This book is the definitive resource for understanding the phenomena and process of personal brand management as it becomes increasingly valued in a global economy. By providing a research-based, theoretical framework, the author distills the concept of personal branding as it is applicable to individuals throughout all stages of career development as well as across industries and disciplines.
Extensively researched with numerous case studies, this book clearly outlines the strategic process of evaluating the economic value of a personal brand to manage and scale it accordingly. The author, an expert in the field of personal brand strategy and management, argues that a business is what a person or organization does, but the brand is what people expect from that person or organization. The two must align, and the book's conceptual framework explains the theory and practice behind personal branding to accomplish this synergism.
The consequence of the digital age is unprecedented visibility for individuals and businesses. As they engage with one another in more and more virtual spaces, the need for understanding and managing the evolving complexity of this 'personal' engagement is an economic reality. For this reason, the framework in this title provides insight and perspective on all phases of a brand in its recursive life cycle both on and offline. By providing clarity and structure to the topic as well as practical theory for its application, this title is the ultimate primer on personal branding in theory and practice.
Talaya Waller, M.B.A., D.B.A. is an international personal branding consultant and professor. In 2014, she founded Waller & Company to provide research-based, data-driven personal brand strategies for CEOs, top-level executives, and industry leaders looking to position their expertise and increase business revenue. From Fortune 500 companies to royal dignitaries, she's worked with a diverse range of clients to develop personal brands that target the audiences they want to reach. As of 2020, her methodology is being developed into a patent-pending software that integrates data and personal brand management within universities and corporations.
As an adjunct professor at Maryland Institute College of Art and a guest professor at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, Dr. Waller has taught Personal Brand Management around the world. She has been a visiting professor at several leading universities and has delivered personal branding lectures to Business Marketing students in the United States, Poland, Australia, Switzerland, Chile, South Korea, and South Africa. After publishing a study about mobile game technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship, she was awarded the Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award for her innovative qualitative approach to personal branding research.
In addition to her academic and consulting work, Dr. Waller is an in-demand public speaker and thought leader. Notably, in 2018, Dr. Waller was invited to present a TEDx titled "The Future of Branding is Personal," which went viral. Dr. Waller's work has been featured in Refinery29 and she has been featured on TV news outlets and in publications such as
New York Magazine,
Forbes,
Fast Company,
Business Insider, and
The Chronicle of Higher Education.
