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I am not a brand.

“How could I fit in everything that I am now, into that place?”
-Orithiya Blue/Hipplolyta from Lovecraft Country

SN: I know I am not the only one obsessed with this episode and Lovecraft Country in general.

I have been a marketer for more than ten years. I understand branding and the importance of framing a perception. I, however, am not a brand. Here’s a shortlist of what I am:

  • A black woman
  • Writer & artist
  • Business owner
  • Self-published author
  • Single mother
  • Content professional
  • Former project manager
  • Trained journalist and researcher
  • Sister, daughter, friend

 

While I can explain to you my features and benefits, I can’t show you one photo of me that will represent everything that I am. Nor do I want to. It feels disrespectful to jam myself into a box. Episode seven of LCC really resonated with me.

People prefer boxes and categories because they are ways to familiarize something for understanding and comfort, but just because I know this doesn’t mean I like it, or that I will fall in line. The ability to classify also provides some level of predictability, maybe even a promise of consistent behavior. I have struggled for years with my own personal branding because at any given moment life could and did get in the way of my ability to be consistent or predictable. (I mean look at 2020.)

I’m honest enough to know that and embrace it. Furthermore I can work, personally develop, exceed the expectations of clients, write books and mom (it’s a verb) without being a perfect little business box.

One of the other great things about this episode is that Hippolyta is allowed to learn, grow and make mistakes. One of the problems with our Instagram picture perfect culture is that you can never get caught slipping. You have to always be ready for photos, ready to put on a show, ready for whatever. I liked the scruffy imperfect world of my youth. We didn’t have smoothed edges and I think the beauty in the relationships I still have from that era is that we loved each other regardless. 

I hope that in my life and in business I can build authentic relationships where I don’t have to be boxed in and I can be a little scruffy around the edges. I’m still growing and will always be.