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96 The PCB Magazine • August 2016 Embrace your brand. It's your promise. It's your word. It's the trust, knowledge and con- fidence you communicate to your customers, the community, and the industry you interact with and react to every nanosecond. Break your brand, and you'll be breaking your heart and your aspirations. Quite simply, your brand is what others be- lieve to be your value, and is expressed more often than not upon having your name come up during a third-party conversation. Keep in mind, brands are built by individuals, not orga- nizations. The person's view may not be true, in fact, it may be completely off the mark. Regard- less, it's their truth. When you let others define your brand it's like an alien force that invades your mind and body. It wants to immediately mold your repu- tation and worse yet, potentially denigrate your self-confidence and perceived worth. Don't cede the power of you. Speaking from my own experience, you can launch—or relaunch—your brand by being true to what you inherently know to be your strengths and has proven to make you success- ful and happy. Blastoff: Be your own version of extraordinary— ordinary is boring. Subscribing to the status quo can often be debilitating, as well as regres- sive in your personal pursuits and professional aspirations. Making that extra effort—no mat- ter how small or insignificant you may believe it to be at the time—is deemed to be significant and at times monumental to others. You may not even realize your dedication and principled approach for a given project has taken a by Barry Lee Cohen LAUNCH COMMUNICATIONS Embrace Your Brand LAUNCH LETTERS