How Can Personal Branding Impact South America and Mexico

Personal branding is all about differentiating yourself to stand out from the crowd in a positive way. More than clothes and styling, it’s a total image that’s designed to be impactful and memorable. No matter where in the world you live and work, building an image is essential. 

For Latina women, personal branding is an art, and when done well it can bring transformation, growth, and recognition.   For example, a woman living in South America and Mexico may have a rich culture, notable education, work experiences and community contributions yet may feel that she hasn’t fulfilled her ambitions. The challenge may be in her overall personal branding.  

Image consultants offer coaching to guide you through what it takes to build a stand-out brand that’s just right for you and all you want to accomplish. It’s about your outward appearance and even more about your values and goals for life.

Cultural Personal Branding Opens Doors 

As in any community, it may not be enough to be well qualified. To achieve your goals whether it’s a promotion, new job, or recognition outside of work you must also think about how you want to distinguish yourself overall at the workplace, an organization, or within other important groups. For example, let’s say you want to be recognized for your exceptional work, your personal results, consistency of your performance or any hobby, or sports in which you excel. An appearance that is pleasant and memorable will help with all those goals. Personal branding is an effective tool for presenting your full self in the best light and reaching your overall goals. 

No matter where you live, an image consultant can help you present a polished image that celebrates cultural heritage. It’s often that authentic cultural style that allows you to stand out by showcasing your individuality. 

Branding doesn’t just help people in the business world, many others can also benefit. Whether a person is going through a transition in their life, changing jobs, looking for an improvement in their self-image, unhappy in life, or just wanting to improve themselves, a personal brand will be an essential platform on which to build.

Creating the Platform of a Powerful Personal Brand

If you think of any “branded person” you admire, you will notice three traits: these people exude a spirit, a heart, and a head. In other words, their personal brand is based on sound values. It is clear what they stand for and represent in the world. Second, they are empathetic and instill loyalty; and third, they deliver information, knowledge or a new perspective which is useful and at times indispensable to their followers. 

Before any personal branding can even begin, it’s essential to take the time to learn what aspects of your personality, culture, talents, skills, attributes, and career path you want to project. For anyone with strong cultural ties, successful professional branding can take time and effort while keeping cultural connections intact.

An image consultant helps people hone their natural strengths while encouraging growth and refinement in other areas. If a client is determined to reach their goals but struggles to do so on their own, an image consultant can help by delving into all the areas and skills in which they excel and are different. 

Creating the Visual Image of your Personal Brand

Think of any brand on the store shelf and unless you have used the product, you will react first to the visual cues of the “package”. Personal Brands are no different. How you look will be the first thing others notice, interpret, and remember. Knowing how clothing, hair, makeup, accessories, ties, shirts, fit and grooming project a variety of visual messages is a useful start. These days, most employees come to work in casual clothing. However, there are two issues. Casual clothing can have many interpretations from professional to sloppy. Additionally, there are still professional and social occasions which necessitate a more structured approach.

Once you have done the work on your values, skills, talents, and attributes it will be easier to know what messages you need to project for every situation.

A few guidelines

• Tailored clothing projects credibility, professionalism, and trust.
• Softly constructed or unconstructed clothing says casual and more relaxed.
• Color projects personality and confidence level. Bright colors and colorful prints are energetic, playful, and fun while small prints and soft colors project empathy, restraint, and seriousness.
• Styles and accessories also project messages. High fashion says bold and wants to be noticed. Trends say updated thinking and willing to take risks. Classics say care and quality above all.
• Well- groomed projects credibility and an attention to detail both personally, and in other areas. Bad grooming says careless and to be avoided.

If for example you would like to tell people you are a fun, professional person, you could wear a colorful top, scarf, or patterned blouse with a structured jacket or trouser suit. A large, unusual necklace might say that you have a creative side. An impeccably fitting suit or jacket with an open shirt collar that stays in place to frame the neck might suggest that you attend to details in dress and other areas of your work.

Actions to Take to Create a Powerful Personal Brand

Beyond thinking about the visual aspects of your brand, take time to dive into your story – your values; what drives you; and what success looks like to you. Take a deep dive into your life goals, aspirations, and desires. Here’s an exercise that can help you to create an authentic brand that truly represents you.  

• Explore what drives and inspires you, what you enjoy. Then, what have you done in life to act on those desires?
• A useful approach is to write out everything you have accomplished. It needs to be original information that will make a lasting impression. Someone with a Hispanic background may have special knowledge or skills that another candidate might not. This is especially important to include if a company’s culture values these attributes. An image consultant can help them find and bring something new or beneficial to the table that competitors are unlikely to possess.
• Identify the details behind your accomplishments and results. It is important to see yourself as more than a collection of traits or characteristics. To impress others, you must unearth the details and proof. Think of these three elements:
  • The problems you had or were tasked to address 
  • The solutions you presented 
  • The quantifiable results and outcomes that emerged. Declaring that you are good at communication is too conceptual. Giving examples of times when your communication skills helped solve an issue and the specific personal or team result that followed, will bring them to life.
• Your strengths need to be unique and valuable. This can include skills, education, experience, personality traits, or other prized attributes. If you have a cultural connection (South American or Mexican) to a company (Latina-owned), including that information is essential. 
• This information can be built into a short pitch you may need on a moment’s notice. This can briefly explain your title, your company or community and what skills you are known for. A specialist can help you create that statement.
• How family, colleagues, bosses, and friends see you. There are well known apps to help you gather important feedback from colleagues, friends, and family to understand how they see you. For example, if you are bilingual and take pride in your strong cultural roots, that is a strength not every candidate can claim. 
• Get help on how to network on social media. These connections to the right people can give anyone lots of free exposure. For video or in-person networking and presentations you might well need voice coaching, accent modification and the ability to be concise and clear in your delivery.

Could a Career in Imaging Consulting Be Right for You?

If you love to help people grow and succeed, then you are the perfect person to learn about image consulting! London Image Institute offers training to people worldwide who can’t wait to start their careers as image consultants.

You can get people from all walks of life on the path to a better version of themselves and their future. Anyone can benefit from this kind of guidance, from celebrities, politicians, single moms wanting to get back into the workforce, to the socialite who needs etiquette information, to the fast-tracker who seeks promotion. London Image Institute has one of the most respected training programs worldwide and is an authorized training by The Association of Image Consultants International. Get in touch with us now and begin your life-changing journey today!