Shannon Alyse Mitchell

My Personal Brand –

New and Improved!

So how am I lookin now’?• I’m still a student at Humber College. Through guest speakers

and speaking with professionals, I am more confident I am getting one of the best educations in public relations in Toronto

• I have six months left in school, and then will move onto my four month internship

• I have realized that my BAH in Theatre gives me an advantage because I come from something different. I’m learning to use my skills to my advantage and not worry so much that I’m catching up on other communications skills.

• The public relations field is still growing, and is a field that is good when things are good, and good when things are bad – I can’t wait to dive in

• With a growing trend for university students to attend college, I will be one of many looking to make their start – but I’m going to make sure I’m more prepared and more enthusiastic.

I’m ready for this

• I’m looking forward more than ever to diving in. To learning new skills and developing my previous ones. I want to try, be shown where I’ve went wrong, and then put forth something that wows them. I want to be given more responsibilities than just fetching coffee. I don’t even drink coffee. I want to be happy and proud of my career in five years. I want to be able to realistically see myself moving upwards throughout my career, and I want to daily learn something new. I want people to want to follow me on Twitter for more reasons than increasing their following count. I want to be respected and sought after because I have the skills, the drive, and the personality to do whatever it is people want me to do. And I will do it, and I will do it well.

Keep Watching• I am findable by two links on the front page of Google when I

search my name• I have increased my Twitter followers to 144• I have increased my LinkedIn connections to 23• I have connected with my mentor and look forward to meeting

with her again• I will developing relationships with PR professionals like Martin

Waxman (president, CPRS) and Reena Dar through volunteering for the ACE Awards

• I have gone on one job interview for an internship and have two more signed up

• I have joined the Canadian Public Relations Society and attended events

• I have volunteered for relevant industries, like the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival

• I will Tweet: I’m trying. I do Tweet often, and as of right now, have more than 300 tweets. I’m worried about slipping into the habit of tweeting more @ people than just in general, and I’m trying to work on this. I find I use Twitter more for finding links from other people or professional’s profiles rather than for listing my own. I need to spend more of my internet time devoted to looking for interesting and valuable PR related content to Tweet.

But how am I doing it?

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• I will blog: I’m blogging, I really am. I find it hard sometimes because I am a perfectionist and only want to blog when I have pre-formulated something in my head. While I don’t want to spam up my blog with useless drivel, I do need to blog more often to increase followers and feedback.

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• I will comment: I am commenting. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. My main focus right now is that when I find something worthy and of interest to comment on, that I check back with it to see if it has been commented on and I can keep up with my internet presence rather than letting it get away from me.

And just how am I doing so far?

• I figure, the best way to figure something out… is to ask.

• September/October: Completing my Personal Brand was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. It gave me perspective on how I saw myself, see myself in the future, and want others to see me.

• November/December: I have since found a mentor through the Canadian Public Relations Society. I have also had people contact me regarding my personal brand, and reached out to other PR professionals.

Evaluation

• So far, I’m pretty pleased. While figuring out my Personal Brand has been hard, I’m happy I did it. It’s given me perspective so I can try and steer my career and life in the direction I want. I think most of all, it has helped me realize things I don’t want to do. It has helped me focus on what’s important, and not waste time on what’s not. As I am still in school, I do find it difficult to keep up with things most of the time, and am constantly trying to not let school get in the way of my career, and not let me career get in the way of school. It’s a tough road to walk, so instead, I’m going to drive, and I’m going to drive fast.