers that you have aren't what you want or what you thought that you wanted, and so that's very uncomfortable for people. You know, when you go to pharmacy school, you might be at a certain phase of your life where that's what you'd want then, but then 10, 15, 20 years later, or I mean five years later, it doesn't matter what stage that might shift, and it's not because you don't want to be a pharmacist or you don't want to work in patient care. That's not it. It is just your goals and your life have shifted depending upon the season you're in, and so I think it's first and foremost reflecting on what's most important to you right now. That's where you can get started, yeah, yeah, and what you need to do, what's the next right step? The next step is then okay, here's what I want right now. Then what do I need to do to get there?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, one thing I remember when I first started this business, this small business, somebody said what's your elevator pitch? And I remember thinking, ooh, like you know, oh, that should be easy. And then I wrote it down. I'm like that's not quite it and you know, it took me a little bit to like get that. But I think that's one of the things when I was, when I because I took your course and it's so good for anybody if you're interested in this. You took my course, I did, I did.

Speaker 2:

I know that Well.

Speaker 1:

of course I take all the courses that we do.

Speaker 2:

Oh, you took the personal branding course, I just took the personal. Yeah, okay, good Okay, good Okay.

Speaker 1:

But one of the things that you talk about that really hit me was a personal elevator pitch, because I have that. You know, I have that for our business. So when people say, what do you do, you know I can roll that off, you know it's a sentence, but developing a personal elevator pitch, I think, is. So I was like, oh, I don't really know that. I have that Like what am I about and why do I do what I do? And I think that is like that's like the first step to reflecting and figuring out you know, why are you in this? Why are you?

Speaker 1:

doing what you do Like. What is your personal elevator pitch?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and majority of people thank you. A majority of people skim over that. They just don't spend time thinking about this, and so it gets very muddy when their time is up to talk about themselves, and it's uncomfortable because we don't practice it. It's uncomfortable because no one teaches us the roadmap, and I think that's where the rubber meets the road. I think the people who sit and reflect and think about what it is they want, they are more likely to be able to communicate and articulate exactly what it is that they're trying to do, rather than someone.

Speaker 2:

I gave an example in the course about this guy who was very qualified going into an interview and he just winged it. He didn't really have his elevator pitch practice or worked on and he missed out on the opportunity because it wasn't that he wasn't qualified. It was that the words that he was choosing to use weren't words that were strong enough to make him sound like a qualified candidate, and that's what kept me up at night almost 10 years ago now. That really drove me nuts, because then I'm seeing people in the marketplace who are under qualified doing the things that I wanted or my friends wanted to do. So that's where this all came from.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because they were more intentional. Not because they were not qualified, but because they were more intentional. Or yeah, exactly, they just know how to say the words, and so that drove me nuts, yeah yeah, and that's one of the other things I loved about it is, I think so often we think about things like this, like putting together your personal brand or reflecting, and we think, oh, I don't have time for that.

Speaker 2:

Exactly.

Speaker 1:

You know a full day to really sit down and journal and do all the things. But it's so important and it doesn't take that long for one thing. But it's so important because what you get out of it is so worth the time that you invest on the front side. And you give a few of those examples in the course where you read through it and you're just like heartbroken for these people that didn't get the promotion or didn't get the job or didn't get tenure or whatever the examples are. And it could have been a really simple fix because they did all the right things. They just weren't portraying it either in their resume or CB or in the interview or even just in their everyday, like developing personal relationships in the workplace.

Speaker 1:

And you just give some really good examples like that that I thought were really helpful. They're just little tweaks. We're all doing our best, but if you just do those few little tweaks, they can make a huge difference.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and unfortunately in today's marketplace it's competitive. I mean everyone, so many people I talk to have board certifications, or they have advanced training, or they have three residencies now, or there's fellowships everywhere, or they've been doing pharmacy for 10 years and they have so much experience and I think it's like you mentioned, like these small little tweaks here, that will really change the way that people perceive your value.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's so good, it's really good. So what advice do you have to somebody, for someone besides the reflection piece? But what would be the most important thing that you would say to somebody who, like, if this is resonating for someone who's listening, what's the first step?

Speaker 2:

I think, good question.

Speaker 2:

I mean identifying what it is that you want I think is important, and I think a lot of people say they want a new job or they want to make more money, or they want a new opportunity, they want to practice in a different setting. But that's not, that's kind of like the byproduct of a personal brand. What I would say is what exactly it is that you're good at, and then how do you spend that to make money? I mean to, like, make an impact, make money, make an impact, whatever it is that you're trying to do, grow your business or grow yourself. I think you have to think deep as to what people have said to you in your past, like, hey, you're really good at this, and then use that to propel your value and differentiate or moving forward. I think a lot of people get stuck with that and a lot of people stop because they get stuck on that question. But that's where you have to dig deeper and spend more time investing in that process. I think that's the first thing that I would say.

Speaker 1:

Maybe the second thing that you could do, yeah, it's almost like we all needed this as we were graduating from pharmacy school. Like establishing that and just putting together a process where maybe you even think about it every year, like maybe it's in January or when you renew your license in July. Give yourself some time to reflect on what it is that you do and where you wanna be, like what's your why?

Speaker 1:

So, and start with the outcome in mind. We always say that, like if you don't know where you're going, you're gonna end up there Exactly.

Speaker 2:

no, that's totally right. I mean, that's 100%.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So you have to be intentional and you also have to know. I think it also gives you the power to, as opportunities come along, then it's easier to make those decisions about whether to take them or not. Or I mean, you're always gonna be faced with choices and if you know where you're going, those shouldn't even be hard deliberations. Then that's just easy to say oh yes, this is in the right direction, this is not in the right direction.

Speaker 1:

So I just think it gives you like investing that upfront time gives you so much peace along the journey. So it's kind of like working out, like it might feel hard at the time, but then you're gonna feel stronger, you're gonna be healthier, you're all the things, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So it's just another muscle, I totally agree and it's also learning as you go making mistakes but then not making the same mistake again to help elevate the end goal. I think, and building your confidence that you're either on the right path or you're not on the right path, I think is really important to be aware of.

Speaker 1:

And what I love about this course is that we also did it for technicians, because I think technicians they're finding their place in our profession and it is such an important place.

Speaker 1:

I mean we could not do without them, and it's taken so long to elevate their role, which has been frustrating to watch, but I'm happy that it's finally here. They're giving immunizations, they're giving community health workers, they're doing all the things, and so I think this is a really important course, for technicians as well, to really what do you want out of this profession? Because it is your profession, it's not just a job, it is a career. And what is your personal brand? What is it that you love about working in the pharmacy and how do you wanna expand on that? Because we need technicians to step up and take on even more roles, so I think this helps them to do that.

Speaker 1:

Right, I totally agree with you that we did it for technicians too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and Nicole, our technician guru, has given the cases on the examples on our course, so she's a perfect fit for that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So one of the other things that you talk about is common mistakes that people make. Can you give us like maybe just one of those? I can't remember how many you list, but there were a few and it's like I've made that mistake. So what's an example of maybe a common mistake that people make in trying to establish their brand? Yeah, I think it out into the world.

Speaker 2:

I think I mean the number one mistake I think I see people doing, and I've even gotten caught up in, is worrying about social media and who is following you and what people say about you online or offline or in person, or other people's opinions about your personal brand, because the reality is is everyone's always gonna have an opinion about you. So I think what I've seen happen over the years is experts. They come to me and they're like hey, let's market myself as this person, and then we start doing that. But then people start saying things to them like hey, saw your newsletter, jen, you had a typo. And then you're like, oh, my God, stop.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that never happens.

Speaker 2:

Stop the newsletter, it's terrible. Or you post something and someone said, even if it's a perfect post, and someone says, like I don't like the concept of that CE that you guys created, and then you get uncomfortable. So I think what's important about establishing a brand and establishing what the area of expertise that you wanna be known as is that kind of building this filter, this bubble around yourself of hey, first and foremost, I'm gonna do the best I can. Number two people are always gonna have opinions, and if there weren't opinions, then I would not be creating a ripple effect or I would not be creating some type of influence.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And number three is yeah, and number three is stop worrying of trying to get everyone on board, because that's just impossible. You're not gonna please everyone, not everyone's gonna believe in you, not everyone's gonna turn to you. There's gonna be critics out there. And so I think surrounding yourself with like-minded people, getting feedback from people that you trust, surrounding yourself with people who have that like-minded spirit, is critical when you are trying to create something that you're really proud of. And I think that's the biggest mistakes I see. Unfortunately and I'm not, I'm guilty of it too I'm hard on myself. I have high expectations of myself. So when critics come in, or when that imposterous feeling comes in which is crazy, because I don't I know I don't have imposter syndrome, but it still pops up every once in a while. It's human. So I think it's normal to feel those feelings, but you just got to. You just got to like keep your head down and just keep going. Yeah, that's the biggest mistakes I've seen?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure. And that is super hard for us, I think, in our profession, because a lot of us are perfectionists and we, you know, we want to show the best of ourselves and sometimes, when people don't agree, you know, it does kind of like you know it, it hits you and you think, oh, maybe I shouldn't put anything out, and that is. I think that was the hardest thing for me. You know, when you first started saying like let's do this newsletter, the you know, let's, let's put some information out on LinkedIn, it's like, oh, I don't want people to be critical of it. So I think we can all all learn from that too. We all have something to give to the world and, you know we, if we were all the same and thought the same, this world would be terribly boring. So, you know, I think we need to be really careful about what we criticize in other people as well.

Speaker 1:

Like, you may not like their brand, but you don't need to say it, you don't need to you know, you don't need to comment on it, you just you know either follow them or you don't but I think that's really important that we have to feel confident with our brand and what other people think doesn't really matter. You know, other people's opinion is just other people's opinion, and the way that it lands on us is really the most important part of that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I think keeping the eye on the lens and the focus on the, the impact that you want to make and the problem that you solve and that you feel, really said fast and confident in that you, you can do that is important.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely Well, ashley, this was fun I actually didn't mind it. I know when you were like oh, I don't know if we want to turn these tables, but I think that you should start hosting Jen.

Speaker 2:

I think you just nominated yourself.

Speaker 1:

You're pretty darn good.

Speaker 1:

I'm not sure it's in my personal brand, but that's not really on my bucket list, but it was really fun and I would just say, too, like, if you are interested in learning more. I do say that, obviously, I'm very biased, because it's a course that we're putting out, but it's really good. I learned a lot and I work with Ashley every single day and I still learn some things. So I think, if it's if you definitely want to have a personal brand or you want to just learn a little bit more about it, maybe you want to dip your toe in the water and take some baby steps I think it's a really good course. So we'll put the link in our show notes.

Speaker 1:

There's also a worksheet that's included that sort of guides you through that reflection. So if that is sometimes hard for you, it's we just kind of take you through it step by step. So it's not a hard process and it's really impactful, even if you decide not to be on social media with your personal brand. Just even giving yourself a little bit more clarity in terms of why you do what you do I think is really important. So, thank you, thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Speaker 2:

It was a pleasure, my pleasure, yeah, super fun, I love it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so check that out and thank you for joining us this week. Hopefully we helped you to level up yourself this week not just your practice and your career, but yourself. Hi, jen, here I'd like to personally invite you to become a pharmacist by design. Being a pharmacist by design means you're striving to be the best version of yourself, not just as a professional, but as an individual dedicated to improving patient care outcomes. You can learn more about pharmacists by design at cempackcom, and when you use the code level up, you'll get 10% off, an already great rate for all the education you want. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week as we help you level up your pharmacy practice.