Reinventing Myself: The Diplomat Who Became a Personal Branding Specialist
It’s funny how today of all days, I share my backstory on my journey as a second-time entrepreneur. It’s my birthday (woot)! And that’s right - Boss Diplomat is NOT my first business. In fact, I used to be a Diplomatic Consultant for my first business, Grassroot Diplomat, where I trained citizens to become diplomats and worked on personal branding for politicians and diplomats. I decided not to work as an official diplomat for the United Kingdom simply because I was conflicted by too many ethical dilemmas. But it gave me lots of freedom to work with as many diplomats as possible, even side by side with Israel and Palestine.
But I’m not here to talk about my diplomatic past (although I have a TON of stories I could share with you). Being able to pivot and reinvent yourself is a critical part of personal branding and when done skillfully, you have a very rich and hard-to-copy business that even you won’t be able to replicate a second time. Let me share my story about how THIS consultant went from dining with her very public-facing clients at 5-star restaurants to hiding behind Zoom and turning everyone else into public-facing solopreneurs.
1. Life as an Expat
I'm not from the United States. I'm originally from London, the United Kingdom, and I moved to Massachusetts, which is where I am currently since 2019. I've been in and out of America for a very long time, but I decided to settle down here for personal reasons. But my background is very diverse. I’m educated in the UK and Japan with fellowships from Morocco, the US and Canada. As a result, I’ve been around various parts of the world, and my last speaking engagement in the diplomacy world was in Bangkok, Thailand at the United Nations training center.
2. From Diplomacy to Entrepreneurship
Just for the record, I never joined the Foreign Service for the country even though I did all the training for it. Before I sat down for the civil service exam, I felt like my life was about to be owned by the government and I didn’t even like having a boss, let alone several bosses who would encourage me to keep quiet and lie. So I decided to work from the outside in and the path as a solopreneur became my reality. My business brand was so strong, I was able to attract a high caliber of public figures to take meetings with me and even spend long lunches and evenings with them at some very expensive restaurants. I may not have been an official diplomat, but I certainly lived that lifestyle for a brief time.
3. The Influence of Diplomatic Training on Personal Branding
Although I have geographically left the city of diplomacy behind, the diplomat brand is still a VERY strong part of my identity. Everything I do now for my clients stems from everything I learned in the field as a diplomat and working closely with government officials. Reading between the lines, deciphering what’s dishonest and true, understanding the subtle art of body language and tone of voice, and asking the right questions - all of my skills came from years of interviewing and speaking with politicians and diplomats who are very hard to target. These were individuals with decades of experience ahead of me and were doing far more important work than me. But when you treat everyone as a mentor (no matter how junior or senior someone is to your rank), you can learn a heck of a lot from them - whether they like it or not.
4. Bridging Communication Gaps
I did a lot of contracting work with the British government and worked with a handful of departments in various capacities. The most common work I did as a contractor was to turn briefing papers and top-level project information and rewrite them so that it filters down. And when it gets to the average citizen, they understood exactly what the government was delivering and promoting, and what programs were being put together for them. And this is exactly the work I do now for solopreneurs - making your business connect with the people you want to help.
5. Influence and Access in Politics
When you’re working with a government official, many people can only, even if they’re lucky, get ten minutes with them. I always got 60 minutes with politicians and diplomats I wanted to speak to because my personal and business brand was strong. Of course, I expected their Executive Assistants to do their due diligence on my business, so ensuring that my website and any public information about me was available and transparent was the key to my success. Solopreneurs need to operate in the same way. You can’t expect to gain trust from people who don’t know you if you don’t show up in your business.
6. Leadership Accountability
Naturally, I’ve met with public figures who insisted that their entire press, legal, and administration team had to be in the meeting with us. Thankfully, these instances were rare, but the times when this happened, red flags appeared immediately. Throwing your entire team into a meeting acts as a buffer or a defense mechanism. With so many people in the room, it’s hard to overshare or be vulnerable, and the whole point of my being there was to find that vulnerability so that these individuals were more likable and approachable within the right circumstances. It’s worse when the leader you are trying to connect with is delegating answers for others to answer, but still taking credit for everything. Major red flags and very unclassy!
There is so much I can say about my time as a diplomat consultant that translates so perfectly into my current role as a Personal Brand Consultant. But I can fill a book with all of my stories. But one of the biggest takeaways from my diplomatic pivot is that brand authenticity and personal touch are highly transferable skills across all fields and industries. That is why I haven’t settled into working with a specific type of industry. I was previously working with a very specific and specialized niche back in London, but now that I’m in the United States with a new crowd of people and cultures, I couldn’t narrow my chance to work with solopreneurs from all walks of life. Many solopreneurs continue to stay in the shadows, not knowing how to bring themselves into their business and show up. But that’s exactly what I do as your Fairy BOSSmother - I make you look so awesome, you can’t be ignored!
