This week's inspirer, Tanja Tabrizian, shares her expertise on Personal Branding. With a background in PR and communications, including roles as Press Officer at TV4 and Head of Communications for the Liberal Party, Tanja shares some thoughts on Personal Branding. Nowadays, she runs the company Tabrizian PR & Management where she helps individuals and companies nurture and develop their brands. Read on to learn more about Tanja's insights on building and nurturing your Personal Brand!

How do you define Personal Branding and why do you think it is important?

I am convinced that everyone has a magic. It's just about finding it and making it shine. For me, Personal Branding is like being the artist of your own masterpiece. It's about carefully choosing colors, brushstrokes and motifs that represent who you are - and yes, sometimes it takes a little creativity. Nurturing and developing your personal brand is essential, especially for business leaders. You will then, among other things, be perceived as credible, be able to retain and develop employee talent in your organization, and turn any media crises from a stormy sea into a small breeze. A strong Personal Brand will lead to business benefits, I promise!

Can you share some concrete steps or strategies to build a strong personal brand?

Think about who you are, how you are perceived by others and how you want to be perceived. It's the gap between the former and the latter that allows you to work on strengthening your Personal Brand. Also, remember that it all starts with authenticity.

I usually say "Be yourself, everyone else is busy".

By that I mean that you should highlight your own uniqueness and maximize it as much as possible. Also, think about how you are going to position yourself against your competitors by reinforcing your own qualities.

How do you deal with challenges and mistakes in your own Personal Brand?

When I was younger, I made the big mistake of trying to be someone other than who I really am. As a relatively new graduate, I would have a lot of contact with management teams and would dress in a stiff suit and use difficult words that I barely knew what they meant. Anything to fit in. My manager at the time was the one who made me realize that I would rather be myself, saying "Tanja, you are best at being Tanja. So be it instead of someone else." Since then, I've always dressed in the clothes I want and use my own vocabulary. So a message to everyone who tries to fit in; it doesn't work. Be yourself instead, almost times a hundred. Good luck bringing out the best version of yourself!

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