JOE FOSTER’s story should be legendary. He took a small shoe company he had founded with his brother and made it a household name. He’s the thrust behind Reebok. His success skyrocketed when he took the then $9 million company from the UK into the US market. Four years later, it was worth $900 million—thanks to his success in the women’s market. Reebok was the first fitness shoe designed and developed for women’s feet, and early influencers like Jane Fonda flocked to buy them during the aerobics craze.
But when Foster decided to search for his name online in later years, he found stories that were wrong or vastly incomplete. He hadn’t curated his stories or considered the online legacy potential that sharing his knowledge could offer for generations. Foster said, “I was brought up in a world of the remarkably average, where aspiring to be better was frowned upon. It was an era of ‘know your place,’ ‘don’t rock the boat,’ and other edicts injected into the masses to keep society in order. Decency was paramount alongside respect for others. But in my mind, contrary to societal expectations, so was growth and improvement through challenging myself.”
At eighty-six years old, Foster decided to set the record straight by writing his autobiography, Shoemaker: The Untold Story of the British Family Firm That Became a Global Brand.
During his book launch at Zvelle, a Canadian shoe store, I asked him about setting the story straight, and he said, “You need to own your own story.” By doing so and telling people what he did and is doing, Foster is mentoring even more young shoemakers, like Elle AyoubZadeh, the founder of Zvelle, and inspiring generations to challenge themselves. He recognizes, embraces, and promotes what distinguishes him from other business owners of his day, adding his perspective and living his values.
Foster has the right idea too: “Some people run to beat others. I ran to beat myself.”
You now know whom you want to serve. The next step is to know why they should want to listen to you. What is it about your story that needs to be heard? Why are you the authority? Gain clarity on your story so that you are the signal and not just part of the noise. Telling your own story allows you to showcase what you think makes you remarkable.
What makes you, you? Your answer to that question may not make sense to anyone else. It can be tangible and intangible, and it can be more about a felt quality than how you appear to others. Most of us want both to be valued as individuals and to belong. Social psychologists call this optimal distinctiveness theory. We want to be associated with a group identity (part of X team, X company, X school, or X experience) but also need to be seen for what makes us unique. Basically, we want to stand out and fit in.
You have multiple identities that are interwoven. You are still a parent when you go to work. Your professional life is in your home life, and you can’t just sever the two. Your professional identity isn’t your job title or where you are today in your career. My own sense of identity was once very bound to my role. I was the CEO. Then I realized: it’s not the title; it’s wisdom, skills, and all the lessons learned. A title gives you a uniform, but your identity enhances it. You are more fluid than your title, but you may get caught on it when signaling your identity to the world.
You don’t have to limit yourself to showing up in the world one way at a time. You can use everything. You get to choose how you want to show up in your self-promotion. Some clients choose to share pictures of their family on trips or integrate their pets into their professional lives. You don’t have to keep your life compartmentalized if you feel comfortable sharing. In a moment, we’ll add some constraints around what you talk about, but know that people want to know you beyond your title.
You are remarkable
How are you remarkable? Most people can write about how their children, friends, or colleagues are remarkable, but many people struggle to answer it about themselves.
Right now, take ten minutes and think of ways you are remarkable. You could start with “I am remarkable because…” If you can write down your reasons, that’s even better. Leave the paper in your top drawer or somewhere you will spot it when you need it. Use these questions as a prompt:
- What is unusual about me?
- What surprises me?
- What impresses me?
- What are my achievements?
- What makes me fascinating?
- What accomplishments should I share?
This information will start to reveal what makes you remarkable. Use the results to craft a bio or in anything new that you’re about to write for your self-promotion. It’s also a great list to inspire you to write social content. If you’re doing any media, including podcasts, be able to answer these questions. Make an electronic copy of your answers and put them in a folder labeled “Remarkable Me” on your computer desktop.
And note “remarkable” doesn’t mean “better”—which is a competitive stance. That word also renders descriptions transactional—as in cheaper, faster, how good, how many—encouraging people to compare you directly to someone else. Instead, help people see you as someone offering an experience to work with you, or transformations that no one else could help bring about. There’s only one of you. Give yourself permission to position yourself as different, embrace your weirdness, and distinguish yourself from what others are doing. Set yourself apart as relevant, connecting to conversations that matter.
Reprinted with permission from Bragging Rights: How to Talk About Your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion by Lisa Bragg (Page Two Books, 2023).
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