I submitted a poem to the New Yorker

I submitted a poem to the New Yorker.

Yesterday.

I had been tweaking this thing for years right.

Truthfully, it was never something I had any intention of sharing.

But yesterday I read it out loud and thought why not.

It’s good.

Within 10 minutes I felt the satisfaction of submitting my first piece of work to the New Yorker.

Random.

But not really?

We like to package ourselves up in pretty little boxes. We give ourselves titles, job descriptions, and labels that define our strengths and accomplishments. Identity is crafted, seldom revealed.

It’s easy to fall into this trap, especially in the world of personal branding:

“If I’m a Marketer, can I really write blog posts about mental health?”
“If I’m a Business Coach, does it make sense to post travel content?”
“If I’m a Personal Brand Strategist, can I also write poetry and share personal essays?”

Will people get confused?
Does it fit the narrative?
Is it relevant?

Here it is:

If it’s happening to you—it’s relevant. 
If it’s part of your story—it can be part of your personal brand.

Building a personal brand is not the same as building a brand for your business.

So if you follow the same old-school playbook, you’re bound to feel trapped and pigeon-hole yourself into a box you can’t get out of.

You are a multi-faceted, multi-passionate, human being.
It’s messy.
You’re going to love many things and be many things.
You’ll probably contradict yourself sometimes.
And that’s okay.

The likelihood that my poem will ever get published in the New Yorker is pretty damn slim lol

But that’s not the point. 

The point is don’t play small.

Don’t stop yourself from trying new things, or sharing the truth of your experiences, out of fear that it doesn’t “fit the narrative” or work perfectly inside the personal brand you’re working hard to build. 

The truth is, a personal brand should never trap you inside of a box, it’s designed to help you get out of the box you’re already in. With the the right strategy in play, you can get paid for who you are—not just what you do.

Want to know more? Send me a message: hello@annavatuone.com.