Thoughts From a Recent Graduate.
Written by Morgan Mead
Hey guys. I’m back. And this time I’m not an intern. I have a big girl Account Coordinator job now. I’m a real-life adult that says things like, “I am going to go get an oil change on Saturday.” Last you heard from me, I was writing about “The Duality of Women’s Rugby and Shakespeare.” Since then, I have gone through numerous cycles of loving scrambled eggs and then being nauseated by the thought of them, have studied abroad in London, and I received a BA in English. Terrifying.
For the last four years I have been labeled by peers, professors, friends, and family as an English major. It was the first line on my e-mail signature and something I would lead with when introducing myself. It was my brand. But with graduation comes a forced personal brand evolution. It’s painful, confusing, and kind of exciting.
A new chapter of life opens up the door to new fonts, new brand colors, and—potentially—a new brand voice.
I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I work in branding, so my job is to help make “covers” that accurately reflect the “book.” I grew up an actress and an improviser. Building a character, a type of brand, is something that I’ve been trained to do. That, naturally, made its way into my day-to-day life. How does an English major dress? How do they speak? Once I learned these unwritten “rules,” I was able to take the ones that favored me (sweaters) and break the ones that were a detriment to the character I was constructing (an affinity for cats). This may sound strange to some, but I think it sounds aware.
I bring those same “character questions” to the companies I am working with.
We are all searching to be seen. For someone to notice our brand and react positively. For someone to notice that the book cover is just an outward manifestation of the prose.
We are all searching for meaning. For four years I found mine in: large sweaters, loafers, a bag full of books, and—as Hamlet says, “Words, words, words.”
Do I know what that outward manifestation of my brand (my “book cover”) will look like? Definitely not. I don’t know what my life will look like a year from today. I don’t know what my life will look like an hour from now to be honest. My story is still being written, and I am about to enter a pretty big new chapter with a lot of blank pages.
The job of a good brand team (and I happen to think our brand team is pretty good) is to help bring the values of a company to the forefront. When a company embarks on a brand evolution, those values are the things that we always turn back to. As I go through this period of evolution, I have found myself returning to my values.
What does my brand evolution mean for my Pinterest boards full of quotes, my book collection, my loafers, and my affinity for storytelling? Well, I am not getting rid of those right now. They remind me of late-night conversations with my best friends, the stacks of books my parents left on my bedside table growing up, my grandfather’s shoes, and the bedtime stories I would read to my siblings. The quotes will evolve, I’ll have new favorite books, new old-man-esque shoes, and new stories to tell. Just like a company’s brand, my brand will continue to evolve.
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Morgan Mead
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