Why Personal Brands Are Important For Black Women Who Want To Diversify Their Income
Equal Pay Day is today and more than ever there is a need to make our companies and colleagues aware of the pay gap that exists between men and women.
It takes women 15 months to make what men make in a year, but for black women, it will take 19 months until we make what men make in 12 months. That means black women are making 63 cents to every dollar men make. The discussion continues each year around how to close the wage gap, offering solutions to getting women equal pay with many starting in the workplace.
For many black women, the workplace has been a difficult environment to gain promotions, salary raises, and visibility, which leaves money and opportunities on the table untouched by not feeling comfortable enough to advocate for ourselves and to show our worth. "For black women who are at the bottom of the food chain in terms of equal pay, we cannot afford to be modest; we can't afford to hide in plain sight. We have to get out front with our branding because other people are able to earn more by doing the same work as us so we need to at least try to level the playing field by making more noise about what we are capable of, what we have already done, and therefore what we can do," personal branding coach Amanda Miller Littlejohn shared.
"For black women who are at the bottom of the food chain in terms of equal pay, we cannot afford to be modest."
Amanda believes black women can take more control over their pay by taking more ownership of their personal brand. "Lagging behind both white men and white women in terms of equal pay, black and brown women can't afford to keep quiet when it comes to sharing our achievements and selling ourselves. By keeping our heads down, and working hard but not telling our stories, we miss out on promotions, new job leads, and clients. This adds up to thousands of potential additional dollars in missed earning power over our lifetimes," she stated.
Amanda created The Branding Box in 2014 after working with private personal branding and public relations clients as both a publicist and personal branding advisor. She noticed that there was a distinct framework that she created for her individual clients and decided to package her most common recommendations into a relatively inexpensive product that could help others build their personal brand. She later created the Package Your Genius Academy, to create a community and peer to peer learning opportunity for her clients. "I owe so much to my personal brand and I'm so happy to be able to earn a living and help to support my family from those efforts," she said.
With social media's wide range of tools and access to people from all over the world, black women are creating opportunities to not only live the life they want, but to gain the opportunities to build their authority in their industry and start up the businesses that they once dreamed of owning. In order to find success, those women had to build their personal brand and understand it.
Amanda shared some of her insight with us on ways you can begin building your personal brand:
Turn Your Digital Savvy Into Income & Opportunities
"One's personal brand is their reputation and the idea that the wider world has about them, their capabilities, their values, and their expertise. In the digital age, this is also your in-person reputation but also what can be found about you online. Just like your reputation, your digital presence as it relates to your personal brand can attract new opportunities to you when you're not in the room. While Black women over-index in our use of digital tools and social media platforms like Twitter, we don't always leverage our digital savvy to create income opportunities and career advancement for ourselves. Black women can begin to create a personal brand online by sharing who they are and what they know about the wider world. I personally have used personal branding and digital tools to connect with people all over the world and make the case for my business and give credibility to my expertise. Black women are traditionally pigeonholed into roles of the supporters, helpers, builders; but it's time for us to step out of those support roles and claim the recognition that we deserve so that we can earn more."
Don't Be Afraid to Share Your Good News
"One of the things I see most of my clients is a discomfort with the spotlight - a reticence to be out front with their accomplishments and share how amazing and qualified they are. It may come across as modesty and humility, but can be really damaging through the lifecycle of your career. If your colleagues, your superiors, and your wider industry do not know what you are capable of because you have failed to "share your good news" so to speak on any platform, be that through speaking, through media, or online through your LinkedIn profile, it will become extremely difficult for you to remain top of mind for new opportunities. So while you may think that being modest is endearing and 'appropriate,' ultimately, it renders you invisible to the very opportunities you seek."
Be Strategic & Goal-Oriented
"Where most people go wrong is not being intentional about building a personal brand, and for those who have set out to build their personal brand, they are not being strategic in terms of thinking about the types of opportunities or clients they want to attract. As you set out to build your brand, you should have some goals in mind, whether they are immediate or more long-term and related to a 1, 5, or 10-year plan."
Always Promote Your Brand
"Don't keep your head down and do good work for your company without seeking visibility opportunities outside of your immediate department and company. The same thing goes for creatives and entrepreneurs who may be working with clients: don't focus solely on doing such a great job for your clients at the expense of your personal brand. When those client engagements are over or should you lose your full-time role or be laid off or displaced, you will have to start from scratch if you have not been steadily building awareness of your gifts, skills, and talents. So essentially, don't wait to build your brand until you need it: steadily keep getting the word out about what you're passionate about and what you do best."
For more Amanda Miller Littlejohn and her bomb branding insight, follow her on Instagram.
- Equal Pay for Black Women - NWLC ›
- The pay gap is worse for black women. Here's a look at the statistics ... ›
- Let's Talk About Black Women's Equal Pay Day | Fortune ›
- On Black Women's Equal Pay Day, We Remember That White Guys ... ›
- Black women have to work 7 months into 2017 to be paid the same ... ›
- The Pay Gap Is Even Worse for Black Women, and That's ... ›
- Equal Pay Days Social Media Kit 2017 | National Organization for ... ›
- Black women reach equal pay - seven months late ›
- Black Women's Equal Pay Day 2017 — Equal Pay Today! Campaign ›
- Why Black Women's Equal Pay Day is on July 31st | Glamour ›
Brittney Oliver is a marketing communications professional from Greater Nashville. Over the past three years, Brittney has built her platform Lemons 2 Lemonade to help Millennials turn life's obstacles around. Her platform is known for its networking mixers, which has brought over 300 NYC young professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives together to turn life's lemons into lemonade. Brittney is a contributing writer for Fast Company and ESSENCE, among other media outlets.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images