1062: How to Build a Personal Brand that Resonates with Lola Linarte

Pete Mockaitis
Lola, welcome!

Lola Linarte
Hi, Pete.

Pete Mockaitis
I am excited for this conversation. We are talking personal branding, and we’re old friends, so I can just give it to you straight.

Lola Linarte
That’s right.

Pete Mockaitis
I think I’m been a little biased against personal branding because of – what is it – like the first exposure rule, like a first impression rule, because my first exposure to the concept of personal branding came from the movie, I don’t know if you remember this one, is one of those Disney pieces. It’s called “The Kid” from the year 2000, starring Bruce Willis, where he meets a young version of himself, little Rusty, and they have an exchange.

So, Bruce Willis works, and here’s the exchange. Rusty says to older Russ, “So what do you do?” And Russ says, “I’m an image consultant.” Rusty says, “What’s that?” Russ says, “I help people present themselves in the best possible light. I tell them what to say, how to act, and what to wear.” And then Rusty says, “So you help people lie about who they are.”

So, as a young, impressionable fellow, I guess I was 17, I encountered this and I thought, “Oh, man, is that what an image consultant is? Is that what personal branding is? That doesn’t sound like a good thing.” But I know you and you’re an upstanding person. So set the record straight for us, Lola.

Lola Linarte
Yeah, no, I mean, that’s so interesting. So, you’re Rusty in this analogy.

Pete Mockaitis
I was. I mean, I’ve warmed up over time, but, you know, first impressions can stick.

Lola Linarte
No, and I get that, right? And, I mean, that is the common misconception. I hear that all the time, right, about what personal branding is, and I really enjoy that. I love a misconception because I love proving it wrong. But, whether you like it or not, if you spent absolutely any time online, if you’ve sent an email, if you’ve started a social media account, if you’ve done a presentation, so if you spent any time in front of a single human, you have a personal brand.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay.

Lola Linarte
It’s how you pitch yourself. It’s what people think about you. People have impressions of you. So sometimes people ask me, “Well, I’m a plumber. Do I have to have a personal brand?” And I’m like, “They’re not separate things. You are your story.”

So, I think that when people think of a personal brand, they think of like an entity, a business, and your brand is just a story. Your brand is your reputation, and it’s just up to you whether or not you’re going to control it or neglect it.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay, so my brand is a story, it’s a reputation, and it exists, just period, because humans are forming impressions of me and saying things about me. So, a story and a reputation attached to me just exists, period, fact.

Lola Linarte
Right. We have interactions with people, and, to your point, we’re already making assumptions about them immediately, good or bad. And one of the things that I ask people, not even my clients, is, “Do you know what happens when we Google you? And if you do, do you like what comes up? And if you don’t, let’s control that.”

And that’s what it is. It’s not lying. It’s just more about controlling the narrative. And what does that mean? Okay, well, are you putting enough work out there that is relevant to where you currently are now, right? I’m sure if I Googled you, I’m sure your podcast would pop up. But, you know, maybe you’re thinking, “Oh, well, maybe my podcast is popping up, but this isn’t. Why?”

And we would ask those questions and then we would come up with those strategies to do that. We wouldn’t take the Bruce Willis approach and lie about it, which I think I’m so glad you started with that because so much of my work is so different, which is why I decided to do what I do because it’s not rooted in aesthetics. It’s not rooted in making you into something you’re not.

It’s bringing out what you already are in a more aligned way and then amplifying that to the world instead of lying it and making it into this pretty thing that’s not sustainable for you because that’s not who you are.

Pete Mockaitis
Well, Lola, you’re really striking some chords, and I’m thinking, you know. I think if you Googled me, it might still be pretty high up there. I should probably take a look. It’s been a while. I recorded a silly video when I was 26 as a speaker reel to do more college keynote speeches, which was fun and silly and cool and was effective. I got some bookings, and shout out to Ian who filmed it and did a great job.

But you’re right in that, for now, 41-year-old Pete Mockaitis, podcaster, professional, business owner, etc., that is not one of the first things I want people to see. That’s more like, “Hey, we’re at a cocktail party. Let me show you this silly thing and we’ll have some laughs about it,” as opposed to, not the ideal first impression, so then, maybe, I should make some efforts to address how that shows up, and say, “Yo, Ian, let’s maybe take my last name off of that so the YouTube video is not so…”

Lola Linarte
“Make it a little more ambiguous.”

Pete Mockaitis
“Not so prominent.” Okay. Understood. So, it makes sense. We have a brand, whether we like it or not, and we may benefit by putting forward some effort into shaping that. So, could you share with us maybe some cool success stories of, “Is this really worth the time and effort? Can I just do me?” Tell us what kinds of good things happen when we put a little bit of effort into this?

Lola Linarte
Yeah, could you go about your day, about your life? Yeah, you can. But any time you put… What’s that’s saying is like, “The grass is green where you water it.” Anytime you put intention behind something, it can’t help but flourish.

So, I have one particular client who is a psychiatrist out of East LA, and up until this point, that’s what she’s done. She’s had a very successful private practice out of East LA, but she got to the point where a lot of my clients do and she thought, “Well, what now? What’s next?”

And she realized, “Okay, I want a new iteration of myself. What does that look like?” She didn’t want to keep coasting. And she could have just kept having a great and successful private practice.

So, she decided to lean in, and say, “Okay, well, I want to see about having trauma-informed businesses and be a speaker. And I also want to help CEOs be better versions of themselves and train them to be better CEOs. But I don’t know exactly how to do that.”

So, we pushed go. And I have a process, I have a framework that I use with my clients that we’ll talk about later, but I brought her through that process where we got really clear on what she wanted to do, and she now has put a backseat to her private practice.

I use the pie of, so she’s now, instead of 90% of her income is coming from that 33% on purpose. And now a majority of her income is coming from her speaking, and that’s giving her so much more fulfillment, much more joy. And that’s something that she’s always wanted to do but didn’t allow herself to do. And through branding herself, unknowingly she leaned into her story.

What the heck does that even mean? That means that she was uncovering that part of herself that she was limiting. And now she’s doing that.

Pete Mockaitis
And that’s really cool, and that makes total sense how that can be super powerful when you’re going to the market as a speaker, “And this is this is what I’m offering.” And because, in many ways, your story is a part of “the product,” “the service,” “the offer” that is a keynote speech from this person, and their story, their background, where they’re coming from, what they’re going to be putting out there.

So, I could see that that 100% makes perfect sense to really think about that carefully and put the thought into it and make it awesome. I’m curious, for regular folks with regular jobs, with regular stories, is it still worthwhile?

Lola Linarte
Absolutely. I think about, I have an attorney who has just decided that she wants to lean into a different form of practice of law. She likes her job. She wants to stay in law. She doesn’t want to create her own business. She just decided that where she’s been for the last nine years served her well, and she’s ready for something different.

So, we optimized her LinkedIn. That was a good first step for her. We did new branding headshots, something she had never done. We decided to take a really good look at her resumes, just simple things, things that people neglect after a while. You’re in your job after two, three, four years, you’re coasting. You don’t really think to “zhuzh it,” you know, why would you? Simple things like that, actionable things like that.

Your headline on your LinkedIn, people don’t even think about, your banner on LinkedIn. And then even buying your own domain on the web, buying your name on there, getting that for yourself. Simple things like that. Just having a landing page for her to control, just taking control of her narrative. And so, that now when she goes to, and she’s actively applying to jobs, she just feels more in the driver’s seat as she’s applying to jobs.

So, she’s not going to start a brick and mortar. She’s not going to be having a TED Talk, but she just feels like she is absolutely in control of her talking points as she’s speaking to the next interviewer for her next job.

Pete Mockaitis
Lola, I really appreciate when you share these things. They feel very practical and sensible and, “Ah, yes, but of course,” as opposed to, sometimes branding can feel a little bit airy-fairy in the sense of color palettes.

Lola Linarte
Sure.

Pete Mockaitis
Which, you know, I’m sure some people look good in certain colors. Okay, that’s a thing. I’m not very good at that, but that whole domain of design. But this is super practical, like straight up, there are people Googling you, seeing your profile on LinkedIn right now. Are they encountering something that is going to be supportive for you and your goals? And I’m thinking about LinkedIn, it’s quite telling. It’ll actually tell you how many people saw your profile recently.

And so, there very well could be dozens or hundreds of occasions in which first impressions of you are occurring that are not even in your conscious awareness, like, “Oh, yeah, I forgot about LinkedIn. I updated that four years ago when I was job hunting and haven’t looked at it since.” That’s a thing that occurs. And yet it’s well worth our time because, I’m thinking, all the time when we haven’t looked at something in a while, it is off.

And I was just speaking with another lawyer who is considering launching a podcast, we were walking through this, and I said, “Hey, on your website, I noticed you had the number for this and the number of cases and the number of damages awarded. If I divide it, it looks like there’s not a whole lot of damages awarded per case. So, if I’m a prospective client, I think, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not going to walk away with much money if I hire these guys.’”

And he’s like, “Wow! Oh, well, thanks. Yeah, we’ll get that updated.” But I’m sure if I went into some nooks and crannies of awesomeatyourjob.com, since it’s been years, I, too, would say, “Oh, geez, why is that still there?” or, “How come I didn’t mention all these awesome things that have happened in these years? Oh, I just haven’t gotten around to it.” And, thusly, I could be missing out on, who knows what opportunities of folks who are sniffing around, it’s like, “Oh, should we book Pete to do this thing? Nah.”

Lola Linarte
I mean, Pete, LinkedIn is how I knew you were doing all these awesome things with your podcasting. It wasn’t through the other forms of social media. It was because you have so many eyeballs on your podcast that the algorithm was like, “Look at this. Look at this thing.” And I thought, “Wow, this is really awesome.”

And people have misconceptions about social media and they have this ick about it, and they don’t want to think about it until they have to think about it, and then it’s too late. Then it’s too late. I mean, not like forever and ever, but you should be just kind of going with it bit by bit by bit by bit. You don’t want to get the facelift at 75. Maybe you get a little bit of work done here and there, here and there along the way.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. Well, so lay it on us. You’ve got a process framework. Can we hear what’s step one, two, three? How does this go down?

Lola Linarte
Yeah. So, like I said, my clients are exceptional people, and I guide them through this three-phase process that I call anchor, refine, and resonate. So, we start by anchoring, and that’s getting crystal clear on who they are.

And this is what I call the soul work. And this is just getting clear on their identity, their purpose, and figuring out what their next chapter looks like, and what they stand for, and really prioritizing long term-goals. But also, I really get down to their limiting beliefs and where they tend to stumble. And this is really important because this helps me understand what’s kept them from elevating and from evolving, and also how they are currently showing up.

And this entire phase is all about alignment and not aesthetics. And then we move into refinement, we go to refine. So now, with all this information we have with anchor, you have all this internal clarity that you can move into external strategy.

Now it doesn’t have to be empty and lies. Like, you actually have something that’s rooted in you and that you can get so abundantly clear on your strategy being for you, and the messaging is clear for all the touch points, and we can have a cohesive message for yourself in person, online, your website, anything tangible, your headshots, absolutely everything.

And then we move into resonate. And so, resonate, what I mean by that is not you’re just posting every day, which is already hard enough. What I mean by that is you’re connecting to your audience, you know at this point what deals you’re saying yes to, what you’re saying no to, and why, and who you’re connecting to, and what opportunities are right for you, and why you’re saying yes or no.

And that’s my favorite part because we’ve distilled it down so much that, at this point, my clients are figuring it out in much faster rate, and they are just, like, happy that they’re not throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping to see what sticks. They can identify, “Oh, yeah, I can do that and it doesn’t have to be. My version can look like my version and not what I see or what I think I should be.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. Well, so clarity on identity, purpose, what you stand for, limiting beliefs. Mercy. How does one accomplish all that?

Lola Linarte
It’s really, it’s when you ask yourself these questions. I’ve had to do that myself, right? And I do think it’s best to have someone else do it with you. You can’t do it yourself. I don’t recommend anybody brand themselves. You’re too married to your fears. You’re too married to your likes, your dislikes. You kind of have to have someone outside looking in with a 30,000-foot view, just asking you some of these questions that are kind of holding you accountable.

And your identity, right, it’s like, “Well, what are the biggest goals that you’ve had up until this point, but you haven’t?” Like, really, just understanding how you tick and just figuring out why I like certain things and what makes you, you, and being really good with that. Because I often find that my clients are, while they are brilliant and they’re high achievers, high performance, that doesn’t make them immune to being afraid of showing up fully as who they are.

They’ll sometimes hide behind their accolades, behind their degrees, behind the work, so that when it’s time to show it fully as their most aligned and rooted itself, and speak on their point of view, say, online, they are worried about maybe seeming too much, about maybe perhaps nobody wants to hear this, or maybe this is seeming like self-promotion. And I hear that a lot. And I have to remind them that there’s value in sharing their story and their knowledge and working through that.

Pete Mockaitis
I like that a lot. Could you share with us some examples of perhaps posts or statements that give us a feel for, “Hey, this is what it looks like when someone is aligned, rooted, standing for their thing, self-expressed and bold, such that it might feel like too much,” but in your take, it’s just right?

Lola Linarte
Sure. I have this incredible photographer. And she has a completely different take on what boudoir photography should be, but she was so nervous about that because she’s newer into the field and she has a different take on that. And that niche of photography is so small and so specific that people will cut you down and will cut you out.

So, they get very specific on, “It has to be this and it has to be that. If it’s not this, it’s not that.” So, the way that she was defining it was beyond that scope, and she was sort of tiptoeing around that. And she wanted to have it with a couple and she wanted the messaging just to be bolder, and she wanted it to feel cooler. She just wanted it to feel cool.

And when it came down to rebranding her, I just thought, “Man, like, share that, say the thing, say the thing that you want to say. Be bold in absolutely how your experience is.”

And that was very scary for her. She went ahead and, through how she now speaks on her social media, on all her copy, on her website, rather, she’s shown up fully as, like, “My experience is X. Expect this and it’s not that.” And, my God, now, because she’s speaking directly, it’s laser focused to the person who wants that. She’s not trying to be everything for everybody. She’s getting exactly for the person that’s like, “Ah, I found you. Oh, my God. Finally, somebody said the thing.”

And she’s now getting exactly the client that she wants. She’s creating the art that she wants to create in the way that she does.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah, that’s really interesting in terms of it feels like it’s not what’s done, and it may seem improper to others. And yet that distinctiveness, assuming it’s appealing to a certain segment, will be extra super appealing, like, “Yes, at last, finally, this is what I’ve been looking for.” And I’m thinking, in professional work contexts, could you give us an example of someone living that brand boldly such that other professionals go, “Oh, yeah, that’s our guy. That’s our gal”?

Lola Linarte
So, I recently had a tech, just like a tech whiz, who’s kind of in middle of his career. And he’s kind of ready for the next move. He’s ready for what’s next, but he doesn’t exactly know what that is. And he’s trying to figure out if that means being a speaker. Does that mean just elevating in his career for the next move and getting a promotion?

And so, with him, it’s really exciting because he’s uncovering things about himself that he hasn’t just yet, and same things apply. He hasn’t looked at his LinkedIn. He’s had his website for years. He’s like, “I’ve had this thing for 12 years and I haven’t touched it.” And he’s like, “I’m sure it’s got my college resume on it for goodness sakes.”

And what we’re going to do with him is just make it current to who he is. And the beautiful thing about that is that, once he does that, you can’t help but just uncover things. When you actually spend time with yourself and figuring out next moves, because we tend to just hurry along to the next task with work, with life.

So, with him in particular, he probably does want to speak. He wants to be a speaker. He has so much that he wants to share, but he doesn’t exactly know what he wants to speak on, right? And with our work, he’s going to be untapping what those themes are. They’re already there. He loves to give back to his community. He loves to have an element of being bold.

And so, we’re going to get him out of the theory and platitudes and actually make it applicable to what he’ll end up speaking on.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And speaking of theory and platitudes, I want to hear, when it comes to, let’s say the LinkedIn headline, are there any do’s and don’ts? I noticed there’s a lot of ninjas out there.

Lola Linarte
Oh, God, kill me.

Pete Mockaitis
Is it a good or bad idea to be a ninja or a thought leader? I mean, I want to hear, what are some things that you think are great ideas versus very bad ideas to be placed in the LinkedIn profile?

Lola Linarte
I feel like everyone’s a ninja. Everyone’s a ninja. Everyone’s an architect. Kill me.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. You say no to ninjas and architects. What if someone is literally that, you know, they’re in Japan, and they study these martial arts and they can throw the stars, or they actually design buildings?

Lola Linarte
If you are, please, please share that.

Pete Mockaitis
Little ninjas and architects, we may be called that, otherwise, not.

Lola Linarte
Yeah, no, I think people do that because it’s buzzy, right? People do that because they want to grab attention, because I think it’s something like a max of three seconds that we have before someone is scrolling along and moving past. So, they want to grab your attention and it’s the same old, same old. But beyond titles, that’s what I work with my clients.

It’s, like, don’t tell me what you do. Tell me who you help. Tell me how you’re different. And it’s not going to be because you’re an architect or ninja of marketing or podcasting. Just take some time to think about it. That’s always a really good first step. And something I’ve been telling my clients is maybe you don’t say, “I help my clients do such and such,” but if that’s who you are, that’s what you are, right?

If that’s, like, the first thing that comes to your mind is, “I help my clients uncover the experience of travel in the most luxurious way.” Fine, right? Because that’s something. It’s helping you not just have something generic, right, but that’s also the beauty of AI and ChatGPT. You can have something that you can play with more. But if you spend some time with it, and you curate your voice to it, you’ll come up with something special and different.

But, by God, everyone who’s doing that is just doing that because they feel like they’re unique little snowflakes.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay.

Lola Linarte
Yeah, I don’t like that.

Pete Mockaitis
So, can I hear what amazing sounds like then? If architect and ninjas, not so amazing, and I help X people do Y is okay, what’s awesome sound like?

Lola Linarte
Awesome sounds like just clear, just very clear. Like, I’ll actually pull mine up, what does mine even say? Not to say mine is the best in the world, but mine says, “Elevating influence and personal brands for high-performing entrepreneurs and executives.” And then I say, “I’m the CEO and founder of Alma Feliz Group.” What does yours say, Pete?

Pete Mockaitis
I think it’s my title. I think it’s a…

Lola Linarte
Let me see yours. Podcast host and launch consultant. I love that. How to be awesome at your job. CashflowPodcasting.com, discover and share. Yeah, this is great. Yours is very good. And he did not pay me to say that.

Pete Mockaitis
Oh, thank you. Yeah. Well, so, yeah, I think you’re right. Well, now I’m going to go over to it too. It’s like discovering and sharing transformational wisdom.

Lola Linarte
That’s so good.

Pete Mockaitis
What’s interesting is that, I guess it’s tricky because that might feel like a corporate-y descriptor, but, in my heart of hearts, that is really what gets me fired up, like, “Ooh, I just discovered something awesome. I can’t wait to tell everybody about it.” Yeah.

Lola Linarte
And that’s exactly why that works is because, if I’m reading that, and I am, say, your desired audience, your go-to audience, I’m resonating with that. I am thinking, “Hell, yeah, I want to know what he’s discovering. What is he sharing? What is his version of transformational wisdom that he’s curating for me? And I’m locked in. I’m curious.”

You’ve already done that just with your LinkedIn bio, your headline. I want to know more. And so, it’s that easy. It really is that easy for someone. If you just were to post, “consultant” that leaves too much. It’s too much to question. Or, like, if I was just to say, “marketing and strategist.” Of what? Who cares?

Use up those characters that LinkedIn gives you there. With your “About,” you have such an opportunity there to embed key words. You can talk more about yourself in a very specific strategic way so that you tell more of a story that your experience doesn’t.

Yeah, you talk about your positions that you had, and maybe you got a promotion here and there, but yeah, your “About” can be exactly the story that you want to tell. I tell my clients to look at their LinkedIn as a landing page almost, as an extension of their website.

Pete Mockaitis
Yeah, understood. Well, tell me any other top do’s and don’ts you want to make sure to put out there before we hear about some of your favorite things?

Lola Linarte
I often have people come to me, and they think that personal branding is just about aesthetics. They think brand and they think it’s really just about, like you said, picking colors and taglines. And it’s really not about that. I always tell people, first, to audit where they currently are. I have a five-question audit on my website and it’s very simple. And just to do a checkpoint with themselves and to figuring out where they are, what they want, and the do’s and don’ts.

And if they don’t like where they are, where they can pivot and change. So, don’t hire a PR agent right away. Don’t start making a logo and spending a bunch of money.  Don’t skip the steps of figuring out who you are, and really figuring out your goals. Do the tedious work. Do the work right now. Do the work on your LinkedIn. Buy your website. I know that it seems like it’s antiquated. It’s not.

I know if we learned anything from last year’s TikTok blackout and Instagram blackout, where a lot of people were using that as their portfolios, that can get lost in a second. So, you want to take control of your narrative and make sure that you have complete control of where your work lies. Don’t neglect what happens when you Google you.

And, just be excited. Stay active and excited about the possibilities that can happen when you pour into your brand and your goals and your dreams.

Pete Mockaitis
Any other misconceptions to clarify?

Lola Linarte
Yeah, I hear all the time that once people have figured it out, okay, so you’ve done all the work, then they’re done. And it doesn’t work that way because I remind people that their personal brand, their story, is living and breathing, and it’s a reflection of their growth, and it evolves, just as we do.

And just as you get a new role, or you have a new position, or you’re growing in your goals and new seasons of your life, so should your brand. It should be reflecting as that. Go back to your LinkedIn, we’ve talked about ad nauseum. Go back to your website. Keep updating these things. And just recognizing your brand isn’t static. It’s growing with you and it’s unfolding in real time.

Pete Mockaitis
Alrighty. Thank you. Well, now could you share a favorite quote, something you find inspiring?

Lola Linarte
So I love this quote by Carlos Castañeda. And it is, “We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And a favorite study or experiment or bit of research?

Lola Linarte
Okay, so back in the day, I thought I was going to be a professor like my parents, and I was studying, I was in a biological anthropology class. And my bioanthropology professor was telling us about symmetry in animals.

And she was saying how, in particular, this study was on peacocks and peahens, and how they had the test of one season of mating – I can’t believe I’m telling you this – on this peacock in this peahen sanctuary, and how they measured the tails, the feathers of this peacock. And nothing else changed from one season to the next. And they trimmed the feathers of this peacock the next season.

So, they tested how many peahens chose this peacock for the next season, and it lessened significantly because of the trimmed feathers on him. And I just thought that was so fascinating how something so simple could make such a significant impact on the, I guess, on the selection for them.

Pete Mockaitis
And a favorite book?

Lola Linarte
I love The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. And one of my clients right now, she has this book called The Habits of Healing, it’s Nakeia Homer.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And a favorite tool, something you use to be awesome at your job?

Lola Linarte
Tool, like a software?

Pete Mockaitis
It could be, yeah.

Lola Linarte
Oh, man, I’m old school, Pete. I am so old school. I love a good fricking journal.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And a favorite habit?

Lola Linarte
Sleep Hygiene 3000. If you can figure out your sleep, your circadian rhythm, and figure out how to sleep, my God, it pays in dividends. You will be so much better for it if you can figure out a more stable rhythm of sleep.

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And is there a key nugget you share that really seems to connect and resonate with your clients, you hear them quoted back to you often?

Lola Linarte
“If you don’t define your brand, you’re going to leave it up to other people to do it for you.”

Pete Mockaitis
Okay. And if folks want to learn more or get in touch, where would you point them?

Lola Linarte
AlmaFelizGroup.com. Alma Feliz is A-L-M-A, Feliz, F-E-L-I-Z group.com. And it’s Alma Feliz throughout all social media, and then Lola Linarte as well for me.

Pete Mockaitis
All right. And do you have a final challenge or call to action for folks looking to be awesome at their jobs?

Lola Linarte
Always take inventory of where you are. Always ask yourself if you like where you’re headed, if you like where you’ve been. Ask yourself if you’re settling. If you want more, figure out if you’re the thing that’s holding you back.

Pete Mockaitis
All right. Lola, thank you.

Lola Linarte
Thank you so much, Pete.