by Brunda | Dec 23, 2022 | Personal Brand Example, Personal Branding
Niti Nadarajah is a phenomenal personality who truly believes in creating an impact in women’s lives through her coaching and her way of living. She has been a multi-talented person deeply committed to her work as a lawyer until she felt STUCK in the process and led herself to clarity by finding her purpose and inclination towards women empowerment. There-after she has been an active founder and a revolutionary in helping women get UNSTUCK and finding their inner compass. Her achievements are listed as she has truly become magnetic when work fuses with passion.
Founder and Coach at Coaching by Niti
🔥 Freelance General Counsel at Legal by Niti
🔥 DEI consultant and advocate
🔥 The Pink Elephants Support Network Peer Support Companion
🔥 Adviser to The Creative Co-Operative
🔥 Angel Investor & Nobody at Nobody Studios
🔥 Founding Member at Human Leaders
🔥 LinkedIn Top Voice 2022 (Gender Equity)
🔥 Speaker and podcast guest
🔥 Writer for various publications
🔥 Mentor, including through Future Women
Let us read more about her while she is been a strong personal brand for women to look upto.
According to you what are the essential qualities that women should possess to excel in their career?
I think the essential qualities that anyone should possess to excel in their career (whatever their gender) are empathy, active listening skills, grit and resilience, curiosity, kindness, vulnerability, and confidence. We need to have more of a balance between what we typically refer to as masculine energy and feminine energy in the workforce as it has for all too long been weighted toward masculine energy.
What advice would you like to give to all aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Firstly, in order to tune into your internal compass and find out what you value and what your strengths, gifts, and passions are. The more you can tune in to who you are and what gives you energy, the easier it will be to anchor into your vision and purpose and make your dreams a reality. I would also encourage women who aspire to become entrepreneurs to build their personal brand by engaging on platforms like LinkedIn in an authentic and real way and to find a tribe of people who they can turn for support and guidance. And be prepared for a huge learning curve and challenging your own mindset and deeply held values on things like money, certainty, flexibility, and time.
We all encounter days where we lose hope and don’t feel ourselves. What keeps you going on such days?
You’re right, we do indeed all have these days. Sometimes, I need to lean into these feelings and just sit with them without trying to fight them. On other days, I find myself turning to rest and practices like yoga and meditation or journaling to try and bring myself out of the funk. The reality is that we don’t show up every day feeling amazing – the law of averages is far more important, and remember that that’s what matters. Giving ourselves some self-compassion.
What are the various obstacles that you faced while building your personal brand when you started your journey?
I didn’t intentionally set out to build a personal brand. Instead, writing on LinkedIn was a way for me to form connections with other people at a time when the world felt so disconnected (when Covid started). As I leaned into the platform more and more and started to have meaningful conversations with people on the issues I care deeply about, I found that I had started to build a personal brand.
Not everyone understood what I was doing though and there were murmurings about why I was spending so much time on the platform and whether this was detracting from my day-to-day job. What those people did not understand was that these conversations were a huge source of my energy at the time and what kept me going. By the stage, these murmurings started to show up though, I had enough conviction and confidence in what I was doing and why I was doing it to not let those voices impact my personal branding efforts.
At times, I also felt imposter syndrome creep in and wondered whether my thoughts really mattered. I started to doubt whether anyone wanted to listen to me speak about issues I cared about. Leaning into my “why” kept me going through these periods of self-doubt.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
For the first time in my life, I’m not planning the future but let it unfold. I feel driven by a deep sense of purpose and mission and am letting the universe guide me to different opportunities and paths. At a broad level though, I see myself operating quite deeply in the coaching and female empowerment and gender equity space, but with an intersectional lens. These conversations give me a deep sense of fulfillment.
Why have you also opted for legal freelancing?
One of the issues that I was grappling with when deciding whether to leave my job and pursue my purpose and passions was financial security. Having a steady flow of income and being able to pay my mortgage and look after my kids have always been important to me and I didn’t want to jump into something completely new without a buffer. Legal freelancing fits that need perfectly. I have always enjoyed the strategic problem-solving that comes with being an in-house lawyer and can continue to do that, whilst also having a steady foundational income and the space to experiment and pivot in my passion space.
What did you discover about yourself in the whole process while you were working as a lawyer?
There are many things I love about being a lawyer, including strategic problem-solving and analytical thinking. Many of the skills required of a lawyer are innate to the way I operate in the world on a daily basis. What I had however lost sight of was why I enjoyed law at university, i.e. the social justice and human rights aspects of law and regulation. The last few years have allowed me to dig into that underlying core desire to help make the world a better, more equitable place.
Your step of leaving a full-time career and taking a break in between was a bold one. How did you get the courage for making this transition?
Firstly, by getting to know me from the inside out and trusting that this was what I truly wanted to, and needed to, do.
Secondly, by recognizing that I would never lose my past professional experiences and that I would never know what entrepreneurship is like unless I gave it a go and that I would always regret it if I didn’t.
And thirdly, by embarking on a portfolio career and going slowly rather than putting all my eggs into one basket.
You have always been vocal about issues like mental health, gender equality, and vulnerability.Do you think that the legal industry still has a long way to go when it comes to these areas?
Absolutely! When I started law school, we had an equal number of female students and male students for the first time in the school’s long history. That translated into more female graduates in my articled clerkship intake than male graduates. And yet, we still don’t see those numbers translating at the partnership level. There are systemic and structural issues that relate to the very foundations on which law firms are built that prevent real change at the gender equity level, and even more so when you then take an intersectional lens to the industry. Law firms (in particular) need to go beyond the rhetoric on their D&I website pages and brochures to really examine their underlying structures.
Similarly, mental health and vulnerability have not been topics that have been commonly discussed in the profession until more recently. I hope that Covid has changed things on this front, but we do need to again examine some of the more structural issues that prevent real change. The focus on billable hours and resulting presenteeism and burnout culture, hierarchy, and the focus on getting things perfect… There are so many issues that we need to examine at a closer level and it will take time and conscious effort to shift these things in a meaningful way.
What is that one quality of yours that differentiates you from other coaches?
I believe my experience as a lawyer and the deep analytical and critical thinking skills that go along with being in that profession differentiate me as a coach, alongside my NLP skills. I bring a wide range of perspectives with me into everything I do.
Being both a parent and a working mother, how do you maintain a work-life balance?
I prefer to call it work-life integration versus balance as I’m not sure balance exists in this space. It’s not always possible and there are definitely times I struggle with this, but what I like to try and do as much as possible is set my own boundaries. I tend, for example, to not work between the hours of 5 and 8pm as that is my family time. After 8pm, I try and spend some time tending to me or being with my husband. And Friday nights are sacred for me. The more boundaries I have and maintain effectively, the easier I find it is to integrate work and life in a way that works for me.
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You can get to know more about Niti Nadarajah through her Linkedin Profile.
by Brunda | Nov 20, 2022 | Personal Brand Example, personal brand interview, Personal Branding
The epitome of energy, ideas, an inspiring journey, and a woman who is crystal clear about her vision and mission. Some women have an aura to them, some strange energy that can attract you with just one talk. This interview with Cherilynn has exactly been the same. She is a classic example of when a woman decides to grow, she takes women around her to the path to success. This amazing Executive coach has been on the journey of placing women in the C-suite and helping them live their dream life.
She is a Keynote speaker, author, Executive Coach, Sales Coach, SalesForce Influencer 2022, LinkedIn Sales [In]sider 2022and a Powerful Brand Herself.
Let’s read about her incredible journey with the Power Brand Cherilynn Castleman.
- Please give us a sneak peek into your business and how it all started.
I’ve been in sales for a long time since before girl scout cookies for 50 cents a box and have an experience over 30 years as a fortune 500 global sales executive. I know what it like feels like to be the only one in the room and am aware of the challenges faced by black and brown women to sit at the table of their dreams. I started coaching and training women in order to see a million of women of color by 2030, to be at the C-suite top of the leader board or build their own entrepreneurial table. Majority of the women today lack access and financial fluency to get there. That is why I coach and train black and brown women to be too good to be ignored.
- What inspired you to impact women of color every single day in your line of work?
What inspired me for the transition was the fact that we have only one black woman in 65 years to work as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She was none other than Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox. When Ursula was once asked about the reason behind not many women of color in the C-suite, she went on to say marketing and arts won’t help you get there. Women have to learn to be close to money and product which is nothing but sales. We have to learn how to sell. If you’re building a practice or building your own business, you have to learn how to sell. You have to learn how to deliver value. So I started coaching and training women on the nuance of financial fluency and the art of selling into the C-suite and help women understand how an executive mindset works and decide whether they want to be in that C-suite or want to sell into the C-suite.
- What do your coaching programs exactly have to offer other than products and sales?
I offer three things through my coaching programs:
a) I coach black and brown women to become sales entrepreneurs and offer them one-on-one coaching practice. I spend about a third of my time helping large companies recruit, retain, and elevate black and brown women. I talk with their leadership team and, and share ideas on how to see these women, basically helping them with research and studies. And I can send any of these women to you.
b) I then provide coaching and training to these women. I have a cohort where companies will give me anywhere from six to twenty women that I train for three to six months. During this duration, they learn everything from financial fluency, selling into C-suite, empathetic listening, and value-based selling. They also do group coaching so that they can learn how to deal with microaggressions, bullying, and prejudice and also build their hard skills, social selling, pandemic sales strategies, and building high-performance team
c) Finally, the third thing I offer them through my coaching is keynote speaking which I usually do at conferences
- What demographic are you targeting/ What is your target audience?
The majority of my target audience is women between the age of 25 and 45. But I talk to anybody who wants and will help me accomplish my mission to hit a million women by 2030. I have had college kids contact me in the past and I’ve done interviews and events for college students, organizations, and women in sales in college, I have also coached women who are late in their careers and are moving to become chief revenue officers, and are in their fifties or sixties. When you are the only one in the room, it doesn’t matter how old you are.
- How did it all start in the beginning of your coaching career when you were nowhere?
Although I’d been coaching for years, I really didn’t have a framework for it. I didn’t know if I was any good. So, I went back to school and took up an ICF-certified training program. When I came out of that program, I could coach anybody who would listen to me. Post that I started doing what I call an energy exchange. Whenever anything that somebody had, I would do an energy exchange. If they didn’t have an energy exchange, I would ask them to write, follow me on LinkedIn and support me on LinkedIn.
I coached my yoga instructor and she did yoga videos for me. I coached a web person and they designed some web pages for me.
I coached a writer and they helped edit my blogs.
I just coached people and asked them if they would do a testimonial for me. When people would end that, then they would want to start paying.
And I was constantly asking people what worked and what didn’t go well. I was committed to getting better. And my clients started having successes and pushed me to start posting on LinkedIn. I always ask my clients two things when I’m coaching. First, what was the most helpful thing they found from start to end, and second if they would like me to do something different in coaching.
I then learned how to do a conversion coaching session. I mastered my conversion story. Now when I do a conversion story, I know that I’m converting probably 90% of the people I talk to as clients.
I started my prices so low that nobody could deny them. And then once you start, you start raising your prices until you get a no.
- What strategy do you think one should follow for posting content on social media?
Initially, I used to write blog posts and how-to guides but the engagement factor was low then. And then one day somebody suggested me to just write from my heart. So, following that advice I wrote a post from my heart. I was very nervous. I was very afraid and it got over 20,000 views and clicks and engagement that I could not believe. So now every Tuesday I write a post from my heart.
And so now every Tuesday I share a story, and it increases my followers. It makes people connect with me. I write about my granddaughter. I write about being a single mom and much more fun content to which people can relate.
I also do a LinkedIn live or a free webinar every other week. I have always believed in sharing my knowledge as much as I can. The more you share your knowledge, the more you create value. So just coach and consult and just give it away until you’ve mastered it and perfected it and then start charging and keep raising your prices until you get recommendations. But what matters in the whole process is that you stay true to yourself, have a mission, have a vision, and have a value story.
- How can people find you or search for you?
You may go to LinkedIn and look for a sales coach, a saleswoman, or a sales coach for women and you might find me there.
You can also reach out to me through my website: cherilynncastleman.com
LinkedIn:
by Brunda | Jun 2, 2022 | Personal Brand Example, personal brand interview
No matter who you are, which phase of life you are in, or which niche you choose, there is always something that determines your success. That would be how productive you can be with your time. Twenty-four hours is a lot of time, my friend. But not all of us have the luxury to spend it the way we want. And if we want to master time, then self-discipline is the secret we all know of. But it isn’t easy, we have to create systems around it, set the right trigger system which will prepare us for success.
This is exactly what productivity coach Lynn Bojor does. She is helping business owners with managing their time and being more productive to scale their business. Read on to know her brand story.
She is nineteen, a student, and has figured out how to live life. This can be seen with her being an author, a coach, and managing her blog on her own. She has figured out the best ways to stay productive and has now is determined to solve a million problems by hacking your daily routines and bringing out the best ways to stay productive and live your goals.
Because you do not want to keep chasing your dreams. You gotta live them!
Let’s read on how she has come until now through this interview. Know her better while she is growing into a strong personal brand. Also she started out when the pandemic hit, so stay tuned.
Why did you choose lifestyle productivity as your niche?
Before I had things figured out up to this time, I’ve just always loved making things easier for business owners in any way I can.
I had a substack blog where my aim was to provide clarity for entrepreneurs then I moved to host my own blog: The Entrepreneur’s Clarity Compass (TECC)
After gaining a little bit more clarity,
I figured that balancing work and personal life as an entrepreneur is one common issue and I had an interest in finding answers to these — That’s why I picked the productivity niche.
Later on, I discovered that productivity is a chain. To remain productive at work; there are other parts of your life that you need to take care of as well:
Your habits towards food, social media, sleep, and work ethics — This is why I niched down to lifestyle productivity.
What is the common pain point you see in your target audience?
I’d say not being able to eat the cake and have it.
I mean; not being able to do well at work and still have extra time to chase other things that matter like good relationships with friends and families, hobbies, side hustles, school/a job, and most importantly their health.
What can you promise the creators and business owners who are your target audience with your coaching?
After a 1 month’s session with me, you’ll understand yourself and your productivity patterns better.
A lot of my clients have reported having understood the concept of self-awareness better after roughly two weeks after our sessions.
They’ve also understood why things work the way they do and how to synchronize with your productivity patterns instead of trying to force things.
What are the different kinds of coaching programs you offer?
For now, I only offer one-on-one coaching programs and group accountability sessions because it helps me understand my clients better and build a solid foundation for my coaching business.
Why is productivity so important to our lives?
Well, putting in an effort to understand productivity can be of benefit to one in many ways but excessively focusing on or becoming obsessed with building productivity systems is a distraction in itself.
I also show my clients the few disadvantages of productivity and how to properly manage these.
How did being more productive benefit you?
Understanding and experimenting with various aspects of lifestyle productivity has impacted me in so many ways that I have become emotionally attached to my work (which has its advantages and disadvantages)
Since I understood productivity, I’ve been able to sleep better, lose some excess fat, get rid of bad habits and build good ones, and I’ve learned how to be consistent with tasks that require regular attention.
It’s also helped me with managing my time.
As a student building a brand, I could attend classes, exercise regularly, have time for my business, and still have extra time to learn how to play the guitar which I love so much.
Being able to control my daily activities and constantly crush my goals has also made me more confident in myself and my work processes and not to mention that I’ve met many amazing people like you Bru, during this time.
Can you share one incident from your childhood that helped you choose your niche and sculpt your career?
It’s nothing special but growing up, our parents were always so busy and came back tired from their 9–5 jobs and never really had enough time for their children or anything else.
Now, things have become so much easier since people can work from home and have enough time on their hands to pursue other things that matter.
Now, the issue some people may run into could be how to prioritize and manage all these things that seek attention for your time.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
In the next 5 years, I must have become an even better version of who I am right now.
My coaching business would have helped at least 5,000 people understand their productivity patterns and live healthy and fulfilling life.
I also see myself visiting other parts of the world as it is a dream of mine to have or accept public speaking engagements to teach other people the things I am knowledgeable about.
What is one piece of advice you give to your peers while building a personal brand?
While setting up systems and structures for yourself and your business, don’t try to reinvent the wheel — follow others who have expertise in those areas.
While doing this, don’t do it mindlessly. Question everything and find what works for you.
It will boost your confidence in yourself and in your work process. You will get better results as well.
How can one reach out to you and benefit from your services?
I am on Twitter as Lynn Bojor. I simplify productivity for creators and business owners on there.
You can also check out my blog where I have created content that you might find helpful if you’re a student, creator or business owner.
If you need to work with me or to book a coaching session you can DM me on Twitter or use my linktree which has other ways of reaching me embedded in it.
That was Lynn Bojor who shared some amazing tips on productivity and her journey. I would love to see more of her work and serve more clients and change lives.
If you are looking to get inspiration to build your own brand and become a coach, head over to the blog section, we have inspiring stories that can help you. Also if you are looking to build your own personal brand and need help, this article on How to build a personal brand might help you.
Stay tuned.
by Brunda | Nov 17, 2021 | Personal Brand Example, personal brand interview, Personal Branding
Meet Ms. Tushna Pandey who is a Professional Personal Development Coach and speaker. She is a trainer by passion and an Entrepreneur by profession, holding a Master’s degree from London. She has worn many hats until now right from being a trainer, consultant, model, founder, and more. Currently, she is the Founder of Sprouts Career Bridge. She aims at providing quality training and designs her training accordingly. She is one of the best personal brand examples in India
The first time I spoke with Tushnaa, there was a fiery vibe in her communication, it was like she could inspire a million hearts and influence them to take actions driving to their goals. Her passion was evident in every word she spoke. She has positioned herself as a strong personal brand with her own website Tushnaa
The most influential words were
“I don’t subscribe to any particular method as a coach. It’s my holistic approach that makes me anti to the idea of restricting myself to one pattern. It draws upon all the past experiences and skills as a consultant, trainer, model, certified coach, and entrepreneur. My goal is to support each individual individually, understanding their strength, weaknesses and goals and plan the next steps accordingly. I believe coaching as a partnership built upon trust. Deep inside if you feel and know you’re capable than what’s you’re doing if so, then you’re in the right place. It all starts with an assessment session. Trust me, if you are willing to do it you will. Period.”
This touched us deeply. In an era of strategies and too much information, her holistic approach was the route to impacting lives.
Read the interview with her and do check out her website to level up your career.
1. What is your business all about and how it impacts your audience?
It’s all about coaching people to help them reach their goals while they also unleash the real them. It helps them to enhance their skills while they also get to know themselves better, change their daily routine, and drive better towards their goals.
2. Where do you find inspiration to impact people every single day in your line of work?
The more people I meet and know, the more problems I see around me. I feel I need to bring more solutions and help more people to grow.
3. Why are soft skills so important in this digital era?
Because that’s barely taught to us and we don’t know its value. Companies hire people who are good at their soft skills. Soft skills requirements are 70%-80% while hard skills are the rest of the percentage requirements. It’s also not only about speaking, it’s more than that. How do you think hard skills will help with teamwork, time management, communications, problem-solving and others. These are more important than just being good at hard skills.
4. If there is one thing you could change about your industry, what would it be?
The quality is given to the people. I mean yes we all are here to make money but when money becomes your priority over people you don’t see the quality being delivered. While the goals of the individuals are also overlooked and the same copy-paste program is carried out throughout.
5. How are you helping the young generation who are stuck at home during pandemics and are graduating without having to attend real classes?
By providing online sessions and helping them with the resources to their doorstep if needed like books, printouts etc.
6. What is the biggest myth about public speaking and how do you break it for our readers?
Public speaking doesn’t only mean standing on a podium and addressing a throng of crowd. If you’re in a meeting room of 5 people and you’ll have to speak in front of them, that is also public speaking.
7. If someone aims to be a public speaker, what is the suggested career path?
As mentioned, public speaking is not only about addressing a big crowd. But if that’s what you aim to do then the following career path could justify:
- Politician
- Motivational Speaker
- News anchor
- Spokesperson
- Trainer
8. Who is your inspiration in choosing a career as a communication coach?
I would say I see some motivational speakers, keynote speakers, business tycoons like Jay Shetty, Sir Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki, and more. The way they speak, handle the crowd, handle the questions being asked, it just gives me goosebumps. And I used to think that if I could do any close justice to inspire people and change their lives then I guess that would be my biggest achievement. Also, I have always been fascinated to speak on a stage
9. How do you feel every time when you face an audience on stage?
Well, I am nervous just like every normal human being but in the end, I steal the show for sure.
10. What is one piece of advice you would give for the generation facing pandemics and are struggling with communications?
Don’t think of this time and situation as a situation where you can’t do anything, or your life is at a halt or any negative thoughts. Learn how to find the positives in every negative situation. That’s how you’ll be able to grow and succeed. So instead you must be thinking how can I use this time well while I stay at home. What are the skills I can learn before the market opens and before I start going to companies for interviews?, how can I get better opportunities, what else can I learn, and blah blah. No one can say that he knows it all and there’s nothing more to learn. There’s always room to learn, grow and get better.
Coaches are aware of how to ignite passion and motivate people. They have an energy that is contagious and knows exactly how to get their team excited. By Brian Cagneey
Do contact her on
LinkedIn- Tushnaa Pandey
Twitter profile- https://twitter.com/tushnaap
Personal Brand Website- TUSHNAA
To learn more about owning a personal brand website, read this article
Contact her through mail using tushnaaa@gmail.com
If you are not clear about building your brand, we are there to help you. This article on Brand Clarity is sure to help you get clarity to be listed as one of the strong personal brand examples.
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