In this interview segment, Tristan Walker shares a foundational principle of branding: a brand is defined not by what you claim it is, but by how others perceive it. He emphasizes the importance of consistency—whether consistently kind or consistently a jerk—because any deviation can damage the brand's perception. Walker explains that managing your personal story across social platforms is crucial, as it prevents others from shaping your narrative. He also addresses the question of when individuals should start thinking about their personal brand, suggesting that young people should begin early, developing a 'primordial' brand that evolves as they enter professional life.
I know you're also very interested in developing a personal brand, Your personal brand, the brand of your company. What are the things you've learned about the importance of each individual creating their own brand? How do you do that?
There's one rule on this which is really, really important. I think a lot of people lose sight of it. I got some advice a couple years ago from a marketing executive, and it stuck with me for a long time. And this kind of relates to personal brand or your company or whatever. He said, tristan, brand is not what you say it is. It's what they say it is, right? And the minute you realize that, you start to really understand the importance of the thing that you're trying to build, right? You know, when it comes to, like, personal brand, like, you know, whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, all that stuff, like, I'm pretty ridiculous if you're following me on all these services. Like, I apologize, because I'm pretty heavy on every single one of them. But it's only because I care so much about my own personal story, and no one else should be telling my story, right? And the thing that a lot of folks really don't get about brand is that sometimes it's okay for people to be a jerk. If you're consistently a jerk, that's cool, right? If you're consistently nice, that's cool. Where the problems happen is when you kind of break from that consistency, right? So as long as you understand that, like, brand is what you, like, what other people say it is, that allows you to kind of manage your own, right? And, like, that has stuck with me for a really, really long time, and I think has benefited not only just me, but my company and every company that I kind of create from here on.
I'd love to drill down on that. I think that's really interesting, especially we've got a room full of lots of young people who probably have a primordial brand at this point, right? At what age should people start thinking about their brand? Is this something, you know, when you're a little kid, you start thinking about this is it. When you get in the professional world, at what point and how do you really start crafting it?
Well, I mean, it's become different for me, right? Because, I mean, things like Twitter didn't exist 10 years ago, right? You know, now your brand is public, right? Everyone's talking about it. And, you know, you might think that people aren't talking about you, but they probably are. Like, there are haters everywhere, right? You know, people will care enough about other people to be able to, like, try and bring them down. Right? So as long as maybe that's an inherent cynicism, right, about everyone, but I believe it to be true. So now we're in a world where kind of your life is public. You better take control of it before someone else does. Right? So, you know, as early as you have the ability to control your own personal brand publicly online, I think you should be doing it.
