2296 - Guide to Building a Standout Personal Brand with Lauren Davis

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0:58With us right now, Lauren Davis. Lauren, We have been connected for many, many years through our days at Social Media Marketing World. It is wonderful to have you. Your website is laurendaviscreative.com. You are the founder. You are a personal branding expert. You're a speaker. And Lauren, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, listen, before we talk about your superpowers, and I am really excited to kind of get your take on the state of branding today? Because again, like most things, you know, there's a lot of evolution taking place and in a lot of these, you know, quadrants of business ownership.

1:41So we'll talk about branding. But before we do that, Lauren, I always love learning what, you know, high achieving, you know, business leaders doing their off time for fun. What are you currently geeking out on? Well, I used to own a record store for like 16 years of vinyl. You're kidding. Oh my gosh. In Chicago? Yeah, in Rockford, Illinois. In Rockford? Northern Illinois, yes. Wow. A few years back, like four-ish years back now, I left that business, exited that business. However, when I exited, I kind of like stopped doing some of the things I used to do, which was on the weekends, like sitting, trying to discover new music on YouTube and listen to new music and listen to tiny desk concerts.

2:28and like listen to all of those like things that just really made me feel like me. Like if you look at any of my bios, you'll see I love making people a great playlist. And I've just like really nerded out on music lately again and just started listening to music. Even one of my mastermind members was like, could you make me a playlist of like new music? I haven't heard any new music in a while. And I was like, you got it. I got this for you. So that's really what I've been doing lately is just like, I love putting together a playlist. I love putting together a vibe. Will you put together a playlist for me, Lauren?

3:06Oh, yeah. Totally. Okay. And if it's okay, I would love to create a playlist for you. You know what's so funny? I would love that. Is that when I was in high school, that is the way that I would show my affection to my unrequited love girlfriends. I'm like okay I am probably not in her league but I'm gonna make a I'm gonna make a mixtape for her anyway and see if it gets me any kind of appreciation I burned I burned so many CDs for people like sorry music artists when I was in high school I was always making mixtapes and burnt CDs and like oh my gosh this is like this is driving and I would name them something so super like silly, like driving through, uh, driving on the weekends or something like that, you know, just something really silly that would give a feeling about the playlist.

3:59So I would obviously, you know, you're kind of like writing all the tracks on there and stuff. And, and yeah, I, you know, and I'd love to like kind of throw some artistic flourishes on there, certainly like on the spine or something like that. So I'd actually create like a, uh, you know, an insert to go with it. Those were the days. Oh, this is so fun, Lauren. I'm so inspired. I'm going to go create. And like, how many tracks do you typically put in a playlist that you'll share with somebody? I mean, is it just kind of like whatever? Well, I make playlists for myself a lot. So sometimes I don't even know how some of them I have only a few tracks.

4:33Some of them have many, many tracks, but I'm usually going for some kind of like feeling or vibe to that playlist. So So I mean, this is not new playlist like material, right? Like this is how most people do it, I think. But that's how I do it. And so usually like I think it usually ends up being about 30 songs or something like that. Oh, my goodness. Wow. You can at least play it for a period of time and not really hit the same songs twice or, you know, get ready, get ready to leave the house and listen to all the music, but not hear the same songs twice. So something like that. You know, what is so great about this is that, you know, it's like, you know, you know, it's, it's such a, like, when we value music, like it's, it's, it's like we have a personal, usually we have a personal connection with her, some sort of like, this is meaningful to me, this speaks to my soul.

5:25And then when we share that gift with others, like it really, it's like a glimpse into, you know, the soundtrack of their life and like how valuable that is. So I love this. So I am inspired. I am going to, I think, create a, I'm going to create a playlist. I'm going to share it on social, probably maybe even create a blog post about it. And then who knows, maybe like even put it on my company website and email it out to everybody. I love this. I love this. I love it too. I'm so glad that I've re-inspired you. Yes. I love it. So Lauren, let's talk about branding. Your website again is laurendaviscreative.com.

6:05Tell us about the work that you do. Well, everybody has a personal brand, right? We all, no matter if like, I almost kind of cringe when people say I have to build a personal brand or I have to create my personal brand because everyone already has a personal brand. And I grew, I cut my teeth in my adulthood in the local business world, right? Having a vinyl record store. We started it in 2006. So from 2006 to 2009, you know, it was a huge recession happening. People weren't like going out and buying vinyl, right? So I started like thinking like, how can I tell the story of what we're doing here in this business?

6:49How can I really tell the story of what a record means to somebody? Because it's more than just listening to a song you like. You cannot listen to a record passively. You have to listen to it actively. You have to put it on the record player. You have to drop the needle into the grooves. You have to sit. You're probably going to look at the record jacket. You're probably going to look at all the liner notes. And that gives people a much different feeling than just saying like, hey, we have records for sale. You know, hey, we've got records from your grandma's basement that, you know, someone sold us.

7:22So there was a huge shift in the way that I learned how to tell stories from the local business point of view. As I was doing that, people kept coming to me and saying, like, how are you doing this? How are you building a story around your company? And, you know, I was building stories around us as the owners as well. How are you building these stories around yourselves? How are you getting national attention? are you getting local news to come out and cover this? Because it was like a dark music store. It wasn't like, you know, some like cool, well-established thing yet. And so I started teaching other people how to do the same thing.

8:02I eventually went back to college for marketing and business. I started traveling and going into tons of conferences. And I started meeting a lot of speakers and thought leaders and authors, podcasters. And as I was meeting them, I was realizing that all of these concepts that apply to building community in a local business atmosphere, in a small business atmosphere, they apply to entrepreneurs who are building communities online, who are building reverence around their name, and who are building a reputation around who they are. And so I started developing what I would call are like the five personal branding basics that you just kind of have to ask yourself as you go through time to sort of audit what your personal brand is doing and make improvements from those places.

8:53I love it. Lauren, 2025, we're in the second half of the year now. Obviously, you know, AI is the main major headline. I think, you know, of this year, is it, well, there's probably some other competing headlines. Let's just stick with AI.

9:14So that said, what is going on in the world of branding, particularly kind of the SMB world, you know, the trends that you're seeing, what's going on? So the first step in that five-step process is, are you findable? Like, can people find you? Okay. And that really plays into what AI is doing right now. I've been booked for two speaking gigs and one influencer marketing campaign like this month because somebody put in a series of very specific prompts and it popped out my name and a description of what I do. So I don't want you to think that AI is simply just for prompting and getting answers for yourself.

10:08There is also a lot of things behind the scenes of building your personal brand in a way that captures SEO, that captures you on different websites and will help generate information for ChatGPT, for Claude, for all of these different types of generative AI models. But the first step is, are you findable? So that means like even at the simplest, the simplest baseline task you can do, Google yourself with your name, maybe something that somebody would associate with you and just see what comes up. Like if you Google your name and it's like a bunch of stuff that's not you, that's a really good indication you need to start working on making sure your name is everywhere.

10:55For instance, I, my maiden name was, I'm not married anymore, but when I got married, I changed my last name to Davis because my maiden name was Vonix. No one could say it. No one could spell it. And so I changed my name to Lauren Davis. Well, then I realized there's a bunch of Lauren Davises out there. And also I was relieved at the branding capability of just saying Davis, like everyone knew how to spell it. But then I realized there's a girl named Lauren Davis, who's an Olympic tennis player, and she has the same birthday as me even. So there was like this whole thing here. So I was like, well, let me add my V in there.

11:31Right. Lauren V Davis. That means every time I was on the news, every time I was interviewed in a magazine, every time I was interviewed in a publication, I made sure that they listed my middle initial V. And so now when you type in Lauren V. Davis, and even when I introduce myself on podcasts or on stage, I say, I'm Lauren V. Davis. So people have that in their heads. When they're looking up Lauren V. Davis, they're going to find me. So are you findable? And when you are searching for yourself, what's coming up? And then the second step is how will they experience you once they get there? So what is generative AI saying about you?

12:05What is Google saying about you? And I always tell people take off your regular hat and put on your stranger hat. Like imagine yourself physically putting on a baseball cap or a hat, your stranger hat, look at what you're seeing and say, what is this telling me? What am I experiencing right now about my brand and about what this is telling me? It might be bad reviews. It might be great reviews. It might be you see things that you didn't even know lists that you ended up on, like saying like, these are the top 25 women in technology or whatever it might be. You might find people are experiencing you a really interesting way.

12:39And then the next part is how will you continue the relationship? That's what you and I are doing right here. Like, how are you showing up on podcasts? Are you building trust on your social media? Are you building an email list where you get to nurture people, build trust? Do you have a podcast where you get to nurture people and build trust? That's how you're really continuing that relationship. And that is step number three. I love that. I, by the way, I can, I can identify with your name story. So I was flying high and then another Josh Elledge got accepted to be on the Bachelorette. And I'm like, I'm screwed.

13:17Thankfully, with all respect to the other Josh Elledge. He did not make it onto the show. Uh, but for whatever reason, yeah, he's, he's hard to compete with that pop culture is hard. So for just a general vanity search, you'll see the other Josh Elledges aren't, there aren't too many. So there is, uh, you know, some, some, uh, benefit to having it maybe wasn't super helpful in grade school and people make, would make funnier name. like I was Josh Smellage. Oh, no. Kids, man. Kids are supposed to be cruel. That's their job. So, Lauren, I want to share some resources because I know you have many, including your podcast.

14:01And so for our friends that would love to just kind of dive into your world, you're a great thought leader. Where would you recommend they go? They can listen in at the Real Personal Branding Podcast. That's my baby. I love my podcast. I've interviewed some amazing, amazing people on it. And they have so much knowledge. They can also find me on Instagram. I'm ldaviscreative, practically everywhere online. That's my, that's where my go-to username, ldaviscreative. So find me anywhere. Let me know that you listen to this podcast and we can absolutely continue the conversation. And then your work with your clients, what does that look like?

14:43So I work with my clients in a couple of different ways. I've got one-on-one consulting and strategy that usually work. We usually start in like a six-month format for that kind of stuff because I really want to make sure that we are hitting targets, taking on, taking control of their personal brand and helping them really like become more visible. And then the second way that people can work with me is with my mastermind. I have a couple of masterminds. They're really affordable and really accessible for a reason because I wanted entrepreneurs at every level to be able to have that kind of opportunity to have guided facilitation and training and help each other and learn from each other.

15:24But I've got some insanely high caliber people in there. And I just love my mastermind so much. So that's another thing I have. I've got a couple open spots open right now. So if anyone is like two, literally two. So if anyone is looking for a great mastermind experience, feel free to get in touch with me. Those are the two main ways I'm working with people right now. Yeah. Great branding and a great presence makes life so much easier. You know, it just, it's kind of like, I love the scene in Harry Potter, six, seven, eight, whatever, where he drinks the Felix Felicis lucky potion and just stuff just works out for him.

16:05I can say like people who have, I'm like, their presence is undeniable. It's just a lot easier. Like, so that's good news for someone who's newer starting out. Like what you're experiencing right now is about probably about the hardest it's going to be. It will get easier the longer you stay in the game, the more you make your name, the more you work on your brand. So Lauren V. Davis, it's been a great conversation. Your website, Lauren Davis Creative. Your podcast is called Real Personal Branding Podcast. Lauren, it's been a great conversation. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much.

16:44I really appreciate it.

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