When Alysa Liu was asked by NBC how she felt about the gold medal around her neck for women’s figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she said, “It matches my hair color.” She was proudly displaying her raccoon-style dyed blond-and-black circlets.
When asked whether girls would now copy her hairstyle, she replied, “You can have whatever hairstyle YOU want.”
She was signaling something deeper: identity over object, expression over accolade, joy and passion over recognition.
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After winning a championship at 13, she quit skating at 16 as a result of a soulless training regimen driven by winning at all costs.
At 18, she returned on her own terms. “No one tells me what to do,” she said, “I will do it my way.” She skated to express her art on ice, not to chase a medal. She did it for herself, not for anyone or anything else. That was powerful from the inside out.
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Winning was no longer her identity anchor. Authentic expression of her art and her joy became the driving force. That mindset produced excellence. That was liberating.
Her joy flowed across the ice like sunlight. She was no longer defined by others’ expectations or judgments. She was not performing for approval. She skated like a child playing, reclaiming the pure childhood delight she once had chasing and playing hide-and-seek with her siblings on the ice, her single father recalled.
As she stepped out of the rink after her gold medal skate, above the roaring cheers, she exclaimed, “That’s what I’m fucking talking about!” Not condoning expletives, but in that moment she was being spontaneous, carefree, and again, not conforming to what others think and expect. That’s her authentic self, imperfect but wholesome, relatable, and real.
The gold medal is “a physical object,” she said. “I could just lose it.” The Atlantic quoted her.
The journey is destiny, as I often say. She enjoys being an artist on the ice. Joyful alignment leads to excellence. Personal fulfillment fuels mastery. Whether recognized with a medal or not, authenticity is the ultimate power source.
That is what I call #BeYourOwnBrand and #BeYourOwnSuperPower, grounded in 16 years of helping leaders reclaim their innermost selves through personal branding. It is also my own joy.
Leaders who build enduring brands do not chase metrics only, they anchor brand identity. They cultivate belief, joy, and brand loyalty. They build brands that “Think Different”, to borrow from Apple, and brands that “Stand for Something”, as we say at 10 Plus Brand.
It all starts from the leader.
Find yourself. Clarify your passion. Define your meaning. Live your joy with conviction. That is your superpower. That is your brand. And whether you seek it or not, that is what makes a person or a brand a super star.
© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.
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About the author, Joanne Z. Tan, Brand Strategist, Thought Leadership Coach
Joanne Z. Tan is the Founder & CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. Joanne is a globally recognized brand strategist, thought leadership coach, content & branding expert, and speaker. She helps founders, CEOs, executives, board members, leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations decode their Brand DNA, elevate merely successful businesses to become powerful brands in the AI age. Joanne was trained in law and business, and had a liberal arts education from Brandeis University before earning a law degree. Her coaching emphasizes comprehensive strategies, business modeling, multidisciplinary thought leadership and high authority content creation, brand building, culture, GTM, user experience design, and AIXD (AI experience design). A former journalist, award-winning photographic artist, Joanne is also a poet, writer, and an avid wilderness backpacker.
