Jasmine* @ SD PUG

Last night I attended the San Diego PUG (short for pictage user group) to hear the fabulous Jasmine Star speak about branding. To start, she gave us some background on her journey into photography, then sternly lectured us about building our brand.

Jasmine is my biggest inspiration – not because of her totally ferouche photos, but because we have such a similar path and roots. Much like myself, she grew up in a not-so-great neighborhood (her: East L.A.; me: the intersection of Compton, the LBC and Dominguez Hills). We were both taught that you make yourself. We both are overachievers, working hard to get into the same law school. From there, our paths diverge – she was miserable in law school, and found a way to leave, thereafter building an incredible business (with a fabulous brand). I loved law school, and relish the incredible friendships I made. But now, I, too, am on the path to leave law and embrace my passion for photography and build my own business.

The biggest take-away I derived from Jasmine's talk about branding is to figure out who we are, and then condense that into a brand. She challenged each of us to come up with five words that describe us. After drawing a blank for a second, a zillion things came into my head. I am talkative and outgoing, with a sarcastic sense of humor. Once people get to know me, I either annoy them or dazzle them with my vivid personality. I am an academic at heart – I love learning, new ideas. I am an avid reader. I am an obsessive-compulsive control-freak overachiever who has a hard time letting go or delegating. I am a perfectionist. I am occasionally stubborn, self-centered and rarely admit I am wrong. I am all or never. I am afraid of failure. (as you can probably see, I am also longwinded and a rambler). Yeah, so not five words.

Clearly, I know who I am, what I am. What I don't know is how to translate that to paper, to a logo, to a brand. But it's time to start doing it. So… look out for the complete branding, coming soon!

Also, a special thanks to Jeff and Erin Youngren who arrange to have Jasmine come and speak at the meeting. And Jasmine - good luck on the Free to Succeed Tour! Hopefully speaking in front of the 85+ people prepared you for what await!