What Being a Showgirl Taught Me About Branding
It was my senior year of college and I was in the middle of trying to answer, "How am I going to bring in that cash money for the rest of my life?" I had always wanted to try my hand at figure skating professionally, and while I knew this was a risky path (small paychecks, irregular income, cut-throat competition, etc.), I decided to throw caution to the wind and apply for some anyway.
In an effort to prepare, I skated regularly and worked with a coach to learn the basics of pairs skating (a very marketable skill in the ice show world). Coming from the world of competitive figure skating, I thought I was doing it all right. My audition video had almost every technical skating skill I had learned and I was ready to apply! As I began sending my resume to various shows, one of two things happened. Either I would never receive a reply (unless their response time is 3 years and counting) or I would get an email that looked a lot like the following:
Heather,
Thank you for applying for our show. We appreciate it, enjoyed your video and will be keeping you on file. However, due to your lack of show experience, we are unable to offer you a position at this time.
Thank you and best of luck,
Name of the Company Who Definitely Did Not Keep Me On File
After my umpteenth email that followed the above template, I began to wonder if living at my parent's house was a sustainable option. After all, I was not lacking experience as much as they insinuated. I had performed my whole life as a singer and in college, I was a cheerleader who performed in front of thousands of people every weekend. Not to mention, I had years of competitive skating under my belt that constantly had me skating in front of different audiences.
As I mulled over the thought of moving back into my childhood bedroom, I started wondering why was I labeling myself a show skater on my resume. I knew that's what ice show producers were looking for but according to my experience, I obviously was not a show skater yet. However, I definitely had experience performing! And then an idea hit me: I'm a figure skater who can also sing and what live show doesn't want music? Not to mention if they hired me, they would only have to pay one salary for two different roles.
I had little faith in the idea but I decided to give it a shot anyway. I labeled myself a Singer/Skater and looked for a show I thought would be interested in having live music. I found one and sent them my skating audition video with various singing clips and an explanation of my experience as a Division 1 cheerleader that I highlighted. In total, about 20% of the information I sent was directly related to figure skating. The rest was all about the crowds I had been in front of and the performances I had done as a singer.
After I changed the way I labeled myself, I was hired for the very next show I applied for. Not only was I hired as a skater, but I was paid to sing in each show as well. It was an absolute DREAM job. I couldn't believe it.
This is one of those situations I look back on and think ...wow, how did that work so well? I felt like I had discovered a secret and it wasn't until a few months later that I realized I had stumbled upon the power of branding. The only difference between the shows I was rejected from and the one that eventually signed me had nothing to do with my experience and everything to do with how I branded myself.
Whenever anyone asks me if branding is really that important, I always tell this story. Some think that branding is an industry of deception and manipulation. However, look at the story I just told - I never lied or was deceptive in any way. I simply learned to label myself so all my strengths were at the forefront and I landed my dream job because of it. That is the power of branding.
Do you have your own example of a time branding helped you? Tell me about it in the comment section below!
I would love to hear your story.
With love,
- Heather
Backstage at the show "Las Vegas on Ice" in Miami, Florida
Heather Brockell is a Web Designer and Copywriter based out of North Dakota, USA. When she isn’t designing websites or writing, she performs as a professional figure skater and singer in ice shows all around the country.
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