Ep 86: Embracing Vulnerability as Your Superpower with Dave Hollis

What if you’d worked hard so hard to create a brand with all the right optics and suddenly, it all came crashing down? Dave Hollis, today’s guest, experienced this when his wife Rachel wrote her renowned book, Girl, Wash Your Face. Rather than having the devastating effects he feared, Dave instead witnessed more authentic connections than he’d ever seen. This seismic moment showed Dave that a different brand-building approach was not only possible but also necessary. As former President of Worldwide Theatrical Distribution at the Walt Disney Company, releasing some of the biggest movies in history, Dave had built brands, which gave him unique insight into personal brand-building.

In this episode, we learn more about Dave’s journey inward and how he has come to leverage his vulnerability as his superpower. In not shying away from the shame and unfulfilled expectations, Dave has put a tremendous amount of work into showing up for himself and those around him time and again. He has shared many of these lessons in his book, Get Out of Your Own Way. Along with sharing his incredible journey, we also discuss the importance of a vision, mission, and operating principles in your personal brand, what it’s like working with Rachel, and some incredible lessons personal brands can learn from large, corporate ones. Be sure to tune in today!

WATCH THE INTERVIEW

KEY POINTS FROM THIS EPISODE

Find out how Dave’s thinking around vulnerability has evolved and grown over time.
What Dave found out when he sat down to write his story vulnerably.

How Dave flipped the switch to become more present and ‘crush it’ in his home life.
Closing the gap: How Dave has tackled difficult feelings like shame and unfulfillment.
Dave’s tips on what goes into building a personal brand.
Brand deposit versus brand withdrawal: An important lesson Dave learned from Steve Jobs.
What Dave has learned working with Rachel and why they need to be themselves.

How Dave’s notions of personal branding have been challenged during the lockdown.
What personal brands can learn from large corporate brand-building strategies.

TWEETABLE MOMENTS

“As I am able to really identify and own my struggle, it creates the connection to the humanity that exists in every single person that I’m in community with in a way that makes it worth it, but also affords them some breakthroughs that they’re able to see themselves in my story.” — @MrDaveHollis [0:08:12]

“Your ability to, every single time that you have an interaction, to reinforce the personal brand that you are interested in having people believe about you, comes back to whether you have a clear handle on your pitch and a clear handle on the operating principles.” — @MrDaveHollis [0:15:39]

“I have come to appreciate that brand and personal brand is somewhat of a fluid thing in a way that I originally thought had to be more a little more constant and static.” — @MrDaveHollis [0:19:27]

“By declaring what you are, but also what you are not, you are actually going to have your people come to your brand.” — @MrDaveHollis [0:23:59]