“Hey Toni, what would you ask Rachel Riley if you had the chance to interview her?”

I thought this was a rhetorical question from my good friend Kris – Founder of marketing agency KAYBE and former guest on the Challenging University Podcast. Turns out he actually meant it. He was trusting me to join a call with her and not cock things up.

And so it was I found myself sat in a recording studio with a snare drum between my legs (more on that later) and Kris and actual Rachel Riley on the line to record an episode of KAYBE Talks – a video podcast where Kris and I spend the first five minutes being inappropriate and laughing at each other before getting into some proper marketing questions.

Personal Branding the Rachel Riley way

The topic of the episode was Personal Branding and, as someone who has been on the receiving end of some very confusing personal branding training in a corporate setting “Imagine you are a product. How would you want people to perceive you? What do you want people to say about you when you’re not in the room?”, it was brilliant to be able to spend some time asking Rachel how she navigates being a household name while holding on to her integrity and sanity.

Asking Seriously Big Questions

Rather than list out the questions that Kris and I asked, let’s just say that it’s an episode where Rachel speaks candidly about her experiences of being subject to online abuse, challenging people’s misconceptions and biases and how she refuses to let the opinions of others shape her. There’s also some hilarious moments involving caravans, carparks and things that are “not a euphemism”.

Is That a Snare Drum Between Your Legs?

As for the snare drum – it happened to be lying around in the studio I was in so I thought it offered the perfect opportunity to provide Rachel with the kind of drumroll intro that she deserves. The only challenge was I didn’t then have anywhere to put it. And so I sat, for the whole recording session, like a terrible Taylor Hawkins tribute act.

Watch and Learn

But that’s enough behind the scenes! If you’re interested to hear some funny, thoughtful, insightful tips on what it takes to be true to your own self without having to follow some awful ‘personal branding formula’, you can check out the recording right here!

About KAYBE

KAYBE is a fabulous marketing agency that can do things with digital you didn’t even think was possible! They designed this website don’t you know 😉 Check out their great work here: https://marketing.kaybe.co.uk/

About Toni

Given I used to talk about myself in the third person at school (Christ knows why – probably signals that something was verrrrry wrong in my teenage brain!) it feels fitting to use this heading. Anyway – I provide Keynote Speaking and Stand Up on the topics of Social Mobility, Class and being a Working Parent and Woman in IT. I’m also the host of the Challenging University Podcast and co-host of the frankly fabulous KAYBE Talks. If you’re interested in booking me to speak, compere, stand up or guest on your podcast, drop me a line via the contact form.