Should You Be the Face of Your Brand (Part 1) | Show & Tell Academy

How much do you want to show up in your brand? Have you ever considered being the face of it?

If I had to name one person that made me want to be the face of my brand, it would be Oprah. O Magazine came out in 2000. Since then, Oprah has been on every cover (except one).
I don’t know when I realized she was on every cover but I do remember thinking, “I WANT TO DO THAT!” Without a magazine or even a business.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I decided I would be the face of Love U Too. By that point, I had already begun to share my personal experiences with self-acceptance, so it made perfect sense that there would be photos of me too!

Here’s what I learned about showing up as the face of your brand (as a team of one).

#1 Solo shoots (or recording sessions) are great. The only person’s time you have to be on is your own so you can be flexible with your schedule. BUT because it’s just you, they are also very draining.

As a team of one, I am in charge of choosing wardrobe, planning the location (usually in my home), staging the space (even if it’s just cleaning it), setting up the lights and camera, and art directing myself within each shot.

If you’ve never been on a shoot before, all those things would be done by at least 5 different people. Usually more. I’ve learned to plan each thing ahead of time so I’m doing less on actual shoot days.

#2 It’s extremely easy to get behind. Let’s say you have a busy week or a bad day before shooting. You could postpone your shoot by a few hours or even a day or two. Now you have less time to reach your deadline.

This is where I always end up even more anxious about getting things done. Maybe I’ve lost all the good natural light. Maybe it’s storming so it’s too loud to shoot video, too dark to shoot photos. And I don’t want to risk my phone dying if the power goes out.

Or maybe the weather’s gorgeous so everyone in the neighborhood decides to mow their lawn. Basically, all the variables I originally planned for can become an issue. This cycle continues if I decide to try again another day (or week). Which brings me to….

#3 Pushing through isn’t always worth it. Exhaustion shines through in photos and videos! I’ve wasted HOURS shooting (more than once) only to look at all the photos and see nothing but tiredness in my face or hear it in my voice.

If the vibe had been, “girl, I’m tired.” It MIGHT have been fine. But the day I realized “pushing through to get it done” wasn’t working, I was shooting bright pink. This bright, energetic, full of life color. While looking the complete opposite in the face! In the end, I spent more time reshooting everything.

If you are considering being the face of your brand, I hope I didn’t scare you! I’m sharing all this with you because I want to inspire you to be creative in how you show up!

How much do you want to show up? Let me know in the comments.