so I’m about to give you the world’s
easiest pop quiz are you ready so when I
say a slogan you tell me the name of the
company ready just do it nice
I’m loving it have it your way
so all of these companies have
established an identity based on these
slogans all of these companies have
branded themselves so that you recognize
them and know what they stand for but
what if I said your name right now what
[Applause]
so my question to you is what is your
brand
every time I introduce myself to someone
I say the exact same thing every time I
say my name is Neha Hussain I’m a senior
at SMU majoring in human rights and
marketing why do I say that why is that
the thing that I say about all of the
things about the one characteristic I
choose to say why don’t I say my name is
Neha and I have a dog named Teddy that
weighs 120 pounds or why don’t I say my
name is May who’s saying and my favorite
food is cookie dough ice cream
[Music]
right but I choose to say that I’m a
student over and over and over again
even when it might not necessarily make
sense for me to say that I started
thinking about this a lot when I decided
to do something about the issue of
distracted driving but I’ll start with a
story in February of 2014 I was driving
down the highway and there was a little
bit of traffic I was listening to Drake
as we all do and all of a sudden I was
rear-ended by a woman that was texting
and driving and I pulled over and we
were talking and I couldn’t stop crying
and she was apologizing and it seemed
like everything was fine and I felt like
I didn’t do anything wrong but somehow
after that I was just paralyzed with
fear I felt like everyone around me was
texting and driving and there was
nothing I could do about it and I felt
like I was just gonna get hit over and
over and over again with no sort of
acknowledgement of my existence
eventually I decided to create an app
that prevents texting and driving called
gist Drive and it rewards people for not
texting and driving and after I did that
I started talking to CEOs and managers
and restaurant owners and all of these
wonderful people that couldn’t care less
that I was still in school they cared
about my company and my brand and what I
represented I would go to these meetings
with 50 copies of my resume and I never
used one of them I actually needed
business cards and I didn’t think about
that until the longest time I was
advocating for social change and I
didn’t even know it I was just doing
something so that people like me could
feel safer on the road I don’t think it
hit me that I I could be a student and a
lifelong learner just like all of you
are and be more than that so now I want
to encourage you to think about your
brand and how you represent yourself
said that everyone else in the world
how are you establishing your identity
with everyone that you talk to and this
goes beyond just
people think about social media think
about how you represent yourself when
you’re tweeting around Instagram think
about the relationships you’ve built
with your family your friends your
classmates but what’s also important to
note that it’s not about how they see
you it’s about how you want them to see
you
you are your own biggest advocate and no
one else can create a brand for you it’s
your job to make your brand what you
want it to represent so with that my
name is Neha Hussain I’m a human rights
entrepreneur and I love cookie dough ice
cream thank you [Applause]
easiest pop quiz are you ready so when I
say a slogan you tell me the name of the
company ready just do it nice
I’m loving it have it your way
so all of these companies have
established an identity based on these
slogans all of these companies have
branded themselves so that you recognize
them and know what they stand for but
what if I said your name right now what
[Applause]
so my question to you is what is your
brand
every time I introduce myself to someone
I say the exact same thing every time I
say my name is Neha Hussain I’m a senior
at SMU majoring in human rights and
marketing why do I say that why is that
the thing that I say about all of the
things about the one characteristic I
choose to say why don’t I say my name is
Neha and I have a dog named Teddy that
weighs 120 pounds or why don’t I say my
name is May who’s saying and my favorite
food is cookie dough ice cream
[Music]
right but I choose to say that I’m a
student over and over and over again
even when it might not necessarily make
sense for me to say that I started
thinking about this a lot when I decided
to do something about the issue of
distracted driving but I’ll start with a
story in February of 2014 I was driving
down the highway and there was a little
bit of traffic I was listening to Drake
as we all do and all of a sudden I was
rear-ended by a woman that was texting
and driving and I pulled over and we
were talking and I couldn’t stop crying
and she was apologizing and it seemed
like everything was fine and I felt like
I didn’t do anything wrong but somehow
after that I was just paralyzed with
fear I felt like everyone around me was
texting and driving and there was
nothing I could do about it and I felt
like I was just gonna get hit over and
over and over again with no sort of
acknowledgement of my existence
eventually I decided to create an app
that prevents texting and driving called
gist Drive and it rewards people for not
texting and driving and after I did that
I started talking to CEOs and managers
and restaurant owners and all of these
wonderful people that couldn’t care less
that I was still in school they cared
about my company and my brand and what I
represented I would go to these meetings
with 50 copies of my resume and I never
used one of them I actually needed
business cards and I didn’t think about
that until the longest time I was
advocating for social change and I
didn’t even know it I was just doing
something so that people like me could
feel safer on the road I don’t think it
hit me that I I could be a student and a
lifelong learner just like all of you
are and be more than that so now I want
to encourage you to think about your
brand and how you represent yourself
said that everyone else in the world
how are you establishing your identity
with everyone that you talk to and this
goes beyond just
people think about social media think
about how you represent yourself when
you’re tweeting around Instagram think
about the relationships you’ve built
with your family your friends your
classmates but what’s also important to
note that it’s not about how they see
you it’s about how you want them to see
you
you are your own biggest advocate and no
one else can create a brand for you it’s
your job to make your brand what you
want it to represent so with that my
name is Neha Hussain I’m a human rights
entrepreneur and I love cookie dough ice
cream thank you [Applause]
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