Kathy Bass––Who are you?

Who are you?

By Kathy Bass for North Valley Magazine

“Who are you?” seems like such a simple question, yet many choose to start forming opinions about someone by asking this question first: “So, what do you do?”  That seemingly innocent, yet commonly feared question causes people to avoid events, choke from anxiety and even stutter or stumble for words.  Anyone who has been laid off or fired and has attached their self-image to what their title, salary or line of work is knows the terror when this piece of their identity is stripped away.  For two years, I suffered from this terror anytime I attended a black tie event for my husband’s work and had many tricks up my sleeve to avoid that feared question.

After much soul searching, reading and researching I finally realized that people didn’t care what I did, they just wanted to get to know me.  Instead of hiding from that question and missing out on some cool conversations, I could have spoken my truth: “We just moved here and I haven’t figured it out yet.”  Aah…the power of hindsight.

Tips to Power up!® your identity:

1. Understand that you are not your job or your title, you are a person.

2. Instead of focusing on the past, think about what you can do to move forward.

3. Appreciate your uniqueness by knowing that no one else has the same background, knowledge, beliefs and life experiences as you.

Tips to enjoy your evolving identity:

1. Embrace being uncomfortable, being uncertain and not knowing all the answers.

2. Relish quality time alone to reflect on changes, desires and memorable moments.

3. Don’t forget to laugh along the way because when you mess up that means you are trying.

About Kathy Bass

Kathy Bass, The Branding Lady®, a branding strategist based in Phoenix, founded Ladies Who Brand in 2010, shortly after “celebrating” her 40th birthday when she experienced and solved her own brand identity crisis. Bass has extensive branding, business and entrepreneurial experience along with marketing, psychology and design degrees. She is the Phoenix Branding Examiner for Thomson Reuters, regular blog contributor to NetworkingPhoenix and has been featured in The Arizona Republic, The Savvy Gal, Entreprenista, and GrowAZ.  Recently, Bass published her first book and she was elected to serve on the Girls Rule! Foundation Board as the communications director.