I recently had the pleasure of speaking with my friend and colleague Theresa Rose on my Change Your Mindset podcast. Theresa is a brand and business Crystallizer, strategic co-creator, and Certified Speaking Professional. We had a delightful (and sometimes hilarious) conversation about strategic marketing, one of Theresa’s areas of expertise. (She’s also an improv performer, so of course I loved having her on the show! We talked about the power of “Yes And” and how it relates to her work.)

Crystallizing Your Brilliance was the topic, and we had a spirited discussion about the connection between the head and the heart to deliver great results. During the conversation I remarked, “We need a little head in the game, that’s a small portion of it. We need more heart…we need to be kind to each other in ways that go beyond cut-throat. To some degree that old school is still out there but the more collaboration, the more co-creating, the more Crystallizing, the more our businesses will grow and opportunities will grow from that.”

Theresa uses strategic co-creation to deliver her Crystallized models to her clients. As someone who has worked with her, I can attest that she works differently than everybody else out there. She actually draws PICTURES of someone’s expertise based on what hidden gems she discovers in our content. As I said in the podcast, “We remember pictures, we don’t remember words.”

One of Theresa’s gifts is to distill someone’s expertise down to its essence. Just like I recommend to my accounting students to come up with three to five words about why they got into the profession, Theresa adds a layer of context and meaning by putting the perfect image to the words.

Her challenge for those wanting to leverage their personal brands while they conduct their job search, apply for a promotion, or sell their professional services is to ask themselves, “Can I draw my Brilliance on a cocktail napkin?” As she said, “when you can draw it, you can sell it.” She believes that when you can create a visual brand, you have less words, and more insight — More insight into what you REALLY do that makes you shine more than anyone else in the world.

Here’s your thought for the day: What’s on YOUR cocktail napkin?

If you are having trouble figuring it out (most of us do because we can’t fully see our gifts and talents), check out what Theresa does with her Crystallization Process!