Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who lived from 1907 to 1954. In her art, we can see her reflection of personal value creating a great personal branding example. Fifty-five of her 143 paintings are self-portraits; she took who she was and created art that is prized for its uniqueness and creativity.
In today’s frenetic, digital world I feel we have much to learn from Kahlo’s legacy which can teach us how to embrace values, passion, mission, vision, and strengths. In Kahlo’s painting and life decisions, you can see how much she believed in her personal values. Even at a time when many of her values were seen as crazy, she was persistent and with her uniqueness created an image of a strong person.
Be Inspired By Your Surroundings
Kahlo was a person who embraced every part of who she was in a loving way. Her self-portraits portray a strong and determined vision in her eyes. In her early life Frida suffered an accident while she was on a wooden bus. Many in the accident died while Kahlo suffered severe injuries.
These injuries caused her illness and pain the rest of her life. Through the many long periods of time she was bedridden she decided to take positive stock of her surroundings and, instead of dwelling, she started creating.
After this incident, she started her career as a painter and even painted her body cast. Life can be full of adverse surprises, but finding ways to become strong and resilient in the face of adversity is something we can take away from Kahlo’s personal brand.
Be You, Don’t Be Afraid to be Different
Kahlo was a disruptor in her values and she was proud of it. She played off her weaknesses and transformed them into strengths. Although she was going through a lot of pain and suffering, she portrayed it all into her artwork creating the most intricate displays. Kahlo showed perseverance in her career and life, fighting off everything that would hold her down.
[Removing erroneous photo]
She was a strong portrayer of feminism and disruptor of gender roles. During her life, she would dress in suits and dresses alike and portrayed her feministic views in her paintings. In her lifestyle choices and work, you can also see her passion for her culture. She loved to wear traditional Mexican wear and, in her paintings, we can see the vibrant colors of traditional Mexico.
Demonstrate Vigor Through Your Work
Frida went through a lot in her life and her ideals were sometimes not the people’s favorite, but she never gave up portraying what she believed in.
In her work, you can see her passion bleeding through. For her time, her work was raw and extremely expressive. To this day her paintings are very impactful. In today’s world, we know we need to be passionate in order to create something that stands out, and that is something I have always taken from Kahlo’s work.
As result of her hard graft, Frida lives on in her paintings. Her most recent painting was auctioned off for 8 million dollars. Today, she represents strength and empowerment for the Latin community.
Personal branding should mean being true to yourself. Through many things that Kahlo did we can take away an inspiration to always be unique and to create a personal brand that will always be remembered.
She was who she wanted to be.
Thanks for reading,
Joanna Mendoza
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The second black and white photo is of Patti Smith with Frida’s face photoshopped on.
We do know, but we kinda like it 🙂