The Most Surprising Valentine's Day Message ❤️

My eyes teared up today for the most beautiful of reasons.

One I would not have imagined just a few short hours ago, before writing this.

I was out preparing for the opening call of my 4-week "Marketing Me Experience” which kicked off today – with our inaugural Connection & Community Call.

Always such a beautiful and intimacy-building experience.

Prior to the session I was walking and reflecting on the fact that it was Valentine's Day – and all that comes along with it.

Whether you agree with the commerciality that sits behind it or not, it’s a day when many of us think about love.

My own relationship with love has had many twists & turns and evolved so much over recent years, and what I can say about that, is that the biggest shift has been (and continues to be) my relationship with myself, and how I view and accept myself, irrespective of whatever circumstances I’m in.

Easy to say, harder to do – as anyone who is honest among us will attest to.

But it's something I have been growing in, and one that has impacted every area of my life.

Bar none.

Health, Finance, Relationships, Business, Communication, Family, Play...

A big part of this journey started with the desire to understand who I was, and the irony is not lost on me that this originated as part of a marketing & rebranding exercise.

That simply became a vehicle and a gateway, to something much bigger.

And the very thing that I now teach and lead others in.

Sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously.

On the face of it, what I do in my line of work, is show people how to build effective personal brands that make a big impact on their business.

So a lot of people come to me for guidance around marketing, content, branding, strategy and the like.

It’s no surprise. I’ve been doing this for almost three decades.

And I'm good with that. 

But over the last few years, I’ve come to realise this very powerful truth....

That the most powerful ingredients for a personal brand have way less to do with slick visuals, strategy, and smart self-promotion, and WAY MORE to do with confidence, conviction and courage.

Courage to let people “see” who you are.

Conviction in the relationship between this and the business/career/future you are building.

Confidence to embrace that, and express that with the world.

The essence of “branding” (think of cattle, which is where this term orignated) is putting a “mark” on something.

An “identifyer”.

Something that communicates what we stand for, who we belong to (or align to) and how others can identify us. 

Wait till you see where I"m going with this.....,ooooh it's so exciting....

Here it is..... 

The most powerful “mark” we have is the one we put on ourselves.

Because we get to design it, create it, and then choose how and where and when we apply it.

And imagine the power, the potency of that when it comes from love, value and recognising the beauty that’s in within.

And then today, Valentine's Day, I realise this magnificent point...

That the process that we I go through with my clients in building a personal brand is actually an act of self-love ❤️.

Seeing the BEAUTY in yourself.

Recognising the VALUE of that.

Then CHOOSING to share that with (to bless) the world.

Yes of course I help people with all the other stuff – content, strategy, messaging, putting smooth marketing  systems behind it, and all of that –

These are (important) details….

But if the foundation, the essence, isn’t there, then all the rest just is effort.

Hamster wheel stuff.

The foundational core is what energises and powers up the whole process.

And furthermore, the impact it has goes WAY beyond the business, sales and visibility impact, it extends to your personal life and how you see yourself.

And so back to what caused me to tear up this morning...

(I think for the first time ever in four years of running these mentoring sessions)

My clients were sharing their stories of where they were from, what they do, and why they were here…

Sometimes I know exactly why people come to me from the outset. 

Other times I find out afterwards. 

This was the case of one gentleman – somewhat senior to myself in years.

When he initially asked me what I thought of him joining my program, I felt I wasn't the best person to tell him.

Some people I know without doubt it will be amazing for them, and I tell them without hesitation.

Other people I know are not a good fit, I'll be up upfront about that too. 

I relish the fact that those I work closely with feel like a beautiful fit, and we have an extraordinary two-way energy exchange.

And I protect that, fiercely.

I also don't make assumptions if I'm not sure either. I'll sound out where someone is at and what they are looking for. 

In this case I truly wasn't sure. So I told him I'm not the best person to advise him.

I put him in touch with another older gentleman who's been in my program for a few years, who is in a similar professional space and age, and asked him to talk to that client, and after that decide if it's a good fit and if my client thinks he'll be a good fit, then I'll enroll him. 

I gave him my client's details, he spoke to my client, and immediately enrolled. 

In his intake forms talked about needing to be better known to attract more clients, being more confident to put himself out there, and get a better marketing strategy in place.

But this morning, in our opening call, after I shared briefly what I just wrote about above, he spoke courageously and openly about what he now saw was the real reason he was here – and that is to grow in the area of self-love.

This is an accomplished business person, many decades of experience, where I would have expected we'd be engaging in a very left-brain pragmatic way about the ins and outs of growing a prestigious and influential brand, building a captive audience and attracting more leads and clients etc. 

Instead, we are talking about the inner work. 

And now I see, it's everything. 

It's all connected.

Especially when you are a "personal brand"

And the irony of my own journey, that I’ve been on over the last few years, I now see has led me to this point.

Where the most unexpected of people are now finding me and connecting with me, sometimes aware, sometimes unaware of what it is they are really seeking and receiving.

Yes, turns out I am guiding and mentoring in marketing, personal branding content and all the other technical stuff that is good, important and strategic……and highly effective for business growth….

....yes, my process does all that...

….yet turns out, it's a vehicle for something much bigger and way more important.

….Embracing your true identity, the value of WHO you ARE.

….then having the CONFIDENCE to elegantly and powerfully express that in the world.

And so that’s my Valentine’s Day message to you today too.

Whatever stage of life you’re in now – and irrespective of your relationship status, age, gender, profession, family situation, experience, or future plans.

YOU are beautiful.

YOU are unique.

There’s no-one else like YOU.

That makes YOU rare, precious and of extreme, beyond quantifiable, value.

Please take a moment, an hour, or even a day to honour and value yourself in this way this Valentine’s Day.

Whether other people say or do to and for you is less important.

The most joy and growth will come when you can do it for yourself.

On Valentines Day, and Every Day.

******

P.S. A big thank you to all of those who are choosing to work with me in 2023 in my Marketing Me Experience and those of years past and who are continuing the journey. I am so grateful I get to work with extraordinary people like you and am truly excited for what's in store this year!

******

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way. 

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).

Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands.  With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me™.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy-to-follow systems and processes that make a lot of sense and get outcomes fast.

There are different ways to work with Nina based on your situation and organisation size - with all of them you'll see rapid transformation and tangible outcomes fast. Book a chat with Nina here.