Hi I’m Miss Utah 2014, Karlie Major and I’m here to share a few tips on how you can put your best for forward for your personal brand!

Every day you are interacting with those around you, meeting new people, spending time with class mates and teachers, working for employers. Each day you are making impressions on these people, and I want to offer 3 specific tips you can implement to assure you are leaving lasting and positive impressions.

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3 Tips from Miss Utah Karlie Major on putting best foot forward for your personal brand

1. Be appreciative and kind to others

Being kind and appreciating what others do for you can play a large role in your future!

Being kind and appreciating what others do for you can play a large role in your future! If you ask yourself what types of people you want to be around, help, and work with, my guess is they are people who are appreciative, kind, responsible, and hardworking. Just like you want to surround yourself with people like this, these are the same types of people that employers want to hire and schools want to accept. It is important that you are going out of your way to develop those characteristics and be kind to those around you. You also never know when being kind and appreciative is going to pay off down the road.

2. Play the part

If you want to be the next Miss Utah, you should already be acting like her.

Some of the very best advice I received was right after I won my local crown, and was preparing for the Miss Utah competition. I was told “If you want to be the next Miss Utah, you should already be acting like her.” I then went on to do everything I needed to do act like Miss Utah before the competition even started. This didn’t mean just dressing like her or talking like her, I was serving like Miss Utah was, putting in the hours Miss Utah required, building my social media like her, even preparing for Miss America like she would. When I went into my Miss Utah interview I made sure the judges knew I was ready and prepared to be Miss Utah right now; not in a few days, not next Monday, or after I received the crown.

Think about where you would like to be in the future and start doing everything you can now to be prepared.

This same advice is applicable in the terms or school, athletics, clubs, scholarships, interns and jobs. Think about where you would like to be days, months, years in the future and start doing everything you can now to be prepared. Start acting, thinking and living in order to set yourself up to succeed. This will assure that when the opportunity for a try out, internship, job position arises you will already be prepared to show you are capable and ready, right now!

3. Be Confident in Your Abilities

Someone else’s strength is not your weakness. It’s essential to be proud of what you have to offer.

During my time at Miss America I really began to understand the importance of being confident in who you are. I learned that someone else’s strength is not your weakness, and in order to be and feel your best, it’s essential to proud of what you have to offer. When you are getting ready for a competition, interview or preparing to apply to school, keep your focus on you and your strengths, never on the other applicants. They will have different strengths and weaknesses than you, and that’s ok! Not every single one of us will be equally as smart, funny, charismatic, athletic, and experienced. Focusing on your strengths will not only help you be more confident, but you will feel more positive and successful. One of the most damaging things we can do to our confidence and self-esteem is to begin to compare ourselves to others. Choose to focus on what you are good at, and continue to work on the skills you would like to improve. Don’t be afraid to be proud of skills and talents you have worked hard to develop. When you are confident in what you have to offer, others will be able to sense that.

Focusing on your strengths will not only help you feel and be more confident, but you will find yourself feeling more positive and successful in your day to day routine.

Implement these three tips in your life to help you make and keep great connections, set yourself up for success and be confident in your unique abilities. Not only will you make a great impression on those you’re interacting with, but this will help assure you are always putting your best foot forward!