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Image is Everything

Andre Agassi said it best in that old commercial for the Cannon EOS Rebel camera: "Image is everything!" Over the last few months I have received numerous emails and phone calls on how to begin on building resumes and making yourself more valuable to sponsors. I thought it would be best to illustrate the importance of the number one area every angler should focus on if he or she is trying to build their value within the industry – image.

First and foremost we all have to understand that our image isn't what or how we see ourselves, but rather how others perceive us. This all became evident one day in 2006 after competing in a tournament at Kentucky Lake during the Bassmaster ELITE Series. It was the second day of the event and I missed the cut by ounces, and to make things worse I was in the top 20 after day one. Following the weigh-in I left back to my boat where I sat with my head shaking and muttering how stupid I was to make that last minute decision to make a long run. It was then Rick Pierce, owner of BassCat boats came up to me and put is arm around me and said, "Vince, there are thousands of people out here watching you guys and you still have a job to do." It hit me like a ton of bricks, we are all on stage everywhere we go, fishing or not fishing. We are not just representing ourselves, but more importantly our sponsors.

Obviously this is one extreme of perception, but there are subtleties that you may or may not be thinking about in your everyday proceedings. One key factor I try to keep in mind is, if I wouldn't do, say, or act, like this in front of my children, then I'm not going to do this around anyone else. We strive to set examples to our own family members, and this should be illustrated the same way when we are in public. Believe me, if you are interested in building your value you need to embrace this type of thinking.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages is something that I will always try and keep on the down low. How many times do you see anglers after an event pulling beers out of a card board case, or, how about the tournament coordinators who are presenting results that are half tilted? These are images that they have decided to show us, and unfortunately are labeling themselves as not the best role models.

Our language is another avenue in which I always try and keep clean. I am not perfect by no means, but profanity isn't sexy, and it sure doesn't leave good impressions on others. This has to be one of the most difficult things to watch, especially I you are one that uses this language in your everyday vocabulary. All I can say is that dropping F BOMBS, and vulgarity is not sexy to the companies who are looking for someone to invest in. Could you imagine Tiger Woods at an event losing his cool in front of millions of people and children alike? I'm not sue Nike would not want to see that either.

Confrontations do and always will occur on and off the water. How we react is going to leave a lasting impression on everyone that witnesses it, right or wrong! Last year during a pro-am event I had an encounter with an angler that literally flew off the handle about how I was driving my boat near an area where he was fishing. Knowing that I always operate my boat in a safe and professional manner I let him blow off his steam. When he was finished I apologized for upsetting him, but clearly stated that I felt that there was no danger anywhere near or around him. In fact my co-angler provided the same message to him as well. Unfortunately this was probably not the right thing to do, we had created another confrontation that we were right and he was wrong. Long story short, more words were exchanged and it had escalated to even a further setting. Luckily everything worked out and no more people had to experience our situation. Looking back I wish I would have handled things differently. We will always have things like this happen when in competition, how we react and who we tell will display the type of person we really are.

To summarize this area of building our value, I hope that we all can strive to be more professional all around. Image goes much deeper than just how you dress. How we act and react to what is said to and about us, is just another opportunity to build our value. The one question to ask ourselves is, would I want someone like myself representing a company, or is there a better candidate? If there is a better candidate, you need to ask yourself what that person has or does that you don't. Remember, if it looks like a duck, and acts like a duck, then it's a duck!

Vince Hurtado