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Oh goodness Reader - I have to present to a high school class this week and I am slightly terrified 😅

A while back, I was asked to speak to the leadership class at McCall-Donnelly High School about marketing. And of course I said yes! I mean, any chance I get to share my geekiness when it comes to this subject is always a yes.

But then I had a bit of a panic attack. What the hell am I going to talk to them about?! Why would they care about anything I had to say?!

So I got to thinking back to when I was in high school. I was always somewhere in between finding myself and pretending to be something I wasn't. Like those sad years when I pretended I liked the Spice Girls and not George Strait (brutal!).

It wasn't until I got to college that I really started to understand that I had to be myself...and once I did that, my own personal brand finally solidified.

So that is what I am running with - the power of building a personal brand.

It’s not about crafting a perfect image — it’s about showing up consistently as the authentic, real you – quirks and “imperfections” and all.

(even when you are intensely embarrassed by your teeth and the stupid palate expander the orthodontist insisted you have 😆)

Quick and easy ways to move your marketing forward this week

Three Easy Ways to Audit Your Brand

Okay, hear me out.

I think small business branding is DIRECTLY tied to the founder's own personal brand.

We are in our businesses every day. The values WE have carry over to the values we want to convey in our business.

Not sure if your small business brand is aligning with your personal brand?

I like to start with my brand words (3 - 5 words I want to be known for - both personally and professionally).

And a few times a year, I check to see if everything is still aligning with these three quick check-ins 👇
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✅ Audit Your Digital Presence

Google yourself! Or better yet, use this ChatGPT prompt to get a sense of what the world at large thinks your brand is:

Do the results match what you want your brand to be?

Quick Fix: If not, start small. Update your Google Business listing with words you want to be known for. Consider an update to your main headline on your website. Small tweaks add up!

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✅ Check the “Vibe Match” Across Platforms

Look at your website, social media, emails, signage - anywhere your business shows up. Ask yourself:

“If someone knew me, would they recognize me in this brand?”

If your content sounds overly formal but you’re casual in real life, or if your visuals are polished but your in-person vibe is playful and scrappy, there’s a disconnect.

Quick Fix: Rewrite one piece of copy (like your About page or Instagram bio) in your natural tone of voice.

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✅Ask People You Trust

Sometimes we’re too close to see it clearly. So ask other people! Pick 2 or 3 trusted clients, colleagues, and/or friends and ask:

“What three words come to mind when you think of my brand?”

Then ask:
“Do those feel like me?”
If not, that’s your cue to re-align.

Quick Fix: Take one word that does feel like you and make sure it shows up somewhere obvious (like your home page headline or welcome email).
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Food for thought from my brain this week...

That time I tried to change my name

When I started grad school to get my MBA, I decided to run a little experiment. What most people don’t know is that my full name is Micael (pronounced like the boy name Michael) McKenzie Kraemer. Despite the first name, I have always gone by McKenzie.

And I wondered what would happen if, in a business setting, I started going by Micael. It’s rare for a woman to have that name, and honestly, I was curious: Would people take me more seriously? Would I be treated differently before I even walked in the room because of a more masculine name?

So, for two years in business school, I introduced myself as Micael.

And it was... excruciating, exhausting.

I forgot who I was supposed to be almost daily. I missed roll call because I didn’t respond to my own name. I introduced myself as McKenzie more times than I can count — which always got confused looks.

Here’s what I learned: Micael might be on my birth certificate, but it’s not me. It’s not how I show up in the world.

It didn’t feel natural — and you can’t build a personal brand (or a business brand) around something that isn’t real. It has to be true to you. If it’s not something you can live and breathe every day, it won’t stick — and people won’t buy it.

You can’t sustain fake.

You can’t sustain a persona that you can’t live effortlessly every day - and that goes for your business as well!

Here's to being our true, authentic selves this week💛

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