“People automatically put you in a box. But, when you tell your story, it shatters all that.”

By Scott Gilman, staff writer for UNSUGARCOATED Media

May 25,2021 

There’s a perception of brand-building as something disingenuous— that it means turning all of one’s marketable qualities up to eleven, while discarding everything honest and real. Although “branding” is often associated with slick Mad Men figures, CEO of Unleash Your Rock Star and personal branding expert, Jonathan George, may just be the opposite of that. In  Episode 51 of UNSUGARCOATED With Aalia, George presents your favorite host, Aalia, with his alternative philosophy of personal branding.

George sits down with Aalia to share why he sees personal branding as a matter of finding an authentic talent and telling your story honestly. The pair get UNSUGARCOATED about George’s career struggles that brought him to branding, his philosophies on the industry, and the many walls you have to break through to brand yourself effectively. 

George recalls coming to LA as an ambitious young musician, building his brand and finding success after being signed by producers. But his success was short lived. When his producers found out George was gay, they broke his contract, saying he was too much of a risk.

George describes the disappointment of the moment, saying, “It was ‘you’re not good enough.’ And that was the thing- that same theme that kept happening over and over in my life.”  

He goes on, remembering a spiritual journey to Bahli he took in the midst of this self-doubt. “I just busted open and remembered who I am at my core,” he said. “And so, two years ago I decided that I really wanted to speak. And I wanted to share my story and make a greater impact. And this is where I believe that personal branding is personal development.”

But what is the impact of personal branding? How can it move beyond just promoting yourself? 

George talks about the good he believes an individual can do by infusing a message into their personal brand that inspires and uplifts others. 

“What I went through may not look like what you go through, but what we all know is what it feels like to not be good enough… And I am now able to tell that story from such an empowered place and have an impact… I’m creating a big huge movement around this, because of that. Because I never want anyone to feel that.”

Aalia pushes George even further, asking how listeners can use George’s perspective on branding to forward their own movements.  

“A lot of our audience, they are advocates,” Aalia says. “They are people passionate about making social impact, but they don’t understand how to go about it… What’s the first step?”

George explains the steps of building a brand and more, breaking the process into three key factors: motivation, honesty, and likability. “People gotta like you,” George remarks. He remembers his dad calling him “a honey-mouth,” but saying “You gotta use it well.”

Some might wonder, what are the emotional impacts of turning yourself into a brand? 

Rather than seeing self-branding as potentially harmful, George explains how it can be liberating. He dives into maintaining mental health, using branding to break out of the expectation boxes people put you in and defeating imposter syndrome. According to George, highly accomplished people don’t know how to really live their lives and embrace their full potential because they are paralyzed by the fear of being judged. 

But how do we incorporate the imperfections we fear will be judged into a brand?

George’s approach is to embrace the authenticity of imperfection, and he even has a term for it: “This is what I call being a flaw-ck star. Having flaws and still being a rock star.”

“Flaws can be detrimental and can absolutely destroy you… But that doesn’t mean we don’t work towards fixing those things or making them the best they can be… Not allowing those to be a point of soreness or insecurity. Just like ‘Yep! This is me! This is who I am. I’m a little all over the place!’”

“When you put all those pieces together, and those personal stories that we’ve gone through, and we know just how to articulate it at the core level, this helps us maneuver powerfully… The heart of the brand? This is what I call the heart. This is where the rock star is born.”  

Listen to the whole conversation to hear George and Aalia’s insights into how to build an authentic, impactful, and as always UNSUGARCOATED brand.

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To learn more about Jonathan George and Unleash Your Rockstar, go to www.UnleashYourRockstar.com.

For more information on Unsugarcoated Media or your award-winning host, go to www.UnsugarcoatedMedia.com and stay connected with Aalia on IG: @aalia_unsugarcoated