Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / Million-Dollar Personal Branding With Talyn Rahman-Figueroa
Transcript
- 0:38Jennifer Johnson: In today's business world, your personal brand is essential.
- 0:41Jennifer Johnson: The most successful entrepreneurs understand that they themselves are their most valuable asset.
- 0:47Jennifer Johnson: And building a powerful personal brand can be worth millions.
- 0:51Jennifer Johnson: But creating an authentic, compelling personal brand requires strategy, diplomacy, and understanding how to navigate complex business relationships, all while staying true to who you are.
- 1:04Jennifer Johnson: Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Talyn Rahman-Figueroa.
- 1:09Jennifer Johnson: Yes.
- 1:11Jennifer Johnson: AKA the Fairy Boss Mother.
- 1:14Jennifer Johnson: She doesn't just build brands, she builds multimillion dollar personal brands.
- 1:19Jennifer Johnson: She started out behind the scenes advising politicians and diplomats on how to present themselves in public.
- 1:26Jennifer Johnson: And then she stepped away to build her own business.
- 1:30Jennifer Johnson: We're going to explore how she helps entrepreneurs transform themselves into million-dollar assets and how her background in diplomacy influences her approach to building personal branding.
- 1:42Jennifer Johnson: Thank you so much for joining me today.
- 1:46Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Jennifer, it's such a pleasure meeting you today.
- 1:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I have to say, you and I have coordinated so well with the Pinks.
- 1:52Jennifer Johnson: We have, haven't we?
- 1:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Telepathically.
- 1:55Jennifer Johnson: Perfectly.
- 1:56Jennifer Johnson: And Talyn, I may refer you to as the fairy boss mother as we go on in this conversation.
- 2:03Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yes, yes, yes.
- 2:04Jennifer Johnson: That's how people do that.
- 2:05Jennifer Johnson: I really love the fairy boss mother theme and talk about branding your own business.
- 2:10Jennifer Johnson: That is pretty cool.
- 2:12Jennifer Johnson: So I I really want to start this out by talking about your background in diplomacy.
- 2:18Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 2:18Jennifer Johnson: Because that was a very cool story.
- 2:21Jennifer Johnson: And if you have a moment to share with our audience what your background was in diplomacy, then we'll delve right in.
- 2:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, sure.
- 2:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I mean, it's not an it's not a very usual story to get into diplomacy and then personal branding.
- 2:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But I was one of those individuals, very much an extra per extrovert.
- 2:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I wanted to travel around the world.
- 2:40Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I wanted to represent something, not just myself or some corporation.
- 2:45Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So diplomacy was one of the best fits for me.
- 2:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Now, unfortunately, the reality hit like a truck.
- 2:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: While I was training as a diplomat, I realized there was a lot of ethical dilemmas that I just couldn't get over.
- 2:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You know, things like hey, if your government changes and you don't like the head of state and you still have to represent their voice piece, then you're pretty much stuck.
- 3:08Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: There was no I in diplomacy, it's always a we.
- 3:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I was I would be completely invisible, and who likes being invisible?
- 3:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And the other thing was I just didn't think I was the best fit in representing just the government.
- 3:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I was very much a people person, and I was as a diplomat, you're very much representing a government, a voice, the person who's leading, as opposed to the people you're supposed to represent.
- 3:36Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I pivoted, and then I just started to get into actually helping politicians and diplomats themselves with their personal brand because if they're going to be representing while they're abroad, they had to show themselves in the best light possible.
- 3:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And a lot of them, you know, the Shanifar, they forget why they started, and I would pull them right the way back.
- 4:01Jennifer Johnson: Wow.
- 4:02Jennifer Johnson: So I'm sure this is proving very valuable in what you're doing today, but how do the skills that you learned in your diplomacy uh journey translate into what you're doing now?
- 4:14Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, you know, it's really funny.
- 4:15Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I get asked that a lot.
- 4:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The one thing people don't realize is you get trained by the best when you're joining the government.
- 4:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You know, I was trained by the chief of MI5, which is our Secret Service.
- 4:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: We learned body language, we learned how to look the part, we learned how to blend in, but we also knew how to stand out with our voice and how and what we said.
- 4:36Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because your voice and your words matter more than anything.
- 4:40Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But you also have to understand non-verbal communication, what you don't say in the silence speaks more volume than what you do say that comes out of your mouth.
- 4:50Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And all of that, I use all of that with my clients.
- 4:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Absolutely.
- 4:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Even people who join my podcast, The Fairy Boss Mother Show, they don't realize I'm really looking out for the things that are being unsaid.
- 5:01Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that's that's when the I call it elbow dropping.
- 5:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I I make them feel that pain because that's where the real story lies.
- 5:10Jennifer Johnson: And that's really hard sometimes because that is active listening.
- 5:13Jennifer Johnson: That's really what that is.
- 5:14Jennifer Johnson: To listen to what's not being said, but is kind of lurking over here.
- 5:20Jennifer Johnson: Is that one of the skills that you you teach your entrepreneurs?
- 5:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, so I don't, I'm not a coach.
- 5:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I very much do build personal brands for my clients.
- 5:32Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But what happens while someone is in the process of working with me is they see themselves as a different version of who they are.
- 5:40Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because they know I'm really good at what I do, I should be valued more, I know that I can make a change because entrepreneurs, honestly, we we are entrepreneurs because we want to make an impact.
- 5:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's not just about the money.
- 5:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because if it was about the money, we could have done something completely different that isn't a you know 24-hour thing and you're alone a lot of the times.
- 6:03Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But we want to make an impact in the people that we want to help, but they just don't know how to talk about themselves, you know?
- 6:10Jennifer Johnson: That's true because it goes into my next thought of I think as a personal brand, and I can say this coming from myself as well.
- 6:18Jennifer Johnson: Sometimes we feel like if we toot our own horn and talk about all the things that, oh, I've been published here, I've done this, I've done that, that we feel like it's too promotional, or or I'm someone's gonna take me as being um just full of myself.
- 6:36Jennifer Johnson: How there's gotta be, there's a fine line, and how do you walk that fine line?
- 6:41Jennifer Johnson: How do you advise your clients to walk that fine line?
- 6:44Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, I mean, that's the same thing that I did with the politicians and diplomats.
- 6:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You couldn't call them by their name, Jennifer.
- 6:50Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You had to call them by a title, you know, your excellency, your whatever, whatever title they had, that's the salutation that we use.
- 6:57Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So already their identity was stripped because we had to use a barrier, or you know, a barrier was created.
- 7:04Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I think entrepreneurs have that same effect.
- 7:07Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: A lot of entrepreneurs they create a distance with their clients because they just like, well, I'll say we because it feels safe, even though you're the only person working in your business.
- 7:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then, of course, you mention, well, if I get published, or if so-and-so has been speaking with me, you're tooting your own horn.
- 7:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That is not personal branding, that's that's public relations.
- 7:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Now, what I do, Jennifer, is what was the real reason that you're starting what you're doing?
- 7:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because there was something pivotal in your life that made you go, you know what?
- 7:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I'm tired of this BS.
- 7:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I want to do this now because I've gone through it and now I want to help people.
- 7:46Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that's how a lot of businesses start up.
- 7:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I take it a step back and say, what was your aha moment?
- 7:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That, Jennifer, that is the story that you should be selling.
- 7:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Not, well, you know, a thousand people have used me and I've got this many followers.
- 8:03Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That I don't care about that.
- 8:04Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't care how much money you make.
- 8:06Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: How much do you value your history?
- 8:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And because you've been through something and now you're selling that solution, that's the real reason why you're the expert and why people should come to you.
- 8:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That's your personal brand.
- 8:19Jennifer Johnson: So, Talyn, how do you is it just having the talk you just had with me?
- 8:24Jennifer Johnson: Or how do you because a lot of people are gonna say what I just said, they're going to think that their personal brand ties back to?
- 8:33Jennifer Johnson: I mean, I've had this conversation with so many people, right?
- 8:35Jennifer Johnson: My my personal brands, my colors, my font, my this, my that, my that, the that, the.
- 8:40Jennifer Johnson: So how do you explain to them?
- 8:44Jennifer Johnson: How do you tell them and get them out of the headspace that this is not your personal brand?
- 8:49Jennifer Johnson: This is what really entails your personal brand.
- 8:53Jennifer Johnson: How do you get them out of that?
- 8:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Okay, so let's make it really, really easy, right?
- 8:56Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You mentioned colors and fonts and whatever.
- 8:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That is your packaging.
- 9:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That is what people see.
- 9:02Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Now, your personal brand in the simplest form is personal, right?
- 9:07Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: What is personal to you that you want to share to the rest of the world?
- 9:12Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Now, I'm not saying you have to be a reality TV show and tell everyone about your business, you know, what you ate for breakfast, what you know, what you're doing with your kids, what you do after work, it doesn't matter.
- 11:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: What you are really sharing is this very personal thing happened to me, and that is the catalyst to why I've started this business.
- 11:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I've been there, I've done that, I have the solution.
- 12:02Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Now I can help you because you're stuck in the same solution I was 10, 20, 30 years ago, or however long it was.
- 12:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That's what your personal brand is.
- 12:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You have to really, you it's really like targeting that like bullseye and zoning in on it.
- 12:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that's what you didn't repeat over and over again.
- 12:20Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Everything else is packaging.
- 12:22Jennifer Johnson: So now going into that, I know that, and correct me if I'm wrong, on your podcasts, you actually interactively work with people.
- 12:31Jennifer Johnson: Is that correct?
- 12:32Jennifer Johnson: Yeah on uh on this very topic.
- 12:35Jennifer Johnson: So what does it mean to turn your to turn yourself into a million-dollar brand?
- 12:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, I love that question.
- 12:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So a million-dollar brand isn't how much money you have in the bank, it's very much about your value.
- 12:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So do people see you as the dollar store or do they see you as Harrods?
- 12:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: There's a big difference, and all of that is about confidence, it's about what you say, who you say it to, and then what the end piece is.
- 13:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You know, um, there's a lot of mistakes entrepreneurs make when they talk about, well, I want to help everyone, or you know, I do so much and I don't know how to narrow down and I don't know how to niche down.
- 13:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: If you do not niche down or at least specialize in something, you're not gonna be helping anyone.
- 13:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then as a result, no one really knows what you stand for, what your values are.
- 13:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And Jennifer, the best thing that I do for a lot of people who come on my podcast is here's the mirror.
- 13:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I literally just do this.
- 13:36Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: There's a look in the mirror.
- 13:37Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Oh my gosh! And then you're like, oh my god, I never realized that that's my client.
- 13:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I'm like, yeah, your client is you, your client is you, and if you do not recognize the person in the mirror, then let's unwrap that and figure out who this person is and why you don't recognize that person anymore, because that person's not you anymore.
- 13:57Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 13:58Jennifer Johnson: Ah my gosh.
- 14:03Jennifer Johnson: So, you know, you mentioned about whether you're the dollar store or your Herod's.
- 14:11Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 14:12Jennifer Johnson: So that is an interesting topic in and of itself because sometimes people do position themselves to be the cheaper version, and you should really be over here.
- 14:24Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 14:25Jennifer Johnson: Is doing your framework get them to be where they're really should be worth.
- 14:30Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs are too scared to raise their price because they feel like they're gonna lose clients.
- 14:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Good, lose those clients because those clients were number one a headache, number two, asking too much of your time and your and your resources, and they will always ask for more without ever opening up their wallets.
- 14:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So you don't really want them, right?
- 14:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Really, you don't want them.
- 14:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: At the beginning, maybe, but as you evolve in your business, this is how you lead to burnout because you have a line of crappy clients who just do not respect you.
- 15:02Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You want to work with people who do respect you, who trust you, who say, you know what, Jennifer is the queen of what she's doing.
- 15:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: There's no one else I want to work with.
- 15:13Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And when you position yourself as the only choice for that person, they are not gonna look anywhere else.
- 15:20Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And guess what?
- 15:21Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: If you are too expensive, you get on their bucket list and saying, you know what?
- 15:25Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I know you charge a crazy amount, but you're worth it.
- 15:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And people said that to me.
- 15:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I do have people saying, okay, you're expensive, but I see why.
- 15:34Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because you're raising your value and they will eventually come to me.
- 15:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Or I might have to say, Hey, remember that conversation we had?
- 15:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Let's bring you back because I think you're ready.
- 15:44Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You have to show faith that they are in the right position to be able to work with you.
- 15:50Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But you need confidence to be able to do that.
- 15:53Jennifer Johnson: So, Talan, you're bringing back memories for me because I can remember when I when I let go one of my one of my clients way back when, and people looked at me, they thought I was crazy.
- 16:04Jennifer Johnson: And I'm like, no, because this is going to be there's gonna be problem, there's one problem, then it's another and another and another.
- 16:11Jennifer Johnson: Exactly.
- 16:11Jennifer Johnson: It's not worth it.
- 16:12Jennifer Johnson: It's it we just don't align.
- 16:14Jennifer Johnson: And you have to be, like you said, compet enough to draw the line in the sand and say, no, I'm done.
- 16:21Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 16:21Jennifer Johnson: So that you can fill that with people who actually do align.
- 16:25Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 16:25Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 16:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So your $200 client is now worth $1,500.
- 16:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Same parts, you know, same work, or maybe slightly more evolved.
- 16:34Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You're adding one extra client, and you've just removed the headache of filling in that 200 client with like eight of them.
- 16:43Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 16:43Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 16:45Jennifer Johnson: So in your time working with entrepreneurs, what do you feel are the one or one or two biggest mistakes that that individuals make that do devalue their brand or don't bring them into the in front of the right audience?
- 16:59Jennifer Johnson: What are they doing?
- 17:01Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't think they feel like they are important enough in their business.
- 17:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Honestly, that's my that's my most candid response.
- 17:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: They always say, you know, I want to talk about my business.
- 17:13Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, you know, my business name is boss diploma.
- 17:15Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't think people really know that because now I've branded myself as the fairy boss mother.
- 17:20Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right.
- 17:20Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, and that's something that's very memorable.
- 17:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: People don't really, you know, if they don't know my name, that's fine.
- 17:25Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But I now have created kind of like an avatar of myself for public consumption.
- 17:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I don't think a lot of entrepreneurs do that enough because the most popular people who are absolutely killing it in their business, the first thing they work on and invest in is their personal brand.
- 17:43Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: They know exactly what they're saying, they rinse and repeat that.
- 17:47Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That consistency is golden.
- 17:50Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because think about it.
- 17:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I mean, let's use another example, Jennifer, right?
- 17:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, the most basic personal branding is the way you dress yourself, right?
- 17:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Your visual image.
- 18:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Most people get that wrong because they wake up and going, oh, I've got nothing to wear, even though the closet's like bursting with like clothes, and then they dress with their emotions, and then the next day they do the same thing, and then you're thinking, oh my god, who am I going to talk to today?
- 18:15Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I have no idea.
- 18:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that inconsistency shows, and that's when you're devaluing yourself because I don't know who you are right now, even though, like, imagine you and I know each other for a long time, Jennifer, but you're dressing with your emotions, you just go with the flow in the moment.
- 18:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: There's no strategy behind you, right?
- 18:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that's what happens when you don't have a personal brand.
- 18:40Jennifer Johnson: I love that.
- 18:41Jennifer Johnson: Can you share with our viewers or listeners and viewers?
- 18:44Jennifer Johnson: Because they may not know what an avatar is.
- 18:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So an avatar is another version of you that you show publicly.
- 18:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, for example, you know, I'm a I call myself a soldier.
- 18:55Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I'm not, you know, the wife, the mother, the entrepreneur.
- 18:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I have two businesses.
- 18:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, so not only do I do personal branding, but behind the scenes I do real estate, um, I buy properties, but that's not the version of me that I talk to online, it's the fairy boss mother.
- 19:12Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So it's who, which version of you are you willing to talk about?
- 19:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that is the person that you show up.
- 19:19Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's almost like you're performing for your audience.
- 19:21Jennifer Johnson: Sure.
- 19:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right?
- 19:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But you need to be consistent.
- 19:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You can't just say, you know what, today I'm going to create content about breakfast and food and nutrition when you've never ever talked about that before.
- 19:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right.
- 19:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because then all of a sudden your audience is gonna go, that's not the reason why I'm following you, or the reason why I'm I'm interested in you.
- 19:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And now you flip-flop, I'm not interested anymore, and boom, you've just shut your audience down.
- 19:43Jennifer Johnson: It goes back to being authentic.
- 19:45Jennifer Johnson: And I think for some people, it's really hard to figure out.
- 19:50Jennifer Johnson: They may have a very um broad base of things that they're interested in and things that they want to do, but to really distill it down and to figure out what message, like you said, do you really want to convey to people?
- 20:03Jennifer Johnson: What is it?
- 20:04Jennifer Johnson: That's a hard process.
- 20:06Jennifer Johnson: And is that something that you go through?
- 20:09Jennifer Johnson: Is that a process that you go through with them?
- 20:11Jennifer Johnson: What does that look like as they're trying to figure themselves out?
- 20:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 20:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, so yes, I have a very easy question um answer to that.
- 20:21Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I have the boss diplomat code.
- 20:23Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: When I build million-dollar personal brands for my clients, Jennifer, I do it in a hundred days.
- 20:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That is my process.
- 20:30Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: In a hundred days, you will be leveling up into the one, you know, the million-dollar version of yourself in your business.
- 20:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And it always starts with the foundation of who you are, what you represent, and what you want to show off.
- 20:45Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, for me, for example, um the reason why foundation is so important is because it is so easy for us entrepreneurs to get pulled in a million different directions.
- 20:55Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then you realize I have no time for myself, I don't have time for self-care, I don't have time to work out, I don't have time to do basic human things that we need as entrepreneurs, and your foundation is pivotal.
- 21:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So for me, um the foundation of my brand, and this is something that I don't often show, but it is a core part of my my personal brand now is I I wake up at five o'clock in the morning.
- 21:21Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I hate it, I do hate it, I admit it.
- 21:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Hate it to death because I'm a night owl.
- 21:27Jennifer Johnson: Oh, that would be why.
- 21:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But I'm also a parent, so it's like, oh, okay.
- 21:32Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I wake up at five.
- 21:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The first thing I do, Jennifer, is boxing.
- 21:36Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So that's that's a really cool part of but um me, not my brand, me.
- 21:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then um something else I do for myself is qigong.
- 21:45Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So that's a softer version of like Tai Chi Ancient Arts.
- 21:49Jennifer Johnson: Oh wow.
- 21:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I'm actually showing these now in my content because it's like in order for me to be a million-dollar brand, I need roots that is so deep that no one can pull out.
- 21:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, what are the things that keeps you grounded, rooted, and stay firm so you don't burn out?
- 22:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And that is one of the biggest things that I build is the foundation.
- 22:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Before you start to build the skyscraper, which is your butt, which is your million-dollar personal brand.
- 22:15Jennifer Johnson: That's a wonderful analogy.
- 22:17Jennifer Johnson: Building those roots, growing those roots, so no, you can't it can't be pulled out from under you.
- 22:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, I mean, think about it.
- 22:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: When you're building a skyscraper, your foundation has to be like oh so deep.
- 22:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I can't even like it needs to be wicked deep.
- 22:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That is gonna be the hardest part of your personal brand.
- 22:34Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then once your the foundation is deep enough, you've got really deep roots that no one can pull out, and then your skyscraper, then you have to start laying up your skyscraper, and your skyscraper can be well, it can't be 10 floors, that's not skyscraper, it could be 60 floors, it could be 120 floors, like the sky's the limit.
- 22:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But guess what?
- 22:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Your personal brand evolves with you every single year.
- 22:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So the more experiences you have, the more you know, life lessons you get, the higher you're stacking your personal brand because it it moves with you.
- 23:08Jennifer Johnson: So you mentioned, you know, now you're starting to show your audience the fact that you do boxing and and your personal stuff, the stuff that is for you.
- 23:16Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, I know that people are probably thinking, oh my gosh, that is so vulnerable, that's so personal.
- 23:24Jennifer Johnson: How do you work with your clients on building the boundaries, however?
- 23:29Jennifer Johnson: Because with like anything, there needs to be boundaries.
- 23:34Jennifer Johnson: How do you how do you navigate that?
- 23:37Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, boundaries is super important.
- 23:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And it's not just boundaries, it's also what I call the visibility protocol.
- 23:43Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So this is going back in my diplomacy days where you need to make sure that you're not just filming everything, but you're also protecting what you're showing on camera.
- 23:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, for example, never share your location or show street signs or or things that's going to give away your physical location because you make yourself extra vulnerable when you're doing that, right?
- 24:04Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And people don't think about that.
- 24:06Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But um, going back to you know the boxing and qigong for me, the reason why I'm showing that it's because a lot of people talk about oh burnout, burnout, burnout, burnout.
- 24:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So, how do you avoid burnout before it becomes a problem?
- 24:21Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And this is why I'm showing off that part of me, because for me, that's part of my code now, it's just what I do, right?
- 24:28Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And because this is just what I do, expect to expect me to do this every day now because it's just part of my brand.
- 24:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So it I mean, what is the one thing that you love doing for yourself, Jennifer?
- 24:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Let's see.
- 24:40Jennifer Johnson: Oh my gosh.
- 24:40Jennifer Johnson: There's two things I love shopping and I love taking baths.
- 24:45Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Okay, okay, okay, yeah.
- 24:47Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I mean, that's something that is very you.
- 24:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So the things that keeps you grounded, it could be anything, right?
- 24:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: For me, it's what it's something physical.
- 24:56Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: For you, it's I mean, taking baths and shopping, the shopping part that's something that you can actively.
- 25:02Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Like dynamically show off, right?
- 25:05Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 25:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And see and say this is quintessentially Jennifer now.
- 25:08Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right.
- 25:09Jennifer Johnson: And it's it's really self-care.
- 25:12Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 25:13Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 25:13Jennifer Johnson: Which shows, you know, if you're talking the talk, you better walk the walk, right?
- 25:17Jennifer Johnson: And exactly.
- 25:19Jennifer Johnson: Exactly.
- 25:20Jennifer Johnson: So in all of this, with building your personal brand, how does storytelling and narratives tie in with everything?
- 25:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, everything is a story.
- 25:30Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You'll have so many stories about things you have to share, not just about your clients, because sometimes it's not about your clients, it's about what you've done to get over the things that your clients are struggling with.
- 25:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right?
- 25:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So the very first question you asked me was, okay, diplomacy and now personal branding, how?
- 25:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right?
- 25:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: People are going to be naturally curious about the basic questions.
- 25:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: If you're able to nail down those basic questions that people are always going to be curious about, that's your story.
- 26:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: That's your story.
- 26:02Jennifer Johnson: And create that narrative so you can have it on replay every time they ask, because you will be asked.
- 26:07Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You will be asked.
- 26:08Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And guess what?
- 26:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Then you have just nailed down your narrative for yourself and you control that narrative, Jennifer.
- 26:15Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: No one else does.
- 26:16Jennifer Johnson: That's a very good point.
- 26:17Jennifer Johnson: Absolutely.
- 26:19Jennifer Johnson: So as you are building your brand, you're building your million-dollar brand, and you're getting this information out to your what platforms do you suggest people use?
- 26:32Jennifer Johnson: And I know everyone's gonna be a little bit different, but are there any platforms that work better than others for amplifying your message?
- 26:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, just like personal branding is personal.
- 26:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So one platform can work really well for one type of business and not for someone else.
- 26:47Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So it depends.
- 26:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, I think content is very important when it comes to branding.
- 26:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So you have to decide are you a are you comfortable being on camera or audio only or just written text?
- 27:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I think once you decide on what format you want your content, then you can decide, well, if it's written, then I need to make sure my blog is my website is doing really, really well.
- 27:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So you don't have to worry about social media or Instagram, but LinkedIn could be something great because that's a lot of written text.
- 27:18Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: If you're visual and you want to show your face off, then Instagram and um you know YouTube could be a really great platform.
- 27:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So again, it's a personal choice and go deep into that because your audience will always find you.
- 27:32Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then, of course, Jennifer, doing podcasts like this is great because you're borrowing someone else's audience and you're not just recreating from scratch.
- 27:40Jennifer Johnson: You know, Talyn, I'm glad you mentioned that.
- 27:42Jennifer Johnson: You said go deep.
- 27:43Jennifer Johnson: I think one of, in my opinion, one of the mistakes that people make is it's kind of a spray and play.
- 27:48Jennifer Johnson: Let me be everywhere.
- 27:50Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, let me just do them all.
- 27:52Jennifer Johnson: But then what happens when you do them all?
- 27:55Jennifer Johnson: You give them this much effort.
- 27:57Jennifer Johnson: What do you say about that?
- 27:59Jennifer Johnson: Don't do it.
- 28:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's a waste of time.
- 28:01Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's a waste of time.
- 28:04Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's the same thing as saying, I help everyone.
- 28:06Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Well, if you help everyone, you help no one, right?
- 28:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Right, right.
- 28:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So it's the same thing.
- 28:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You're just wasting and you're just burning so much energy on stuff that at the end of the day, we have a business, which means we need to make money from it, right?
- 28:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So that's what did you call it?
- 28:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The spray and play.
- 28:25Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's like it's literally like throwing spaghetti at the wall and what's gonna stick.
- 28:30Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Nothing because you have to clean that mess up.
- 28:36Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 28:37Jennifer Johnson: No one wants to do that.
- 28:39Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, it doesn't work, but I think a lot of people think because they heard it somewhere.
- 28:44Jennifer Johnson: Someone on some, you know, some expert somewhere told them, you know, you just do it all on all the channels and you got it all covered.
- 28:52Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, and I learned long ago that I could probably do two channels well, and that was it.
- 28:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Exactly.
- 28:58Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You have to go deep.
- 29:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And then that way you can spend a little bit more extra money putting ads and promotions behind it to like amplify and boost the work that you're doing.
- 29:10Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You can't do that with like 10 channels.
- 29:13Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 29:13Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You'll be expensive and it'll be really stupid if you do.
- 29:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 29:18Jennifer Johnson: Social media posting.
- 29:19Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
- 29:20Jennifer Johnson: So going into how you measure the success of building your personal branding is how do you determine what your ROI is on this, your return on investment?
- 29:32Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 29:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So this is a really tricky one because your personal brand evolves the more you do it.
- 29:37Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But I'll give you an example of a client of mine.
- 29:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, she's based in Barbados, she sells uh candles for a living, but these are candles that are quintessentially like Barbadian.
- 29:47Jennifer Johnson: Okay.
- 29:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And these smells, these scents are very much tied to her own history, like the things that she grew up with.
- 29:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, one of the most famous things she said to me was um when people think of the Caribbean, they think of mangoes and coconuts and pineapples, but Caribbean people don't go to the beach and they don't eat fruit.
- 30:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So why the hell are we right?
- 30:08Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So why are we showing off these like things that are typically Caribbean when the average Caribbean doesn't do any of that?
- 30:15Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So for her, once we built a brand, the first, the only thing she kept talking to me about was, I'm a six-figure business, I'm gonna be a seven, seven-figure business, eight-figure business.
- 30:27Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And all I said to her was, I don't care about how much money you make.
- 30:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: How much, how much do you value yourself?
- 30:34Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And she couldn't put a number on her own self-worth.
- 30:37Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And now when she talks about the journey she's been through, the reasons why she's you know, she's created those scents, there's a personal story behind it.
- 30:48Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And now she's walking around like I feel like a million-dollar brand right now.
- 30:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I feel it.
- 30:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's not something you but and and when you see how she talks about her brand, it's completely different from a year ago to the point where she's completely reset all of her content.
- 31:03Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: She's like, I don't want to even show that version of me anymore.
- 31:06Jennifer Johnson: Isn't that amazing to see that transformation?
- 31:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 31:09Jennifer Johnson: That's that's pretty awesome.
- 31:11Jennifer Johnson: So as we wrap up, what is one insight from your diplomacy years and your diplomacy background that has influenced your approach to personal branding and your business today?
- 31:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, you have to look at people, look at what they're not saying, and don't be afraid to pull that version of them out.
- 31:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I think that's my skill set, that's what I do.
- 31:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, you know, a lot of people get stuck in the corporate jargon, talking about oh, the processes and you know, the money and the systems and the models.
- 31:47Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I'm thinking, but where are you in your business?
- 31:50Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't see that.
- 31:51Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You're not talking about the reason why you started, other than I want to make money, I don't care.
- 31:56Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't care how much money you're making in your business.
- 31:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But what are you doing to connect with people in a way that's meaningful and isn't just like a today?
- 32:07Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I'm gonna show you three things on three ways of doing X, Y, and Z.
- 32:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Like everyone talks like that.
- 32:12Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But when you're speaking from the heart and you are being vulnerable, I think the thing is, Jennifer, people are scared to be vulnerable because they're scared of that feedback and that rejection.
- 32:23Jennifer Johnson: That's true.
- 32:23Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Embrace it.
- 32:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The more you embrace that, the more powerful you feel and become.
- 32:28Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 32:29Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Because that feedback is gonna only make you better, right?
- 32:33Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 32:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Even if you do get feedback and it stinks, so what?
- 32:36Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You've just toughened up a bit.
- 32:38Jennifer Johnson: That's very true.
- 32:39Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, it's very true.
- 32:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: No one teaches you that as an entrepreneur.
- 32:43Jennifer Johnson: You know what?
- 32:44Jennifer Johnson: No, and and being an entrepreneur, you have to have your skin has to be pretty tough because I you never know what a customer is gonna come out and say.
- 32:53Jennifer Johnson: You never know what's gonna get thrown at you from any which direction, and you have to have thick skin to repel that and and deal with whatever it is.
- 33:02Jennifer Johnson: So I totally agree with that.
- 33:04Jennifer Johnson: So, Talyn, we're gonna head into the final four.
- 33:07Jennifer Johnson: Four questions that I ask every guest that's on my show because I always get a different answer, typically.
- 33:14Jennifer Johnson: Okay, for all of these.
- 33:16Jennifer Johnson: So, my first one what is your favorite book that you have read and what was it that made it stick with you?
- 33:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Oh, oh, this is a good one.
- 33:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I have two.
- 33:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Can I share two?
- 33:25Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yes, absolutely.
- 33:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: No, they're not business marketing books.
- 33:30Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Throw them out, don't read them.
- 33:31Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, I saw I have two.
- 33:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, one is by Evie Pomporas.
- 33:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The book is called Becoming Bulletproof.
- 33:37Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: She is a former FBI agent who was part of the whole 9-11 shenanigan, and um, she talks about how to build resilience, how to you know survey your environment, how to read people, like all of the stuff that I learned as a diplomat, but from an FBI agent point of view, she teaches you all of those strategies, and I think it's incredibly critical for you to learn those skills, especially if you're gonna become a million-dollar personal brand, because you need to be able to have your own like security in place with yourself.
- 34:09Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So that's the first one.
- 34:11Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: The second one that people don't ex well, people who know me know I will say something like this, but it's a book by an MMA champion called Um, his name is George St.
- 34:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Pierre, and the book is called The Way of the Fight.
- 34:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And again, it's about Way of the Fight.
- 34:27Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, it's about discipline, being consistent, shutting down the world to perfect your art.
- 34:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: He's very much a lone warrior when it comes to the work he does, but he's a champion for a reason.
- 34:41Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Again, you can't build a million-dollar brand without shutting down a few of the windows and just being like super dedicated to your art.
- 34:49Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And he teaches a lot about those strategies that a lot of entrepreneurs can take away.
- 34:55Jennifer Johnson: I wrote both of them down.
- 34:56Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah.
- 34:57Jennifer Johnson: I'm going on a trip and I'm going to get those so that I can read those.
- 35:01Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Learn about the, you know, the martial arts way and then what secret agents do.
- 35:06Jennifer Johnson: Right, absolutely.
- 35:07Jennifer Johnson: Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice that you find yourself coming back to time and time again?
- 35:14Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yes, okay.
- 35:14Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I have one on my whiteboard.
- 35:16Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Let me just read it out.
- 35:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I don't know who said this, but it says, plan like you're gonna live forever.
- 35:21Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Live like you're gonna die tomorrow.
- 35:24Jennifer Johnson: Oh, I love it.
- 35:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Mm-hmm.
- 35:26Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Which is a bit scary, but if it doesn't scare you, then but you know, it's it's so true.
- 35:33Jennifer Johnson: It's very true.
- 35:33Jennifer Johnson: What's one habit or practice that's changed your life?
- 35:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Yeah, I think the foundation is what you and I discussed earlier.
- 35:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You know, having my 5 a.m.
- 35:44Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: rituals and having my 9 p.m.
- 35:45Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: rituals has been amazing because before, you know, I'd wake up when my daughter wakes up, I'd go to sleep when I felt like it.
- 35:53Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: As a result, you end up really, really tired.
- 35:55Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: You're not giving enough to yourself, you're not filling up your own cup.
- 35:59Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And now I'm my my number one priority is my own cup must be filled before I give it out to anyone else because I'm very much someone who gives energy to other people, but I need to be able to like give that energy back to myself.
- 36:13Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 36:14Jennifer Johnson: That's a beautiful piece of advice.
- 36:16Jennifer Johnson: If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?
- 36:22Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Oh, dang, this is a tough one.
- 36:24Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um that's a really hard one for me because um, you know, as someone who worked in diplomacy, I've met some amazing people.
- 36:33Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Like, for example, I met Desmond Tutu.
- 36:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, you know, I sat it's really funny story.
- 36:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, he kept saying, you know, come over because we're doing a photo shoot, and there was nowhere to sit, and he kept saying, sit on my lap, sit on my lap.
- 36:46Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And I just thought, well, that's not very appropriate because back then I was 20 years old.
- 36:50Jennifer Johnson: Um oh my gosh.
- 36:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I kind of sat near him, like on perching, I was sharing his chair, not on his lap.
- 37:00Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, I don't know.
- 37:02Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I I okay, if there was one person I could like meet and have lunch with, they're not alive anymore.
- 37:08Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: But the one person that I wanted to meet and not alive anymore is the queen.
- 37:12Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I didn't get to meet my own queen.
- 37:14Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So I guess I have to settle for the king now.
- 37:17Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Hopefully, I get an invite one day.
- 37:21Jennifer Johnson: Exactly.
- 37:21Jennifer Johnson: Oh my gosh, wouldn't that be so cool?
- 37:24Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, yeah, that would be very cool, Talyn.
- 37:27Jennifer Johnson: It has been an absolute pleasure having you on today.
- 37:31Jennifer Johnson: If our listeners want to get a hold of you, how can they do so?
- 37:35Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Hey, you want to watch me build my million-dollar personal brand?
- 37:38Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Go to Instagram.
- 37:39Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, follow me at boss diplomat.
- 37:42Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: And also, um, I do have my own show called the Fairy Boss Mother Show.
- 37:46Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So everything you and I discuss, Jennifer, I am looking for a challenging opponent to get into the ring with me.
- 37:52Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: I usually have this on.
- 37:54Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: It's my boxing glove.
- 37:55Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Oh my god.
- 37:56Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Look how chatted this is.
- 37:57Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: So it's like get into the ring with me, come into the fairy bossmother show, and let me show you what your million dollar version could look like.
- 38:05Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Um, so if you want to do that, it's on my website, bossdiplomat.com.
- 38:10Jennifer Johnson: Awesome.
- 38:10Jennifer Johnson: Thank you so much, Talyn.
- 38:12Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: Thank you, Jennifer.
- 38:13Talyn Rahman-Figueroa: This was a pleasure.