The Eccentric Engineer Mini-series Part 2: Mass-producing and Private Labeling Our Stories

In this episode: I use too many parentheses, talk about ibuprofen, and give a shoutout to my people.

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Hey everyone, I'm back and ready to write some shtuff. Thanks for being patient with my wonky scheduling. I really am trying to make an effort to get these out on Wednesday to keep the routine, but work just gets me so beat so I try to have it ready by the weekend. Also, I could have it out by Wednesday, but I'd rather not put out a sub-par product quickly than do it right and have it be delayed. That said, let's get to it.

So one of the big things I've been focusing on throughout my time with this blog is learning about myself and finding a way that adequately conveys the story of me. I try not to exaggerate it, but I still try to write about things that I think will be of value to myself and others who read this. For you all, it's to be able to relate, and for me, it's just a form of creative expression. I can say that I've learned that I get bursts of creative energy but I didn't know how to full the creative itch. This blog has really been an outlet for me to beam my words out to people. Even if you don't click like or interact with it, if you're reading it and gaining some knowledge or it's making you think, that's good enough for me.

One of the things that I struggled with before starting this blog was kind of the cliche idea of 'finding my voice" or sound or whatever you want to call it. Then after talking to my good buddy, I realized that maybe I overthink it and that I just need to roll with it, and go by feel. Write what I'm feeling or thinking, and let it all fall in place. Aside from the fear of judgment from others, I honestly just thought that my story wasn't worth telling. Why would someone want to read my story versus someone who has achieved more, has helped more people, who has had more "success" (in any sense of the word) than I have? Then I thought about this idea as I got home from work: the idea of private labeling. For those not familiar with private labeling, it's basically a way that manufacturer's make the same product as name brands, on the same assembly lines as the name brand product with the same parts, and sell it under a different name. For example, if I buy some ibuprofen from Target, I have the option of Advil or Target brand. I can't speak specifically to that product, but oftentimes it's the same product, just one is in a Target-branded bottle and one is a name brand, Advil.

What does this have to do with engineering and growing and everything else? Well, it's kind of similar, but this might be a stretch, so bear with me. When I felt like my story wasn't worth telling, I thought it was because so many just like mine had been told before, so mine wouldn't be any different. Think of my story as the product. It, like many others before and after it, has similar themes, emotions, and thoughts associated with it. Maybe it even includes some of the same people in it. But the point is, I felt that my story was one little box on the assembly line of stories that have been mass-produced due to their similarity from time immemorial. Then I thought, well I want to tell it anyway, if people want to read it that's cool, if not oh well. I thought of myself as the private label. I thought, how can I give this story my personal stamp and make it my own? Think about it, Target doesn't have to sell ibuprofen, but it can and so it does. It figures that if it puts its label on the bottle, people know what they're getting, and so they put out the product. Same principle applies here. I'm sure there are zillions of blogs out there by brown dudes who write random things about their anxieties about life. Yet for some reason, we are all here. Maybe you know me, maybe you were linked to it by a friend, who knows? A consumer has their reasons for picking certain products. Maybe they need a low-cost option, or maybe they only trust name brands to do the jobs. Anyway, my point in saying that is that I had to overcome that fear and just do it. I had to stop asking the "what-ifs" and start asking the "why-nots?"

I want to be clear and say that I'm not here to literally market and sell you things, whether that be a story, an ideology, or a mindset. I'd be lying if I said I'm not trying to market a version of myself that is better or more mature or something than I actually am, but I try to stay honest and true to myself in the hopes that someone will be inspired and they too can enact change in their life. I also want to make a disclaimer and say that I'm not a big fan of "personal brands" (whatever that means) either, and I'm not trying to push one of those. Personal brands sound kind of icky to me, because I was reading a Forbes or Fortune article or something about how "brands have to be managed" with respect to personal brands. That just seems to me to lead to being fake, and I try to strive for authenticity in everything I do. Now I can see how that seems pretty similar to private labeling (it sounds like an exact synonym for it), but I think the key difference is that personal brands (in my opinion) are what you market because that's what you want the world to see, whereas your private label is what the world will actually see. Maybe I'm nitpicking the semantics of the wording and maybe I have it wrong (please tell me if I do so I can correct it), but the key item I wanted to communicate was just the projection of yourself versus reality. I have to admit that I'm guilty of trying to wear this persona of "positive and healthy brown guy with a blog," but I do it with the intention of achieving that for myself. I have to push myself to do it, so it's a motivator to work toward something. That doesn't mean I'm going to be this rosy-eyed person who's always happy, just someone who can try to learn and see the good in everything. It also helps that I have a really good team of family and friends who keep me in check. My brother and my sisters, as well as my cousins and dad have all been instrumental in keeping me on the right track, and I'm super thankful for them.

Another disclaimer: I don't mean to actually label yourself. Don't do that. Or do it. It makes no difference to me. But you'll get more out of it if you dig deep and you're honest with yourself, and figure out what your context and experience mean to you.

So I challenge you, dear readers, to think about where you are on the assembly line. Maybe you're not a box on the assembly line, maybe you're a shiny new bicycle waiting to be built. Maybe you're a granola bar. I don't know. Find out where and what you are, and what your private label is.