How to stay Authentic in your Athlete Brand
Margielyn Didal always giving the positive vibes.
The challenge of staying true to yourself whilst being a ‘brand’
One of the hard things about building a career in action sports is juggling the professionalism required for a stable career with the spontaneity and unstructured fun which led us to fall in love with our pursuits in the first place. If we focus too much on the professionalism and loose sight of why we started, our personal brand can loose it’s authenticity. We become just another professional athlete, and that’s not what action sports are about.
“Be yourself – not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be” – Henry David Thoreau
How we can stay authentic whilst building a legitimate career
Maintaining authenticity is such a huge worry for many action sports athletes as they look to take it to the next level. Unlike most traditional sports, most of our fans actually do the sport we do as well. This means they have a much more critical and nuanced knowledge of the culture, which in-turn, makes it much more important to remain authentic. It’s not as simple as being able to score lots of goals to be popular. Our pursuits are more than just landed tricks. There’s style, technique, timing, location, clothing, music, and so much more that goes into what we create.
With this in mind, we’re going to cover a few strategies to help you retain that style and authenticity, whilst optimising your career opportunities. The ultimate juggling act in action sports.
“Don't worry about being good. Aspire to be authentic.” – Yann Martel
John John Florence may be a multiple world title winning competitive surfer, but his Farm, Sailing, Beekeeping, and Cycling make a pretty strong appearance in the content he creates.
The Key Factors of a successful AND authentic athlete brand
It’s all about maintaining perspective.
One of the key reasons it’s worth exploring and understanding your personal athlete brand is that this awareness gives us something to go back to when we start drifting and feeling lost. When you truly understand your back story, it’s easier to find your way back to your roots. Staying true to those roots is one of the best ways to stay authentic.
“If we want authenticity we have to initiate it.” – Travis Rice
Here are some Actionable Steps to maintain Authenticity as your career grows:
Stay Honest to your beliefs and feelings. Post only what you’re comforable with and lean in to your personality.
Let yourself Grow throughout your career. You want to understand where you’ve come from but don’t let it hold you back. Let yourself grow and learn. Engage in conversations, read books, be interested in the world around you.
Lean in to Rythmns and Phases throughout the year. You don’t need to be ‘a contest skater’ or a ‘free surfer’ and only do one thing. Have times int he year where you focus on contests, and have other times where you focus on filming in the streets. Have times where you slow it down a bit and just enjoy simple tricks done well and other times where you’re really pushing the envelope. These fluctuations will help keep it more interesting and less stale. They will also add to your appeal as an athlete and stop you becoming bland.
Look to Idols as a way to remind yourself of how successful athletes have managed to be authentic and succeed. Let their example inspire you to be yourself.
Take a Step Back - Use time off, to stay on track. By including breaks in your calendar throughout the year where you have no professional obligations you can rediscover why you love your sport. Spend a week at home skating curbs with your mates, go surf a foamie in onshore slop. It’s about not taking it seriously all the time.
“Authenticity is about being true to who you are, even when everyone around you wants you to be someone else.” – Michael Jordan
Top tips:
Run the sticker of your local shop forever - Your local skate/snow/bike store was likely your first sponsor. If you continue to rep that little town shop as your career grows it helps show you’re still grounded and know your roots.
Remember why you started in the first place.
Only work with companies or products you actually like.
Quick Summary
Be honest
Let yourself develop as a person
Break up your year to shift focus
Look to others who are doing it
Take a step back, have a break
Next Steps for You
Listen to the audio episode on Goal Setting on the ‘Make It Happen’ Podcast for Athletes from ESM.
Additional Resources
Watch
‘Dark Side of the Lens’ by Mickey Smith - This short film by surf photographer Mikey Smith is one of the best displays of authentic pursuit. Super inspiring and well worth watching.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaZSJkoMFIE
Read
‘The Mutt: How To Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself’ by Rodney Mullen and Sean Mortimer - This is the biography of skateboard Legend Rodney Mullen and is a great lesson in how to live authentically as yourself. He’s a great example of being himself and having a huge impact.
Check it out here: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-mutt-how-to-skateboard-and-not-kill-yourself-rodney-mullen/book/9780060556198.html
Listen
‘Ego Is The Enemy’ by Ryan Holiday [Audiobook] - The biggest threat to our authenticity is our Ego. Our desire to please others and been seen as popular. If you can master your Ego, you can stay true to yourself.