S3 E10: Connecting Your Book and Your Purpose To Find Your Authentic Author Brand

07/20/21 • 34 min

Today’s Invisible Stories guest is Pasha Cook, the founder of Pasha Cook & Associates, an International creative solutions consulting agency that helps professional athletes and executive entrepreneurs Build Brand Identity Stories. She has been on an unstoppable path to success ever since. Pasha made history in 2018 when she became the first female college outreach speaking ambassador for the NFL. In 2019 Pasha played an intricate role in art directing an international documentary launched by the Yao Ming and the Chinese Basketball Association.. Pasha is the author of Brand Yourself Like a Champion: Cultivating Brand Excellence From The Inside Out, which guides readers by defining what a personal brand is and assisting them in evaluating themselves through interactive self-reflection exercises, teaching best practices so that readers can add value and obtain clarity around their personal brand vision.

In this podcast, Pasha shares insights into how she defines success and what her process was when she decided to publish Brand Yourself Like A Champion. Pasha provides insight into:

How her book stemmed from working with athletes to determine their transferable skills, and developed into how to make that type of content accessible for all people. She discusses how you need to look at your own strengths and weaknesses, identify what you value, and what your own personal mission is.
Not every step of her process will work for everyone. Sometimes a formula will work for one person, but others need to just pull some advice from the pages to be their most authentic self. Everyone is different, so she recognizes that people will utilize her book differently to learn and grow.
The intentional design of her book to look like a fashion magazine, drawing from her past in that industry, and how it links in unexpected ways to developing a personal and authentic brand.
How to give yourself time with your work before you put it out in the world. When your story is no longer hurting you or a hindrance to you, then you are released to help to heal other people with your words.

In this podcast, Pasha shares insights into how she defines success and what her process was when she decided to publish Brand Yourself Like A Champion. Pasha provides insight into:

How her book stemmed from working with athletes to determine their transferable skills, and developed into how to make that type of content accessible for all people. She discusses how you need to look at your own strengths and weaknesses, identify what you value, and what your own personal mission is.
Not every step of her process will work for everyone. Sometimes a formula will work for one person, but others need to just pull some advice from the pages to be their most authentic self. Everyone is different, so she recognizes that people will utilize her book differently to learn and grow.
The intentional design of her book to look like a fashion magazine, drawing from her past in that industry, and how it links in unexpected ways to developing a personal and authentic brand.
How to give yourself time with your work before you put it out in the world. When your story is no longer hurting you or a hindrance to you, then you are released to help to heal other people with your words.

Previous Episode

S3 E9: Never Forget Why You Are Writing This Book

Today’s Invisible Stories guest is leadership expert and author David O’Brien. David is the president of WorkChoice Solutions, LLC, a nationally recognized provider of leadership and team effectiveness consulting services. His corporate consulting career spans over twenty years and includes key leadership roles within a variety of industries including Aerospace, Healthcare, and Financial Services. He also works with many small and emerging market leaders to bring about lasting organizational and leadership transformation. David’s books, The Navigator’s Handbook and The Navigator’s Compass share his formula for leadership excellence, and using a combination of personal reflection, story telling, and consulting case studies, David explores some of leadership's most pressing challenges. He provides proven processes and methodologies for helping leaders at all levels to expand their influence and impact.

In this podcast, David shares how he took his years of corporate leadership experience and adapted it for his two books. His goal is to show that anyone can be a leader, not just in their career but in their lives. David and I discuss:

Learning to let go of timelines and self-imposed restrictions to writing, and instead just allow the creativity to flow the way it naturally wants to.
How leadership and storytelling really go hand-in-hand: part of what makes an effective leader is the ability to share stories, to draw people in with them and compel others into action through those stories.
How writing a purpose statement at the beginning of your author journey may help to remind you what you are writing for, and who you are writing for, and can ultimately help you overcome imposter syndrome.

Next Episode

S3 E11: Memoir and Your Shared Experiences Give Power to Readers Who Feel Unseen

Today’s Invisible Stories guest is the renowned speaker and bestselling author Terry Dyer. Over a span of 15 years, Terry’s professional career has been spent in Corporate America working in both for profit and nonprofit environments. His background consists of Talent Acquisition Management, Recruitment, Client Services, and Program Management with Fortune 100 and 500 companies. Additionally, Terry has volunteered his time to various organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and South Florida communities. Since 2007, he has served as a member of the San Francisco LGBTQ Speakers Bureau. He and the organization aim to dispel homophobic and transphobic violence by educating people about the Terry’s memoir, Letters to a GAY BLACK BOY, sparks conversations around racism, inequality, homophobia, and more.

In this podcast, Terry and I discuss the process he underwent to find his authentic voice and to put pen to paper to write his memoir. He shares his insight on:

How he started with a more academic tone in his book, but went back and revised the tone to have a more authentic voice. He wanted readers to feel like they were part of these heartfelt, open, honest, transparent conversations.
His purpose in writing this book, and how he wanted to take sensitive, uncomfortable topics like racism and homophobia, delve into why those topics are uncomfortable, and cut through the noise to find comfortability.
Even the audiences his book was not intended for, who had no shared experience with Terry, read his book and had it transform how they look at particular communities, and find universal commonalities.
How he decided what to include in his memoir, and what went through his head when considering how he should portray real people from his life who might pick up this book.