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Kristin Magette

Writer, Listener, Collaborator, Doer

It’s in every one of us

by Filed Under: Growth & change Leave a Comment

I love Christmas. It’s not my favorite holiday — that belongs to Thanksgiving, with its comforting customs and expectations only for food, togetherness and gratitude.

But Christmas holds a special rank, especially in the time since I became an adult, and a mom. I was beyond fortunate to grow up in a family that connected around the holiday season each year and enjoyed cherished traditions. Not all of our traditions were (or are) deep with meaning. The most memorable or enduring are just the things — often ridiculously simple — that connect us to other generations, other decades, other stages of life. Whatever they are, these traditions connect us to the past and instill a powerful sense of source, the what you come from.

Music has always had a place in my family, and I credit my dad with that. He never played an instrument — though he is pretty sure he was a blues musician in a former life — but he always has music playing in the house and in the car. What used to be on record albums and reel-to-reel now is on CD and even his iPod. (I only wish that had been the case when I was a little girl, as my sister and I were not allowed to dance in the living room where the record player was. Our energetic and certainly artistic moves would have tragically scratched the vinyl. Eventually he wired speakers to the family room, with its carpeted floors and safe distance from the record player, giving us a space to dance and leap to our hearts’ content.)

Music was in our lives every day, all year. But if absence makes the heart grow fonder, perhaps that’s part of why Christmas music — and our annual rediscovery — was so special. Some was instrumental, but our favorites were the ones we could sing to. And for my sister and me, the favorite of our sing-along albums was John Denver and the Muppets. Hands down. To this day, it is the one I pull out when I beat my kids and husband to the CD player. Yes, it’s pretty silly. But it connects me to my past, to my childhood and culture and memories. And if you haven’t had the good fortune to listen to this particular album before, let me assure you: There is soul there.

There is clever comedy, too, most often courtesy of Miss Piggy. (A mixup in We Wish You A Merry Christmas has Miss Piggy thinking they’ve demanded to bring out the Piggy Pudding. Clarification ensues, courtesy of Gonzo: “No, FIGGY pudding. It’s made with figs. And bacon.”)

But even amid the raucous Little Saint Nick from Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem and chaotic Twelve Days of Christmas, there are some wonderfully thoughtful treasures. And a passage from one continues to resonate with me every time at this year.

It’s in every one of us
To be wise
Find your heart
Open up both your eyes
We can all know everything
Without ever knowing why

It’s in every one of us
By and by

This Christmas, I wish you connection with traditions of the past, openness to the promise of the future and a generous helping of John Denver and the Muppets.

Boiling it down

by Filed Under: Growth & change, Personal branding Leave a Comment

As I recently shared, I am on a journey to refine my personal brand — to define myself as a professional and individual.

This journey began about a month ago as I set out to create personal greeting cards to reflect my brand. I have always been a note writer, and I credit my mom with teaching me this value. Growing up, my sister and I had to write thank you notes to relatives for Christmas gifts within a day or two of opening them. A dreaded chore at times, but one that taught us well. I went away to college, studied abroad for a year and later married and moved a few hours from home. And whether my mom was mailing me a couple of photos from a recent holiday, a care package with some cookies, or just the pair of sunglasses I’d forgotten on her kitchen counter, there was always a personal note tucked inside.

Don’t get me wrong. My daily world survives on e-mail, text, direct messages and phone calls. But that’s what makes a personal note so powerful. It stands apart.

The custom greeting card endeavor required me to work on two things:

  1. A quote to feature on the front that reflects the brand I aim to project
  2. A personal boilerplate statement to include on the back with my contact information.

So, first, the quote. I searched for quotes on creativity, on strategy and communications. On working together, having a vision, bringing passion to your day. I lingered on Alice In Wonderland quotes for probably far too long. After bouncing around on Google enough to coat my eyes and mind with a permanent glaze, I finally settled on a popular Steve Jobs quote:

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Yes, I’d hoped to avoid a possible cliche and find something more Masterpiece Theatre, less Good Morning America. But the more I looked and the more I thought (and thought), the more I found the Jobs quote to articulate the essence of my brand, better than any other. It got to my idealism, my love for the creative process, my hope for the future. (And the chronic crazy.) It just worked.

Next came my boilerplate. An old-school journalism term, a boilerplate is the short, standard paragraph that corporations and organizations include at the end of every news release. Done right, it orients the reader, immediately, to what you’re all about. Think of it as boiling everything down to the very basics. (The term actually derives from the late 1800s when steam boiler manufacturers used metal plates so people could tell who made the boiler, but that’s okay. I’m flexible that way.)

For my own boilerplate, I knew it needed to be short. An elevator speech needs to wrap up before those doors open up. (And goodness knows my chaotic brain does better with fewer words to recall on demand.) But more important than length, I knew it needed to be direct —  not a word wasted, not a syllable more than necessary — but also human, showing that I am more than a list of skills. After much deliberation, word play and idea-bouncing with one awesomely brilliant friend, here’s the result:

I’m passionate about making things better through strategic communications and collaboration. And I’m crazy about my family, sharing stories, big laughs and great food.

That’s it. And the best part? I typed it just now without having to look back at my notes. I’ll take that as a sign. A good one.

Boiling water

Let’s talk labels

by Filed Under: Growth & change, Personal branding 2 Comments

Right here, today, I am rejecting my fear of being labeled. In fact, it’s time to label myself.

Yes, this stirs in me all sorts of fears and vulnerabilities. I’m too complex to be labeled. … You don’t know me. … There’s more to me than that. But this desire to define how others define me started recently with something I can only describe as coalescence — a small series of unexpected phone calls and surprising e-mail messages, all leading me to the conclusion that people were beginning to figure out what Kristin Magette is all about.

Now, before I get any closer to the self-importance ledge, let me say that these connections and opportunities were not of the life-changing variety. Agreeing to write a short blog post for the web site company at the school district where I work. Sitting as the subject of a video blog for a consultant we’d hired to help us embrace social media, which got exciting traction when Edudemic picked it up. Speaking on a panel in a local social media workshop for non-profits. Writing an article or two for an education journal about social media in schools. The kinds of things that flatter but don’t make you some kind of a Big Deal. (Which is good because I’ve watched enough reality shows on Bravo to know that I am not entirely interested in being a Big Deal.)

But in the midst of realizing that I was kind of becoming known for something, I read the perfect post by (amazing) Jonathan Fields. His point: People will label you – so you’d best label yourself first. And this was the moment when I decided to take control. I am more than someone who has ideas about social media in schools — I love that part of my job and professional identity – but it is just one part. The need to label myself more holistically is what led me to personal branding. And if I’m going to brand myself, I need to decide what that means and how to get there. Learning from a friend and colleague who has a masterful approach to personal branding (read about it on his blog here), these are the goals I set for myself:

  1. Improve my profile on LinkedIn to maximize for SEO, and be purposeful about my use of social media, in particular Twitter and (sigh) Google+. Seek to engage with the users and spaces I want to be connected to.
  2. Create greeting cards featuring a quote that gets to the essence of who I am and how I want to be perceived. Use these cards to send personal notes to friends and colleagues on occasion.
  3. Write a short, easily remembered personal boilerplate. (Insert shout-out to the awesome journalism teachers of my past for the fact that I know what a boilerplate is.) Weave this into my LinkedIn profile, and include it on the back of the greeting cards.
  4. Upgrade my professional photograph. (No, that selfie I took from my laptop in an old dumpy office doesn’t quite do it for me anymore.) Since I currently lack a budget for this goal, I’ll focus on other goals for now. The free ones.
  5. Start blogging. (This was not an original goal, but seeing as how I’ve now done it, I am adding it to my list. Does anyone else out there add things they’ve already done to their to-do list? Oh. Okay.)

If you have worked on personal branding for yourself or have thoughts about my goals, please share!

Name tag

I’m not a blogger

by Filed Under: Growth & change 4 Comments

I don’t just work as a communications professional. I live it. Every hour of every day, I am communicating – or thinking about messages and strategies and tactics. At the office. With my family. In the car. In my kitchen while I’m making dinner. The near constant analysis of words and messages makes me who I am. Even if that is a little crazy.

So it would follow, perhaps, that someone like me would jump right into blogging – a giant stage where I can share my thoughts and ideas with the world. I admire friends and colleagues who blog. I follow countless blogs written by strangers – people I have come to appreciate deeply because of what they’ve chosen to share on this stage. But for me, the idea of becoming a blogger has always just been one more overwhelming prospect in my already chaotic life. In roughly the same category is my lingering desire to make more of my family’s pantry staples from scratch. But when it’s Thursday, and I’m almost late to a meeting, and the kids will want toast in the morning … that loaf of bread on the grocery store shelf wins every time.

I recently had coffee with someone who offers me the wisdom and perspective that comes with many more years of experience in the strategic communications world. An hour or so into our conversation, he asked if I had ever considered blogging. I avoided the question.

He followed up by telling me not to be deterred by the “celebrity” aura of the blogging world, where the stars have masses of devoted followers and regularly are going viral about this or that brilliantly clever thing.

“You know,” he said, “you can blog without being a blogger.”

Okay, now I’m listening.

Immediately, I thought of another little corner of my life. A couple of years ago, I started running. It happened a little at a time, first walking, then adding in short bursts (if slow and labored actually qualify as bursts) of running. Eventually, one Sunday morning, I ran 30 minutes without walking, or dying. A huge accomplishment for me.

Over the next year, as I improved and got a little more confident in my running, I started getting ambitious. I looked for training strategies and tricks to improve my speed, my strength, my mental toughness. Maybe I’d run a 10K! Or a half marathon! I started talking to other people I knew – great runners – to learn from them and hear their stories about how they got to be so fast, so strong.

Fortunately, one of these conversations was with a coworker who issued me a warning:

“I can tell you enjoy running,” he said. “Be careful about getting too caught up in getting faster and stronger. Don’t call yourself a runner. Just run.”

In the many months (and three very modest 5Ks) since that conversation, I have realized that I’m not a runner. I run. And I usually run in the dark morning hours, which gives me the independence to evaluate my success based solely on my body’s strength and response. I don’t worry about anyone else, or my race time, or a bib on my shirt. It’s just regular old me, running. It’s empowering. Sometimes it’s even a tiny bit amazing.

So now, I begin blogging. Not as a blogger. Just as someone with a few ideas, with a desire to make the world a better place and with a passion for words, creation and expression. It’s a personal journey (friends welcome). And that’s exactly what I want.

Road with a runner

Hi, I’m Kristin

Kristin Magette

I'm passionate about making things better through service, strategic communications and collaboration. I love my family, sharing stories, big laughs and great food. And I believe Steve Jobs was right when he said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

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