YOUR LEAP: Mamie Kanfer Stewart

Mamie Kanfer Stewart is founder and CEO of Meeteor, author of “Momentum: Creating Effective, Engaging, and Enjoyable Meetings” and a philanthropist. She talked about LEAP, the importance of understanding the “why” of personal branding and how to look at a mirror:

Transitioning: When Mamie started Meeteor, a site that helps companies improve meetings and collaboration, she was known for her philanthropy work. “I was building a position as a thought leader and wanted to rethink my purpose. … If you Googled me, the results were unrelated to what I wanted to do.” Using LEAP and developing a Launchpad helped propel Mamie.

How the Launchpad helped: “The process overall was great. I liked have a facilitated process to go through – to the answer questions, the ‘why.’ The key was figuring out not what you want to stand for, but why you want to stand for it. That’s what’s important.”

Listen, learn, lead: That’s Mamie’s tagline. “I love that concept. It helps you visualize. Personal branding is new and it can be elusive.” A company brand can be easy to come up with, “it’s different when it’s a person.”

Moving forward: “I had a lot more confidence in how to tell my story – how my life came together.” Mamie had an image and reputation as a philanthropist, what she needed to do was transform herself into an entrepreneur with a business focused on collaboration. LEAP gave her “a sense of clarity that helped me tell my story.” The tangible outcome was helping her develop her personal website and her more public-facing piece.

Advice: “Know what you want to get out of the process. Consider ways to accomplish that outcome. If personal branding is the right path – go for it.”

Have fun: “For me, it was great fun being self-reflective. Not just doing the internal thinking, but turning into an outward expression.”

The mirror: Even as Mamie builds her company, she goes back to her Launchpad. “It’s like it’s ingrained in me because it’s very much authentically me. That’s what was so great about the process. It was holding up a mirror to who I am. It’s not aspirational, it’s real.”

The result: Mamie lives her tagline. At the office, there’s nothing better than when “you get the message reflected back to me in my own business, from my colleagues.”

To learn more about Mamie and Meeteor, go to Meeteor.com.