You already have a brand. But to shape it, you need to know what it is.

Forget the jargon about branding, positioning, messaging, and narratives.

A brand is simply the sum of people’s feelings about you.

One part of those feelings comes from the story people heard about you. This is what brand designers help you communicate.

The other part is people’s real experiences with you and with the people you associate with.

Make a single person feel good, and your brand goes up.

Make them feel bad, and your brand goes down.

Make someone feel excited, calm, happy, bored, angry, or surprised - and your brand ties to that feeling.

Only once you see brand in that way, you can actively shape it, one small action after another.