Building a Winning Personal Brand with Women Who Win - A New Series with Personal Brand Expert Sandy Grigsby
PART 1 of 3
By Naisha Roy
“By realizing that physical beauty has nothing to do with self-esteem and that true beauty comes from within. I wanted to help others understand this and bring out their own unique beauty“ We are excited to kick off our new series - Building a “Winning Personal Brand” with Women Who Win with today’s woman dreamer, Sandy Grigsby. She is Personal Branding Image expert and the founder of BrioFive, a personal branding agency that specializes in photography and helping their clients, and especially women, develop the confidence to make them stand out in a corporate world. A Tedx speaker and a Linkedin Learning Instructor, Grigsby has crafted several programs and courses that allow people to channel what makes them unique into a strong online presence.
In her multi-part series with Women Who Win, Grigsby will go through her journey as a Personal Branding Expert, explain why personal branding and self-care is an indispensable skill, and finally provide some tips and tricks on how to improve your own personal brand. Whether it's a LinkedIn profile, website, or social media presence, she knows the tools required to make them exude self confidence and a sense of personality that can’t otherwise be conveyed on a screen.
Check out the first installment below!
You described yourself as a “Jack of All Trades,” referencing your backgrounds as a spokesmodel, graphic designer, and photographer giving you a unique skill set. How have these skills helped you come to where you are today?
“As a "Jack of All Trades," my past experiences and obstacles have played a significant role in shaping my personal brand. Throughout my career as a spokesmodel, graphic designer, and photographer, I've encountered numerous challenges and obstacles that have forced me to shape myself in order to fit in and be liked. These experiences have allowed me to develop a variety of skill sets, but it wasn't until I took the time to understand why I was doing these things that I was able to define my personality traits and truly own the parts of myself that had been buried and silenced by all my attempts to fit in and be liked.”
2. How have your experiences and obstacles in the past helped shape your own personal brand and allowed you to find the confidence to do what you do?
“I realized that the approval of others isn't as important as the approval of myself, and once I accepted this, I was able to embody my confidence and demonstrate the best parts of me. This understanding allowed me to use my experiences and obstacles as tools to shape my personal brand and to narrate my story in an authentic and true way.
All these experiences and skills have given me the confidence to do what I do by understanding my own strengths and weaknesses, and by being able to narrate my personal branding journey in an authentic, credible, and relatable way. My past experiences and obstacles have taught me valuable lessons and helped me to become a better version of myself, which I use to shape my personal brand and stay true to who I am.”
3. Through your company BrioFive, you donate photo sessions to people in need and help them develop their personal brand for the workforce and their own self-confidence. How did you go about starting this venture, and what kind of an experience has it been?
“Briofive began as a web design company focused on creating beautiful designs for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Prior to launching Briofive, I worked as a graphic designer for several of Los Angeles' top photographers. I created websites for their high-profile and celebrity clients. When I started my own business I tried to mimic the quality and caliber of their work, but the problem was that I would create a beautiful website and my clients would give me subpar photos of themselves, which clashed with the quality of design that I was creating.”
“After numerous requests for new photos from my clients, I realized my perfectionism would drive me to do it myself, so I began photographing my clients and using my modeling experience to help them look better in their photos. Before I knew it, the photography portion of my business had completely taken over the design work, which was a relief because I was tired of non-designers telling me to make the worst revisions possible on my beautiful design work (a common complaint of artists...)”
“Witnessing the transformative power of our services and seeing the positive impact we've had on people's lives has been humbling. It's been a reminder that true beauty isn't something that can be bought or sold, but rather something that comes from within and can be brought out in anyone. It's why I keep doing it: to help people see their inner beauty and radiate confidence.”
4. Do any stories or transformations stick out to you?
“The story that really stuck with me the most throughout my career was when I was transitioning from graphic design to photography. I worked with a woman who has recently lost over 100 pounds. She had eight children, had been through a painful divorce, and realized that losing weight was her way of reclaiming her life. As we looked through her photos, she exclaimed, "I look so beautiful!" "This photo captures how I feel," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. That's when I realized my job was more important than taking photos for websites or for vanity. It was about giving someone a new perspective on their own reality, regaining their confidence, and discovering parts of themselves that had been lost, forgotten, or overlooked.”
“This experience fueled my desire to create outstanding work for those who lacked confidence and had forgotten their own awesomeness. By realizing that physical beauty has nothing to do with self-esteem and that true beauty comes from within. I wanted to help others understand this and bring out their own unique beauty, which is why I started offering photo sessions to people in need and assisting them in developing their personal brand for the workplace as well as their own self-confidence.”