UPDATE: What it’s Like Being Mistaken for President 2020: Andrew Yang

Originally posted on May 1st, 2019 on LinkedIn

First off, I’d like to thank everyone for the incredible support and empathy towards my last post on this particular topic. I was truly hesitant to post that as I didn’t want to bash anyone and tried to make it clear from the beginning that I was only posting an experience and I’m extremely appreciative of everyone for their views and insights. It’s times like this that really brings my faith back into humanity.

Alright! So update just shy of 2 months from the last post and things are looking positive.

Since my last article the following have transpired:

1. Put out a pinned public post that I am NOT the Andrew Yang running for president 2020. Below is what happened. Keep in mind. I have done NOTHING beyond posting this.

1. I’ve gone from 148 likes to 656 likes — a shallow metric but worth noting.

1. I’m now on Facebook’s page suggestions — oh the wonderful world of technology (please sense the sarcasm).

1. I’m still receiving direct messages of people confusing me but it’s limited and I’ve also received enough apologies to suffice for the rest of my life.
2. Been having some hilarious banter back and forth and I’ve just been playing along. I have no reason to be pissed off. And of course there are those comments that I just don’t quite understand — probably because I don’t quite understand meme’s sometimes LOL.

And this is the one I don’t understand:

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Now since this all started happening, I have not put much effort into my Facebook page because, like I mentioned in my last post, it’s not my place to be and needed to give the people enough time to understand the situation themselves. So stepping back was in the best intention to the audience.

But after 2 months, plus a few projects that I’m working on, I needed to get back in it and by that time things started to settle.

A big project that I needed my Facebook page for was the distribution of my new personal brand which you may have seen already consolidating my work in the predominately B2B / high value products/services marketing space, with my professional dance work, as well as the trademarked mission statement that has been the utter backbone of everything I do: https://iamandrewyang.com

(shameless plug — sorry)

Surprisingly, the people that already liked my page took it well, and by “well” I mean — no one ripped on my ass for pretending to be someone they believe to be I’m not.

So with all this being said, I had a few key takeaway learnings from this entire experience that I believe everyone can learn from:

1. When people are uncomfortable with certain situations, of course they will get emotional but that truly means they care and are passionate about what they do.
2. Sometimes the best thing to do is to put yourself out there. Stand your ground. Step back. And let people go through the motions of self-realization.
3. Know your place and understand that people make mistakes.
4. Sometimes it’s just better to spread positivity.
5. There are many things in life (relative to the internet) that are completely out of your control and it’s up to you on how you choose to adapt.

One of the biggest comments that stuck out to me (that can be seen above) was:

“If you don’t capitalize on this, I don’t think you deserve to call yourself a marketer.”

That one struck me hard because yes, I could have used this to my advantage to garner more business and somehow further expand into America. Hell, I could have even used this to maybe even influence the presidential campaign by continuing to facade myself as the Presidential Candidate.

But is that who I truly wish to be in the long game? No it wasn’t. I never want to trick people. I never want to live as a facade. I want people to appreciate me for who I am and not as a figure of authority that I am not. I choose to stay true to who I believe in and not shaft other’s for my selfishness. I only want to look out for the benefit of other’s and their goals not for the primary objective of money but to support them in what they dream and want. This is why I never work with hardcore money-driven people that want to get rich quick and want to get the fuck out.

Anyway enough of my babbling.

If you enjoyed this and want to know more — feel free to reach out to me. Please don’t sell shit to me in my inbox using this as a conversation starter — fuck I hate that.

If you have insights into my new personal brand — I’m more than willing to hear it! Please email me at me@iamandrewyang.com

Til next time folks. Be Human ;)

Andrew Yang, Marketing + Sales Architect. Be Human.™. https://iamandrewyang.com