By Rachel Konieczny
News Editor
Deb Henretta, ’83, presented her talk “Developing Your Personal Brand” on Wednesday as the 2016 Leader in Residence, prompting students to consider how they present themselves to others online and in person.
Henretta, a senior advisor to SSA & Company, a management consulting firm, and former global president of e-business at Procter & Gamble, a consumer goods company, explained how her experiences throughout her career taught her the importance of developing a personal brand.
“Personal branding is the art of building a unique brand around yourself as an individual,” Henretta said. “This is becoming important and essential for advancement in today’s world. A lot of that has been made possible by the Internet.”
Henretta defined a personal brand as what an individual wants to be known for and how one chooses to present him or herself to the world. She spoke to the benefits of developing personal brands, noting personal branding allows a person to differentiate him or herself from others.
“Every successful brand identity is going to start with knowing yourself truly, deeply and really,” Henretta said. “You are going to need to discover who you are so you can determine what you want to stand for and how you’re going to communicate that to others.”
Henretta provided advice on how to create a personal brand.
“Be clear and focused,” Henretta said. “You have to be specific. You can’t be known for everything because in the process of being known for everything, you’re going to be known for nothing. You cannot be all things to all people.”
Ryan Horan, junior journalism and mass communication and theology major, said he enjoyed the presentation.
“I really liked Henretta’s personality,” Horan said. “She’s a very interesting speaker. I thought it was a good topic, and it should be talked about more often.”
Henretta said a personal brand must be true to who you are.
“You have to be genuine,” Henretta said. “Your personal brand has to be words and concepts that you use in the context of who you really are. You have to put your best self forward.”
Henretta provided an example of her daughter, who described herself as an introvert. Henretta said a more specific description of her daughter could be “thoughtful,” as opposed to the broad term of “introvert.”
In addition to discussing personal brands, Henretta broadened her talk to include advice on succeeding in the workplace.
“You have to make a commitment to keep yourself learning about everything there is in your industry or in your area of expertise, especially if you want to establish yourself as a leader,” Henretta said.
She also noted the importance of networking to meet people and find out what one can bring to a prospective boss or job.
Henretta concluded her talk by speaking on the importance of recognizing one’s own mistakes in the workplace.
“If you for some reason you’ve taken a point of view that you later find to be ill-informed or not an appropriate point of view, admit it,” Henretta said. “Admit it, correct it and move on.”
koniecrc14@bonaventure.edu
