A friend once asked me at my first meeting with him, “What’s your story?” \u00a0I was actually stumped for an answer. I couldn’t really come up with a quick, interesting and short answer. I suppose that is what one could call your personal brand elevator pitch. I didn’t have an exciting answer for that friend at that time, save for saying I’m a Singaporean who has been working in Hong Kong for two years (at that time). Yawn.<\/p>\n
Last year I took part in a mentorship programme at work. For a period of eight months, I had to schedule a monthly one-hour meeting with a senior person in the company and work through things such as my career goals, direction, my definition of success, motivating factors etc. One of the items we had to work on was my personal brand. As homework, I had to come up with a personal brand statement. I did come up with one which my mentor liked and said it encapsulates what he knows of me from what I’ve told him.<\/p>\n
I believe\u00a0everyone has a story. Often, quiet people are like undiscovered treasure troves of stories; people are not as vanilla as they appear. I love reading about and listening to people’s stories. This is probably why I \u2013 along with millions of readers \u2013 love the website Humans of New York<\/a>. \u00a0I love how photographer Brandon Stanton has given the people of New York City faces and voices through his blog. I love the quotes that go with his portraits of people he approaches. With open questions like “What’s your biggest fear?”, “What was the happiest\/saddest moment of your life?”, “Who has influenced you most in your life?”, Stanton has managed to tease out incredible and heartfelt stories from the people on New York. There is the Egyptian climber who lost his wife in childbirth, a heart-wrenching story of loss<\/a>, \u00a0the people who want only to be accepted for who they are<\/a>, and the\u00a0techno grandma who is an inspiration to the young<\/a>. In a world where many of us live in big cities and go about our daily lives as a faceless cogs in this giant wheel we are in, Humans of New York reminds me that every person is a unique individual and special in his\/her own right.<\/p>\n The other website I like to read is Six-Word Memoirs<\/a>. In six words, we are given a microcosm of a person’s life or state of mind. The six words are beautiful in their succinctness, and how their brevity can often cut to the core of a person’s situation and story. I have contributed to the website before and have, on five occasions, gotten onto the Editor’s Picks!<\/p>\n Another favourite is the PostSecret<\/a> website where people write their secrets on postcards and post it anonymously to the website administrator who selects cards to be scanned and put up on the website. Like the Six-Word Memoirs, I enjoy reading these secret stories which can go from funny (E.g. When you are running to catch the elevator \/ And you see me inside trying to stop the doors from closing…I’m faking it.”) to sad (“I never told my husband I’m infertile. he thinks I just don’t want kids…I do.) to disillusioned (“I thought breast implants would make me happier. They didn’t.”).<\/p>\n Closer to my heart is The People of Singapore<\/a> which probably took inspiration from Humans of New York.<\/p>\n So what’s your story?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A friend once asked me at my first meeting with him, “What’s your story?” \u00a0I was actually stumped for an answer. I couldn’t really come up with a quick, interesting and short answer. I suppose that is what one could … Continue reading