What My Brand Says About Me

As online personalities, we are often asked to define what our brands represent and to describe what we do in a singular sentence. In a singular sentence, I’m a lot of things. I’m an adrenaline junkie, a foodie, a mom, a puppy lover – a lot of things. I can best describe my brand as I describe what it is that I hope to give people in the community of ‘Team Jess’, to – Inspire. Encourage. Empower.

I find inspiration in the places I visit, encouragement in my friends, and empowerment in the stories I write. It’s really refreshing when I can go places and cover stories, when I can team up with brands, and when I can get an insider look at all the things that really interest me, to then write about and share with all of you. I’ve been sharing a lot this week on the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am event that was held last week in Pebble Beach and the Foursome who shared their Fan’s Eye View of the tournament this year.

As I introduced the Foursome to you last week, I told you how I relate to each of them; being that I’m a mother of a 17 year old, an Army brat who’s moved every 3 years, and someone who also quit corporate America to pursue the dream of being creative full time. Learning about each of their stories individually helped me understand what about golf each of them loved so much. Last week I got to chat with them and these are their responses that really stuck with me.

I asked Dan what the one thing was that he’ll take away with him from this experience. He told me that the opportunity better helped him understand where he needs to be in order to reach his goal saying, “I can see that picture and I can imagine it and then I can go home and visualize it …. I know now what I need to do and where I need to be … turn the small goals into the big goal”.  As a visualizer myself, I was silently ‘wahoo-ing’ everything he was saying while taking notes.

I’d asked Tiffany the same question and if she had any advice for someone like me, who was interested in the sport but perhaps a bit intimidated by it, and for someone wanting to give up. She said, “It’s kind of like life, every day is not a great day. It’s not. And you just move on…. like anything else it takes patience, focus, commitment, you’ll be rewarded for those 3 things”. Again I was silently standing up giving her a slow clap because it couldn’t have been said any better. Patience. Focus. Commitment. Check! Check! Check!

Katie, the youngest in the group, was so poised and well spoken that you knew by talking with her that she held her own on the golf course and in life. She was also motivated by this special fan’s eye view of the event, having answered my question about what her new goals for the year were, saying, “My goal is to become a professional … this experience has motivated me go out there, give it my best and practice, and work my hardest to get to where I need to be in the future”. She’s a smart young lady and I’m so excited to see where the next 5 years takes her.

Before I let the Foursome get back to their activities, I spoke to Tim whose story really hit home for me since my dad was in the military for 23 years and I knew exactly where he was coming from. I asked Tim what about golf made the rehabilitation process for him something to look forward to, what about it changed him. He responded, “I’m the type of guy that if I do something I’m gonna do it and I’m gonna do it all out….to prove that I’m not broken. I might be scarred … I might look different and walk different, and have to live different, but I’m still me and I’m still able to do anything I wish to”.

I didn’t know what to say after that, I was pretty speechless, there were some pretty powerful statements made from these four and I’m so glad I got a chance to chat with them and get an insider view of their insider experience.

I’m inspired by each of their incredible stories, and I find it fascinating that I can relate to each of them as their brands sound a lot like mine! They each inspire, encourage, and empower and it’s wonderful to see that in this recap video reel of their “Fan’s Eye View” campaign and their week at the event here:

You can catch up on all of their behind-the-scenes photos and videos by following them on Twitter: @blackgirlsgolf @kthorsford @timlanggolf @thedanplan. Follow along in their journeys with me!

I hope you’ve had an amazing week and I can’t wait to catch you up on what happened this week!

Hugs,

Jess

This post is in partnership with AT&T, celebrating 30 years of the #ATTPROAM.