E241: Better Your Personal Brand to Create Impact and Income with Marina Girgis

Marina is a brand expert helping freedom obsessed entrepreneurs build true to self personal brands to grow their platforms, income and live vivaciously…

Valerie LaVigne: Please join me in welcoming Marina to the Women's Empowerment Podcast. Marina, thank you so much for being part of the show today. It is an absolute pleasure to have you here and I'm really excited because we're talking about a topic that we don't necessarily discuss very often on the podcast, but I find it really important and I know that this is kind of your zone of genius, we'll call it.

[00:12] The Impact & Importance of Personal Branding

Can we start with. Speaking to what personal branding is and why it's so important?

Marina Girgis: Thank you, Valerie, for having me. I'm so excited to talk about that topic because I truly believe that every person listening today has a personal brand, whether they know it or not, they do have a personal brand. The idea is what is personal branding and.

How can you actually uncover what this is for yourself? So personal branding is basically the process of uncovering what your unique talents and skills are and your expertise. To market yourself or position yourself in, in a particular industry as the expert. So it deals more with the human, your story, your values, what you stand for, what you believe in, what do you actually care about and you wanna advocate for.

So Valerie, you advocate for women's empowerment. Hence the name of this podcast and why I'm here today. And that's something I believe in in my business, living Vivaciously, but also my personal brand. So this is how people can come together too. That's how you can see opportunities. So that's personal branding in a nutshell.

VL: That's so great and one of the things that I've learned from following you and seeing your journey is that you really tie in your personal brand into your business. And I think what, what I've understood and what I get to see through my lens is that. I relate to you more because you've created this brand that is very humanized and I feel very connected to you because we share a lot in common.

We both like wooy things. We both like travel. You know, we were both talking about Mercury retrograde is ending today, but these are some things that maybe don't specifically have to do with your business, but they really attract the ideal client.

[02:29] Putting the “Personal” in Personal Branding to Magnetize Your Ideal Client

So would you say that's also part of personal branding? Like is that what helps. get the right community towards you or gravitating magnetizing to you?

MG: Absolutely. I, I think so. Imagine, you know, you are into all the, as you called it, the woo things. You know, you're into astrology, you do tarot, all the things we know and love, and then you get a client and. In, in your client call or as you're working with this client, they're like, oh my God.

They get so triggered by maybe you mentioning, you know, spirit or saying, oh my God, like Zoom is not working for me today cuz it's Mercury retrograde and they're like, You know, and then people will feel that disconnect. Usually the clients I get are into the same things that I am, because I do share about that in my personal brand.

So I feel like it's important in terms of like, I keep it, you know, attract and align community or a community. That is also into the same things as you. They don't need to be like you, but they're even support the things that you do or they're curious about them or they like the same things. And I think that already removes the barrier or like the ick of like selling too because you are just showing up and being you and talking about the things that you love to talk and people are DMing you.

You know, being curious about the things that you're doing with your life. I also love to travel and oftentimes I put. I put travel as a core topic into my business. Even though I don't sell anything to do with travel, I just help people build their personal brand in a way that could support their freedom so that they can travel or do whatever else they wanna do to support their ideal lifestyle.

So I think it's important to bring in these personal elements because they do connect us as humans first. And then as a service provider, for example, to another, you know, and that's how I can help other business owners build their personal brand.

VL: Oh, that's so good. You said words like disconnect and not in alignment and it, it makes me wanna ask the question of the challenges or the roadblocks that people face when it comes to building their personal brands.

[04:25] Building the Brand: Overcoming Obstacles, Challenges, and Roadblocks

Can you speak to maybe some of those common challenges and how do you help people overcome those obstacles?

MG:Yes.

Oh, okay. There are a few, but I think one of the biggest ones are, I love to talk about traveling. I love to talk about spirituality, but I feel like people will not like me anymore. People will unfollow me, or no one's gonna buy from me, or it's gonna discredit who I am as an expert.

I feel like that's one of the biggest, honestly, one of the biggest roadblocks that I've seen with like the hundreds of clients that have helped with like brand coaching and brand strategy is that they feel that when they show up as a human, that takes away from their expertise. And it blows my mind because, I could think of a lot of the brands that I love, and I don't know Valerie, if you have any brands that you could think of too, but like brands that that we love.

We love because of the human or the ethics or the values that they put out there, whether it's on social media or in their packaging. It the depends on where we're buying from and what the product is but what they're about and what they support. Is very important. So I think a lot of people get stuck on that and they then shy away from showing who they are in their brand especially like in the, in social media where they need to create content and they're usually the person creating the content.

This is again, what blows my mind is like you are the person creating the content. If you are not showing up being you and you're showing up, like trying to put up a professional facade of some sorts or like this, you know, maybe you worked with a branding strategist and they told you, well, your brand is professional and trustworthy and you gotta use the color blue because this is what shows you know that you are professional and trustworthy and you go on and like try to create content being professional and trustworthy using the color blue, and you absolutely hate it.

And why do you hate it? Then you don't show up. You hate it because it's not you. Because it doesn't, it doesn't spark your joy. It doesn't make you wanna get up and share who you are. But you know how I was talking about selling becomes easy and it remove the ick when we're just showing up as humans and just sharing.

Like here, I'm on a farm in Tuscany right now, playing with the chickens, you know, when I'm done with work. So I mean, some people will be like, I wanna do this. How did you get there? Share more with me. Or, ooh. Like, those are my values too. I wanna live a simple life and, you know, live on a farm and play with chickens instead of, you know, buying a Louis Vuitton.

And nothing wrong with that, but those are my values. That's how I spend my money. So yeah.

VL: Yeah, I love that because a lot of the times, you know, you start. Following all these different people, but they all start sounding the same. They all start showing up the same and wearing the same colors and speaking in the same tone of voice.

And it's because of what we were told to do or how we were told to act. And if you wanna sell something, you need to be the professional and trustworthy tone and brand voice and all that. So I like that you encourage, you know, sprinkling in. So, All the different things that you're doing, even though it doesn't have to do with your business.

And you're right, I love travel. I love that you've created this freedom lifestyle where you can travel and work at the same time. And it's like this, it's a lifestyle brand as well. Right. And that is what really appeals to me. And that's something that I know obviously your followers and your clients also agree with.

It's this, they're attracted to this lifestyle that you've created. And they like the same things as you. And so I feel that the more you show up as yourself and the more authentic you can be, just the more right clients you're gonna attract. And yeah. Okay. Maybe people will start unfollowing you because you're being more authentic.

But what I always say is those aren't your people. So just let them go. Something else. I know that I, I'm gonna

straight up, I've struggled with this too. It's that

I've tried to create my service first. And this is actually something that you had mentioned earlier before we rec we're recording and I was like, oops.

Yep, that's me. So this is another obstacle or challenge that people face. It's like they're creating their service first. Can you speak to this obstacle and how. How you would help someone like me overcome that.

MG:Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's, it's very normal to think that business means creating offers and services into this world, you know, or thinking like, oh, okay, I'm gonna quit my job, or I'm getting ready to quit my job, so obviously I need money.

So, What does that mean? I need to create a service or an offer. And then you pick kind of like the first thing that comes to mind. You're like, okay, I'm a fitness, a fitness coach, so I'll just offer, you know, a one-on-one zoom call where I do exercises with my clients or put them on a particular meal plan.

And then later on you realize that you are more than that and that there's more that you can offer people and that you actually enjoy maybe the mindset aspect. And you go into that, or maybe you're combining mindset and woo, and you wanna become a spiritual coach or mentor of some sorts, and now you're stuck because you've created this business around you being a fitness coach.

And the reason I find that this is a problem is that then people are like pivoting nonstop, but then they're exhausted because they feel like, well, I don't know what I am and I feel stuck, and this is not even bringing me money because it connects to the first point, which is. It's not even about them anymore.

They were just creating this so that they can make a quick buck. So I tell people, if you are trying to quit your job, or if you already did and you started a business and you started it because you wanna sell something to make some money, then this is fine. Right? Make the money, it's okay. But if you are starting a business and you want it for the long term and you wanna create a brand with it, because we have to differentiate business from brand.

Business is like the offers, the systems, the money, the branding is the legacy. It's what people remember us for, what people associate with our brand. It's not also just the colors. I know. Most people know this, but reiterating. But the colors are part of it because it's part of the vibe. So when you're thinking about how can I build something for the long term, I want you to think about first, you know, what do I want for my life?

How do I wanna live my life? I almost actually started a completely wrong brand that wouldn't support me being in Tuscany right now. You know, like traveling the world or. Doing the things that I love to do at my own pace because I studied fashion design and after graduating college, I went and worked in corporate design and I absolutely hated it.

But when I left, I thought, you know what? I still have my dream of becoming this like well-known creative designer, so let me, you know, start my own fashion brand, but. What I didn't think about at that time is starting my fashion brand would mean I need production. I need to stay in one place to produce garments, to do fittings.

There's so much that goes into creating a fashion brand. You know, the garments, they go from sketch to, you know, drafts, and then you have to fit them on a model. Then you send them back to factories. All those things. Like, and like, just thinking about that right now, like I, I can't even imagine because that's not what I wanted for my life.

So understanding what you want for your life first, how many hours do you wanna work? What kind of business do you wanna go into? Do you know what you're passionate about? Like create a running list of like all the different things that you love doing. Is there a way to combine them? You know, because there can, you will get an offer and that's gonna be kind of like your, your soulful offer that you're gonna love to do over and over and over again.

For me, that's brand build your brand, basically brand coaching. When you first decide how you wanna work, how do you wanna live, and what are your passions and how can you combine them? And then also deciding who do you wanna help? Because some people like the example of the fitness coach, they might realize they don't wanna help people who just wanna lose weight.

You know, they might find that kind of like, yeah, I've just done that. I don't wanna do that anymore. I don't wanna work with, with people like that. I wanna work with people who want something different for their life to expand their spiritual world, for example.

VL: Hmm. I love that it's really looking at the finer details of what feels good for you with the future in mind and with that longevity in mind.

And I really felt myself in this example as well, cuz obviously I am in the fitness world as well. So I'm a Pilates teacher and studio owner and. There are people who kind of just come to you because they wanna look a certain way, and I know that that isn't my brand, and I know that those aren't necessarily my people.

However, what I do find is as they get to know me more, they start to find themselves more. They start to see themselves in a different way, and it's not about. You know, looking good for a certain wedding or for a certain season, but it's really about feeling good in your body for the long term and creating that lifestyle around it.

[27: 23] Where to Connect with Marina

So I'm so glad you you said that because it's really like getting curious about what feels good for you. What would you love to do? How would you love to wake up every day? And I think a lot of people forget that when they're starting their business or even as they're continuing and maybe pivoting in their business with.

Why am I not happy with where I am? What needs to change for my life? So, ugh, so good. I feel like I need to take a moment to, to journal after this with my tarot

cards. So

many good things. Yeah.

MG: Yeah.

[14:51] How Travel has Influenced Marina’s Approach to Helping People Create Impact and Income

VL: You've talked so much about how you've traveled, you've worked with these big brands, which is so incredible, and I love how through your journey, you've really navigated to this.

This place of coming home to yourself. And I think that's something so powerful and I'm, I'm pretty sure, I'm trying to remember when I started following you, I feel like you were in Brazil, but now I'm not sure. And then you were in the States and you were in Greece and now you're in Italy. Like it's just so fun to watch this global life journey of yours.

So I'd love to hear how this travel throughout your life, even in just the short amount of time that I've been following you, how has this influenced your approach to helping people and entrepreneurs create impact and income through their personal brands?

MG: Yeah. I feel like this question is very hard to answer because you know, I've been traveling for three years.

I've been on this no matting around World Journey, trying to find, you know, what is home and redefine what that means for me. I think the, the impact is, well, first of all, I learned so much from the people I made and the cultures that I'm in. It's incredible how much you can learn and how many teachers you meet when you're traveling.

It doesn't matter. It could be like you like missing a flight or something like that, and then someone next to you tells you a word of wisdom and you take that and you know, changes your whole life. I feel like I've had many moments like that and I usually bring a lot of stories from my travel into my content and I teach through that.

And I've noticed that I actually have been encouraging my clients to be observant. In their life. A lot of times people think, okay, I'm gonna write my brand story and it's gonna be this like cute little paragraph about who I am and like my experiences and that's it. Never look at it, never use it. So, In my approach with helping people build their personal brand, part of it is leaning into not just the story that you know about yourself.

Like, oh, I am a single mother and I've gone through these challenges raising my child and I wanna talk about this. Or, you know, with my partnership, something like that. No, look beyond that. What do you have to do every day that is different? You know that maybe not everyone does. Look at the simple things, observe the little stories, like when you're going to pick up your coffee, maybe something happened all the way, or maybe you had, I.

A funny interaction with the barista or something like that. And then we begin to start to really tell stories that connect with our audience, but also connect back to our, to our life. So I feel like I've learned a lot about storytelling from traveling, and I've begun to actually teach. A lot of that to my clients.

I feel like before traveling, I knew that was something that was important for personal branding, but I wasn't able to unlock how to do it. And with traveling, I was able to, because I was actually like living a lot. And in one moment, like I, I swear like one week here on the farm with the people I'm living with, it feels like a month because a lot is happening.

So I'm like, oh my God, writing all these stories down, like, and how they connect back to my brand and what are the teaching moments? I feel like there's a lot that we can if we're being mindful and present and observant of like what's happening in our life, we can have a lot of really amazing stories that one can change your life and other people's lives and connect them to you, and then therefore helping you make more money or attract more opportunities.

VL:Oh, I'm so glad you said that, cuz I love storytelling. I think it's so powerful and for myself, I was getting caught up in the mindset of like, oh, I'm feeling stagnant. I haven't been traveling in a while. The trips that I've been on haven't been the ones that really. Like they weren't led by me like usually.

So let me, let me backtrack here cause I'm starting to ramble. But I used to solo travel a lot and it was something that I really loved and really enjoyed. And now that I'm with my now partner who wasn't super into travel before we met, but have has lived this life of. Lived in three different continents.

So he's had all these travel experiences and now that we're together, he is starting to understand and value travel more. However, we have very different ideas of where we would like to go. So we've been kind of finding these compromises in our travel. So while we've still been able to take some trips, They haven't been the, like month long or two week, even long trips that I really love to do because he works for a corporate job and doesn't have the same flexibility that I do.

So it's, it's been a really interesting learning experience for me and all this to say because I have been feeling kind of like blah about. I don't live a mundane life by any means, but I just feel like because I'm not having these exotic adventures, I don't have these really great stories, but it's not true.

Just like you said, you know, maybe you had an interaction with a barista or maybe you went on a walk and you stumbled upon, you know, a tree fort that someone built in the forest that reminisced or reminded you of being a kid. So I think it's a really great reminder that. Whether you're going on these incredible adventures or whether your adventures are closer to home, you can still create this story.

And it, it really is closer to what you do and who you are in your brand. And I think that's a great reminder for people who, you know, maybe dream of one day living that nomadic life, but aren't necessarily there yet. I think that's really powerful. I love that. I love that so much. Yeah. Yeah. It makes me think too of like the multi-passionate entrepreneur, so I know for myself, I've had to pivot many times over the last few years because of unforeseen circumstances we'll call them and it is exhausting.

[20:53] Advice for Multi-Passionate Entrepreneurs

You mentioned if you're constantly pivoting, it's exhausting. What is some advice you would give someone like myself, who is a multi-passionate entrepreneur or maybe who's still trying to discover. What direction they're going in. And so they're kind of trying a few different hats on how do we combine our passions together?

MG: I think the first thing is creating space for these passions to coexist in your brand. A lot of times I see my clients wanting to create, you know, their three or four content pillars and like, it's just very like black and white, you know, it's gotta be this, this, and this. And I'm always like, what if you created a content pillar or a core message in your branding that is about you, that is about you as a human?

So that way as you evolve, because we all evolve, you know, and change a lot, as you evolve and change, you feel like that your brand is evolving with you. And that's the beauty of, of having a brand, not just the business. Because with a, with a business, you could have like a core signature offer. You know, like your, your 10 weeks coaching program and everyone knows they can enroll with you in your 10 weeks coaching program, spring and summer, something like that.

But then your brand is always in evolution and as your brand evolves, you are allowing that to come through in your messaging and your content and you get to play. You know, I also think the. I feel like I don't have like a very specific answer to this, but the, because it's more than that. It's more than just giving a remedy, right?

It's, it's about a mindset of like getting curious, just like how I said, get curious and observe the things that happen in your life daily. It's also getting curious about. What if I shifted a little bit, but not necessarily change my whole brand because I'm like bored of it or change my whole business because like I'm tired of it.

You know? Because you're creating space in your business for you to evolve and change, and you're creating space in your brand for you to communicate who you are as a person. So if you're doing that, I almost guarantee that you and the brand will evolve seamlessly. I mean, my brand has evolved the last four years.

A lot. I used to offer this package where I designed custom templates for people. It was just that, and I was like, no, no, no, no way. I'm gonna do a strategy for people. Even though, you know, I've been doing it, I, I, you know, I had to do it in fashion design, all those things. No way. I'm just gonna design templates and do those, and.

That's it. That's what my whole brand is gonna be about my business. That's where the confusion is, like that was my business, not my brand. And then slowly, when I was showing up, I was talking about all the different things that make me who I am, and then my business started to follow. So the business was following my evolution and I started to include brand strategy and then how can you build a brand that supports the freedom lifestyle that you want?

So it's constant evolution in my offers as I grow, but I'm not completely shifting and pivoting my. My brand every six months. That's exhausting, and I see it all the time, but I can guarantee you, Valerie, that it's people who are bored of their brand too. Like they're just bored. They look at it and they're like, my God, this does not even look like me.

This does not even represent who I am. So you're just like, oh, I wanna trash it and start over this constant, I wanna trash it and start over. I hear it all the time.

VL: Yeah. Yeah, I see it all the time and I always think, wait, didn't you just redo your brand? Like I just, and then I'm like, who has the time for this?

[24:51] Start with These Journal Questions to Understand Your Personal Brand Better

Who has the time to redo this entire thing? That's so interesting. Yeah. Okay. I love that. I have, I have a lot of work to do. I feel like I lot of inner work to do what are maybe like. Two or three questions someone could start with today after listening to this conversation and they're wanting to get curious, what are some things we could ask ours, ask ourselves or journal on to help us understand our personal brand better?

MG: Sure. So I would say start with what are some things that I'm really good at and. You know, I haven't really explored getting paid for them or maybe I'm really passionate about them and potentially could get paid for. And I would make a list of like, just all the things that you're passionate about, talking about, like if you're passionate about tarot, if you're passionate about astrology, put those down.

You don't need to be an expert. Because I feel like that's also a roadblock that people get. You don't need to be an expert. So what kind of topics and things beyond the brand and the business right now that I'm passionate about? The other one is like, how do I truly wanna live my authentic lifestyle?

What does that look like? What would be an ideal day in my life? What would I do in that day? What would my workday look like? So that's like kind of like one question about your lifestyle. And then maybe the last one is what are some maybe ideas or concepts that I want my brand to be known for? So what would anchor my brand in people's minds?

Because I feel like that anchor would help prevent you from feeling like, Confused about who you are and what your brand is and wanting to vi pivot, but also other people, they will feel like, okay, I can go to Valerie for this thing. I can go to Marina for that thing. You know, it's just like a signifier in a way.

So, and anchor idea for your brand.

VL: I love that. I think that's going to give people a lot more insight into what they're creating or how they're showing up. Even just those little tweaks. For sure. This has been so wonderful. Before we move into our rapid fire round of the podcast, is there anything that hasn't been said that you've really love to share?

MG: Mm. Okay. I think we've said mostly everything that needed to be said about building a brand that feels like you building an authentic brand and an authentic brand presence. Yeah, I feel, I feel good about everything we've shared so far.

VL: I'm so glad. All right. Where can we find you? Where can we follow you and how can we support your business?

MG: Okay, so you can find me on Instagram @vivaciouslymarina. And you can also check out other resources that I have, such as my blog, my newsletters pretty active there at livingvivaciously.com.

INSTAGRAM @vivaciouslymarina

WEBSITE livingvivaciously.com

Also linked in the link in my bio on Instagram. Also, you can. Join one of my programs. I have a course that I'm working on that's coming up. It's the revamp of my signature offer because I, you know, do as I preach and my business has been evolving, I have been evolving and I'm turning my signature offer into a course so that it's more accessible to more people at different stages of their lives.

So be on the lookout for that. I also take one-on-one clients. If you're interested in going on a deep dive, a journey of uncovering what is your true to self brand, and I can support with that.

[28:28] Rapid Fire Round

VL: Amazing. All right, the rapid fire round. Are you ready?

MG: Oh, okay!

VL: Question number one is what are you currently reading or what is your favorite book?

MG: Hmm. All About Love by Belll Hooks.

SHOP THE BOOK ON AMAZON (affiliate)

VL: Okay, I haven't read that. Question number two is what does empowerment mean to you?

MG: Ownership.

VL: Question number three, what is your longest standing habit?

MG: My morning routine.

VL: Ooh, tell me about it!

MG: So I meditate, I flip to a random page in my 365 everyday Tao book. And I journal.

VL: That's so beautiful. And the last question is, what are you currently working towards?

MG: My course and a podcast.

VL: I'm so excited for your podcast. I was like, oh my gosh, when I saw you post that. That's so great.

MG: Thank you. I, I need all the tips from you because honestly, I didn't think like starting a podcast would be this hard, but I mean, it's not like it's hard, but I feel like there's so much like. Of like planning that needs to happen. And I'm like, oh my God.

VL: There's a lot that goes into it that I don't think people recognize.

But yeah, I can definitely give you some tips. Thank you so much for being on the show today. This was, A great conversation. I feel like it's really sparking the curiosity in myself and the wanting to take action on the three questions that you shared in journaling on those. So I'm excited to, to dive into that.

But yeah, just again, I wanted to really acknowledge you for the work that you do, the, the way that you support people, the way that you show up in this very vivacious way exactly to your brand. You are definitely practice what you preach, and it's such a, it's such a joy to follow you and an honor to have you on the show. So thank you so much again.

MG: Oh, I'm blushing. Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun, Val.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!