Kristen Domingue is the CEO of Ignite, a personal brand development company. She helps coaches, executives, and entrepreneurs crystallize their personal brand to maximize their contribution to the industries, audiences, and communities that matter most to them.

Kristen grounds her intuitive approach in qualitative research to create compelling personal brands that are built on her client’s life purpose, talents, and career aspirations. Her specialty is identifying “the sweet spot” where talent, purpose, and career intersect; the place where you can be of greatest service and greatest influence, while being authentically you.

Founder of DailyWorth.com, Amanda Steinberg, says of Kristen, “Our editor loves every single one of your ideas and I think you’re a genius.” Enjoy her exclusive Business Heroine interview…

BH: Let’s start off by diving into this idea of creating a personal brand. So many people out there are actually confused on what a personal brand is. What is the difference between a personal brand verses a media brand, and why it’s so important for us to brand ourselves as entrepreneurs?

Kristen: Personal brands are what you use when a person must have a relationship with you to receive services. The word “brand” was originally used to mean a differentiating mark that separated one ranchers cattle from another’s. Your personal brand are values and experiences that you stand for – and it’s these values and experiences people say yes to when they choose YOU instead of everyone else who does what you do.

A media brand on the other hand is a platform for a community gathered around similar values without a specific leader defining the direction of the brand.

Having a clear personal brand (set of values and experiences that you stand for in your work) beats a logo, gorgeous website, and perfect pictures – every time. Without this, it’s impossible for customers to know why they should choose you over someone else who does the same work. It’s not about staying competitive. It’s about having a clear message that eliminates competition.

{photo by Claire Morris Photography}

BH: Expanding on the idea of personal brands, we’ve heard you say that purpose is THE foundation of your personal brand. Why do you feel so strongly that that is the case?

Kristen: I believe every person has a unique Life Purpose: something they’ve been uniquely groomed for via their life experiences that only they can deliver to the tribe they were meant to lead. And when you know what this is, it’s so much easier to define your message, your marketing, and differentiate your brand in your customer’s mind.

For example, there are several amazing Personal Brand Consultants in our industry right now. However, I’m exclusively having a conversation about living up to your full potential with a brand that let’s you be all of who you are. This sets my work apart. And those who resonate have become die-hard clients and fans. They send me their clients and colleagues.

And this is what you want your brand to do for you! Your brand should do more for you than just “look pretty.” It needs to showcase your Life Purpose – the thing that makes you stand out from everyone else – so your tribe can finally find you.

{photo by Claire Morris Photography}

BH: We’d love to hear a bit about your own journey to discovering your purpose, and the emergence of your personal brand.

Kristen: The BIG thing for me in all of my work is to identify patterns. And when it came to my purpose and my personal brand, the patterns showed me the truth of what my purpose was – rather than what i thought it should be. The patterns also revealed to me my message in my branding.

{photo by Claire Morris Photography}

BH: To expand even deeper on the idea of purpose, could you clarify what purpose actually is and how it is different from mission, vision or passion?

Kristen: This is a GREAT Q. So many people are disenchanted with the idea of a life purpose. This happens when we’ve been chasing passion, mission and vision and conflating it with purpose.

Purpose is the way you’re hard-wired to help others which upon doing, consistently provides predictably deep fulfillment. Doing work that’s “on purpose” let’s us feel like we’re growing toward our full potential in life.

Mission is goal we’ve committed ourselves to accomplishing that has specific and measurable outcomes. It has a definitive end date when the mission is accomplished.

Passion is anything we do that makes us feel alive. As we continue to become good at something, the feeling of aliveness it provides dwindles because the chemical high associated with passion is also closely linked to the way the brain processes new experiences. This is why following passion will never work to create a sustainable business. Nothing is never “always new” enough to create that feeling of aliveness over time.

The gift of passion is that it always leaves a clue to that which is our purpose.

{photo by Claire Morris Photography}

BH: We love giving our community practical tools to use so they bridge the gap between their purpose and the work they do in their business. How can the Business Heroines use their purpose and passion to make their brands stand out and be seen more easily?

Kristen: Take out a sheet of paper and make a Passion List on the left side. And on the right side, next to each passion, make a note about what each passion gave you the chance to feel. The feeling you’re looking for is a clue to your Life Purpose.

For More Kristen, Gorgeous & Wise:

The One Life. One Purpose. Challenge starts in January and is a GREAT way to get the clarity you need about your purpose so you can build it into compelling messaging for your brand and start living a more fulfilling life. Easy and fun daily challenges delivered to your inbox! Register for free at: OneLifeOnePurpose.com

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Cover Heroines, December 2014 Issue