Mike Kim > Quotes

“Pets hardly exist in North Korea because most have been eaten.”
― Mike Kim, Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country

“spent way too many years burying my real desires in the name of being “content with what I have.” It’s possible to be grateful for what we have and still want something different. When you double down on gratitude at the expense of your own honesty, you really have a false gratitude that moves you out of integrity.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“For so much of our lives, we see ourselves through the lens of a company, organization, or role rather than the skills we possess or who we inherently are. We fail to see our unique expertise.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“It’s the classic Einstein Effect: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“When I was becoming my brand, there were areas in my life I had to do deep work in. There still are. But the process of building a warm, inviting campfire for others to gather around helped me get healthier… and become more successful.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“There’s a reason I refer to the method herein as a “blueprint.” No builder looks at a blueprint just once and then builds the entire skyscraper. No, the blueprint is there to keep construction on track over the course of the entire project. My hope is that you will use this book in the same fashion.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“So, what are we to do? Here’s a simple question that can serve as a litmus test for you: “Can I build a campfire around what I’m sharing?” By this, I mean, is there warmth? Are you building something that is attractive and inviting to others? Can you build a community around it? Are you someone whom others want to invite onto their stages, in front of their employees, or into their lives?”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“The key to the blueprint is that each step is built one on top of the other. If the previous step isn’t clearly established, everything after it will eventually falter. Think of each of these steps like digits in a phone number: You can have the right digits, but if you don’t put them in the right sequence, you won’t be dialed in.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“while it’s possible for you to pivot later, it is vital you put roots down first, so if you decide to go in a different direction, you are able to move from a place of strength.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“I asked myself an innocent question that would forever change the course of my life: “If all goes well, do I want this guy’s life in fifteen years?” The answer was a resounding no.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Marketing isn’t about closing a sale; it’s about opening a relationship.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“If you took some North Korean songs and replaced Kim Il Sung with God or Jesus it would sound exactly like a Christian hymn.”
― Mike Kim, Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country

“An average seven-year-old boy in North Korea is now 20 centimeters shorter and 10 kilos lighter than his brother in South Korea °'7”
― Mike Kim, Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country

“The key to writing your Founder Story is to simply use the answers to the PB3 questions, “What pisses you off?” and “What breaks your heart?”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Two and a half million people died when North Korean dictator Kim II Sung invaded South Korea in 1950.”
― Mike Kim, Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country

“At times I’m asked, “How did you learn all this stuff about starting a personal brand business?” and the answer really comes down to confronting my own dissonance and building a life worthy of my own respect.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“used Mike’s forms and templates to land my first clients. One awesome result: I wrote a twelve-page ebook and priced it at $10. The book led to new coaching clients. The total return from the exercise: nearly $5,000. And it’s still selling!”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“There is probably a ton of wisdom, knowledge, and insight at that bus stop, but the world at large won’t benefit because they’re stuck in the grind. They go to work miserable, come home exhausted, steal a few moments with their families, sleep, and repeat the cycle day after day. The world is not a better place because of this!”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Keep in mind that the more you put yourself out there, the more you will start to discover yourself.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Reinventing yourself is just as much about changing the story you tell yourself as it is in changing the story you tell the public.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“If all goes well, do I want this guy’s life in fifteen years?”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“The good news is we all have something intangible that makes us unique.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Good news: That is not necessary! In most cases, your clients and customers won’t be interested in your life story—they just want a few insights into your background, why you do what you do, and whether you can solve their problems. Here are the three personal stories I recommend you start with: The Founder Story The Business Story The Customer Story”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“Being an entrepreneur is hard enough, but if what you do day in and day out doesn’t stem from a deeper place within you, you won’t last.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business

“For me, in “slogan speak,” I simply say that my company exists to help people start, run, and grow a profitable personal brand business. That’s the big problem I’m trying to solve. When I have the liberty to use a few more words, I say, “I teach an 8-step Blueprint to help you showcase your unique expertise and build a highly profitable, personally fulfilling business.” Wordsmithed even further, the last thing I say on my podcast episodes for years has been: “Live your message, love your work, leave your mark on the world.” None of these one-liners were born from sitting around trying to think of a clever slogan.”
― Mike Kim, You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business