5 Reasons Why We Can’t Stop Loving Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Seeing mid-century modern architecture is always a delight for the eye. There is always a mix feeling of luxury and elegance that totally amazes us!

Although Mid-Century Modern Architecture wasn’t always a thing, since Cara Greenberg reaffirmed it, it has been growing and catching more and more supporters throughout the years. There is no doubt that mid-century inspiration is our long-term sweetheart, and now that it’s really on trend, we encourage you to know this style and embrace it, because it’s here to stay and certainly to make a statement.


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1 | This style is timeless. Generation after generation, it will never be unfashionable. There is always a place for Mid-Century Modern and you can never go wrong with it.

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2 | When you see this kind of style, you instantly sense some kind of mystery. It seems like this architecture is almost trying to tell us a story. Extensive use of glass, changes in elevation and open design concepts are key points that make this style so unique.  It is also very mysterious because the partial walls or cabinets of varying heights that create different depths.

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3 | The way this architecture allows light to enter the rooms from multiple angles is what makes it so magical. It instantly connects us to nature and creates a beautiful relaxing place.

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4 | When people think about colors, they often think of the bright hues of the mid-century time period, because it was an epoch where everything was very visual and colorful. There’s always a bunch of beautiful designs and pieces that come to mind when you remember this era.

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5 | In this style, all items should have clean lines, because is required to ‘keep it simple, but stylish‘. Tons of excess and a bunch of ornate embellishments simply don’t combine with Mid-Century Modern.

There are a lot of other reasons why we love and feel inspired by the Mid-Century Modern Architecture, but we think these 5 reasons are enough for you to feel the same way! Maybe it’s time to redecorate your house, don’t you think?

Credit: EssentialHome.eu

Take Your Lower Property Tax Rate To Your New Home!

Under Proposition 60, California homeowners 55 and older get a one-time chance to sell their primary residence and transfer its property-tax assessment to a new one, but the market value of the new home generally must be equal to or less than the market value of the old home.

Prop. 60 was designed to help longtime California homeowners who want to downsize but don’t want to give up the low property-tax assessment they enjoy in their existing home.

Under Proposition 13, homes are reassessed for property-tax purposes when there is a change in ownership or new construction. In between ownership changes, the assessed value can go up by an inflation rate not to exceed 2 percent a year. (Homeowners can get temporary reductions when property values go down.)

With the dramatic increase in California home prices, many longtime homeowners would face a big property-tax increase even if they bought a smaller home.

Prop. 60 lets homeowners 55 or older transfer their base-year value from an existing primary residence to a new primary residence, but there are restrictions.

The new home must be in the same county as the old one or in one of eight counties that accept transfers of base-year value from other counties.

Also, the new home must be purchased or built within two years – before or after – the sale of the original property.

If the new house is purchased before the old house is sold, the market value of the new house on its purchase date cannot exceed 100 percent of the old home’s market value on the date it is sold.

If Brad could afford to hold on to his existing home and it appreciates to more than the value of the new house and he sold the first house within two years, he could qualify for a Prop. 60 transfer.

Suppose his existing home is worth $500,000. On Aug. 1, he buys a new larger home for $600,000.

He holds on to the first home, San Francisco property values go through the roof, and two years later it is worth $610,000. He could sell the first home before Aug. 1, 2014, and retroactively transfer his old property-tax assessment to his new home, even if the new home’s value has climbed above $610,000.

What if a homeowner sells the existing house before purchasing a new one?

To give the homeowner a cushion for inflation, the value of the replacement house must be 105 percent or less than the value of the original house if the new home is purchased within one year or 110 percent of the first home’s value if the replacement home is purchased in the second year after the sale of the original property.

Bradley Marsh, an attorney with Winston & Strawn, warns “there are a lot of pitfalls” with this tax break.

“Just because you sold one place for $700,000 and bought another for $695,000 doesn’t mean you will” qualify, Marsh says. Assessors may challenge whether the sales price equals the market value. They don’t always.

If you exceed the cutoff by even a dollar, you lose the entire Prop. 60 transfer, Marsh says.

Marsh notes that the market value of a home excludes personal property such as a washer, dryer or hot tub. If such items are included in a purchase or sale, the homeowner might (or might not) want to make a note of their value in the contract.

As of Jan. 1, the eight counties that will transfer property tax assessments from other counties are Alameda, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Ventura.

“If you are moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, you can’t transfer” your old value but if you are moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you can, assuming you meet all the other requirements, says Francis Nguyen, deputy director at the San Francisco assessor-recorder office.

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Rams-Chargers Stadium Construction in Inglewood is at 40% Completion

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The future home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers football teams has hit a major construction milestone.

Today, the Inglewood project “topped out,” a term that’s used to signify that the highest steel beam on the stadium has been put into place.

The project is now nearly 40 percent complete. Concrete columns and other elements that will eventually support the shiny, transparent roof canopy are being installed at the site now.

Not yet installed is the 120-yard video screen, Oculus, which will run along the top of the field, just under the roofline.

The stadium, projected to cost $2.6 billion, is on track to open in summer 2020, according to the LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park, as the 298-acre property containing the future stadium and the vast neighborhood that will spring up around it is called. The community is scheduled to open in phases, starting in 2020.

Not long after it opens, the stadium will be thrust into the national spotlight, not only as the largest and most expensive football stadium to date, but also as the host of the 2022 Super Bowl (not the 2021 event, as once planned).

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the community around the stadium would open in 2023. It will open in stages, starting in 2020.

Credit:  LA Stadium and Entertainment District; Curb.com, Photo Credit: Hiro Ueno.

Beach Cities Fireworks Viewing from North to South

This spot in Malibu is a great place to see all the fireworks that rich people will be launching from their boats.

Credit: mikepmiller

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  • Palisades Charter High, Pacific Palisades

  • 15777 Bowdoin St
    Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
  • (310) 230-6623
  • Open in Google Maps

A concert and fireworks show follows the annual Pacific Palisades Fourth of July Parade. The parade is free; tickets to see the music and fireworks are $10.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Ballona Creek Bike Path, Marina del Rey

  • Ballona Creek
    Marina del Rey, CA 90232
  • Open in Google Maps

Bike to Fisherman’s Village or Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey, where there are official viewing spots, or continue along the path toward the bridge that crosses the creek for excellent views of the fireworks. Bring a radio and tune into KXLU (88.9 FM): The synchronized music will be playing over the air. The show is on a barge on the water, and it starts at 9 p.m.

Credit: Focqus

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  • Stevenson Field, El Segundo

  • 408 Eucalyptus Dr
    El Segundo, CA 90245
  • (310) 524-2300
  • Open in Google Maps

El Segundo’s Fourth of July celebration goes on for most of the day and culminates with music and fireworks in the evening. Tickets are $5.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Toyota Sports Complex, Torrance

  • 555 Maple Ave
    Torrance, CA 90503
  • (310) 618-5982
  • Open in Google Maps

In Torrance, fireworks can be seen from grandstand seating at the courthouse on Maple Avenue, or at the neighboring Toyota Sports Complex. Admission is free, but guests will need to pick up tickets in advance.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro

  • 3800 Stephen M White Dr
    San Pedro, CA 90731
  • (310) 732-3480
  • Open in Google Maps

San Pedro hosts an excellent—and free—fireworks show at the Port of LA at 9 p.m. If you want to view the show from the water, the Los Angeles Maritime Institute offers a Fourth of July sail on a tall ship ($60 for adults/$30 for kids).

Credit: Unknown

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  • The Queen Mary, Long Beach

  • 1126 Queens Hwy
    Long Beach, CA 90802
  • (562) 499-1701
  • Open in Google Maps

An English ocean liner might seem like an odd place to celebrate American independence, but those looking for an up-close view of a great fireworks show could do far worse than the Queen Mary’s Fourth of July festivities. Tickets start at $44. If that’s too much, the fireworks can be easily seen from nearby Alamitos Beach.

Credit: Garo Manjikian

Source: Visit Curbed.com for an interactive map for all of Los Angeles

L.A.’s Hottest New Real-Estate Amenity: Walkability

In Los Angeles, a city known for its cars, high-end buyers increasingly want homes within steps of bars, restaurants and sports venues

Kerry Moy, a portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Los Angeles, lives on the 41st floor of the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live, near the Staples Center entertainment complex.

From his luxury condominium in Beverly Hills, Calif., David Henry Simon can walk to his favorite restaurants. In the morning, he steps out for coffee or strolls to a nearby grocery store, where the cashier knows him by name.

Located at the Montage Beverly Hills, a five-star hotel, the three-bedroom, 2,600-square-foot home Mr. Simon bought last summer is steps away from the upscale stores and eateries around Rodeo Drive.

“There are days when I don’t touch the car,” says Mr. Simon, a lawyer, real-estate investor and native New Yorker. “It’s just like when I was growing up in Manhattan.”

Meet the hottest new amenity in Los Angeles luxury real estate: walkability. In the city known for its car culture, more high-end home buyers want a neighborhood feeling and the ability to walk to urban attractions.

The shift comes as locals are growing weary of worsening traffic and high-priced parking, and as community-oriented millennials are gaining market power. Fueling the trend is a slew of new luxury condo buildings where, developers are hoping, buyers will pay a premium for proximity to urban life. While for most Angelenos, luxury living still means a home in the hills with a private pool and garage, some now share walls in exchange for the ability to run out for a bagel in the morning, a beer at night or a chat with neighbors at the dog park.

“Things are changing in L.A.,” says Cory Weiss, president of western region development  for real estate marketing. “People are flocking to new developments in areas where they can walk.”

The firm is marketing six projects in the city that involve “vertical living,” as real-estate professionals call condo buildings, in walkable areas, several of them around Sunset Boulevard. At one, the Residences at the West Hollywood Edition, 20 condos sit atop a new boutique hotel designed by Ian Schrager and start at $5 million.

Los Angeles’ luxury condos can cost as much as a Malibu mansion. Beverly Hills’ Mr. Simon wouldn’t say how much he paid for his home at the Montage, which has high ceilings and a view of the Hollywood sign. But a similarly sized, three-bedroom unit in the building is currently listed for $9.5 million. Two units recently sold for roughly $4,000 a square foot, according to Soren Olsen, director of sales of the residential brokerage at Redwood City, Calif.-based Ohana Real Estate Investors, which owns the Montage Beverly Hills. Mr. Simon, who is single and in his 70s, also owns an oceanfront house in Manhattan Beach but added the condo partly because he “missed just walking places.”

Foot-friendly city life is drawing buyers to downtown Los Angeles, which has become a more vibrant urban center in recent years. Kerry Moy, a portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Los Angeles, bought a one-bedroom condominium in the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live, near the Staples Center entertainment complex, for $1 million in 2012. He initially planned to use the apartment, with contemporary finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows, as a second home but spent so much time there that last year, he added a two-bedroom unit next door for $1.7 million.

While he still drives—impossible to avoid altogether in Los Angeles, he says—Mr. Moy, 59 and newly single, enjoys grabbing an iced vanilla latte at the coffee shop in his building on his way to his office, also downtown. He walks to concerts, basketball and hockey games at the Staples Center, or to nearby restaurants such as Triple 888, a Chinese bar and grill he has invested in. Mr. Moy, who is originally from Chicago but has lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years, feels the property will appreciate alongside the ongoing revitalization of downtown. “An area in transition is an area of opportunity,” he says.

Real-estate website Redfin, which calculates “walk scores” to grade neighborhoods’ walkability on a scale of 1 to 100, says that an increase to 80 from 60 adds an average of $129,000 to a property’s value in Los Angeles. Downtown Los Angeles, the neighborhood ranked most walkable, boasted a median home price per square foot of $679, well over the citywide median of $449, in March, the latest data available. MacArthur Park, a nearby district that scores second-highest for walkability, was also higher than the median at $471.

Urban-style condominium living is growing in popularity across all price points. In August, comedian Richie Doyle paid $950,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in a Mediterranean-style complex in West Hollywood, an area popular with young buyers for its culture and nightlife.

Mr. Doyle, 25, can see celebrities arriving for events at Delilah, a lounge and restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard. On Valentine’s Day, Mr. Doyle and his girlfriend walked to dinner at Norah five blocks from their house. At night, the couple says, the area feels like New York’s Greenwich Village.

“If you want to be in the epicenter of L.A. culture and what makes L.A. great, you can’t enjoy it if you’re sitting in the car for 45 minutes,” he says.

The city of Los Angeles is encouraging car-free living. Along with extending public transportation, it is making streets more pedestrian-friendly, with wider sidewalks, benches and trees. It is also encouraging construction near transit hubs.

Eric Yang and Lauren Kawabata drive to work but can walk to most other places. Married in December 2016, the couple went to Japan for a honeymoon before starting to house-hunt in the spring of last year. So when they saw a newly built three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo around Memorial Day in Silver Lake—complete with a roof deck and view of lush palm trees—they bought it for just over $1 million by Labor Day. On its website, Newport Beach, Calif.-based developer Planet Home Living touts the homes’ location “in one of L.A.’s hottest neighborhoods near shopping, dining, markets and more.”

On Saturday mornings, Mr. Yang, an accountant at EY, and Ms. Kawabata, a pharmacist, walk to the farmers market and to get his tea and her latte at the Blue Bottle Coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard, a 15-minute walk from their contemporary condo complex, Covo Silver Lake. If Mr. Yang, 30, and Ms. Kawabata, 29, get home from work early, they stroll to area restaurants such as Silverlake Ramen or Wood, a pizzeria featuring wood-oven baked pizza. Mr. Yang says the cost of parking in Los Angeles makes the couple want to drive less. Above all, it was the car-free trip to Japan that sparked their interest in a convenient, walkable neighborhood.

“We’re both natives of L.A.,” Mr. Yang says. “But it took a trip to Tokyo for us to get of our cars.”

Credit: Cecilie Rohwedder, The Wall Street Journal

5 Tips for Investing in Income Property

Plenty of challenges accompany the current real estate market and those who invest in real estate without proper preparation might suffer the negative consequences. If you’re interested in beginning a rental property business, here are a few of the most basic aspects to remember.

1. Get Finances in Order

This one seems obvious, but it can be more complicated than you think. Investing in an income property isn’t like purchasing a house; it can be much more risky. With an income property, you never know exactly how your tenants will treat the property and how much work will need to be completed throughout the year. For that reason, it’s extremely important to have financial stability and a low-interest loan.

To begin with, ensure that you have enough money to handle the ups and downs of a rental property. The first rule of financial stability in the rental business is ensuring you can afford the payments on a house without the rental income. You may not always have renters, and when you don’t, the bank still expects you to make payments on the house.

You will also need a healthy sum set aside for emergencies. When the pipes burst and cause thousands in property damage the insurance won’t cover, you need to be prepared to take care of the cost.

Finally, remember that when you run a rental property business, you are not running a home; you’re running a business. Therefore, it’s wise to have an account separate from your business dealings for your spending related to the care of your income property.

2. Understand the Market

The real estate market is one of the most malleable markets in the country. It can change at the drop of the hat, and it’s difficult to predict when it will go up again, unless you’re thoroughly immersed in the market.

If you truly understand the real estate market, you know when it’s smart to purchase a property and when it’s best to wait for a better price. You can also gauge the proper times to raise rent prices. Overall, you’ll receive better returns if you can predict the market.

3. Begin with the Right Property

Almost every prospect requires that you start out low and work your way up, and real estate investments are no different. It’s important to begin with a solid property before finding a challenge.

A feature article published on Fox News gives several suggestions for the type of rental properties beginners should consider purchasing. Some of their tips include:

“Buy a property that you love.””Skip the prize properties.””Buy as a personal residence and change to rental.””Buy properties in good shape.”Each of these options are excellent suggestions for those joining the business. Once you’ve mastered the simpler income properties, you can move on to another challenge, such as flipping a dilapidated property.

4. Plan for the Care of the Property

Managing a property isn’t easy. If you choose to be the landlord, it’s your responsibility to collect rent, keep the books, file taxes, screen tenants, handle maintenance, work out the insurance plans, write the contracts, and more. Many feel that they’re up to the challenge and try to handle the work themselves.

For others, the task is daunting to say the least. If that sounds like you, you’ll probably want to look into hiring a property management company. A property management company can cost anywhere from 5-10 percent of a month’s rent, which decreases your return, but can be well worth the investment.

This article from Green Residential of Houston points out there are many benefits of hiring a property manager including local knowledge, low turnover, legal knowledge, marketing expertise, and expertly handled maintenance. It’s not the right option for everyone, but many have found the time and money saving benefits to be worth the monthly fee.

5. Screen Tenants Properly

Finally, once you’ve take care of the basics, it’s time to rent out the property. However, it’s not wise to use a first come first serve basis with tenants. You need to be sure that they’ll pay the rent every month and treat your property respectfully. This requires a certain screening process, which will allow you to find great tenants.

Furthermore, be prepared for the tenant to screen you, in a sense. The best tenants will be prepared with the right questions. An article previously published on Inc.com outlines some of the most popular questions tenants ask before signing a lease. Make sure you have the answers ready, and take these questions as a sign of their dedication to the property.

Getting a handle on the income property business will likely be more challenging than you think, but once you’ve mastered these basics, you’ll be ready for the next important business step: making a profit.

Getting Ready to Buy a Home | Here are 11 Ways To Raise Your Credit Score, Fast

A recent survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling indicates that more people would be embarrassed to admit their credit scores (30%) than their weight (12%).

While crash diets don’t usually work and can be unhealthy, it is possible to change your credit score fairly quickly. But just as with weight loss, “quickly” is a relative term. Seeing any improvement could take 30 to 60 days, according to Liz Weston, personal finance columnist and author of Your Credit Score, Your Money & What’s At Stake.

But nothing will change at all if you just sit there on the couch, eating Cheetos and charging items on the Home Shopping Network. So get moving!

The first thing to do is get a copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. The three major credit reporting bureaus must give you one free copy per year, so plan to order one every four months

Then use one or more of the following tips to boost that three-digit number that has increasing power over our everyday lives.

  1. Dispute errors. Mistakes happen. You can dispute errorsonline through EquifaxExperianand TransUnion. After you’ve fixed any foul-ups, you might try to…
  2. Negotiate. You can’t deny that you stopped paying a credit card bill when you were unemployed last year. But you canask creditors to “erase” that debt or any account that went to collection. Write a letter offering to pay the remaining balance if the creditor will then report the account as “paid as agreed” or maybe even remove it altogether. (Note: Get the creditor to agree in writing beforeyou make the payment.)  You might also be able to ask for a “good-will adjustment.” Suppose you were a pretty good Visa V +0.81% customer until that period of unemployment, when you made a late payment or two – which now show up on your credit report. Write a letter to Visa emphasizing your previous good history and ask that the oopsies be removed from the credit report. It could happen. And as long as you’re reading the report, you need to…
  3. Check your limits. Make sure your reported credit limits are current vs. lower than they actually are. You don’t want it to look as though you’re maxing out the plastic each month. If the card issuer forgot to mention your newly bumped-up credit limit, request that this be done. 
  4. Get a credit card. Having one or two pieces of plastic will do good things to your score – ifyou don’t charge too much and if you pay your bills on time. In other words, be a responsible user of credit.  Can’t get a traditional card? Try for a secured credit card, taking care to choose one that reports to all three major credit bureaus. And if you can’t get a secured card, you might ask to… 
  5. Become an authorized user. This means convincing a relative or friend to be added to his or her existing credit card account. If you’ve had a checkered financial history, don’t be surprised if you hear the word “no” a lot. But you might luck out, especially if you’re a young person who has no history of poor credit use.  Offer to put an agreement in writing stating how much you can spend and how you will get your share of the bill to the cardholder. Then “do your part and use the card responsibly,” says Beverly Harzog, author of Confessions of a Credit Junkie. In other words, don’t buy more than you can afford and don’t leave your co-signer hanging when the bill is due. The point is to learn to use credit responsibly.
  6. Under-use your cards. Yes, we did just tell you to get credit by any means possible. But don’t whip out the plastic to pay for everything. The “credit utilization ratio” should be no more than 30% and ideally even less. Harzog says that a 10% credit utilization ratio will “maximize this part of your FICO score.”  For example, suppose your Mastercard has a $1,500 limit and you routinely charge a grand a month. It doesn’t matter if you pay it all off before it’s due. What matters is the credit bureaus think “Curtis is using two-thirds of his credit! What a spendthrift!” And if you’re a cash-free kind of guy? Then try to…
  7. Raise your credit limit. Ask your creditors to increase your limit, i.e. making that MasterCarda good for up to $3,000. Be careful with this one, though: It works only if you can trust yourself not to increase your spending habits accordingly. Otherwise you’ll be right back to using 66% of your credit each month and how will that look?
  8. Don’t close any cards. Canceling a credit card will cause your available credit to drop, which doesn’t look good to a bureau. One way to keep a card active is to use it for a recurring charge such as a utility bill. There’s room for that in your budget, right?
  9. Mix it up.Using a different kind of credit can make for a modest boost to your score. For example, you might take out a small personal loan from the credit union or buy a piece of furniture or appliance on installment (but only if you’re 100% sure you can and will meet the payment schedule). 
  10. Pay your bills on time. Seriously. Your payment history – including the ones you pay late or skip altogether – makes up a whopping 35% of your FICO score. If you’re absent-minded or merely overwhelmed (Hi there, parents of young children!), then for heaven’s sake, automate your payments. Even better than paying on time is to…
  11. Pay your bills twice a month. Using too much of your credit limit at any given moment doesn’t look good. Suppose your limit is $3,000 and a month’s worth of havoc (car repair, doctor bills, plane ticket for kid to get to college) means you’ve charged up $2,900. Sure, you plan to pay in full by the 18thof the month – but until then it looks like you’re maxing out yet another card.  Instead, make one payment just before the statement closing date and second one right before the due date. The first will likely reduce the balance that the credit bureaus see and the second makes sure you won’t pay interest or a late fee.

 Credit: Curtis Arnold BestPrepaidDebitCards.com.

Forbes.com

12 Hottest Smart Home Gadgets from CES 2018

3 Tips for Building Personal Brand

The MPW Insiders Network is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for, “What’s the best way to manage your personal brand?” is written by Carine Clark, president and CEO of MaritzCX.

How many times have you heard, “I totally Googled you”? Last summer, I was on an African vacation with my family and 20 strangers. Two weeks into the trip, one of the retired guests said, “I totally Googled you, and you are different than I thought—you’re a big deal.” Even though I had tried to be in the background, humbly enjoying my time away from my regular life as a CEO of a fast-growing tech company in Utah, I couldn’t escape my brand—even in the middle of Africa.

I believe that your personal brand should be personal. It should be authentic, and it should be a rich representation of not only what you’ve done, but of who you are and what you care about. I’m a tech CEO, but I care about mentoring young people. Because I understand how important my brand is when it comes to the outcome of my career, I’m very deliberate about the projects and organizations I choose to support. Your brand will always be defined by the traits you display and the work you do in your personal life.

 

Do forensics on your brand
Before you can effectively manage your personal brand, you must first have a 360-degree understanding of how others perceive you. Reach out to friends or colleagues who will be honest with you and ask for their feedback. Listen to what they have to say. Some of what you hear may be on par with what you want your brand to be, and some may vary.

See also: Here’s What Would Happen if More Leaders Embraced Their Flaws

Early in my career, some of my colleagues told me people thought I was mean—some were even scared of me. I knew that I had high expectations and that I could be tough, but mean? I had spent countless hours helping mentor young people and giving back to the tech community, so why didn’t that stand out? I was typically very direct—almost curt—when speaking to people, and realized I needed to be careful. You need to give people context before asking them to do something that you need.

Simply put, if you want to be recognized as philanthropic, then be big-hearted and generous. If you want to be perceived as humble, then be humble. Your brand directly reflects what you’ve done, who you are, and what you care about. Early on, I realized what mattered to me and wanted my brand to reflect entrepreneurship, mentorship, and advocating for women in tech. When I understood how my brand was perceived, I was empowered to make it happen.

For instance, I would only take speaking engagements that supported my values. Even now, I only share social content that falls in line with my brand. Most importantly, I spend a lot of my professional and personal time putting my money where my mouth is.

It’s no secret that the only constant in life is change. As you learn and grow, so will your brand. Let it. Just be cognizant of what the changes are. Most importantly, realize that rough patches and hard times—whether they be layoffs, health crises, or family emergencies—don’t have to define your brand, but they can refine it.

5 Ways to Build a Strong Personal Brand
Former President of Entertainment for Telemundo Nely Galán explains.
At one point in my life, I had to accept that cancer would, to some extent, be a part of my brand. While I didn’t want to be defined by it, I had to recognize that people knew about it and it was out there, so I embraced it and braided it into my brand. My brand message was, “Yes, I’ve dealt with hard stuff, but everybody has.”

If someone were to “Google” you today or ask your friend or boss about you, would they discover something different from what you want your brand to be? Be honest with yourself. When what you want your brand to be is inconsistent with the perceptions of others, the only person who has the power to change it is you. There is strength in knowing who you are and working every day to make it real.

credit: Fortune Magazine