Transcript
Speaker: And that's how we show ourselves in person, whether it's the grocery store or at church or at a concert at Canes Ballroom on a Thursday night. And then we also showcase ourselves that way on LinkedIn and TikTok and Instagram and Facebook that I truly believe that we are showing up exactly the way that we're supposed to.
Speaker: And so what is it that we want to be known for, like we discussed earlier? And then how about we talk about that online? It is silly to say that there's not going to be overlap between professional and personal. And it's if we can show up the same way in both places, i think that's a true reflection of what our reputation and brand is as a human.
Speaker: Welcome to the Cultivating Leaders podcast. I'm your host and curiosity captain, Nicole Urcig. If you are ready to lead better, think bigger, and grow faster, you're in the right place. We bring you real conversations with top leaders across food and agriculture, focused on the practical skills and mindsets you need to lead in today's environment.
Speaker: Today's guest has built a career of helping individuals and organizations build a brand and show up authentically online. Brooke Clay Taylor is chief operating officer and partner at Empire Ag. She's a brand storyteller and digital strategist who has spent more than a decade helping agriculture, food, and rural businesses develop clear voices, tell meaningful stories, and turn online audiences into engaged communities. She's also the founder of Rural Gone Urban and the Rural Gone Urban Foundation.
Speaker: Brooke has built a recognizable personal presence by sharing her expertise, personality, values, and life experiences in a way that feels honest and distinctly her own. Hashtag real, real.
Speaker: Brooke has all the tips and tricks for those wanting to show up more authentically online, redefine your personal brand, or feel less intimidated making your LinkedIn posts. Brooke, welcome to the pod.
Speaker: Thank you. So glad you're here. So ah take us back to the beginning. What did Brooke's first journey look like online talking about food and agriculture?
Speaker: So my very first grown-up big kid job out of the gate was at the Oklahoma Pork Council. And my very first day on the job, my boss headed to the Capitol because it was you know time to be an advocate on the Hill.
Speaker: And I sat there in my office and had no idea what I needed to do that first day at the office. And I think you will be surprised in no way that I started a Facebook page and a Twitter account for the Oklahoma Port Council with absolutely no approvals.
Speaker: I just did. And I immediately made friends. I believe her name at the time was the Coupon Queen. And I just infiltrated the Couponing Mom Network in Oklahoma City and then explained myself later. And so I honestly just jumped into the deep end of digital advocacy, storytelling, on behalf of agriculture, day one on the job.
Speaker: That is incredible. Okay, now I have to know, what was the reaction when you were like, hey, guess what I did? Well, it was very early in the digital media landscape to honestly age myself, and they they didn't know what to do with that information. It didn't make sense. It was a waste of everyone's time. Radio is king. Print advertising is the way to go. and it was when, at the time, We did a lot of activations at grocery stores and we had an activation where we sold sold out of our free product within I think it was 25 or 30 minutes. And that was the time they said, Oh, hold on. i think we're on to something.
Speaker: I think this is working. That's incredible. I love the bravery too of just like, yeah, I'm going to start a Facebook page. Is it bravery or neuro spiciness? I'm not sure. But it was definitely like, I can't sit on this ninth floor in downtown Oklahoma City and not know what I'm supposed to do all day. what if we had a Facebook page?
Speaker: Yes. Oh, that's incredible though. Okay. So take us from you as a, was that an internship? I guess an internship. No, it was a, it was a real job. Okay. so a real job Yes. Yeah. Day one of big kid jobs, starting a Facebook page for Oklahoma pork to take us from there to now where you are today and and what you do.
Speaker: Absolutely. So i feel like I wear three hats professionally all day, every day. i am the COO of Empire Ag. We serve farmers, ranchers, and small business owners in rural America across the United States. I believe we have clients in 30 states as of last count.
Speaker: And we have three divisions, branding, strategy, and accounting. And what we do is solve rural business problems every single day. And I like to say I'm the lead cat wrangler for our company. If there's a problem, I fix it. And it is incredible. It's maybe the one of the most incredible opportunities I've had in my career. I also still run Rural Gone Urban, which is my consulting agency. And I mostly carve out time for one-on-one businesses. strategic coaching for seems to be mostly women rural business owners.
Speaker: And then of course, I am the acting executive director of the Rural Gone Urban Foundation, which is a foundation serving women in rural America and three very specific seasons of their life, whether that's going to college or any post-secondary training or education, looking for small business grants for your small business.
Speaker: And also we have what we call love bombs, which are um Gifts for women who are in the trenches of a cancer diagnosis. amazing. Thank you. an Incredible. Like, yeah I don't know how you fit that many hats on your heart, Brooke. and I also don't. I think all of us who grow up in rural America or who work in rural business and agriculture, we are so used to working from sunup to sundown. i think that that is truly why, because the clock doesn't stop at five o'clock for me. It's just as much as I can fit into the day is exactly the amount of work I'm going to do.
Speaker: Absolutely. Well, and I think it shows how much you care about it too, which I think is- Thank you. I do. I truly do. So thanks for saying that. Absolutely. Okay. So i obviously your career has been very online, digital marketing, all of that kind of stuff. As we talk about leadership and agriculture and our listeners here, you also have had a have really built ah a personal brand and quite a presence online in other ways too. And so talk about what what inspired that as a, you were a digital marketer professionally, but then also kind of built like Brooks brand, the rural gone urban brand. and And where did that all begin?
Speaker: Absolutely. So i will say i am most comfortable behind other people's brands. So I built a career out of working for top agricultural companies and advertising agencies across the country. And I found a really safety net behind other people's brands and cultivating what that was like. For me, life experience, life seasons really pushed me to a place where I found myself in a situation where my story was going viral.
Speaker: without really my input. And it was that moment that I thought, well, I can tell my story myself or someone else could do it for me. And I really felt like a cobbler's kid in that I've been working on everyone else's brand reputation and their stories. And I hadn't really considered how my own really came into play. And so it was truly, i had been doing it passively for a number of years, not really thinking anyone was going to tune in or listen, maybe my close friends.
Speaker: And about seven years ago, I thought, hold on, what if I really, really cultivate this in a way that's organic and And truly, I believe the community that I've built is because I'm not doing what every influencer on TikTok says the top 10 things that you should be doing online are X, y and z It's showing up consistently and authentically. And authentically, i truly mean and I am not filtering or spinning or considering all of the things other than just being authentic. to who I am as a person and it works. And I think, especially in a season of AI, real, authentic, honest storytelling is what people want.
Speaker: Absolutely. Okay. There is so much want to unpack there. Yes. Let's do it. Let's unpack it. So let's maybe start with the, I can totally relate as a communicator as well. Like it's so comfortable to to be behind the scenes in a brand. um And you also know, I think all the things that can go wrong from a personal branding standpoint. So talk to me about the Courage or what was going through your mind when you're like, hey, I'm going to show up and I'm going to show up very authentically, knowing that also like there's a blend here, right? In showing up personal on social media and you're also a digital marketer from a professional brand standpoint.
Speaker: So what's interesting is I grew up in a season and I went through college in a season where social media was kind of new on the market. And it was new on the market, not just, you know, past the.edu. It was is public and business profile pages were being added to the types of things we could do online.
Speaker: And what was really interesting is that the advice we were getting from mentors and our professors were absolutely under no circumstances should you post a picture of you drinking a beer on the internet.
Speaker: Could you imagine telling 21-year-old that today? Absolutely not. Treat yourself. Drink that Chardonnay happy hour or that Bud Light or whatever it is and be authentically yourself. And I really believe that when you think about who do you want and you do the work and and saying like,
Speaker: how do I want to present myself? And you take social media out of the equation, like, who do I want to be known as a person? You know, if it were the end of my life, what do I want people to say about me if I'm no longer here and I'm graduating to heaven? And then we dial it all the way back and say, if that's how we want to be known, and that's how we show ourselves in person, whether it's the grocery store or a church or at a concert at Canes Ballroom on a Thursday night.
Speaker: And then we also showcase ourselves that way on LinkedIn and TikTok and Instagram and Facebook that I truly believe that we are showing up exactly the way that we're supposed to. I love that so much in the way that you frame it because, yeah, i I mean, I grew up in the same age of like social media was still just like in its infancy. And see and yeah yes, that was the advice. was like, don't, it's unprofessional. Don't post anything you don't want people to be able to Google someday. which I still think is some advice that folks get.
Speaker: But if you think about- Well, I do think there is a happy medium. Do you need to overshare online? No, unless that's what you want your brand to be. Maybe you want to create a whole empire about oversharing online. I personally don't want to do that. I save my oversharing for my keynotes. I make a joke about that. they' Like, listen, I'm going to share everything except- Maybe my credit score, if you want that also, maybe I'll give that to you as well. But I think there's a time and a place for what we share online. And if we curate that really well, I think that we can do a really good job, whether it's our personal brand um or our business brand, we ultimately get to decide what the world gets to know about us.
Speaker: Yes. Yeah. And I don't, I think what you're, what I hear you saying too, is it doesn't have to be over curated or like you don't have to manufacture all of this. um But I think this is really interesting and ties back to an episode that we just recorded with someone else about like the humanity and work and professionalism. And I think as we think about building personal and professional brands, like you're still a human when you show up in the workplace and it's okay to be a human person.
Speaker: online as you build that personal brand too. Absolutely. And I do think it does a disservice to not share what I call the real, real to those behind us to, you know, if I could look back at 27 year old me and say, Hey, when you're at 39, you're going to be a COO of a really incredible company working on you know, remote wifi. And you also get to make it to drop off and pick up for your second grader.
Speaker: Absolutely. This is exactly what I want to do. And I want to showcase that this is possible and be honest that sometimes it's a little messy and we still get to have these opportunities. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, yeah, that's the dream, right? This is the dream. Like this is all I could have hoped for.
Speaker: Yes. So ah here's another question I have with that is as you think about, okay, I'm i'm building towards this and being authentic online. And I think you're going experience it whether we're talking in the digital professional space or in the true professional space. None of this experience is free from criticism. So how do you handle the, um whether it is well-meaning people who say hurtful things or just genuinely the haters as you build a personal brand?
Speaker: Goodness, like the haters push the algorithm. So thank you for pushing my views out to a new audience. And also you're going, listen, we all grew up in small towns, or I say i would say a majority of people listening to this podcast grew up into a small or medium sized town. And this is just part of what the world looks like. There's always going to be someone who has an opinion about what you do. But staying focused on what you're doing and where you want to be like that is ultimately the most important thing.
Speaker: aspect of whatever it is you're doing. Use some of the things to your to your benefit. Block some keywords. Remove followers. Do all the things. did You get to decide how you show up.
Speaker: It's your rules, you know?
Speaker: that's I think that's a great way to frame it too, of like you get to set the boundaries too. Yeah. yeah Absolutely. i so if I, am I ever too old to create a personal brand, especially online?
Speaker: Absolutely not. Like who makes the rules? You make the rules. You're in charge. You can decide today that you want to start a TikTok account for the very first time. Or my favorite place to hang out is LinkedIn.
Speaker: You want to know why? Everyone's using AI on LinkedIn. What if you showed up today and you used real words? Do you know how immediately you would surface to the top? Everyone would know.
Speaker: that you're the person that we should listen to. And you would probably grow a thousand followers in 30 days. It's never too late. And also i dare you to try it. Anyone listening, just go to LinkedIn and for 30 days, just use your own words. Don't log into Gemini or Claude or ChatGPT or whoever, just write and see what happens.
Speaker: Oh, I love that challenge. um Okay, Brooke, am I making a mistake if I am a professional today who doesn't have a LinkedIn presence or I don't have maybe much of an online digital presence at all? Maybe I'm one of those, ah I just have the avatar head on LinkedIn and I am maybe am am not ah active on some of these platforms.
Speaker: think it depends on what your goal is because strategically, i don't know if you guys ever watched the TV show Scandal. Let's think about Olivia Pope. Would she have an online presence? Absolutely not. She wouldn't. She wouldn't want you to know anything about her.
Speaker: She might have a profile photo. So I think it depends on what ultimately you want to accomplish. Do you have to show up and be on every single platform and post every single day Absolutely not.
Speaker: In fact, I don't. I don't. And I think my presence online is still as strong as it's probably ever been because people know to look for my content. And so when it does post, it immediately catches their attention.
Speaker: So I think it's ultimately about what works for you and what are you trying to accomplish? Are you wanting to be a keynote speaker who's booked out for the next two years? I mean, you're gonna have to show up online at some capacity and show your personality. Otherwise, no one's booking you because they don't know what your vibe is.
Speaker: Your website and your keynote presentation topics, like that's not enough. You're going to need to do that. Are you a strategic consultant who works with top brands? Maybe all that you need is a bunch of recommendations from other people on your LinkedIn, and that's enough. I think it really goes to what are you trying to build and how can you backpedal and create a strategy that gets you there?
Speaker: Great advice. So if I am thinking about, hey, I want to build my personal brand, I'm maybe determining, is there an online piece of that? But also I'm someone who is thinking about how do i build my personal brand, both in person and online? What are some questions that I should ask myself before I dive into things?
Speaker: Right. so I would think through what are the keywords that you want people to describe you as? What are the adjectives that you want people, if you were to leave the room and they would have a conversation about you, how would you want people to describe you? And I would first start with, before we even talk about online, let's talk about your physical person.
Speaker: Does the way you show up in the wardrobe that you show up in does it Does it showcase those adjectives? Are you showing up and demanding a presence in the way that you want? Okay, now that we've accomplished that, let's move on to the next thing.
Speaker: Do we need to do all of social media? Absolutely not. Let's pick one that works to our advantage. Are you not a video person? Great, I think we'd hop on threads or LinkedIn. Are you a video person? Oh my gosh, please get on TikTok. It's going to be so much easier to get viral on TikTok than Reels.
Speaker: Is it, are you looking for the grandmas? I think we're doing Facebook. You have recipes? Facebook. You don't want to talk to a single person ever? Pinterest. Drive traffic somewhere. Do it. I think it really goes back to what are we trying to do? And also truly have a plan before you get online.
Speaker: Just some kind of plan. And also let's decide here's the reasons or the things that we want people to say about me. And then on the flip side, what are the things that i are like my no, my no goes? What are the things that I promise myself i will never do? Is it I will never dance in a video just out of the gate? No, you're never going to dance on a video. And you know what?
Speaker: That's okay. Me neither. I don't know, my seven-year-old might try to change my mind someday and I might do it because it's funny. But like, as of today, I'm not dancing in a video.
Speaker: So... Well, and you can be funny and entertaining in other ways. Like just because TikTok dances are trendy. ah Yes. it doesnt have to Like you don't, i what I hear you saying, like you don't have to follow the social media trends to build so successful online. And the trends go quickly. you know, I think back to growing up in high school, I used to be so embarrassed when that that my dad was always wearing pearl snap shirts and starches.
Speaker: And, you know, he was a true cowboy. This is just who he is. And now You know, how many times does it come back in season that Pearl Snaps and Star Tranglers are in? Like the trends always come back around. But if you're just true to yourself, it doesn't matter what the trends are in any way.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, and I think sometimes even like being authentic to ourselves is what can start meaningful trends, whether we realize or not. Absolutely. So let's talk about the real, real. This is not something that on a professional podcast that I kind of like to do, but we're talking about content. I think it makes sense. So for me, my online presence was all about traveling and wanderlust and my job and my job took me all over the country. you know, at one point I worked on a TV show we filmed in, I think 19 States and and one season. And my Instagram was all about being a young, single, professional, traveling and working, et cetera. And then I got married, I had a baby, i had a medical diagnosis, and I found myself being
Speaker: really bald with no eyebrows at Halloween with a new baby. And I thought, you know, what would be funny is if I were Uncle Fester, because when else am I going to have this opportunity to do this? And I remember thinking to myself, all of my clients follow me online. This is so inappropriate.
Speaker: And also, why did i need there to be a separation of church and state between my personal life and business? And I thought, you know what someone needs today? Someone needs to know that if I'm walking in her shoes, that this medical situation is not like in the movies. And sometimes you look like a bald potato.
Speaker: and I said, you know what? Forget it. I'm just going to leave this breadcrumb for someone who needs to find me. And do you know who reached out the most? all of my professional contacts.
Speaker: Because it really is a gray area. We live authentically at work all day, every day, whether it's in a W-2 job or a 1099 job or whatever it may be.
Speaker: it is silly to say that there's not going to be overlap between professional and personal. And it's if we can show up the same way in both places, i think that's a true reflection of what our reputation and brand's is as a human.
Speaker: And so for me, how I am at work is who I am also at home. There is no difference. And so I think that's why my brand, I'm okay with there being some overlap and no separation of the two. Yeah.
Speaker: and I think for some people that really want that hard line, you absolutely can set the boundaries if that absolutely you need or what works for you. I tell my team all the time, under under no circumstances, you need to friend our clients on Facebook. That is your safe place. You get to decide what you're comfortable with and what works for you. You are in charge of your own digital footprint to some extent.
Speaker: um Ultimately, we are renters on other people's property, but you do get to set the rules that work best for you. Yeah, absolutely. I think it is also a really good example for those who may have concern of the like personal professional line. Again, like ah we do business with people that we like. and Yes. And if you have a fun vibe or a relatable vibe or a hey, here's a funny story, like that can – business relationships are still relationships with people.
Speaker: And so- absolutely yeah Are you someone who's fun to work with? Are you going to crack jokes when we are, you know, in the depths of a hard process? Yes. And I think it really shows, it allows us the opportunity to see what, what is someone like under pressure?
Speaker: Is this someone who shows up in the dumpsters on fire every day? Or are they showing up and saying, well, this circumstance kind of stinks, but we're going to get it done. We're going to roll ourselves- or pull ourselves up by the bootstraps we're going to get it done. I think that allows us to really evaluate the people, yes, that we're going to work with. And also, you know, as a business owner, it allows me to really put, you know, a few hurdles before so a potential client gets to me that says, hey, if you're not okay with this, know this before you show up. Do not be surprised by any of these things of who I am as a person. And then we are going to, you know, get get to work and do really incredible work, but also just know, I'm not hiding who I am as a person.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. Has your ah thought process on this changed too as you think about the different types of jobs you've held, whether that be like more of the agency type of role versus owning your own business and how you decided to show up online?
Speaker: I do think that there are seasons. So when you're 20 or you're pushing 40, we do have a different POV of how we want to show up in the workplace. And also, you know, when I transitioned, so Empire Ag was a client of mine for for three years before I jumped in as a partner and a COO.
Speaker: And one of the conversations I had with my partners was, Hey, my life isn't going to change. These are my priorities of how I want to engage. And also what has been so fulfilling to me as a business owner is the ability to say no to a client that I know won't be a good fit. And I want to still own that.
Speaker: piece of freedom to know that I'm not going to be expected to work with people who I know are not a good fit. And so, you know, in our 20s, we have to do what we need to do to get experience. We don't always get to say and what the event is or what the project is. um But ultimately, we do get to say if we're going to be authentically ourself within professional boundaries.
Speaker: And I think I would have pushed myself to be a little bit more authentic in my twenty s um had, not that I wasn't, but i think I was so fearful of of what that what could look like.
Speaker: And I think, I don't know, the younger generation, they seem to have embraced it a little bit more. I think there's really a balance too, of like, some of them have embraced it heavily and some of them have been like, I've seen so much online that I don't have a presence as well. Yes. Also, i think You know think about those in your life who don't have a social media footprint. I kind of think sometimes they have a leg up because no one gets to have an opinion on anything. They're very mysterious.
Speaker: That's true. three But also sometimes I think they're missing out because it's yeah Google and then they're hard to find. Or it can part be hard to stay in touch with too. absolutely I guess to that point, do you think you can authentically build relationships online by leveraging a personal brand?
Speaker: Absolutely. The first person that came to mind is one of my very best friends. We actually met because of Instagram. We were friends in person in real life today, but we absolutely met because of Instagram.
Speaker: And I think, yes, there is the opportunity. You get to know people and you get to experience their life. And whether it's friendships or professional networking, it's just at your fingertips. I tell young people,
Speaker: young folks in their career that what people have the advantage of today is that if you have your eyes set on a current position or a position or a dream position or something you think might be your position, there are no, there are no walls in getting to the person who has that position today. You can just go find them on LinkedIn and send them a message.
Speaker: Will they respond? No. Don't be creepy about it. But you can go see and get a sense for who that person is and and and what the position is just because it's available today.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. So now speaking to those folks who are in some of these high-level positions, CEOs, some of these thought leaders, ah what advice would you have for them on an online presence? Because I think I see maybe one of two extremes in the marketplace and in leaders in agriculture today. They either have someone who's curating it for them and it's very professional, very crisp, yep, very corporate. No, we know. not that you know you're not doing it.
Speaker: We know you're not doing it. We know you're not writing it. um We know you didn't even know that someone wrote that topic on your behalf. We know. You can say you don't know and it's the ghostwriting as you know we know.
Speaker: So maybe play a larger role in your own content. At a minimum, have a conversation with your team who's writing it. If you're posting highly curated, very perfect graphics, we know you didn't make that.
Speaker: We know you also didn't ask someone on your team to make it. We know they made it for you and posted it for you. So I would challenge everyone in the C-suite who is being...
Speaker: the opposite of authentic and having someone on their team ghostwrite it, I would challenge them to dial it back and say, hey how can i actually be authentic and be a thought leader?
Speaker: And I'd start there. And for those who aren't participating online, I would say, you have the greatest opportunity to show everyone what authenticity steps up and could look like by participating because we know those people when they do choose to step up and to say even the slightest smallest comment we know it'll become like it's going to come directly from their heart it's going to mean something love that advice yes doesn't mean that you can't have someone help you, but there is a lot of Listen, I've spent my career copywriting and copy editing, and there is just a true difference in knowing when someone wrote their own words or someone who wrote you know wrote their own words and maybe someone edited or reviewed or someone who said, oh yeah, just this month post about this topic and they never see it and they themselves are surprised. when it shows up on their LinkedIn feed. There's absolutely a true difference. um
Speaker: My challenge, in my opinion, is the same. I think it's great advice. Okay, you hit on this a little bit earlier, but I am curious, is there a right place? We're talking about authenticity and you've challenged us to like do it yourself. Don't just use the robots.
Speaker: When maybe should we leverage AI to help us maybe overcome that hurdle to create the brand or post the content? Absolutely. So use AI to help come up with topics or ideas.
Speaker: When you're stuck, use it as brainstorming partner. Think through, know, give it. Okay. those in your industry who you believe are maybe your competitors or in this space who you're maybe competing in this space with as a thought leader and say, hey, this is what other people are talking about. Where could I carve off a niche?
Speaker: Where's my opportunity? Here's the things I believe passionately about. And I think that would allow us you, me, anyone to really carve into what where should I focus? Because showing up and saying, I could talk about anything, it's overwhelming. It's decision fatigue. It's too much.
Speaker: And so if we can narrow it down, use AI to help you. Absolutely. I love that. You can use that as a thought partner, kind of. ah So I am curious there, we've talked a little bit about like the courage that it takes about being authentic. they're There's also some risk in this, right? Of like,
Speaker: hey, I may say something stupid or i may be misinterpreted. um What advice do you have, Brooke, for if maybe I have stepped in it? How do i like not step away completely and and instead lean into, okay, how do I repair and and look at that as part of my journey in both personal brand building, I'll say in person, because we're going to do that in the workplace ourselves, right, and online. Right.
Speaker: That's a really great question. And there's two two thoughts about this. Never, i would say as a rule, never post online when you're feeling big feelings. Either way, sadness, grief, anger about anything, let it sit before you post.
Speaker: I think that is A on the front side, something we should all implement. And then on the backside, it I guess it really depends on what are the specifics of what happened?
Speaker: What do we really need to analyze? And what do we need to dive into of maybe what was said or what was recorded, what was shared? And the first thing we need to do is we need to listen to say, am I embarrassed and shameful because I got caught saying something that the community or the world felt was inappropriate or whatever it may be?
Speaker: And also, do I understand why people are pushing back against what I said? And I think before we can address what it is, we need to truly understand the the whole situation past embarrassment and shame.
Speaker: And only then can we decide what really makes the most sense, an honest, very sincere apology and saying, hey, I'm doing my best, I'm a human. That's the first place we can start.
Speaker: And also it's helpful if you've already built a brand based on honesty and humility. If you're showing up for the very first time with without apology in that way, people are going to know.
Speaker: Yep. That is not the time. That is the time you want to have ah money in the bank of a personal brand, right either both personally or online. That's not when you want it to start. for Right. So let's, let's pull this back to a storytelling, just strategy that we've done in agriculture for a number of years. And that's, I would to call it proactive storytelling. And that my first experience out of the gate was in the pork industry. And one of the things that we talked about was storytelling Because if someone were to show a video out of context about what we do every day as pork producers, it would not make a lot of sense. And if we put up a very reactive, defensive video on YouTube for the very first time, it would not be received well. However, if we had five years of content showing what we do every day, and then we posted a video that said, hey, let's clarify this video that was taken out of context, might be received better.
Speaker: And so I think we can take those practices and apply them to our own personal brand and saying, hey, if I truly want to showcase that I show up honestly with my community and I lead with honesty, I need to do that every day so that when, if I need it, it's already there. Like you said, it's part of, it's part of the tools I have in my toolbox.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, here's another question for you, Brooke, as we've talked a lot about the digital side of building a personal brand. Tell me how important, like you could have a digital presence, but how important is that in-person presence of it and that those experiences are like that they match each other?
Speaker: I love that you brought this up, Nicole. So I am an accidental keynote speaker in that I never thought this would be part of my career trajectory. i in fact, didn't even put it on my website as an option for almost three years after I started booking keynote speaking engagements. It was just not something that I...
Speaker: Today, i still can't believe that this is something people paying real money to do on stages across the country. And here's what I know. Every time I go to a speaking engagement, when I talk to people after I sit ups stage step off the stage, they always say, you're exactly how you are on Instagram.
Speaker: And they're so surprised. It is shocking to them that I make the same very awful dad humor jokes on stage. And it's, they're like relieved that that's true.
Speaker: and I think sometimes because, you know, social media is a safe place. Maybe we're recording ourselves talking on a reel or a TikTok and there's no one else around, no one else around. Maybe you have 20,000 followers, but it's just you by yourself in a room. And so all of a sudden we show up and there's a room of 500 people, or maybe you're even at the grocery store and there's 20 people shopping. We think that we need to be more professional And yeah, we should be professional, obviously, in a professional setting. But being who you are and those things matching, it's almost like a multiplier of your brand.
Speaker: Because if those things can lock up, you like people are going to leave that space and tell all of their friends, you are not going to believe this. She's the same in person as she is online. Mm I love that you brought it up as a multiplier too, because I think you're right, it's unexpected of a lot of people. Because online, i think we expect a curation and an editing of all the content we see online. And so like this is this is one version of you. And then once I get you in person, I expect to experience something different.
Speaker: Absolutely. Awesome. Well, Brooke, I do want to move into what we call our rapid fire segment. So I will, ah i always joke. So you try to answer these in one sentence or less, and I will do my best not to ask follow-up questions.
Speaker: Okay. Awesome. Okay. So what is your preferred social media app?
Speaker: I can't ask clarifying questions, can I? No, I will say TikTok to view Instagram to create. I like that answer. ah What is one profile mistake most people should fix today?
Speaker: Stop being so professional. Be professional, but be real. Like, be a human. Be a human. Love that. ah Is there an overused LinkedIn phrase or habit that you would retire?
Speaker: Of myself or everyone on LinkedIn? Everyone on LinkedIn, I would say a hi You're all saying the same sentences. So we, we read them, we scroll, we read them, but I kind of want to comment and say, Hey, um, I just scrolled and like four people in a row said the same sentence. Do you guys know you guys, you, I like, we can see it. Please stop. It's like telling someone there's like some food in their teeth.
Speaker: Oh yeah. No, that's really true. Uh, yes. That's exactly how it feels too. It's like, I really like you, but like you. I really like you. And like what you were saying is really great and wonderful. And maybe you wrote it, but then you told Blinkset or you told Chad GPT or whomever to make it better. And I think it made it better the same way everyone else did.
Speaker: Yes. Well, and sameness and like polish, like if we all have the same polish, it's, it takes away exactly what we've talked about in this is like the human. I have a side quest on this. Can I take us on a side quest? Absolutely. i will tell you. So the Rural Gone Urban Foundation, we give out scholarships every year and they can be used for undergrad, grad school, professional school, whatever it is, equal opportunity.
Speaker: I need you to know that of the hundreds of people who applied this year, it was refreshing when someone had a typo. And if it like 10 years ago, if someone had a typo, would have been immediate out.
Speaker: This season, typo immediately to the top. because it felt real. It felt real. We knew they actually wrote it. it was It was wild.
Speaker: Absolutely. and And I think, honestly, that's something we're even starting to see in this personal branding and LinkedIn space as well. like I remember back in the day, I used to have a blog, and it was so mortifying when people would be like, you spelled this wrong in the comments, or like they would like critique my grammar. And now on LinkedIn, I think it's the same thing of like, you see someone has a typo and you're like, oh, they actually maybe wrote Oh, they wrote it. They wrote it. Have you ever considered going back to a post and adding a typo?
Speaker: I have not done that personally because then it doesn't feel authentic, but I have seen that as a strategy. I also have gone back and removed an em dash that I organically added myself and said, oh, I can't use it. I'm not allowed, and which I think is ridiculous.
Speaker: I do too. As a communicator, I am a big fan of the M-Dash. Way before the days of AI, my editors would have told me I was an overuser of it. And now it's like, my dear friend, we cannot, we don't get to hang out anymore in writing. Oh, I hate it. i hate that for us. oxford Pro Oxford comma pro M-Dash.
Speaker: Pro M-Dash. Yes. Bring back the M-Dash deserves like some, ah it deserve deserves redemption. Yeah. AI has been mean to it. Back to a couple more rapid fire. What is a person or brand that you think shows up exceptionally well online?
Speaker: Oh, this is such a tough question because there are so many creators on TikTok that I love, but I actually don't even know what their handles are. I just get excited when they show up on my ah FYP.
Speaker: um Oh, who do I love? And honestly, I totally get that too. I'm like, they're my favorite TikTok creator and I have no idea what their handle is. And you're like, what's their, what is their name? Actually, this is so funny.
Speaker: okay I have two. So on Twitter, i would say Lauren Jeter. I've followed her for years when she was just walking through her pasture, checking her cows.
Speaker: And I am obsessed. And then from a human slash brand, I would say Caitlin Henderson, Pure Good. Do you follow her? do you use her products? Love. I love that she is edged into ah really mentorship online of other people who are wanting to start their businesses and showing up authentically. And I love that she also pushes back against products of...
Speaker: you know, having your own brand standards of ah as a human and as a business and saying, you know, making money is great and also creating a great product is even better. And I love everything that she has to say about just as ah as a human and ah as a business owner.
Speaker: Okay. So Brooke at AFA, we love hot takes. So unconventional or bold opinions. And I am curious if you have a hot take can be about personal branding, leadership, or agriculture.
Speaker: Just a hot take in general. a hot take in general. Stop taking yourself so seriously. You're not that important. To anyone. In general. I just think we all need to say this to ourselves every morning in the mirror.
Speaker: I think a lot of times we show up and we think I've worked so hard. I walked uphill to school both ways in the snow, in a blizzard. And then on my way home, it was actually 115 degrees and I was overdressed and I was sweaty. And I had to work so hard to be here. Everyone else should work just as hard as I did to be here too. And also wasn't the whole point to make it easier for someone from our rural small town to get to where we are today?
Speaker: Isn't that the whole point? so It's not that deep. You're not that important. Just help someone get there too. Oh, I love that. And also, doesn't that take some of the pressure off too?
Speaker: Yeah. yeah Snaps for that, Brooke. Love it. Okay. So at AFA, we're all about building bridges and connecting people. So Brooke, where can people connect more ah with you and or the work that you're doing at Empire Ag?
Speaker: Absolutely. you can visit us anytime on our website, youragempire.com. And also i am rural gone urban everywhere. That's me. That's my brand. That's the foundation's brand at a foundation on the end. And you can find me mostly on Instagram.
Speaker: Awesome. Thank you, Brooke. This has been such a wonderful conversation. I feel like we've only scratched the surface of so many things that we could talk to you about, Brooke. But really, thank you so much for joining us and sharing so many nuggets of wisdom and coming back as an AFA alum and sharing with with the AFA community. it's It's been amazing to get to talk to you, and if we've enjoyed it having you on the podcast.
Speaker: Thank you so much for letting me be here. Do you want to hear more from Brooke? Join us on September 23rd at noon central for our next Cultivating Leaders webinar. We are sitting down with Brooke and other recent guests to dive into their career journeys and get more great advice from them.
Speaker: All of their career journeys began with a connection made at AFA. Visit the link in the episode to register. Thanks for listening to the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where leaders grow.
Speaker: If this episode challenged your thinking, be sure to share it with someone else who is on a similar leadership journey. You can stay connected with the Cultivating Leaders podcast by following AgFutureAmerica on social media or drop a comment in the episode description. We'll see you again on the next episode.
