3 Personal Brand Tips from Caribbean Brand Strategist Dr. Terri-Karelle Reid
Social media is the best place to build your personal brand and or new career. For Dr. Terri-Karelle Reid, a rising regional media professional, she has revealed that using this virtual tool has been beneficial to building her business network and brand.
In June, LinkedIn Local Caribbean host, Pauline Joseph linked up with Dr. Reid for a lively chat on failure, patriarchy, collaboration and brand building. Known in her community as ”Your Jamaican Girl”, the talented, trilingual veterinarian shared a few ”pearls of wisdom” about her current journey and gives new meaning to the term, ”change careers”.
Take Some Time To Build Your Personal Brand
For many people, more than half of them are unhappy in their current jobs. The reasons for this range from wanting more money to wanting more flexible hours. Jamaican brand strategist, Dr. Reid urged these unfulfilled employees to work on themselves and build their brand while doing their current jobs.
She also advised those who are interested in moving on or exploring other career options to keep constructing their CVs. She pointed out that if unhappy employees are not doing anything to build their brand, they have decided to stay in that space of discontent. For those who are seeking change, she reminded them to look at themselves more.
”Everybody is a brand. Before Justin Bieber (and) Beyoncé were the names they are now when you look back at where they started from they were nobodies...that is a lie. We are all brands. We are what we make ourselves, ” said Dr. Reid.
She emphasized the importance of not ”putting all of your eggs in one basket” or investing all of your time with one company or industry. Dr. Reid added people should go to interviews especially if they are not comfortable in their field and have no intention of staying in that sector.
Focus on Your Passions
Dr. Reid revealed that after her initial career path was blocked (veterinary practice), she spent some time at The Jamaican Gleaner. Although comfortable in her role as Brand Manager, she focused on building her personal and professional brand by promoting her passions.
”I was not only posting about The Gleaner, I was posting things I was passionate about...when I was ready to leave (The Gleaner) I had already cultivated a community and I had already started showing people my skills and I did it using social media, ” said Dr. Reid.
As a growing power house, Dr. Reid has 226,000 followers on Instagram, 37,000 on Twitter, 16,000 on Facebook and a growing audience on LinkedIn. She also has a personal website at https://terrikarelle.com/.
Become Independent Within Your Profession
It can be hard to position yourself in an industry that is not ideal for you and your talents. This is particularly true for women who face sexual harassment, discrimination and criticism while working in a mostly male dominated environment.
Dr Reid confessed that as a professional woman, she did not experience many incidences of misogynistic behavior in the office setting. But she reminded woman to be independent in their respective careers. A strong, articulate and confident woman, Dr. Reid believes that people must have faith in their principles and core characteristics and emphasized the message to her female counterparts.
”I tell all women I cross, I don’t care who you are working for, make sure that you also have a brand for yourself. If someone crosses you, disrespects you, offends you or insults you in a manner that you know cannot be repaired when you leave that job, you leave with a name of your own, ” said Dr. Reid.
Today, Dr. Reid who is a Universidad Central de Las Villas alumna is a professional speaker and television host for more than a decade.
Personal Branding Mistakes To Avoid
Dr. Reid is at the top of her class in her personal branding strategy but what about you?
Whether you are an artist or entrepreneur, an employee or the head of a multimillion-dollar company, LinkedIn Local Caribbean has found an online list of common personal branding mistakes:
Avoid Inconsistency - If you are on a number of social media platforms, your content, design and layout should be uniformed and focus on your interests, values and skills of your personal brand.
Posting Your ”Beefs” and Angry Comments Online-You would not go up to a complete stranger and shout profanities randomly at them in a public space and you should not do it on social media. It just screams lack of professionalism and poor judgement. Remember your reckless and insensitive social media posts can be copied and shared with the entire network including potential clients or employers.
Don’t Lie About Your Online Influence- Your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter may show a large fanbase or group of followers but how many are truly engaged in your social media content? People care about brands that reflect their core values and show their authentic self not only numbers.
Posting Too Little Content -It is true there are some people who post too often. But nothing is worse than not posting at all or too infrequently. Create a social media calendar and invest in a social media management dashboard like Hootsuite to make posting easier and more consistent.
Follow LinkedIn Local Caribbean blog writer, Krystal Penny Bowen on LinkedIn.