Mike Kim, Personal Branding Expert On How To Build Yours So You Can Change The World

Personal Branding Expert, Mike Kim, Discusses His Bestselling Book, You Are The Brand

Mike Kim is a brand strategist for business thought leaders, coaches, and authors who want to create impact with their ideas and get their message heard.

Mike’s refreshing approach has made him a sought-after speaker, online educator, and consultant for top thought leaders. Mike’s clients include New York Times bestselling authors and other experts featured on PBS, TED, CNN, and Fox. Mike has been featured in and written for Inc., Entrepreneur, and The Huffington Post.

Mike is the author of the best-selling book, You Are the Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business.

He is also the host of the top-rated and ranked podcast, The Brand You Podcast. He has spoken at industry-leading events including Social Media Marketing World, Tribe Conference, and Podcast Movement. He has been a guest on leading podcasts like Smart Passive Income, Marketing Made Simple, and Read to Lead. He lives in Alexandria, VA.

Get the Bestselling You Are The Brand Book (no affiliate on this. I just love the book.)

youarethebrandbook.com

Connect with Mike

• Website: mikekim.com
• Instagram: @mikekimtv
• Facebook: facebook.com/mikekimtv
• Twitter: twitter.com/mikekimtv
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/youarethebrand

Episode Transcript

7-12-21 Mike Kim

[00:00:00] Mike Kim: [00:00:00] This may sound super obvious, but no one really says this is that you can't just go out on eBay or Craigslist and buy a personal brand. You can't buy a Bernay Brown's influence. You can't buy Tony Robbins influence. Even if you were to acquire the rights to their intellectual property and their customer databases, their social media.

[00:00:20] You can't buy it. It, when it comes to this, this, this thing called a personal brand, everyone starts from zero.

[00:00:32] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:00:32] Hi and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. I'm your host. Izolda Trakhtenberg. On the show. You get my conversations with peak performing thought leaders, creatives, and entrepreneurs. We explore how you can innovate through creativity, compassion, and collaboration. I believe that innovation combined with compassion and creative thinking can save the world and I aim to bring you ways.

[00:00:55] You can do it too. If you're enjoying the show, I'd be super grateful. If you could support it by [00:01:00] buying me a cup of coffee, you can buy me a cup of@buymeacoffee.com slash Izolda tea. And now let's get on with the show.

[00:01:17] Hey there and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. My name is Izolda Trakhtenberg. I am thrilled that you're here and I'm so happy and thrilled and honored. To bring you this week's guest. Mike Kim is a speaker and marketing strategist, and that is putting it lightly, who specializes in brand strategy and copywriting.

[00:01:34] He's been hired by some of today's most influential thought leaders, brands, including John Maxwell, Donald Miller, Suzanne Evans, and capital. For years, he was the chief marketing officer of a successful multi-million dollar company near New York city. Nowadays, you're going to find him speaking at conferences, looking for the next great place to scuba dive, which I love or sipping a glass of Macallan 15, which I also love all while teaching everything.

[00:01:59] He knows [00:02:00] about branding, entrepreneurship, and life through his hit podcast brand. You Mike, I'm so thrilled that you're here. Thank you so much for being here. Well,

[00:02:08] Mike Kim: [00:02:08] There's is all of the thank you for having me. Uh, it is a pleasure to be here. I hope to add some value to you today and to all of our listeners.

[00:02:15] And I knew you were a good woman of taste Macallan 15 is the way to go. Nothing.

[00:02:22] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:02:22] Yeah, absolutely. It's so smooth. Okay. We could, we could talk a whiskey till the cows come home, but let's not do that. Uh, so talk to me about what's going on with you. You have a brand new book you're first coming out.

[00:02:36] Tomorrow. Talk to me about you are the brand, which I love as the title. What prompted you to write the book?

[00:02:45] Mike Kim: [00:02:45] Well, it's funny. And thank you for allowing me to share a little bit about this. Um, it's funny. Cause I signed a book deal about five years ago. I was supposed to write this book five years ago. My publisher assigned me five years ago and then my, my personal life went sideways, [00:03:00] um, a little bit and I just had no creative energy to write the book.

[00:03:03] And, um, every ear that passed since then, you know, I was kind of getting my bearings in life and in business and all that sort of thing. Um, last year happens, right? The quarantines, the lockdowns and everything, you know, I travel a lot. Um, and of course that came, you know, much to a halt and I thought about it.

[00:03:27] What am I going to do this year? And I had a friend tell me, because I had done a lot of little things. I've built a lot of programs and stuff like that, but I found myself getting a little frustrated cause I was felt like I was a hamster on the, on the wheel running around and he said to me, Hey, um, you do a lot of things.

[00:03:44] You're, you're very busy. You're always kind of moving on the move, but you know, it's really fun to build things, to build things that last a long time. And he's a multiple time bestselling author. And he shared that with me and [00:04:00] said, you know, maybe this is the time you build a book. I mean, you don't have to do it this year, but you know, it's fun to build things, build things that will take in last years.

[00:04:10] And I really took that advice to heart. Hunkered down, call my publisher back, hired a book, coach hired several coaches and just started writing. And I was like, if there's anything I walk out of from this year of being locked down because of the current virus and all that, it's going to be a book. And that's, that is the hard and fast truth of it.

[00:04:32] I mean, I think there are a lot of books that never make it to the light of day because their authors, uh, decide to give up. Um, and I did that for a while, but, um, I was like, this will be the year that I really, really, you know, put this into play and I'm really glad I did. So that's why I wrote it.

[00:04:50] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:04:50] Oh, that's fantastic.

[00:04:51] I love it. And here, here, there so much of what you just said made me go high. I have to ask all these questions in here. The, the, the [00:05:00] one that sticks in my head though, is. There is this, this notion that we can, that we can do something, but then there's the imposter that goes, you really can't do this. You, you know, the little voice inside your head, that's tap, dancing and telling you not to.

[00:05:17] And it sounds like you had some strategies that allowed you to go, you know what? No, I I've gone through all sorts of infernos and now I'm coming out the other side and I'm going to do that. Did you have a voice inside your head? And if so, what did that voice.

[00:05:32] Mike Kim: [00:05:32] The voice. So the biggest, I, you know, there's a lot there.

[00:05:37] Um, I would say after I finished the book, uh, but I don't think it was a joke. I was like, this is like the third hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And partially it was because I was writing about a time in my life that was really difficult to revisit. Um, my life turned out very different than I thought it would all those years ago when I first signed this book.

[00:05:59] Um, [00:06:00] secondly, my writing style changed over the years because I had been a blogger. I had written stories and you know, a lot of that stuff, but the last five, six years I've really spent more as a copywriter in the marketing space, which is to make sales. And when I sat down to write this book, It was a completely different discipline of writing.

[00:06:24] Actually, one of my friends, Karen Anderson, who was, who served as a book coach for me through the process. She's like, she's known me for a long time. She said, Hey, your book has no heart in it. She's like, it's got great facts. The frameworks. It's got great information, but I need some more of your personality in this, right?

[00:06:44] The warmth that is, you know, who you are. I need the humor. I need a little bit more story, you know, to contextualize it. In the, in the entire book really is about that journey. From how I reinvented myself, I had walked away from a [00:07:00] pretty established career, stepped into a new career, got a job as the chief marketing officer, as you mentioned for that company.

[00:07:06] And then within two years, I left to start my own business. So really that three to four year period of my life was very turbulent. I look back on it now and just like, I don't know how I survived that or what I did. When I look back on what I intuitively did. The good things that I did. That's what made it into the book.

[00:07:26] And all these years, since I've tested these frameworks, tested how to coach people in building a personal brand. And I'm actually really glad that the book is coming out now because it is, you know, two grades better than what it would have been five years ago. Um, and you can't mess with the timing. I mean, just in the last year and a half, we've all experienced this locked down and shut down and.

[00:07:50] People are really rethinking work. They're working from home a lot more, and it is the perfect time for this book to come out. So I'm very, very grateful [00:08:00] for all those things. But yeah, there were definitely voices that were like, this is a pain. I hate this. This is like slogging through mud. And I just kept on putting one foot in front of the other and doing it.

[00:08:09] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:08:09] And you know, it's funny that you say that, that the voices were saying, this is a pain you're going through molasses when you're in the stew, when you're in it. And you're, and you're just like, I just have to put one foot in front of the other. Do you have any practices, anything that you do that goes, okay, I'm going to get my head back in the game.

[00:08:28] I'm going to get myself right to do this, or is it just survive at all costs for

[00:08:32] Mike Kim: [00:08:32] you? Hmm. Well, one of the things that I really did was, um, stop trying to do it the right way because. When I have all these friends who are authors and they're like, oh yeah, I use this Scrivener program. It's like some software program that people write books in.

[00:08:50] Right. And I'm like, okay, fine. I'll use that. Oh yeah. It makes it so easy. And I'm like sitting there on my computer is old and I'm like, I don't know how to use this program. I've never used this before. My job is [00:09:00] not to learn how to use using your program is to write a book. Right. So I stopped doing that.

[00:09:04] Then I was like, okay, well I just got to tough it out, but in seat, that's what I heard all the time. BIS, but in C. Get just start writing and then I'd sit down at my computer and I wouldn't write. And I realized it's because I was on my computer all day because the zoom calls. So I hated sitting. On like sitting at my computer, it just, it just drove me crazy.

[00:09:26] Right. So then I try to write in, in bed with my laptop and that wasn't good either. Cause I was like, okay, this time. So this is, this is crazy. What I actually did was I took everything out of these, you know, godforsaken programs. Everyone was telling me, you use dumped everything into Google docs and just started writing the book on my phone.

[00:09:45] And I would chip away at it. I, I, once I live in Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC right now, and as soon as a couple of places opened back up, you know, bars, restaurants, whatnot, I would go out, I would call an [00:10:00] Uber. I would clack away on my phone and in Google docs in the 20, 30 minutes in the Uber sit down at the bar.

[00:10:09] And just collect oil on my phone. And I just chipped away at this thing over the course of like probably nine or 10 months and just kept refining, kept refining, getting, setting it into the editor, getting feedback, you know, refining, refining, refining. And that was really the first and most important thing I had to find out what worked for me and be okay with that.

[00:10:33] The second thing I think I really had to do, um, to, to push through that was to, um, create deadlines that I definitely had to stick with. Like I told the publisher, here's the release date I want. I went ahead and had the meeting with the publishers and the, okay. We've all decided it's going to come out July 13th.

[00:10:52] Right. I'm like, sure. And I mean, every step of the way, they're like, we cannot print your book. If you don't get this in, by this day. [00:11:00] And those self-imposed deadlines are actually how I work whenever. And this is just how I've worked in business. Anytime that I've really needed to get something done, I've made promises to other people that have it'll be done.

[00:11:13] And that has forced me. To take action. Those deadlines have driven action. Um, I'm very grateful to my publisher Morgan James fellowship. They were very patient with me, you know, um, in a lot of ways, uh, I was picky about the artwork. I was picky about the typeface in the book and all that, but all this is.

[00:11:35] It's a journey as a creative, it's a journey as a leader, it's a journey as a journey in self-expression, um, to really understand yourself more. I feel so much better equipped if I ever write another book again, which I probably will, but I've learned a lot about myself through this process.

[00:11:54] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:11:54] I'm taking all that in for a second, because there was so much in what you just said.

[00:11:58] It's so [00:12:00] I love, love, love, love, love that you said that how much you learned about yourself as part of writing the book and, and it, and it's funny to me that you said that it took patients on the part of your publisher because you were picky about things and I'm like, well, I've written six books. By gum, you better be picky.

[00:12:17] It's your baby, you know, and believe me when you hold it for the first time, it's going to be amazing. I wrote this, but, but yet this, this notion of learning a lot about myself, I CA I keep, you know, this is the innovative mindset podcast. So I keep coming back to that. What, what did you learn? What was the thing that changed from, from before you wrote the book to when.

[00:12:41] Gave it to the publisher and said it's finished. What was, what was the transformation inside you?

[00:12:47] Mike Kim: [00:12:47] I think the biggest thing for me with that was, um, understanding this is a little bit more out there. Um, When quarantines [00:13:00] first happened, bend, it really slowed my life down. Like it did for a lot of other people.

[00:13:05] And I thought I had this dream one day, or like, I don't know, just, just one of these meditative experiences about what I really wanted to do with my life. And I realized, I was like, I don't know that I'm doing it yet. Or maybe that changes who knows. Right. And I said to myself, what do. Will really live on after I'm gone.

[00:13:29] And again, this is framed by what my friend Jeff told me, you know, it's fun to build things, build things that lasts. And as I was writing this book, I realized, you know what, my nephews are going to read this. They're going to read this if they want to, it'll be there. You know, even after I'm long gone, you know, they're five years old and three years old right now.

[00:13:48] And, uh, When I had that kind of experience that this little dream thing, you know, one of those in between waking and sleeping moments, I was like, I just want to write stories. I [00:14:00] just want to tell stories. Stories are what live on. We live. We read stories from hundreds of years ago that were written thousands of years ago.

[00:14:06] These stories have been written and we still repurpose and reinterpret and re-express them today. So while I love marketing and I love business coaching, I, I felt very strongly what I really wanted to do later on tap back into telling stories in writing. The book has opened up or reignited part of my creative muscle to, to write, to just write for the sake of, uh, sharing my thoughts, sharing my, um, feeling feelings, but also holding space and creating space for other people.

[00:14:43] So, right. Um, not too long ago, um, back in March, when, you know, there were a lot of crazy events going on in the county. And there was a shooting in Atlanta of many Korean women. Um, working out this massage probably really impacted [00:15:00] me because I was like these women, like my mom's age, you know, there's a lot of anti-Asian hate going on.

[00:15:05] And I wrote an article it's old, it's just on my blog and it went viral thousands and thousands, and thousands of people read this. And, um, the feedback I got was just as, if not more fulfilling, Than the feedback I got from my clients. Hey, thanks for helping me discover my voice or giving me clarity on my marketing strategy.

[00:15:29] But I realized with just a few strokes on the keyboard, I could really create space and hold space for people. Or for the world at large. And I, I don't know what that looks like yet. Right. I've just published the book comes out tomorrow. Right. But, um, and I'm not in a rush to leave the business and marketing space, but I'm starting to get an inkling of what I might want to do in the next phase of my life.

[00:15:53] And that's been really funny. I don't think it would have happened. Had it not been for writing this [00:16:00] book.

[00:16:03] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:16:03] I, I love the notion that it's opening, opening that part of you almost up again. You're such a creative person in all ways that I've seen, you know, you're one of my teachers I've learned so much from you and, and yet, uh, and not yet, but, and also. Having having, uh, learning something like marketing and business from someone who is a creative, like you is so fulfilling and inspiring.

[00:16:31] And at the same time, this is a strange question because we who are in sort of the entrepreneur space, forget that most people aren't in it. Right. But if you want to further a cause or a business, it seems. It's a great idea to, to, to build that brand. And so I guess the question is how much do you think your personal brand, you might, Kim, your personal brand will, uh, help your [00:17:00] efforts in that next phase?

[00:17:01] Whenever that comes you, you may not be in a hurry to leave the personal brand business, but when that next phase comes, how much of what you've built already? We'll help you move forward.

[00:17:13] Mike Kim: [00:17:13] Okay. I think it helps a lot. And this is one of the concepts that I cover in the book. Um, the path of the personal brand, right.

[00:17:21] And, um, one of the most unique and challenging things about building a business around my self. You know, w which I've done and you've done. Um, certainly as well. Uh, we hear this phrase personal brand thrown out around a lot. And, um, my best attempt to define what a personal brand is, is basically a public identity you've crafted for an express purpose.

[00:17:43] Right. Um, and it's a confluence of your ideas, your expertise, your reputation, and your personality. That's, that's an identity, all those things in one. And the funny thing that I've seen in this space, And this may sound super obvious, but no one really says this is that you can't just go out [00:18:00] on eBay or Craigslist and buy.

[00:18:02] A personal brand, you can't buy a Bernay Brown's influence. You can't buy Tony Robbins influence. Even if you were to acquire the rights to their intellectual property and their customer databases, their social media accounts, you can't buy it when it comes to this, this, this thing called a personal brand.

[00:18:23] Everyone starts from zero. So. Um, when people talk about starting a brand or they, they ask me, you know, how should I start, um, building a brand, um, I asked a lot of them, well, what do you want it to do for you? And they, they often say, this is all they said, well, I want to do whatever I want. And they want to like live in this magical place, which I've since dubbed the land of whatever I want.

[00:18:49] And they'll say things like, oh, look at the rock, Dwayne Johnson, you or Oprah, or Carrie Vaynerchuk or Joe Rogan. They can make money doing anything they want. And [00:19:00] what most people don't understand is that there is a path to a place of that kind of influence. That these folks have reached, but it requires that you walk through this really lonely place that I call the valley of focus.

[00:19:13] So I can, I can jump into this if that's cool, because I think this will be fun for us to talk about. So, um, you know, let's say you start your journey, you write blog posts, you share some inspirational quotes on social media. You start a new podcast. And unfortunately it doesn't really feel like anyone's listening and this is totally.

[00:19:30] Right. Your friends, your family, your colleagues. They're a bit confused by what you're doing in some even stuff following you online, because they're like, what is Mike doing? What is this all to doing? And you feel more alone than ever. And, uh, great news. You're now in the valley of focus and in this valley of focus, you whittle down all of your random ideas.

[00:19:51] To focus on one topic, one idea or one market, and you decide, you know, whether you're going to specialize in, you know, helping [00:20:00] people get healthy or you'll make more money or build better relationships. You narrow your focus even further to, to determine what you're going to do in that particular market marketing is a big market, right?

[00:20:10] So I had to like narrow that down and say, I'm going to help people with personal branding and copywriting writing their words. And you start to slowly understand much like a nightclub or dance club. You can't play five different types of music and expect like everyone to come to your place. Right. They just don't mix.

[00:20:29] You have to have clarity. So I experienced this when I started in business and marketing, probably 90% of the people who follow me just start. Right. A few of them followed me. Um, as I stepped out into this venture, um, but what happens is when you stay focused and you get more narrowed down, um, you become known for a few things and then just eventually, you know, one or two things, but strangely enough, this attracts other influential [00:21:00] people to you who have followings of their own.

[00:21:03] And because of that clarity, they may hire you. They may give you a platform. They meet you. Opportunity to speak to their audience about your area of expertise and lo and behold, a bunch of their followers just start following you. Right? And then some other influential person who sees that influential person.

[00:21:19] Number one, connected with you, asks you to speak to their audience and boom, the phenomenon happens all over again, and you're starting to gain an audience, build an audience or gain followers rapidly, much more. And your, your story of becoming this rising star and over time. And this is where I feel like I'm starting to step into over time.

[00:21:41] Over many years, your audience keeps following you. Not just because of what you know, but because you have who you are, you're not just building a brand, you're becoming your brand. That's the message of the book. You are the brand, right? Because of all this focus, your work [00:22:00] improves, your expertise becomes established and some of your biggest fans become super fans.

[00:22:05] If you will, who will gladly follow you into any of your future pursuits? And if you have enough of these people, they will help you reach the land of whatever I want and stay there. Now I've seen this play out. In front of my very eyes with the rock, Dwayne Johnson. When I was in college, I loved this guy.

[00:22:26] He was a wrestler, right? Does that today? Everyone knows him as one of the world's biggest action stars are used to all these movies, but yeah, professional wrestling for like 15 years was his valley of focus. And he didn't even really want to become a wrestler. He played college football and wanted to make the NFL and he didn't make.

[00:22:45] Right. So this dude pivots into wrestling stays the course. Most people don't realize this either. They don't know this fans hated the rock. When he was first a wrestler, they boot him out of the building. They hated him, right. [00:23:00] They just thought he was so cheesy. He thought their character, the character was stupid and he just kept with it.

[00:23:06] And the WWE, you know, his company started reform as I did. And just starting to get really popular. And at the height of his popularity, when I was in college, I remember this, um, he started to make some movies and he was just so good. He was so charismatic. He was so entertaining. He started to leave, uh, wrestling at times to go shoot these movies.

[00:23:28] And what happened is the wrestling fans felt like he sold out. And not all of them were thrilled. He was acting so they just stopped following him. They started booing him when he'd come back to wrestling, even though he's one of the most popular people in the company. And yet enough people, enough people like me watched his movies.

[00:23:49] I was a fan of him as a wrestler enough people like me watch this movie. And now I still follow him on social media. I probably have bought [00:24:00] under armor, you know, workout gear because he endorses it. Right. And he can do whatever he wants, the workout gear, the athletic apparel, Lisa, oddly enough, he sells tequila that doesn't really seem on brand for a guy who, you know, works out all the time.

[00:24:16] You're drinking tequila, you know, but he could do whatever he wants, but people don't realize. Oh, my gosh, the guy labored for 15, 20 years as a wrestler, he had to deal with the heartache of not making the NFL. This is not somebody who just said, I'm going to just talk about everything and whatever I want and people are going to follow me.

[00:24:36] So all, all of this, just kind of tying a bow on this. Do I feel like my personal brand will help me in future endeavors? Absolutely. I'm not as popular as a rock, but I do believe that there are some people who have said, Mike, we just like you, we just like what you do. We'd like what you stand for. And I'm curious to see where you're going to go and I'm going to follow.

[00:24:58] And because of [00:25:00] that, um, I feel this amount of freedom, I feel a certain amount of freedom and Liberty to go explore these new things.

[00:25:10] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:25:10] First of all. I'm so glad that you talked about the rock because it's a lot of what you said. It really resonates with me because what I, I, I follow him also. And it's not just because he's charismatic.

[00:25:20] It's because he's welcoming. If you see what I mean, like he's doing his thing and I know there are millions of fans and it's not like, I feel like he is. Talking directly to me, except for, I kind of do. And, you know, and, and I think for him, it's probably on, on many levels, it's authentic, but also it's very practical, right?

[00:25:41] It's a very practical, this is who I am, and this is what I stand for. And he kind of. Set all the dominoes up and knocked all the dominoes down. And that's one of the things I really respect about you is that you are, in addition to being creative, you're very practical. You break things down [00:26:00] in, in the work that I followed with you in the classes I've taken with you in, in a very, um, and I hate the word actionable because it's a weird word, but it's really true.

[00:26:09] If I take action on the things that you recommend, things open up. Right? So, so. What, if you can talk about that a little bit, how do you reconcile or combined the very creative parts of who you are with that very practical part of you?

[00:26:27] Mike Kim: [00:26:27] Yeah, I think it, you know, it, that's a great question. I think I have always felt more of a bias towards action.

[00:26:36] Um, when I've taken various self-assessment, you know, tests and stuff like that, uh, StrengthsFinders was one of them. Uh, I dunno, how many of you listening may have heard of strength finders? Um, but with StrengthsFinder number one was maximizer. Um, which means that I don't like to start things completely from scratch.

[00:26:56] I like to take good things and make them. [00:27:00] And I'm like, oh, no wonder I'm a consultant. Right. And then number two was, um, implement. Which means I just go do things. I, I overthink every other area of my life except for creativity and business. I mean, I'm like, I'm like, I want it done yesterday. I just go do it.

[00:27:20] Um, it's probably why I work really long hours and get stressed out and stuff because I have more ideas than I can ever execute on. Right. And I have realized that I don't know if I came up with this phrase or I heard it somewhere, but I like it. Um, we are idea rich and execution. Poor. And this world of social media has made that even more of an anathema, if you will.

[00:27:43] I mean, it is a sickness it's easy to post other people's ideas. It's really hard to go do them. Sure. So, um, when I see other people take a long time to execute on things, I'm just, it just drives me nuts. Right. And I'm like, okay, that's their own pace. That's their own journey. I'm not going to judge them.

[00:27:59] But for [00:28:00] me, um, I, some, sometimes I can't sleep on this. I get it. So I'm like, okay. Uh, I I'm, I'm biased that way, you know, bias towards action. Um, and then the third strength on strength finder was just, it was just a strategic oversight. Like I just see the big picture. I'm always a big picture person. So I'm very bad with little details.

[00:28:22] Um, it's why I have an assistant that handles these things, right. I'm just like, I have this idea. I want to see this happen. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And sometimes I, I am my own worst enemy because I know how to do too many things. And so I execute very quickly or I can't wait to get things executed, which makes me a very poor delegate.

[00:28:41] Hmm. So I've learned all these things about my workflow in my work life and how I made, and I've realized that that has had to force me as a leader to grow in other areas. I have to become a better leader. I have to become a more patient person. I have to become [00:29:00] more of a visionary and less of a hands-on person.

[00:29:02] These are all really big areas I have to grow in. You know, we're here, we're talking about the innovative mindset, right? I have to innovate those parts of my life. Otherwise I will relegate myself to living like this until I'm dead. Um, so it's either changed. And grow and, and, and work with people and work with teams or do this for the rest of my life.

[00:29:25] And it is what it is. And there's no wrong answer. That's the other thing, um, that I've really realized there's no wrong answer. I know a lot of people who are like me, and this is what they want. That is how they want to live. They don't want a big team. They don't want an administrator. They don't want people on payroll.

[00:29:44] They're okay with doing that. Right. And then there are other people who, who have made that shift and both are valuable. Both are building their business and their life around the kind of life and business they want. Um, so really I'm at that [00:30:00] crossroads where it's like, I'm a creative, but I'm also like very, very wired to take action.

[00:30:05] And the more and more self-aware I become, I see options laid out on the table for me. It's like, okay, which path am I going to go down? I have to decide. And that's really, that's really how I see it.

[00:30:19] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:30:19] And it's lovely that it's about self-awareness, you know, so much of this. Is knowing who you are and knowing what you can offer.

[00:30:28] And I, and I, I I'm, I'm grateful that you, that you talked about that because I think that's what the book is going to do on a much larger scale for you is it's going to take that particular message and, and amplify it. Uh, and so I'm, I'm really grateful. I want to say that. Because it comes out tomorrow and you should all go get it.

[00:30:48] It's you are the brand, the eighth step blueprint to showcase your unique expertise and build a highly profitable business. So if you are interested in learning how to do that, you need to go get this book. [00:31:00] That's just how it is Mike. I'm. I, I could keep you for the next six hours, but I know you have a life to get back to.

[00:31:06] So I will ask you the one question you might remember this, you might not that I ask everybody who comes on the show. And before I do that, I will, I will say thank you again for joining me. This was so fabulous and wonderful to get to talk to you about your book and about where you are and where you're going.

[00:31:24] The question is this. If you had an airplane that could sky write anything for the whole world to see, what would you say?

[00:31:32] Mike Kim: [00:31:32] Oh, yeah, I remember this question. Okay. Um, you know what I've got to say, you are the brand. Um, and, and it's not just because of the book, but it's really the charge that I want to lay out, you know, to my readers, to my friends, to my colleagues, um, there we all, we all have a brand.

[00:31:54] Um, we all have a reputation, you know, personal branding. This phrases become, you know, this. [00:32:00] Popular term now. Um, but it's just, it's just your reputation. It's just what people think of you. It's just the identity that you hold in in the, in the minds and hearts of people who know you. And, um, I think one of the things I've learned about life through my work is that entrepreneurship thinking outside the box, it has a way of bringing out the best parts.

[00:32:26] And also revealing some of your roughest edges and in a world of image and social media followers. My message really is, you know, be someone worth following, be that truly be who you're trying to sell to people, whether it's, you know, through an Instagram account for fun or trying to land a new job or, or trying to start your business, like you are the brand, don't just build a brand.

[00:32:53] Be the brand you that that's who you are. And it's a call for us to, to grow and mature and to be the [00:33:00] best version of ourselves. So that's what I would write across the sky. And it's not just because the book's out tomorrow.

[00:33:06] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:33:06] No, but I w you know what? I think that's great. And it's a call to be. Your authentic self, which is, which is the best way to be, because there's so much that we have to fair it through that isn't authentic and real, and you're calling for us to be real.

[00:33:22] And I think that's great, Mike, thank you again so much for being here and being so generous with your wisdom and your knowledge. I appreciate it very much.

[00:33:31] Mike Kim: [00:33:31] It was a pleasure to be here. And thank you for, uh, sharing me with, with everybody here today and sharing your platform and salt. I've really, really appreciate it.

[00:33:38] Izolda Trakhtenberg: [00:33:38] My absolute pleasure. This is Izolda Trakhtenberg for the innovative mindset podcast. If you want to find Mike Kim, you can go to Mike kim.com. You can learn all about him. You can learn all about the book. You can get the book, you should get the book because obviously he knows. Stuff until next time. This is Izolda Trakhtenberg for the innovative mindset [00:34:00] podcast, reminding you to listen, learn, laugh, and love a whole lot.

[00:34:10] Thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate you being here. Please subscribe to the podcast if you're new and if you like what you're hearing, please review it and rate it and let other people know. And if you'd like to be a sponsor of the show, I'd love to meet you. On patrion.com/innovative mindset.

[00:34:28] I also have lots of exclusive goodies to share just with the show supporters there today's episode was produced by Izolda Trakhtenberg in his copyright 2021 as always. Please remember, this is for educational and entertainment purposes. Only past performance does not guarantee future results, although we can always hope until next time, keep living in your innovative mindset.