Am I a Creator? Or a Sage? Why Not Both?

[Dutch Lock Down Day One Hundred Forty Five]

Photo by davisco on Unsplash

I’m figuring out my brand this week!

Wh00!! !

But first the news:

For context, personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, increase their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.

The twelve Brand Archetypes are The Innocent, Person Next Door, Hero, Maverick, Explorer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Lover, Caregiver, Entertainer, and Sage.

I grew up moving all over the States and adjusting to the local culture / mannerisms / accents and it means that I’m a chameleon. Even the act of narrowing down my archetype from the Jung twelve was SO DIFFICULT. Because I can very easily think of times when I fit ALL of them.

Well, except for a few.

I’m SOOOO not an innocent or a ruler or a person next door.

But the rest…?

First I wrote down every single one and crossed out the obvious NOPES.

Then I took some online quizzes.

The results didn’t resonate if I’m honest. One said I was an Entertainer. And the other said I was a Hero.

And… well.. I *can* be an Entertainer, but is that who I am all the time? And a Hero? Psh.

It doesn’t feel like it?

Time for a new approach – I read about each archetype. And since I really like Kaye Putnam’s style, I checked out her YouTube channel to learn more. She has a video for each archetype and first of all I realised how, yeah, I could be a Hero. But not all the time.

Suddenly four stuck out as real possibilities: Creator, Magician, Sage, and Hero.

But typically, you need to narrow it down to two.

Damnit.

For the next narrow it down, I spoke with the person who knows me almost as well as I know myself – my partner. (Hi, P!)

Here’s the thing, he knows that when we talk, I don’t always want him to fix the nail.

I just want him to listen.

And, yes, this was sort of one of those moments? But I didn’t really know that initially, so it started out as a conversation. And evolved into me talking while he worked. Which is sometimes exactly what you need to figure out the things.

Like why people sometimes talk to a rubber duck.

I realised that it’s fine to have two equal top archetypes. And that I’ve always had two top archetypes. I’ve always danced. And I’ve always coded.

The original tagline of this site was even “Dancing Engineer. Fierce Creature.”

#CreatorSage

#DUH

Which is why the tagline is now “The Dancing Engineer Who Loves Bare Metal and Butoh”… and I think, as a nod to my chameleon nature, the tagline will change every month to reflect what I’m currently interested in, like “The Dancing Engineer Who Loves Cloud Native and Character Shoes” or “The Dancing Engineer Who Loves Open Source and Ondine” or “The Dancing Engineer Who Loves DevRel and Dance”.

But, yeah, will Fierce Creature go away? Probably? Not sure? I have to think on it.

Next on the list?

Choose colours and fonts, design a logo, choose key photos, and brand the socials.

But not today.

Today we rest.


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One response to “Am I a Creator? Or a Sage? Why Not Both?”

  1. […] as a passion project – last week I worked out my personal branding through research of brand archetypes, pinterest gathering, color exploration, logo experimentation, and picture […]