Personal Brand Blog

If you owned a brand and wanted to make it popular with a hip and dynamic $150 billion youth market, who would you choose?

Shaun White is obviously a remarkable athlete, but what seems to grab us is his authentic and excited personality. Shaun is a good guy! He has a great smile. You feel proud of the young man...I do anyway.

No doubt corporate and product brands lined up at Shaun's door after the 2006 winter Olympics to capitalize on his personal brand following. What impresses me most I learned from a recent Fastcompany article about the Shaun White brand. I learned how selective he is with his partnerships. Comments like "A lot of people will just put their name on anything, and you can tell," he says. "I just can't do that." He identifies with the ability to be unique in what represents your brand. Always on brand!

Shaun asks himself what he wants to be associated with and how his image (brand and picture) is displayed.

It matters and Shaun sees the connection to his brand power. The control this snowboarder and skateboarder enjoys in his own official store is one thing, but he must partner with companies run by people he believes in for the bigger picture. That sustaining brand awareness is a remarkable lesson for us all. A vision for your success and the success of your partnerships is hard to do because environments and markets change. Core values is a different measure and one I see Shaun White is actively aware.

An unmistakable personal brand!

• Promote to Article