SOUL TO SOLE BOOK LAUNCH

This past Wednesday I attended the launch of Timothy Maurice's latest offering, Soul to Sole. A book which he says he has written for thinkers who want to their souls and soles to move to the same beat. People who are looking to interrogate themselves. It was a well attended event at Hyde Parks Exclusive Books. Like many people I struggle with the concept of "personal branding". Personal branding suggests that success comes from self packaging. That one should take particular care and consideration on not just who they are (knowledge, personal philosophies and action) but how the other details of ones life adds up to communicate your brand. Your body, clothing, home, choice of friends and careers etc.

The idea of personal branding was first introduced in 1937 in the book by Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich. The book contains philosophies on personal achievement largely based on Hills observation of some of the wealthiest individuals living in his time. You would think that with nearly a century of the ideas existence that we would all have a uniform understanding of the concept of Personal Branding but we don't. Even as I try to explain to you what my understanding of that idea is I am not sure that my attempt will fully extrapolate the theory which is why I'd invite anybody interested in the idea of personal branding to read at least one of Timothy's books on the subject. He is author of 3 brand leadership books, a columnist and a contemporary brand stylist.

In the conventional understanding a brand is not only a "companys" image it includes the "customers" experience and the expectations the "company" sets. To humanise what I've just said personal branding is who you are, what people perceive you to be and what people have come to expect of you. It is the internal to outward expression of you. The experience of you. The promise of you.
Brands are uniquely distinguishable just like we are from each other but I think the one common trait with all brands is our shared need to have or be brands of value. Think using the powerful philosophy of personal branding for good because the irony about personal branding is that its not personal at all. What especially I liked in Timothy's introduction of the book was that personal branding didn't end with how you can get paid from personal branding rather how you could potentially contribute positively to your community.

The book is available at Exclusive Books.