Isaac Mashman's case that everyone has a personal brand from birth, and that the work is to direct it consciously: his strongest explanation, the interviews where he makes it, and where to start.
In Isaac Mashman's work, personal branding is not a social media tactic. It is the whole of a person: who they are, what they are known for, and what they choose to do with it. This guide gathers where he explains that best, from the opening of the Manifesto to the conversations where he defends it.
If you asked me to summarize the concept of personal branding in one word, I would simply reply with “You.” In its truest, most holistic form it is you. Who you are, what people know you for, and the distinctive combination of characteristics and personality traits that only you possess. The totality of your life experiences, your hobbies, your interests, your passions, and even your fears. All of your successes and all of your failures. Your lessons and your shortcomings. All of it is compiled under your personal brand.
The subchapter goes on to separate a personal brand from a company brand, and to argue that the thing is far older than its name. It opens Chapter 1, Education, which can be read in full, free, on this site. Read 1.1 in the free Chapter 1 reader. The quote on its own page.
Each conversation opens at the moment the passage begins, in the full transcript of Isaac’s words.
“The largest selling point and competitive advantage made available is YOU.”
“A personal brand is the unique fingerprint of every human who has ever lived.”
“Personal branding, by my estimation, is the world's oldest form of branding.”
As told in the Manifesto, his essays, and on this site.
The term is recent: Tom Peters coined it in his 1997 Fast Company article, The Brand Called You. The practice is not. The Manifesto points to Napoleon Hill's advice, in Think and Grow Rich, to keep a portfolio of achievements, successes, and testimonials.
Read 1.1, What Is Personal Branding?The Manifesto asks the reader to imagine a personal promoter tagging along around the clock, sharing accomplishments and opening doors. That promoter, it says, is the personal brand: people make contact because of who a person is, even while that person sleeps.
Lines from Chapter 1, EducationIn 2020 Isaac left music management and found the skill his friends kept asking him for: personal branding. He tells the story in an essay on why he pivoted.
Why I Pivoted from the Music IndustryThe Opening Words and all eight subchapters of Chapter 1, Education, with the prompt that closes each one.
Read Chapter 1 FreeThe free Identity Positioning™ Brand Audit scores a personal brand across The Five Personal Brand Pillars.
Take the Brand Audit (opens in a new tab)The firm's guide to the discipline, on the Mashman Consulting Group site.
What Is Personal Branding? (opens in a new tab)
