Real You Incorporated

by Kaira Studivant Rouda

Every 60 seconds a woman starts a business. And while women represent a dominant force in the ever-growing business economy, the demand to fit into the corporate "boys club" is still pervasive. In Real You Incorporated, Karia Sturdivant Rouda reveals the secret to building a successful brand, and thus a successful business, by refusing to fit in. Being successful is all about being the real you.

Real You Incorporated offers women a bold and refreshing message: for a brand to truly, deeply resonate with customers, it has to be based on something truly genuine. Building that personal, genuine brand means being true to yourself in every part of your business—from how you promote your talents to how you interact with the people in your office and everything else.

Rouda's lively book provides readers with a helpful Real You Incorporated chart that captures the most essential elements of your business: you and your passions, brand, positioning, culture, customers, and gifts. Once you full define your personal brand, Rouda shows you how to use it as a competitive advantage that will prove invaluable to your long-term success.

Each chapter includes profiles of successful entrepreneurs and provides inspiration and cautionary tales for every business woman. Full of new ways to look at age-old problems—including handy tools like a "Snark Scale"— Real You Incorporated empowers you to join other women who are changing the face of business. It starts by discovering who you are and developing an authentic personal brand, one based simply on being the real you.

(256 pp., hardcover, ISBN 978-0-470-17658-0; 2008 )