‘Taste’ in Personal Branding - The Art of Resonating with the Universe

If you’ve dabbled in the dark albeit syncopated arts of sound design and acoustics, you will inevitably come across the concept of resonant frequency. As fancy as it sounds with all its syllables, what it really means is that it is the frequency at which the body of an object resonates.

Duh! But let’s break it down.

Resonance refers to the quality of sound when it reverberates, making it deep, prolonged, and alive. Frequency, on the other hand, is the rate at which an object vibrates to produce sound. So, resonant frequency is the specific vibration at which an object comes to life.

In much the same way, your taste is like the resonant frequency of your personal brand—it’s the colour, texture, and energy in which you resonate with the universe. As abstract and objectively meaningless as it sounds on the surface, there is a deep truth about the human psyche, art and branding that reveals itself through this lens.

Taste: The Overlooked Key to Your Personal Branding Success

What’s your favourite smell? Colour? Cuisine? Fabric? Book? Genre? TV show?

Whatever they may be, however varied or esoteric, the common thread tying them together is you.

We often attach names to different styles of expression—labels that may be arbitrary in origin but easily recognizable once you experience them.

Minimalist designs, for example, stand out because they strip away unnecessary elements to bring simplicity to life. The Bohemian aesthetic is earthy, textured, and rugged, almost as if petrichor was distilled into form. And the Aristocrats? Well, they live in the marbled mansions.

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“My tastes are aristocratic, my actions democratic.”
-Victor Hugo

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To see one in the other seems almost unimaginable, but to assume that a person’s identity is exclusive to one form of expression is to embrace caricature like your favourite lover. Our affinities are more complex than that and the complexity is what brings layers to the tear inducing onion that is you.

And this is where the magic happens. It’s not about the labels themselves but about how these elements of style mix and coexist within you, creating a unique brand identity that’s both multifaceted and authentic. Your taste, like resonant frequency, is a composite of all the vibrations that make you feel alive.

Taste as Self-Expression in Personal Branding

Think of your taste as a living, evolving language that speaks to the world. Every choice you make, from the scent of your cologne to the design of your workspace, communicates something about you. It may be a conscious choice or an unconscious tick.

The key is to elevate the conscious choices and discover the unconscious actions, so that you can harness them.

It’s a form of silent self-expression—a visual, sensory code that others pick up on and interpret. But just like with spoken language, the subtleties matter. Your brand isn’t just about broad stroke presentations that you practise, but also about the fine details that create emotional resonance with others.

To do that it must happen within yourself first and foremost.

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“Look for what you notice but no one else sees.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

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A person’s taste is a dance between conscious decisions and subconscious leanings. Some choices are deliberate—meticulously picking the perfect shade of blue for your logo, or deciding on the exact typeface that feels "just right."

Others come more naturally, like the styles you’re drawn to or the music that makes you feel a particular way. These factors when juxtaposed in unique ways, makes the perception of you deeper and more resonant.

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What is a Personal Brand That Resonates

So, how do you curate your taste in a way that aligns with your personal brand?

Start by noticing the things that speak to you, both big and small. What textures make your touch linger? What sounds make you tap your feet? What smells remind you of childhood? And what visuals make you hold your breath? Don’t focus on what’s trendy or what you think is expected of you; instead, focus on what feels true.

Next, embrace the contrasts. You are a combination of DNA never seen before and will never be seen again. Dive into it, understand it, and soon you will manifest the version of yourself that is the most authentic. Your personality now brings life and colour into a world competing to be the greyest shade of greys.

It’s okay to mix the rugged with the sleek; the aristocratic with the earthy. These contrasts create the texture and nuance that makes your brand truly memorable.

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How to Discover your Personal Brand

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“The shadow is something we deny and repress. It is so much easier to dig up and moralize about the dark qualities of others. It is almost unnatural for us to look inward at this side of ourselves. But remember you are only half a human if you keep this buried. Be intrepid in this process.”
-Robert Greene, The Laws of Human Nature

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When Jung prescribed his theory of the Self over a century ago, it was fated to change the way we observed psychology and human behaviour.

The Self is composed of the conscious and unconscious parts of ourselves. With the conscious part being only the tip of the iceberg. Most of what happens within us is an ocean of currents we are unaware of. Among these unknown personalities within us is the Shadow.

What is the Shadow?

The Shadow is part of our personal unconscious composed of everything that we repress, forget or ignore. It is the mirror opposite of the version of ourselves that we consciously consider ourselves to be. Ethically, spiritually and morally.

So, what’s so important about our Shadow?

Within these repressed parts of ourselves consists qualities that have the power to push our potentials beyond our wildest imaginations. Like every coin has two sides, every quality of ours that we repress because we don’t approve of them, they have a positive note.

For example, the ambition that a tyrant uses to take control and chain a group of people, is the ambition that a revolutionary burns with to free the same people. The anger that we feel at the indifference of the universe, is really a source of pure fuel to push us through the most difficult times in our lives.

In essence, these parts of ourselves must be integrated into the conscious aspects of our life. Once done, they let us burn with a shade of energy that is so unique and authentic that you become the very definition of what a personal brand aims you to be without even trying.

This process is known as Shadow Work and through this, you manifest the real you, that you have been hiding even from yourself.

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Conclusion: Personal Branding that is Authentic

Ultimately, your taste is what resonates beyond the surface. Everything about you, that is an external manifestation—like your clothes, your choice of words, the way you laugh—comes from deep within the core of your being.

Personal branding isn’t just what people see, it’s what they feel.

When your taste aligns with your true self, you send out a frequency that attracts the people and opportunities that are meant for you.

Your brand is a conversation with the universe, an ongoing exchange of energies. The more authentic your taste, the clearer and stronger that conversation becomes. Others pick up on it, not just because of what they see, but because of what they feel. When your taste resonates deeply with who you are, you become unforgettable. 

So cultivate it, refine it, and most importantly, embrace it. Because when you do, you don’t just build a personal brand—you resonate with the pulse of the universe.

‍“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
― Carl Gustav Jung