Ziad K. Abdelnour: “Be bolder, Be more controversial, Be more disruptive”

Be bolder — ‘cause Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.

Be more controversial — ‘cause rules and conventions are important for schools, businesses, and society in general, but you should never follow them blindly.

Be more disruptive — ‘cause in times such as ours, when there is too much order, too much management, too much programming, and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Ziad K. Abdelnour, Founder, President & CEO of Blackhawk Partners, Inc. a private “family office” in the business of originating, structuring & acting as equity investor in strategic corporate investments and co-Founder of Blackhawk Development Group LLC; a trading platform focusing on the financing of real estate, infrastructure and project finance properties throughout the US.

Ziad is also Chairman of the Advisory Board of Hawkstorm Global — a business specializing in providing a wide array of elite services ranging from Emergency Response and Asset Protection to Security Consulting and Risk Assessments by former members of Navy seals, CIA, DOJ, Blackwater, FBI, State Department, and DEA Agents.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path?

Born with a major stuttering handicap… It took me over 10 years to overcome it. I guess this was the turning point in my life when I started seriously thinking I could do whatever I put my mind to and which led me to come to the United States with a burning desire to take over Manhattan.

I also soon realized pretty early in my new life that “finance” was the glue that unifies all and that my mission was basically to create wealth and empower people to create more wealth. WHY? Because I believe that money is first and foremost about freedom. It is not about acquiring things nor flaunting it in front of family and friends. It is all about freedom. Freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Freedom to tell your boss or whoever is running your life to take a hike. The only boss I want to have in my life is money. All the rest is for the birds. This is another key reason I immigrated to the United States back in 1982. To find freedom, liberate my mind and make it big time… and this is the reason I created Blackhawk Partners back in 2008.

Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First, can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

My story is not a simple one and I had to face in my rise to success, wealth and power every single obstacle faced by mankind. From jealousy to prejudice to ridicule and I soon realized that the only way to prevail over all is by creating “obscene wealth”. Now that I have accomplished my goals, I don’t regret anything I did and would do it again and again. Nothing is sweeter than victory. One thing never to forget though when you reach your goal…. The question is not whether you have the money, it is whether you have and keep the hustle. BIG difference!

A lesson to be learned? Early bloomers enjoy many advantages in affluent societies. But one huge disadvantage they face is that many of the youth don’t give them credit for their success, more than the rest of us do. That’s understandable: adolescents and young adults tend to be self-centered… The problem arises when early bloomers have a setback: either they put all the blame on themselves and fall into self-condemnation and paralysis, or they blame everyone else. Late bloomers tend to be more circumspect: they are able to see their own role in the adversity they face, without succumbing to self-condemnation or blame-shifting.

The sad part….Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.

Bottom line: Successful people aren’t born successful. Behind it all there is hard work, persistence and a lot of grit. Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness. Consistency of effort over the long run is everything.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I guess it has a lot to do with my DNA. Either you have it or you don’t. It cannot be taught.

I am the kind of person who refuses to conform, refuses to be controlled and abhors being a number. There are no “hard times” for me cause whatever hard it gets, I am the kind of person who crushes it whatever it takes.

My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence or of normal life. I crave mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it to suit my skills, temperament, and drive.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

Success is no accident or serendipity or just grit. It is much more than that. I had all the odds against me, and I crushed each and everyone along the way. Not because I was a Democrat or a Republican. Not because of my attitudes about social issues. Not because of what my background is or isn’t. Not because people think I’m a nice guy. I succeeded because I’m a capitalist, I’m an entrepreneur, and I’m a warrior. That is the mindset I want to teach others so they can create their own wealth and American success story.

I’m not here to entertain. If you try to please everybody and worry about offending anybody, nothing is going to happen. You might make some money, but you certainly won’t create wealth.

I’m an action-driven individual; too many people — including economists and academics in their ivory tower — watch from the sidelines and pontificate. You should do this. You should do that. But most of them have no “skin in the game”. They have nothing at risk, so they can talk the talk from now to the next century, and it’s not going to make a difference.

A while back some guy came up to me and said: I love what you write, referring to all the blogs and articles I publish. Then he asked: How do you make a living? He expected me to answer: Oh, I do this. I do that. I work here. I work there. Instead, I told him the reality: I am not here to make a living. He didn’t expect that. But the truth is, I don’t work here and there. I don’t make a living; I create wealth using the strategies, knowledge, and truths learned over my decades on Wall Street and the venture capital/private equity business.

I’m not an idealist. I’m a capitalist who wants to empower others to do what I did — find freedom. My uncle was a very successful entrepreneur bigger than life — worked very hard, never got married — who lived to be ninety-one years old. Before he passed away I asked him: How do you define success: Is it money? Is it power? He told me it was none of the above. Success is about “empowering people”. The more you empower people, the more you are going to succeed. This is exactly how individuals and governments alike should think.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?

My uncle to start with. A man is bigger than life with no formal education other than being super street smart. I would not be here today without his guiding light. Other people who inspired me along the way to always give it my best and achieve what I’ve always wanted and more are:

In the business world: Michael Milken — Financier and Donald Trump — Deal Maker.

In the political world: Presidents Trump, Reagan, and JFK.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

  1. By enriching people doing business with me through Blackhawk Partners
  2. By having people come, attend our conferences and learn from my team of experts and myself through the Financial Policy Council
  3. By having people read my books, listen to my courses and attend my private briefings on a regular basis
  4. By having people benefit from my philanthropy work. On that note, I, much like Jobs, look at philanthropy in much the same way. I believe that a philanthropist should be an entrepreneur at heart and think of social challenges as an opportunity to create large enterprises. It’s really easy to create a $1 billion company–you just have to solve a $10 billion problem. Most of these large $10 to $100 billion problems happen to be social problems. That’s why I think that some of the largest opportunities exist for an entrepreneur in solving humanity’s grand challenges.”

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am working on financing the completion of 21 projects in the US with a total value in excess of $3.4 billion. These projects will employ, empower and create opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people both nationally and globally. I am also writing “Kick ass” books that are and will be read by millions of people the world over. My new book,, Start-Up Saboteurs: How Incompetence, Ego, and Small Thinking Prevent True Wealth Creation is available in May 2020 on Amazon. Start-Up Saboteurs shows entrepreneurs how to create real wealth by abandoning their limited thinking, eliminating boundaries, and teaching them how to stop defining the outcome along with some real tangible things they should be doing. I like to challenge people to think outside of the box.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Be bolder — cause Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.

Be more controversial — cause rules and conventions are important for schools, businesses, and society in general, but you should never follow them blindly.

Be more disruptive — cause in times such as ours, when there is too much order, too much management, too much programming, and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I indeed want to create a movement of smart, educated, well-informed, independent people and empower them to create their own wealth. In fact, I am doing it every day.

The best way to do that consistently is by explaining how the system really works and teaches them how to differentiate the wheat from the chaff and all the bullshit out there. In the end, it comes down to this: To create real wealth and achieve power and independence you must abandon your limited thinking, eliminate boundaries, and stop defining the outcome. Most importantly it means not letting people motivated by jealousy, greed, and envy dictate what your limitations are.

You have to take risks in life. Your actions are what count.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I have no favorite life lesson quote but a few I like and can share.

  1. Always remember… Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.
  2. Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.
  3. We are in an economic war. It is a war between those who create wealth and those who believe they have some sort of divine mandate to appropriate wealth. They don’t have such an authoritative command. I don’t think they ever did. We have tried their command-and-control methods for nearly a century because they said they knew better. It is now obvious that they didn’t.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can find me at any of the Links below which encapsulate my profit and nonprofit activities along with my book publications and other events

  1. Blackhawk Partners, Inc https://www.blackhawkpartners.com/
  2. Financial Policy Council http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/
  3. Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5318529.Ziad_K_Abdelnour
  4. Start-Up Saboteurs book website https://www.freedomforall.io/
  5. Personal YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ZiadKAbdelnour

How can readers find you on social media:

IG: @ziadkabdelnour

Twitter: @ziadkabdelnour

Ziad K. Abdelnour: “Be bolder, Be more controversial, Be more disruptive” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Michelle Knight of…

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Michelle Knight of Brandmerry.com

…everything in your business stems from your brand, so it’s one of the most important areas to invest! Without a strong brand, which serves as the foundation of your business, your marketing and advertising efforts won’t perform.

It’s important to invest time and energy in building the foundation of your brand, which includes your story, niche, ideal client, core values and brand messaging. All these pieces will support you in your marketing efforts, paid or not.

It’s become more important to focus on who your ideal customer is, which is part of the branding process, so you can create more relatable content. This form of content creation is taking the place of traditional advertising; it’s why we’re seeing a rise in micro and nano-influencers. Brands want to work with people who have a loyal fan base and have built a connection with their audience. This type of marketing, in some cases, is performing better than paid advertisements.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Michelle Knight the founder of Brandmerry.com. As a Personal Brand Coach and Marketing Strategist, Michelle supports women to brand themselves online, market their message and create a revenue-generating business that makes an impact.

In just 9 months, Michelle launched her online business and left her 9 to 5, while raising her son. Just one year into her business, Michelle created a 6-figure brand and a thriving online community. She now travels full-time with her family while growing her business and personal brand to impact the lives of thousands of women.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

After the birth of my son in 2015, I was struggling through a difficult postpartum recovery. It was during this time that I was feeling called to create something more. Although I had full intentions to return to work after my maternity leave, I had a sudden urge to start my own business.

I spent the next nine months building my online business Brandmerry.com using my background in Communications and Public Relations, only to find I struggled to create connections and a strong personal brand. After about eight months of creating without making sales, I took a step back and began to share more of my story, my journey and focused on building a more relatable brand. Almost immediately I signed my first client. I went on to leave my 9 to 5 and within one year I created a 6-figure cash business.

Combining my background in Communications and my journey with showing up and sharing my story I’ve not only been able to create a strong personal brand, but I also have helped thousands of online entrepreneurs brand themselves online, market their message and make an impact through their work.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The jury is still out if this is funny or not, it gives me more of a laugh/cry feeling when I think about it, but I know it’s highly relatable to so many entrepreneurs.

In the beginning, I spent all my time and energy, I’m talking almost eight months, trying to build the “perfect” website and brand. This was back when I thought branding was simply the look of your business. Turns out if you build it, they will NOT come. I had the website and the brand, but no traffic or interest in what I had created. I was so focused on everything being ready and presentable that I was only putting my energy towards the backend.

The biggest lesson from this, and what I really try to reinforce with my clients, is that the core part of branding isn’t the aesthetics or your website, it’s the connection, which stems from your values, brand story, and ideal customer. As you’re building these pieces you want to make sure you’re showing up and building community online and via your email list, so you have someone to sell to when you’re ready.

I carry this lesson with me in everything I do. I always check in with myself and teach my community to make sure we’re focused on content, community, and connection every single day.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

Absolutely! My “tipping point” was my first live stream with my son. I started my business when he was just one month old, so I decided early on that sharing photos of him and my journey with him was comfortable for me and connected with my audience…I just didn’t realize how much.

I was hosting a five-day online challenge and on the first day, he was teething. He was not having the idea of me putting him down for a nap to conduct my live video, so I put him in a baby carrier on my back and started the live stream.

My audience loved it. At the time, they hadn’t seen anything like it and to them, it embodied a true mompreneur. I was scared of what people might say, but then I thought about my brand values and my story and this is who I was. Showing up that day, teaching with a baby on my back changed the way I showed up online. Oh, and I signed multiple women into my program because of it!

I began to incorporate more of my personality and storytelling best practices in my email content, videos, social media presence, blogs, and overall content marketing. It was at that moment, for the first time, I realized branding was about so much more than just the product or service we are selling.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I recently opened the doors to my new monthly membership community Brandmerry Academy, which teaches entrepreneurs how to market their brand online without relying on social media.

It’s a project very dear to my heart as a mompreneur and full-time traveler. I want the flexibility and freedom in my business without feeling chained to showing up daily on social media. I’ve been able to create that and now I’m on a mission to show entrepreneurs how to do the same.

Brandmerry Academy teaches entrepreneurs how to use advanced and more passive marketing strategies to consistently grow their community and profits without wasting time.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

It always comes from understanding who you are and your purpose. I think this is why I love story work so much because by tapping into our past chapters we’re able to identify what matters most to us and build a business around that. When we try to market our business in a way that isn’t in alignment with who we are, our values and our purpose, is when we experience burnout.

My best advice would be to always check in with yourself. Some of the best marketing strategies I’ve discovered have come from asking myself what I want to do. Why not try it? What do you have to lose? When we constantly check in with ourselves and the strategies we’re using in our business we become better marketers. We show up more. We create better content. We build genuine relationships.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

I think this is a very traditional way of looking at running a business. Traditional marketing no longer applies, the future of marketing, no matter what you sell, comes down to emotional and human connection. The emotional and human connection is your brand and both pieces need to be present for any marketing strategy or advertisement to work.

Think of branding as the first step in building a message and a set of values that you then use as the backbone for your business. Marketing those values and messaging to attract your ideal customer comes next. Only then should we add on the layer of advertisement. In my view, it’s a step by step process.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

As I mentioned before everything in your business stems from your brand, so it’s one of the most important areas to invest! Without a strong brand, which serves as the foundation of your business, your marketing and advertising efforts won’t perform.

It’s important to invest time and energy in building the foundation of your brand, which includes your story, niche, ideal client, core values and brand messaging. All these pieces will support you in your marketing efforts, paid or not.

It’s become more important to focus on who your ideal customer is, which is part of the branding process, so you can create more relatable content. This form of content creation is taking the place of traditional advertising; it’s why we’re seeing a rise in micro and nano-influencers. Brands want to work with people who have a loyal fan base and have built a connection with their audience. This type of marketing, in some cases, is performing better than paid advertisements.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

I think there are two main reasons why a company should consider a rebrand: If you feel like your brand values or mission have shifted and/or if your ideal customer has changed. In both of those cases, it’s important to go back to the drawing board and rebuild your foundation.

Another reason a company might consider a rebrand would be if they have scaled past their initial few products. Maybe the company is wanting to create more of an umbrella brand that includes products, services, conferences, etc., this would be a great time to go through a “brand update” to make sure all the pieces strategically connect.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

If you’re choosing to rebrand it should be to fix a communication problem; whether that’s a disconnect with your brand values, a change in your brand story, your messaging, your ideal client, etc. However, if you’re rebranding because you think you need an update, you saw something better or you’re bored (trust me this happens so often) then it won’t fix the real problem.

When considering a rebrand, I recommend you find a direct correlation to what it will improve regarding community/ fan growth/ sales and evaluate what is working and what’s not before they begin.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Strategy #1: Identify your brand values and story

As I’ve mentioned before your brand values and story matter! They are the first connection you will form with your audience and begin the trust-building process.

The idea behind identifying your brand values and story is that you can carry that over into everything you create with the end goal to attract the right people. But, there’s also another important layer to this and that is to repel the people who aren’t right for your brand. A great message should both attract and repel.

Strategy #2: Get in the head of your audience

We all like to think we’ve done our ideal customer research, but I’ve found that this is not always the case. This work is hard, and it should be because it’s going to impact everything you do. After you decide your brand values and the story you need to know how to communicate that with your audience, so you’ve got to know who they are otherwise it won’t connect.

To take it a step further I always recommend using the language of your audience, another reason market research is so important. The more you communicate with your audience using language they recognize or would use to describe their pain and pleasure the more effective your messaging will be.

Strategy #3: Determine the core emotions of your brand

We buy based on the way a brand makes us feel, so one of the best things you can do in the branding process is to determine how you want people to feel when they come in contact with your brand. This contact can come in the form of your copy, visuals or personal interaction.

When you take the time to decide how you want people to feel, again tapping into what your audience desires to feel (i.e. pleasure) the more impactful your initial contact will be. Think about scrolling on social media, we stop when we feel a connection to something, often a photo. This is your first point of contact and can be the difference between interacting with your ideal customer and being looked over for another brand.

I recommend brands choose 5–7 key brand emotions to get started and make sure what they create, including photos, logos, fonts, colors and copy all tie back to them.

Strategy #4: Focus on relationships.

Traditional marketing and advertising are no longer working. What consumers are looking for is a focus on building connections and nurturing the relationship through valuable content, support, and general conversations.

Social media has made this so easy. We have an opportunity to interact with our ideal customer every single day on social media, but so many brands are just using it to “sell”. One of the best strategies brands can adopt is to make relationship-building a top priority in 2020 and beyond.

When you focus on building relationships with your audience, you’re not only going to improve conversions, but you’re building life-long fans and those will be your best referrers and word of mouth supporters for years to come.

Strategy #5: Diversify your marketing

We’re so lucky to have all these free platforms to reach our ideal customer, but so many entrepreneurs are only relying on one strategy. I suggest every business implement SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so their ideal customer can find them on Google, choose at least one social media platform for relationship building and use platforms like YouTube, Pinterest, blogging, video, podcasting or something else to make sure they are reaching their audience.

Relying on one platform is limiting yourself as a marketer and with all the options available to us today you’re doing your brand a disservice by only focusing on one.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I’m not sure if this is a single company, but it’s a movement that I’ve loved following. In the past few years, nationwide travel in the US has experienced a rebrand with their Visit California, Visit Montana, Visit [insert state here] campaigns.

I’ve enjoyed seeing this form of branding happen for locations, just proving that it doesn’t matter what you sell, everything needs a brand.

My favorite part of these “Brand Makeovers” has been that the videos we see tell a story, they share the values of the people who live there and showcase some of the pieces they are most proud of. Aside from the commercials they’ve also gone on to build websites for travelers and locals alike.

I love these campaigns because they took control of their brand, rather than allowing others to brand it for them. This is a super powerful lesson and something we can all remember. If we don’t take the time and energy to build our personal brand, someone will do it for us.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I believe that if we allow ourselves to own our stories and do the deep work to heal and accept them for what they are we as a collective will grow.

There is so much power in not only owning our stories but having the courage to share them with others. I’ve had the experience of impacting so many lives by just sharing my truth and purpose with the world and wish more and more women would do that. You don’t have to have your own business or company to do it, although that is an excellent platform, it’s more in the day today.

It’s my mission to bring awareness to this and give women the tools to uncover their stories and share it with others. More vulnerability. More acceptance. All leading us to live a life of freedom and purpose. I often daydream about what impact this could have on future generations and it’s so powerful!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of my favorite quotes since childhood is from Judy Garland. She said, “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else.” When I first discovered it, I was navigating those teenage years, always feeling different, but trying to ‘be’ like everyone else.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen this become more and more relevant to the pressure of social media and stand out. There is one way to stand out and that’s by owning who you are at your core. Those quirky traits, characteristics are what make you unique, stop trying to be like someone else. We don’t need more of the same, we need individuality! Oh, and nothing is truer when it comes to branding.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m sharing my journey and travels on Instagram: http://instagram.com/michelleknightco

I also host a weekly live show on Facebook every Monday. Mondays With Michelle airs at 6 pm CST and can be found at http://facebook.com/brandmerrycoaching

And I invite everyone who is wanting to explore their personal brand more to visit my website brandmerry.com, check out the blog and grab my free Personal Brand Roadmap to get started.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Michelle Knight of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Ways That Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line, With Lady May

Comfort in the workplace boosts morale — Diversity in a company is very important because people feel comfortable and included when they see co-workers that look like them within the company which in turn increases productivity. My first ever corporate job was with a financial institution in New York and I was one of three black people in the whole company. This underrepresentation made me feel like I really didn’t belong there and was maybe not even appreciated, so even though I was a hard worker, I did the bare minimum of what was required of me at that position.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s, Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Catherine (Lady May) Hagan.

Lady May is a thirty-something Ghanaian — American entrepreneur who runs a boutique Connector Agency The R’ajwa Company. The R’ajwa Company services clients in the USA, Japan, and Ghana by providing Public Relations, Marketing, Social Media and Branding support.

Although Lady May was born in California, USA, she grew up in Ghana, West Africa and strongly believes everyone needs to visit Ghana at least once in their lifetime. This is the reason that Lady May started The R’ajwa Experience branch of The R’ajwa Company that offers one of a kind curated cultural experiences to Ghana.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Thanks so much for having me, I am a fan of this series and am honored to be featured.

This is my ‘backstory.’ The initial plan was to choose every African parent’s dream job for their child — to become either a doctor or a lawyer. To be fair, that was also my plan for myself — I loved the law and I still love the law. My plan was to get a Law Degree in International Law and become a Lawyer in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

After I graduated from high school in Ghana, I moved to New York City to start college and I was working part-time at Victoria’s Secret and taking night classes. I was 18 years old, I had never done PR before, but for some reason, I had this urge to try and promote Ghanaian musicians in NYC. I came up with this grand idea to do a Ghanaian concert in NYC and after doing research, I found that similar concerts had been organized in London, UK. I went on to create a proposal and reached out to some of the organizers of similar concerts in London about possibly partnering up for the NYC concert. One of the promoters I reached out to, Emmelio from West Coast Entertainment, was so impressed with the proposal I sent that he hired me to be his PR person for West Coast Entertainment. So, this 18-year-old girl living in NYC was now working at Victoria’s Secret part-time during the week, going to school at night and working with a London based Events company on the weekend creating sponsorship proposals, scheduling press meetings, etc. Emmelio would fly me out from New York to London at least twice a month on the weekends to enjoy the events I created proposals for. I remember at first everyone thought it was a weird relationship, people were like, ‘you are 18 and this guy is flying you to London — that is weird.’ My mom used to call him from Ghana on the regular and he just always used to tell her how talented he thought I was and how much he needed me on his team. I am still in touch with Emmelio today and West Coast Entertainment is still thriving in London.

I later transferred from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City to Temple University Japan in Tokyo and when I was there I saw how much my Japanese classmates were in love with African and African American culture. This led me to start organizing African events on campus through an African club I created. Immediately after when I graduated from Temple University Japan, I started booking R&B and Hip-Hop Artists to perform in Japan and that is what developed into The R’ajwa Company.

So, in summary, the Law career never took off because I had a natural gift to connect and promote different brands and individuals.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

I actually have two stories.

The first one happened about 3 years into my career. Our client, Japanese video game company Namco Bandai, was interested in creating a video game with R&B musician Shaffer Chimere Smith commonly known as Ne-yo. We flew out from Tokyo to LA during Grammy weekend to meet with Ne-yo’s team, the Namco Bandai rep was there as well. However, about 5 minutes into the meeting we already knew the project wasn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, Ne-yo’s management was under the impression that Japanese companies were just throwing money at US artists and had unrealistic expectations for the collaboration, so my team and I knew that the deal was over before it even began. To say we were bummed is an understatement — I may or may have not gone to cry in the ladies’ room after the meeting. Before the Namco Bandai rep left, he mentioned to my team and I (in passing, very nonchalantly) that one of their video game characters PAC-MAN was actually celebrating its 30th anniversary told us to let him know if we had any projects that we could use to celebrate the anniversary.

While still in the ladies’ room after the meeting, I called my brother to vent about how bad the meeting went and also mentioned to him in passing that our client just told us about PAC-MAN’s birthday. About 2 minutes after hanging up from that call, my brother called back and told me about a meeting he had earlier that day about Sean Carter commonly known as Jay Z going on a US tour with various Rocnation Artist and will be doing a mobile pop up Rocnation shop and are looking for partners. We pitched that to our client Namco Bandai and that collaboration happened and has been one of the most fun and most lucrative projects we have done to date.

The lesson from this story is NEVER GIVE UP because you never know what is in store for you. My team and I were so bummed after that initial meeting, but we couldn’t give up. We had no idea about PAC-MAN before that meeting, but if the first meeting was successful, maybe the PAC-MAN project wouldn’t have even been mentioned

The second story happened just last year, 12 years into my career. Last year, 2019 was dubbed ‘The Year of Return’ by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akuffo Addo, because it marked 400 years since the first slave ships left the coast of West Africa for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Since I have been a fan of Conan O’Brien for as long as I can remember, I decided to use The Year of Return as an opportunity to pitch for him to visit Ghana for his ‘CONAN Without Borders’ travel show. I did this with total blind faith — I didn’t know anyone on his team and I hadn’t produced a show of this caliber before. So, imagine my surprise when they replied to my email agreeing to visit Ghana (the first country they had visited in Africa) with me as the producer.

The lesson I learned from this project is that Imposter Syndrome is real because, at every step during the process, that little voice in my head kept telling me I had no place being a part of such a project, but I was able to fight that voice and it was a success.

Clip from the Live taping of the Conan in Ghana episode:

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The R’ajwa Company is unique because we are experts in the culture of the different regions we work in, that is, for North America we know US Pop Culture, for Ghana we know the Ghanaian culture and for Japan we know Japanese culture. Because of this knowledge, we are able to collaborate seamlessly across all three regions and we have come to find that all three regions are more similar than different.

For example — One would think that a collaboration between Jay Z / RocNation/Hip hop artists and a Japanese video game PAC-MAN wouldn’t make sense. However, the reason we were able to pitch this deal successfully to our clients is that we are so familiar with US Hip Hop culture that we knew how much PAC-MAN means in the hip hop community. Many hip hop songs reference PAC-MAN and Ms.PAC-MAN and we included that in our pitch deck and our clients were sold.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Yes, 2020 is quite exciting for us, because even though we have worked on projects in Ghana since 2012, we are officially setting up a physical office in Ghana where we will be hiring full-time in-house staff.

We also plan on curating more cultural experiences to Ghana for people in the diaspora and we are even taking that a bit further by introducing curated Ghana experienced for Japanese people as well.

Another thing we are doing is, we are delving seriously into storytelling through film. We dipped our toes in the pond with the 7 part Behind The Behind The Scenes docu-series we created describing how the CONAN in Ghana episode came about and everyone liked it so we have more stories highlighting Ghana and Africa that we would love to share.

These different projects will help people in different ways. We see the emotional reactions people from the Diaspora have when they participate in our cultural experience trips to Ghana, so we are happy to be a part of bringing those experiences to more people. Also, our offices in Ghana will create job opportunities and I am particularly looking forward to teaching my full-time staff the best practices I have learned along the way in the different regions I have worked in for example the discipline and attention to detail I have learned from my Japanese colleagues.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

My advice to other CEOs and Founders is to really let everyone on their team have a voice and feel that their voice and opinions matter. I have personally learned that when team members see their ideas or opinions reflected in the decision-making process of the overall company, there is a sense of confidence and ownership that they feel in the company. This makes them want to go harder and want the company to succeed because they feel that they are a part of it and not just working for a place that pays their bills.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders about how to manage a large team?

I have a fairly small team, but I do have clients that have large teams and I can say that what works for them is having an open-door policy and treating members of the team as individuals with different needs, different working styles and different modes of incentives.

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. This may be obvious to you, but it is not intuitive to many people. Can you articulate to our readers five ways that increased diversity can help a company’s bottom line. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  • Comfort in the workplace boosts morale — Diversity in a company is very important because people feel comfortable and included when they see co-workers that look like them within the company which in turn increases productivity. My first ever corporate job was with a financial institution in New York and I was one of three black people in the whole company. This underrepresentation made me feel like I really didn’t belong there and was maybe not even appreciated, so even though I was a hard worker, I did the bare minimum of what was required of me at that position.
  • Increase in Creativity with different points of view — When there is diversity within a company, people are able to use their different backgrounds and experiences during brainstorming sessions and this leads to more appealing creative campaigns, products or services. Going back to the PAC-MAN / Rocnation deal I mentioned earlier, not everyone would have been able to see the opportunity in this collaboration, but the diversity of the team made it possible to link PAC-MAN and Hip-hop.
  • Protecting Clients in this Cancel Culture Era — we are in an era now where brands are being ‘canceled’ or ‘blackballed’ when they slip up and run campaigns that are deemed discriminatory or racist. We saw this happen with H&M with the ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ hoodie, we also saw it with Gucci’s ‘black face.’ These could have been easily avoided if there were people of color in key roles within the respective companies. A few years ago, one of my clients was visiting Ghana to showcase progressive companies in Ghana. When they sent over the list of companies they wanted to feature, the first company was a white owned American company which happened to be operating in Ghana. It took one second for me to notice that and mention how problematic it was with a glaring ‘White Savior’ undertone to feature a white owned American company when the focus was Ghanaian companies. They immediately took that company off the list.
  • Forward Thinking and Open Mindedness — USA and the world as a whole is very polarized today where it sometimes feels like we are going back in time and losing some of our fundamental Human Rights. Companies that show how diverse their employee pool is show that they see the importance of diversity in the workplace. There are still many places in America that don’t think women and especially black women need to be in the workforce. For the work we do, we oftentimes have to collaborate and partner up with other agencies, vendors etc. and immediately I visit a prospective partner with no diversity within the company, I decide not to work with them because I know that it will most likely be a longer process of them coming to terms that I even have a seat at the same table.
  • Social media tone — social media has become an increasingly important aspect of the voice of brands, companies and individuals and makes it easy for brands to speak directly to their customer base and clients. With social media, it doesn’t matter what part of the world one is in, because everyone has access to your page. This increase of visibility is a plus to a company if you are able to communicate effectively with the masses and this is easier when you have a diverse team that can assist in what words, phrases, images, etc. can be used.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Of all the places I work in, the USA, Japan and Ghana, Ghana is the only ‘developing country,’ the rest are pretty much developed. I grew up in Ghana, I am from Ghana, Ghana pretty much taught me everything I know. All the life lessons I live by were taught to me by Ghana and it’s been my goal, since I began my career to try and always put Ghana on the map for the world to see what I know Ghana to be. I have done this since the beginning of my career and I will continue to do it and I hope that as I get more successful and as we continue to grow, The R’ajwa Company will be seen as one of the companies that helped bring awareness to how amazing Ghana is.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“Everything is ‘Figureoutable’” I try to live by this even though sometimes the chaos of the day to day makes me forget. However, in reality, as bleak as things may seem, it is never the end of the world until it is the end of the world and it isn’t. There is a solution to every problem — it may not be exactly how you pictured it in your ideal scenario, but it can be solved.

Another life quote I try to live by is ‘Be Humble and Be Nice to People’ because the only thing we can predict about life is that life is unpredictable, and I have experienced it first-hand where you are literally on top of the world one day and at the bottom the next day

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

I can’t choose one person — I have 3 people I have to mention.

The first group of people is who I like to call ‘The Hagan Clan’ and this consists of my parents and my brothers. The Hagan Clan has stood by me since I made the decision to take the entrepreneurial route and have been there through the headaches and heartaches that have come with this decision. I know my parents would have loved for me to be happy in a full-time reliable job where I am assured a paycheck every month, but they know I love what I do so they love it too. There is this meme that I love that says ‘Entrepreneurship is no joke. You’ll cry real tears and still continue,’ and I have cried real tears on each parent and each brother and they have never said ‘I told you so..’ or told me to quit or give up. They always tell me what I need to hear and let me know that they I have their support no matter what and honestly that has been a leading reason I have been able to continue after all these years.

The second person I would like to mention is Tricia Maxey. Before I moved to Tokyo, I was living in New York City, I quit my job as a salesgirl at Victoria’s Secret and got a job as a temp Administrative Assistant for the Chief Compliance Officer of an Investment Management Firm Van Eck Global. I had never felt more out of place and more undeserving of a position till I started working at Van Eck. I had no idea what I was doing, I felt intimidated about the fact that I was from Ghana — I was one of three black people in the whole office and one of two black women and I was the youngest person in the whole company. It was pretty much a typical Wall Street (although the office was on Park Avenue) environment with all these white men walking around. However, from the first day, Tricia always made me feel like I belonged. On my lunch break, she would take us (just her and I) to get our nails done. She would ask me about the school, my plans for the future, etc. I remember when I told her I was leaving to Japan she was so sad and told me if I changed my mind and decided to stay she would have the company offer me a full-time position with a $60,000 salary, I was still in college, so this offer was very tempting, but I had to turn it down because Japan was on my heart. On my last day at Van Eck, Tricia told me to go to the company Accountant and there was a $10,000 check made out to me from Van Eck to help me get settled in Japan. That was the biggest check I had ever seen at that time. Tricia saw something I didn’t even see in myself and I appreciate her for that.

The third person is Tina Fitch, the CEO and Co-founder of Hawaiian based Tech start-up Hobnob. Tina hired me in 2016 to be the Marketing Director of Hobnob even though I had no Tech Marketing experience. She hired me even though I was in NYC and the office was in Hawaii; she made the position a remote position for me because she saw the vision I had for the company and she understood my type of creativity and she knew how important diversity was especially in the tech world. There were many times when I felt overwhelmed with tech lingo, tech ways of operating, etc. but she was always around to reassure me that I was on the right path and we were able to do great stuff together.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂

That is easy, I would love to have a full day with Michelle Obama — breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dinner and drinks. I personally don’t know how Michelle Obama was able to ‘keep her cool’ for the eight years they were in office. Her grace is something I aspire to have. She recently sat down with Arianna Huffington and spoke about Impersonator Syndrome and how she deals with it. That conversation spoke to me because Impersonator Syndrome is something I continue to deal with and knowing someone like Michelle Obama still sometimes suffers from it gives me hope.

The company website is www.r-ajwa.com

LinkedIn Account is linkedin.com/in/catherinehagan

5 Ways That Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line, With Lady May was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Stacie Pacheco, CMO at

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Stacie Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent

It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacie Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent. Stacie is a versatile and results-driven CMO with a solid reputation for driving revenue growth, improving brand health and utilizing data aimed at achieving business objectives. She has established herself as a driving force of the synergy of classical and modern marketing approaches, examining insights, establishing processes/KPIs and leading best-in-class marketing teams.

As a capable leader, her contributions extend to P&L Management, having managed global P&Ls up to $200M and marketing budgets of $20M+. As a result of her Lean Six Sigma background she has developed a strong understanding of establishing KPIs, metrics and visual management for creative services, insights, trade shows and digital tactics including social media, CRM, SEO, email blasts, and paid display.

Moreover, Stacie is a proven change agent skilled in driving continuous improvements and a professional with insightful experience in providing strategic vision and thought leadership in key areas such as marketing strategy, strategic leadership, CRM, demand generation, product development, innovation, and continuous improvements. She also builds high-performance teams that emphasize quality, content, insights and optimal productivity.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I had an older sister who worked in advertising and that influenced me a lot. I started out in graphic design in my undergrad, following in her footsteps, and ended up working for an advertising agency on the account side working for some great clients in retail and F&B industries. After a few years, I had an opportunity to make the jump to the client side working for Sealy Mattress and there I really found my passion for growing a brand, developing innovative new products, digging into consumer insights and managing the P&L for a business.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have learned so much along the way, but one example that comes to mind is from my time working for Jarden Consumer Solutions. We really believed we had permission to play with our brand in the diagnostics industry. At the time we launched a line of blood pressure monitors at the retail level. Unfortunately, we underestimated the power of the relationship between the incumbent brands and the pharmacist. The barrier to entry was higher than we thought. Even though the consumer was interested in the product, and the retail buyers thought we were a fit, we couldn’t get past the recommendation of the pharmacist. Ultimately for that reason, the line was discontinued. The lesson here is the importance of understanding the consumer journey and how that maps through to a sale. Whether it’s in brick and mortar or online, understanding what influences purchase will determine your success.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I worked with former Proctor and Gamble employees at both Sealy Mattress and Sunbeam, and that taught me to apply the power of consumer insights. The importance of checking in and validating that you’re making the right decisions. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve? How are you going to market? Is your messaging resonating with that consumer?

I also realized that being in marketing isn’t a creative or analytical role, it’s a combination of both the right and left brain. As I matured, I realized that the balance of both is what makes you a successful marketer.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I have a passion for everything we do at Enviroscent. We have a relentless pursuit toward ridding homes of chemical air fresheners and toxins. We are putting together plans for cause marketing affiliations which will launch later this year. I’m passionate about helping people enjoy their spaces more without putting any bad stuff into the air.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Preventing burnout at work for me is about networking and connecting with others in marketing — there’s so many people who are smarter than me and I feel inspired when I learn. It’s such an exciting time to be in marketing. There’s always a new tool and solution to apply. Consumers are more willing to share their insights. There are countless new ways to use big data.

At home, I’m a dedicated fitness enthusiast. I’m a nut. I work out every morning at 6 am, I do yoga. I make it a priority to give myself time. And most importantly, I make time to enjoy my kids.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand marketing is focused on driving awareness of who you are and what you stand for. What you deliver as a company. Product marketing is talking about specific problems we are solving, the tangible product benefits.

For example, the Enviroscent brand is about ridding your air of nasty chemicals, by making products that are safer for people, pets and planet. In our product marketing, we emphasize the various forms and nature-inspired scents that can fit your home and lifestyle.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

In general, if you feel like you have a great solution to a problem but for some reason you’re not able to cut through the clutter with your brand and consumers aren’t connecting with it, it might be time to consider rebranding.

We rebranded from Pure to Enviroscent in 2019 because the Pure fragrance brand name was difficult to own and didn’t really stand for who we were. Enviroscent speaks more to our positioning as being safer for people, pets and planet. We were able to relaunch with a new brand, feel and tone to meet the needs of our target personas.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There are always costs and risks associated with a rebrand. It’s expensive to recreate all your marketing, brand and product materials. And if you’ve already invested in a community and in a retail presence, those are all at risk. You need to evaluate that on a company-by-company basis.

Established brands don’t always need to be made over. There’s a tendency for marketers to want to put their own stamp on things. It made a lot of sense for us because it was going back to our roots in a sense. If you’ve got a lot of equity and your brand is highly recognizable you need to be careful — or people won’t be able to find you.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Find inspirational brands that you think are doing it well. Who is doing it right and what are they doing? This is one of the places we’ve started. We admire and follow disruptive brands such as Goodr, Shinesty, Native, RXBar, Harry’s, Billie, PooPourri and Duke Cannon
  2. Invest in consumer insights. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of your personas unmet needs and wants and how your brand and product solution resonates with your target audience. Check your assumptions at the door and re-evaluate if you need to make adjustments.
  3. Find your customers where they are engaging rather than trying to always draw them to you first. Don’t go to Tik-Tok just because it’s the latest social media channel if your target audiences are not using the platform.
  4. Try new things and make adjustments all the time. On a monthly or even weekly basis. Don’t be afraid to change course when something isn’t working. Disruptive brands need to be nimble and adjust as they learn.
  5. Listen to your customers and seek out their feedback. Make sure your website has product reviews, make sure that your brand health metric is moving in the right direction. Even more importantly, respond to their feedback and make changes along the way.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

RX Bar made over their brand by putting all the ingredients on the front of that package. The tone of their messaging really changed with that move. It was no B.S. It was authentic and refreshing and one needs to think about that for their own brand. Consumers appreciate when you’re honest about who you are.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Beyond just our mission at Enviroscent, I am passionate about reducing or eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals in our daily lives. My son and I are both cancer survivors and since we lack any family history of cancer, I firmly believe environmental issues caused us both to battle cancer at early ages. So, I try to be mindful about the chemicals that my kids and dog are being exposed to and choose to buy products that are safer.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Be passionate about what you do and have fun. Keep it in perspective.

How can our readers follow you online?

Connect with Enviroscent on Facebook (www.facebook.com/enviroscent), Twitter (www.twitter.com/enviroscent) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/enviroscent).

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Stacie Pacheco, CMO at was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dr. Bill Simon: “Be a student of your industry; Know the trends, resources, best practices, law and

Dr. Bill Simon: “Be a student of your industry; Know the trends, resources, best practices, law and who’s who”

Be a student of your industry. Know the trends, resources, best practices, law and who’s who. One way to stay current is to join organized dentistry organizations such as the Chicago Dental Society, Illinois State Dental Society, and the American Dental Association, which all provide continuing education opportunities to keep up with the ever-changing dental profession. Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes on the road. It’ll keep you motivated, focused, excited, and hopefully out of trouble.

Dr. Bill Simon is a 1983 graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. After practicing 18 years in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, he opened City Smiles in Old Irving Park in 2004. He also owns and operates Sonrisa Urbana dental clinic which has served Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood since 1987.

Dr. Simon maintains active memberships and participates regularly in numerous professional organizations, including the Chicago Dental Society, Illinois State Dental Society and the American Dental Association.

Dr. Simon currently serves the CDS North Side Branch as Vice President and Dent-IL-PAC director. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Dental Society and is the immediate Past Chair of the ISDS Access to Care Committee. Dr. Simon dedicates his time and skill to charitable organizations such as Dental Lifeline Network’s Donated Dental Services Program, The CDS Foundation Clinic, The Old Irving Park Community Clinic and Illinois State Dental Society Missions of Mercy. Dr. Simon is passionate about mentoring and speaks nationally to Dental Students and Dentists.

Thank you for joining us! Can you tell our readers a bit about your ‘backstory”?

I was raised in a suburb of Chicago. As I headed off to college, I needed to make a decision about my career path and which major I wanted to pursue. I was torn between accounting and dentistry. While I was very good with numbers, the thought of working closely with people to improve their health, self-esteem, and quality of life “pulled” me in the direction of dentistry. I also felt that dentistry had the potential to provide a more autonomous and lucrative path than accounting. While I am so happy that I chose dentistry, I wasn’t fully prepared for what was ahead. Starting as an associate in a struggling Medicaid practice, my experiences have included a lost lease, an embezzlement scheme, robbery at gun point, and a major fire. After the fire, my team and I worked out of three offices before settling into an abandoned dental office while we rebuilt. Within four months of the fire, our practice had the best production month in practice history. Over time, I grew to become the sole owner of two highly successful, multi-doctor practices. Included in that was six build outs, nine locations, four space-sharing arrangements, one practice acquisition and more than 25 associates. While my story may have had some rough patches along the way, the trials, tribulations and hard work to become a dentist and run my own practice has been the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I have ever done.

What made you want to start your own practice?

I was always interested in a career where I could be independent and autonomous, which was something that set the dental profession apart from others. The idea of having to answer to a “boss” was not very appealing to me. Furthermore, when I made the decision to go in to dentistry, the overwhelming majority of dentists owned their own practices. It was almost a given that I, and most of my contemporaries, would own our own practices. Looking back on 36 “boss-less” years, I certainly have no regrets.

Managing being a provider and a business owner can often be exhausting. Can you elaborate on how you manage(d) both roles?

I always tell the young doctors who I mentor and speak to that you have to know where to draw the line between providing care and managing your business. Particularly in today’s complex environment of rapidly advancing technology, constantly improving materials and procedures, and increasing regulation. Are you going to be the world’s best dentist or the world’s best business owner? You can’t be both. Where on that line do you want to position yourself?

I have come to learn that I am a jack of many trades and master of only a few. The few that I feel I have mastered, whether it’s a part of providing care or managing my business, are ones that I am most passionate about and enjoy doing the most. Managing all of the others requires me to surround myself with good people, including other care providers, amazing team members and, in some cases, outside professionals.

As a business owner, how do you know when to stop working IN your business (maybe see a full patient load) and shift to working ON your business?

Follow your passion. What is it that you love to do? Spend your time doing that. Just because you are a business owner does not necessarily mean that you have to be the one working on your business. You certainly need to have a leadership role, but that can simply mean lead and then get out of the way.

If you’re passionate about providing dental care, be the dentist and surround yourself with a good management, clinical, and administrative team. If you’re passionate about being a business owner and growing the practice, then surround yourself with skilled, passionate and motivated associate dentists and a good clinical and administrative team.

I often like to make the point that there are dental students now who have no intention of putting their hands in anybody’s mouth. They simply want to get the license that will allow them to own dental practices in states that require a dental license to own a practice. Conversely, there are dental students who have no intention of owning or managing a practice in any way. They simply want to provide care. These are the students who usually go on to work in corporate dentistry, large group practices, DSOs and or public health organizations.

From completing your degree to opening a clinic and becoming a business owner, the path was obviously full of many hurdles. How did you build up resilience to rebound from failures? Is there a specific hurdle that sticks out to you?

As I pointed out in my backstory, my path has been riddled with hurdles. The hurdle that sticks out most is the major office fire. When one finds themselves out on the street with their future in the balance, it motivates you to take action. In this case, every aspect of the business had to be dealt with at once. While I hope that others don’t ever experience an office fire, it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me and my practice. I learned that in some cases you have no control over what happens to you, only how you respond to it.

Mistakes are similar to unforeseen hurdles. While you may have some control in avoiding mistakes, it’s how you respond to the mistakes that matters. I have always said that most of what I have learned has come out of the mistakes that I have made. When you come to realize that, your resilience to rebound from mistakes strengthens.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Grow Your Private Practice” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Your team is number one, your patients are number two. Without a cohesive team, you cannot achieve the goals of your mission. In the words of Simon Sinek, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”
  2. Establish your niche and perfect it. You can’t be everything to everyone. We like to attract patients who appreciate quality of care and the personal touch, not those who are simply looking for the cheapest, quickest, most convenient option.
  3. Surround yourself with experts in your field. Your high school friend Karen the CPA who has no dental clients could end up becoming the most expensive friend you have ever had. When you need to outsource professional services, look to those who know the industry and additionally, even better, share your values.
  4. Be a student of your industry. Know the trends, resources, best practices, law and who’s who. One way to stay current is to join organized dentistry organizations such as the Chicago Dental Society, Illinois State Dental Society, and the American Dental Association, which all provide continuing education opportunities to keep up with the ever-changing dental profession. Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes on the road. It’ll keep you motivated, focused, excited, and hopefully out of trouble.
  5. Closely monitor your key practice indicators (KPIs). Some daily, some monthly, some quarterly, and some annually. You always need to know the score. Look for the outliers both good and bad and learn from them. For us, the number of patients seen in the last 12 months is one of the most important. It tells us if we are growing or dying. And believe me, you are doing only one or the other.

Many healthcare providers struggle with the idea of “monetization”. How did you overcome that mental block?

Certainly, as business owners, we have to be smart and understand that if we aren’t profitable, we can’t keep our doors open to do what we love most — serve our patient’s needs. It becomes increasingly difficult in the face of decreased reimbursement resulting from managed care intervention, and competition from corporate and large group practices who enjoy various economies of scale. One of my practices is a Medicaid practice, where, in my state, we have not seen any change in the already strikingly low reimbursement rates for over a decade.

To overcome that mental block, we have to work hard and work smart. We also subscribe to the edict that if you always do what is right for the patient, everything else will take care of itself. Lastly, I channel my nervous energy from the continual effort into impacting change through involvement in organized dentistry and advocacy.

Organizations such as CDS, ISDS and ADA have allowed me the opportunity to form relationships with other dental professionals. I view my membership with these organizations as an investment in my practice that allows me to better serve my patients.

What do you do when you feel unfocused or overwhelmed?

I rarely feel unfocused, although I may at times be focused on the wrong thing. I often feel overwhelmed, particularly by the rapidly advancing technology and magnitude of information being disseminated. I lean on exercise, running, and golf to bring me back to a more centered place, but even then, I have to continually stop to tell myself that certain things just aren’t important and that there are people truly suffering in this world who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

I’m a huge fan of mentorship throughout one’s career — None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Who has been your biggest mentor? What was the most valuable lesson you learned from them?

I too am a huge fan of mentorship. I am very grateful for my mentors and I do everything I can to mentor others. I think that when most people think of mentors, they think of someone older than themselves. I am finding that more and more of my mentors are younger than I am and help provide new insight, particularly when it comes to technology. My goal is to not become obsolete in my own lifetime.

For big picture mentorship, I look to those who have passed before me. My biggest and most influential mentors have been the editor of the Illinois State Dental Society News, Dr. Milton Salzer, and the editor of the Chicago Dental Society Review, Dr. Walter Lamacki. They have both taught me that giving back to the profession is important, particularly in the form of mentorship, community service, and protecting our patients and practices through vigilant advocacy.

My participation with the Chicago Dental Society has also allowed me to serve as a mentor for those who are just starting out in their career and as a collaborator for other colleagues in the field.

What resources did you use (Blogs, webinars, conferences, coaching, etc.) that helped jumpstart you in the beginning of your business?

When I first started my business, there were nowhere near the resources nor the access to resources that exist today. Back then, you had to look for resources and information. Now, there is such an abundance of information and ways to access it that it has become more about effectively filtering information than finding it.

For me, without question, the most important resource that I used to jumpstart my business was cassette tape recordings of the lectures offered at the Midwinter Meeting, which is the Chicago Dental Society’s annual scientific meeting held in Chicago. The Midwinter Meeting is a great opportunity for dental professionals to learn and participate in existing and emerging dental trends. Whether it’s recorded lectures or podcasts, I think it is important to vet the reliability, motivation and potential conflict of interests of the source of information to ensure that the information is genuine and individually well serving.

What’s the worst piece of advice or recommendation you’ve ever received? Can you share a story about that?

When you lean on outside experts or consultants to help you, you can often be given bad advice simply because no one knows your practice or business as well as you do. It may be good advice for someone else, but if it doesn’t match your mission, values, and culture, then it isn’t good advice for you.

There have been many pieces of bad advice that we have received over the years, but the one that sticks out the most in my mind came from a marketing consultant that we partnered with. They advised that we not recommend soft tissue management to our periodontally involved patients because the cost of it would cause the patients, particularly new patients, to leave the practice. Their contention was that most patients are under the impression that their insurance will cover their cleanings at 100% and to hear something different would send them running. In essence, the consulting company was recommending supervised neglect of periodontal disease to improve our bottom line. Besides the fact that this was malpractice, it was a violation of our ethical standards, mission, and values. We ended up parting ways with that consulting company.

Please recommend one book that’s made the biggest impact on you?

One book that has made a huge impact on me is Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek.

Where can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow my practices, City Smiles Chicago and Sonrisa Urbana, on the social media platforms listed below.

City Smiles Chicago

Facebook: @citysmileschicago

Instagram: @citysmileschicago

Twitter: @City_Smiles

Sonrisa Urbana

Facebook: @sonrisaurbana3750

Dr. Bill Simon: “Be a student of your industry; Know the trends, resources, best practices, law and was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “Build mental fitness” with Harley Lippman of Genesis10

Build mental fitness — learn to view the world with optimism, but not with rose-colored glasses. My dad’s passing catapulted me into a life of constant self-awareness and mental toughness. Those are the traits of resilience one needs to be a founder or CEO.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Harley Lippman. Harley is Founder and CEO of Genesis10, a New York-based technology staffing and services firm providing workforce optimization and domestic outsourcing solutions. Lippman is consistently named among the top 50 “Best CEOs” by USA Today, ahead of well-known companies such as Apple, Lockheed Martin and Chipotle. Prior to starting Genesis10, Lippman was the founder and sole owner of Triad Data Inc., an information technology consulting firm. He serves on the boards of many business, educational and cultural organizations. He is an Executive Committee member on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Lippman serves by Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation as a member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. He is a board member of the Yale School of Management Board of Advisors and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?

While studying abroad at the University of Manchester, England, midway through my first year, I received the terrible news that my father had passed away, leaving my family in financial turmoil. As the oldest of the four Lippman kids, I came back to New York to manage the family finances and try to recover losses incurred by my father’s company. Everything he did was on trust and a handshake. On his deathbed, my father had given my mother a list of clients who had owed him money and, since we needed to put food on the table, I reached out to each of his clients and reminded them of their obligation. It was difficult at times because people were not being as honorable as one would hope. But, suffice to say, I got enough of the debts paid to take care of my family.

I returned to school, graduated from SUNY Stony Brook near the top of my class and, with a Fulbright program in hand, became the first American exchange student to study political science in a communist country (Poland) since the end of WWII. On my return to New York, I earned my master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, graduating third in my class.

I took my first “real” job at an IT outplacement firm and significantly exceeded expectations. With the confidence I could maintain this rate of success, I started my own company, Triad Data, Inc. In five short years, I built Triad into a successful company. But in 1990, the recession wiped out 80% of the business. After nursing the company back to health, I sold it in 1998 for 15 times EBITA, at a time when the industry standard multiplier was only 6 to 8 times EBITA. It was a take-it-or-leave-it all-stock transaction. The buyer bought a lot of companies, and mine was one of only two that exceeded projections; nevertheless, the stock plummeted, wiping out virtually all the personal wealth I’d acquired in corporate shares.

In 1999, I reached out to 12 of my former colleagues from Triad and told them I wanted to start a new IT consultancy. Ten of them agreed to join me, taking pay cuts of 40% to 80%. I didn’t take any compensation in the year to lead by example. The company name Genesis10 has a special meaning to me. Genesis meaning new beginning and 10 is a nod to the 10 who believed in me to take a chance and join me on this journey. Twenty years later, our workforce has grown to approximately 3,000 and eight of the original 10 employees are still with me.

Two years ago, I moved to Miami, where I now run Genesis10 remotely.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

The most interesting story in my career was the building of Genesis10 from scratch with the help of 10 former colleagues. They all had good jobs and were very successful when I approached them with my idea. I knew it was unlikely they would leave the security of their full-time positions to join me in a completely new endeavor. But they did, and with their help we have built something strong and enduring.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Genesis10 is known in its industry (technology staffing and solutions) as a company with a strong internal culture. We are no longer small, but even with nearly 3,000 employees, we remain nimble and agile, able to pivot and adapt to business and employee needs, while staying relevant in our industry and maintaining low turnover rates for each. Over the past 20 years, our agility has allowed us to focus on the needs of customers and employees, even at a personal level.

For example, during the “Great Recession” of 2008–9, several of our consultants were on the verge of financial collapse. We were able to shift resources quickly, allowing us to provide pay advances for many of them, offering interest-free payback plans that helped them keep their jobs and continue to provide consulting services to our customers.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

There are so many people I could credit for my success. I guess if I must pick one person, it would be the dean of the Yale School of Management, who took a chance and believed in me, bringing me onto the board of Advisors when there were many candidates more qualified than I. He saw something in me that I had yet to discover for myself.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience?

The short answer is: Resilience is all about not giving up. In a way, it’s also like a game of chess. You have to find a way to move forward despite obstacles and opponents, both known and unknown. You must learn to think multiple moves ahead, planning for several possible future realities. You have to make sacrifices, allowing yourself to fail in order to achieve the greater goal. You also need to anticipate the moves of the other player, which in this analogy could be a competitor, the global or local economy, your industry and market or consumer behavior.

What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

As noted above, resilient people have a sense of situational awareness and are driven to a purpose. They have focus and are inspired to make progress toward the goal, regardless of potential setbacks. Resilient people are decisive, yet are able to pivot. They have grit and determination and are able to embrace failure and constructive feedback. But, most of all, resilient people are motivated by their fear of failure.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

I’d have to say Winston Churchill. He was a maverick. He had made many mistakes and had fallen out of favor on the world stage, as well as in his own country. What he said the world needed to do sounded alarmist and a bit grandstanding. Yet, he pursued a path that eventually, undeniably, set in motion a course of events that saved the world.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

One day, my sixth-grade teacher, who shall remain unnamed here, brought a classmate and me into his classroom. He told both of us…“to be successful, you need to be one of three things: smart and good in school, and that’s not you; good at sports, and that’s not you; or you need to be outgoing and/or good-looking. Neither of you are cut out for success.” After that meeting, I was determined to prove him wrong! Much of my life since then has been dedicated to that cause.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

When Triad was acquired, I accepted 100% payment in the form of stock and continued working for the company under new management. It was not long before I realized that I had made a devastating mistake. The acquiring company’s leadership was not interested in my ideas and was moving in a direction that eventually would wipe out much of the value of the company. Shares of the stock fell to next to nothing and my personal nest egg was gone…again.

I was scared to try again. Still, I had to do something. I ripped off the mask of fear and set out to build something bigger and better than Triad. That is when I launched Genesis10.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

If I go back far enough, I could point to some early episodes that could have contributed to my resiliency. I told you about my sixth-grade teacher, but he was not the first to disparage me, and he wouldn’t be the last. In high school, my guidance counselor actively discouraged me from applying to college, but I was already determined by that point to prove the world wrong.

However, just a few years later, I was hit with several catastrophes. I was 19 when my father died. I had been in arguments with him and my last words to him were very unkind. I felt so much guilt. But my brother felt worse. He was arguing and fighting with my dad the moment he had the heart attack that eventually killed him. He never got over that, blaming himself for our dad’s death. He fell into despair, then drugs, became homeless and eventually died of an opioid overdose. My father’s side of the family was quite large, as he was one of five children. So, I had multiple uncles, aunts and cousins. Before his death, we would meet every Sunday. After his death, they disowned us and never invited us over again.

I’m not saying all of this tragedy made me a better person, but it certainly made me stronger.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Build mental fitness — learn to view the world with optimism, but not with rose-colored glasses. My dad’s passing catapulted me into a life of constant self-awareness and mental toughness. Those are the traits of resilience one needs to be a founder or CEO.
  2. Learn to embrace failure — If I had given up after Triad, I have no idea where I would be today. But I didn’t give up, and now I am running a successful, 20-year-old company.
  3. Be inspired — read other people’s stories of resilience to reaffirm your own sense of self and unleash what you can accomplish.
  4. Always think about Plan B — Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as they say. I learned that the hard way when I sold Triad in an all-stock deal.
  5. Surround yourself with people you trust and can count on –When I “circled the wagons” and recruited the initial “Genesis10,” I put myself on the right track. The people you’re with make all the difference.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I want to protect our planet. I am inspired by the young Greta Thunberg, standing in front of the most powerful people in the world and dressing them down for failing to set our planet on a course to healing. I would love to spark a movement that ultimately forces countries to address policies that affect real change.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

One person I would love to have lunch with is Mark Cuban. His is an inspiring story of resilience and reinvention — two traits that I believe we share in some small way. Mark started out with $60 in his pocket and built his empire from the ground up by following his passion and pursuing success with relentless tenacity. He possesses a wisdom about business that is unparalleled, and I would enjoy comparing notes and war stories with him. There are many quotes attributed to Mark, but the ones that constantly replay in my mind are: “Sweat equity is the most valuable equity in the world” and “Know your business and industry better than anyone else.” In my opinion, regardless of where you are in your career, this is sage business advice.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Readers can reach out to me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harley-lippman-1918968/) or follow Genesis10 on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/genesis10/) or Twitter (@Genesis10Corp)

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “Build mental fitness” with Harley Lippman of Genesis10 was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: “Oil painted portraits that come to life with AR” With Sara Riding of Studio…

The Future Is Now: “Oil painted portraits that come to life with AR” With Sara Riding of Studio Moshon

Our latest product is AR portraiture, bringing oil painted portraits to life. We’re used deep learning AI on an oil painted first frame of a video of the subject and letting the AI manipulate the painting to animate the subject following their video. People viewing the portrait in a gallery space can use the camera in the web browser to see the portrait come alive and speak their message. The combination of a medium with so much history, with technology which is bleeding edge helps add a new dimension to the established medium. The result can help communicate stories in an extremely memorable and clear way and help people get their message out there.

Sara Riding is the founder and CEO of Studio Moshon, a creative studio devoted to unique and innovative storytelling. Studio Moshon leverages what they have learned working in the Animation industry to create compelling animations and campaigns that truly engage audiences. Beginning her career in traditional animation, Sara soon found a love of digital innovation through her early work where she was able to combine those two worlds to create compelling animations and campaigns that truly engage the audience. Finding that most studios focus on either pure animation or digital creativity, Studio Moshon delves into the intersection of digital and animation to bring art to life and tell a unique, interesting narrative. Working with well-known studios and creators including Disney, Netsky and Facebook, Sara’s true passion lays in leveraging her work to draw attention to social causes. Most recently, Sara created ‘Women in Motion,’ an exhibit that showcases women in entertainment. Through the use of web-based augmented reality, participants are able to physically hear from industry veterans like Ava Duvernay, Dee Rees, Meredith Walker and Geena Davis about the entertainment industry and how women are essential components of its future.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was always passionate about drawing and art growing up as a way to create fun universes, characters and stories. I originally leaned towards fine art until I discovered animation and realised it was a viable path which has a perfect mix of narrative and draftsmanship. From there I studied animation production at the Arts University Bournemouth and have worked with the medium ever since.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

You can learn unexpected lessons at random when starting out. You tend to take any project which comes your way and I had a brief come to me to illustrate maps, I passed the art test and headed to their studio to start the work

When arriving at the studio it turned out the brief had changed, they wanted flying credits in space using After Effects, which I didn’t know how to use at that time. Rather than reject the curve ball I dove in head first, they needed the motion graphics pieces and I wanted to help out.

I picked up the animation software and started figuring out how to apply my traditional hand drawn animation techniques to the software. It turned out great, and not only did I help deliver on the project but ended up with a whole new skillset.

The major lesson I learnt here is that software can be learnt, the principles of animation were the tricky bit. Software is just a tool and you can pick it up super fast. I also gained an outlook of rising to new challenges and accepting projects outside my comfort zone.

Can you tell us about the “Bleeding edge” technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

Our latest product is AR portraiture, bringing oil painted portraits to life. We’re used deep learning AI on an oil painted first frame of a video of the subject and letting the AI manipulate the painting to animate the subject following their video. People viewing the portrait in a gallery space can use thecamera in the web browser to see the portrait come alive and speak their message.

The combination of a medium with so much history, with technology which is bleeding edge helps add a new dimension to the established medium. The result can help communicate stories in an extremely memorable and clear way and help people get their message out there.

How do you think this might change the world?

We exhibited the AR portraits at the Women In Entertainment summit last October displaying a number of portraits of the key speakers over the years and then at Infinity Festival in November. I hope that by using the technology breakthrough it will bring attention to their messages and communicate them in a clear and engaging manner.

The speakers have such amazing messages and if the project can shine a light on their ideas and get them further exposure I believe it can have a positive impact on the entertainment industry. Giving a louder voice to any positive subject has the opportunity to change the world for the better.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

We’ll probably see more episodes soon about AI generated communication. AI is a powerful tool for creating what would take humans hundreds of hours to put together which creates a believability which is hard to falter. Deepfakes are already real but we are yet to see them put into practice at scale. Information can be communicated which alters your view of the past, makes you question the present and can shape the future by swaying peoples opinions.

I’m excited to use the technology for positive change and disseminating truth, but the technology is out there and public and eventually someone else will definitely use it for negativity spreading false information for their agenda.

My work focuses on adding the power of portraiture and communicating through art with the powerful voices of positive people, if anything in the future perhaps it will be balanced in how the technology grows and inspires more people to use it for good.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

After studying fine art and portraiture I would create oil portraits in my spare time, I’ve even created an oil painting of my persian cat called Nolly. In fact, it’s the cat portrait which inspired the combination of these technologies. It hangs on our wall in Silverlake, Los Angeles and it paints the picture of Nolly’s personality quite well. What was missing though, was motion, and seeing the oil painting on the wall each day with Nolly moving around below it made me realise that bringing it to life could add further depth to what’s communicated. It sounds so silly talking about helping a cat communicate, but if I can bring Nolly to life and help convey what she’s all about, then just imagine the technology being employed to help convey an important message from someone who wants more than a tin of tuna.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

The Women In Entertainment Summit is a great starting point, if we can revitalise the interest in portraiture as a medium then it can be adopted in the industry. Imagine movie posters which come to life with messages from the actors, or if any painting or piece of art could have another layer of interactivity and meaning.

The platforms which host the AR interactivity on your phone currently control distribution of effects, and there’s a step the user has to make to load the effect on their phone. If the native phone camera could detect images natively then it saves the user the step of accessing the effect.

The companies controlling the time of people on their phones currently have the power to decide which technology and media is effective. They decide if video performs better than images, and they decide if AR is something easily accessible or something you have to pay to distribute and get reach.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

We’re currently a finalist at this year’s SXSW Innovation awards in the Visual Experience category. It’s going to be an amazing opportunity to show the exhibit again, sharing the messages and experience with people in the industry. I’m looking forward to taking some of the most inspiring women in the entertainment industry and touring their message to festivals, conferences and events. It’s like taking the speakers on tour the conferences and getting the attendees to not only care, but have the opportunity to share the message on social.

If they like the technology, the application of it, the oil portraits, the message of the speaker then they’re likely to share it to show their friends. I’m hoping that by doing this project enough people will see the concept to want their own portrait, or want to do similar exhibits for positive causes. I could imagine an AR gallery to help with the changes in the environment where the paintings show a sped up version of landscapes being destroyed and changing forever.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Studio Moshon has collaborated closely with Powster over the years, doing animations on music videos and helping with AR projects. Our latest collaboration was for Facebook themselves where we made the official #FacebookBeach Cannes Lions filter. Pointing your Facebook camera at the Cannes Lions logo showed 3 different AR messages; Creativity is Diverse, Creativity is Female, Creativity is Proud. Working on innovative projects with Powster has helped Studio Moshon use the most cutting edge technology.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Many of the successful projects of Studio Moshon have helped good causes. From positioning the AR community to look at helping the three key messages mentioned previously, to a penguin animation encouraging the elderly to adjust their thermostats keeping them safe. We’re a studio which cares about what we’re putting out there and wanting to push good causes.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. It can be done
  2. Go outside your comfort zone
  3. Don’t let your assumptions decide your path
  4. Visas can take a very long time
  5. Knock backs are inevitable and are part of the journey

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

The projects I’ve worked on over the last year have had the message of inclusion, representation and equality. I would encourage everyone to create art for the communities they care about and share it with the world.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

‘To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.’ Oscar Wilde. It’s not about what you ‘have’, it’s having an awareness of your surroundings and putting things into perspective.

Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them

At Studio Moshon we create innovative ways to convey narratives, engaging audiences in new ways and spreading positive messages of change. We aren’t currently looking for funding but investing in Studio Moshon by having us involved with your ventures could lead to positive impact, draw awareness to your core values and demonstrate innovative thinking.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram @studiomoshon

The Future Is Now: “Oil painted portraits that come to life with AR” With Sara Riding of Studio… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Staci Pacheco, CMO at…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Staci Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent

It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacie Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent. Stacie is a versatile and results-driven CMO with a solid reputation for driving revenue growth, improving brand health and utilizing data aimed at achieving business objectives. She has established herself as a driving force of the synergy of classical and modern marketing approaches, examining insights, establishing processes/KPIs and leading best-in-class marketing teams.

As a capable leader, her contributions extend to P&L Management, having managed global P&Ls up to $200M and marketing budgets of $20M+. As a result of her Lean Six Sigma background she has developed a strong understanding of establishing KPIs, metrics and visual management for creative services, insights, trade shows and digital tactics including social media, CRM, SEO, email blasts, and paid display.

Moreover, Stacie is a proven change agent skilled in driving continuous improvements and a professional with insightful experience in providing strategic vision and thought leadership in key areas such as marketing strategy, strategic leadership, CRM, demand generation, product development, innovation, and continuous improvements. She also builds high-performance teams that emphasize quality, content, insights and optimal productivity.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I had an older sister who worked in advertising and that influenced me a lot. I started out in graphic design in my undergrad, following in her footsteps, and ended up working for an advertising agency on the account side working for some great clients in retail and F&B industries. After a few years, I had an opportunity to make the jump to the client side working for Sealy Mattress and there I really found my passion for growing a brand, developing innovative new products, digging into consumer insights and managing the P&L for a business.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have learned so much along the way, but one example that comes to mind is from my time working for Jarden Consumer Solutions. We really believed we had permission to play with our brand in the diagnostics industry. At the time we launched a line of blood pressure monitors at the retail level. Unfortunately, we underestimated the power of the relationship between the incumbent brands and the pharmacist. The barrier to entry was higher than we thought. Even though the consumer was interested in the product, and the retail buyers thought we were a fit, we couldn’t get past the recommendation of the pharmacist. Ultimately for that reason, the line was discontinued. The lesson here is the importance of understanding the consumer journey and how that maps through to a sale. Whether it’s in brick and mortar or online, understanding what influences purchase will determine your success.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I worked with former Proctor and Gamble employees at both Sealy Mattress and Sunbeam, and that taught me to apply the power of consumer insights. The importance of checking in and validating that you’re making the right decisions. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve? How are you going to market? Is your messaging resonating with that consumer?

I also realized that being in marketing isn’t a creative or analytical role, it’s a combination of both the right and left brain. As I matured, I realized that the balance of both is what makes you a successful marketer.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I have a passion for everything we do at Enviroscent. We have a relentless pursuit toward ridding homes of chemical air fresheners and toxins. We are putting together plans for cause marketing affiliations which will launch later this year. I’m passionate about helping people enjoy their spaces more without putting any bad stuff into the air.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Preventing burnout at work for me is about networking and connecting with others in marketing — there’s so many people who are smarter than me and I feel inspired when I learn. It’s such an exciting time to be in marketing. There’s always a new tool and solution to apply. Consumers are more willing to share their insights. There are countless new ways to use big data.

At home, I’m a dedicated fitness enthusiast. I’m a nut. I work out every morning at 6 am, I do yoga. I make it a priority to give myself time. And most importantly, I make time to enjoy my kids.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand marketing is focused on driving awareness of who you are and what you stand for. What you deliver as a company. Product marketing is talking about specific problems we are solving, the tangible product benefits.

For example, the Enviroscent brand is about ridding your air of nasty chemicals, by making products that are safer for people, pets and planet. In our product marketing, we emphasize the various forms and nature-inspired scents that can fit your home and lifestyle.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

In general, if you feel like you have a great solution to a problem but for some reason you’re not able to cut through the clutter with your brand and consumers aren’t connecting with it, it might be time to consider rebranding.

We rebranded from Pure to Enviroscent in 2019 because the Pure fragrance brand name was difficult to own and didn’t really stand for who we were. Enviroscent speaks more to our positioning as being safer for people, pets and planet. We were able to relaunch with a new brand, feel and tone to meet the needs of our target personas.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There are always costs and risks associated with a rebrand. It’s expensive to recreate all your marketing, brand and product materials. And if you’ve already invested in a community and in a retail presence, those are all at risk. You need to evaluate that on a company-by-company basis.

Established brands don’t always need to be made over. There’s a tendency for marketers to want to put their own stamp on things. It made a lot of sense for us because it was going back to our roots in a sense. If you’ve got a lot of equity and your brand is highly recognizable you need to be careful — or people won’t be able to find you.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Find inspirational brands that you think are doing it well. Who is doing it right and what are they doing? This is one of the places we’ve started. We admire and follow disruptive brands such as Goodr, Shinesty, Native, RXBar, Harry’s, Billie, PooPourri and Duke Cannon
  2. Invest in consumer insights. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of your personas unmet needs and wants and how your brand and product solution resonates with your target audience. Check your assumptions at the door and re-evaluate if you need to make adjustments.
  3. Find your customers where they are engaging rather than trying to always draw them to you first. Don’t go to Tik-Tok just because it’s the latest social media channel if your target audiences are not using the platform.
  4. Try new things and make adjustments all the time. On a monthly or even weekly basis. Don’t be afraid to change course when something isn’t working. Disruptive brands need to be nimble and adjust as they learn.
  5. Listen to your customers and seek out their feedback. Make sure your website has product reviews, make sure that your brand health metric is moving in the right direction. Even more importantly, respond to their feedback and make changes along the way.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

RX Bar made over their brand by putting all the ingredients on the front of that package. The tone of their messaging really changed with that move. It was no B.S. It was authentic and refreshing and one needs to think about that for their own brand. Consumers appreciate when you’re honest about who you are.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Beyond just our mission at Enviroscent, I am passionate about reducing or eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals in our daily lives. My son and I are both cancer survivors and since we lack any family history of cancer, I firmly believe environmental issues caused us both to battle cancer at early ages. So, I try to be mindful about the chemicals that my kids and dog are being exposed to and choose to buy products that are safer.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Be passionate about what you do and have fun. Keep it in perspective.

How can our readers follow you online?

Connect with Enviroscent on Facebook (www.facebook.com/enviroscent), Twitter (www.twitter.com/enviroscent) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/enviroscent).

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Staci Pacheco, CMO at… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Miranda Gillespie of Luxe.It.Fwd

Make a decision to take action, and know that you need to chose to take the action regardless of how you feel. Don’t use how you feel or how motivated you are to be the driver of what you do in your day.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Miranda Gillespie.

Miranda is the CEO and Founder of sustainable luxury shopping platform, Luxe.It.Fwd. Through championing the re-use and re-sale of unwanted luxury goods, Luxe.It.Fwd also brings accessibility back to luxury, stocking a curated selection of luxury handbags by designers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci at up to 60% off the RRP new. And for sellers who have unwanted luxury items languishing at the back of their wardrobe, Luxe.It.Fwd provides a hassle free way for them to “luxe it forward”.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path

At the time of first launching and growing Luxe.It.Fwd, I was also working in a demanding career as a full-time lawyer. I’ve always had the itch to be in business and I had also realised I didn’t enjoy working in law, despite having a very successful law career and making partner in my late 20s.

So when I came up with the idea for Luxe.It.Fwd, I was excited (and incredibly nervous) about launching what I hoped at the time would be a very successful business, and it also provided me a great avenue to focus on something other than law.

Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

For almost 3 years from launching Luxe.It.Fwd I worked full-time as a lawyer while spending every free moment running Luxe.It.Fwd. So I would work early in the morning on Luxe.It.Fwd, during the day as a lawyer, and then work on the business at lunch, nights and on weekends. I was also pregnant during this time, enduring incredible all-day sickness and awful back pain for my entire pregnancy.

At that time I had no staff and it was just me who did absolutely every single task in the business. It would be 10pm on a weeknight and while absolutely exhausted from a day’s work in my legal job and feeling awfully sick from my pregnancy, I would be packing up orders and photographing handbags in my very amateur light tent setup in a spare bedroom in my house. And then I’d get up in the early hours of the morning and do it all over again.

To say this was a challenging time was an understatement. It was not only physically exhausting, but the emotional and financial stress on my shoulders was huge. Whilst in an ideal world I would have loved to have quit my job in law at that time to focus fully on Luxe.It.Fwd, I needed to ensure the business was viable before taking that risk and I was also using my day-job salary together with my own savings to fund Luxe.It.Fwd.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I had really clear drivers in my mind for needing to make Luxe.It.Fwd work. I got to a point where I really didn’t enjoy my law career at all and was therefore at a somewhat unhappy point of my life, and Luxe.It.Fwd was my opportunity to move to a career that I was really passionate about. I also invested a lot of my own money into starting Luxe.It.Fwd, and I felt a (self-imposed) responsibility to my family to ensure I didn’t lose that money.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

I was at point A in my life (ie. miserable in my career) and I really wanted to be at point B (ie. passionate about what I do), and I decided I was going to do whatever level of work was needed to get there — which in my case meant working insane hours for a few years on both Luxe.It.Fwd and at my day job. That period was arduous, relentless and insanely stressful. And the only reason I could do it was by applying every bit of relentless grit that I could muster in myself.

For me, grit means choosing to take necessary action every day over long periods of time, irrespective of what I “feel” like doing or how unmotivating the circumstances. And this grit is the key trait that has led to Luxe.It.Fwd’s ultimate success. Motivation and excitement wear off pretty quickly when starting a business, and for me the key ingredient to growing a successful business is employing the grit to compel myself to persist and move forward with action each day, irrespective of how unmotivated or under pressure I was feeling.

During these early days of growing Luxe.It.Fwd while also working full-time I woke up each day exhausted and often incredibly stressed in terms of wanting to get Luxe.It.Fwd off the ground to make it a success. But I knew what I needed to do, and so I gritted down and just did it.

After almost 3 years this hard work work had paid off, having grown Luxe.It.Fwd to a level that I could leave my legal career to focus fully on the business. Luxe.It.Fwd now has a team of 6 and has grown more than 100% year-on-year to be turning over $2 million this year.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)

  1. Make a decision to take action, and know that you need to chose to take the action regardless of how you feel. Don’t use how you feel or how motivated you are to be the driver of what you do in your day.
  2. Don’t have expectations of everything needing to be enjoyable, but understand what’s important to you that you’re willing to suffer in the short term to get there.
  3. Have a very clear focus on your own “why”. Why are you doing it and what are you trying to achieve.
  4. In addition to the “why”, know your timeline for how long you need to apply grit to a situation to get to where you want to be. In my case, I worked insane hours for almost 3 years, but that’s not something I could or would choose to do for years and years on end.
  5. Know when to compel yourself to keep going when you feel unmotivated, but equally also know when to give yourself a break. We’re not robots and can’t operate at insanely high levels all of the time.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?

The downside of being a solo founder is feeling as though you’re bearing all of the problems on your business on your own shoulders. Therefore during tricky times I’ve always turned to my husband because he has seen the evolution of the business from the start and really understands where I’m at. Back when I first started the business from my spare bedroom at home, my husband would help pack orders and all other random jobs, so he understands how far the business has come.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

An inherent part of Luxe.It.Fwd is to champion the re-use and re-sale of unwanted items that would otherwise be unused at the back of someone’s wardrobe or go to waste. We are proud to facilitate a platform that allows both buyers and sellers to participate in sustainable shopping practices and reducing unnecessary waste.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

With our items are one-of-a-kind because they’re pre-owned and with the strong reputation of trust that we’ve built with our community, our popular items sell within minutes and therefore the challenge for us is ensuring we have as many new-arrivals coming in as possible to meet the buying demand. We’ve been tapping into a number of new sources for our stock and are very excited to be in a strong growth phase of bringing a much large range for our eager buyers.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

I’m very open with our team including to share the highs of the business. The result is that the team becomes very invested in the business achieving great things and doing the best to help ensure that happens. I’m a big believer in creating an environment which allows employees to find their own space to thrive, rather than dictating how things should be.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

My focus is to really push for the reduction of unnecessary waste in the fashion industry. So rather than buying fast fashion on impulse that doesn’t get used or doesn’t last long because of its quality, I really want to promote a more ethical fashion cycle of mindfully choosing quality items and then ensuring they are re-used over and again to their fullest extent. It’s unrealistic to say that the fashion industry won’t have unnecessary waste, but I really want to contribute to reducing that as much as possible and making that movement more widespread.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do” — Mark Twain. First deciding to start a business has the scarily high prospect of failure. What propelled me was that I knew I could live with the failure if that eventuated, but I wouldn’t be able to accept missing the opportunity if I didn’t do it.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Facebook — https://facebook.com/luxeitfwd

Instagram — @luxe.it.fwd_

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

.

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Miranda Gillespie of Luxe.It.Fwd was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, With Anna Goncalves of…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, With Anna Goncalves of Projects by AG

Connect, enthusiastically. Communicate, attentively. Repeat, intentionally. This goes for anyone and everyone that interacts with your brand. An example and one of my favorite things to see is a company replying, close to immediately [with the appropriate reply], to every single comment left on their social media feeds. But that’s just one of the many opportunities out there to connect and communicate with your consumer base.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Anna Goncalves.

Anna Goncalves has 13 years of professional Branding, Marketing, and PR/Media experience. She runs Projects by AG — a company that combines her diverse interests in music, entertainment, lifestyle, and technology and offers services that include: business consultation, artist/talent development, TV and film casting, brand partnerships, copywriting, and digital marketing.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

It’s a pleasure! Thank YOU!

As for what brought me here? Meeting a stranger in a plane inadvertently brought me here. Over ten years ago, I met an older gentleman who happened to sit by me inside a plane headed to an international destination. Although this man — as he had mentioned — was a frequent business flyer (you’d think he’d want his space) he initiated conversation with me. Hours later, there we were still chatting away about family, life, hobbies, dreams, future, and so much more. Long story short, it was this man — Gil — who shifted my thinking and ultimately, my career path. What was beautiful about this interaction was that Gil’s willingness to care enough to engage in conversation was all it took for me to, in a way, think outside the box.

I came back from this trip ready to begin exploring what I had learned about myself through this stranger. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Anyway, I knew exactly where to start. (Mind you that at the time, I had just concluded my studies at Bentley University a semester earlier than my class and had a full-time job as Director of Marketing and PR at a private medical practice.)

I ended up structuring my work schedule to allow me to do just that — explore. I studied, I read, I researched, I reached out to professionals I wanted to gain insights from, treated the professionals I got the pleasure of meeting in person to coffee/lunch, interned in the development department of a local TV/Media production company, volunteered at film festivals in the admin and PR department, and so on. In fact, volunteering at film festivals was where I discovered my passion for the arts and for talent. I realized I loved seeing stories come to life through diverse characters. (This experience also helped me get out of my shell by helping me approach and speak with strangers. Not to mention how much it helped me learn how to “sell” since I had to go up to these complete strangers and sell tickets!). I did that for the next year and when a great opportunity came, I left my full-time job and moved to NYC for a full-time, non-paid PR internship at a talent agency that was only but three months old at the time. And this, in a nutshell, is how it all began.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake happened while I interned in NYC at the talent agency that I left my full-time Marketing and PR job for. The agency was lead by two co-founders. One of these co-founders had recently married a very well known name in the fashion industry. And when I say well known, I mean one of the biggest names in fashion. Let’s just say that when I RSVP’d for the founders to an event, I also added this person (aka, one of the biggest names in fashion) to the RSVP. What I did was: I assumed my boss would have his husband accompany him to this swanky event because that’s what couples do! But also, how cool for the two to be seen together?! A part of me also knew I’d successfully lock in that RSVP because of that name that was attached. Well, after the deed was done, I reassured my bosses that I had emailed and requested the RSVP for the three of them. As quickly as I am being reprimanded for my mistake, I am also receiving emails from this event coordinator, and her team, to accommodate this celebrity fashion icon. I was mortified (haha).

The branding mistake, if you will, was using the very popular brand name to get my boss perceived in a “hotter/more relevant” manner and successfully lock in my first assignment. I didn’t think about it from a branding perspective as much as I thought about it from an opportunistic one. What I quickly realized is that my former boss and his spouse were their own brand and they each did their own thing. At the end of it all, I went ahead and wrote an email to fix my mistake and all was well.

Although this story sounds uneventful and even overly dramatic, ever since this mistake, I never made decisions solely based on being “an opportunity” without thinking if the opportunity is the right one for me or a client. (Bet this wasn’t what you had in mind when you asked this question, huh?)

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I became a firm believer in milestones. And also a believer that success can come in various forms; wins can be big and they can also be small. I’d say that one of those milestones for me was when I began working with my first international (Brazil) client within music and entertainment. I experienced a win when I realized I had been referred to them. That should be the biggest compliment for any professional. Another win was successfully doing a business call in Portuguese. Although I speak fluently, I had never done an entire business phone call all in Portuguese before; I didn’t think, then, that I would be able to. I look back to that moment and it feels so good to reminisce even still. And of course, building a strong relationship with them so early on where I still have the pleasure of working alongside them is a constant win.

I didn’t start doing anything different, per say, prior to this milestone or tipping point. I was doing what I did best in the way I knew how. And ultimately, it was exactly what kept them interested. As we all know, a referral can only go so far…

The takeaway? Keep doing what you do best and embrace how you do it. Sometimes, it’s important to have the wisdom to recognize what we need to change just as much as we need to have the wisdom to recognize what we shouldn’t change.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I sure am! My clients have dreams and my mission is to help them build those dreams so that through them, their business, or their project, others can be inspired. I firmly believe that all brands have the power and somewhat of a responsibility to inspire people through their stories.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Oh, I have a few! I’d suggest that you get a hobby; something you can dedicate 20–30 minutes doing, daily. I’d also recommend other marketers — anyone really — to make sure you spend time with yourself and with your thoughts. And try to wake up earlier so you can stay away from work matters until after your first hour (at least) of the day. If you ask me about what I have done different throughout my career, this would be it. It would be figuring out what I need before giving my clients and those around me what they need.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

In a nutshell, branding is your story; advertising is how you build awareness of your story.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

I know firsthand — mainly from consulting upcoming artists with their development — that money is scarce. But everything worth doing is worth investing in, period. Your time, energy, resources — it’s all necessary when building a brand. And as I tell artists and smaller businesses, especially, I prefer seeing consistency with a smaller monthly budget [for marketing purposes] versus spending a lot of money “when you have it” here and there.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

Reasons why a company should consider rebranding could include: they have a new philosophy, a new focus, a new target audience, new mergers and acquisitions, an ‘evolved’ identity, and so on.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There are downsides to rebranding if you do it for the wrong reasons. (It’s why hiring a Branding Consultant is a good idea, by the way, because here’s an individual that will infiltrate your company’s internal operations with an outsider perspective and help guide your decisions.) I’d advise against doing a “Brand Makeover” if the motivation, for example, is a financial one. Another example would be if a brand is trying to imitate what their “competition” is doing.

In all, though, I think all brands should continuously adapt. Your brand is never “done” being developed just like we, as humans, are never done growing. So it’s important to listen and pay close attention to your audience — what they need, what they don’t even know they need, what will make their lives easier, etc. — and incorporating those well throughout approaches, strategically. You should never stop pursuing, or romancing, your consumer base.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Brands will continuously be challenged as a result of how convenience and technology evolves. And you can’t forget about how consumers are also continuing to expect “better” and “consistent” service from the brands they interact with. So my 5 strategies revolve around what it’ll take for a brand to get re-energized and remain energized as some things evolve and other things remain the same.

Connect, enthusiastically. Communicate, attentively. Repeat, intentionally.

This goes for anyone and everyone that interacts with your brand. An example and one of my favorite things to see is a company replying, close to immediately [with the appropriate reply], to every single comment left on their social media feeds. But that’s just one of the many opportunities out there to connect and communicate with your consumer base.

Listen, internally.

Always listen to your consumer base to become better in how you serve them. But don’t forget about your partners, employees, and everyone in between. Often times we do whatever we need to do to provide the best “customer” service — as we should — but end up forgetting that we need to better serve, all around. Every person behind the brand should be acknowledged. So listen to them and become better for them, also.

Recognize your weaknesses. Embrace your weaknesses. Outsource your weaknesses.

This one speaks for itself.

Lead with your values.

I recently spoke with someone who had just accepted a new job. I remember how excited this individual was about joining the company because of the company’s culture. (The culture was the biggest talking point during his interview process). Well, less than two months in, this person began talking about how it wasn’t at all what he expected. As someone who heard about this culture before the experience and later heard about the same culture after the experience, I couldn’t believe the dichotomy. Well, needless to say that this once excited employee was now without any desire to stay. So he left for another job.

The problem wasn’t the expectation of the employee; it was the embellishment and promise of the employer. If you are trying to build a culture based on what you think will attract people, what you “want to see happen” within your company, or even what you “want to believe” about your company culture, don’t. As the leader, let your values speak through your behavior. Knowing this, you’ll know how to lead and cultivate the community of people around you.

Hire people, correctly, and teach them how to follow-up.

We will forever need capable and passionate people behind a brand; I don’t care how tech-savvy we become. I’ll give you an example of a very recent occurrence with a big-name brand that we all know and love.

So I brought my mom into this brand’s optical department to get her new eyeglasses. The customer service was great! In fact, the associate who saw us there the first time, when we were just browsing, remembered us the second time around when we returned to make a purchase. We wasted no time. I paid for the frame my mom wanted and the type of lenses she needed. Now, we needed to wait for an “automated text” telling us when the item was in for pickup. We were told that it would take ten days for it to arrive in that location. But days had gone by and no text. I call and the same person that helped us make the purchase answered the phone. She proceeded to tell me that the glasses had arrived and there must have been a glitch on the tech side which would explain why we didn’t get a text. So off to pick-up I go. Fast-forward to an entire day with the glasses, my mom notices a few issues with the lenses. So I place the call to let them know. I am told to bring them back in a confused but very nice and apologetic manner. We drop it off and again, we’re told to wait for an “automated text” that would let us know when the item was ready for pickup. And yet again, the days go by and we never get a text. At this point, after waiting so much for a much needed purchase, we decided to simply go back and return it for a full refund. My mom went in alone this time. And once the associate recognized her, she says her lenses had arrived. But by then, we had already made up our minds.

I’m not saying I’m the only customer but every customer should be treated like the only customer. If a tech glitch happened the first time, why not make sure it wouldn’t happen a second time? Or even so, if the item arrived and the customer hasn’t showed up, why not call them directly?

So hire the right people and teach them the importance of following up because it’s just as important as making the sale. (And if we’re honest, a sale is never final.)

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One particular brand that comes to mind is Dunkin’ (formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts). I grew up eating their donuts. I knew they sold other items but it was all I ate every time I interacted with the brand. So to me, little ol’ pre-teen Anna, Dunkin’ Donuts was my go-to place for…donuts. But surely enough, I couldn’t have agreed more with their roll-out to ditch the “Donuts” in their name. An overall great move considering their growing menu. I also loved that even as an older company, they felt the need to adapt with their “store of the future” experience. And they did so without jeopardizing their roots.

I won’t say that brands should “replicate” Dunkin’ but all brands can be inspired by Dunkin’ and commit to the same goal of adapting to how the world evolves while remaining the same.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think every person is of great influence and we all really do have the power to bring about good wherever we find ourselves, right now. So if I could inspire a movement, it would be to challenge everyone to commit to at least one act of genuine service every single day. Whether you know the person or not, just do something that’ll make someone’s day. If we all just cared enough to show love with our actions and with our words? Man oh man, what a beautiful world it would be.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Live purposefully with a passion” is my go-to. These words came to me years ago but they’re relevant now and will remain relevant forever. When you live from a mindset of knowing your purpose in life, you have to be enthusiastic about it! How could you not be?!

How can our readers follow you online?

They can find me on social media @annapfgoncalves or visit our website at www.projectsbyag.com to see what we’re up to!

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Thank you so much for chatting! Wishing you and your team all the best in 2020 and beyond!

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, With Anna Goncalves of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “Resilience is the ability to adapt to changing currents, winds and…

Rising Through Resilience: “Resilience is the ability to adapt to changing currents, winds and tides”, with Hunter Todd, CEO of WorldFest-Houston International Film Festivals

If you look up the definition of resilience, you get a capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. I’d say that is true and what also may be true is an ability to adapt to changing currents, winds and tides. I’m also a Sailing Master and US Merchant Marine (Ret). Being on the open waters as long as I have has given me a space to experience peace and enjoy the constant shifts of nature. Sailing is 95% peace and tranquility and 5% sheer terror.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Hunter Todd, Award-Winning Producer and Director and Chairman and CEO of WorldFest-Houston International Film Festivals Inc. Mr. Todd has the distinction of heading up the world’s longest running international independent film festival in the world. WorldFest has screened the first features of some of our most powerful directors in cinema including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, Guillermo del Toro, Oliver Stone, Robert Rodriguez, John Lee Hancock and many more. This year marks the 53rd Annual WorldFest in Houston, TX.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?

Soon after graduating the College of William and Mary, I became Projects Officer in the US Army, NASA, and RCA Motion Picture Division. It was an incredible opportunity to learn how to make films and I honed my own craft as a filmmaker much like Frank Capra, William Wyler, John Huston and George Stevens. I became Executive Producer at the State Department’s Motion Picture division and simultaneously studied law at John Marshall (subsequently deciding that I wasn’t cut out for law). I journeyed into the film festival business in 1966 as Founder of Cinema America, where I produced more than 300 TV Specials, business films, theatrical feature films and television commercials winning over 100 international awards. In 1961, I organized a dedicated film society which morphed in 1968 into a competitive “Discovery” film festival which has evolved over 5 decades into WorldFest now about to celebrate its 53rd year.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I had the privilege of a very hefty sponsorship to create a film festival in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was a coveted destination for the Hollywood set and drew all the stars of the day — Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Catherine Deneuve and Katherine Hepburn. You would think it to be the ideal setting, a lush tropical island along with a great budget, however it was definitely not paradise. Living on a small island and trying to produce an international glamorous film festival is not the fun you think it would be. I got island fever and left the minute my contract was over. What I learned was though stars glitter, there’s no place like Texas. It’s where I’ve lived ever since.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We’re not just big thinkers and visionaries, we actually make the magic happen. It’s not always easy and sometimes you fly by the seat of your pants until the plane lands beneath your feet. I remember one festival, our sponsor had to have Kirk Douglas at the VIP dinner. I really was unsure I could make that happen though I assured them we’d make every effort to have the luminary materialize. I was getting ready to have a Kirk Douglas look alike stand in when the real Kirk Douglas confirmed at the last minute, and with some pretty pricey demands for our budget. But it was all worth it and proved to me that sometimes a Hail-Mary pass really can score.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Honestly, I’d have to say it was the gentleman who helped me into my first position with the US Army in the motion picture department. At the time, coming out of college and ROTC, I thought I would be assigned to Vietnam in some capacity. However, the commanding officer of my temporary duty station had attended Georgia Tech with my father; The CO called me into his office and said “Todd, I’m not letting you waste your time in ‘nam. I’m sending you to the future, young man.” And he assigned me to NASA Cape Canaveral and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center to be a project’s officer and film director in the Signal Corps. I’ll never forget that he gave me a helping hand that directed me towards this particular career trajectory.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience?

Well, if you look up the definition of resilience, you get a capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. I’d say that is true and what also may be true is an ability to adapt to changing currents, winds and tides. I’m also a Sailing Master and US Merchant Marine (Ret). Being on the open waters as long as I have has given me a space to experience peace and enjoy the constant shifts of nature. Sailing is 95% peace and tranquility and 5% sheer terror.

What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people

Persistence and flexibility. But persistence alone is omnipotent…. That’s at the core of my ability to still be running this festival after 50+ years.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Not a person but a collection of people, the City of Houston. I’ve seen this city go through some major ups and downs over the years. The City of Houston has recovered from one catastrophic event after another during the last 5 years. And before Hurricane Harvey, not just floods and hurricanes but economic downturns as well. I believe our city’s resilience abides, because we have hope, community, persistence and a vision.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

When the festival was in Atlanta and my major sponsor filed for bankruptcy I was told by my attorneys that it was time to stop this and go back to just doing film production. I was filming corporate and documentary films to make my bread and butter while I explored creating a film festival. I resisted their instructions and continued. The festival has persevered through our efforts for 53 years.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

When the festival moved from the Virgin Islands to Houston in 1978, it was held in the month of November (we had been filling the shoulder season in the Islands during Autumn). I quickly realized the social season in Houston is filled with symphonies, ballets, operas, social events, parties and balls. So we move the festival to April and it has been a great success in that time slot ever since. April was basically a wide open month for the film festival. It’s right after the Oscars and right before Cannes, in a perfect slot.

I saw an article the other day that even spoke to Spring being festival season so maybe I started something. When I initiated WorldFest, we were number 3 in North America after San Francisco and the New York Fests. Now there are over 4,000 “so called” film festivals in North America. I say “so called” because many of them are not true International film festivals. They are what we call ‘screening events’. In other words, they rent some movies for a weekend and call it a French film festival, Charlie Chaplin film festival or a Latin film festival. WorldFest is International. We have hundreds of invited guests from all over the world — last year we represented 77 countries. We present Premieres of films which have been through the Official International Jury process. Our final Official Selections are exhibited in professional movie theatres and are all open to the public. Such is the standard definition per Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, the 3 oldest festivals to offer those elements to be a true film festival. Of the several 1000 ‘so called’ film festivals in North America, the great majority of them are ‘screening events’ and don’t measure up to the Cannes festival standard.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

I have been a sailor all my life in small sailboats and there’s no better test of resilience than sailing. Capsizing, turning over or running aground and then getting back up and sailing again. I remember being a small boy at camp — my parents sailed their boat, Progress, out to Camp Okefenokee and I would sail my little boat out to meet them. Not really a story of resilience but I credit my resilience from learning to sail by adapting successfully to the wind, waves and tides.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

Five steps that have worked for me include having perspective, believing in my capabilities, utilizing a network of support, being willing to change and taking action to resolve issues.

Can you share a short story that relates to each point?

-Over the years of the festival we have recognized many different perspectives — Ang Lee’s and Spielberg’s of tomorrow. To evaluate the early perspectives of these emerging cinematic talents and shine a spotlight on them before they became giants of filmmaking in the future is an element of this festival which has become a longtime proven track record of “Discovery.”

I do believe that to trust in the perspective of paying attention to the potential of an emerging artist is so very important. Back in the early 90’s, our attorney neighbor down the hall was Texas Senator Jack Ogg. His young assistant was John Lee Hancock, who began to write short scripts and entered one into the festival and it won a WorldFest Remi award. The next year, John entered his short script as a short subject film and it also won. A couple of years later, John entered and won for a full-length feature, The Alamo. After his third win at WorldFest, John paid us a visit and announced that he was going to Hollywood and after his success for The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks & The Founder, John Lee Hancock credited Hunter Todd and his wins at WorldFest as a means of saving him from a life of having to sue people in court as a practicing attorney. Therefore, I do recognize that awarding this young man’s early talent at storytelling is a strong and significant element of this festival’s continued success. This pattern of watching filmmakers reach their full potential has happened many times over with other directors such as John Sayles, Randal Kleiser, Gavin Hood, Ethan Hawke and others.

– Our core festival team is 6 people and yet we have well over hundreds of people in our support network to ensure a great event. We do partner with a wide variety of professional teams such as our headquarter hotels, restaurants, theaters, hospitality operations, limousine services and of course, our amazing volunteers who all come together during the festival. So we actually have a support staff of well over a 100 people that make it happen not just the small core team. Building a community around your mission has been very important to the success of the festival. (1 festival 1 million details when it takes a village)

-WorldFest started in 1968 as a film festival and everything was 16 and 35 mm film. We had jury screening rooms piled with cans and cans of film (we even still have some screeners of films at the office). Over the last 53 years it’s emerged to become a digital event where the entire film festival of 200 movies could be put in a cigar box full of USB sticks. We still used 35mm until 2017. Now 95% of the jury work is done online which is a radical shift from just a few years ago when we had thousands of DVD’s and video tapes lined up in cases down the hall going off to the various Jury teams. Now we have beautiful clean halls.

-I always believe in approaching a problem with a good solid solution and most recently we realized that after five very successful years of panorama China (a focus on emerging Chinese cinema in partnership with their government) we were likely to run into difficulty due to the political fluctuations of our two nations so I decided to shift the focus from China to Asia. Now in view of our expanded horizons to spotlight also other nations such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Indonesia and beyond, we will serve a true global perspective moving forward.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think that would be a movement of self-belief and accomplishing something you previously had thought might not be possible. At WorldFest, we give each of our filmmakers who enter our festival every possible consideration to place for a deserving Remi award. If their project is “A good story, well told” we score/grade it fairly and award it if possible at the appropriate level to their finished production. They deserve it. To create a concept and bring that story full circle with their features and shorts is a huge accomplishment and we recognize that.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Philip Anschutz is a man of keen vision and ample resources and one who has followed his beliefs and instincts over the years to wonderful fruition. He is also a published author of 2 books about the history of the US West and the leaders who contributed to the early philanthropic patterns of our country. Anchutz had the brilliant foresight to buy the railway right-of-ways across North America and then along with a contract at AT&T to lay down a fiber optic nationwide link for AT&T and while the trenches were opened, Anchutz laid down his own bigger fiber optic network to connect his chain of theaters. This is a man of amazing vision and ability, persistence and may I also say, resilience.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’ve been dabbling with twitter. If our president can do it, so can I!

The festival is on all the regular socials.

Twitter: @WorldFest

Instagram: @worldfesthouston

Facebook: worldfest

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “Resilience is the ability to adapt to changing currents, winds and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Ben Lee of Schifino…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Ben Lee of Schifino Lee Advertising + Branding

Make something new. Create a new product or service that is cutting edge and helps redefine who you are in the market. IBM launched a campaign to announce its shift to online services with e-business in the 90s, well before Amazon, eBay and other online commerce giants were in the public’s mind. It keeps the overall brand virtually the same, but also demonstrates that you’re willing to branch out and try something new.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Ben Lee

Ben Lee is the Principal and Co-Founder of Schifino Lee Advertising + Branding.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Masters in Management at Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Prior to Schifino Lee, Ben worked as USA Advertising Manager for Philips NV, the Dutch consumer electronics giant, and as an Account Manager at Interpublic Group on the BP (British Petroleum) advertising account. Ben also served as the very first Marketing Director at The Florida Aquarium prior to its opening.

For the past 26 years at Schifino Lee, Ben’s passion and focus has been brand strategy and integrated campaign management. He is a hands-on leader, dedicated to running the best agency in the industry. For the past four years, Ben has been the agency’s lead strategist for GRENLEC (Grenada’s national utility), the Cross-Bay Ferry in Tampa Bay, the Tampa Museum of Art and WRB Energy, a developer renewable energy projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Ben has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing Communications at both the University of South Florida and University of Tampa.

Ben is a native of Tampa, and he spends a lot of his free time playing baseball with his two teenage boys.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I went to New York City for the first time and visited a friend whose dad owned an ad agency. I had never thought much about a career in advertising, but when the elevator doors opened, and I saw all these signs, billboards and a giant gorilla in a cowboy hat — and after meeting the people there and learning more — I knew advertising and branding was for me.

Later, I had professors at Northwestern (Sidney Levy and Philip Kotler) who inspired me when it came to branding. I started a brand management company soon after getting out of school.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Schifino Lee’s first big client was the New York Yankees, which was too good to believe- literally. I had played baseball in college, so when I got a call from the team’s general manager saying he was looking for an advertising and branding agency, I thought it was a prank call from my friends. I hung up on him! I almost hung up on the second call, but after that, they became a 10-year client.

The lesson? Always answer your phone! You never know who might be on the other line.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

The first big tipping point for Schifino Lee was the Yankees. But the big step after that was getting our first global client, AT&T. Having those major clients allowed us to hire more great talent.

Getting better talent helped us produce better creative, which gave us bigger clients and let us hire more talent. That’s when I really learned how cyclical this process is. Those huge opportunities snowball into something even more.

My big takeaways from this are to always be prepared for those big moments. You might be a small company now, but you never know when you’ll get something big, and you want to be prepared. Also never underestimate how important the right people are. They’re the ones who will help you grow as a company and as a person.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’m always working on new projects! I like to go beyond traditional advertising and reach into product development. Right now, I’m working on Tapp360, a referral marketing software for customer acquisition and employee recruitment. This helps our clients the way the Yankees and AT&T accounts helped us so many years ago — getting better talent, creating more work and earning more customers.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

I’ve been in business for over 25 years, and we’ve learned you have to keep things fresh. My agency has an “Innovate or Die” mentality, so we’re always doing or trying something new. That’s helped us all to thrive and avoid burnout. When you’re doing something different every day, you don’t get to that point.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand marketing is the foundation for a company’s image and messaging that can be applied to all communications and campaigns.

Product marketing is specific, individual campaigns ads based off the overall brand strategy.

They can both use a lot of the same tactics — social media, TV and streaming commercials, PR, etc. — but it’s the message in those mediums that changes. One on the brand versus one for a product.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Without a solid, overarching brand, all your other marketing efforts are just one-off campaigns. Nothing is cumulative.

It’s like when you’re taking an exam. If you’re only being tested on one chapter- or campaign- that’s all you study for or think of. Everything else gets forgotten because you aren’t building toward that broad goal.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

You should think about rebranding in a few different situations. If your target audience evolves, you’ll want to make sure you do the same. If you’re introducing a new product or service that doesn’t fit the current brand, you need to pivot to make sure it’s incorporated in a way that makes sense.

Nothing stays the same, so you should reevaluate to see if your messaging matches the new times at least once a decade.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

If a rebrand isn’t necessary, don’t do it! You run the risk of alienating or confusing customers. You can put a lot of time, money and effort into something that isn’t going to improve your position in the market.

It’s worth noting that a rebrand is different from a refresh. If you’re afraid your branding is stale, this may be just what you need. It can occur incrementally and be done every year to stay relevant.

Sometimes customers may never notice, but they’ll be able to tell that you aren’t out of date. A good example is the Quaker Oats mascot. He’s changed visually over the years to stay contemporary, but he’s not radically different from when he first graced an oatmeal box.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Make something new

Create a new product or service that is cutting edge and helps redefine who you are in the market. IBM launched a campaign to announce its shift to online services with e-business in the 90s, well before Amazon, eBay and other online commerce giants were in the public’s mind. It keeps the overall brand virtually the same, but also demonstrates that you’re willing to branch out and try something new.

Update your online presence

Launch a new website or update your current one with a different look and feel. Your brand hasn’t changed, but you can provide customers with a better online experience. One of our clients had been known for having an older clientele, but the services they provided could help people of many generations. We launched a website refresh with beautiful photography that gave the business a contemporary feel and connected them to a younger audience without alienating their current one.

What’s in a name?

This is a more radical, full rebrand, but if you’re looking to really change directions, this is the way to go. The company itself isn’t always changing, but the perception might. Philip Morris Companies, a tobacco manufacturing company, changed its name in the US to The Altria Group in an attempt to dissociate itself from the negative sentiment associated with smoking.

Change from the inside out

Redefine your company culture to articulate your core values in a contemporary language. Communicate those core values to your employees and customers in all forms of media. Just look at Google or Starbucks. A lot of their reputations are built on how they treat their employees. We also have a client that’s a private equity company and whenever they gain a new business, they have a culture-based campaign for new employees to make sure they know that the new owners care about them and the business.

Move on- literally!

This was my choice! Schifino Lee recently moved out of a dedicated office space into a coworking office. It’s made us more agile with mobile working and meeting in untraditional spaces. It forces you to focus on what’s most important. And, when you select a space that’s been specially curated and designed for your industry, you surround yourself with new people and trends that you’ll incorporate into your next assignment.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I think Old Spice has done such a great job making themselves relevant to new customers in the younger generation. Growing up, that was my father’s brand. Now, it’s the brand my sons use. They did amazing work by positioning themselves using their market insights with irreverent comedy — that’s something every brand can do.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I wish I could say I had some lofty, world-changing idea, but I think that kind of thing starts at the individual level. For me, it’s pollution and litter. I hate seeing people leave their trash places or throw it in the wrong spot. I think it comes back to respecting other people, especially in public places. I’m not a man of giant social change, I just want everyone to leave the world a bit better than how they found it.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Make it happen!”

At our agency, we create things out of nothing, especially when my partner and I were starting over 25 years ago. Everything we create is based on individual initiative, passion and energy. If people don’t make things happen, then nothing happens

How can our readers follow you online?

You can check out our agency blog here and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. You can also visit us at www.schifinolee.com.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Ben Lee of Schifino… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Adam Kallen and Alex DiMattio of JANE…

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Adam Kallen and Alex DiMattio of JANE Motorcycles

Learn to do every job before hiring someone to do it. There isn’t a job that we haven’t done. If we had a choice, we wouldn’t have chosen to do every job, but thankfully we were blessed with poverty which forced us to be “jacks of all trades”. If you know how to do the job, it gives you the valuable perspective to know exactly what you’re asking an employee to do. Embrace being a beginner. We didn’t come from this business, so we didn’t feel entitled to anything. You’re going to make mistakes and you should expect it and laugh it off.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Adam Kallen and Alex DiMattio.

Adam Kallen and Alex DiMattio are the founders, owners, and designers of Brooklyn-based JANE Motorcycles — New York City’s custom motorcycle, apparel, accessory, book, and espresso shop. Two longtime motorcycle enthusiasts with an interest in men’s fashion, Adam and Alex opened JANE in 2013 with a few tshirt designs and have been creating more ever since. The shop in Williamsburg sells apparel, gear, and custom bikes, and is a coffee shop where anyone is welcome to hang out.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path

I (Alex) grew up in New York and I (Adam) grew up in Los Angeles. We were part of the skate/surf culture of the late 80’s and 90’s and spent most of our time in the shops. We loved the way they felt — the music, the community surrounding them, the whole thing. They were an example of how you could turn what you love into a business.

Life took a turn for both of us and couldn’t really have been more different — I (Adam) went to law school and I (Alex) went to work in nightlife.

The next 20 years were bumpy to say the least — like involving homelessness and prison — and in 2011 we met at an AA meeting. We were both at an impasse with our careers and Alex brought up the idea of designing a clothing brand centered around motorcycles. We started talking more about it and eventually agreed (and it really was that simple), and we began putting together the plan on how to open.

Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

We knew nothing about opening a store or creating a clothing brand, nor did we have any contacts in the industry. That innocence made every small success feel huge. We met with a business counselor and described that we wanted to open a business where we built custom motorcycles, made clothing and had a cafe, and we also told him that we had no experience in any of these businesses. He told us that we should choose one and concentrate on that. We couldn’t listen to him because our vision involved all three. Being an entrepreneur means doing the thing that sounds crazy and fighting to make it work.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

We were very aware of what it takes to build a business so when things were hard, we dealt with them. It’s the drive that you start with that gets you through all aspects. We are a good team and when things are tough, we really come together and lean on each other to get through it.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

We looked at the store the other day and couldn’t believe how far we have come. Over 6 years we have learned every aspect of running a successful clothing brand. Our success is due to us showing up 7 days a week, asking for help, doing whatever it takes to get the job done and being grateful to be doing what we dreamed of when we were kids.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)

Nothing is more important than the business. For the first 2 years, we did not take a day off.

Organize your time efficiently. We still struggle with time management, but we spend so much time at work that everything gets done.

Ask for help. If it wasn’t for people helping us, we wouldn’t have gotten past the business plan. We have found that most people want to help — you just have to put your ego aside and ask.

Learn to do every job before hiring someone to do it. There isn’t a job that we haven’t done. If we had a choice, we wouldn’t have chosen to do every job, but thankfully we were blessed with poverty which forced us to be “jacks of all trades”. If you know how to do the job, it gives you the valuable perspective to know exactly what you’re asking an employee to do.

Embrace being a beginner. We didn’t come from this business, so we didn’t feel entitled to anything. You’re going to make mistakes and you should expect it and laugh it off.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?

Jane Motorcycles is owned by us, but it was built with the help of everyone in our community. We have a great group of friends that surround the store and each of them has helped us through the tough times and genuinely enjoyed the success.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Our brand is comprised of clothing that is locally produced and made to last. We believe that clothing should not be disposable, and we make garments that will be passed along throughout their lives. We work with small factories that prove that production is not dead in the States — they produce at the highest quality while still paying their employees a living wage.

On a personal level, we are both recovering drug addicts and we host an AA meeting at the store every week. Over the years we have been able to watch and help people get their lives together, and it’s been one of the most rewarding aspects of this journey. The store provides a physical place for people to gather safely in a community that wants them to succeed, and we’re really fortunate to be able to provide that.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are all about community. We are constantly thinking of ways to get people out of their comfort zone and have fun. Whether it be working on our annual “Summer Camp” upstate or getting new and old friends to go out of the city to ride dirt bikes, surf or snowboard — we like to help people see what’s available to them. We try our best to facilitate getaways, trips and vacations that are fun while building a community of friends and family.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

The need for retail stores is fading — if you don’t think outside the box and offer more than just a place to shop, you’ll become irrelevant. Having the cafe has given us the ability to introduce our brand to a much broader audience, and it has given our customer a way to hang out without buying anything more than a coffee. This has helped nurture the aspect of community — people might come in for the stuff or for the coffee, but they come back because of how the place and the people in it made them feel like they belonged there.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We both believe that the current education system is flawed in the way it does not cultivate or promote being an entrepreneur. There are so many more ways to be successful now than before, and the education system hasn’t really caught up to that.

I (Adam) went to law school because I was told it was practical. I ended up with over $100,000 in debt and never practiced a day of law. After a lot of soul searching, I followed my heart and ended up following the path that felt was correct. This, in turn, allows me to wake up every day happy to do what I love.

I (Alex) wanted to open a business from as early as I can remember, but there was never a class that even remotely spoke to me when it came to reaching my goals.

In today’s world, being an entrepreneur isn’t nearly as hard as it was when we were kids. The internet has made freelancing much more prevalent, however, entering these new jobs requires an education in running your own business just as much as in the background of the field you are practicing.

We would start a movement to expose students to business early and help them cultivate that mindset.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Embrace being a beginner.” Until we heard that, we hated being beginners. Now, we realize that being a beginner is when all the fun happens — you can make mistakes and laugh at them, and you can enjoy every bit of the journey because you have never done this before. If you can embrace being a beginner, you understand that you will experience failure and that’s part of it. If you can move through failure without quitting — you can achieve anything.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@janemotorcycles

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Adam Kallen and Alex DiMattio of JANE… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image With Kean Graham

Website Re-brand: It’s important to do a website re-design at least every few years to keep it fresh with the latest website design standards. Sometimes this is in coordination with a new domain and domain structure. A website re-design is a great opportunity to re-visit the success of the website and to improve the online marketing strategy.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Kean Graham.

Kean Graham is the CEO of MonetizeMore, an 8-figure ad tech company that is a Google Certified Partner with 100+ full-time team members remotely based across the planet. MonetizeMore was conceived in the mountains of Machu Picchu and has grown to $23M in revenues. Graham has traveled to over 90 countries during the 10 years that he has been growing MonetizeMore.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I originally fell in love with the online industry when working for a large online classified network. The job was an immense learning experience but once the recession hit, the company decided to lay off the marketing department. I lost the best job I ever had but I was determined to turn the bad into something great.

Five days later, I’m on a plane to South America to go on a life changing trip. Four months into my backpacking trip I was on a four-day trek through the incredible Inca trail towards Machu Picchu. By the end of it, I was sitting on top of Wayna Picchu reflecting on my experiences throughout my trip. I have had the most fulfilling time of my life and it finally clicked:

I will work and travel when I want, where I want.

I have to start a digital business to enable this autonomous lifestyle. Seven months later I started the digital business called MonetizeMore which now offers this autonomous lifestyle to every member of our team.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I started the business it was challenging and exciting. I was able to break-even by month five. My first client was an employer that laid me off a year before. I offered them a percentage of the ad revenue increase and was able to make them additional millions. At the time, I was a one-person company and communicated myself as such. Since I communicated the business as just myself, they looked at my company as just an ex-employee. As a result, when I was increasing their ad revenues by over 300% and earning strong commissions, the executives saw this as unjust that an ex-employee was making 4x more than what he used to earn. As a result, they strong-armed a deal with much less commission.

Ultimately, my mistake was not communicating my business as something bigger than just myself. I could have avoided that re-negotiation because it’s reasonable for a larger company to receive large commissions to pay for overhead, technology and employees. Ever since that mistake, I always communicated my business as “we” rather than “I” even when it was just me out of habit!

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

MonetizeMore’s first tipping point was when it broke even at month 5 to become a profitable business. However, MonetizeMore first started seeing the light of scalability in the fourth year when I started hiring team members to be able to handle the surplus of demand. After getting over the training hump, we continued to hire and saw our largest growth % year in our history.

I was convinced that it’s possible to scale a business completely remote and that MonetizeMore had greater potential than I’d ever imagine. If I’d never taken that initial risk to hire team members, MonetizeMore wouldn’t be where it is today and I would still be the bottleneck to the business and my own ideal lifestyle. I’d recommend other solo-preneurs to make this jump when they experience a surplus of demand and are the bottleneck to their business.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Many large publishers that have ad space as a revenue source, have a major pain by having many ad revenue sources that have their own reporting interfaces. In order to find out the ad revenues they made that day and the overall ad revenue performance, most publishers copy and paste the ad revenue stats to an Excel spreadsheet.

We are curing this pain that many publishers experience with a PubGuru feature called unified reporting. Instead of publishers having to assign someone to spend hours on data entry, they can log into an interface to see their real-time ad revenue stats on one dashboard. In addition to this, PubGuru helps ad monetized publishers by solving the below pain points:

– No idea what parts of their publisher business are most profitable: PubGuru’s revenue attribution report provides revenue stats for each traffic source so they can decide where to invest in next.

– Publisher ad inventories tend to break often: PubGuru Ad Inspector crawls their page in real-time and uncovers any ad setup issues and how to fix them.

– No clue how to increase ad revenues: Smart notifications can be found in PubGuru to specifically recommend what to adjust on their site via step-by-step instructions to increase their ad revenues.

– Invalid traffic could destroy their business overnight: Traffic Cop detects and blocks invalid traffic to prevent any ad network account bans and revoked revenues. It also boosts traffic quality to entice bidding from the largest advertisers that watch traffic quality metrics per domain.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Back in 2013/2014 I was overworking myself on a path towards burn out. This was the first serious growth stage of the business. I started hiring full-time team members and training proved to be a significant challenge. I not only had to spend more time in my day training them, I still had to do my normal sales, marketing, operations, ad optimization and accounting tasks to keep the business running smoothly. This was even more important because there were new salaries that had to be paid for so the pressure was mounting.

By 2015, the team was at a more self-sustaining level so I could finally focus on higher level tasks. I was able to engineer myself out of a lot of the day-to-day tasks and could finally achieve a healthy level of work-life balance. If I were to breakdown avoiding burnout and to thrive instead into specific steps while growing a company, they would be:

  • Hire new team members
  • Train each new team member the core of the business
  • While training, record the training material so it can easily be used again for the next hires
  • Establish important teams like marketing, sales, operations, support, accounting/finance and product so these tasks can be delegated
  • Engineer yourself out of the day-to-day by training clients to stop contacting you directly and to delegate high-level problem solving responsibilities to other team members.
  • Turn off all sound and vibration notifications from your phone and computer.
  • Do an efficiency overhaul of your email accounts.
  • Engineer balance into your day-to-day.
  • Recognize symptoms of over-work.
  • Build habits establishing and maintaining balance in your life.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand Marketing: More of a long-term marketing strategy to improve awareness and recall of the brand while purposefully adjusting brand associations to maximize the overall brand value.

Product Marketing: This form of marketing has more of a short-term approach to drive sales of a product. It’s strategy’s goals are to get direct response which involve marketing specific features, promotions and short-term value adds.

To sum up, brand marketing is more of a long-term approach that focuses on the soft-side of marketing while product marketing focuses more on the short-term and can be more easily quantified via short-term sales and leads.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

It’s important to invest in a brand and marketing to develop a long term competitive advantage. This investment builds a valuable brand which leads to greater customer loyalty, ability to charge higher prices, increased sales conversions and greater referral rates via positive word of mouth. As a company invests in a successful branding strategy, it builds a marketing moat that enables growth of the company while securing the current revenues.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

We are actually going through a re-branding of our logo as part of MonetizeMore’s 10th anniversary. We are modernizing our logo and making it more integrateable with each part of our marketing mix. With that said, keeping a brand fresh is an important ongoing focus.

The reason why we’re doing a soft re-brand is to maintain a brand association with MonetizeMore of being cutting edge and modern. Since we’re a tech company, this brand association is key to our success so having a logo that looks old simply doesn’t work. Over a ten-year period, things in the industry change. Market demands change! Therefore, it’s important to have a brand that reflects these changes.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Re-branding is expensive and risky. There have definitely been companies that have hurt their brand by trying to re-brand. Therefore, it’s important that sufficient thought and resources are put into a re-brand so leadership can be confident that the re-brand will yield positive ROI.

I would advise companies that have old and trusted brands that have very high value against re-branding. There’s no reason for them to re-brand if their brand is already strong. Plus, if part of the value of the brand is that semblance of old, wise and trusted then changing the brand would lose that.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Logo Re-brand: Upgrading the logo after many years works well for many companies to keep the logo current and spot-check the brand associations with the logo. It’s good to re-visit it and at least make slight improvements. MonetizeMore is currently going through a logo re-brand as part of our 10th anniversary.
  2. Name Re-brand: Some companies that have bad reputations over-time or because a sudden string of negative events can benefit from a name re-brand. This allows them to start from fresh rather than dealing with the uphill battle of a negatively valued brand. For example, we’ve seen this happen with SumoMe after buying Sumo.com. After the purchase, their name changed to the domain and the Founder leveraged this by creating great content on his podcast about how they went about with the re-brand and what the results were.
  3. Slogan Re-brand: This re-brand is more frequent and common as slogans tend to have a certain lifetime before they are forgotten. This is a great way to gain brand awareness if the slogan catches on and/or to adjust brand associations if successful. You’ll notice big names like McDonalds will come out with new slogans every few years.
  4. Website Re-brand: It’s important to do a website re-design at least every few years to keep it fresh with the latest website design standards. Sometimes this is in coordination with a new domain and domain structure. A website re-design is a great opportunity to re-visit the success of the website and to improve the online marketing strategy. MonetizeMore have done this every 2–3 years.
  5. Holistic Re-brand: Sometimes it’s worth to re-brand everything. This can tend to be the case if there’s a name re-brand because if the re-brand is that necessary then it’s makes sense to re-brand the logo, slogan and website as well. We’ve seen this happen before with oil companies after nasty oil spills that were all over the news.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Back in 1997, the initial name for Google was Backrub. They made a very good choice to adjust it to Google rather than have a name connected to backlinks which was a major differentiation of their search engine. The re-brand was done so well that very few people even know that it used to be called Backrub!

Many businesses start with an unfortunate first name that had little effort put in to come up with it. Once a business starts to get traction, founders tend to put more effort into the name and brand to come up with something better. This is a good lesson for Founders just starting out their business. Don’t worry about name and branding till you get traction but make sure to make the change while the company is still small and agile.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

MonetizeMore is one of the pioneers of location independent businesses. We have proven that it is possible to run an effective business without any offices and over 130 full-time team members. Location and schedule freedom has shown to be competitive advantages for MonetizeMore in an industry where that is rarely offered. As a result, MonetizeMore has been able to acquire incredible talent, minimize turnover, out-innovate competitors and better tailor to international clients.

We can already see effect of the influence of location independent business pioneers like MonetizeMore has had on the technology industry. The trend of remote working has been trending as expectations for in-office work has decreased. I believe in the next ten years when someone mentions a new business, the next common question is: “Is that business location dependent or independent?”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You will never write an extraordinary story until you realize you are the author”

This is an incredible quote because it enables me to enjoy my victories more and bounce back from my failures quickly. For victories, I know that even if there was a bit of perceived luck involved, it was my previous actions to inevitably lead to that event.

For my failures, I am able to learn from them immediately because I take responsibility and reflect on how I could have prevented the negative situation so that it never happens again. From there, I change a good thing into a bad thing by approaching the negative situation from a new clever angle. For example, we were disapproved by Google several years ago and lost millions as a result.

We responded by improving our screening processes, diversifying our revenue streams and creating invalid traffic detection and suppression technology called Traffic Cop to prevent this issue from happening again. As a result, we have re-built the company to be more sustainable and resilient than ever. It ended up being a blessing in disguise!

How can our readers follow you online?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/monetizemore

Facebook: http://facebook.com/MonetizeMore

Google+: http://plus.google.com/+MonetizeMorePosts/

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/monetizemore

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQI2U5c8n9bmEd_rv5K2s9g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monetize_more/

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image With Kean Graham was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Denise Blasevick of…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Denise Blasevick of The S3 Agency

Brandstanding: One way to re-energize a brand is to make it stand for something more — to be part of a bigger, more meaningful picture. To figure out what your brand can authentically stand for in a way that would be relevant to your target market, we recommend answering questions like: What issues keep your customers up at night? What issues keep you up at night? How can your brand impact these issues to improve the customer journey? What can you commit to doing on a long-term basis to make a legitimate, measurable difference? … Not every brand can be a true advocate brand, but every brand can be a thought leader of some sort if they are willing to do what it takes to back it up. Remember, people prefer brands they can buy into vs. just buy.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Denise Blasevick, Co-Founder and CEO of The S3 Agency.

For more than two decades, Denise has been developing groundbreaking creative campaigns for b2c and b2b brands such as BMW of North America, Centenary University, Eight O’Clock Coffee, the National Kitchen & Bath Association, and Tetley Tea. Her creativity and business acumen have been recognized with hundreds of awards, such as induction in the Advertising Hall of Fame of New Jersey and inclusion in NJ’s Best 50 Women in Business, but what drives Denise is helping clients find their brand difference. In addition to heading up strategy at The S3 Agency, Denise enjoys scuba diving, crossword puzzling, and traveling as often as possible with her husband and teenage son.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thank you so much for asking me to be here — and for asking about what brought me to the creative industry. A career in advertising was actually the furthest thing from my mind growing up! Doctor, lawyer — I was pretty sure I was going to be one of those types of professionals. But in hindsight, I should have seen it coming. I’ve always loved solving puzzles (I’m still addicted to the New York Times crossword), and that is really what advertising / marketing is all about. After all, figuring out how to unlock what is special about a brand and then finding effective ways to communicate that to their target audience can be tougher than any escape room, and far more rewarding. After graduating college with my BA in English, I was trying to “find my career” — and as luck would have it, someone I knew who owned an ad agency asked me to fill in for the summer while her receptionist was on maternity leave. I heard the team brainstorming ad concepts for one of their clients, and my puzzle-solving brain met up with my English-studying brain… The next thing I knew, I had a page of ad headlines. I gave them to the owner, she offered me a job as a copywriter, and I accepted on the spot — and I never looked back. My passion was ignited for an industry I had never even seriously considered, and I will be forever grateful.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

A few years after starting The S3 Agency, we were hired by a major automotive brand to launch a new car model. They wanted something unusual, and the experiential concept we came up took place on beaches across the country. We hired the Guinness Book sand sculpting record-holders to create enormous 25-foot sandcastles — virtual sandcastle car dealers, if you will — so that we could surround them with cars, games, etc. (They were really cool events — and very effective for driving awareness and sales.) While we were smart enough to hire a security guard to “watch the castle” overnight, we didn’t realize how tempting the giant structure would be — and the first night, a large group of kids attacked the castle! There was no way one guard could fend them all off…and we had to get out there before sunrise to get everything “shored up” in time for the event opening. Against all odds, the team pulled together and made it happen — and obviously we beefed up our security detail for the rest of the tour. I can laugh about it now (and I can hear Billy Crystal saying, “Have fun storming the castle!” in the movie, The Princess Bride), but that day there was nothing funny about it.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

Great question. We were one of the first creative agencies to embrace social media — which helped give us, as well as our clients, a competitive advantage. It was a very “wild west” kind of world back then, filled with opportunity. Opportunity still abounds, continuously presenting new ways for brands to succeed. Given the rapid rate of change in our industry, I think the goal should be constantly thinking about the next tipping point: which areas offer the best potential investment for benefitting both client and agency? Figuring out what new technologies, channels, etc. make the most sense to add to the mix — and what should potentially be dropped — is the a strong path to maintaining brand fitness.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are always working on exciting projects, that’s what keeps my creative adrenaline racing! When we work with brands to discover their strategic point of differentiation — and then bring that differentiation to life via creative campaigns — we are helping create alignment within the organization. That sort of clarity is incredibly helpful to every member of the client’s team, to our team, and to the marketplace who now will have a much clearer understanding of who the client is and whether or not the brand might be a match for their needs. Just today, the launch campaign for a client rebrand went live — and it is completely differentiating within their industry. We feel honored every day for the opportunity to be able to help brands break through at this foundational level.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Get out from behind the computer. Look up from your phone. Experience as many different things as you can. Talk to people — lots of them — from all walks of life. Yes, learn as much as you can about your industry, all the time, but to get the bigger picture ideas you need to let more of the world in. When we conceived of an AR-triggered virtual escape room to help a coffee company connect with a new audience, the idea didn’t come from a marketing conference — it came from real world experiences blending with creativity and marketing expertise. In addition to getting out there to gather up the influences, I am a big believer in taking the time to look inside. I meditate each morning, a time investment that benefits me both by reducing stress and, sometimes, by generating some very interesting ideas from deep in the well…

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Ideally your product marketing grows out of and supports your brand marketing — and your brand marketing should set the stage for your product marketing. So they shouldn’t feel wildly different. Product marketing often will be more tactical in nature. But other than pushing a discount or sale, it should still be rooted in the brand. For instance, if a special feature is taking center stage, how does that feature reflect the brand? Is it driven by safety, innovation, ease of use or some other brand tenet? Tying that in will make product marketing work harder.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

If you don’t have a strong brand, you compete solely on price and features — and relegating your company to commodity status can be the fastest race to the bottom. It gives people no reason to be loyal, which can negatively impact lifetime customer value. A brand represents much more than advertising and marketing. A brand is more than a logo or a tagline. A brand is everything that makes up the customer experience. For an automotive brand, this includes the ads consumers see; the manufacturer’s heritage; the buying and service interactions at the dealer; the impression it makes on others; the day-to-day driving experience of the car itself; things people hear in the news and on social media; and so much more. People will pay more for — and have higher loyalty to — a strong brand. We will buy more from brand they can really buy into.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

First let’s address what rebranding means. Rebranding doesn’t have to mean changing your name or your logo — and changing just your logo and tagline alone doesn’t qualify as a true rebrand. Why would a company consider rebranding? When a brand finds itself losing power, if market share is declining (or not growing as quickly as they “should”), or if they are competing solely on price, it’s probably time for a rebrand. It also may be time for a rebrand if a company is looking to aggressively grow beyond the offerings / industries for which it is currently known.

Here are four big reasons to consider a rebrand:

  • Company Pivot: in terms of products or services, lines of business, audiences, or geographies.
  • Relevance (or lack thereof): changes in audience attitudes, society, customer needs
  • Commodity Status: competing without differentiation in a crowded marketplace
  • Technology/Innovations: significant improvement in a product / service, the way customers purchase or interact with it, or its delivery

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There can be a downside to anything, and if a rebrand isn’t done well — and communicated well — it can be a failure. Take consumer packaged goods, for instance. When people are shopping in the grocery store, they want to get in and out. Fast. If there is a major change to the packaging for a product they usually buy, and there is no significant, sustained communication campaign to inform them and remind consumers about the change (and the reasoning behind it), they may not recognize the product on shelf. That may lead consumers to look past their former favorite and consider a competitor. Or it may cause confusion, leaving consumers wondering if the product has changed — and if so, how?

If the rebrand doesn’t have any real purpose other than vanity, if it’s really just a change in name/logo only, what’s the point? Find a good reason and communicate it, otherwise you may be spending money unwisely. People are savvy, and chances are high that people may see through the change and question the motives behind it.

If heritage is your only real meaningful differentiator, then hang on to your current brand. A legacy brand we worked with decided to radically change the look of its packaging — and it was a fairly iconic look that had been around for more than a century. The backlash from consumers was enormous, with people claiming that the brand had taken away their connection to previous generations, recalling their memories of seeing their parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents using the product in the historic packaging. Needless to say, the “new” packaging did not last very long…

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Brandstanding: One way to re-energize a brand is to make it stand for something more — to be part of a bigger, more meaningful picture. To figure out what your brand can authentically stand for in a way that would be relevant to your target market, we recommend answering questions like: What issues keep your customers up at night? What issues keep you up at night? How can your brand impact these issues to improve the customer journey? What can you commit to doing on a long-term basis to make a legitimate, measurable difference? When we branded SipChip, the most accurate drink-testing device on the market, our efforts went far beyond simply naming the device. That’s because SipChip is doing much more than testing drinks for roofies — they are combatting the need for their own product to exist by empowering people to take control over their own safety. Not every brand can be a true advocate brand, but every brand can be a thought leader of some sort if they are willing to do what it takes to back it up. Remember, people prefer brands they can buy into vs. just buy.
  2. Go Long on Shortcomings: Every brand has shortcomings that marketers generally strive to bury, whether by ignoring, downplaying or deflecting away from the perceived problem area. The idea of embracing a brand’s flaws, however, can be quite endearing — and it can earn trust from the intended audience, especially in this age of authenticity. One of the best examples of flaw magnification dates back to the 1960s: Avis was second place in the rental car race, behind category leader Hertz. Rather than shy away from this, Avis’s agency (Doyle Dane Bernbach) made their silver medal status the hero of the ad campaign, using it as a way to promote their attention to customer service. “When you’re only №2, you try harder.” The “We Try Harder” approach caught consumers off guard, as well as Hertz, and Avis captured more and more market share.
  3. Be New to Someone. Legacy brands often find themselves feeling like underdogs because, well, the bloom is off the rose. That can be an internal perception, as well as a perception by those who already know about the brand. The reality is that they can be new to someone — a new target demographic, geographic, psychographic — and rather than trying to overcome lingering perceptions that may no longer be accurate, the stronger refresh strategy may targeting those who are not yet familiar with your brand. This is the approach we took with Turtle Back Zoo, a NJ zoo that transformed itself from a “local zoo” to a world class facility that earned the coveted AZA accreditation — meeting the same high standards of care, conservation and education as respected institutions like the San Diego Zoo. When Turtle Back Zoo reopened, there were significant campaigns targeting NJ residents — but the attendance simply wasn’t strong. Why? The lingering perception of what the brand used to be precluded belief in what the brand now claimed to be. When the zoo came to us for help, we chose to focus on building awareness of the refreshed brand to a new audience: we went national instead of local. The national media was very receptive to having a new source of expertise — and when local residents saw this backyard resource featured at that level, feelings of mistrust turned to belief and pride. Attendance has increased more than 10x, and there is even an exhibit dedicated to The S3 Agency. (That was a first for us!)
  4. Own What Your Competitor Can’t. When looking at your brand’s potential assets, it’s important to consider anything you have that your major competitor can’t (and never will be able to) claim. This may yield an asset that your target market is already inclined to believe is a significant differentiator — or can be — and it ensures your brand will be identified with something your competitor cannot emulate. Take Tetley Tea, a brand that has been around longer than any of us have. When we began working with Tetley, we learned that they were actually a British brand — something most Americans did not know (including me, despite the fact that I drink tea all day, every day). What Americans do know, though, is that the Brits love their tea. That meant our Britishness could give us a credibility trump card that the primary competitor, an American brand, could never play. It also gave us an authentic point of expertise from which to speak, which is why the TODAY Show featured Tetley’s tea master on the day before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding.
  5. Go the Other Way. What should you do when your brand or product bucks the trend? Own it. Again, I find myself referencing another decades-old campaign from the legendary Doyle Dayne Bernbach here, and that’s because their work for VW was a game changer. How could they introduce the VW Beetle, a small, cheap, quirky (and, to many, ugly) car to 1950s America, where cars that were large were very much in charge? Go all in on going the other way. If you haven’t heard of the Think Small campaign, do yourself a favor and read about it. The short of it: they went big on being small, owning it in a way that was emotionally convincing, almost a movement starter. This approach really worked for VW, and it’s definitely worth considering for a brand refresh — if the brand had the ability (and the stomach) to be truly revolutionary.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I’ve enjoyed watching Dunkin’ evolve their brand identity over the years. When they got their start, the brand was all about the donuts. As time went on and America’s habits changed, DD saw that coffee (not donuts) was the big draw in the morning, and they created the tagline, “America runs on Dunkin,’” specifically leaving out the “Donuts.” Now, after years of introducing other foods to the menu, including some healthier options, they have officially dropped the “Donuts” from their name. Yes, Dunkin’ still has donuts, but it is clear that what originally built the brand’s reputation is now a sideline to their main focus. What impresses me about this transformation is the clear understanding of how to change to maintain modern relevancy — and the brand bravery to completely remove the attention on their historical focus. While the logo update may not seem like a radical departure — simply keeping the “Dunkin” in orange and adding the “donut pink” color to the apostrophe — it actually shows a tremendous amount of brand power. The further abbreviated “DNKN” usage on cups speaks to a level of brand confidence that is truly impressive. To other brands who are looking to refresh, it may be worth considering the Dunkin’ approach of keeping what was working and modernizing along the way. A logo is not a brand: keep your brand fresh and your logo reflective of your brand.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

After reading a book called A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen, I realized just how much I was allowing myself to get annoyed by little things — and complain about them. I also realized how easily I fell into joining others when they complain. While it can feel good in the moment, engaging in this type of negativity actually makes us feel bad. So my husband, son and I embarked on a strong effort to reduce complaining at home. I then attended a learning event from Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and learned how complaining impedes problem solving, and I brought that concept to my leadership team to help us find a healthier way to deal with frustrations. While I’m far from complaint-free, I am making strides — and on days where the complaints are down, my positivity and productivity are up. Hopefully reading this will help someone else get started on the journey of breaking the complaint chain!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

This is my personal philosophy when it comes to partnerships of any kind: we can point fingers or we can hold hands. Too often I find that the “CYA” culture leads us to point fingers at each other when there is a problem, which moves the focus away from solving and toward defending ourselves. Whether it’s internally with our team at The S3 Agency, or externally with clients or vendors, the best results always, always, always come from when we trust that both sides are working together. There will always be issues that arise — we are all human, the world is constantly changing, and we are trying new things on a daily basis. But if we believe in the best about each other, we will get the best from each other. (The same is true at home!)

How can our readers follow you online?

I’d love to see you all on Twitter (@AdvertGirl) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseblasevick/), and please check out my agency at theS3agency.com!

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Denise Blasevick of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line with Rousseau Kazi

Access to better talent: Our focus on diversity has allowed us to hire incredible people at Threads, as they were referred by others from under-represented backgrounds. When you have a reputation for creating a safe environment for all individuals, you’re able to access double the recruiting pool and you can hire more, ship more and compound faster. I take every opportunity to brag about the amazing individuals we have working at Threads and how much better they’ve made our company culture and our product.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rousseau Kazi.

Rousseau Kazi is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Threads, a platform that makes work more inclusive. Kazi founded Threads on the premise of empowering individuals to do their best work and ultimately, make better decisions as a team. Prior to Threads, Kazi worked as a product leader at Facebook for 6 years, where in the first year he simultaneously graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science.

Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Absolutely! My name is Rousseau Kazi and I’m the CEO of Threads. I’m the son of Bangladeshi immigrants and I grew up in a town called Moreno Valley, located in Southern California. Before I started Threads, I worked at Facebook for six years building my way up to product leader. I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science during my first year working at Facebook. For the rest of my time there, I spent years growing the search product, supported their transition to mobile and helped to lead the “hackathon culture” that resulted in products like Instagram’s Hyperlapse and others. More than anything else though, I learned a lot about how to lead projects, manage a team and many other relevant skills that transferred over into being a CEO.

Outside of work, I really enjoy comedy, and have found that being able to make others laugh is something I’ll never take for granted. I’m a fan of comic books and manga (a Japanese style of comic books/graphic novels), and also like to pick up my guitar every once in a while.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

While there are plenty of funny stories I could tell, I believe sharing something interesting here would be more helpful for budding entrepreneurs.

I started Threads with three of my friends, two of whom I met through work. Part of the impetus for starting Threads was that we noticed how hard it can be for women, minorities and lower-level employees to share their ideas at work, especially at large companies. We began with the goal to make that communication easier. When we started the funding process, my co-founders and I understood that our choice of investors would ultimately impact who we ended up recruiting, so we wanted good representation in the mix. It’s important to note that the people involved on this journey up until that point were men, so we knew we were lacking in female representation, perspective, etc. We had all of these factors in mind — in addition to the importance of sticking to our core mission of keeping diversity of thought at the root of our company — when we committed to a 50/50 gender cap in our first round of financing. For us, it’s all about being inclusive, because at the end of the day, we’re building a product for the world. Diverse investments lead to diverse teams, and diverse teams lead to better business outcomes.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The work communications market is massive — to some degree, even larger than we expected — and it’s generating so many tools in this realm. The articles, conversations, investments and general chatter around it are growing daily. So, in general, I think what makes Threads stand out is our timing within our particular market.

The beauty of being in the work communications industry is that we live and breathe our product every day. Our culture and product are two sides of the same coin. Our tool is a platform for behavior and at its core, it’s about discussions, decisions, supporting others, listening, arguing and everything in between. We are coding what will shape up to be the next meeting room and we’re building our platform to incentivize inclusive behavior. We believe Threads will be a product that rewards diverse points of view.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

We’re seeing a lot of demand from larger companies, which in turn is forcing us to build out new features, focus on certain parts of our business and ultimately build a stronger product.

While I can’t share details of what we’re working on, I can say that it will make our platform smoother and easier to use for everyone, which serves our end goal. We’re constantly taking customer feedback and priorities into consideration as we continue to update and iterate on our product especially as the needs of the workplace constantly change. We know Threads users are going to find it as instinctive to use as we do, and we’re hoping that through the use of this tool, a larger number of diverse voices will be heard at work, which will make the companies we work with churn out better product, too, in the long run.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

So much of being a good leader boils down to creating an environment where people can do their best work — an environment where people feel heard, things are finite and support is present. Leaders need to understand that making their priorities clear for their company, product, new update, project or whatever it may be, will only compound over time, and building great teams and conditions under which they can thrive is key. Catalyst leaders are those who are worthless when their team isn’t there, but are priceless when they are.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders about how to manage a large team?

As a company grows, it becomes harder for everyone to stay on the same page. It becomes more difficult for your voice to cut through the noise and it also becomes harder for your team to feel like they can approach you with issues. To take a proactive approach to tackling this, invest in a communication structure. Create processes that work both bottom up and top down and make it a top priority to understand points of weakness, even if that means breaking these processes down.

This may be obvious to you, but it is not intuitive to many people. Can you articulate to our readers five ways that increased diversity can help a company’s bottom line? (Please share a story or example for each)

  1. Access to better talent: Our focus on diversity has allowed us to hire incredible people at Threads, as they were referred by others from under-represented backgrounds. When you have a reputation for creating a safe environment for all individuals, you’re able to access double the recruiting pool and you can hire more, ship more and compound faster. I take every opportunity to brag about the amazing individuals we have working at Threads and how much better they’ve made our company culture and our product.
  2. Make better decisions: You need full context in order to make the best decisions for your business and having a diverse team is the only way to get that context. It doesn’t matter if everyone at the company agrees on something if that something isn’t beneficial for your larger market. For example, we’ve started talking about integrating ESL into the product much sooner than we anticipated because we have people from different backgrounds who are ESL speakers themselves, and have in turn helped to foster a culture of greater awareness.
  3. Better product development: Empathizing with people at all different levels helps you build a better product. One of our most-used features, “Follow up”, was suggested by our first designer, who felt overwhelmed by the number of threads she needed to catch up on. We ended up building it out — an option you can click to notify your teams that you’ve seen the thread and plan to follow up, even if you haven’t done so yet — and it’s now one of the major differentiators of our platform.
  4. Better culture: When you’re in a group of homogenous people you risk creating a toxic environment — you have a very limited point of view, and you can bring out the worst in a group that reflects your own experience. On the flip side, when there’s a melting pot and you’re forced to think about the larger group of people with vastly different experiences than your own, you’re better able to bring out the best in everyone and create a much more caring environment.

Something else we do at Threads to foster a more well-rounded culture is encourage an environment that’s open about mental health — we cover 4 therapy sessions a month for our employees. When you hire great people with a variety of experiences and want them to thrive, a big part of that is creating a culture that makes those people feel safe.

Personal growth: When chatting with diverse groups that have different experiences than your own you’re going to learn a lot — they notice things you won’t. The world is diverse and distributed, and having a vast array of experiences and backgrounds will help you become a leader for the world; not just a small subset. I’ve learned so much from working with the Threads team, and I know I’ll continue to do so as we grow together.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Let me start by saying that a lot of my success comes from my team, the people I surround myself with every day. One thing that comes to mind is when I was invited to an event with a group of CEOs. I accepted the invitation a few weeks out and the day of the event, I received a list of the other CEOs who would be in attendance. Upon reviewing the list, I noticed that there would be no women present, which is something that both as a leader at Threads and personally, I am not comfortable with. I ended up declining the invitation and offered to make introductions to women leaders in my network, which was very graciously received from the other end.

Instances like this make you realize that sometimes people need to be pushed in the right direction. And if you can be the one to do that for them, to help them grow a little bit more, you’re helping to change the world.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“The history of mathematics is a history of horrendously difficult problems being solved by young people too ignorant to know that they were impossible.” — Freeman Dyson

For context, Freeman Dyson is a respected theoretical physicist and mathematician who originated multiple concepts that bear his name today.

This quote is all about believing in making the impossible possible. We see this idea reflected in so many important conversations happening in our world today — around climate change, technology and human rights, for example. While the majority will always say something is impossible, all it takes is a handful — or even one — person who believes it’s possible to change the world forever.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

Someone I am very grateful for is my older sister, Sumaya. She founded her own company and was really a trailblazer for me when it came to starting mine. Sumaya supported my initial startup ideas when I was 14 and has continued to foster them every step of the way. She helped me get into tech and watching the way she handled creating her business affected the way I created my own. The challenges she faced inspired the ideal that became core to my company — encouraging, empowering and lending a voice to women and underrepresented minorities and individuals in business. I wouldn’t have the career I have today and I certainly wouldn’t be the person I am today without her.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this!

I would love to have a meal with Donald Glover, better known to some as Childish Gambino. He’s a modern-day Renaissance man: writer, actor, author, rapper, social justice leader. He crosses so many boundaries and is great at it all — a rarity today. I’d love to learn his secret.

How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line with Rousseau Kazi was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, With Alyssa Patmos

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Brands with influence, take a stance. They don’t add to the noise; they create buzz because they have opinions that shape the industry and consistently add value for consumers. This is especially true if your product or service lacks a sense of urgency, give people another reason to jump on your bandwagon. Billie, the woman’s subscription razor company does an excellent job of this when they boldly claim, “Fact: Women and men shave differently” on their homepage.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Alyssa Patmos.

Alyssa Patmos has helped quadruple sales for start-ups with her curated brand strategies and now helps women bet on themselves by designing businesses they love. In addition, Alyssa is the creator of Make it Mentionable, an upcoming summit where she and 10 other entrepreneurs are diving deep into the things that no one talks about while building businesses.

When she’s not challenging companies to go beyond traditional marketing tactics, you can find this NLP certified coach pretending she’s on a cooking show in her kitchen with an empty peanut butter cup wrapper sitting on the counter. Who says dessert can’t come before dinner?

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

It’s really three things that brought me to this point in my brand strategy business. 1). Knowing when to quit. In 2015, I dropped out of a Ph.D. program, and it was the best decision I ever made. 2). Investing in the right learning at the right time. When someone asked if I could design a logo, I said yes and figured it out. I still remember the first time I sat down with Adobe Illustrator tutorials. When someone I freelanced for needed a media kit, I researched and turned one around (it also brought me a client six years later). When that same person asked if I designed websites, I took the time to learn WordPress. When a healthcare company asked if I could write copy for their app, I jumped at the opportunity and started stalking Laura Belgray. This isn’t to say you need to know how to do everything, but I was willing to learn and to say yes over and over, and eventually, that led to me figuring out what I love doing. 3). Very loving and generous mentors who saw curiosity in me starting at 18 and gave me outlets to channel it.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

This isn’t really a mistake but a funny story. One of my first marketing strategies had nothing to do with an online presence. Instead, it was allowing the chance for what I’ve come to call professional eavesdropping. I’d work in coffee shops and seek out opportunities to strike up conversations. One day, a guy sitting next to me had been somewhat obviously looking at my computer screen. When he noticed that I had seen, he asked what I was working on. Within a matter of minutes, he was pulling up his company site, I was giving him messaging suggestions, and then before I knew it, he had set up a meeting for me to meet with the co-founders of the company. They’ve now been a client for four years.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

One of the more significant “tipping points” came when I began questioning the rules of marketing. When I started taking proven strategies as suggestions that could be molded instead of needing to be followed to a “T”, things began to change. As I got more and more comfortable expressing myself and questioning norms, I was better able to help my clients take the bold points of view necessary to build a great brand.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’m working on two exciting projects right now. I’m going to tell you about both of them because I’m not sure I can choose which is the most exciting. The first is a digital summit I’ll be launching in May called Make it Mentionable. I’ll be interviewing 10 business owners on taboo topics people rarely talk about in business. I can’t wait to reveal what the topics will be.

The other is a project with a client in the healthcare space. They’re helping define what patient engagement means in the market, and we’re about to launch a podcast to dive deep into that discussion with providers, policymakers, and patients.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Boundaries are key. But not just boundaries with clients or work hours though those are incredibly important. I’m also talking about boundaries with what information you consume. Sometimes, as marketers, we become obsessed with reading the latest tips, techniques, and strategies of campaigns that have worked or the people at the top of our industry, but that can kill creativity, and when that happens, exhaustion is lingering just around the corner. Protecting your creativity is key to both thriving and avoiding burnout.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

I love this question because there’s often confusion around these two things. I like to take it back one step further and start with brand strategy. Your brand strategy should come right after the business strategy. Many people often think of branding as your logo, fonts, colors — the visual identity of the brand. But your brand strategy includes so much more. It also includes foundational elements like your core values, mission, competition, culture, and offerings.

Brand building activities, or brand marketing as you’re referring to it here is what we do to build trust and brand equity. Specific brand building initiatives can consist of thought leadership articles, story-driven web copy, your onboarding experience, your employee experience, and your customer experience to name a few.

Product marketing or advertising, on the other hand, is how people find you. If you think of an iceberg, product marketing is the flag on top, it’s how you draw people to you. Product marketing usually consists of highly persuasive and targeted messages that exploit the brand equity you’ve built for immediate sales.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Let me ask you a question, are you more likely to buy from someone you like who you know shares similar values, loves giving back as much as you do, and who’s transparent? Or, are you more likely to buy from someone who’s always trying to sell you on their latest product and doesn’t seem to know anything about you?

If you’re like most people, you’re more likely to buy from the first one.

The thing about money is that every time we go to spend it, we have a choice who to spend it with. Why not make people feel great when they choose to spend it with you? That’s the power of branding. You can transcend being a commodity and become an experience.

People buy from companies and people they know, like, and trust. Marketing and advertising efforts typically exploit trust rather than build it, which is why investing in brand building activities is so important.

People can sniff out sales messaging from a mile away. Investing in building a brand is what leads to lasting relationships with customers, premium pricing, and the greatest marketing of all — word of mouth referrals. When you invest in building a brand, you build brand equity, which you can then use during active launch/selling cycles.

My friend Clay from Map and Fire recently researched the Google Trends of the terms brand and marketing. He noted that in 2004 the search for marketing dominated searches for brand. But today, the opposite is true.

This is just one indicator that investing in your brand is one of the smartest growth strategies. More and more consumers are looking for relationships with companies rather than merely being on the receiving end of marketing messages.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

There are all sorts of reasons companies might consider rebranding, but here are my top three reasons.

1). If the direction of the company is shifting, and they need to build or affirm relationships with buyers.

2). If a company wants to shift how they’re perceived in the market to repair or increase trust (and they’re ready to do the work of a complete rebrand, not just launch a new and fancier logo).

3). If the company culture needs to transform.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

One downside is the high cost. Rebranding is much more than jazzing up your logo and typeface and the cost to manage updates to ensure a cohesive rebrand can be high. Another potential downside is that change isn’t always easy. The best brands are lived out both internally and externally, so a company undergoing a rebrand must be prepared to think about change management in terms of their customers and their internal culture.

If a company thinks a brand makeover is simply overhauling its visual identity with a new logo and typeface, they’re likely not ready for a rebrand. Your brand is not your logo, it’s a symbol and symbols need meaning. Companies need to be willing to invest the time in the complete strategy of a rebrand, not just the look and feel. It may help to think of it this way. If you want more energy, do you just change your clothes and voila you instantly feel motivated? Probably not. It’s more likely you fuel up with a snack, maybe take a nap, then change your clothes. If you only replace your logo and font, it’s like changing your clothes when you’re tired to get more energy.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

1). Know who you are.

Your brand is what people perceive about your company. If you want to re-energize your brand, you have to be clear on who you are as a company so that you can help shape the perception in the market. Revisit your core values, your mission, your vision, and your offerings. Conduct an internal survey to understand why your people choose to work for your organization. REI is a great example of a company that knows who they are.

2). Stand for something.

Brands with influence, take a stance. They don’t add to the noise; they create buzz because they have opinions that shape the industry and consistently add value for consumers. This is especially true if your product or service lacks a sense of urgency, give people another reason to jump on your bandwagon. Billie, the woman’s subscription razor company does an excellent job of this when they boldly claim, “Fact: Women and men shave differently” on their homepage.

3). Evaluate how much of your efforts are spent on sales activation versus brand building activities.

It’s so easy to think only in terms of short-term sales and to allocate a large portion of the budget to marketing and advertising when you’re under pressure to perform quarterly. But more and more consumers are interested in having a relationship with the companies they buy from, and to foster the type of community consumers are craving, companies must spend significantly more time creating opportunities that allow for those relationships to form. Take Trader Joe’s for example, one of the top-rated grocers in the United States. When onboarding new employees, they’re far less concerned with training them on the point of sale, instead they take new employees out on the floor and train them how to interact with customers. They care more about the experience which ends up showing in the sales.

4). Focus on how you’re making people feel across all channels — both internally and externally.

To re-energize a brand, you have to be willing to look at brand as an experience and something that pulses throughout the entire organization. If your people aren’t happy it’s likely your customers aren’t happy either. When you focus on your employee experience, you have the opportunity to turn employees into fantastic brand ambassadors. That alone can bring renewed energy to an organization.

5). Invest in creativity & communication.

I’m a firm believer that creativity is an asset, not a liability within organizations. Yet so often, creativity is only acknowledged in the marketing department even though there are engineers down the hall making art with code. We’re all creative. Investing in creative thinking and permitting people to propose bold ideas and off-the-wall suggestions is the exact type of energy a company needs if they’re considering a rebrand. General Electric saw the direct impact investing in creativity can have on the business after they put a two year in-house creativity training in place and saw a 60% increase in patentable concepts.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Delta has done a fantastic job of rebranding. I remember hearing a joke growing up about Delta standing for Doesn’t Ever Leave The Airport. That’s not the reputation you want in the transportation industry. Now, however, Delta is the top-ranked airline in the US. And it’s not because of a visual overhaul. While they did give the look and feel of the brand a facelift with a new logo and updated uniforms, they did much more below the surface that set a new tone both internally and externally — and it all started with the culture. They got creative with their employee profit-sharing program and became obsessed with their customer experience.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

That’s easy. Make it Mentionable. It’s the name of my upcoming summit series for a reason, I believe (like the wonderful Fred/Mr. Rogers) that whatever we can mention, we can manage. When we have the space to get out of our head and evaluate our thoughts out loud, they become manageable. I believe this is paramount for personal satisfaction and brand building.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Tell the negative committee that meets in your head to sit down and shut up.” When I was 12, my dad gave me a book of leadership quotes. I remember flipping through the pages and stumbling upon this one. It’s stuck with me ever since. So much of business (and life) is how we perceive it. This quote is a daily reminder that we have the choice not to believe all of our thoughts, which is immensely freeing and helps me work through stuck points with greater ease.

How can our readers follow you online?

I share my best stories and tips through email. You can sign up at alyssapatmos.com/sign-up or say hi on Instagram @alysssapatmos.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, With Alyssa Patmos was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Isaac Rosenberg of Compass

GRIT is an overall mentality. Life is a mental game! If you don’t ever quit you don’t ever lose. There are people who have nothing but are happy, the only way to do that is “Grit” or by being mentally strong.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Isaac Rosenberg.

Isaac Rosenberg was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and always had a dream of working with tall buildings. After just two years and over 200 transactions in the NYC market, Isaac decided to join Compass, a technology-driven real estate company. When Isaac is not working he enjoys staying active and fit by starting his day in the gym and enjoys bike rides on the Hudson.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path?

Of course, so glad to be here! Since I was a little kid I always loved tall buildings! I always wondered who lives on the top floor? What are the views like from there? About 5 years ago I was hired by a commercial real estate lender to help grow his business, which lead me to look at real estate deals and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”

Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

I think the journey never stops; we always face hardships along the way. I always compare initial hardships and fears to the first day/week/month of any job I ever had. When I started in real estate all my colleagues asked me “How did you get so lucky to get that client or get that deal” The answer was always… when you went to the beach… when you took two days off… when you decided you needed a break cause things weren’t going well, I kept working and working, 12 hour days 7 days a week for months on months cause I knew what was on the other side of all that work! I once heard a line from Grant Cardone, “The harder I work the luckier I get” (I play that over and over in my head).

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

What’s my alternative? It feels so much better when it was hard to get! I think about it just like I think about fitness, NO PAIN NO GAIN if it was easy everyone would do it! I fear not living up to my true potential.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

I don’t think we ever reach “success” I just think we get better at pushing through. My workouts in the gym today are 10x as hard as it was when I started in the gym but I’m just as exhausted at the end. Grit gets you to the next level!

Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)

1) GRIT is an overall mentality.

Life is a mental game! If you don’t ever quit you don’t ever lose. There are people who have nothing but are happy, the only way to do that is “Grit” or by being mentally strong.

2) Mental Toughness Teaches GRIT

We believe everything we tell ourselves if we tell ourselves something long enough you will believe it. I decided to tell myself I am mentally tough and nothing can stop me. I decided to tell myself that I’m happy! I now believe that!

3) Fitness Teaches GRIT

David Goggins says that humans give up when they are only 40% of our real strength. I believe most normal people give up way before 40%, I think the people Goggins hangs with give up at 40% and they are the top percent of athletes or navy seals, and I always work to push myself to be in that top percent.

4) Dedication to Diet Teaches GRIT

I started a vegan diet just so I can prove to myself I can do anything I set my mind to.

5) Dedication to Health and Wellness Teaches GRIT

I quit drinking or any foreign substance 4 years ago cold turkey and still haven’t had any just to prove to myself that I don’t need it to make me feel good.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?

So many to choose from… but also none that I think overall changed anything. I learned along the years that you can never count on anyone because no one owes you anything, and if you wait for it, it will never come; if and when it comes you are grateful for it.

I’m always grateful for my family (who didn’t help my career). If I had to choose one person real estate related I would say, Joseph Friedman who was the COO at Nooklyn (the first real estate firm I worked at), he did help me, but I worked my ass off to get his attention and to prove to him I was worth it.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m not sure, I always want to give back and impact people in a positive way but I haven’t done enough yet since you have to ask me this question.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Absolutely! I think any time you help someone find a home, be it a 12-month rental or a home they buy that they will live in for years to come, helping them find the right home and make the process as easy as possible always helps! There are a few other exciting projects in the pipeline that I can’t talk about yet.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I listen to Gary Vee (Gary Vaynerchuk) a lot; he has taught me so much. The most important thing(s) I’ve learned from him is that we each have our own journeys and life is not a race. I’ve also learned from him to not judge others, but to try to understand them. I think that’s an important message, we need to be more caring and understanding with each other, but also on the same note… I don’t like when people complain or are “victims” but are not willing to put in the work to change their situation. But on the same note, I understand that we are all on our own journeys and you never know what might be holding someone back.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Everything you want is right outside of your comfort zone” — Anonymous

I know that in order to grow in life I have to step outside of my comfort zone; if it were easy everyone would do it.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@TheIsaacRosenberg on Instagram or Isaac Rosenberg on any other platform.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Thank you for having me! Your questions inspired me!

Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Isaac Rosenberg of Compass was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: “Know your story and make it relatable” with Edoria Ridzmann of Villa Finder

Know your story and make it relatable. It would be best if people cared about your rebrand…so make them pay attention. Hopefully it’s a story that resonates!

For us, we expanded into new destinations based on the demand from our customers. So instead of having different websites and brands for separate destinations, we decided that it would benefit our customers more to have one platform where they could find all our destinations on, as well as for them to speak on one company about any destination and still receive the same expert advice.

When we announced our re-brand, we focused on how our services were now better at serving customer needs and where we were expanding our services to.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Edoria Ridzmann the Digital Marketing and Communications Manager of Villa Finder.

As the gatekeeper of an APAC vacation rental brand, she has the tricky task of weaving the right words and ideas to spark inspirational travel for both families and young adults, while making sure accommodation at villas trump hotels, every single time. Originally from an agency background, she has led successful performance marketing campaigns for clients like Klook, Canon and Meltwater.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Living in different parts of SEA, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the region, parts of europe and australasia, and while it was exciting learning about new cultures and places, what always fascinated me was how communal marketing seemed to be, no matter where in the world. What I mean by this is that I noticed how people were always keen and active in responding to marketing that spoke to the heart and the everyday stuff.

No matter where in the world, people buy into brand stories and the company/solution itself becomes part of a shared experience. Whether it’s a family owned restaurant, design software (looking at you canva) or artisanal chocolate, I knew that I wanted to be in a team where telling the story is as important as the service itself.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Embarrassing and painful as it is, I once approved email marketing copy (that was sent out to a really big database) that was meant for a beach destination, for a snow destination. Imagine, “sunny days ahead for your tan” against the backdrop of Japan’s famous Mount Yotei. Not very funny but it did teach me to always double, triple, and obsessively check copy before sending it out.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

When the marketing strategies I was mapping out had to include separate “trendy” campaigns for a different age group- we had a big base of 30–50 year olds booking with us but not many 20–30 year olds- I knew that we were doing something right to attract new audiences.

But the team had to work with a small budget to serve out conversion campaigns that suited both our new and existing audiences. While we had garnered interest from a group that we had been looking to acquire, we realised that we hadn’t accounted for stretching our budget to execute our ideas.

We had to decide which group to spend more time and money on; we decided on our new audiences in the end, but eventually learnt that we could weight our campaigns depending on which phase the audience was in. We learnt that there were ways to stretch our budget and still achieve a desired outcome for both audiences.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes! Last year we launched a locally curated guidebook with exclusive discounts for our Bali guests- we handpicked every restaurant and spa based on our own experience. We did this because we found that although there is a LOT of information online about where to go, what to eat or do, there were still gaps around family friendly advice and options- gaps which our core family audience, was missing. Especially when it came to locally recommended options.

This initiative has been well-received by our restaurant/spa/activity partners with many more wanting to get onboard. As the guidebook has also helped our concierge team advise our guests on where to go, we’re looking to replicate the Bali guidebook of offers for our other popular destinations- a valuable guide that isn’t just another “top 10 places to visit in Phuket”

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Find your tribe! Understand which audience needs your utmost attention and prioritise from there. Everyone can seem important when your service can be used by just about every age group, but it pays to be selective. When you know audience A is higher in number than audience B, weight more content and campaigns to serve A compared to B, C, and D.

Make a list of what is NOT important. Decide on customers or things you don’t want to pursue because it takes too much time out of your regular team meetings. Most marketers can get stuck because there’s a lot of back and forth about what could be valuable but in reality, it’s not nearly as important enough for you to devote your time to. Make decisions about what are the things you don’t do, and stick to it.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

From Villa Finder’s point of view, our product may be great villas in great locations with great in-villa service but it is only through branding that a customer comes to understand the value of our service.

Brand marketing educates a customer that Villa Finder handpicks and inspects all their villas in 28 destinations and can help you plan your holidays free of charge.

Product marketing gives a customer a selection of villas that suit their different needs; a family villa is very different from a honeymoon villa.

Establish what you’re good at (brand) and what you have to show for it (product)

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

A product can be inspiring or boring and there are a lot of voices out there- what makes you different? Why should people buy from you, when there are probably more than 3 alternatives for your product?

Most people connect to a brand before they do a product because they’re looking for something relatable. For example, “Only amazing family holiday experiences guaranteed with Villa Finder” is reassuring the guest that Villa Finder are specialists in family holidays, but it only really makes sense when combined with “Our handpicked villas are great because they’re close to the best beaches” as a product push.

You want your product to have a great, inspiring story behind it to convince your customer they want in. Crafting a brand story, building it and nurturing it takes time, don’t ignore it because it’s easier to shout about your product.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

No company starts off perfect and unless you’re very, very, lucky and good at what you do, you probably made some brand choices that now, don’t seem as relevant or there’s a need for change because the product/partners/service has changed or your audience has evolved.

Burberry famously overhauled the brand when it was at risk of being associated with gangwear. But by infusing their heritage brand with a mix of modern looks and partnering with high profile celebrities like Kate Moss and Emma Watson, Burberry successfully steered itself into success and made heritage relevant for today’s consumer.

For Villa Finder, we grew out of the “clothes” we had and needed something bigger to represent the destinations we were expanded into. We were confined to niche markets (villas in Bali for AU/EU customers) and found that our current message limits what we wanted to convey. A rebranding allowed us to tap into markets that we didn’t previously have access to.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

In the case of building your audience or database back up after a rebrand (this may be migration to a new website or merger with a partner), there may be a phase where your “old audiences” or “old customers” need to be re-educated or shift from where you were to where you are now. Not to mention it can be confusing to your internal teams to take on the rebrand and to sing it loud and clear.

Some brands that have amassed a large following or customer base may not find it as easy to re-brand simply because the effort it would take to re-educate might mean sacrificing time that would usually be spent closing deals or winning new business.

Be clear about why the rebrand is important and make sure you have a strategy mapped out on how to communicate your new brand effectively.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Know your audience

In a re-brand, your core audience/customer base is important to your survival. Make sure you know who they are and how to reach and address them.

In our own rebrand, we looked into who our audience regularly “spoke” to and who or what influenced them. For us, it was families who traveled to our destinations. We reached out to travel media and influencers to help us communicate the rebrand.

Know your story and make it relatable

It would be best if people cared about your rebrand…so make them pay attention. Hopefully it’s a story that resonates!

For us, we expanded into new destinations based on the demand from our customers. So instead of having different websites and brands for separate destinations, we decided that it would benefit our customers more to have one platform where they could find all our destinations on, as well as for them to speak on one company about any destination and still receive the same expert advice.

When we announced our re-brand, we focused on how our services were now better at serving customer needs and where we were expanding our services to.

Have a clear actionable plan

Prior to rebranding, we had 6 different websites, 6 Facebook pages, Instagram and Twitter accounts for each of the destination, and one for the main brand. It’s important to have a clear timeline to merge all this and to make sure nothing is left out. It’s very easy to overlook details like automated emails, subscription forms, etc. So take time to sit down and think about all that the company has been doing and where you need to change your message/logo.

Know that it’s an ongoing effort

In an ideal world, you only need to say it once, and your audience will remember it. However, that is never the case. “Rebranding” is just a period where you make the actual shift from A to B, from then on, you have to consistently repeat the message to your audience to make sure that they remember. The result will come gradually.

In the first few months of our rebrand, we saw traffic to our new website slowly increase and the return of our past customers who eventually came to understand that they could now book villas in other destinations too.

Don’t forget your employees

The rebranding process starts closer to home. Your employees are your brand ambassadors. All of your effort will be wasted if your team doesn’t fully understand the need to rebrand and end up mistakenly repeating an old brand message.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Indonesia’s Gojek started out with a very specific logo and service. While Gojek succeeded first as an online ride hailing app (and they still provide this service) the company realised they had a bigger purpose in helping the community. Their riders were able to make a real difference- they didn’t only transport people, they could also transport food, services (like their famous and popular “gomassage” or laundry drop off services) and their technology could facilitate cashless payments.

And they needed to break into other markets like Singapore. Their logo at the time was limiting the message they wanted to drive home- that Gojek connected you to a world of services. So they rebranded and designed a logo that allowed them to scale. Now, if you look at the new logo hard enough it takes on the form of:

  • A map pin
  • A search button
  • A power button
  • The top helmet of a Gojek driver

All representing one or another type of service that Gojek provides. Genius? Just a little.

Their rebrand took a lot into consideration; their past, present and future. Gojek wanted a logo and message that resonated with what they were currently doing and could communicate what their future looked like. I believe Gojek succeeded because they understood their audience(s) as clear as day and had adapted their rebranding strategy to meet and put customer needs first.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Sharing your personal affirmations with your colleagues and helping them do the same. There’s positivity in letting your peers know what is important to you and trusting that they are supportive enough to help you achieve the best version of yourself.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

We rise by lifting others

Comforting a colleague or friend when they’ve had a bad day (and you’re a busy bee) may not be a big, dramatic action but being compassionate helps you see yourself in a better light.

I find that extending a hand, or showing emotion at work is generally hard to do because you’re conditioned to be “formal” or “proper” but there have been times where doing exactly that has helped me understand myself a little better- and not just at work but in other difficult situations where being outside of your comfort zone is the only way to learn how to be a better person.

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn for all the exciting work updates and Instagram for travel and life adventures.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Brand Makeovers: “Know your story and make it relatable” with Edoria Ridzmann of Villa Finder was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Elite Daily Co-founder Gerard Adams: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize…

Elite Daily Co-founder Gerard Adams: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image”

Become an in-house Media Agency. Nowadays we don’t want to just see your ads on facebook or commercials during the superbowl — we want to see a brand have it’s own personality online. Create a consistent content marketing strategy for social media and watch how that changes how the community engages with your brand.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Gerard Adams.

Gerard Adams, co-founder of Elite Daily, one of the top news platforms for Generation Y, is an experienced angel investor, millennial thought leader and social entrepreneur who overcame early adversity to become a self-made millionaire by the age of 24. Devoted to turning dreams into reality, Gerard has made it his mission to inspire and mentor young entrepreneurs on what it takes to be successful. Gerard continues to expand and diversify his investment portfolio backing businesses across multiple industries from technology to digital media to fashion and more.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Gerard! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Growing up I was always fascinated by stories, I would immerse myself into documentaries, films, books, and history. At a young age I didn’t understand how but I was a naturally confident storyteller. At a young age, I was able to tap into my emotions when telling a story and take the other person on a journey. My parents thought I should have gone into acting for my career but I was too intrigued by the internet and the ability to tell stories online and the effect they had for marketing brands and business. Also, I felt that with the social media space starting to boom around the time I was 17 years old I could tell that there was a massive opportunity to become successful telling stories online. At first, I had no idea how or what I would do, all I knew was that I was extremely passionate about creating content online and understood how to tell a story that moved people to take action. Also, I realized that my generation significantly needed help learning about our world and economy as the majority of them were obsessed with watching Reality TV (KUWTK, Jersey Shore etc) which as we know is not “reality” at all.. this inspired me to start creating documentaries and short films online.

This led me to create a marketing agency to help innovative companies to tell their story online to create brand and investor awareness. This company went from getting its first client at $500 a month and grew to budgets of $300,000 hitting $10 million in revenue by the time I was 24 years old. This led me to eventually get tired of telling everyone else’s stories and I was inspired to leverage my skills and go all-in on taking a risk by building my own brand- an online media publication by millennials, for millennials. I remember thinking of a name in my apartment with only 3 wooden folding chairs and a folding table where me and my two interns brainstormed until it hit me …. “Elite Daily”. I knew I wanted this to be a reliable site covering all trending news daily so it just made sense and we thought elite was a cool way to say that we were the best. This is when the moment of truth happened as we went to godaddy.com to see if the domain name was available… we hit the search button and i’ll never forget the word “AVAILABLE” for $9.99 — I knew in that instant it was meant to be. We bought it and with no college degrees in journalism we started the publication that would eventually be known as “The Voice of Generation Y”. Within 5 years, we grew the business from 3 of us to 200 employees, 80 million unique millennial visitors per month, won an emmy for one of our short-film documentaries, and in 2015 we sold the company to a Billion Dollar Media Conglomerate. After the sale, I finally decided it was time to start using what I have learned about storytelling, branding, and content marketing to build my personal brand and become a platform myself.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest story I can think about in the beginning was when we decided to create a Christmas themed video to help us go viral on social media with a model who would be changing from outfit to outfit without any visible wardrobe changes… well, when the day of the shoot came (and by the way, it was our first ever video we created for Elite Daily) we had NO IDEA what we were doing! We had no wardrobes or props, so I ran out of the apartment to Party City, Victoria’s Secret, and Guess to get whatever I could quickly find at the shopping center. I remember buying this fake snow, large candy cane props, and Santa hats. We started shooting and I started throwing the fake snow over the camera and on to the model but I was so bad at throwing it in the air that I just kept getting it in her mouth and I’ll never forget all of us belly laughing at each other. It was a great memory of the beginning of creating content for our new brand Elite Daily that later would master content at scale. The lesson here was that it’s okay to be naive in the beginning and just start. So many people are afraid to fail or being imperfect that they hinder themselves from even trying. I am all about progression over perfection!

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

As for a TIPPING POINT… I can honestly say the real tipping point for me was when I got an offer to have my brand Elite Daily acquired from a billion dollar media company. That was when it really hit me that we have built something extremely special and worth $10’s of millions of dollars because of all our hard work, perseverance, willingness to master our niche, and fail fast. The biggest lesson was that it’s truly about not giving up, going all-in, supporting the team and making sure they too believe in a big vision that aligns with their goals, while leading by example as a founder. Another lesson I learned is that things can change for you in an instance… so always keep your finger on the pulse and be data driven not emotional.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Since the sale of Elite Daily, I started asking myself some tough questions… Honestly I was depressed after the sale because I was like “now what”, “what if I made the wrong decision”, “who is Gerard Adams without Elite Daily”, “what is success for me now”?

This all caused me to go on a spiritual journey within. I started to think about purpose and legacy.

I decided I would go on a long journey around the world in search of today’s modern day leaders to tell their stories of how they found purpose, activated success in their lives, and overcome adversity through an online YouTube show called “Leaders Create Leaders; it’s more than just a show, it’s a movement.” It would be released in episodes as a docu-series with 16 episodes per Season. I am currently filming Season 6. I decided this would be my passion project as I untangled my purpose in helping others find what success was in their own lives and helping them activate it while working with my team to create a movement around their mission through the art of storytelling, content marketing, and business & branding fundamentals. Currently we offer a 6 week accelerator, workshops, and a private year long mastermind.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

To avoid burnout my advice would be to master your rituals and habits daily. I believe in protecting your energy at all costs. I do this by owning my mornings with no social media when I first wake up, making my bed, cold therapy “wim hoff method”, meditation, journaling, reading, exercise, juicing, and music. During the day, I time block the tasks that are my most important priorities as a CEO and Personal Brand and delegate everything else to a highly trained VA, and my team of Avengers using Slack and Monday.com. This allows me to have the space needed for creativity and flow state which is the kryptonite for any marketer. In the evening, I go to a sound healing or breathwork class. All my meals are plant based except for Sundays.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand marketing vs Advertising. Simple — one is for brand awareness which is extremely important to BUILD TRUST which is the core of what builds a long lasting business. I believe brand equity is significantly undervalued in many businesses yet could be the far most unique differentiator any business has that creates culture and community — two critical aspects of any successful brand and business. Advertising on the other hand has one core objective; to catch a potential customers attention and convert them to a sale. Without effective advertising you will have a problem with scale.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

As I have mentioned, branding can not be undervalued by your company. It is extremely important in building a movement around your business meaning raving fans, hacking word of mouth, community, and culture that takes a life of its own… building a brand is directly correlated to how successful of a thriving business you will have as long as your product and customer experience are world-class. Investing in branding and advertising is critical to validating, optimizing, and maximizing your growth potential. Without advertising you will have a very hard time reaching ideal customers at scale.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

Rebranding could be very beneficial if 1) you notice people have a hard time understanding what it is you do or what the product solution is… sometimes when we overthink a brand we can complicate it. A great rebranding strategy would be to simplify your messaging. A lot of people think of branding just as a logo, and yes that matters too, but it’s so much more than that and most importantly it’s your messaging and positioning to consumers that matters.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

I believe if it’s not broke don’t fix it and the same goes with rebranding. Also, include your community and customers in the process which can not only bring more creativity but make them feel invested.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

1. Upgrade your messaging to become more concise. For our clients we have them complete a fill in the blank exercise “I help _____ do _____ so that they can _______.”

2. Become an in-house Media Agency. Nowadays we don’t want to just see your ads on facebook or commercials during the superbowl — we want to see a brand have it’s own personality online. Create a consistent content marketing strategy for social media and watch how that changes how the community engages with your brand.

3. The people working at the company and founder should build a personal brand. This creates connection with your customers and audience that there are real human beings that care behind the brand. Let your inner-weirdo out too! You don’t have to be all polished… a personal brand means personality! I remember when I finally got the courage to start my personal brand how much this not only grew my business 3x but it brought fulfillment to myself, our team, and a connection like I’ve never had before with our community.

4. Upgrade your video production. 80% of content consumed online now is video. It’s time your team takes this seriously and brings on board companies like Indirap to create high quality videos that can go viral and blow up your business like it did for Leaders Create Leaders guest Suzy Batiz for her company Poopouri to $500 million using high quality videos on youtube.

5. Take your logo to a new level by making it more modern and ask your customers to vote. If you really want to pick it up a notch, do what companies like Geico, Mr. Peanut, Julio by Pringles, and many more do… bring a character to your brand- whether a real influencer like how Sprint used me or a cartoon.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

A great company recently who rebranded was Dropbox, a service our team uses. They went with a more colorful and complex brand, all to create a message that Dropbox isn’t just for sharing files but a creative place for teams to live. This rebrand is simply because they realized they wanted to spark more growth- like any company thinking of a rebrand- and I think Dropbox’s bold move to a more creative style will cause customers to rethink how they use dropbox moving forward as they evolve. I think every company should do a deep dive into a rebrand but like Dropbox, if you decide it’s time then don’t be afraid to be bold and make a statement.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

As far as a movement to help people, it is my legacy to build my movement “leaders create leaders” and will do everything in my power while alive to have it become a platform, accelerator, and community for impact driven entrepreneurs, conscious creators, and heart-led leaders to grow their brands and business. We will continue to do this through our online coaching program, immersive workshops, and year long private mastermind “The Trusted Advisors Network”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson would be, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden and my Father would always say that to me and teach me that a leader is about character in all areas of your life and how you treat people. I want to be remembered by my character, not reputation.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me on instagram @GerardAdams and DM ME “Authority Magazine” if they found value in this article. You can learn more about the Movement by going to LeadersCreateLeaders.com and watch the show on youtube.com/GerardAdamsTV or the Podcast “Leaders Create Leaders” streaming worldwide on iTunes and Spotify.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Elite Daily Co-founder Gerard Adams: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “Always have a growth mindset” with Lori Kennedy of The Wellness…

Rising Through Resilience: “Always have a growth mindset” with Lori Kennedy of The Wellness Business Hub

Always have a growth mindset. If every experience is created for you, not to you, then how can you use that experience for growth.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lori Kennedy, founder of The Wellness Business Hub

Lori Kennedy is first and foremost a mom to her two kids. She’s the CEO of The Wellness Business Hub, the host of the Business Of Becoming podcast and the leader of the Take Your Health Practice Online Facebook Group and has been featured in Huffington Post, Fast Company and Inc.com.

Using her personal experience of growing a multimillion-dollar company from her dining room table, Lori has a unique ability to empower, teach and motivate alternative practitioners and coaches to step outside of their comfort zones and build the business of their dreams. Lori’s tell-it-like-it-is style is a refreshing approach that allows her to connect with her professional colleagues.

Her company, The Wellness Business Hub, exists to provide industry-specific business training and professional development to support health practitioners and coaches to start and grow their business online. They do this by creating high-value practical and applicable digital content like blogs, videos, the podcast and host live events with the intention of supporting their global community to reach for more and create an impactful business that changes lives.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

The more and more I look back, I’ve come to realize that I am where I am because of my health. I spent my childhood on and off antibiotics for ear infections. I spent my teens years suffering from the effects of dozens of rounds of antibiotics. By 17 I had horrible acid reflux, would sporadically throw-up, was 25 pounds overweight, couldn’t concentrate and felt horrible. At 19 while travelling through Europe with my girlfriends, my body, rather my digestive system decided that was going to stop working and I ended up in a hospital in Santorini Greece.

To make a very long story short, I spent years going from Doctor to Doctor. They were not able to help me over and above handing me a prescription. I was resolute that feeling sick and tired and having to rely on prescription pills was not going to be my life so I sought out alternative health care and worked with a Naturopathic Doctor to reverse the damage that was done and to heal my body.

At the time, becoming a Registered Holistic Nutritionist was not on my radar but after I witnessed the healing power of food and went through my own transformation, at 24 and having just finished University, I decided to go back to school to get my R.H.N. designation. It was in trying to start-up and grow my nutrition practice that I learned the true meaning of resilience.

I struggled for almost 2 years to get my nutrition practice off the ground. Business, sales, marketing as it applies to real-world success aren’t taught in any alternative health care profession so when you graduate, it feels like you’re flying blind. I spent years investing in myself and my business. I got really good at the business side.

13 years later, I now run a multi-million dollar global online business that supports alternative health practitioners and coaches with the business training and personal development tools needed to grow successful businesses online.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

6 weeks after my marriage ended I had to host a live event with hundreds of attendees. I had to stand on stage, teach, be energetic and hold space for all of the attendees who were looking to me for leadership, empowerment, training and inspiration. My now ex-husband was a big part of the business brand. Of course, I wanted to cancel the event, get into my bed and stay there for months but I couldn’t. We had vendors, attendees, tens of thousands of dollars poured into this and I didn’t want to disappoint the attendees who were coming from all over the world.

The show must go on. And it did. The event was very successful.

The big takeaway and what enabled me to show up without having to ‘fake it’ was allowing the mission of my company to drive me. I am so incredibly bought into the mission of my company that the deep-rooted feeling of purpose carried me. I wasn’t there for me, for the accolades or even the big payday. I was there to give my community an experience that would transform their business and lives. Focusing on that intention helped me to reframe how I was feeling and allowed me to compartmentalize my feelings so I could show up in a way that I was proud of.

What do you think makes your company/brand stand out? Can you share a story?

I am not afraid to show my imperfections. In the alternative health niche and by extension the fitness industry, there is a feeling of immense pressure to show up as perfect. That until you’re a perfect weight, have achieved perfect health, eat only organic, non-GMO whole foods, mediate, juice and live this perfect lifestyle you can not be a true professional or help anyone.

I hear from thousands of highly qualified, smart and purpose-driven health practitioners, coaches and fitness professionals that they are playing small and hiding because they don’t feel good enough yet to really put themselves out there which is a huge disservice to the world because they can transform health in a way that allopathic medicine can’t.

What sets my brand apart and has helped me grow a multi-million dollar business without having a massive social media following is my authenticity and demonstrating that there is no such thing as perfect.

The first time I shared with my community of practitioners and coaches that I drank Diet Coke and used Splenda in my coffee when I went to Starbucks, I thought I was going to be struck down by lightning. Instead, I was flooded with emails, texts and DM’s thanking me for being ‘real’. I got hundreds of notes from my colleagues sharing their dirty little secrets with me, just as I had shared mine with them.

I realized that to set myself apart, I had to tell the truth while all of the other influencers went on portraying ‘perfection’. That’s what sets my brand apart, I’m not perfect and I’m not afraid to show it.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful to who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

First, I operate with a beginner’s mind always so there have been many incredible people along my journey that have greatly impacted me. The two that I feel the most grateful to are the two men who mentored me for years when I decided to take my business online.

Bedros Keulian, CEO of Fit Body Bootcamp and Craig Ballantyne, co-owner of Early To Rise. Aside from teaching me how to run a business online, they taught me how to do business with integrity. They modelled through their own businesses and life how to think, behave and take action, even when you don’t want to. I used to complain that I had no time. My kids were 3 and 1, I was separated and felt completely overwhelmed. Craig said, “wake up at 5 am daily, even on the weekends. You want more time to get your work done. Wake up at 5 am.” He was right. I’ve been waking up at 5 am since 2012 and I know that it has been one of the most pivotal keys to my success.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

To me, resilience is more than the ability to just overcome something difficult. Resilience to me is being able to overcome something difficult, learn from it and use that experience to be a better human being.

Just because you’ve gone through something doesn’t mean you’re resilient.

Some characteristics of resilient people would include personal responsibility, positivity, boundaries, healthy habits and behaviours, having a growth mindset and compassion.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

My mother. My sister was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. She almost died giving birth to her. I never saw my mother be a victim or question why this happened to her and to us. Instead of going down a road most would have gone down, she chose to rise up. She focused on her health, her mindset and along with my father and 4 other families, founded a non-profit organization called Safehaven, a project for community living that now has 5 group homes across the greater Toronto area.

I’m sure she struggled, because how could she not but she took a very hard situation and turned into something life-changing for hundreds of families, including our own.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

Yes. Many times. The story that comes to mind was when I wanted to run my first live event in 2013. I was just starting online and didn’t have a following, email list or anything like that yet. My mentor, who I credited above, Craig, told me in front of my entire mastermind to under no circumstances run that event. He told me that selling tickets to an event was hard, that I needed a bigger following and that it wasn’t worth my time yet. Wait a couple of years he said, then run an event.

I decided to listen to my intuition and I ran the event. I had no idea what I was doing but I knew that having an industry-specific event was important. It was successful. I had about 120 people there and actually made some money which doesn’t happen often when running a first-time event.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

My divorce was the greatest setback and the most impactful and life-changing experience. The first time we separated my daughter was 2 and I was pregnant with my son. My kids are now 11 and 8 for reference. When we divorced my kids were 6 and 4. Divorce is traumatic. I am the CEO of a global online company and at that point, I didn’t really have a big team. Our revenue at the time was hovering at around $500,000.

I like to say that I productively had breakdowns. I allowed myself to sit with the pain and emotions. I chose to use the years post-separation to heal instead of mute the pain with all of the things most people use — alcohol, food, sex. I didn’t do that. I chose to heal. I used therapy, movement, meditation, journaling and self-compassion. I chose to use that time as a way to fortify my boundaries, behaviours and mindset.

I know that my business wouldn’t be where it is today had I stayed married, not because he would have held me back but because the growth that I’ve had as a result of the divorce has allowed me as an entrepreneur to take bigger risks and show up as a leader.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Always have a growth mindset. If every experience is created for you, not to you, then how can you use that experience for growth.
  2. Acknowledge the experience for what it is instead of bypassing it. You are allowed to be sad, to feel pain, to be hurt. It’s important to feel your feelings. The key is to not let them overtake your life.
  3. Find a healthy and productive way to manage your feelings, stress and impulses to mute the experience.
  4. Tell people what’s going on. It’s not weak or a bother to ask for support.
  5. Focus on the person you want to become. You have a choice to claim victimhood or to use the experience to become a person you are proud of.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

To ask for what you want and need. Women are not taught to ask for what they want and need. Women are not taught to stand in their power which makes it really hard to build resiliency. I can only imagine how different daily life would be if all women were taught HOW to stand in their own power and ask for what they want and need.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Sara Blakely. Since I started this journey in 2007, I’ve looked for a mentor who is successful in business and also has the kind of family life I desire.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.instagram.com/lorikennedyinc/

https://thewellnessbusinesshub.com/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “Always have a growth mindset” with Lori Kennedy of The Wellness… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Fabian Geyrhalter of…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Fabian Geyrhalter of FINIEN

“To [TARGET AUDIENCE] our product is the [CATEGORY] that provides [FUNCTIONAL, SYMBOLIC OR EXPERIENTIAL BENEFITS] because [REASONS TO BELIEVE].” It is that answer to the question ‘why,’ the ‘reason to believe,’ that can be the simple most important trajectory for your business. It will turn into a tag line or the key headline, it will be the ending of your elevator pitch, it will inspire marketing as much as sales and even affect product development.

A couple years ago we sat down and thought about how this would have read for a company we all know, Whole Foods, if they would have positioned themselves as well as we see the brand today. They would have said something along the lines of: “To health and eco-conscious consumers, our product is the grocery store that provides the highest natural and organic products that support vitality and well-being because we believe in Whole Foods, Whole People, and a Whole Planet.” If you focus on the ‘why’ behind the brand you can see how it educates what products will be on the shelves, who their audience and employees should be and what their greater mission and vision is. In just a few words. That is pretty powerful. Now, of course this is not how they started out and we took bits and pieces from their web site to create this statement. In fact, Whole Foods started out across the street from a SafeWay and they named their grocery store Safer Way. No joke. We all have to upgrade and re-energize our brand at times.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview renowned brand strategist and creative director Fabian Geyrhalter. fabian is a prolific author and speaker on the subject of branding. He is the founder and principal of Los Angeles-based brand consultancy FINIEN, where he works with medium-sized to large corporations on crafting strategic, verbal and visual brand clarity. His client list includes Honeywell, United Way, Randstad, and Goodwill. Geyrhalter’s best-selling book ‘How to Launch a Brand’ became a go-to resource for entrepreneurs and creatives alike. His latest book is ‘Bigger Than This — How to turn any venture into an admired brand.’ Geyrhalter is also the host of ‘Hitting The Mark,’ a podcast about the intersection of brand clarity and startup success.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have always been obsessed with brands, from a small age on I loved to draw logos of brands and that fascination only grew with age. I ended up studying Communication Design at Art Center College of Design overlooking the Lake Geneva and the town of Evian, with the view we all know so well from the Evian water bottle label. It was stunning, until the campus closed, and I moved to the main campus in Pasadena, California. After college I took on a few Creative Director roles until I finally received my green card in the mail. I started my first agency the week after I was legally able to do so. I ran that design agency for a good 12 years when I decided to pivot into brand strategy. Over the course of a few months, I morphed my agency, Geyrhalter & Co, into the purposefully small brand consultancy FINIEN. That was likely my most crucial re-branding project of my life and I am relieved and thrilled that it panned out so well.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early on we did a lot of proposals. They usually are a big time waster and very unpersonal, but starting out it felt like the biggest honor to receive ‘a request for proposal.’ We always went all-out. I remember a particular proposal that was from a company that built building skate parks and I drove to one of their parks in a really bad area of Los Angeles and spent the day taking professional pictures of the kids riding their boards just to make the proposal more personal and to show how much we cared. So, there I was, the Creative Director of an already reputable agency, in a dangerous neighborhood, lying on the dirty grounds of a skate park, shooting photos of kids flying over my head on their skateboards. I got a lot of fun pictures out of it, but not the job. It taught me that there is a line between passion and business and that you should only cross that line for projects that you are well paid for that you also happen to be passionate about.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

Especially in the creative agency world, bigger often means better. The larger an agency is, the bigger the clients will be, and, the better a CEO looks.

Completely wrong. Your company size does not matter anymore.

I scaled back my agency and I am thrilled to have only one full-time employee. I am proud to work with a Fortune 100 client (and a few Fortune 500s) and to have higher billings than my 18-person agency ever had. Bigger is not always better, at least not in the creative business.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

My consultancy is knee-deep in crafting meaningful and authentic brands for a handful of clients from all kinds of places, including a human resources fund in Amsterdam and an AI-driven energy startup in Switzerland. With all of our clients we start the relationship, and our work, off with an in-person brand strategy workshop to position the brand. That is the time where I bring the best out of a brand’s future direction and it’s exciting for me to see the pivots and the aha moments that day and subsequently see how I helped shape more intrinsic and meaningful brands.

One of my most exciting current projects though is working on my new book, which will be called ‘The Brand Therapy Book,’ — the title says it all!

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Have a clear focus and stick with it. Don’t run after the shiny objects, instead have clarity around what you are best at, create a process and replicable contractual procedure around it and then hit ‘step and repeat.’ Burnout happens when business life gets messy. Don’t allow for it to get messy. A narrow focus and process to stick to will help eliminate those obstacles.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand strategy is a clear path forward for a company to turn into a (more) beloved brand by finding (or further defining) its unique reason for being that is rooted in values, which are shared with a specific audience, that, in turn, will wholeheartedly embrace the brand’s essence, which needs to be showcased through a conceptual, focused and consistent verbal and visual identity. That brand essence showcase is brand marketing. Advertising is taking this essence, or the ‘why’ of a brand and turns it into funnels, the ‘how,’ and messages, the ‘what.’

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Going back to the last question, if you don’t have the brand’s positioning, vision, shared values, persona, et cetera established, you are just shooting from your hips. I see it over and over again that young entrepreneurs, especially those with direct-to-consumer product offerings, question the need of brand strategy. Then, a few years in, they keep throwing money towards paid advertising and SEO, but they begin to realize that competitors moved in and start taking over market share and they can’t understand why. It usually is because their competition built a brand, and with that comes a tribe that shares their philosophy, their values. They love to spread the word. They even tattoo the logo onto their skin because it stands for something bigger than just a product they buy. Those things cannot happen through a campaign, they have to happen on a C-suite or Founder/Co-Founder level, and they have to be fueled by honest passion.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

Some companies need a re-brand, because they never really took the time to do it and they look stale, the brand is undefined, and they need to make their brand as great to the outside (and inside) world as their offering. Others saw tremendous change inside the organization, may that be new leadership, a product pivot or a merger or acquisition, which demands a new look at the brand so it can be showcased in the correct light and for years to come.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There are companies that want to change their logo, call it a re-brand and hope it will create change, but change needs to come from within. A logo won’t change company culture, product positioning or market share. For those who are just looking for aesthetical changes, a re-brand often won’t show any tangible results and it could end up being a ginormous waste of budget that could otherwise have been allocated to creating a better product or culture.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

First, sit down and assess your brand’s current positioning. Start by giving this simple statement a few hours of thought:

“To [TARGET AUDIENCE] our product is the [CATEGORY] that provides [FUNCTIONAL, SYMBOLIC OR EXPERIENTAL BENEFITS] because [REASONS TO BELIEVE].” It is that answer to the question ‘why,’ the ‘reason to believe,’ that can be the simple most important trajectory for your business. It will turn into a tag line or the key headline, it will be the ending of your elevator pitch, it will inspire marketing as much as sales and even affect product development.

A couple years ago we sat down and thought about how this would have read for a company we all know, Whole Foods, if they would have positioned themselves as well as we see the brand today. They would have said something along the lines of: “To health and eco-conscious consumers, our product is the grocery store that provides the highest natural and organic products that support vitality and well-being because we believe in Whole Foods, Whole People, and a Whole Planet.” If you focus on the ‘why’ behind the brand you can see how it educates what products will be on the shelves, who their audience and employees should be and what their greater mission and vision is. In just a few words. That is pretty powerful. Now, of course this is not how they started out and we took bits and pieces from their web site to create this statement. In fact, Whole Foods started out across the street from a SafeWay and they named their grocery store Safer Way. No joke. We all have to upgrade and re-energize our brand at times.

Second, look at your core values and assess if they still speak to who the company is today and wants to be over the next years. Does it resonate not only with your staff and future employees, but most importantly, are these values that are shared by your tribe, your customers? Shared values sell more, it’s that simple. Values, if introduced into your brand’s messaging can have a big effect on your sales.

I love to cite GEA, an Austrian company that makes hand-made, long-lasting and easy-to-repair traditional footwear. Selling, what can easily be seen as commodities, they have 44 Stores in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a tribe that loves them. Why? Because the founder boldly voices his opinions on hot topics such as politics, religion & the economy. He condemns consumerism and capitalism and the shoe company publishes a political newspaper. He proclaims “Rights to the people rather than the banks” in interviews and you can only imagine how he does not get along with politicians and with banks, yet when he needs funds to expand, thousands of people rush to crowdfund his company. His entire business is based on values and a strong belief. An extreme example, but it shows you how values can create tribes easily and effectively.

Also look at your customer journey, the touchpoints and user behavior. In the end, that is how your brand is being experienced and more often than not you will find huge areas of improvement if you follow your customers’ journey from web site to product usage to social commentary.

Planet Fitness, for instance, realized that all gyms are catering to the exact same target audience, yet they left a large number of the population unsatisfied in that journey. 10 million people to be exact, which is the number as Planet Fitness is now catering to, who like to not be judged and want to do fitness on their own terms. Planet Fitness’ brand ideology of ‘no critics’ got them to 2,000 clubs today and counting. It’s empathetic brand love based on solidarity, and it can often be found when you study customer journeys and sentiments.

As a fourth strategy, understand that it is crucial to create a visual and verbal brand language that is strategic, consistent, simple and visually stunning.

I recently had Michael Lastoria, the Co-founder of the counter-culture pizza brand ‘&pizza,’ which has 36 locations in the U.S. and is rapidly growing based on its inherent brand thinking and employee-first commitment, on my podcast ‘Hitting The Mark.’ He talked about how his company’s logo is a simple ampersand sign (&) but because of its simplicity it not only stands for the ideology of the brand, but it allows for positive interpretation. When he noticed that some of his employees started tattooing the company logo onto their arms, he made it a company policy that ‘&’ tattoos are paid for by the company. And this is how you create a visual language that also fosters company culture and creates a tribe of loyal followers.

Last but not least, identify, what I call, your ‘Brand DNA,’ by asking “What’s bigger than our product?” Let that question answer to your brand’s DNA which should be your brand essence in a single word.

For Planet Fitness, their brand DNA could be ‘solidarity.’ It’s not ‘inexpensive nationwide gym locations for all.’ Imagine what that simple word could do for your brand?

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Not one in particular, but I always applaud large organizations, like Mastercard and Bank of America, that have iconic logos yet they understand that making subtle changes and simplifications to their logos and overall identity along the way can make a big change in how they are being perceived by the public. From complicated to simple and from stodgy to tech, it teaches you to always stand back and assess your brand for the years to come. Don’t be afraid to update your logo like you update your car: Sometimes you need a new ride because things have advanced so much, but most often you just need a fresh coat of paint and a full inspection.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I feel like I am currently my own mini movement for creating better brands. Sounds ridiculously small, not really like a movement, but if I can positively change the course of 50, 100, 1000 brands a year through directly working with them, but also through my books and lectures, imagine how many people — from employees to customers — I could indirectly affect?

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I am not big into quotes and I surely do not have that one big one handy, but for someone who is not a quote person, I found myself sharing this one recently on Twitter: “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” Sr. Thomas Watson said this and to me it really captures entrepreneurship if lived the right way.

How can our readers follow you online?

The best way is through our site, my books or podcast and my Instagram channel where I started a habit I call ‘Brand Therapy Thursday,’ a thought every Thursday to inspire entrepreneurs and marketers, which followers seem to like quite a bit.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Thank you for having me, Fotis! It was a great pleasure.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Fabian Geyrhalter of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was was impossible, but I did it anyway”, with Jarred…

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was was impossible, but I did it anyway”, with Jarred Kessler of EasyKnock

Grit is resilience. It’s extremely important to move forward when it seems like the world is telling you not to. This causes some people to stand out from the rest, and it clearly shows through their business and the way they treat their employees.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jarred Kessler, Founder & CEO of EasyKnock.

Jarred is a vision-driven entrepreneur with over fifteen years of experience in the financial services industry, where he performed for industry stalwarts such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs. Throughout successful endeavors with these companies, Jarred witnessed firsthand the effects of technological change on the industry. Where others failed, he became adept at evolving his career to align effectively with emerging trends. Since then, Jarred has spotted similar changes occurring in other industries. As CEO of EasyKnock, Jarred now applies this sharp awareness of change and his vision of a new and improved world to real estate.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?

My career began in the financial services industry, where I worked for Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs for over 15 years. This is where I witnessed firsthand the effects of technological change on the industry. I felt it was important to leverage my experience to help solve problems for Americans by bridging my knowledge from Wall Street with what can help middle class Americans, and that’s when I decided to start EasyKnock. I view real estate as a market that is ripe for disruption.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

During the credit crisis when I was trading distressed securities, I learned a lot about risk. When I was working in the finance space, I lost money and thought I was going to be fired, so I worked twice as hard to really understand my business. This period also opened my eyes to just how badly the middle class was impacted, and inspired me to find a solution, ultimately leading me to start EasyKnock.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

First off, EasyKnock is the only company that offers a unique, 2-option business model — Sell and Stay, which gives homeowners the ability to access the value in their home without moving, with the flexibility to buy back their home or move at any time, and MoveAbility, which solves the widespread timing and financial challenge of homeowners looking to get out of their current house and into a new home. Additionally, EasyKnock solves an emotional and financial need for consumers — which is rare. Each story of how our clients came to use our services is unique, and each one adds a layer to our company that no one else has. Helping each and every one of our clients helps us better our performance, results and day-to-day activities.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Yes, EasyKnock’s first investors. They bet on me — not just my idea — and I am committed to making them proud every single day of my life.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Grit is resilience. It’s extremely important to move forward when it seems like the world is telling you not to. This causes some people to stand out from the rest, and it clearly shows through their business and the way they treat their employees.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

My mom is the most resilient person I know. Growing up, she was a great role model and always gave everything her all. She taught me that I should believe in myself and to remain passionate about my endeavors, even if they are faltering.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

When I started EasyKnock, most people discouraged me and said it was a bad idea. I didn’t listen, and now run a successful and rapidly growing business. Every single day I aim to prove those voices wrong.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

As I mentioned above, the uncertainty during the credit crisis really inspired me to learn and master every aspect of my job. I knew that I could be fired at any time, so in order to make my value known, I worked day in and day out to expand my skillset. This allowed me to come out ahead, and set me up for success when I started EasyKnock.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

Yes, I had many positive experiences, but most importantly, I had great examples that helped build my resilience. My parents didn’t accept laziness or taking shortcuts, and these values are part of my — and my company’s — core today.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

1) Thick skin

2) Not caring what others think

3) Perspective

4) Grit

5) Not taking things too seriously all the time

An example that intertwines with all of these is founding and running EasyKnock. If I hadn’t used the above to keep my head clear, there probably wouldn’t even be a story to tell, much less the success we’ve seen with EasyKnock.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I am lucky enough to be doing work that I am extremely proud of. I believe that EasyKnock is an already existing movement that has a positive impact on its customers. My favorite part of my job is helping people who feel like they have no options when it comes to their home, and seeing them breathe that sign of relief when we tell them they do!

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

There are so many people with great potential around the world that must be incredible to speak with. If I had to choose, I’d love to sit down and talk to anyone who risked their life for our country because it’s what I respect more than anything!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was was impossible, but I did it anyway”, with Jarred… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Maria Ross: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image”

Gather customer and employee feedback. There is no reason to rebrand if there is no reason to rebrand! Find out what customers think of the company, why they buy from you, what problem you solve for them, what value/benefits they receive, what they wish was better, why did they choose you over a competitor? How did they feel about your company before they became customers, etc. Then ask employees: What do you think customers expect of us? What would you like to be our reputation? What value do you think customers get from us? Do you think we live up to that now? What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? Why are you passionate about working here? You want to gather both customer and employee feedback because rebranding is just as much about your market image as how your biggest brand assets, your people, feel about the mission and message. I have always loved that my client work results in market success, as well as reenergizing employees.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Maria Ross.

Maria Ross, the founder of brand consultancy Red Slice, believes cash flow, creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Maria has authored multiple books, including The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success, which released this past fall. Maria understands the power of empathy on the brand and personal levels: In 2008, shortly after launching her business, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that almost killed her and inspired her memoir, Rebooting My Brain. She has spoken to audiences ranging from The New York Times to BlogHer and has written for numerous media outlets, including Entrepreneur.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve been in communications, branding, and marketing my entire career. I’ve achieved success on both the client and agency sides for companies such as Accenture, Discovery Networks, and many Silicon Valley tech companies, so in 2008, I took my experience and launched my own brand consultancy, Red Slice. I work with fast-growth companies and entrepreneurs to create an irresistible brand story, attract the right customer and clients, and accelerate sales and impact. The work we do is the solid foundation they need to amplify success and I have seen over and over again the power of an efficient and honest cross-functional brand strategy process. I was a marketing executive myself, so I understand that CEO’s and marketing leaders don’t have time for a 6-month navel-gazing exercise to find the right brand strategy. My work now combines many of my core skills;telling a compelling, creative, and clear story, facilitating unruly groups for maximum alignment, instigating and provoking (in a good way) to find the breakthrough, and focusing on bottom-line growth.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It’s funny, ost of us consultants are our own worst clients! I had put together this effective brand strategy creation process that focused on making clients get clear about specifically what they do and which pain they solve. The challenge is to avoid defining too narrow of a niche but being very clear and focused so as not to be all things to all people. When a brand tries to be all things to all people, they end up being nothing to no one. And yet, when I first hung out my shingle, I advertised that I could “do it all!” when it came to marketing, from the strategic to the tactical. And of course, I struggled. No one quite understood where I played so my ideal clients were confused! I regrouped and narrowed down to the work I did best: strategic brand storytelling. Now I work with clients for six weeks, and then provide all the next steps and referrals they need to move forward. My referrals are far better suited to do specific tactical work. It was a game-changer and enabled me to raise my rates as well.

Be crystal clear about where you play and the problem you solve. It can be scary, and you may think you’re “losing out on all those other projects” but you’re really not. When your audience understands exactly what you do, when you take a stand and say, “I solve this pain point for you,” they are not confused and can immediately assess if you are right for them or not. The tendency is to go broad with the brand because we think we can attract more business. The reality is that just leaves people confused. And a confused prospect becomes someone else’s customer.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

The tipping point for me was following the advice I give to clients. As mentioned above, I was giving people a roadmap to success and yet not following it myself. I was “too busy” to worry about my own business.

It’s important to balance chasing sales with taking time to look at your own business from the customer’s point of view. Otherwise you get stuck in Ivory Tower thinking and lose touch with your customers. Revisit your messaging and brand strategy at least once per year. Markets, customer needs, and competition change.your own strengths and learning change. You get to know your customers’ needs better. It’s imperative to revisit how you are positioning yourself and ensure you are speaking your target’s language. Take the time to get feedback from them — often. Why did they choose you? What pain do you solve best? How do they use your products and services? The answers will surprise you. I’m constantly shaking my head when clients say they can’t make the time to do this because they are “focused on revenue.” You have to. It’s vital to revenue growth!

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I just launched my third book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success: A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams and could not be more excited by the response. Empathy has been coming up with my clients in the last few years: They want their brands to “be seen” as empathetic. But what does that mean? How do you put that into action and walk the talk? Empathy is great, but does it impact the bottom line, or is it just fluff? I spent three years researching the data, interviewing experts, and compiling case studies to prove that genuine empathy is not just good for society, it’s great for business. How can a leader, team, or brand make it genuine? How can they flip the script on what success means? There is ample data on how leaders and brands have found success without being solely driven by greed. Conferences and companies now hire me for keynotes and workshops to show a better, more human, way to operate at work and with customers and (bonus) increase revenue, too. My mantra is “Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive,” and I show people why, and how to achieve success themselves. Companies and customers both benefit: More innovation, improved morale, better customer and brand experiences, more loyalty, higher profits — the list goes on and on.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Never lose touch with your customers. Dig beyond features and functions and find out how your products or services make their lives better. This will thrill you and keep you going. Even if your company doesn’t invest in any formal, consistent customer feedback (it should, but that’s a different problem), find ways to talk one-on-one with customers. Why did they choose your offering? What can they do now that they couldn’t before? What was life like for them before? Despite his mercurial leadership style, this was Steve Jobs’ greatest strength for Apple, profiled in the book. He was actually extremely empathetic and in touch with users and what they were trying to achieve, how they wanted to see themselves. When a burned-out marketer hears that her product or service has saved customers hours at work so they can now leave early and spend more time with their families, or how they grew their business 50% and got a promotion, or how they can accomplish a previously dangerous task much more safely, or how they literally could not do their jobs without it, you will be inspired. Knowing that what you do matters to the quality of someone’s life (B2C or B2B) inspires you with a larger purpose during those difficult times.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Advertising and product marketing are actually two different things. But if we’re talking about advertising, that is but one promotional tactic in the marketing toolkit, which includes events, online ads, social media, videos, etc.

Brand is your core, your essence. It’s everything the company is, what it stands for, who it serves, and what value it provides. Brand strategy actually informs more than just marketing — it informs hiring, partnership decisions, and policies or procedures. When your brand strategy informs every possible customer and employee touchpoint, you’re walking your talk and that’s when you can have an “authentic” brand. You live your brand from the inside out.

Brand marketing is more about the overall story you tell, and what you are known for. Product marketing is more specific to the product itself, but it should tie into the overall brand story. Brand strategy is like the umbrella and everything else fits under it. Consider Honda. Their overall brand story is about safety, reliability and value. Their product marketing strategy and advertising go a layer down and talk specifically about a certain car model’s features and benefits. But it never conflicts with the core brand story.

Too often, companies think that “social media,” “PR” and “viral videos” are a brand strategy. They are not. They are tactics — and your brand strategy informs what you will do and say in each of those tactics. Otherwise, you’re just performing what I call “random acts of marketing.” Nothing makes sense, nothing works together. People don’t get a consistent story to understand where to slot your brand in their minds.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Let’s be clear: a brand is an impression, what people think of you and what you do. You have a brand whether you “invest” in one or not, it just may not be the one you want if you’re not paying attention! All of the decisions made create your brand impression.

First of all, most markets are saturated, and we are bombarded with more daily information than previous generations consumed in a lifetime. Standing out is imperative in modern marketing. It’s not enough to have the best quality. People have to know you have the best quality, and they have to believe it, too. A friend of mine calls this being “quietly awesome” and it’s nice but leads to zero visibility and growth.

Standing out doesn’t mean you have to be edgy or extreme if that is not what your brand is about or what will resonate with your target audience. “Going viral” is not a marketing strategy.

There is a marketing and sales journey that many companies don’t appreciate. It goes from Awareness (Do I know you even exist?) up through Consideration (Do I have a need for this?) to Evaluation (Are you the right choice among others?) to finally Purchase. Some journeys take a few minutes or weeks; some, like enterprise software, can take months or years. You have to “woo” your audience. Many general marketing and advertising efforts are set up to do too much within one ad, email, offer and it’s like proposing on a first date. Whoa, slow down! People need to get to know, like, and trust your brand before they buy. That’s why social media, video, podcasts and other content marketing work so well., Offer me value, prove your expertise, and over time, when I’m ready, you will be the top-of-mind expert when I’m ready to buy. Referrals and social proof help accelerate the velocity, but what can you do as a marketer to move people through the journey?

Brand marketing is about awareness and is the air cover needed to ensure your ground game (specific tactics, direct marketing, etc) works more effectively. Once i know you and understand what you’re about, if you are for me, I’m more willing to open your email, pay attention to your offer, or accept the sales rep’s call.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

First, let’s be clear on what rebranding means. Remember, brand is more than just colors and logos. Brand is the core and essence of the business and is conveyed in three essential ways.

  • Visually: How the business looks: logo, colors, fonts, design, imagery.
  • Verbally: How the business sounds: company name, messaging, website copy, voice.
  • Experientially: How the business acts: policies, customer service, hiring.

When a company rebrands, they can tackle any one aspect of these. Usually the most powerful is “verbally” because that in turn can inform the other two. In fact, this verbal aspect, the messaging, is where my branding projects start. Because otherwise, how do you know what story you want to tell visually and experientially?

Companies rebrand for a variety of reasons: They are targeting a different audience, they offer a new value proposition, the competitive landscape has changed, their customers’ needs have changed, or they simply need to update a now outdated and irrelevant look or message and reenergize their customer base — and employees.

Understanding why you want to rebrand will impact your decisions about which of these aspects you need to tackle first. Uber, for example, needed to rebrand because of its horrible reputation of its former CEO, treatment of drivers, and passenger privacy. Clearly that calls for experiential rebranding on culture and how they do business. But they also wanted a fresh start with the public, so they tackled visual and verbal, too.

Brands can and should evolve. A design refresh or messaging update — even a name change — can be a great way to generate excitement and increase visibility but be careful. Don’t change every other six months. While you might be sick of your current brand, you may not have given your audience enough time to absorb and remember your brand story. Additionally, frequent rebrands make your company seem confused.

And remember: Rebranding in any form can be an expensive proposition so make sure you are doing so for the right reasons. A new logo or edgy messaging will never solve fundamental business issues such as poor merchandising, a toxic culture, out-of-touch products or services and bad pricing strategies, so look hard at the health of your company before you rebrand, and make sure it’s coming from a place of strength. Effective branding must start from the inside out.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Two big downsides; first, rebranding arbitrarily, without a keen understanding of your customers or without a clear brand strategy, and second, rebranding as a way to improve company health when the problem is more about operations, culture, or market relevance.

On the first, why do your customers buy from you and what are their emotional attachments to your brand look, feel, and messaging? Tropicana tried to change their packaging years ago and they lost sales as a result. People couldn’t recognize the product in the cold case, but they also had a strong emotional childhood connection to the brand packaging. They ended up wasting millions of dollars and going back. The buying decisions is not always rational, but if often emotional, even with B2B.

On the second reason, you can never “rebrand” your company back to health when the underlying problem is that it is fundamentally out of touch with the market or losing relevance to the competition GAP learned this the very hard way when they tried to change their logo a few years ago. There was practically a revolt. Firstly, it was a really poorly executed visual. It did not convey anything about what the company was all about — because they didn’t know what they were about or where they fit anymore. This happens when you don’t build your brand strategy first before communicating it visually. It becomes arbitrary and meaningless.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

There aren’t five cookie-cutter strategies that will work for every company and market. My job would be easier if there were!

But the best first step: Gather customer and employee feedback. There is no reason to rebrand if there is no reason to rebrand! Find out what customers think of the company, why they buy from you, what problem you solve for them, what value/benefits they receive, what they wish was better, why did they choose you over a competitor? How did they feel about your company before they became customers, etc. Then ask employees: What do you think customers expect of us? What would you like to be our reputation? What value do you think customers get from us? Do you think we live up to that now? What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? Why are you passionate about working here?

You want to gather both customer and employee feedback because rebranding is just as much about your market image as how your biggest brand assets, your people, feel about the mission and message. I have always loved that my client work results in market success, as well as reenergizing employees.

Secondly, step back and facilitate a cross-functional discussion to openly discuss all of this input and come to aligned decisions on what you do, who you do it for, and what value you provide/want to be known for. Discuss your company’s personality and voice (what is genuine, not completely delusional!). You can then decide if these new insights require a new visual identity new messaging or new policies — or all three!

From there, you can determine what you need to “rebrand” and if you need to at all.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I think Dunkin’ has done a remarkable job of rebranding to compete with Starbucks and other upstart hipster coffee shops. They’ve been around forever, enjoying a great reputation for their coffee. But they were often viewed as the slightly sketchy place where only cops got their coffee at 2 am. Now they have rebranded with new visuals, messaging, offerings, and mobile apps to compete with rivals. They are kind of appreciated as a “retro” brand, too, because they capitalize on their longevity — and the lines are often out the door.

I’m impressed by the precision and intentional pace at which they did this rebrand. They did this thoughtfully and in stages, which we can all learn from. First they observed the market and saw what customers wanted from the experience. They learned from the competition. Second, they started with a name change first (dropping the “Donuts”) so they could expand their offerings. Then, they rolled out their “store of the future” experience slowly. This tested new store designs, drinks such as nitro-infused cold brew, digital-ordering kiosks and their mobile app. Yet they kept their iconic and recognizable colors, as they knew they had brand equity built up in them.

This is no accident. When you take the time to thoughtfully consider what your customers need and your new brand strategy and story before you jump into a quick, sloppy rebrand, you’re more likely to place winning bets that work.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

As mentioned, my mission is to spread the word that empathy is not just good for society, it’s great for business. So I’ve been sparking an Empathy Revolution! We must flip the script on what corporate success means. The existing thinking is that we have to be competitive, nasty, immoral, take-no-prisoners in order to succeed financially — and the data and examples outlined in my book The Empathy Edge show that is the furthest thing from the truth. Employees suffer and burn out. Customers end up furious. Companies generate bad press and lose revenue. None of it is good.

We as humans created the current culture of corporate success. It’s not a law of physics. So we can change it! Our world is suffering from a giant lack of empathy these days, which leads to racism, misogyny, xenophobia. But we can do something about it by starting in the place where we spend the bulk of our time: at work. We can have more responsible companies, happier employees, and delightful customer experiences. We just have to start with one action, policy, or habit and watch the ripple effect. We can’t just act horribly for 9 hours a day and then expect we’ll be empathetic and compassionate when we clock out. When we are better people in our work lives, it transforms our personal lives and ultimately, our actions in the world at large.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

While this can lead to perverse justification for all kinds of horrible acts, I love this quote because it’s all about not worrying about what others think if you feel you are on the right path. Many times, in my work life and my business, I’ve been told not to say or do something that I felt was either morally the right thing, or was that the honest, genuine truth. I was told early on not to ever mention my side hobby of acting in the context of my business website, that clients may see me as “not serious”. Yet, being a storyteller is my business! I also was unsure about being so open about my brain injury years ago. But I weaved it into my business and wrote a memoir to share my story called Rebooting My Brain. This experience has won me clients who say, “I want someone with her moxie and grit!” Now, I stand out from the 9 billion other brand strategists out there! You will get more work and interest when you bring your personal passions and story to the table. And if you really, truly, in your gut want to write that book, start that business, take that disruptive market step, or serve that customer DO IT. Just be smart about it and seek wise counsel. If we all only did the things that no one criticized, we’d never get out of bed in the morning. And then we’d be criticized for that!

How can our readers follow you online?

You can check out www.red-slice.com to get to know me and my work and download a free tip sheet, 6 Signs You Need to Rebrand at https://red-slice.com/Rebrand.

Also, please follow me on social for more brand insights and inspiration: Instagram @redslicemaria, Twitter @redslice, Facebook @redslice and LinkedIn (please request to connect with a note that says you read this article!)

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Maria Ross: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lauren Solomon: “Here are 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand

Lauren Solomon: “Here are 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”

Go within before going outside. This means to go to your employees for feedback, to really hear from them what’s working and not working. Based on that feedback you will know if you need to stick where you are or make some simple adjustments, perhaps a logo refresh which can give the company an entirely fresh approach to its marketing and messaging. As an example, when Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover Banks merged, we needed to revise the logo yet keep the essence of both. So we went to the employees for input. Based on that input we came back with 5–10 designs and created a core committee to do the work. Building excitement within the organization is equally or more important than building the excitement outside. What really excited people was that it was the first mega-merger on Wall Street. Yes, many jobs were lost, but many new ones were created. There were a lot of conversations that made it imperative to get input from the employee base before going to the marketplace, because getting the buy-in of employees gave us the support of 30,000 people who were also customers. Starting it from within was one of the major factors that helped to make it successful.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Lauren Solomon, President and Founder of LS Image Associates, Inc., CXO of SnappConner PR, and TV co-host of Good Day Orange County. She’s a trusted image advisor to CEOs, corporations and individuals throughout the world. Lauren is the former VP of Professional Image Development for Chase Manhattan Bank, author of Image Matters! and holds an MBA in Management from New York University.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve been practicing image since I received my first makeup kit at age three. All these years later, I’m able to apply it to businesses, personal brands and much larger scale operations. It’s amazing what a makeup kit at the age of three can allow or create. The real turning point was an assignment “to create a business we would love to walk out to tomorrow” in a marketing class in the NYU Executive MBA program. This was it. This was my hobby. It was what I loved to do and did for family and friends in my free time. Everyone somehow walked into my closet and walked out happier, smiling bigger and feeling better about themselves. I knew there was something to this whole image and personal brand thing. That was the inflection point.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Before I was in the business of image and fully understood the subtleties and meanings of different styles and colors and the impact they can have, I advised a colleague to wear suspenders and a matching pocket square. It was clearly a more formal than he needed. I suggested it as a way he could give his image a little bit of a “lift.” He went out and bought suspenders with clips, not the braces which button into the trousers. Shortly after, I dove into my studies and really understood the difference. I had to go buy him a new set of braces with coordinated pocket squares to correct the message in support of his personal brand. It’s the little things that make the difference and are the key to brand and image in the first place. That story illustrated for me that a massive makeover if not usually necessary, especially for people leading companies who’ve already achieved great things. It’s those little tiny tweaks, the two-millimeter difference or the two percent improvement that shifts the attitude and the energy of an image, and ultimately will inform the result.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I’ve had the incredible good fortune of working with people who were truly visionary. When I discovered image as a corporate conversation, I realized fairly quickly that it was a true business bottom line conversation. The executives got it. They got it almost faster than I did because they could see how to apply it to all of their businesses and their goals. I could only see what I knew. They had a bigger, broader whole-business vision. When they took my vision and my dream and expanded it, it enabled me to see the overall impact of addressing the employees’ personal brands and how they flowed directly up to the corporate brand. The results were powerful. Until today it boggles my mind that every company and person everywhere doesn’t do this as a matter of standard practice.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am always working on new projects. I especially love creating “new” by expanding what’s already been done. My image and corporate work are my original passion — to help every person show up as their very best at all times. My work in brand and image has led to my deeper work in broadcast, and the work in broadcast is leading to the creation of new levels of passion-play and new opportunities to help broader and different communities that even six months ago I didn’t imagine. The connectivity between everything I do and the chance to layer on new opportunities excites me — every time I learn something a new layer appears and with each new layer comes a new community and opportunities to serve more people.

I’m in constant awe of the genius of my clients. In my corporate work, while we can’t name names just yet, some of the clients are responsible for world changing discoveries that with our help will have the benefit of an ideal brand and identity as they emerge.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

It hurts my heart to see people or companies develop their brands based on superficial assessments. Then, six months down the road they have to go back and redevelop the whole brand because it’s not who they are or want to be in the marketplace. Because they didn’t approach it properly from the beginning, it’s expensive and time consuming. It not only creates burnout, it creates frustration and a negative cloud that hangs over the brand development and, ultimately, the marketing, which should be exciting and fun.

The secret is understanding who you are today and identifying the bridges that will take you to the future. This requires visioning and dreaming which few truly allow for. If more people did this they’d have an easier time building the foundation of a successful brand. They’d also avoid burnout and the risk of leaving it up to others to define them. Ultimately, if you don’t define yourself from the beginning someone will step forward in a matter of minutes and their definition of you could be more convincing than your own.

Another secret — as you participate in the visioning and dreaming, instead of focusing solely on the product or service you’re selling, focus on all possible audiences, even those you’re not considering right now. Focus on how you will make their lives and/or the world better. If we could really speak to the ways all products or services change lives, we’d communicate differently, and in doing so would make our lives and our jobs so much easier (as well as provide a greater outcome for all).

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Branding is truly identifying who you are, who you want to be, and how you want to be known in the world. Brand marketing, then, is communicating that message into the world and putting it where your audience is, as well as where the people who don’t yet know about you can become acquainted. I see brand marketing as putting the brand in the right place at the right time.

Product marketing should flow from the brand. Your product doesn’t stand alone but is a piece of what exists under the umbrella of a brand. So while your brand is your global consideration, everything should flow up to the brand, ensuring that the alignment and the messaging are consistent. Product creation is what trickles down from the brand. The communication of each product must be in full alignment with the global brand message. You can’t market a product in a vacuum although, unfortunately, many try.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

From my perspective, the investment needs to start with the brand. Then you go to the marketing and communications efforts. First, you must know who and what you are. Then, you can sell something. You have to get that self-image and clarity around the core of the product or service or person you are introducing to the world. Once you do that, the rest of the communication should flow more easily. When we look at how this impacts others, the better you know yourself, the better I, the consumer, can feel that you understand me and can help me, make my life better. Ultimately, marketing and communication express how the product or service will make the consumers’ or clients’ lives better.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

Number one, to stay current and top of mind; to be sure you are speaking to your audience and to where they are today. If you were selling a Ford Model T in its day versus a Ford SUV today, you’re speaking to different audiences, even though you’re basically talking about the same item. You must prove that you are current and at the top of your game. Then the listener/client prospect can trust and hear you. This is a great opportunity to show that you understand your customers’ issues and position your product relevant to their current needs.

Number two, when something major changes in the corporation or industry. It may be a small twist that’s needed or potentially a complete overhaul. But the internal organization needs to be reflected in the external brand. A change in the world may impact how and where you want to be known. So a new product, approach or technology would really force a rebrand to make sure that alignment is there.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Well, nobody knew what Google was until Google appeared. And why would “Apple” be a computer or a technology. Coca Cola comes to mind as an example of why to not rebrand when you are truly globally pervasive. When you are known for one thing, to try to step out and create something new may backfire on you. You run the risk of your current audience not agreeing with the direction you’ve taken, and backpedaling, maybe even retracting it. On the other hand, did you take the right time to brand well in the first place? The best brands are going to last for hundreds of years.

It is really important to understand the motivation for rebranding. This pertains to a one-person business as well. Initially, when I created my consultancy, I wanted to appear larger than a single person operation. So I gave the company a corporate name. Years later I realized “I am the brand.” Initially I wasn’t — I had a day job and I had my consultancy. So the branding was good at the time. When I realized it was time for me to step out as a unique entity, it was time to rebrand. That is something people should pay attention to.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Go within before going outside. This means to go to your employees for feedback, to really hear from them what’s working and not working. Based on that feedback you will know if you need to stick where you are or make some simple adjustments, perhaps a logo refresh which can give the company an entirely fresh approach to its marketing and messaging. As an example, when Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover Banks merged, we needed to revise the logo yet keep the essence of both. So we went to the employees for input. Based on that input we came back with 5–10 designs and created a core committee to do the work. Building excitement within the organization is equally or more important than building the excitement outside. What really excited people was that it was the first mega-merger on Wall Street. Yes, many jobs were lost, but many new ones were created. There were a lot of conversations that made it imperative to get input from the employee base before going to the marketplace, because getting the buy-in of employees gave us the support of 30,000 people who were also customers. Starting it from within was one of the major factors that helped to make it successful.
  2. Focus on a different strength of the organization. If you really look at the strengths of the organization and elevate different ones at different times you can give the brand a refreshed and re-energized approach to its messaging across a strategic combination of messages, which will speak to different audiences. By speaking to new audiences who perhaps haven’t heard from you before it appears as if a whole new brand has landed. It’s unexpected, fresh and new. For example, Delta Airlines has refreshed its look repeatedly over the years as a way of emphasizing the things they’ve done to stay current.
  3. Dress up your visual image. Dressing up your website or physical location can upgrade your visual image. Dressing up your personal or company “dress code” is a way of leveling up as well and signaling to your audience that you are stepping up and doing something new. Something as simple as a black and white photo of the SnappConner agency staff, before I joined them, for example, made it easy to tell the professional level and capacity of every individual on the team. Ill-fitting clothes, shop-worn shoes, poorly chosen eyewear or hairstyles, for example, send a message to the world about your confidence and capabilities which speaks volumes about your organization as well.
  4. Empower and engage every member of the team. In addition to visual image, the engagement of the company’s team members is vital. I will never forget, I was living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and heading to work on Wall Street. In the subway car I could hear two young tellers speaking ill of the bank they worked for, in very loud tones. I looked around the subway car and counted about 200 people hearing this message along with me. Everyone was being involuntarily drawn into these very big and negative opinions about the organization that was paying for their rent and their lives with only their teeny, limited view of what actually goes on at the bank. As an executive of the bank I imagined my bonus flying out the window as I realized these were the individuals who interfaced with our clients on a daily basis. This experience underscored the importance of the company sharing its dream and vision with everyone within the company. As a young employee, it wasn’t until I heard the CEO make a presentation about all of the hospitals, the schools and the projects the bank was funding that were bringing good to millions that I started to really understand what our company did and what my role within it was doing to support the overall success. Everyone should be included, from the top execs to those in the mailroom, in understanding the vision and being clear about the value they add and why they are there. And then they can be challenged to help embody that vision and brand in everything they do.
  5. Understand both your professional and your personal vision and mission. The piece about involving and including your employees should extend to the development of not only a professional vision and mission but of a personal vision and mission as well. People want to feel good about the companies they work for and buy from. In my case, it’s my love of animals that can influence my business choices. I use my business platform to support my desire to clear the shelters and encourage people to “Adopt, Don’t Shop,” and especially to rescue-adopt. When business and personal beliefs come together there’s magic in the power you will have.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I can think of many examples, but one that is completely unexpected is not a company but a product or nature. The cauliflower. In 2018, Fast Company named it the trendiest product of the year, with data showing it increasing in purchase by 71 percent over 2017 and showing up in one report in 36 different products within a single store. First it was kale, then brussels sprouts, now cauliflower. Even chips and snack foods are touting the inclusion of cauliflower to make them “healthier” and more current. It’s now to a level that the rice industry has taken action to prevent cauliflower products from using the word “rice.” This brand makeover was the work of multiple organizations that weren’t necessarily working together, yet collectively have managed to make this plain, lowly vegetable one of the hottest nutritional trends. It’s brilliant and fun. And, let’s face it, if cauliflower can be pizza…well, you can be anything!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d say to remember that success is rarely about a particular technical skill, rather about finding and engaging the people around who share your vision to jump in and make it happen. This has happened again and again in my life. Michael Darling, my professor at NYU who gave us the assignment to create a business we would want to walk out to “tomorrow.” Jack Stack, head of the retail bank at Chemical Bank who saw the value in investing in the human asset of a business, the people, in a way that opened the door for me to introduce professional image. It was a groundbreaking initiative within a Fortune company to help elevate the employee base and help them better understand and exhibit their value within the brand. And Cheryl Snapp Conner (SnappConner PR), who as a client became a friend and, ultimately, an amazing colleague who saw the value of the work for one person and immediately envisioned the value on a broader scale. She brought it in house to her own organization which has become cutting edge in its approach to high impact and high standard communications, integrating the verbal and the visual in a way that has not been done in the past.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I have two favorites. Both are credited to Sir Winston Churchill. “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” I believe that, and I appreciate that he was able to voice it so simply. The second, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” I believe deeply that as we achieve greater and greater things within our lives it is our absolute responsibility to pass that on to future generations, to teach and help them understand that their achievements come with responsibility. The belief that achievement allows purely for personal freedom is misguided. Achievement that begets true greatness requires taking on more and more responsibility to achieve well and to use the benefits you gain for good in the world.

How can our readers follow you online?

There are many ways! www.LaurenSolomon.com, LinkedIn (Lauren Solomon at LSImage), and at Facebook, Lauren Solomon.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Lauren Solomon: “Here are 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Sara McCord of of Sara

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Sara McCord of of Sara McCord Communications

Take the time to work through a brand discovery process. Don’t simply assume everyone knows what you’re targeting: If you’re doing a rebrand, it’s because there’s a consensus that what you currently have can be improved upon. So, put the time in and consider what you want your new branding to get across, how it will be differentiated from others in your field, and so forth. I always ask my clients to pull examples of what they love and hate from top competitors in the field to add to the conversation.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview with Sara McCord.

Sara is the founder and CEO of Sara McCord Communications. She creates communications strategies and supporting content to help clients grow their businesses. She’s worked with companies and brands of all sizes, as well as individual thought leaders. Sara has spearheaded projects ranging from rebranding and multi-faceted marketing strategies; to writing and editing website, email, social, thought leadership, and ad copy. She has been published on Forbes, Mashable, Business Insider, The Muse, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, and more.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Absolutely. My journey evolved from content to content strategy to communications strategy. I started as a writer and editor at The Muse and contributing writer for Mashable. It was inspiring to see those companies evolve and catalyzed my interest in strategy and growth.

Fast forward, and as I worked with my first clients on content deliverables, I realized they were often missing a comprehensive strategy that would make these projects successful. They knew they “needed” an updated website or a social media presence, but they didn’t quite no why or how it could benefit them. It inspired me to learn more about the elements my clients had specific questions about: rebranding, SEO, social strategy — and my skillset and business grew in response to their needs.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I created a Google Ad campaign around a dental implant procedure for a dental office. Naturally, we had to be very selective with our keywords regarding before and after pictures of implants, so that we were targeting a customer looking to makeover their smile!

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

Absolutely. Along the lines of what I was saying before, I became more successful as I grew my skillset. Creating excellent content was a great starting point, but taking courses on SEO, email strategy, Adwords, Analytics, and so on meant I could create and execute comprehensive communications strategies with all of these elements in mind.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am. I’m about to launch my second business. My co-founder has decades of experience as a Biotech recruiter, and we’re going to work with Biotech startups to provide integrative branding, marketing, and talent acquisition services. She’s opened my eyes to how helping biotech companies find the right talent ultimately leads to improved patient outcomes. I’m also excited because I’ve never worked in a partnership before.

Some other exciting projects include helping a client with a growing thought leadership platform, seeing my small business clients grow year over year, and getting back into writing and contributing articles for my own brand.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

I would advise them to find marketing podcasts they really enjoy listening to. I think, in any field, if you stay in the same lane forever things can start to feel stale. Podcasts will expand your knowledge base and ignite new ideas — and there’s a new topic each week! My current #1 favorite is The Goal Digger Podcast with Jenna Kutcher.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

One way to conceptualize it is as the difference between generalizing and specializing. Your brand marketing needs to work across all aspects of your business, whereas your product marketing will be specific to the given product.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Brand loyalty is a key component to repeat business. Even if someone loves a certain product or service, that’s not a guarantee they’ll buy from you again. They may comparison shop based on any number of factors (price, recommendations, etc.). Conversely, if they support your brand, there’s a trust and a relationship there and they’re more likely not only to buy the same product from you, but potentially be open to future products as well.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

I’ve worked with multiple companies on rebranding. Most often, they need to rebrand because they’ve outgrown the earlier representation of their company. The best-case scenario at this point is that it’s simply outdated and not doing them any favors, and the worst-case scenario is that it’s counting against them.

More specifically, if you consider your work to be edgy and modern, you want your branding to reflect that. If you have great attention to detail, if you’re creative, if you’re conservative — whatever your brand identity is — if the materials you pulled together when you were launching no longer give your customer an accurate sense of who you are, rebranding may be the way to go.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Obviously, a rebranding breaks brand continuity; so, if you don’t bring your current customers along with you, you can disappoint longtime fans. If they feel deserted and that the brand no longer resonates with them, it can translate directly to losing their business.

I would advise a company that was growing and already had a strong brand loyalty and customer base to think carefully before undertaking the decision to rebrand.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Take the time to work through a brand discovery process. Don’t simply assume everyone knows what you’re targeting: If you’re doing a rebrand, it’s because there’s a consensus that what you currently have can be improved upon. So, put the time in and consider what you want your new branding to get across, how it will be differentiated from others in your field, and so forth. I always ask my clients to pull examples of what they love and hate from top competitors in the field to add to the conversation.
  2. Improve your content and visuals: I know this one may seem obvious, but it’s so important. Rebranding indicates that you’re evolving and sharing something new. Take the time to revamp photos and reread messaging so you can be sure your audience sees a change.
  3. Get fresh eyes. A friend of mine who specializes in branding put it best: “We don’t cut our own hair.” One of the best decisions I made was reaching out to Hillman Ball of Mainland Creative for a fresh logo and brand kit as my company started to grow. It gave me an instant boost of confidence. Plus, when you work with someone else in the field, you grow your team and/or base of referrals for future collaborations. (We’ve worked together on numerous projects since then.)
  4. Ask for feedback. Do you know what is (or isn’t) resonating? Poll your audience and ask them questions around how they view your brand and what they’d like to see from you.
  5. Think about the big picture. Don’t simply change a logo or your colors or font and call it a day. If you’re rebranding, there’s a reason why. Make sure all of your efforts will advance your growth.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

The first example to come to mind for me is Airbnb. When they launched their new logo (several years ago now), it was accompanied with a brand story explaining what it represented. Also, it was forward-thinking, they went out of their way to select a message and logo that could grow with the company.

To replicate this success, you should be able to answer more than the “what” when you go through a rebranding process. What’s your “why?”

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

My husband and I started the Moses Warren McCord Memorial Fund at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. It’s a fund to support the most vulnerable NICU babies and their families, as our son passed away at 19 days old. I can think of nothing more impactful then helping families bring their babies home and showing up to support those who cannot.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Rachel Hollis says: “Hope is not a strategy.” In other words, you have to put the work in. I’m a working mom and a business owner, and I have to plan and execute to see things happen.

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/saramccord

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarajmccord/

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Sara McCord of of Sara was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image with AJ Adams

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview AJ Adams.

AJ Adams is a digital brand strategist and the founder of D6Media. He went from broke janitor to highly paid personal brand strategist and consultant to multi-millionaire entrepreneurs, celebrities, and $100M brands. AJ is proof of the power of creating influence. He has also built a personal brand with over 125,000 followers across social media, more than 29 MILLION impressions, and his content has reached an excess of 15 MILLION people worldwide. In addition to his business success, AJ is an international bestselling author of three books and a dynamic speaker on the topics of personal branding, authority positioning, and high-ticket client acquisition. AJ also hosts The Brand Domination Show, a Top 50 Ranked podcast on iTunes, where he interviews top entrepreneurs and reveals powerful insights and actionable strategies to help listeners dominate in their brands, lives, and businesses.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I would get my entrepreneurial Journey sort of unexpectedly. At the time I was working as a telemarketer 4 University and my wife, a former Division 1 college basketball player, was coaching a freshman girls basketball team at the local high school. One day the head coach randomly came up to me and asked, “Hey AJ, have you ever done motivational speaking?” at the time, I didn’t even know what motivational speakers were. I have been a former youth pastor for several years, so the only experience I had as a speaker was in that context. But I agree to do it anyway and began to obsessively study the top motivational speakers I can find. it was then that I discovered people like Les Brown, Zig Ziglar, and Tony Robbins. I realized that there were people who actually got paid to travel and speak to crowds. my mind was blown! From then on I was obsessed with mastering the craft of public speaking. the only problem was that I had absolutely no experience building a business and even less experience in branding and marketing. So again, Begin to obsessively study. and within two years not only was I getting booked to speak on stages, but I was also making more for a single talk that I was making in a whole month at my day job. This attracted the attention of other speakers, coaches, and Consultants and eventually, lead me into the space of High ticket coaching and Consulting. Today, I’ve coached, consulted, and built brands for celebrities, multi-millionaire CEOs, and $100 million dollar brands. My current focus is teaching experts how to create a high-ticket personal brand and land their first high-ticket clients in 45 days or less.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

What is probably the funniest branding mistake I made early in my career Is building my personal brand around a gimmick. I’m an experienced martial artist with a first-degree black belt and I decided to use that as my Brand. I came up with the moniker “The Black Belt Leadership Speaker”. I will wear my black belt uniform and speak to large groups of students about how to overcome failure. To end my talks, I would break a stack of bricks on stage as a way of proving that overcoming failure is 90% mental. It was a great gimmick and got me booked on stages, but it ultimately wasn’t a sustainable or even safe brand strategy. I came to this realization during the very last talk I gave as The Black Belt Leadership Speaker. On that particular day, I would be speaking to over 1,200 students and therefore, decided to you raise the steaks and break not my usual three bricks, but I was going to attempt a personal record and break a stack of eight bricks! To make a long story short I only broke through the first six bricks, And nearly broke my hand in front of over 1,200 students. I learned a valuable lesson that day, that a brand must be built for evolution, which means it cannot be built on a gimmick. It must be built around an authentic and relatable story.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

There have been multiple tipping points along my entrepreneur career, but one of the most significant occurred when I made the decision to focus on investing heavily in growing my influence through my personal brand. As I began to post more content on social media that spoke to the Right audience and I implemented more intelligent marketing strategies, I went from reaching hundreds to reaching Millions of my target audience. As a result, within 18 months I had grown my personal brand to over 125,000 followers across social media, my brand had been seen over 29 million times, reached over 5 million unique users, and amassed over 4 million views. The major take away is that influence is everything. Without influence, you are impacting no one, and without impact, you will never generate an income from your brand.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

The project that I’m really excited about right now is my new top-level coaching and mentorship program “Zero To High-Ticket”. In this program, I teach coaches, consultants, and agency owners the exact strategies and systems I used to go from being completely unknown to landing High ticket clients what paid me as much as $13,000 per month. The way that I built this program, it will help experts build their personal brand and get their first High to get clients in 45 days or less without Facebook ads or complex funnels in technology.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

I have had to learn the hard way that burnout happens when you begin to add more things to your business that do not align with the reasons you started your business in the first place. I believe this so wholeheartedly that in Q4 of 2019, I eliminated everything from my business that did not align with the lifestyle that I want to build through my business. I fired clients, cut ties with business partners, and eliminated every service offering that no longer aligns with my vision for 2020 and beyond. As my first coach told me, “When your values are clear your decisions are easy.” get clear on your values and make your decisions based on those values.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

What’s the difference between brand marketing and product marketing is actually quite simple. Product marketing is communicating clearly and concisely to the marketplace what you are selling. This includes the features and benefits of your product or service. Brand marketing, on the other hand, is deploying a compelling message as to why the marketplace should care about or value the product you are marketing.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

I recently published a book with one of my former business partners who was the lead brand strategist behind multimillion-dollar fashion brands people like Jennifer Lopez and Tommy Hilfiger. In the book, we discuss how branding is the key to building long-term wealth and success in any business. Marketing and advertising make consumers aware of your product or service and invites them to become customers, Whereas branding is a long-term strategy and process of building what I call “relationship equity” with your future and current customers so that they will buy, promote your brand, and buy again.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

There is a lot of misconception around the term rebranding. Too many business owners when they think of rebranding, they assumed it to mean building a whole new brand. In reality, if a brand is built correctly and with the right strategy — meaning that the brand has been built for evolution — then, rebranding is simply the process of revitalizing the brand in order to make it more relevant as you pivot expand your reach in the marketplace. take for example, Brands like Facebook and Coca-Cola. they have both rebranded multiple times by updating their logo, shifting to a more customer-centric Focus, etcetera. Completely changing a brand would be to throw away the things that don’t work along with the things that do work. instead, brands should go all-in on the things that are proven to work while eliminating those elements of their brand and no longer align with their vision for the future.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

As I mentioned, the only real downside I see in terms of rebranding as the old saying goes, throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Success in branding and business, in general, is more often about doing less than it is about doing more. So my advice to any company that is going through the process of a Rebrand is 2 evaluate how they can provide more value to their customers and the marketplace by doing less and focusing on what works best.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Align rebrand strategy with business goals

Strategy is the foundation of all true branding and should be the restarting point for any rebranding campaign. Whereas most business owners hear the term “brand” and immediately think of graphic elements such as (logos, fonts, and color palettes), it is the brand strategy that informs the design of each creative element.

What Instagram updated its logo in 2016, they did so as part of a strategy to evolve the brand beyond its origins as a photo-sharing service. The new logo was clean and simplistic while also being more versatile which aligned with how the company which had expanded to include multiple sub-brands.

Cash in on brand equity

Great brands are built with the end consumer in mind and therefore, should be rebranded in the same way. Rebranding most often occurs as a company is building upon its success by evolving its offerings and expanding its reach in the marketplace. It is important to take into consideration the equity that has been built with consumers in order to increase this equity and bring a fresh vibrancy to the consumer experience.

Leverage existing brand loyal customers

One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the ability to get immediate and real-time insights directly from the marketplace. a simple yet powerful way for companies to improve the likelihood of a successful rebranding campaign is to involve their social media followers. This can take the form of surveys, livestream Q&A sessions or directly asking users to vote on potential logo concepts or products.

Do less, not more

More often than not successful branding is the result of doing less, rather than doing more. In fact, removing elements from a brand can actually enhance it and position the company for greater success. Simplifying a brand can also include removing products and services.

Update visual branding

Brand strategy is the foundation upon which effective brand design is built and without it, a company can fall into the trap of creating an aesthetically appealing brand that does not sell. The very last step of a company rebrand should be to update the visual branding so that it aligns with pivots being made in the overall company strategy.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One of the best examples I have seen of a company successfully executing a brand makeover is mega-brand Starbucks. In 2011, as the company was expanding beyond the coffee market, it removed the word “coffee” from its iconic logo to create an updated brand with greater versatility.

What I find most impressive about this rebrand is the incredible simplicity of the execution. The current Starbucks logo is a prime exemplification of the “less is more” principle.

Companies can replicate Starbuck’s example by simply evaluating their offerings and future business goals, asking “Does our current branding align with our future vision and goals?”, and then removing any of these elements that no longer align. I personally did this in my own business during Q4 of 2019 when I removed most of my clients, business partners, and offers from my business. As a result, my profitability has increased ten-fold.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I am on a mission to multiple my influence one-hundred times over in 2020 and leverage that influence to inspire a movement of entrepreneurs who are fulling committed to building businesses that are committed to creating profit for purpose. My company will donate 10% of our profit in 2020 to social causes we believe are making a positive local and global impact.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My life lesson quote is simply, “Build something worth being known for; leave something worth being remembered for.”

I wrote this quote several years ago to remind myself that I became an entrepreneur not simply to make massive amounts of money, but to build a legacy that will create a global impact that transcends my lifetime.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can connect with me on the major social media platforms via my website at www.AJAdams.biz

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image with AJ Adams was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Patrick Ward of…

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Patrick Ward of Rootstrap

Deliberate, Delightful Design. Don’t neglect the power of sleek, beautiful design. Design is one of those unconscious elements that if you apply best practices you can elevate your brand to appeal to a contemporary audience. Failing to do so puts you at risk of looking obsolete or old school (Comic sans or Papyrus fonts, anyone), unless that is your intention. The point being, how your brand elements are designed creates an impression in the mind of your customer of who you are and your company ethos. This was particularly pertinent for Dogtown Media, a mobile app development studio. We had no updated physical marketing collateral that could be handed to clients, particular important as our deal sizes were increasing, necessitating in-person meetings, as well as being used for our events for attendees.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Patrick Ward.

Patrick is the Director of Marketing for Rootstrap, a full-service custom design and development agency that digitally transforms enterprises like MasterClass, Google, & Quartz. A writer by trade, Patrick has worked extensively across the insurance, real estate, finance, travel, and tech industries, with notable clients including Allianz, Cathay Pacific, and Fiji Airways. Currently he lives in LA, having been born and raised in Sydney, Australia, and is a diehard Steelers fan.

He is currently a member of the Forbes Communications Council, an invitation-only organization for senior-level communications executives, and the Ad Age Executive Collective, an invite-only community of noteworthy marketing and media agency leaders, marketing and communications executives, martech and adtech founders, and technology executives in the media space. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies), majoring in Marketing and Political Science, from the University of Sydney.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Patrick! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Starting college, I was very conscious that my major choice would be a reflection of my desired career direction. I experimented with a few areas: I tried economics, wasn’t for me. I tried finance, still wasn’t for me. I stumbled onto marketing and found my calling. Marketing fit me for two distinct reasons: 1) it’s an incredibly collaborative field, which fit my inherent extroverted tendencies and 2) it has an underpinning of psychology. I’ve always been fascinated with how and why people think the way they do. Marketing for me is using this knowledge to then effectively communicate to people from all walks of life. With that as my foundation, I’ve been able to transcend many different industries, leading me to the realm of tech which is where I apply my skills today.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My first marketing job was as a copywriter for an ad agency based in Sydney, Australia. I’d learned the ropes of writing for SEO and our team was writing thoroughly researched blogposts for an insurance client. And when I say thoroughly, I mean thoroughly. We’re talking articles that would sometimes go through 30, 40 revisions — it was becoming farcical.

When I took on a travel client, I began traveling to different destinations and writing about the places I visited. The irony in all this — those pieces performed better both in terms of traffic volume and revenue than any of the articles I’d “written for Google”. Retrospectively, all I could do is laugh. How is it that the articles I stressed over for days at a time were worse than the quickly written travel pieces done in half an hour? It taught me an important lesson that I hold with me to this day: don’t get consumed by the tactics. Today’s marketing world is obsessed with tactics, but in this instance I learned to never lose sight of why and for whom you are performing a particular task. The travel pieces were written from my own experience, with a greater depth of storytelling: it’s really not surprising that they performed better.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

As occurs to many entry-level employees, there is a lot of feeling like you are spinning your wheels. Referred to as ‘paying your dues’ or ‘putting in the grunt work’, you can end up tasked with a multitude of recurring projects that are deemed suitable for someone for your level. This provides you with a breadth of experience but puts you at risk when applying for future jobs. The tipping point for me was when I began to own the business activities that I excel at and concretely focus on them. Can I write? Yes, I love to write; if this job requires heavy amounts of copy, I’m your guy. Can I design? Moderately, but I’m not going to focus on that, better left to a designer. The lesson here is simple: Be clear on what you do.

By standing firm on my exceptional skills, I attracted the roles that would allow me to excel. In an era of increasing specialization, it isn’t enough to simply be ‘ok’ at a task, you need to excel so identify early on what tasks you excel at. From applying this lesson, I also was provided with resources for the components where I wasn’t as strong, allowing me to have a far greater overall impact as my team members’ skills complemented mine, rather than doubling up.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

My current company, Rootstrap, has provided me with enormous opportunities to pursue additional initiatives that further both my professional development and the company brand as a whole. Two major projects excite me at the moment: I’m building my portfolio of speaking engagements, developing myself as an authority in the marketing, social media, emerging technology, and career advice arenas. This is already starting to bear fruit as I’ve been invited to speak at the Influencer Marketing Conference & Expo in Los Angeles about the rise of LinkedIn as a content creation platform.

My other additional project is focused on a key passion of mine: mentorship to students. As a student myself not too long ago, I recognize the challenge college students face when determining a career, particularly in this job market where it isn’t enough to simply have a degree anymore. I’m continually finding new ways to partner with universities, whether with on-campus student organizations or guest lecture appearances, to educate and mentor students, especially seniors as they begin the unpredictable journey of transitioning to the job market.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Marketers are, by their very nature, ‘can-do’ people. They are creative, curious people that are easily excited by new ideas and initiatives. As a result, one aspect suffers: time. It might be tempting to try and do it all, but we all know that is physically impossible. The key is to set clear expectations with your manager about what can get done in a realistic timeframe. Your job is to then be accountable to that timeframe, especially since some marketing tasks are not always time-sensitive. Yes, you could take an extra week to do that case study, but you said you would deliver it in two so deliver it in two.

Beyond that, don’t be afraid to ask for resources. Companies are more than willing to spend money when it drives business outcomes forward. Talk their language and demonstrate, with numbers, how an additional resource will make you more efficient and get more work done.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

The difference between branding and advertising is synonymous with the difference between strategy and execution. Brand marketing is long-term in nature and focuses on the elements of your company that you wish to be known for in the marketplace. Design systems, voice, iconography, messaging all fit into this category and can not be chosen lightly. Product marketing is far more tactical by comparison — focused on the initiatives and campaigns that will drive immediate results for your business such as lead generation, customer acquisition, email list building, increased social media engagement. The key to determining which is which lies in the desired outcome. If you want to increase revenue or some other tangible metric by a percentage, chances are it’s advertising. If your measure of success is tied more towards your company’s vision and perception in the marketplace, that is branding.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

In today’s era, organizations are obsessed with short-term execution-based efforts for marketing. Indeed, this has coincided with the rise of a particular form of marketing: growth-hacking. While it is important to spend in these areas to generate sales in the short-term, advertising can not exist and be effective without the long-term foundation that branding provides. When you build a successful brand, short-term objections start to dissipate. No longer are the conversations about pricing or contract terms and how you stack up against side-by-side to the competition; suddenly the talk is transformed to be about value.

We all know the adage it is cheaper to retain an existing client than acquire a new one, and that comes from successful branding. When you have a brand that showcases your company as truly unique, trust and loyalty is imbued in your customers. As an added bonus, investing in brand building helps your short-term initiatives be more successful too, because you provide a framework in which your prospective customer can understand your product or service offering and how you can help them.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

The most imperative reason for a company to rebrand itself is rooted in philosophy. Namely, that the current company brand no longer reflects the day-to-day reality of the company’s position in its industry, its clientele, its current purpose, and the offering that it provides to its customers and society at large. If left to continue, a company will create cognitive dissonance in the minds of its stakeholders, leading to potentially disastrous results from a revenue perspective.

Another reason to consider rebranding is the converse: that their brand reflects TOO much of their reality and that customer base is shrinking or no longer values the product/service the way they did when they first started using it. In this situation, a rebrand is a necessity as the company will continue to decline without modifying its perception in the market.

Finally, if a company has very ambitious growth goals, sometimes the only way to achieve them is a rebrand. Perhaps the company’s brand started as an accurate reflection of their offering, but this brand is no longer sufficient to explain the new range of products and services that the company sees as key to its future success. Without a rebrand, these product line expansions or diversification of service offerings will fail to capture the attention of the market and thus produce the desired ROI for the company itself.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Marketers are incredibly creative; but don’t let them get too creative. With so much energy, sometimes marketing departments can be too preemptive and seek investment for a rebrand before it is due. The risk here is every time a rebrand is performed, two negative phenomena could occur: 1) you cannibalize your existing brand clout, potentially alienating your existing customer base and 2) your rebrand efforts are ignored by your new target audience, leading to a cataclysmic drop in company health metrics such as revenue and profit.

Every particular company has an opportunity to rebrand, especially given the inherent disruptive forces that exist within capitalism, but a rebrand should only be entered into to course-correct. If the company is declining already, then that might be a sign that a rebrand is necessary. If the company wants to enter an entirely new market, the same situation applies. But don’t undergo a rebrand just for the sake of appearing trendy — there is always a risk to action as well as a risk of inaction, and companies would do well to be mindful of that when evaluating if a rebrand is right for them.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

Start with the Story:

When we identify why a brand is no longer working for a company, the first area to investigate is the brand story. This tends to be an underlying assumption about a company and often overlooked, but a brand story dictates your entire brand’s position and therefore how it is perceived by the marketplace. A brand story is repeated across ad copy, email campaigns, websites, social media posts, press articles, the list goes on. Modify this successfully and you will be well on your way to crafting an authentic rebrand.

With this philosophy in mind, when I first entered Rootstrap, a custom web & app development agency, I sought out the story first. With a simple two page document, myself and the senior leadership team clarified the issue and rewrote the brand story. Why? Because our messaging made us appear to only appeal to motivated entrepreneurs with concepts of “bringing a product to life” and “helping your vision succeed”. That language was nice, but wouldn’t work on our desired audience: mid-market to enterprise level companies. By tweaking our story to focus on the business value we provide, combined with the verbiage of statistics, suddenly our brand started to sound less start-up and more in the vernacular of our desired clients: corporate.

Deliberate, Delightful Design:

Copy is important, even essential, but don’t neglect the power of sleek, beautiful design. Design is one of those unconscious elements that if you apply best practices you can elevate your brand to appeal to a contemporary audience. Failing to do so puts you at risk of looking obsolete or old school (Comic sans or Papyrus fonts, anyone), unless that is your intention. The point being, how your brand elements are designed creates an impression in the mind of your customer of who you are and your company ethos. This was particularly pertinent for Dogtown Media, a mobile app development studio. We had no updated physical marketing collateral that could be handed to clients, particular important as our deal sizes were increasing, necessitating in-person meetings, as well as being used for our events for attendees.

By partnering with our talented design team, we were able to create a sleek, minimalist design for pamphlets, brochures and event banners that presented ourselves as a polished, professional team to our prospective corporate clients. The impact of our investment in design was evident, not only did we get praise and delight from our clients, partners and attendees, we were also recognized by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals with a Gold Hermes and a Gold Marcom Award, as well as the American Advertising Federation, earning a Bronze Addy.

Don’t be Afraid of Humor:

When you started your company, perhaps you adopted a business persona with your brand. It makes sense because money is exchanging hands and there is a responsibility and duty between client and vendor. But what does that produce? A stale, boring brand. If you’re looking to re-energize, why not try a little humor. I inherited a brand while at a financial conglomerate that was, to put it nicely, neglected called efutures. It had been acquired years earlier and no one knew what to do with it. This presented an enormous opportunity — there was no existing voice and so it was effectively a blank slate. Rather than continue with the stodgy, stale tone of other financial companies, we decided to brand it via Twitter, since the target clients were DIY traders. Since the main product was futures and options trading on agricultural commodities, we creatively used farm-related puns and animal GIFs to rebrand our offering as approachable. Needless to say, the results spoke for themselves as in the 3 months following the rebrand, the efutures brand gained an additional $2.2million in assets, with Twitter as the originating source.

Humans Grow, Companies Don’t — Invest in Thought Leadership:

One of the biggest challenges with rebrands is that it is predicated upon the idea that companies can change. This concept is surprisingly difficult to convey to consumers as they tend to have a fairly rigid view of companies and how to categorize them in their mind. However, there’s no denying that there is one entity that people accept can change and grow: humans. Rather than pin all your rebranding efforts on convincing people your company has changed, used a surrogate in the form of a company spokesperson or thought leader.

At Dogtown Media, we were struggling to show how we were different, in a sea of very similar development shops. By investing in thought leadership via our CEO as a representative, we were able to demonstrate that our brand was not just suitable for motivated entrepreneurs, but in fact had the capacity and vision to achieve results for mature company clients. The corresponding social proof in the form of Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Next Web, and VentureBeat spearheaded our rebranding efforts as we moved from startup clients to niching down into the healthcare space. The elements that make this strategy successful are evident: powerful storytelling about personal growth from your human representative elicits praise, recognition, and clout that is easily transferable to your company.

Current Client Case Studies:

When a company decides to do a rebrand, the temptation is to start everything from scratch. Not only is this not efficient, but more often than not, you have the tools at your disposal for a rebrand, you merely need to modify those tools. When starting at Rootstrap and being tasked with repositioning them from entrepreneur to enterprise clients, my next step after modifying the story was case studies. Even if the broader market is unaware of your new offering, it is likely you have a few clients who fit that description, otherwise you wouldn’t be investing in that particularly area.

For Rootstrap, it was as simple as determining the client work that best demonstrated the type of company we wanted to be, and therefore drove the creation of the new brand. Instead of talking about bringing projects ‘to life’, we reframed stories to be about direct results: growing MasterClass to $100M, helping Ownable do $2.5M on Black Friday. A comprehensive case study does two things: it lays out the new foundation for how customers and prospects should understand your brand and it draws them in with a compelling story that can produce advocates and further advance your rebranding efforts as you look to penetrate the collective consumer consciousness.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Brand makeovers are tricky business. They often can be flat-out ignored by the market at large, or create a visceral reaction from your customers. The ones we learned about in advertising lectures can seem like folklore — almost imaginary by their very nature. But when you see one performed successfully in front of your very eyes, and you can feel your perception changing, that is the sign of a quality brand makeover. Enter Bud Light — a stalwart of the American beer market, synonymous with blue collar, grilling steaks, and football. The problem? Declining sales in the face of increasing competition from craft beers and millennials who no longer identify with values of the past generation.

The solution? An innovative rebrand that made Bud Light reminiscent of craft beer competitors at the same time as implementing humor that drew in a new audience of millennials. I watched as I saw friends who would’ve formerly sneered at a ‘mass market’ beer, become transfixed with Bud Light. Beyond that, the unique messaging formula can be encapsulated by their partnership with Instagram meme accounts such as ‘Middle Class Fancy’ and ‘Classic Dad Moves’. The memes focused on fathers who were traditionally big fans of Bud Light, invoking feelings of nostalgia in the millennial generation of familial memories. The rebrand formula here is simple: remind people of your brand’s history, but show how you have transformed and grown to attract a new market.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The movement I would like to inspire is very simple: a foundation of self awareness. It is a scary thing to truly know oneself, and consequently so few people are willing to ask themselves the tough questions. As fear-inducing an exercise as that is, it is not a reason to not pursue it. Self awareness and being brutally honest with who you are, and what you stand for is the key to success. The lack of it is a recipe for failure. For too long have I been dismayed at friend’s who take degrees, jobs, and even careers because of family, friend or societal pressure, without putting their own desires first. I like to say that, “only you can be your number one fan”. When we understand exactly who we are and show up in the world that way, we operate at an ideal level that makes the maximum positive impact on our communities. That’s the key to elevating human consciousness.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

For me, a life lesson quote needs to encompass a philosophy of how to conduct oneself over the course of our lives. With that in mind, my favorite quote is the Persian adage, “this too shall pass”. The modern world has created a substantial consciousness of anxiety and stress, as people search for meaning and purpose in their lives. This existential indecision manifests itself in unhealthy ways, which I’ve particularly observed residing here in the United States, where people are desperately seeking to have everything be ‘awesome’ in the lives and end up dissatisfied. I draw great inner strength from this equivocal quote that reminds me to keep life in perspective, to not get arrogant in victory or despair in defeat, and ultimately to keep a balanced and clear mind on all of life’s trials and tribulations.

How can our readers follow you online?

Connect with me on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/patrickjamesward) or they can visit Rootstrap’s website (www.rootstrap.com)

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Patrick Ward of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Liz Goodgold: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image”

Dig Deep to Identity Your Brand Persona- Too many executives are afraid of projecting their brand DNA for fear of offending others. However, successful brands carve out a niche and project it proudly knowing full well that some customers will dislike them, but that they will also earn raving fans. Death Wish Coffee, for example, understands the coffee fiends who are their core customers. On Twitter, for example, one post reads: “DRINKING MY COFFEE. DON’T TALK TO ME” repeated 5 times. Hysterical! They also have the courage to post this statement on their site: 100% No-BS Guarantee.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Liz Goodgold. Liz is a branding expert who works with entrepreneurs and corporations to brand and speak better. From managing part of the $650 million Quaker Oats brand, she shares how to brand out, stand out, and cash in on your brand. With a fireball of energy, Liz has custom-created talks for Pfizer, Warner Bros, Meals on Wheels, Qualcomm and 200 plus other companies. Quick with a quip, she’s been on every national news channel and 2 TV series including Hollywood Scandals and The Kennedy Files. She’s also the author of 3 books including RedFire Branding and How to Speak Gooder.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve always been fascinated by brands starting with Bonnie Bell, Jordache Jeans, and Candies. How did they become hip? How does a brand retain cult status? How does a brand remain relevant and yet differentiated? These are the same questions that drive me today.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I started the DUH! Marketing Awards as a way to fuse learning and laughter. Before the Internet and viral content, my newsletters were everywhere; I even called my first book DUH! Marketing. And, then the reality hit: I couldn’t get hired by the companies that had just received an Award! With the recession of 2007 putting my livelihood in peril. I changed my company name to RedFire Branding representing not only my fiery personality and red hair, but as a symbol of rising out of the ashes of the downturn in the economy.

I learned that first impressions of brand names matter. If you’re delivering a speech called DUH! Branding and meeting planners don’t know you, they’ll assume that you’re mean and nasty. Get the name right the first time.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

My business blossomed by publicity. Articles, interviews, podcasts, and TV appearances were a major boost. Lesson: boost your visibility to boost your profitability.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’ve been coaching many executives recently on speaking better because it forms the foundation of their personal brand. Since first impressions are rampant, it’s imperative that you speak with authority and authenticity. It’s time to kick to the curb the “likes” and other speaking disfluencies that are killing your credibility and career.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

It’s important to step away from the job, the PC, and your phone. The world isn’t coming to an end if you don’t respond immediately. Unplug and repeat as necessary.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

A brand is your promise to the customer over the lifetime of your product or service. Advertising is an ephemeral ploy to get folks to buy now. One is a long-term proposition and position, the other is a temporary marketing message.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Creating marketing messages without understanding your brand DNA is like putting up a for sale sign without the address. You don’t know where to start! Investing in branding early saves headaches later.

I frequently see clients who tell me that they are having a copywriting issue. Wrong! They have a branding problem. You cannot write one word of copy without understanding your target, point of difference, personality, vocabulary, and promise.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

Renaming is at the heart of rebranding. Changing a brand name is serious business; you must weigh the positives of a new name against the negatives of losing any derived brand equity. A company should rebrand because of the following reasons:

  1. It’s Negatively Impacted by The News — Note the discussions about TikTok looking for a new name to disassociate itself from its Chinese roots.
  2. It Is Wrapped Up in Merger Mania — We are seeing fewer “squished” names. 20th Century Fox is now rebranded as 20th Century Studios.
  3. The Name Has Negative Connotations — Do you remember the ’70s appetite suppressant, Ayds? Obviously, chewing the caramel candies doesn’t transmit AIDS, but the tie-in between the brand and the disease obviously hit consumers hard. It died a quick death.
  4. It’s Outgrown the Name — A great example is Boston Chicken converting to Boston Market. Modem Media remains ripe for a name change adopting the more modern name of its parent, Digitas.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Legacy brands should hold up their heritage. The New York Times, for example, established its tagline of “All the news that’s Fit to Print” in 1897 and it still remains relevant today. Even with its digital version, the brand persona as the authority of news remains apparent.

Another brand with a great heritage is Wells Fargo. Established in 1852, the brand should never abandon its iconic stagecoach.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Dig Deep to Identity Your Brand Persona- Too many executives are afraid of projecting their brand DNA for fear of offending others. However, successful brands carve out a niche and project it proudly knowing full well that some customers will dislike them, but that they will also earn raving fans. Death Wish Coffee, for example, understands the coffee fiends who are their core customers. On Twitter, for example, one post reads: “DRINKING MY COFFEE. DON’T TALK TO ME” repeated 5 times. Hysterical! They also have the courage to post this statement on their site: 100% No-BS Guarantee.
  2. Develop A Brand Vocabulary — Dogpile, for example, uses “go fetch” vs. go search; it’s a great example of understanding your brand imagery and appropriate terms.
  3. Change Your Name — The HVLS Company (High Volumes of Low Speed air) caused quite a ruckus when it adopted the Big Ass Fan moniker. Some customers hated it and the company posted their unhappy comments; unheard of at that time. Today, the company is the Big Ass Solutions and it continues to push boundaries. See for example, its You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmIYMqTao0A
  4. Invest in a Good Tagline…and Keep It — Too many companies confuse a tagline with a slogan. A slogan is an ephemeral phrase attached to a particular ad campaign whereas a tagline explains the company’s life-long brand promise. The Ultimate Driving Machine (BMW), Tyson (We’re Chicken), Coleman (The Outdoor Company) remain true to their positioning.
  5. Consider a Mascot — We all smile at Tony the Tiger and Mr. Peanut (who recently died during the Super Bowl), but mascots can work for smaller and business to business brands too. They humanize a brand, simplify a complex message, and boost recall. Hootsuite (owly), MailChimp (Freddie the chimp), Linux (Tux the penguin) have all found a way to make them work.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Old Spice is a great example of a phenomenal makeover. It not only introduced hip commercials, but also changed the message at its core. It went from the old, staid image of a ship to embracing new packaging, adding new scents (Fiji anyone?), and a brand promise of embracing manhood. The key lesson is that it’s never to late to reinject energy into an older brand.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Think like your customers. Stop focusing on your marketing and your desired results, ask the prospect!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Freedom lies in being bold.” Robert Frost’s quote exemplifies the purpose of branding: to take the risk to stand out. If everyone agrees with your brand strategy, I guarantee you don’t have a compelling brand.

How can our readers follow you online?

https://redfirebranding.com/

https://www.lizgoodgold.com/

Liz Goodgold: “Here Are 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future is Now: “How 5G technology will impact and change our lives”, with Ericsson’s Peter…

The Future is Now: “How 5G technology will impact and change our lives”, with Ericsson’s Peter Linder

Peter Linder is Ericsson’s 5G Evangelist, responsible for 5G Customer Engagement Marketing in North America, and has been with the company for 26 years. As a top 100 global influencer on 5G, Peter’s expertise is in fixed and mobile broadband networks, plus digital transformation for network operators. His experiences come from marketing, strategy, business development and portfolio management roles. He blends this with his strong passion for mentoring about digital transformation. At Ericsson, Peter is focused on 5G’s ability to shape the future of connected technology and ultimately how 5G and IoT, in combination with developments in technology and society that enable digitalization, will change the way we work and live. Beyond the 5G ecosystem, Peter has extensive knowledge on smart cities, Industrial IoT, virtual reality, autonomous transport and more. Peter speaks three languages and considers himself a global citizen. He holds a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in International Business Management, both from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Peter! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I made my first career decision when I was eight years old at The Swedish Grand Prix in Formula 1. I loved hanging around in the paddock. When I understood the role of the car wings, I decided to become a professor in aerodynamics. I got my first job at 11, and by the time I started high school, I had pivoted to electric engineering. I got an internship one summer at a Swedish silicon provider and from that point and on, I was able to see just how far my wings could carry me — often far away from home.

I got accepted at Chalmers University in Gothenburg and graduated with two Master’s degrees, which became my two entry tickets into my life-long career at Ericsson. My role you can say is split 50/50 on three fronts: Broadband Networking, half fixed and half mobile; International Business, half global and half U.S; and finally Innovation, which includes the intersection of tech and business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

My most interesting story happened recently. During 2019, we kicked off a leading-edge marketing partnership with Verizon in the U.S., targeting 5G for their enterprise customers. I was selected by the customer unit’s head of marketing at Ericsson to speak at an event. This gave me the chance to earn their trust and participate in thought leadership opportunities with our enterprise customer’s team. The experience was really rewarding and gave me the confidence I needed to share my ideas with the team and help Verizon convey the message of the power of 5G. How often in one’s life, do you get a chance like this to help your customer’s customer?

The exciting moment came on June 6, during the 75-year anniversary of the D-Day, on the aircraft carrier Intrepid in New York City, where over 500 people were in attendance. Leading up to the event, I asked my wife to take time-off and join me during this exceptional moment in life.

I rehearsed my 20-minute session by walking around for three hours in lower Manhattan to get into the right mood. This included talking to myself, waving my arms, and essentially appearing crazy to those people walking by. When I finally took the stage later that evening, it was such a release of energy. A bit like compressing a coil for 2 months and then letting it expand in 20 minutes. A moment of great joy!

Can you tell us about the “Bleeding edge” technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

I see my current role as riding two bullet trains at the same time. One is the industry transformation driven by 5G and the second is the transformation of marketing, where digital and human marketing is integrated with sales. The combination of the two make my professional life interesting.

The first four mobile network generations were about consumers, phones and networks. Today, our phones are smart, the high-speed data connectivity is universal and our apps are based in the cloud.

The fifth generation aka “5G” is ground-breaking on multiple fronts. The network itself is an innovation platform. We have defined 5G with businesses, consumers and the government needs in mind. We’ve also expanded the telecom ecosystem to reach into every connected industry such as manufacturing and healthcare. The technology approach is new, where network hardware is shared rather than dedicated to a specific network function. The software also defines the capabilities of the network, creating the dynamic network that can accelerate already dynamic markets.

How do you think this might change the world?

Each mobile network generation has shrunk the world. First, we gave sales professionals tools to make phone calls on the road, responding instantly to customers and placing orders when they left their customers. Second, we allowed everybody to text or mail questions from a portable device and expect instant responses. Third, we eliminated borders for digital work, mobile data cards and MiFi routers made remote working a daily occurrence. Most recently, social media and apps have changed how we market goods and services and enable digital businesses.

5G shrinks the world even further. We will be able to measure actual purchase and usage patterns for products and services and apply those insights in real time. We will be able to learn instantly by asking Augmented Reality glasses for instructions for the new tasks we face. Response times will be eliminated for cloud-based applications. As if Alexa was sitting next to you all the time. Manufacturing and logistics move towards one click purchases and same or next day delivery. Powered by the movement for the fourth industrial revolution. A large chunk of the unlocked values comes from untethering devices. 5G allows value adding elements to be combined flexibly without dependency on wires.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

I think the biggest challenge businesses face is seeing 5G as a faster version of 4G. We expect 5G to grow in phases, rather than be switched on everywhere at once, with different versions and varying capabilities. I think businesses should avoid seeing 5G as optional with the expectation that they can thrive without it or be a fast- or late-adopter.

5G will play the role of mission critical infrastructure for the future economy. We need to make sure it is secure, reliable and available all the time. This includes ensuring that it is operational indoors and outdoors. By the end of this decade, 5G can be the most important infrastructure in our economy.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

Ericsson has a strong track record at navigating mobile network generation shifts. It is the only company in the world to do so for all shifts from 1G to 5G.

There are a few things I think have been key to our successful shift to 5G. First, we took the decision to double down on technology development ahead of the inflection point. This paid off with superior performance and competitive cost in time to accelerate the build-outs. Second, a laser focused approach on the markets taking off first. The U.S. has been instrumental in setting up an accelerated agenda for 5G standards and early adoption. The third and final piece is early access to how global leaders think in different industries. Allowing our 5G agenda to be shaped by other industries way ahead of switching on the first 5G network.

What do we need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

The adoption of 5G smartphones is a strong indicator in the consumer segment. What we see now is phones coming to market earlier in more variants than we saw for 4G. The adoption of 5G also has strong potential to transform fixed broadband outside the fiber footprint.

Adoption in the business segment depends on cross-industry collaboration to perfect solutions and business models for use cases and use places. A task that depends on learning by doing, and then scaling fast. Nail it then scale it, is an approach we can expect to see frequently.

The third large field of adoption is for smart cities and the clever countryside. To improve and secure vital society functions, we reduce the digital gap to rural and micropolitan areas rather than increasing it. No country will forget to make cities smart, but efforts are required early on to make sure the clever countryside happens soon after cities become smart.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

For the introduction of 5G in North America, we are pursuing some innovative tracks.

First, we are bringing 5G to life locally. We have a long history of creating 100-ish amazing showcases and bringing them to our biggest trade show in Barcelona every year. Ten to 20 representatives from each of the biggest Tier 1 providers get to see these showcases. Last year we packaged up the best ones and brought them to our communications service providers’ offices here in the U.S., reaching hundreds of people each day in each city we visited.

Second, we have taken marketing one-step further towards the end-customers. We go out with communication service providers and co-market 5G to B2B and B2B2C companies locally. This is so we can make the business sector excited about 5G and provide an opportunity to learn at home rather than going to a 5G conference.

The third element is the integration of digital and face-to-face elements of our content marketing. Our face-to-face touchpoints are diverse, and digital elements play a key role in the customer journey in between. Digital is less about activating assets and more about designing them into a tailored customer journey. For the digital portion, we experiment a lot and pivot frequently.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

This question would generate a long list of recognitions, so rather than select a single person, I am going to share examples of valuable learnings from those that have inspired me.

  • One recommended me to support our CEO in a TV interview overseas and meet/brief them on the flight over, giving me the responsibility to make sure we had all our bases covered ahead of time.
  • One sent me to rebuild a damaged customer relationship, which required 10 overnight flights overseas in a single quarter. It is a skill to travel even if you are not a pilot.
  • One asked me to unwind a standardization dead-lock, since I had personal relations in both camps. The takeaway from that was to invest in building relationships when you can since there will come a time when you need them.

Overall, I think you can describe Ericsson as real-life business school were you continuously learn from new cases and get to work with some of the best in our industry.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

This question is hard to answer. I am not sure if I am the egg or the chicken in these stories, but the three examples below stand out:

By dedicating my whole professional life to broadband networks, I think I have made a difference. We now have access to any person or insight in the world at the palm of your hand and it’s at a price a large portion of the global population can afford. It’s amazing since I got my first mobile phone when I was 29.

  • If you ask my wife, she would tell you I take on the role of tourist guide wherever I go. Through exceptional travel and long periods abroad, I have developed a high cultural bandwidth. I am eager to help people bridge cultural differences. Talking and texting with an accent signal you know at least one more language.
  • I am at the point where I have started to give back. I am active on the board for Chalmers Alumni Association in North America, where I’m working and fundraising to send American students to get their Master’s degree at my Alma Mater. I have also spent time to be a digital mentor through a blog, where I have documented my 200 best professional learnings. Check out www.tweeterlinder.com if you are interested.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. You cannot plan a career — I expected my first international assignment to be five years, it turned out to be 19 months. My second I planned for three years and I have not returned. But you can learn every day and be open to exciting opportunities as they open-up along the road.
  2. Prioritize learning languages — This area is often deprioritized by engineers. I graduated high school with a decent amount of English, but horrible French. I picked up Spanish when I was on an international assignment. The reward came during an evening conversation with natives close to Machu Picchu in Peru. It gave me so much perspective and it was an experience made possible by speaking Spanish. So my advice is to learn to live with an accent — I have it for all the languages that I speak.
  3. You cannot explain everything with logic — We cannot figure out everything through thinking. The world we operate in is complex and sometimes the best decision is to start moving and learn and pivot along the road. A good piece of advice is to prioritize progress before perfection. It makes you start in time and give you a mindset that works well in a digital world.
  4. Your passions are life long — It is hard to formulate a career idea when you are young. When you hit the mid-point of your career, you have a solid idea of what your passions are. Passions are life long and dare to steer towards working with what you love. It is the single most important aspects that make you do a good job every day. Not all us get to pursue our passions, but we owe it to ourselves to try.
  5. Look eastbound for your long game — Not all cultures are equal in long-term strategic views and short-term execution. I have always had a better long game than short game and pushed myself to develop my short game. But a real eye opener came during a dinner with a senior leader in North East Asia. He had a phenomenal perspective on how businesses can be driven to deliver value from operations or assets. Developing your long game is tough in an action -oriented world centered on quarterly results.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

One movement I would love to trigger could be described as “Crisp up, do not dumb down.”. We live in a world where attention spans are growing shorter and shorter. We live in a world that is growing more complex every day. In such a world, you can contribute to help other people see in areas where you have important and unique insights to bring forward.

Use clear facts to describe what you see. And use all 36 letters in the alphabet, do not exclude 0–9. Talk in plain language, buzzwords and acronyms allows you to get airtime, but few if anything of what you say get picked up. Some people think in words and others in numbers. But do not forget to use a picture or a metaphor to make your insight stick. I see a strong need for a crisp up movement in many areas of society today.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Never give up, always fight back”.

In 1979, I lost 46 competitive Tennis games. All the games I played that year. In an arts class in school later that year, I was asked to paint something that could have a positive impact on my life. I “painted” the letters above in bold colors and have kept the painting ever since. It symbolizes the grit anyone can put in and everybody need to reach far in life. My success has come more from grit and persistence than raw talent.

Some well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?

The best learnings about 5G can be traced back to Richard and Maurice MacDonald when they opened their first hamburger restaurant in 1948. By focusing on two points, finding a great location and providing the best burgers in town.

It is hard to define the use cases that will drive 5G with a high degree of accuracy. But a good start is to define great use places where 5G can make a difference, and the first use case that can motivate network investments at that location. Once you have vetted a use place opportunity, you will have ample opportunities to scale them to new locations, add new use cases based on customer input and cross pollinate for adjacent use places.

For good reasons, you cannot buy French Fries & Company or Soda & Company. Treat the 5G use place you want to go after as if you were creating a franchise and focus on getting basics right first.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

If you have read this far, I hope I got you excited to remain connected with me. I am active on LinkedIn, Twitter and contribute to the Ericsson blog regularly.

If you think, I have professional insights to learn from you are welcome to visit your digital mentor.

The Future is Now: “How 5G technology will impact and change our lives”, with Ericsson’s Peter… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” with Matt Seltzer of S2…

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” with Matt Seltzer of S2 Research

A company would want to rebrand when they realize their values don’t align the values of their customers. When we’re talking about building a great brand, we’re really talking about creating an experience that fits with what your customers are looking for. That’s about values, and what those values are isn’t up to you. A brand would want to rebrand when they did their research, and from that, learned that who they are now isn’t who they need to be in order to attract the right customers. The indicators to look for is unrealized potential. Maybe that means your brand isn’t capturing the full market potential, or maybe it’s a slip in return customers. You’re looking for a misalignment in what your customers are looking for and what you’re delivering. When you find that, it’s time to examine the brand.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Matt Seltzer, the owner of S2 Research, a market research and strategy consulting firm located in Las Vegas. A life-long marketer, Matt’s overseen research and marketing projects at ad agencies and brands across industries like travel and tourism, hospitality, services, education and real estate. With S2 Research, Matt’s working with marketing teams as their outsourced market research team. Providing the services of an in-house market research department, Matt works as a fractional market researcher for marketing firms.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Matt! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Absolutely. I always wanted to work at an ad agency, and got my foot in the door with the market research team at an firm in Las Vegas. That experience showed me a whole side of marketing I didn’t know about, and I ended up falling in love with the market research part of the process.

Last year, I decided it was time for a new challenge, and started my company S2 Research. We facilitate market research for marketing teams, doing everything from the upfront legwork like gathering the right data, to delivering the outputs like creative briefs, summaries and content. It’s been a really great experience!

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

One of my first big brand research projects was laying the groundwork for a pitch my agency was putting together. I pulled together some great secondary research, and converted it into a 10-page document that covered everything from demographics to psychographics to ethnography and belief systems — you name it, it was in there.

My boss’s big takeaway from all of that research? It was way too long.

After that project, the account lead really helped me hone in as to what it is a marketing team is looking for in research. Usually, it’s something succinct that they can quickly wrap their heads around. When doing market research, there’s some very important to be said about brevity.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

The tipping point for me was when I realized how much energy I got from doing freelance work. When it’s just you and client, it’s your brand and reputation on the line. For me, that makes me inclined to try out new ideas and be more creative.

The big change I made after that was starting S2 Research. This company really lets me take my love for marketing, branding and research and bring it all together in such a great way for my clients.

The lesson here is really to listen to what makes you feel the best. Even when you’re in the right career, if there’s a way to extract even more pleasure out of life, pursue that path. You and your work will be better off for it.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’m excited to be speaking at a few marketing and communications conferences in the next few months. I really love the environment and energy at meetings and conventions — everyone’s always pumped to learn, grow and connect. Being able to speak in these high-energy environments is always a blast.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Audio books. I know working in this field, finding time to read can be a pain, but books about marketing can really keep you fired up. Switch to audio books through your local library and an app on your phone, and you can turn all of your driving and gym time into a chance to reignite the marketing fires.

A few books I’ll recommend to get started are Contagious by Jonah Berger, Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath, and Measure What Matters by John Doerr.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Product marketing is about telling people what your product can do for them and why they should buy it. Brand marketing is about how you make those people feel, even when they’re not going to engage with your product.

Imagine you’re selling cheeseburgers. Your product marketing is going to describe what the cheeseburger offers the customer: the great taste, how well it satisfies hunger, the value for the price, and whether or not the burger includes bacon.

The brand marketing might not even mention cheeseburgers. Instead it’s about the entire experience, like the quality of the store and the interactions with staff, or the overall atmosphere of the interaction. It’s the takeaways from that experience that have very little to do with the product — the things that made you feel good, bad or indifferent — that are going to stick around with the customer. That’s the brand.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Continuing the cheeseburger example, your customers aren’t always going to want to purchase a cheeseburger. Sometimes they’ll want a chicken sandwich, or a salad, or they’re just not hungry. Because of this, the goal of the brand isn’t to sell cheeseburgers, but to make sure that when the customer does want a cheeseburger, yours is the one that comes to mind.

Marketers need to be developing top-of-mind awareness both when customers are in the market to buy your product and when they’re not. When they’re in the market is advertising, and when they’re not is branding. Both are important.

This is why we see so many brands engaging on social media with jokes, memes and giveaways. These outlets do not sell cheeseburgers directly, but they help their brands maintain positive awareness in the cheeseburger-want downtime.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

A company would want to rebrand when they realize their values don’t align the values of their customers.

When we’re talking about building a great brand, we’re really talking about creating an experience that fits with what your customers are looking for. That’s about values, and what those values are isn’t up to you.

To answer your question, a brand would want to rebrand when they did their research, and from that, learned that who they are now isn’t who they need to be in order to attract the right customers.

The indicators to look for is unrealized potential. Maybe that means your brand isn’t capturing the full market potential, or maybe it’s a slip in return customers. You’re looking for a misalignment in what your customers are looking for and what you’re delivering. When you find that, it’s time to examine the brand.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

Building a new brand is a lot of work, especially when you take internal culture into account. If a company is going to undergo a whole do-over on their brand, the juice really needs to be worth the squeeze.

Remember, what your brand is now might not be as far away as you think from what it needs to be. Rebranding is a lot of work, because you’re fundamentally changing who your business is. When you identify an indicator like I mentioned before, a few small changes might be all it takes to get a brand back on track.

The brands that need to take rebranding caution are the legacy brands — the ones that have stuck around a while in a community or industry. A lot of businesses try to completely reinvent themselves when markets shift. Remember, there’s emotion built into those kinds of situations, and brands should always consider building and capitalizing on that history before throwing it away.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. Research is step one. You need to have a pulse on your audience, and that comes from listening the right way. This could be a survey, or your marketing team sitting down with your audience. However it happens, your goal is to understand who your customer is and why they want to engage with your products or services.
  2. Number two, you need to do some inward research as well. Look at yourself, your company and your processes, and compare them to what you learned from your audience research. There will be a lot of gaps, but also some bright spots. The latter are the things you want to explore.
  3. Build on your ideas and experiment. If your customers are looking for an inviting space, play with design and colors. If they’re looking for content, then build out a content strategy. You’re not always going to get it right, but like all marketing you’ll see a few things work. Those are the data-points that signify you’re on the right path.
  4. Make sure you engage with your customers authentically. Participate in the events that they care about, and be present and involved in the spaces where they spend their time. If your audience listens to content, get your team involved in podcasts instead of going the advertising route. If your audience is on social, create social content that they really want to engage with and share. Really become invested in your audience’s lives and participate in a way that’s real.
  5. The most important strategy about rebranding is to live your new brand. Your entire organization is what brings a brand to life, and the only way it’s going to come together the right way is for your business to truly be what it says it is, inside and out. If your brand is about fun, then your culture needs to be fun. If you’re providing one-of-a-kind experiences, then your culture needs to be one-of-a-kind. Live the brand, because your customers can tell if it’s just a façade.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

Domino’s did something really amazing when they told everyone their pizza sucked a few years ago. I remember in the 90s thinking the same thing.

In the 90s, Domino’s didn’t care about delivering great pizza — they cared about getting you dinner fast (30 minutes or it’s free, that was their brand). But by 2009, delivery was common, and people really cared about taste.

Domino’s rebrand was transparent, which really resonated with me. I agreed, the pizza was no good. Admitting that, they convinced me to try their new pizza recipe, which was a big step. On top of that, the new pizza was actually good, meaning they delivered on their brand promise.

More than ten years later and I’m completely on board the Domino’s train. They built a foodie brand, and my wife and I are foodies, so now we love Domino’s. This is a big deal coming from a guy who wouldn’t even touch a Domino’s pizza growing up.

The thing that brands can take away from this story is the transparency, and the fact that they actually delivered on the new brand promise. It really hit home with exactly where the audience — people like me — needed to be hit.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Come up with good marketing.

I’ve always struggled with the idea that marketing is this deceitful thing that convinces people to buy things they neither need nor want. But there’s some really great ideas, products and services out there, and they have real audiences that will love and appreciate them. Marketing is about bringing those buyers and sellers together.

The best way I know to go about it is to create marketing that really interests the people your product or service is right for. I don’t mean things that deviously persuade people into ‘clicking here’ or ‘buying this’. To do it right, brands need to research who their audience really is, and then build something that’s really great for them.

A world where every brand does nothing but tries to do good for their customers is a very cool world to live in.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I’ve always loved ‘be the change you wish to see in the world.’ I know that gets wrongly attributed to Ghandi a lot, but it’s stuck with me as something big and profound.

Being the change you wish to see isn’t about inciting a movement. Instead, it’s about acting as if the world were already perfect, and you’re just living in it.

I always think of shopping carts as an example. I’m frustrated when people leave shopping carts lying around, and sometimes I also get the itch to be lazy and not want to return my shopping cart. When that happens, I think of the world ‘as if’ everyone already put their carts away, and then it just feels natural to go with the flow and do the right thing. I’m not changing the world, but participating in the perfect world as I see it.

Whether you want to do something like build a whole market research company, or you just want to see more people put their carts away at the grocery store, it’s important to remember that anyone can embody change. Act on what you know to be right, and the rest will fall into place.

How can our readers follow you online?

Definitely check out my blog at S2Research.com, or feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or Twitter too!

Blog: https://www.s2research.com/blog

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewseltzer/

Twitter: @S2Research

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” with Matt Seltzer of S2… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” with Fabi Paolini

…I also believe it’s a good time to rebrand if you as an entrepreneur don’t feel excited about the work that you are doing. This means that you need to look into understanding what is missing and what you can improve in your confidence around your business.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Fabi Paolini. Fabi is a brand strategy and online business coach helping entrepreneurs feel and position themselves as authorities online, build premium brands that attract and captivate their ideal audience with powerful marketing strategies that convert. Originally from Venezuela, Fabi is the secret weapon behind hundreds of brands and businesses online, helping them radically transform the way in which they are perceived.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’m originally from Venezuela where I had a successful business working as a brand designer. My business was built entirely on word of mouth — which meant that my marketing efforts were honestly inexistent. All I had to do was make my clients happy, and that always brought in new people my way. Fast forward to the end of 2015, the political climate in Venezuela started getting complicated, and my family and I decided to leave Venezuela and start all over. That meant that I had to basically launch my business from scratch. I had zero contacts, zero leads, zero online presence. I took over 15 online courses and coaching programs in a year and took massive action in building my own business. I failed miserably at first listening to what everyone else was teaching, until I started to apply more and more of my own experience and knowledge. After all, I had an MBA and had worked with successful million-dollar companies and global brands back home.

Everything started to change, and I went from making $3,000 per month, to $40,000 per month within a year. So essentially, I started teaching others how to do the same, bringing together brand strategy and marketing and helping entrepreneurs position themselves as authorities online. It’s a pretty incredible story considering that as an immigrant with zero digital marketing experience, my business now generates over $500k a year — all through digital marketing.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I started discovering more about digital marketing, I decided to create a video series called “The Brand Experience.” It was 5 days long, each with a 5-minute video. Those videos took me hours to record. I was so focused on making them perfect and making sure I sounded “professional” that I completely lost myself in the process. Even worse than that, I was SURE I was going to become a millionaire from it, so I reached out to a few designers in case I needed to hire a team.

I didn’t make ONE sale from it. I find it pretty funny right now, but back then I was super upset. Here’s the thing — what I have learned is that building a successful brand is a result of you being yourself and having the capacity to connect with your audience. I was so focused on making my video series perfect that there was absolutely no personality behind it, so my message (or lack thereof) didn’t resonate with my audience.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

Absolutely! My tipping point came the moment I decided to stop focusing on marketing and start refining my message. I got really clear on three core things. First, on understanding what was my differentiating factor. What were the things that made me unique as a brand? Once I got clear on this, I was able to leverage it in my marketing and general communication. Second, getting crystal clear on my audience. Understanding exactly what their problems were so I could speak directly to their pain. Finally, learning to communicate based on outcomes. One of the major mistakes entrepreneurs are making is simply stating what they do.

For example, I used to say I’m a brand strategist and designer and I build brands that attract.

There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with that, but it doesn’t say anything to my audience.

Now I say, I’m a brand strategy and business coach and I help entrepreneurs feel and position themselves as authorities, create premium brands that attract and captivate their ideal audience online.

It really comes down to understanding the value that you deliver. When I acknowledged these three things, it gave me the confidence and certainty that I needed in order to take my business to the next level.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes! One of the things I am focusing on right now is hosting a week-long bootcamp to help entrepreneurs leverage their messaging and positioning and create content that captivates their ideal audience and takes them to 6-figures in their business. I’m hosting this bootcamp 6 times during the year and my intention is to give entrepreneurs a completely new vision on their brand and marketing strategy.

I’m excited because this is something completely different from what everyone else out there is teaching, and it gives me an opportunity to truly engage with my audience.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

Two things. First, I would say to make sure they are building a business that feels right to them. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of following what everyone else is doing in terms of marketing and even in terms of goals. You have to get honest with yourself and understand what it is that you want to do and why you are doing it.

Secondly, it would HAVE to be to work on their mindset. This has been fundamental in my life. What I mean by this is doing the personal development or spiritual work that you need to stay focused and with a high energy. It’s extremely easy to get sidetracked with obstacles and challenges, and you need to be mentally strong to be able to get back up again and again, as many times as it takes.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

For me, branding is about understanding who you are at the core. It’s about getting massively clear on your message, your differentiation factors and your major outcomes. This is what allows you to position yourself in the minds of your consumers as the correct option for what they need.

On the other hand, when we talk about product marketing or advertising, we’re focusing on specific things you might be promoting — such as a program, course, or product. Here’s the thing, if you don’t have a well-defined brand, it is likely that your product marketing will fail. The reason for this is that we live in a highly competitive world and if you don’t give your audience a reason to pick you, they simply won’t.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Building a brand is no longer a ‘nice to have’ it’s an absolute ‘need to have’ if you want your business to thrive. Because of the nature of the world we live in, market saturation is at its peak. This means that there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there trying to sell a similar product or service to your same audience. The only way to truly be successful is by having a brand which allows people to connect with you.

When we’re talking about branding, it’s not just about having a logo and a nice font. For me, your visual brand is the cherry on top. Branding is actually about building a voice, a message and personality that stands out from everyone else making you the no-brainer choice.

If on top of this, you can do a good job of positioning yourself as an authority, it means that you are able to stand out from your competition, attract even higher quality leads, command premium pricing as you increase your perceived value and create more demand.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

I believe that rebranding is fundamental specifically when you are at a point in your business when there’s simply a disconnect. Again, it’s not only about working on your brand identity (logo, colors, fonts), but about truly uncovering what your core message is all about.

I believe it’s fundamental for businesses to rebrand if they are having a hard time making connections with their audience and also within the company culture. You want to look at your values as an entrepreneur and see if your message aligns with your current beliefs.

I also believe it’s a good time to rebrand if you as an entrepreneur don’t feel excited about the work that you are doing. This means that you need to look into understanding what is missing and what you can improve in your confidence around your business.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

If you have a brand that is strongly established in the market, a business that is growing, a clear positioning that you as a business owner are excited about, you should absolutely not rebrand.

Basically, if you are happy with the results you are obtaining you don’t want to fix what’s not broken.

That being said, I personally believe that even if you are well positioned in the market, but as an entrepreneur you are not aligned with your message, it simply will not work in the long run, and I would rather you rebrand, than lose momentum in your business.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

The way in which I focus on branding is through what I call the Brand Strategy Pyramid. This method essentially ensures that you start to look at your business as a whole instead of looking at separate pieces which have nothing to do with each other.

At the base of the Pyramid is the Brand Foundation. To me, this is THE most important part of your brand as it provides clarity on what makes you absolutely different. For example, I’ve worked with multiple health and fitness coaches over the years who need to do a great job at differentiating themselves from everyone else because of the over saturation of their industry. Brittany Lake is one of the coaches I’ve worked with and she focuses on intuitive weight loss so her message is all about creating food freedom — which is essentially about being able to eat what you want as you listen to what your body asks from you.

We wanted to make sure that what she was offering was not simply perceived as one more ‘diet and exercise’ program — so we constructed her communication around her own experience with truly understanding how your body works. You can get a sense about her brand and messaging just by looking at her website’s homepage.

To give you a contrasting example, I worked with another company in the same field, BadassGRLBoss whose message is all about helping women feel unstoppable. This is all about empowering women to have the body they can feel sexy and powerful in. The brand image is completely different, as well as the message.

They are two sides of the same coin. Your job in the process of building your brand is finding the best ways to be able to use your authentic voice in order to stand out from others. No matter how saturated your field is, there is always an opportunity to say things in a different and unique way.

The next part of the Brand Strategy Pyramid is your Signature Offer. This also gives you an opportunity to do things in a different way. Because of the world we live in, there is an over saturation of almost everything. Your job is to become the bridge that takes your audience from where they are now to where they want to be. You want to bring in something different and offer your audience an opportunity to truly solve their problem at the core.

It’s also important that you learn how to communicate your value based on outcomes while showing your audience that you can help them solve their problems.

Essentially, what you want to bring in are the things that make you different and leverage those in order to make a powerful offer that gets people real results. What I want you to understand is that you need to be the one that goes the extra mile. You want to be the person that is offering something in a way that no one else is offering it right now. And this needs to be present everywhere in your sales process. This is all a fundamental part of your branding process.

As an example, I worked with a doctor who was having a really hard time selling a program to help women sleep better. So, as part of her branding process, I helped her get clarity around her offer and the things which she is really great at. We uncovered that what she really wanted was to help women reclaim their health and we created a completely different program that focused on helping her clients on a whole different level.

At the top of the pyramid, we have the marketing strategy and visibility plan, and these have to be connected to your offer and, more specifically, to the outcomes that you help others achieve. I believe that your marketing strategy needs to be a reflection of the value you provide. It has to focus on positioning you as an authority, delivering value and overcoming common objections. However, once again, your marketing also needs to come from who you are and what makes you different. All of this needs to show up in the way in which you generate visibility and deliver daily content to your audience.

Finally, when we look at your visual brand, it’s crucial to ensure that everything you put out there is consistently doing a phenomenal job in building your authority. You want your logo to be professional and your photographs to truly lift you up. These are all things that help to establish the trust you need in order to influence how others perceive us.

As an example, I worked with a financial coach that was having a hard time positioning herself online and it really all came back to her not having a brand that was doing a good job of showing her authority. So, we went in there and transformed the way she looked, up-leveled her design and made sure her brand truly represented her value. You can clearly see that it looks like a completely different brand.

What I want you to understand is that when we talk about branding, it’s not just about working on the logo, it’s about looking at all of the elements that make up the brand. Essentially, it’s looking at everything that helps to shape people’s perception around who you are and what you do. While a logo and visual brand is tied to it, this perception is made up of all the components that communicate your voice, vision, mission, purpose, passion and message.

The more you look to bring these pieces together cohesively and with heart, the more powerful your brand will be.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

What I see happening globally right now is a simplification of brands. We see this happening left and right. Businesses are going back to basics. They are removing the fluff and focusing on what’s at the core.

A great example of a brand makeover was the one Mastercard went through a few years ago. People would generally think there is no need for this well-known company to even touch their brand as it was a legacy in the marketplace. However, they went back to their roots and went as far in as to offering a new service, MasterPass with the launch of their new, simplified image.

They were looking to speak to a younger audience and to stay fresh and top-of-mind. It wasn’t just about the logo, but about elevating and amplifying the message of such an iconic brand.

Again, it goes back to understanding that it’s your job as an entrepreneur to stay up to date with digital marketing and branding strategies that will allow you to stay top-of-mind and be THE choice for your consumers. You should always be challenging yourself and, even if you are at a comfortable place right now, ask yourself “how can my message be conveyed in a better way? How can I be better at communicating and speaking to my audience?”

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think that doing what I do right now is really important. People need to understand that when we talk about branding it’s really about helping them transform the way that they see themselves. As human beings we tend to be so hard on ourselves. We go through constant self-doubt and have this eternal mental chatter that is always telling us we aren’t good enough. I believe that branding gives us the opportunity to truly connect back to ourselves and to who we really are. It gives us a chance to see what makes us different so that we can rise up to our worth and start seeing how deserving we truly are.

I believe that the more people can step into this position of certainty, confidence and conviction, the bigger impact they can go on to make in the world. And this is a direct result of branding when it’s done well.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Right now, my mantra is “My success is inevitable.” I truly believe that the most important thing we can do in our businesses is focus on giving real value. I always say that you want to be so good, you can’t be ignored.

Anytime I have doubts around myself and the next step I need to take in my business, I go back to remembering how, by giving as much of myself as I possibly can and just moving forward, my success is inevitable. Simple.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on every platform (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn) as Fabi Paolini. You can also sign up for the free 6-Figure Breakthrough Business Bootcamp to help you leverage what makes you unique and captivate your ideal clients online as you develop your brand, right here: www.fabipaolini.com/bootcamp

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” with Fabi Paolini was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “Being able to truly know your strengths and opportunities is a game…

Rising Through Resilience: “Being able to truly know your strengths and opportunities is a game changer!” with Melissa Chordock, President of AKT

Self-Awareness. Being able to truly know your strengths and opportunities is a game changer! It is important when building a team and especially in a business when you are interacting with others regularly to know your own personality. What is your comfort zone? Surround yourself with people that will challenge you to grow outside that zone but also who have different strengths and weaknesses and can support you while you grow.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Chordock, President of AKT, a national boutique fitness franchise. Melissa is a seasoned operator with a demonstrated history of success in Brand Strategy Development and Execution in the health/wellness and fitness industries. She has 6 years of experience in Boutique Fitness Franchising, 15 years history in Retail Management and is passionate about growing and developing strong and supportive teams. Melissa is passionate about health and wellness and is a firm believer in the power of movement and mindfulness.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

I grew up in retail — literally! Some of my earliest memories are playing Bloomingdale’s with my cousins- not just store, but always Bloomingdale’s specifically. I was very close with my grandma who had worked at the Short Hills, NJ location and I had wanted to be just like her- poised, polished, refined, and sophisticated. I was lucky enough to land a summer internship at Bloomingdale’s 59th Street in the summer of 1999 and never looked back! I spent about 15 years in retail total, 13 at Bloomingdale’s in store-line management, and 2 at specialty brands. When I left Bloomingdale’s, I felt a bit lost- it had become such a part of who I was and I was struggling to find a place I belonged. This is about the time that I discovered SoulCycle! Back then there were only a handful of locations in NYC and it felt like my secret oasis where I was part of a secret community. I felt like I belonged in that dark room with blasting music and that is where I realized I needed to be part of a community, but I also wanted to focus my career on building communities and giving that sense of belonging to others.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

The most recent and relevant interesting thing to happen in my career would likely be the manifestation of my current role. Prior to AKT, I was with a small barre concept and very aware of what was going on in the boutique fitness landscape. I admired Anthony Geisler and Xponential Fitness from afar, and when I heard about the AKT acquisition, I literally said, out loud: I NEED TO BE A PART OF THIS!!

Searching the internet for clues on how to get involved became a part of my daily routine; and then a few weeks later I received a call from Michael Ruiz from Global Talent Solutions- and as they say, the rest is history! I truly feel like I put it out in the universe… and someone was listening!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

AKT is special in so many ways! While the phenomenal, ever changing, comprehensive and efficient programming is a major differentiator in the boutique fitness space, the most special thing about AKT is absolutely the community.

AKT has this incredible way of captivating a community before studios even open with branding that exudes positive energy and a bit of mystery. I am continuously blown away by the response in every new market we activate in. Our dedicated Franchise Partners and studio teams often kick off their community introduction campaigns by hosting a pop-up class. An event recently held in Columbus, Ohio drew in nearly 250 attendees- that’s more than 8x the size of a normal class! As AKT grows into a global brand, I see community continuing to be a significant part of the culture, but in new ways. Our members experience the same choreography at any given time across all studios, opening up the opportunity for dialog on our social outlets across studios, states, and countries around shared experiences.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

At the start of my career, I was very lucky to hit it off with several senior executives that took me under their wing and served as unofficial mentors. They each guided me in different ways supporting my leadership development and my self-confidence- they taught me some humor and wit too…! One of the most impactful pieces of advice I received early in my career came as I was walking to Bloomingdale’s to start my internship — “Don’t forget to say please and thank you, it will get you everything you need here”. Given this was New York City, it really did serve me well! My first boss, Phil Amandola, told me that “there is nothing more powerful than a woman in a stiletto” and has supported me and a healthy shoe addiction for the past 20 years.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

To me, resilience is not just the willingness, but the ability to get back up after getting kicked in the gut- every. single. day. When you believe in something so wholeheartedly that you know you’ll find a yes in a sea of no. Sometimes it’s a cause or a business, but truly resilient people believe in themselves and understand that every setback ultimately makes them stronger.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod embodies true resilience and strength. He has fallen in the public eye and has been fully committed to owning his mishaps and rebuilding not just his image but who he is as a person. I admire the way in which he chose to move forward.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

I probably have told myself “that’s impossible” way more than anyone else has. I tend to be pretty hard on myself and am always looking to better my best. But I think that is a pretty common trait. At AKT we see people pushing past what they thought their limits were each and every day. We have members that say “I can’t dance”, but 2 weeks in and they crush the choreography and have a new confidence in their ability to move. Nothing prepares you for AKT, AKT prepares you for everything else.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

Running a young business is emotionally challenging! Every single day the team and I are learning something new while trying to drive the business forward with new partners. I’d have to say that every ‘no’ still stings and feels like personal rejection, but we choose to look at each ‘setback’ as an opportunity to grow and learn something new in order to be better prepared in the future. As most, I have experienced personal setbacks too. A few years back I was training for both the Chicago and NYC Marathons and was having a great training season that had me confident I would be able to achieve my time goal. However, I wound up fracturing my foot 3 weeks out. The healing process forced me to be more patient and pay closer attention to details, as well as the value of slowing down to speed up — all things that have served me well professionally too.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

I had a pretty calm and stable childhood, but unlike many of my friends, I did not always get what I had wanted at the time- this is probably when I began to come to terms with the ‘no’. When I was 13, my parents pulled me from the sleep away camp I had attended for 5 years and forced me to go elsewhere- I was furious! No amount of screaming, crying, or tantrums would change their minds! As the summer grew closer, I knew I had no choice and that I could either be miserable for 8 weeks or muster up the strength to have an open mind. While that first summer was most definitely NOT the best summer of my life, I did go back 4 more years, make some great friends, and meet my husband of nearly 17 years.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

I believe perspective and attitude are everything and the way one chooses to view situations and life contributes to their overall resiliency. I have some mantras I try to remember and put into practice:

Long Short Road vs Short Long Road

I recently heard this in a speech and it truly resonated with me. In business, we often want to grow and be the best immediately; but it can’t always happen like that. I have found that there is value in being on that long short road- when it feels like results are not happening fast enough, it’s key to take that time to analyze opportunities and build infrastructure- essentially plan for the inevitable rocket ship of success to seamlessly support it when it arrives.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Cliché, but true. There’s a reason things happen the way they do, even if it’s not clear why at the time.

Stay Humble, Hustle Hard

It’s great to celebrate the wins and we should, but it’s also important for me to remain humble so the drive to succeed is always alive.

Self-Awareness

Being able to truly know your strengths and opportunities is a game changer! It is important when building a team and especially in a business when you are interacting with others regularly to know your own personality. What is your comfort zone? Surround yourself with people that will challenge you to grow outside that zone but also who have different strengths and weaknesses and can support you while you grow.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d love to inspire people to move their bodies everyday — to gain the drive to keep at it even when it seems impossible. If that can be experienced as a community, even better!

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

I guess I would have to defer to my answer above: Alex Rodriguez

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram: melissaleighcc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-chordock-58b10a2a/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “Being able to truly know your strengths and opportunities is a game… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Alexander Porter of…

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Alexander Porter of Search It Local

Look within. This is a branding mistake I’ve seen countless companies make. They think upgrading their mission statement, or tone of voice, or content schedule will change their brand. But an apple is rotten at its core. For companies who want to upgrade and re-energize their brand, the most powerful changes start within. Let’s say you’ve built a negative reputation among your customers. Rather than move locations, change CEOs or target new customers, start by looking at your own business. What can you do differently to change the opinions of your dissatisfied audience? When you’re truly honest about your own brand, you can make changes from within that can save time and money on a massive scale.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Alexander Porter. Alexander is Head of Copy for Sydney marketing agency, Search It Local. Helping over 3,000 Australian businesses to find their voice, Alexander is a Leukemia survivor and experienced creative with over a decade of experience as a freelance and agency copywriter. His greatest achievement can’t be noted here, because it hasn’t happened yet, and that’ll always be his mindset.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thank you for chatting with me!

When it comes to getting to know me, I’d like to think I’m layered, like an onion.

But the reality is I’m probably more one dimensional, like onion soup.

As for my career path, I’m an Agency Head of Copy at Search It Local, a Sydney-based marketing agency with over 3,000 clients across Australia.

While I love my role, and the impact it can have on small business owners, it wasn’t where I originally pictured my life.

In fact, when I was 19 I wanted to become a historian. To the point I was mid-way through a History degree at Sydney University when I started feeling run down and tired.

Blaming it on the active lifestyle of your average teenager, it ended up being Leukemia.

I spent the next 244 days in hospital fighting Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) across 7 rounds of chemotherapy, and my whole world was flipped upside-down.

I’m not sure any of us know why we were drawn to the career paths we find ourselves in, but when I was told “you’re cured, go home” I realized I didn’t want to be a historian anymore.

I felt like I’d endured a traumatic event that people knew was tough, because everyone knows cancer is, but that I wasn’t able to properly convey how it was affecting me.

It was like waking up and speaking a brand new language that no one else could.

So I felt isolated and alone.

And the only way I knew how to share my experience, was to write.

And so I did. I wrote about how it felt when chemo pumped through my heart. I wrote about how it felt to see my ward mates pass away. I wrote about the guilt of surviving when others, equally as deserving as me, would never wake up to another sunrise.

And I realized, that a career in writing was for me.

It was a way for me to express who I was. More than a ‘Cancer Survivor’ which was a label I never felt fully comfortable with.

Yes, I had cancer. But that wasn’t the defining feature of me. But at the same time it WAS a major part of who I was.

So I used the skills I was learning as a young writer to remove the label of ‘Cancer Survivor’ and replace it with ‘Storyteller’. I didn’t just survive cancer, I tell the stories about it.

No matter what my official label has been since — freelance copywriter, junior copywriter, copy manager, Head of Copy — I am, in my heart, a Storyteller.

I guess you’d say the rest is history.

Telling stories and marketing bisect in the middle, and I’ve forged a successful career in marketing as a result.

Now I get to tell stories of business owners across Australia, as well as my own, and there’s nothing else I’d rather do.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I work closely with an SEO team here at Search It Local.

In fact, ‘SEO copywriting’ has become near and dear to my heart. But in my early days as a writer I failed to see the value of SEO and it bit me in a HUGE way.

To give some context, I’m a lover of travel.

Ever since my days in hospital with Leukemia I dreamed of going around the world. It was an escape from reality to leave my frail body and go on journeys around the world in my mind.

So, when I got my strength back, I brought those visions to life.

And travel was great to me! Every trip made me feel more and more ‘alive’, which was a feeling I’d missed for so long.

And as a young writer it was a natural fit to turn my travels into a personal branding exercise.

So I created a travel blog, and a brand around myself, called ‘Inked and Abroad’.

As someone with an affinity for tattoos, and for travel, this name was a natural fit.

In my words I was a ‘tattooed traveler and teller of tales’. I’d provide travel guides, reviews, lists, essays, pretty much anything I could think of to bring my love of writing and travel together.

Here’s where I made a HUGE mistake…

I didn’t know anything about SEO back then.

And being a creative I thought standing out was the ultimate metric of success — after all, the travel blog space is so heavily saturated.

So instead of creating a travel blog, I created a brand around a ‘Travel Glob’.

Yep. That’s right.

I thought the word ‘glob’ sounded much funnier than ‘blog’ so I used it across my entire personal brand.

In my URLs, in my Page Titles, in my copy. Everywhere.

Let me ask you a quick question, how many monthly searches are there for travel BLOG?

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands I’m guessing.

Now, how many people were searching for travel GLOB?

None. Zero. Zilch.

I’d built an entire personal brand around a keyword that was invisible outside of spelling errors.

Looking back it was a branding mistake that makes me laugh. Because it shows the divide between pure creative and technical writing.

They’re infinitely stronger when paired together. And as I proved in a branding disaster that took a long time to fully undo, they are considerably weaker when apart.

So if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that time spent planning is never time wasted!!!

And if you misspelled your search for ‘travel blog’ and found my ‘travel glob’, well then you’re the real MVP.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I remember my first freelance writing job like it was yesterday.

I was paid $5 for a 100 word article.

As a fresh-faced and idealistic young copywriter I couldn’t believe someone was paying ME to write an article (which I did for free for my own portfolio anyway).

I was so ecstatic about it that I wrote TWENTY of them for this client.

Looking back, being paid $100 for 2000 words isn’t a great financial decision on my part.

I don’t think I’ll be invited to speak at any money management courses.

BUT, it showed me the value of time.

And though it took many years before I fully owned that value, it was a lesson that’s stayed with me.

The moment I started to see success as a freelance writer came around 4 years later. I was a freelance journalist for a publication, ‘Goal! Weekly’, that covered Australia’s domestic soccer league.

In this role I also covered an international soccer tournament — The Asian Cup — which was hosted in my home city of Sydney, in 2015.

Surrounding myself with journalists and writers of an international quality showed me what was expected of great writers, and what great writers expected in return.

Following the completion of that tournament I returned to traditional freelance work and started charging for what my time was worth, not what others tried to price it as.

I think that’s a lesson all young writers can learn.

That’s not say you should set your hourly rate at $100 the moment you begin your career, but don’t let others undervalue your time just because your CV isn’t as full as theirs.

Learn to gauge what your time is worth, and stand firm when telling people.

I promise the majority of people will respect you for it, even if they don’t end up offering you work.

And worst case, you won’t write 20 x articles for $5 each, so that’s definitely a win!

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Oh lord. I’ve always got a handful of creative ideas in the back of my mind.

At the moment I’m looking to create a resource for young, male cancer patients.

When I was going through treatment for Leukemia I noticed a distinct lack of support as a 20 year old male.

Through no fault of the system, I was in an adult ward (having missed the cut-off for the children’s hospital by a few years). But the next youngest person was routinely 55 years old or above. So that was very isolating.

I’d like to combine my experience in hospital with my professional skillset to create a guide to cancer for young men.

What to expect. What to look out for. What not to worry about.

I think this could really reduce the uncertainty and fear that comes with a cancer diagnosis. Because the truth is, not everything is as scary as it seems.

So to have some insight into the ‘this is actually no big deal’ moments would help settle some nerves, and God knows any chance to make things a little easier should always be grabbed with both hands.

At the moment I’m toying with the idea of a graphic novel to make it accessible and easy to consume. And potentially a more deep-dive version that can be used as a guidebook.

Whether this idea ever comes to life, I don’t know.

But I feel like I owe it to my experience, and to all the guys doing it tough today, tomorrow and in the future.

So that’s 100% my creative project right now.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

It may sound counterintuitive, but I encourage other marketers to deep dive into a passion project that utilizes their marketing skills.

For me this means spending my free time writing, creating content and working on short stories.

Although my agency role sees me work with words all day, it’s playing with words in my spare hours that keeps me motivated and fuelled.

I would encourage other marketers to find a creative way to apply their skills too, and in doing so become a more rounded marketer.

Think of it this way, a Personal Trainer could get tired of showing other people how to train their bodies, without the chance to let off some steam and work on their own body.

Your mind is your most valuable tool as a marketer.

So flex it in your own time in a way that inspires you — this can even be used towards a side-hustle that generates additional revenue.

Just don’t spend all your time watching over other people’s businesses or creative visions.

Allow yourself time to be creative on your own terms, and you’ll find burnout occurs far less.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

Brand marketing is the reputation of your entire business.

Product marketing is the reputation of your single product.

I’m sure you can find 10,000 word blog posts that debate the semantics endlessly, but why complicate matters?

Think of it this way.

You have a reputation for being a great Karaoke singer (brand marketing). Except you’re terrible when you sing Justin Bieber songs (product marketing).

Based on your brand marketing I’d love to go to Karaoke with you.

Based on your product marketing you couldn’t pay me to go with you.

Simple.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Brands are timeless.

That’s why the biggest companies in the world spend so much time and money in fine-tuning their brands.

It’s easy to think a certain product or service can fuel success. And in the short-term that may well be true.

But your brand is tied into your longevity, even your legacy.

So that when you introduce a new product, or move locations, or replace your CEO — whatever the change may be, the strength of your branding will bring people with you no matter what.

Apple is an example of a branding master class.

Each new Apple product is met with the same excitement as the last (if not more). And that’s directly related to the strength of their branding.

So while it’s important to invest in general marketing and advertising to drive traffic and sales, it’s important to invest in branding to go beyond ROI.

Loyalty. Authenticity. Even love.

These are the results of branding, and they’re timeless.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

The core reasons that any company rebrands is ‘movement’.

You can package the wording any way you like. But rebranding is really just the science of movement.

Whether you want to move from your current size to a bigger company, from your current location to a new area, or from your stained reputation to a fresh start — the common denomination is movement.

Because change represents a fresh start.

It’s the same reason people move countries after a break up. Or replace their wardrobe to start a new job.

Companies rebrand because they’re looking to move from where they are to where they want to go.

It’s the science of movement.

It’s that simple.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There is absolutely a risk associated with rebranding.

I think too many brands fall in love with the ‘grass is always greener’ mindset.

They think it’s easy to step away from a place, person or problem.

But in reality, the grass is always greenest where you water it.

If brands fail to change the core reason as to WHY they want to rebrand, then the results will be the same — an inevitable slide back to where they came from.

It’s not all doom and gloom though of course. Plenty of brands — big and small — successfully rebrand and enjoy the benefits that come with it.

These brands are successful though because their efforts to rebrand are well thought out and planned. That should always be step number one.

To go with a local Australian example, you’ve probably heard of Vegemite.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s an Aussie classic and you’ve at least HEARD of it.

But back in 2009 the owners of Vegemite, then Kraft, decided to unveil a product extension aligned with their iconic spread.

More than 48,000 possible names were suggested by the public, and Kraft, they went with…

‘Vegemite iSnack2.0’

Yeah, let that sink in. 10 years on and it still sucks.

This attempt at rebranding was not thought out. It felt rushed. And in doing so it alienated Vegemite’s core demographic, while inviting ridicule from around the world.

So to answer your question, firmly established brands should weigh up the value of major rebranding. Is it worth risking heritage for headlines?

Only time will tell.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

One — Look within

This is a branding mistake I’ve seen countless companies make.

They think upgrading their mission statement, or tone of voice, or content schedule will change their brand.

But an apple is rotten at its core.

For companies who want to upgrade and re-energize their brand, the most powerful changes start within.

Let’s say you’ve built a negative reputation among your customers.

Rather than move locations, change CEOs or target new customers, start by looking at your own business.

What can you do differently to change the opinions of your dissatisfied audience?

When you’re truly honest about your own brand, you can make changes from within that can save time and money on a massive scale.

Two — Image overhaul

Whatever a company does to improve their overall image, the fact remains that brands are made in the mind.

Customers are the final arbiters of what a brand ‘is’ and ‘isn’t’. But you can tap into this by upgrading the aesthetics of your brand.

First impressions are made on such an instant and subconscious level that the right look, from a visual standpoint, can give you an advantage over your competition from the start.

Is your brand tired, old or outdated?

Invest in a rebranding campaign that brings your branded colors and logo to life. Pay attention to your website colors, fonts, shapes and layout too.

This will go a long way in creating ‘perceived value’ in the minds of your audience.

When I was 9 years old, my soccer coach used to say “if you look sharp, you play sharp”.

I think he might have been talking about branding too. Because if your business looks sharp, it’s more likely your audience will see you as sharp.

Three — Video. Video. Video

If you’d asked me this question 3 years ago I wouldn’t have just been on the blogging bandwagon, I’d have been driving it.

In 2020, content marketing is still a valuable way to drive branded change, but the focus has to be on video content.

And forget about creating tacky, sales-focused videos. Those days are done. They’re in the past like the Dodo or iSnack2.0.

Brands looking to energize their image should focus on creating sharp, actionable video content.

Really dive into the minds of your audience. What problems do they have? What problems are they unaware of?

Start solving these problems with free video content that asks for nothing and gives everything in return.

Not only will this shape the perception of your brand, but you’ll tap into digital word of mouth and reach new audiences through your content which will, with any luck, be consumed and enjoyed widely.

And don’t think you’re on the bench just because you don’t have the biggest budget or gear.

Do you have a phone?

Good. You have a mobile filming studio.

Target a problem. Identify a solution. Record it. Share it. Repeat.

It takes time, but that will plant the seeds of change that will help your brand bloom over time.

Four — Put boots on the ground

Technology continues to evolve, and with it comes new ways to evolve a brand.

But what never goes out of style is good old fashioned face-to-face interactions.

Nothing adds authenticity and credibility to a brand like meeting your audience and engaging with them in person.

This is one branding tool that cannot be replicated online.

Host workshops. Sponsor events. Give away consultations.

Face-to-face interaction is a proven way to energize and optimize your brand, and that won’t change any time soon.

Five — Use social listening tools.

Social listening tools like BuzzSumo or Mention can help you maintain control of your own narrative. While a brand is a powerful thing, it’s also fickle.

Which means the things people say ABOUT you can influence the way people THINK about you.

Social listening tools will let you tap into conversations in real time.

Noticed your brand has been mentioned? Get involved in the conversation and keep the narrative in your control.

Whether it’s a positive mention or a complaint, being active and responding to branded conversations as they happen is one of the most powerful, yet undervalued, methods of energizing your brand image.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

As someone who spends a solid chunk of time enjoying streamed content (it’s probably best I don’t put a numerical figure on it or my cognitive dissonance will really struggle), I’d have to go with Netflix.

I enjoy this on a broad level, rather than having lived through the rebranding directly. But as we all live in the era of technology, Netflix’s ability to pivot to stay relevant is, to me, one of the best examples of moving with the current, not against it.

To have moved from a DVD-through-mail business model to a streaming giant was key to their survival.

And while this seems like a natural move in hindsight, Netflix was faced with a very real threat to their survival.

You can raise prices all you want, but when the technology underpinning your viability is pulled out from under you, that’s when hard decisions have to be made.

Netflix was able to respond to a new generation of technological change by using it to create an entirely new business model.

Doesn’t that just blow your mind?

Reinventing a company is challenging enough. Doing so after a period of success doubly so. Doing so when new technologies were created that existed in DIRECT opposition to an existing profit model?

I think it’s a remarkable story of rebranding that’s worth retelling.

Now I’d love to tell you more about Netflix, but I’ve got to go watch several hours of Netflix.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

When I was 13 years old, I went on a school field trip.

We were driving 4 hours into rural Australia to visit an old gold field site.

I’m still not 100% sure why. I rarely pan for gold in my regular life. Close to never.

In Australia, that’s the first year of high school though. So you’re the smallest fish in the big pond, with 6 years ahead of you. And the reputation you make in those formative days stick with you.

I didn’t know anyone at my new high school. So I was hoping to make a few friends on this long bus ride. I knew how important these moments were.

The only problem was, the roads were FULL of potholes.

Every time the bus hit a pothole my stomach would rise and fall, and leave me feeling sick and sorry for myself.

I knew I couldn’t vomit though. I’d never get over the embarrassment. Kids can be cruel. And I’d never recover from the humiliation. So I did everything I could to hold it in.

When the bus would hit a fresh patch of smooth highway it felt like I’d be OK, but then we’d ride more potholes and my stomach would lurch from side to side.

I don’t know how. But I managed to make it. And as the bus turned into the long, dusty driveway of this time-worn and weary gold field, I felt…victorious.

I’d made it.

Then, as we pulled up to the car park, the bus hit one final pothole. It was just too much for my stomach to handle, and I vomited right down the front of my shirt.

I could feel the burning sensation in my throat as tears welled up in my eyes.

I knew that the other kids, who I didn’t even know, would have no mercy.

I wished the ground would open up and just swallow me whole.

Then, I heard a voice from the seat behind me…

“Hey” it squeaked, “I felt really sick on the bus ride too. Here, you can have my spare sweater”.

I nodded sheepishly, thanked this stranger, and stepped off the bus.

No one made fun of me that day.

No one even mentioned it.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be to treat life like that bus ride.

It’s full of potholes that feel never ending. But it’s also long stretches of smooth highway.

And when you feel like you’re alone, isolated or misunderstood, there’s actually people going through the same thing as you.

So I’d like to inspire everyone to take the time to lend a metaphorical sweater to someone else.

You might be surprised at just what a difference it makes.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

When I was diagnosed with Leukemia, my Dad gave me the most profound and transformative advice of my life. And he did it all in just one word…

‘Endure’.

When things feel darkest, just endure, because dawn will come.

I used that advice to get me through the challenges of my Leukemia diagnosis and treatment, and I’ve continued to use it in my life in the years since.

It’s so easy to fall into pity. Into self-loathing. Into defeat.

But it’s so much more valuable to endure, and push forward to a better outcome.

I remind myself of this mantra in my professional life when a creative project is returned with so many edits and changes that it could pass through an airport facial scanner without problems.

‘Endure’.

The client pays for their vision. And it’s my job to help find the balance between what they need and what’s commercially viable. So I endure and we work towards the optimal outcome.

That’s obviously a very minor example. But that’s the value of ‘endure’.

Whether it’s a small hiccup in your day, or a giant sinkhole in your life’s plans, when you acknowledge the shit storm, and commit to ‘enduring’, magic happens.

I promise you that.

How can our readers follow you online?

No creative would turn down the chance to share their work!

So you can follow my writing on Quora here. My travel blog ‘Inked & Abroad’ here. And my Instagram here.

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

“5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Alexander Porter of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic” With Author Joyce Shulman

Loneliness is literally impacting our lifespan and reducing our happiness. And I believe that, if we aren’t careful, the next generation is going to inherit the way of life we are creating that is fostering loneliness. And, as I mentioned, I believe that loneliness is driving a lack of understanding, empathy and openness to new ideas: I believe it is part of what is making our society so divisive.

As a part of my interview series about the ‘5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic’ I had the pleasure to interview Joyce Shulman. Joyce is the founder of Macaroni Kid and the Pack Leader at 99 Walks. A recovering attorney, idea junkie, addicted skier, and fitness fanatic, Joyce has spent the past decade working with, leading and inspiring women. A veteran of the TEDx stage, her first book, Walk Your Way to Better, is now available on Amazon.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us? What was it that led you to your eventual career choice?

More than 20 years ago, I abandoned law firm life to free my entrepreneurial spirit and since then I’ve co-founded four companies. My most recent adventure is 99 Walks, a company and a movement on a mission to get a million women walking — together. The idea for 99 Walks arose from the decade I’ve spent working closely with women and seeing firsthand the loneliness and wellness crisis they are facing. And I believe those two things are related.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Wow, it is hard to find the most interesting … but I remember the very first conference I hosted for the very first community I founded. I walked into a conference room where 45 women were seated, talking, connecting, laughing. And I realized that those women, who hadn’t known each other before, had come together to create something special. It overwhelmed me and I had to walk out of the room for a moment to gather myself!

Can you share a story about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

Few things make me happier than the chance to talk about women, wellness and walking so I’m a frequent speaker and podcast guest. Recently, I was in the virtual “green room” of a podcast as they were testing the sound levels and they said, “just keep talking.” I was rambling on about my dog and what I had for breakfast and all kinds of nonsense when they suddenly disconnected me. It turns out that they had erroneously had the podcast going as a live feed on the radio!

The lesson really is one that I’ve learned at other times in my life as well … you just never know who is listening so it’s best to try not to sound like an idiot. Ever.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Oh my gosh, so many! I took the TEDx stage in December to share why walking together is magic for women and just published my first book called Walk You Way to Better. Walking is so simple and so incredibly powerful with tremendous benefits for the mind, body and mood. And women walking together is where the real magic happens. All of my current projects are driving to our mission of getting a million women walking.

Can you share with our readers a bit why you are an authority about the topic of the Loneliness Epidemic?

Early this year, we undertook a study of 2,300 women and discovered that 73% of them experience loneliness. 73%! And the anecdotal stories many of those women shared were, frankly, heartbreaking. Lack of trust. Lack of time. Squeezed in the “sandwich generation” caring for children and aging parents. Feeling like they’ve been “burned too many times before.” Moved to a new town for work and can’t seem to “break in.” So many stories.

Since then, I’ve been on a journey not just to understand why, but to offer a deceptively simple fix: encouraging women to get up, get together and get walking. Because the other thing we learned from our research is that women who “regularly walk with friends” report that they are 2.5 times less likely to often feel lonely.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this story in Forbes, loneliness is becoming an increasing health threat not just in the US , but across the world. Can you articulate for our readers 3 reasons why being lonely and isolated can harm one’s health?

  • As former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said earlier this year, “loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
  • Lonely people are less likely to get out and be active, which compounds the wellness crisis. I do not believe it is a coincidence that we are seeing obesity levels rise as we see loneliness levels rise.
  • People who are lonely have less engagement with others. That means less opportunity to exchange ideas, hear other points of view and learn from one another all of which are critical to learning new things and expanding our minds.

On a broader societal level, in which way is loneliness harming our communities and society?

Loneliness is literally impacting our lifespan and reducing our happiness. And I believe that, if we aren’t careful, the next generation is going to inherit the way of life we are creating that is fostering loneliness.

And, as I mentioned, I believe that loneliness is driving a lack of understanding, empathy and openness to new ideas: I believe it is part of what is making our society so divisive.

The irony of having a loneliness epidemic is glaring. We are living in a time where more people are connected to each other than ever before in history. Our technology has the power to connect billions of people in one network, in a way that was never possible. Yet despite this, so many people are lonely. Why is this? Can you share 3 of the main reasons why we are facing a loneliness epidemic today? Please give a story or an example for each.

Ah, dare I point a finger at social media? I believe that the incredible rise in social media is being driven, at least in part, by the loneliness epidemic. Now, on the one hand, social media can be useful in helping to forge connections. But social media is a poor substitute for meaningful human connection. So I think we are in a place where people feel like they have friends (“I have 500 friends on Facebook, so I have lots of friends”) and yet yearn for the genuine human connections that can truly only be forged face-to-face.

Second, people move around more than they did in prior generations, both professionally and personally. My dad taught school for 36 years with largely the same group of teachers and coaches who were his dearest friends. These days, people change jobs far more frequently, which makes it far more difficult to create those long-term, sustained relationships.

Finally, we are all too busy. It seems obvious, but the best antidote for loneliness is spending time with other people. But all indicators show that we are working harder and feeling more pressure than prior generations. All of that work and all of that pressure leaves little time for time spent forging the human connections that are essential to ending the loneliness epidemic.

Ok. it is not enough to talk about problems without offering possible solutions. In your experience, what are the 5 things each of us can do to help solve the Loneliness Epidemic. Please give a story or an example for each.

  1. Call a friend and go for a walk together. I know, simple. But walking together gives you time and space, free of distractions and a surge of happiness hormones that helps you connect.
  2. Put a fence around some weekend time. You can’t just wait to “find time” to connect with your friends and family. You must prioritize that time. Put it on the calendar. Make it happen.
  3. Spend time with older people. The loneliness epidemic is particularly hard on our elders.
  4. Make technology your friend. There is no substitute for sharing experiences in person. But technology, if deployed thoughtfully, can help. Facetime, Zoom chats … it is critical to actually see the person you are speaking with but at the very least video chats can help.
  5. Realize that if you feel lonely, you aren’t alone. With more than 70% of Americans experiencing loneliness, chances are that if you feel lonely, so does the mom down the block, or the guy at the gym. Go first. Make an overture. Say hello. Extend an invitation. Forge a connection.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Thank you for that. If it’s not become clear already, I am obsessed with our movement to get a million women walking together. Because there is no better way to forge a connection and improve health and wellness: walking together gives you the benefit of a shared experience, the chance to be outside in nature, a trifecta of happiness hormones and the time and space to have a real conversation, free of distraction. It is a simple — and powerful — solution.

We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

There are so many people who’s walking habits support their personal wellness and I’d love to Walk + Talk with any of them! Michelle, Oprah, Rachel Hollis … let’s walk and talk!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

They can find me personally on Instagram @joyce.r.shulman and can connect with the 99 Walks community on Instagram @99Walks and on Facebook also at 99 Walks

Thank you so much for these insights. This was so inspiring, and so important!

“5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic” With Author Joyce Shulman was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Haidri of Zebra…

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Haidri of Zebra Technologies

Delivery on your terms. Retailers will continue to push the envelope on how to get the customer their product exactly how and when they want it (including returns). Most retailers already support the ability to buy online and pickup in a store but those are becoming even more convenient with locker or curbside pickup. Additionally, delivery to a location versus your home or even straight to your garage or refrigerator is becoming available. Next up is autonomous delivery. All of the options will be at the timing you want, including same day. Interestingly, our study found that 75 percent of shoppers are willing to pay for delivery — with approximately one-third willing to fork out for same day.

I had the pleasure to interview Anees Haidri. Anees is currently the Director of Vertical Strategy for Retail where he is responsible for positioning growth opportunities and providing thought leadership within retail for Zebra Technologies. Anees has more than 15 years of experience within the retail industry and has deployed multiple, large scale solutions to drive successful business outcomes. In addition, Anees has over 20 years of experience in building customer focused mobility solutions within a variety of industries. Previously, he served as a Sr. Director of Technology at The Home Depot, where he managed high performing teams aimed at building customer-focused technology solutions for stores & merchandising. Anees holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University.

Thank you so much for joining us Anees! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a first-year electrical engineering student in 1994 I was fortunate enough to hear an entertaining lecture from a professor who happened to be a part of Bell Labs (the Google of telephony) when the first wireless phones were created. I was accepted to his lab based off a corny essay that described my fascination with the Star Trek communicator and I’ve been in the wireless/mobility space in some fashion ever since.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I was lucky enough to be on a project for the Air Force at Eglin Air Force base, responsible for testing wireless network solutions to support laptops for maintenance techs to use on the flight line. Not only was the project right next to Destin Beach in Florida but I got to see F-15s run sorties on a regular basis. Not to mention see inside the cockpit of a Thunderbirds jet.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

I can’t recall a funny mistake but I’m very confident I’ve made many mistakes, both humorous and not so. One thing that I learned much later than I should have was the power of networking and communication. As you grow in your career into positions of leadership, the ability to execute gets replaced by the ability to influence and to do that well requires good communication and networking skills. Finding a way to appreciate that early on is a helpful tool for success.

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Of course — there always needs to be something in the hopper that’s exciting. The one for me right now is finding ways to expand our company’s presence inside a retail store. Not only is there great opportunity in that but it will really help retailers win in a currently turbulent industry. That will help a great many companies survive and thrive.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Retail is a fast-paced environment so pace yourself and it’s also a place ripe to leverage technology so use innovation to help keep things new and interesting.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

This might be corny, but the biggest catalyst in my career has been my wife, Tasneem. She gave me a reason to appreciate the value in delivering a result and career success always starts with that.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Hopefully, as a part of teams, there have been a few lessons passed on and a few careers nurtured.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main question of our interview. Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?

  1. At your pleasure shopping. Retailers will continue to find easier ways for customers to get access to their catalog and make a purchase. Our 12th annual Global Shopper Study found that online purchases will increase 8 percent in the next 5 years. Additionally, mobile phone access is starting to take over computer-based access and soon, other tools like home assistants and subscriptions will gain mainstream traction. Finally, it’s fair to assume that virtual reality tools will someday make the experience of walking to a store or store fronts from anywhere possible.
  2. Delivery on your terms. Retailers will continue to push the envelope on how to get the customer their product exactly how and when they want it (including returns). Most retailers already support the ability to buy online and pickup in a store but those are becoming even more convenient with locker or curbside pickup. Additionally, delivery to a location versus your home or even straight to your garage or refrigerator is becoming available. Next up is autonomous delivery. All of the options will be at the timing you want, including same day. Interestingly, our study found that 75 percent of shoppers are willing to pay for delivery — with approximately one-third willing to fork out for same day.
  3. Just for you selection. Retailers are already finding ways online to help shoppers make the buying choice that’s best for them by providing ratings, reviews and alternative/additive products that they might like. This will expand greatly as retailers get better and better at using data to help shoppers, and this means products on the shelf in stores will be more tailored to an individual’s personal community, and prices or promotions to that specific shopper. The best brands will make shoppers feel like they have their own personal shopper, allowing customers to focus on just reaping the value of their purchase.
  4. Intelligent automation. It’s not only just about the customer; the retailer needs to get more efficient. In order to meet the demands of a new retail industry and have more resources to take care of the customer, retailers need to automate, and now they can do that more intelligently. Machine learning will be highly leveraged to determine the best ways to merchandise and supply products. It will also be used to determine how well operational processes are being executed and where improvements can be found. Computer vision will be used to help alleviate labor tasks in the middle of aisles or even at the checkout lane. Robotics will help to automate repetitive tasks such as picking product for orders or shipments. In fact, our research shows that almost 26 percent of retailers are already currently providing some level of robotic assistance with 29 percent looking to incorporate the technology within the next year. And, finally sensing devices that help locate assets or workers will be leveraged to fine tune operations.
  5. True omnichannel, tech-driven retailer. The retail business is changing at breakneck speeds both because of the demands of the consumer and the technology innovation that supports that demand. A modern, next-generation retailer will not succeed if they maintain the lines between channels; rather, they must see themselves as a brand that delivers great product, great value and a great experience. To do this, retailers must change their organizational structures to eliminate silos, they must embrace change and applaud the value of failing fast; and finally, they must embrace technology as the best tool they have to improve their business.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

In the context of work, success is defined not by the amount you accomplish but by the amount you help others while doing so.

How can our readers follow you on social media? You can follow me on LinkedIn.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Haidri of Zebra… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “An App that connects you to your future and past…

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “An App that connects you to your future and past classmates” with Dwight and Angelique Morrison of PS Remember

We feel a tremendous sense of responsibility in helping people to remain connected and hope to play a part in reducing teen suicide and rates of depression among our youths by installing confidence. Facebook has had a lot of hiccups in this area over the past three years. Social media should be for the purpose of getting people together to connect and to bolster a sense of achievement. What we have seen instead is a breeding ground for bullying, harmful ideologies like racism, cult like behavior, pedophelia in some cases, political info wars. People outside of America can’t connect well and there are real frustrations that people are dealing with on this front. People want to come to a space that isn’t rife with bots, while at the same time seeing their culture represented exist in a setting where free communication is honored without censorship. We work very hard to achieve this balanced ecosystem through diligence, research and technique.

As a part of my series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years’ ‘ I interviewed Dwight and Angelique Morrison. Dwight and Angelique are a husband and wife team of developers for PS Remember, a new app that connects past, present and future students together in over 100 countries around the globe. The app allows you to track who you may have gone to school with, as well as to network with people at various institutions you are thinking about attending or may have already attended.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

The idea surged while Angelique was doing research at the University of Guelph where she had been working for a number of years with scientists to come up with a cure for cystic fibrosis, which generated a lot of press for her. At around the same time, I was working in music and for some reason or other I hooked up with a guy who started a tech company in Los Angeles. I went out there and found that the business relationship began to fall apart as my work was not being recognized by the founder, so I left the company. I spoke to my wife about starting our own tech company to help people in some significant way. We came up with a lot of ideas that night but the one that stuck was the concept that would connect people in different countries that had gone to various schools, colleges or universities. We started the painstaking work of contacting the Ministry of Education in over 106 countries and got the records we needed, which are far more comprehensive than any research we could produce online. My wife is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and she found it very taxing to reconnect with her buddies from school but with the data research background she had, we were fortunate to have been able to collect the information we needed within 18 months. When we look at the landscape of what is going on right now in social media, people — even, high school students — want to connect. Facebook at this time will not allow for that and Instagram is not capable of doing it, so once you have an account with PS Remember you become visible in terms of what academic institutions you are aligned with throughout your lifeline. It took us about two years to build the platform and to make it better. We launched last month and the emails and messages of thanks have been overwhelming, but the reward of connecting people makes it all worthwhile.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

We get a lot of emails specifically from the country of Nigeria. It is interesting that there is a hunger and thirst for what we are doing. Truthfully the tech landscape in Nigeria has exploded and there is a lot of opportunity for our youth to turn this into their new economy, so now here I am, an African American man and we didn’t plan to be recognized as such in from a press standpoint, but it turns out that we are a black couple and are now the poster kids for successful tech firms owned and operated by a black couple. It happened unintentionally, but if it serves to inspire those who feel that they now have a chance to shine, particularly in our urban communities here in America then that’s awesome. Nigeria is our biggest supporter right now and we are confident that we can hit a critical mass in our first year out the gate, just knowing that there are 190 million people living in the country of Nigeria alone!

Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?

Our idea will change the world because this will be a platform that people can connect with on a developmental level particularly if they have been socialized outside of the US and Canada. A pre college or university student can talk about what school they want to attend or decide to mobilize students all around the world in one place to effectuate change. What I like about what we are doing is that if you are currently attending a university and you are a freshman and it is difficult for you to make friends — if you and others like you are attending the same school, you can activate a real connection. Kids these days prefer to meet online before connecting in person, to eventually forge friendships online and create long lasting relationships offline. We learned from our developers in India that there are over 550 million high school students and over 200 million college and university students within our reach in this global initiative.

How do you think this will change the world?

We feel a tremendous sense of responsibility in helping people to remain connected and hope to play a part in reducing teen suicide and rates of depression among our youths by installing confidence. Facebook has had a lot of hiccups in this area over the past three years. Social media should be for the purpose of getting people together to connect and to bolster a sense of achievement. What we have seen instead is a breeding ground for bullying, harmful ideologies like racism, cult like behavior, pedophelia in some cases, political info wars. People outside of America can’t connect well and there are real frustrations that people are dealing with on this front. People want to come to a space that isn’t rife with bots, while at the same time seeing their culture represented exist in a setting where free communication is honored without censorship. We work very hard to achieve this balanced ecosystem through diligence, research and technique.

We will change the world in terms of how people interact on social in three ways;

Process: When you enter the PS Remember platform, the system tells you through a notification “your classmates and friend suggestion”. These are the people that went to school with you. Facebook does not have that tech in terms of a search that will give you the option of presenting all possible students in a given class or given year.

Reach: Facebook can’t seem to connect you with people from other academies in other countries because it’s algorithms are programmed to connect you only with friends of friends and people within the parameter of your physical locations. Yet there are 7 billion people on planet earth and only 1 billion of them are on facebook. That leaves the 6 billion of us to fend for ourselves! India, for example, has 1.3 million schools. If I want to connect with my buddies in Nigeria for instance, which is almost impossible, what we have done, through the registration process, is to identify every time there has been a change in academic status. It asks you: did you complete the degree or program? In what country? What are you doing now? We’ve got people from the country of Barbados, China, India, the Ukraine, french speaking countries like Martinique, the Congo which are recognized on the platform. I could go on.

Flexibility: Other benefits include being able to alter your search by year by country, by high school or by college and university. You can even run a search to find people who have previously attended that particular school. This is not remotely possible for facebook and one of the main reasons for this is that it would mandate every single member to enter their academic credentials and change in status.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?

One of the things that we do not incorporate is third party applications. Candy Crush is an example of the third party application. The reason why companies use 3rd party applications is to generate additional income from the end user, but there are other ways to make money. We also understand that investors would like to make extra money but our method is not to attach ourselves to the user’s credit card data like a parasite. Because in our case protecting the user is paramount, advertisers will never see any information about them, but will instead have access to a distribution of people in a segment of its choosing. The benefit to the advertiser is the market to which it will have access. Our business model includes creating portals for reunions, so in a sense, we see a whole new business emerge from the events planning side of the application. And while we have laid out the entrapments of social media communications to the dark side in our former examples, we do not allow anyone under the age of 16 to come onto the platform. Little girls cannot be having conversations with grown men. When it comes to the issue of misinformation, we believe strongly that everything should be vetted correctly. This was the purpose of having completed the painstaking groundwork of acquiring registration rolls from ministries of education. We believe that it is possible to work with every country but we are cautious as to which countries we will be staying away from based on when sanctions will be lifted.

What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?

We need to get 1M members in 24 months. If we can get to 500,000 in our first year, that would be awesome. We bootstrapped the company and financed everything from our personal accounts. That works out to about $280,000 in two years. Most of our funds have gone into developing the app, getting it to the point at which it is functional now. We raked through the savings account to make this happen. We want every student in the world to be connected and to have an account with PS Remember.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why.

5 things that I wish someone told me before I started are:

  1. Have a large amount of cash aside for marketing. We hired too many developers. We didn’t know a lot about the tech terms and the technology. We are constantly learning and this takes capital. We are fortunate to be working with our publicist at Zebra Public Relations who will be able to help us with our marketing needs. To this point, we have personally hired at least two different development teams.
  2. Educate yourself about the space you are in. If you are bootstrapping, it is very normal that you may not have a guide or a mentor in the beginning. As you chart forward, you may seek information by those who have forged a path ahead of you. Take every opportunity to learn from those who have made it before you. If you need someone to motivate you to do this, I would suggest that you are in the wrong business.
  3. Trust yourself to assess who you will engage. We would often get emails from others interested in joining my venture. Many will share how they can help us on our journey. Eventually, we found that most of them are there only to receive the financial benefits but are less interested in the grunt work attached. Be cautious of these kinds of people offering to be a mentor or partner. It was only when we put our faces on the brand that we started to engage a wider audience, but we had to learn this from marketers and before we could connect to authors like Yitzi Weiner.
  4. Be Consistent Some days will be good and others not. You have to ride the wave. Don’t get depressed when you don’t experience immediate results. Every day requires diligent work. In business, there is always something you can do everyday to make your company better.
  5. Stay focused. You have to believe very strongly in your vision . You were out on this earth to do something bing and it is up to you to deliver it. We don’t believe in plan B.

Based on the future trends in your industry, if you had a million dollars, what would you invest in?

Marketing and promotion, is what we would invest in as we want to share this innovative platform to former, prospective and future students. Also we want to advertise in the language of all of the countries that we serve around the world. We also want to invest in new technologies to improve user experience.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

For us, especially because of our faith, we are bound by certain principles. This means that we must go by our honor and by our words. If we take something, we have to also give back. Living the work of integrity and following through on doing what you say you will is of paramount importance. If we are bound to an agreement, financially or otherwise, we do not care if it takes our last penny to resolve. We have to do what we said we would and we have also come to understand that if one is not able to follow through on their word, then it means that they cannot be trusted.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

Never giving up is extremely important to us. If you believe something at the core of who you are, even if you can’t find funding or don’t have the money to do something, keep pushing forward. Just go hard or go home! And there should be no plan B. Having a plan B only means that you aren’t confident in your ability and there will be some sort of disaster to follow. Giving up means being selfish. Stay motivated to continue based on the people who are waiting for you to succeed. If you have an idea that you know is going to change the world and shift the Universe in a positive way and you feel it within your core that that it will be successful, you have to adopt a stance of never giving up. Can you imagine if there were no Steve Jobs or if he had given up after the first iteration of his Apple computer? Where would we be today?

Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?

I would say that we should go ahead and change the world together. No other company in the world can reach this group of people in this way and the opportunity lies in connecting people together at one of the most fundamental times in their lives. The technology for the reach in number of students is a testament to our success and keeps us at an advantage as now we are available on Google Play. The other thing is that we are people of integrity with vision and technical background, so no question exists as to whether we will make a fantastic partnership! Soon every student in the world will have a PS account to stay connected. Along the journey, we would like to urge the IPO. We want the prize so that we can use the resources to upgrade the technology.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow us on www.psremember.com (@psremember) to stay up to date on our work.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational. 🙂

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “An App that connects you to your future and past… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Retail: “A massive growth opportunity I see in the retail industry is the ability to…

The Future of Retail: “A massive growth opportunity I see in the retail industry is the ability to provide consumers with deeper information about a product in engaging ways”, with David Fisch of Shopkick

Information: Another massive growth opportunity I see in the retail industry is the ability to provide consumers with deeper information about a product in engaging ways. No longer do you need to read a 20-page dissertation about a product or scour the internet to find certain information. I see more retailers turning to mobile apps for information experiences — for example, walking into a store, scanning a product and having a video pop up that provides nutritional info, recipes, other items that pair well with that product and much more.

I had the pleasure to interview David Fisch. David is the general manager of Shopkick, the leading shopping rewards app in the U.S.. He leverages his extensive experience building successful businesses and creating value to propel Shopkick to the next level.

Fisch is an experienced founder, entrepreneur and business leader with a strong record of achievement in leading Ad-tech, marketing technology and consumer companies. In addition, he has served in key leadership and management roles at Yahoo!, Miller Brewing Company, and Gallo Sales Company.

Prior to joining Shopkick, Fisch was the chief revenue and marketing officer at AerNow, where he was responsible for guiding content creators’ business growth through live and video on-demand (VOD) content. Before AerNow, he served as Vice President of Strategy at Criteo, where he worked to scale the company’s machine learning, big data, and marketing solutions, helping e-commerce companies leverage data efficiently to engage and convert customers.

Fisch graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business, management, and marketing from California State University, Chico.

Thank you so much for joining us David! What brought you to this specific career path?

My career path has been an interesting saga. Right out of college, I started out in consumer product marketing and sales with Gallo Winery. I was given the opportunity to manage a large sales organization and had a truly fantastic time working in all things around retail marketing and sales. From there, I transitioned to Miller Brewing, where I oversaw MB Co’s distributors. I had the opportunity to work with sellers and marketers to put programs in place that would move product. This allowed me to get a clear view of the retail industry and how it operates from the ground-up.

After that marketing role, I decided to make a major career shift to an area I knew little about at the time — digital.

I joined Yahoo at a very early stage and was given the chance to pioneer new ways to move digital marketing products and programs. It was great for my personal growth; if I had an idea, I could quickly implement it and have it seen by millions of people; thus knowing the success, or lack thereof relatively immediately. I spent 7–8 years at Yahoo overseeing what ended up being their marketing solutions group. I worked with Fortune 500 brands, as well as top global agencies — on how to create value for consumers and advertisers. At the time, we were pioneering early days of retargeting — putting a product in front of someone, having them interact with it, collecting the data of that interaction, and then retargeting the consumer based on that experience.

After Yahoo, I decided to take a major leap and started my first company, SlingShot Media, with Peter Guber. From there, I started a few handful of companies in the media and gaming realm.

All of this led to my current position as the GM of Shopkick. In early 2019, I received a call from Trax, the Singaporean company that recently acquired Shopkick, and was asked if I knew anything about the company. Through past experiences, I actually worked with Shopkick quite a bit, so I felt confident that I would be able to come to the table with a clear vision of how to grow this company to succeed in the future. And here we are!

What’s the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started your career?

One of the most interesting things to happen during my career was developing relationships with people at Yahoo during their early years and deciding to make a major change in my career to the then-new world of digital. I was able to be part of the group that pioneered new marketing programs, and it was extremely impactful for my career and personal goals.

What’s the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?

When I was at Yahoo, I was presenting in front of several thousand people for a televised event. As I’m sitting in the front row waiting to be introduced, I’m drinking a coffee in, of course, a white shirt. About 30 seconds before I’m announced, I look down to see I had been dripping coffee on myself for the last hour! I was instantly fearful of what people would think, but when I got on stage, I chose to address the mishap instead of acting like it hadn’t happened. And you know what? People got a kick out of it and my presentation went better than I could have imagined!

The lesson I took away from this experience is to not be so hard on yourself about being perfect, because nobody is. If you own that, people will be able to relate to you. It’s a great thing to be able to laugh at yourself and people can respect that!

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

An exciting project I’m working on outside of Shopkick involves the cannabis industry and using big data to collect personalized information in a positive way, providing more relevant products, and services to people. We’re working on connecting people and information in a pretty disparate industry, by taking a specific look at how to service everyone through one ad platform.

It takes out a lot of the chaos caused by questions like, how do you find the right products? How do you find the right services? How do marketers market the right products to the right people? We’re working on quieting that noise to be very personalized with the message.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to not get “burnt out”?

In my opinion, one of the hardest parts of being a CEO is remaining positive at all times. When walking into the office, you could be having a bad day, sales could be down, or any number of things but as a leader, it is your job to instill confidence in your team even when things might not be going as planned.

My advice for not burning out in this situation is to keep the mindset that “the sun always comes up the next day and every problem has a solution”. It is important to remember that you’re not always going to make the right call and mistakes are inevitable, and that’s okay.

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

One individual comes to mind right away — Peter Guber. He was there for my first foray into starting my own business. He was extremely influential in giving me the confidence to break out of working for a traditional company and take a chance on a vision. He’s been helpful throughout the last 10–15 years of my career.

I have never forgotten him asking me early on if I knew how hard it would be to start my own company. At the time, of course, I said yes. In response, he said, “No, you actually have no idea.” And he was absolutely right.

How do you feel you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’ve been fortunate to have met people who have taken an interest in me and my career along the way. It’s given me a reason for pause when I see someone else coming up in his or her own profession. Whether it’s hiring interns out of college who are looking for real work experiences or hiring exchange students to give them months of work to extend their Visas, I’m grateful to be able to invest in others the same way my mentors invested in me.

Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?

In the next five years, I see retailers adjusting their focus more on:

Convenience: Retailers need to boil it all back down to convenience — the convenience of one-swipe or one-tap on your mobile device to make a purchase, going into just one retail location to find exactly what you’re looking for, or various purchase options like BOPIS. Thankfully, our digital tools facilitate that ability for ease and convenience. For today’s consumers, the more convenient the experience, the more likely they will be to choose your retailer over the next one.

Information: Another massive growth opportunity I see in the retail industry is the ability to provide consumers with deeper information about a product in engaging ways. No longer do you need to read a 20-page dissertation about a product or scour the internet to find certain information. I see more retailers turning to mobile apps for information experiences — for example, walking into a store, scanning a product and having a video pop up that provides nutritional info, recipes, other items that pair well with that product and much more.

In-Store Experiences: From a handful of recent surveys we’ve conducted at Shopkick around consumer shopping habits, it’s clear that the majority of shoppers are still headed in-store. Our latest 2020 Outlooks survey showed that 61 percent of shoppers, across generations, plan to do the majority of their 2020 shopping in physical retailers. And regardless of age, shoppers are looking for the same thing when they shop brick and mortar: inspiration and excitement. Retailers will need to focus on more creative, Instagram-worthy, in-store shopping experiences to get shoppers into their stores and to the register.

Augmented Reality and Extended Reality: On that same note, I see retailers really leaning into augmented reality and extended reality. I see the future looking like a customer walking into a local grocery store, where a notification from Captain Morgan pops up on their phone to say “Follow this map to buy a liter of Captain Morgan and get $3 back.” That customer looks at his phone and sees a store-mapping technology with arrows guiding him down different aisles to make sure he’s finding the products. He then scans the bottle of Captain Morgan, and suddenly additional recipes pop up on how to use Captain Morgan in his holiday recipes. I think this also goes back to my original point of incentivizing sales through convenience.

The Future of Retail: “A massive growth opportunity I see in the retail industry is the ability to… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Axiom CEO Elena Donio: “Resilience is about accepting failure as part of any learning curve”

Resilience is like skiing: It’s easier learned young, when you can just go…without the prohibitive fear of getting hurt; when you can fall, and fall, and fall, and fall again, and pick yourself up and scale and descend the mountain anew.

Resilience is about accepting failure as part of any learning curve. It was my parents who taught me it’s ok to lose the race, to lose the election, to not get the role…as long as you get back up and try again (and again, and again, and again). Because of them, I flexed that muscle early and often.

Resilience is having the confidence to fail. The fact that so many people lack that confidence is upsetting. The fact that so many of them are disproportionately women is tragic.

I had the pleasure to interview Elena Donio. Elena is Chief Executive Officer of Axiom, the global leader in high-caliber, on-demand legal talent. Serving over half the Fortune 100 globally, Axiom enables corporate legal departments to become more agile and efficient, and empowers lawyers to pursue more of the work they love.

Elena has over 20 years of experience in fast-paced technology companies. Prior to joining Axiom as CEO, she served as president of SAP Concur. Elena joined Concur in 1998 through the acquisition of 7Software, a Palo Alto start-up, and served in various leadership roles including the head of worldwide sales and marketing, head of product management, executive vice president and general manager of small and medium sized businesses. She helped lead the company through many transitions, including Concur’s acquisition by SAP in 2014; its transition from licensed, enterprise software to cloud-based solutions; from desktop computing to the mobile device; and from its dominant focus on large business clients to small and mid-market organizations.

Elena is a member of the Board of Directors at Twilio and PayScale. She earned her BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Thank you so much for joining us Elena! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

According to my Twitter bio, I’m a CEO, a wife, a mother, a mentor, a board member, a champion of workplace equality, and a lover of tech. That’s the abridged character count summary of me.

Here’s the longer story: After graduating college (UC San Diego), I started my career building or deploying technology, first on the road with what was then Andersen Consulting, followed by Deloitte. Then, I stepped off the consulting path to help launch a start-up — 7Software, which we sold to Portable, which would become Concur, which would become my home for the better part of the next decade.

The close of that sale marked an important new chapter in my life: New home (Seattle), and new personal story (I got married in 2000 and had three boys between 2003 and 2010).

At Concur, I learned how to lead through change: helping steer the company through its hard pivot to the cloud, launching the small and medium business (SMB) division, embracing mobility, and becoming a platform… all leading to the eventual acquisition and integration into SAP.

During that time, I learned how to be the kind of presence I wanted to be in the executive suite, while being the kind of wife and mom I wanted to be for my family. I also learned how to be the most authentic version of myself outside of both venues: teaching, travelling, exercising, volunteering, mentoring, etc., etc.

None of that learning happened overnight, without incident, or without a fair amount of mistakes. But, all of that informed my career to come: a career built on self-advocacy and self-determination.

And then came my personal pivot. In 2016, I was introduced to Axiom. I was intrigued by the idea of working to change an industry that was still operating in much the same way that it had been for a century; touched very little by technology and new ways of thinking about resourcing. I was intoxicated by the people that built the business and the spirit of a company that was pushing against the status quo. I was enticed by its growth to date, and its almost limitless opportunity to scale. And, I was taken by the potential to inject technology. Potential that I believed would become an imperative.

The rest — and best — of my story is, of course, still being written…

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that experience?

It was 2007. Concur had been my corporate home for 9 years….until it wasn’t. Until I (gradually) woke up and realized that I had built this other home with my husband and my sons and the divide between the two was breaking me — or, at least, it was no longer feeding my soul.

I had always been Elena the leader. It had been my personal brand. It had been my self-concept. I had — from my first working moments — forged a career path that was at times audacious and yet also grounded in convention.

But as much as I wanted it to fit, pretended it fit — it no longer did — at least not my full life, at least not then.

And so, I took time away from the conventional. It wasn’t to reimagine my life all at once. It was to hit reset. It was to relieve myself of the burden of the expected path — so that I had the time, the space, the freedom (and perhaps even the fear) to take stock of what mattered most.

I spent the next year consulting, travelling, exercising, volunteering, and spending time with my children. When a new business opportunity surfaced at Concur, it was then — with the clarity born from space and reflection — that I was finally able to reimagine my life: as executive, as mother, as traveler, as athlete, as mentor — all in one. Breaking from the more conventional model, crafting something different and better, grounded in experience, fueled by a vision of what could be.

The year I took off (and the years of change since then) have taught me three critical lessons that continue to allow me to refuel, repurpose, and reimagine. Regularly benchmarking myself against these lessons provides me with the certainty that I’m on the right path, and when I’m not, the agency to change it.

  1. Live a Big Life: Pursue passions on and off the clock that help open your mind and develop space for creativity. Live all the facets of you.
  2. Live an Authentic Life: Own those many facets, be present in them, and show up with them on display — without apology.
  3. Live a Collaborative Life: Work in, and build, environments that feel like home. Surround yourself with allies — those colleagues and friends who make you your best self.

(Bonus Lesson: Live a Rested Life: Sleep! None of this works without it.)

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I am as grateful a mentee as I am passionate a mentor. Maybe that’s because I have had the good fortune to have some exceptional people in in my life and career who have helped guide me along the way. There are (almost) too many to name, so I’ll leave the list at two:

Rajeev Singh: Raj is the former President and Co-Founder of Concur and remains my most influential mentor. Learning from Raj was a daily gift. He pushed me to try new things, embrace big ideas, and to do it my way (on my, self-advocated, terms). He has a fantastic ability to embrace diversity of thinking and get the most out of everyone around him. He is confident enough to let others shine. He’s demanding, but fair; encouraging, but honest. He listens before he speaks (an overlooked and underused skill).

Kathleen Philips: Kathleen is the former Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Operating Officer of Zillow Group. She is a current Axiom board member, and someone to whom I have recently turned for guidance, particularly as we have navigated Axiom through a period of corporate restructuring, divestiture, and new private equity ownership. Kathleen has seen the highs, lows, and near-death moments of a transaction, and, as a result, has helped me focus on what truly matters in order to land in a place that’s best for Axiom’s shareholders, employees, and clients over the long-term. She’s taught me invaluable lessons about how to put decisions into perspective and right-size boxes.

What do you think makes Axiom? Can you share a story?

What makes Axiom Axiom? One red folder….

It was 2016. I was very happy at Concur. I wasn’t looking to leave.

Axiom co-founder at CEO Mark Harris had convinced me to turn a scheduled phone introduction into a breakfast meeting.

We’d had a wonderful meal and an equally wonderful exchange of ideas about culture, category creation, growth, scale, you name it. What there hadn’t been, however, was any meaningful conversation about me joining Axiom. I’d made it clear: I was happy at Concur; I wasn’t going anywhere.

As we were leaving he said, “I had a feeling that you would care about this, so I asked 25 people in the company to tell me why they work here,” and handed me this little red folder he’d kept in his bag all night. His ask was simple: If the contents of the folder moved me, I would agree to a second meeting.

I left breakfast, put the folder aside, and nearly forgot about it. A couple of days later, I found it in my home office and started leafing through the letters.

I read one email. And the next one, and the next one, and these 25 emails looked like they could have been written by people I know; by people I liked! They were funny, they were embarrassing, they were heartwarming, they were these incredible life-building and life-affirming stories that happened at work.

I was, it turned out, moved. The company excited me, the opportunity to transform an industry motivated me. But, those letters sold me.

Those letters are what makes Axiom Axiom. Those stories still serve as my north star as we navigate Axiom’s journey of scale. Axiom will grow, change, and evolve. What must never change is the priority we place on our culture and our (diverse, challenging, ambitious, smart, engaged, letter-writing) people.

We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Resilience is like skiing: It’s easier learned young, when you can just go…without the prohibitive fear of getting hurt; when you can fall, and fall, and fall, and fall again, and pick yourself up and scale and descend the mountain anew.

Resilience is about accepting failure as part of any learning curve. It was my parents who taught me it’s ok to lose the race, to lose the election, to not get the role…as long as you get back up and try again (and again, and again, and again). Because of them, I flexed that muscle early and often.

Resilience is having the confidence to fail. The fact that so many people lack that confidence is upsetting. The fact that so many of them are disproportionately women is tragic.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

While resilience is a trait that may be easier developed when young, the truth is it can also be born from life lessons and struggles along that way. A friend and mentee of mine suffered a serious personal loss mid-way through her career, and from that, built — and flexed — her resilience muscle; turning from tragedy into the next chapter of her life, both professionally and personally.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

They said building the SMB business at Concur was impossible. The customer was too expensive to attract and serve. SMB would end up cannibalizing the enterprise business. It wouldn’t scale fast enough to meet the requirements of the business.

The opposite was true. We built a new muscle within Concur, created a whole new, important and still growing cohort of clients, and added hundreds of new jobs the business; cultivating the next generation of talent in the process.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

It’s my “reimagine” story. I referenced it earlier:

It’s 2007. I’d been with Concur through the dot-com boom and bust and held various roles from Product Manager to head of Sales and Marketing. I’d had my first two sons, each time taking maternity leave and each time struggling with reentry.

I was “balancing” my career, my husband’s career, and two boys under 4…and the truth is, I was overwhelmingly unbalanced. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know how to do what I was trying to do — be a mom and an executive. There were very few role models in my life. My peers were men that had partners at home.

So I took a break, electing to leave rather than take a less demanding role that did not give me a seat at the decision-making table. After a year of consulting, traveling, exercising, and time with my kids, Raj called with an offer to run Concur’s SMB division. The offer set off an intense period of self-reflection and career “reimagination.”

I met Raj for breakfast and said, “I will do this job, but I have a whole long list of conditions including limited travel and I am going to work from home whenever I want.” I may have also told him that he should be prepared that I wanted to have another kid. As I was listing these conditions he started laughing. I asked why, and he said, “You do know that you are talking to yourself now and not me, don’t you?”

When I returned to work, I committed to compete on what mattered, letting go of measures that didn’t matter like hours and air miles.

And then a male colleague, a new single parent, helped crystalize what had been missing for me — and many women — in seeking balance between professional success and family: acknowledgement of it all.

He parented so loudly. I had been downplaying family demands at work for years. And then here’s this dad who’s talking really loudly about how exhausting kids were.

His loud parenting made me realize I wasn’t doing it right: I needed to parent loudly too — not only for myself — but so that the next generation of talent, men and women, could see a leader willing to live a big, loud life, unapologetically.

I WANT executive roles to look, feel, BE accessible; for the next generation of talent to aspire to stay in because they know they can be fully expressed, authentic humans, true to their values.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

My stories of resiliency growing up mostly center around my dad, who is still a dramatic force in my life. He was constantly telling me I could go anywhere and do anything. He had high expectations — we were to work hard and excel in school. No excuses. Through every failure and rejection, through every victory, he was there with the same message, “I’m proud of you. You can do this.”

He still says this to me at least once a week. I don’t think I need it anymore, but it reminds me to share it with the young women around me. And I’m grateful for that.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Practice getting outside of your comfort zone: Do something scary; pick your thing and offer to do it whether it is giving a talk or leading a program or coordinating a philanthropic endeavor.
  2. Depend on your friends and family: Rely on your friends and family who make you feel awesome about yourself no matter what happens.
  3. Find your professional network: Find your network of people, both inside and outside the company, who help pick you up when things don’t go well. For me, these include people with whom I sit on boards, and people with whom I worked (or worked for): Jen Morgan and Raj Singh. They not only dispense wisdom but remind me of who I am and keep me grounded.
  4. Define your rules of mourning: Determine how long you will let yourself obsess over what didn’t work out. Choose which techniques for self-care will help you move on.
  5. Get in the habit of dreaming bigger: Take what you are doing today and play with boundaries to broaden what you are doing; Ask yourself “what if” questions to expand your thinking to push harder: “What would it mean if…”

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I want more women to feel the calling do something big in the world.

I want more men to feel good about supporting someone else’s dreams; to take a backseat professionally and be the lead parent… and be okay with that, (as women have been doing for centuries).

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

I like “The Morning Show,” but I don’t like the lack of confident women in the series.

As I’m watching, I’m craving a powerful, self-actualized female character. Not only do I think that would be an accurate portrayal of the type of women who might climb to the top of the network news business, I also think it’s incumbent upon strong women to create compelling images of other strong women.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Twitter @elenadonio

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-donio-7b83a55/

Axiom CEO Elena Donio: “Resilience is about accepting failure as part of any learning curve” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With May…

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With May Habib CEO of Qordoba

You need to rebrand when the story that’s being told about you doesn’t fit who you are or the aspirations of who you want to be. Those aspirations have to become real very quickly or a rebrand is pretty pointless exercise. But you rebrand when you want to reframe the story you want to tell. It shouldn’t be done too often.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview May Habib. May is the co-founder and CEO of Qordoba, an AI writing assistant for businesses. The tool helps everyone at a company write using the approved style, terminology, and brand voice. May graduated from Harvard and is an expert in the fields of natural language processing, machine learning, and next-gen content management technology.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was in finance for a long time, but I always wanted to go back to entrepreneurial roots and start a company. I started a bookkeeping business when I was 11 or 12. I worked all through school, including college. It was really just a matter of finding the right idea. I feel like life has come full circle because I was a bookworm and a college journalist and now we build a product that helps everybody in an organization write better.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I think many mistakes you make when you’re starting out aren’t necessarily mistakes at all, but they’re the process of gaining confidence. When you’re first starting out, many people want their brands to look like everybody else. There’s a feeling you are as worthy a brand as your competitors or companies that are ahead of you if you look like them.

As you gain maturity in being a business and gain success, then the desire really flips and you want to stand out. You want to look different. I don’t think these tendencies are things you can avoid. You just have to experience the cycle.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I think the tipping point was actually internal not external. It was when I tried to become a more conscious person. As a leader, I now try to not always be thinking about the next milestone, the next hire, the next step. Instead, I’m really trying to breath deeply into the moment that I’m in right now. It helps me see the people that I’m working with and the challenges I’m facing with more gratitude.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We’re working on a really exciting project that brings AI to people’s fingertips. AI can be very scary, especially when you talk about AI with creative people. It can feel daunting or, at best, silly. We’re trying to help people — specifically people in roles that need to write — see that AI could really be a tool that helps them finish their sentences, working at their speed of thought. It can help them be more creative, more productive individuals.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

The biggest thing that has made an impact for me with burnout and burnout culture is to really understand deeply that more hours doesn’t mean better work. Second to that is really learning how and when your energy is best suited for work — and then protecting that time at all costs. I try to complete two to three hours of focused activity as soon as I get to my desk in the morning. That’s before I’ve checked email, before I’ve looked at my calendar, before I think about what I need to do for other people. That’s my high-energy work time.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

I see brand marketing as the feeling that people have when they think about your company or think about your product. Product marketing is below the feeling. It’s the mind. It’s what people understand about what your product does or the benefit it can have for them. Brand and product marketing are extremely different in terms of where you’re trying to hit emotionally, but one without the other is not nearly as effective.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

Brand is a multiplier. Brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room, when your advertising is not in front of their face, when they don’t have your words to lean back on. It is the story that can be retold, and retelling stories is absolutely the essence of who we are as humans. If you don’t build a brand, you’re not building anything.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

You need to rebrand when the story that’s being told about you doesn’t fit who you are or the aspirations of who you want to be. Those aspirations have to become real very quickly or a rebrand is pretty pointless exercise. But you rebrand when you want to reframe the story you want to tell. It shouldn’t be done too often.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

It’s important to understand what your brand conveys today. If it is very far from where you want it to be, a rebrand is pretty necessary. If there are aspects of your brand story that are off, then an absolute rebrand could actually take you further from your goal.

Companies who should not rebrand… I don’t know if I have a hard and fast answer to that rule. But I’d imagine rebranding anything health-related might cause more harm than good. Because these companies are often seen by consumers as utilities. Dramatic change could mean a loss of faith or trust.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

We went through a rebrand about a year ago and it was super successful. It started with words. Yes, we’re a product about words, but I do believe that a rebrand for anyone begins with words. For us, we started by thinking and asking around internally, “If our company was a person, what words would describe us?”

So, strategies on how I think companies can re-energize their brand and image:

1. Find your owners. And I mean the people in your company who think like owners. We’re lucky because we’re a startup and the vast majority of our colleagues think like owners, but that isn’t the case at many companies. So find your internal owners and ask them to participate in the rebrand in a very conscious way.

2. Begin with the words. Solidify the story that you want to be told and what you want people to learn from that. Know what you want your first employee and your more recent employee to learn. Know what you want visitors to your site and users of your product to learn. Know what you want investors and friends to learn. Just solidify your story.

3. Test your story internally, with people that weren’t part of the process, to make sure it resonates for them. Be explicit about what the words are supposed to mean and how they contribute to your story. Gather feedback. Ask people what’s best about the existing brand story and what they’d like to change.

4. Once you have your story, now you can turn those words into messaging, assets, colors, and your visual identity. Visuals are super necessary, but I think brands misguidedly tend to invert the process. They start with the visuals and then go with the words. If you start with the words, it will be so much more important and impactful, and the rebrand will be deeper and longer lasting.

5. In general when you think about brand, think about putting more than half of your energy into the language, the words. So many brands are unmindful with their messaging, but if you’re not thinking deeply about language you will end up rebranding. The words will not have meaning.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I thought ProsperWorks CRM, which is now Copper, did an incredible job with their rebrand. It was a name change as well as a visual rebrand, which I think is incredibly difficult.

I think they did a really good job with the awareness that they’d done a rebrand and why. They were very explicit about why the name change, why the visual change, what it represented for the company. Lightweight CRM is an incredibly crowded space and they use the rebrand as an opportunity to actually cement and grow mindshare.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We have a product that helps people write better. If you think about it, writing hasn’t changed for 5,000 years; it’s putting your thoughts onto a blank page. Now it’s a blank page on your screen, but it used to be paper, canvas before that, and stone tablet before that I guess. Regardless, you need to have an idea before you write it down. What Qordoba is starting with is a product that is helping people hone their voice, terminology, writing style, and grammar. But we are very excited to think about how we can help auto-complete the whole process of ideation.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I read a David White poem called “Closer” this morning, which is really incredible. We as humans are always pretty close to saying something, pretty close to success, pretty close to ending something, pretty close to starting something, pretty close to here, pretty close to there. Happiness is in understanding that it’s about how we travel to get that close. It’s not about where we get to because there will always be a gap. Happiness is in going from not knowing that the journey is everything to knowing it. That has helped me be happier because the journey of the entrepreneur is by definition building something that does not yet exist, and it’s easy to lose yourself, lose your moment in that process.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn (May Habib), where I’m more active, or follow me on Twitter (@may_habib).

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Thank you! These were fun questions.

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With May… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was impossible but I did it anyway” with Matthew…

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was impossible but I did it anyway” with Matthew Gonnering of Widen

Resilience is the ability to work through adversity to accomplish a goal. Resilient people are hopeful. When bad things happen, resilient people contain the bad to just-that-moment. They also view bad things as only temporary. They can get over things quickly in pursuit of what’s next. I think resilient people spend a healthy amount of time reflecting and they use historical pain points to fuel transformation. At times, I think a resilient person can be viewed as stubborn. They know what they want and they’re willing to risk more than the average person to get it. They have a vision and you’re either with them or against them.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Gonnering. Matthew leads the highly-intelligent and playfully-engaged people of Widen –people dedicated to unlocking human potential by navigating the next frontier of digital content. Widen is a freedom-centered software company helping the most influential brands in the world organize their digital chaos. Widen aims to become the most admired organization in the world, setting an example for good growth, and is continuously featured as one of the best places to work in Madison. Widen also proudly represents a culture of organizational democracy, earning certification from WorldBlu as a freedom-centered workplace for five consecutive years.

Matthew started at Widen in 2000 with a background in printing earning the CEO role in 2009. He is a forever learner in pursuit of helping people realize their potential. With the help of 150+ colleagues last year, he earned Executive of the Year honors from Madison InBusiness Magazine. He gives a few talks each year with some noteworthy presentations including a TEDx talk highlighting the need for more empathy in business by employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a Disrupt HR presentation where he posed the question, “What if Mother Teresa Ran HR,” and various presentations drawing attention to a multidimensional wellness approach to integral human development. His writings have been featured in prominent publications such as Forbes, Chief Executive, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine.

Matthew loves his wife and six children, is tremendously grateful to work with the best-of-the-best, is active in the Catholic Church, and is always thinking about what’s next.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?

I was born and raised in northeast Wisconsin with loving parents and three sisters. My mom and dad set a great example for faith, work ethic, charity, and morality. And my sisters, well….they’re sisters. Growing up with that many females in the house was informative. I received a business education from St. Norbert College and worked in the printing industry for several years. That industry experience brought me to Widen in 2000 as they were looking for a rep to sell printing services. In a few years, I had shaped my role into marketing then transitioned into leadership roles. I earned the CEO job in 2009 and the last 11-years have been quite a whirlwind of business and personal transformation. I have been blessed with incredible colleagues and enjoy representing the people of this great company. This is all possible because of my wife of 17+ years and our six children. It’s beautiful chaos. Saint Mother Teresa said it best, “How can you say there are too many children? That’s like saying there are too many flowers.”

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Early in my career at Widen, I almost left. I wanted to do more and felt like I needed to leave in order to do that. I gave notice to my boss, informed everyone, and had several people talk to me about staying. The attention was nice, but I was already set on leaving. Then I explained why I was leaving to the CTO, who was obsessed about disruptive change (and still is). He said, “Why don’t you do those things here?” I really didn’t know that was an option until he asked that question. Then I wondered what I was waiting for, did I need an invitation to make change happen? And so I stayed, then told the CEO I wanted his job. That’s another story.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Stock answer is ‘the people.’ What does that mean exactly? There is so much talent at Widen that we need to make sure everyone is given the freedom to let their talent loose on the markets we serve. It’s what makes work so rewarding. We get to show up everyday and apply our skills to serve market demand. As we apply, we also refine, and the Widen culture accommodates. This iterative loop of human development is ripe with challenge, and therefore, ripe with reward. One reward is the ability to properly serve our customers. On the public review site, G2 Crowd, Widen has a 4.6/5.0 rating with abundant comments on the experience we provide. For example, one comment states, “A 5 Star Product with Amazing Service, Support, and People!”

But we’re defined by how we treat the most vulnerable, so I think what stands out is the opportunities we provide to people who have been neglected from the workforce.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities have not been afforded the same chance to experience the dignity of work. We reserve 5% of our employment for people with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and other abilities. And sometimes their development looks different than going to a conference or earning certification in a particular subject matter. In one case, we learned someone’s reading levels were preventing them from absorbing new information. After failing to find a program on our own and trying to partner with local groups, I shared my frustration with my wife and she said, “Why don’t you just hire someone?” Of course! So, we hired a literacy coach. And the iteration of human development continues, no matter where you start.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My wife, Sarah. The story that started all other stories is that I married her on October 19, 2002.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Resilience is the ability to work through adversity to accomplish a goal. Resilient people are hopeful. When bad things happen, resilient people contain the bad to just-that-moment. They also view bad things as only temporary. They can get over things quickly in pursuit of what’s next. I think resilient people spend a healthy amount of time reflecting and they use historical pain points to fuel transformation. At times, I think a resilient person can be viewed as stubborn. They know what they want and they’re willing to risk more than the average person to get it. They have a vision and you’re either with them or against them.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Saint Mother Teresa. I’ve read books about her, the letters back-and-forth with her spiritual advisors, and documentaries that captured her in action. Bringing the Missionaries of Charity order into existence was a feat in-and-of itself, and it was only a sliver of the resilience she demonstrated. She literally pulled people from gutters, brought the fight against the senseless killing of children, walked into the bloodshed of war zones and rioting, and cared for those who were left to die on the streets. She did this amidst her own internal darkness.

She was a fiery leader who wouldn’t take no for an answer when people were in need. As written by Father Leo Maasburg in the book, “Mother Teresa of Calcutta, A Personal Portrait,” she was told it was a dangerous offense for the Sisters to make contact with families inside the totalitarian communist regimes. To which Mother replied, “Then the Sisters should visit as many families as possible; they cannot lock them all up.”

It may have appeared that her workload was too great at times, yet she accepted every new challenge knowing she had the strength to deliver. As Father Maasburg wrote, she communicated, “I know that God will not impose on me anything that I cannot bear. But sometimes I wish that He did not have such great confidence in me.”

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

I worked in sales role for a book manufacturer early in my career and one of my customers, Collector Books, published 8.5 x 11, high-page count (300–400 pages) books using gloss pages for the interior with a glue-binding. We had a production problem where pages were falling out of finished books. You could tug a page out of the binding with little effort when opened to the middle of the book. Not good. I spoke with the bindery manager and he said there wasn’t anything we could do. I didn’t believe him, so I went on my own quest.

At the local bookstore I found all kinds of similar books, opened them to the middle, grabbed a page, then shook it until the bind gave loose or the page ripped. As I disassembled these books, I found two major differences; the glue and the grind-off on the binding edge. The glue seemed like the obvious culprit. So I contacted various glue manufacturers and ordered samples. The bindery manager agreed to run some tests with the new glue. It only slightly improved performance, pages still fell out.

I asked for training on the machine to learn where the grind-off takes place. The bindery manager reluctantly agreed. I located a quarter-sized sprocket that placed small slits on the binding edge of our pages. The books I ripped apart at the bookstore revealed an extremely roughed-up edge allowing the glue to adhere better. It felt like finding a treasure. I brought the sprocket to a high school friend who worked at a machine shop. I explained what I was doing, and he produced a new part that would fit the machine. It had some wicked edges! I think it cost me a case of beer.

We added the new sprocket and used the new glue. It was awesome. You could pick a 384-page book printed on 70# gloss text with a 12-point C1S cover by the middle page and shake it without the binding giving way. I shared the result with the publisher and we earned opportunities to produce more book titles. I also convinced the bindery manager to bring in a professional trainer to teach more people the intricacies of the machine.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

My setbacks in business are most closely connected to business transitions. The most noteworthy was in the first few years of taking the CEO job. We changed the business dramatically. There were many difficult decisions in the interest of our future; personnel decisions on hiring and layoffs, who should lead and who shouldn’t, funding an unproven growth area while navigating a downturn in the majority of revenue, optimizing brand position to attract the next generation of customers, communicating undesirable information, setting product direction, listening to critical feedback. etc. Not everyone was onboard with the direction. One comment in response to the announcement I was taking over as CEO best represented the doubt people had. A former employee said something like, “People think he got the job to take the fall for the failure of the company.” When people doubt what you’re capable of, you can find yourself in quite a whirlwind. It was a setback only insofar as I was going to let it be. Game on.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resilience? Can you share a story?

A printing company I worked for, Master Litho, was started by my grandfather then eventually purchased by my dad. He also ran the company and told me he would not hire me out of college. Basically, find your own job and if you’d like to apply later, you can do that. So I did. Later, I went to work for him in a sales capacity. The company went into receivership in 1999, a few years after I started. The resilience was not in my own experience, it was in what I witnessed. I saw my dad address a room full of employees to communicate the company was going out of business. I saw what resilience looked like on personal and professional fronts. An invaluable example, one that I carry with me.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Participate. Actively engage in your profession through curiosity. Work is rewarding.
  2. Challenge today. As you engage, you’ll find areas to challenge. Prepare to be challenged.
  3. Be the change. As you challenge, things change. Some change takes longer. Patience.
  4. Do what you say you will. As you change, accountability rises. Time to step-up and deliver.
  5. Flourish, together. As you deliver, you’ll come together in support of one another. Win-win.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Let’s call it the ‘Eudaimonia Movement.’ The ‘good spirit’ at work involves creating opportunities for all people to experience the dignity of work. Work is intrinsically good, we are made to create things, to be productive members of society, and find meaning in what we do. How can we allow more people to flourish together? How can we invite those who have been neglected from the workforce to experience the dignity of work? People with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and other intellectual or developmental abilities contribute in more meaningful ways that you might imagine and we need leaders to create opportunities for them. You can start by hiring a Popcorn Manager.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Although I see her everyday, we don’t often get the luxury of a “private breakfast or lunch.” That sounds nice. I choose my lovely wife, Sarah.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Best way is to follow the company, Widen. You can get all the social handles at widen.com. On occasion, I’ll repost Widen content on my LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgonnering/, you can connect with me there.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Rising Through Resilience: “They told me it was impossible but I did it anyway” with Matthew… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Hairdri of Zebra

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Hairdri of Zebra Technologies

Delivery on your terms. Retailers will continue to push the envelope on how to get the customer their product exactly how and when they want it (including returns). Most retailers already support the ability to buy online and pickup in a store but those are becoming even more convenient with locker or curbside pickup. Additionally, delivery to a location versus your home or even straight to your garage or refrigerator is becoming available. Next up is autonomous delivery. All of the options will be at the timing you want, including same day. Interestingly, our study found that 75 percent of shoppers are willing to pay for delivery — with approximately one-third willing to fork out for same day.

I had the pleasure to interview Anees Haidri. Anees is currently the Director of Vertical Strategy for Retail where he is responsible for positioning growth opportunities and providing thought leadership within retail for Zebra Technologies. Anees has more than 15 years of experience within the retail industry and has deployed multiple, large scale solutions to drive successful business outcomes. In addition, Anees has over 20 years of experience in building customer focused mobility solutions within a variety of industries. Previously, he served as a Sr. Director of Technology at The Home Depot, where he managed high performing teams aimed at building customer-focused technology solutions for stores & merchandising. Anees holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University.

Thank you so much for joining us Anees! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a first-year electrical engineering student in 1994 I was fortunate enough to hear an entertaining lecture from a professor who happened to be a part of Bell Labs (the Google of telephony) when the first wireless phones were created. I was accepted to his lab based off a corny essay that described my fascination with the Star Trek communicator and I’ve been in the wireless/mobility space in some fashion ever since.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I was lucky enough to be on a project for the Air Force at Eglin Air Force base, responsible for testing wireless network solutions to support laptops for maintenance techs to use on the flight line. Not only was the project right next to Destin Beach in Florida but I got to see F-15s run sorties on a regular basis. Not to mention see inside the cockpit of a Thunderbirds jet.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

I can’t recall a funny mistake but I’m very confident I’ve made many mistakes, both humorous and not so. One thing that I learned much later than I should have was the power of networking and communication. As you grow in your career into positions of leadership, the ability to execute gets replaced by the ability to influence and to do that well requires good communication and networking skills. Finding a way to appreciate that early on is a helpful tool for success.

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Of course — there always needs to be something in the hopper that’s exciting. The one for me right now is finding ways to expand our company’s presence inside a retail store. Not only is there great opportunity in that but it will really help retailers win in a currently turbulent industry. That will help a great many companies survive and thrive.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Retail is a fast-paced environment so pace yourself and it’s also a place ripe to leverage technology so use innovation to help keep things new and interesting.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

This might be corny, but the biggest catalyst in my career has been my wife, Tasneem. She gave me a reason to appreciate the value in delivering a result and career success always starts with that.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Hopefully, as a part of teams, there have been a few lessons passed on and a few careers nurtured.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main question of our interview. Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?

  1. At your pleasure shopping. Retailers will continue to find easier ways for customers to get access to their catalog and make a purchase. Our 12th annual Global Shopper Study found that online purchases will increase 8 percent in the next 5 years. Additionally, mobile phone access is starting to take over computer-based access and soon, other tools like home assistants and subscriptions will gain mainstream traction. Finally, it’s fair to assume that virtual reality tools will someday make the experience of walking to a store or store fronts from anywhere possible.
  2. Delivery on your terms. Retailers will continue to push the envelope on how to get the customer their product exactly how and when they want it (including returns). Most retailers already support the ability to buy online and pickup in a store but those are becoming even more convenient with locker or curbside pickup. Additionally, delivery to a location versus your home or even straight to your garage or refrigerator is becoming available. Next up is autonomous delivery. All of the options will be at the timing you want, including same day. Interestingly, our study found that 75 percent of shoppers are willing to pay for delivery — with approximately one-third willing to fork out for same day.
  3. Just for you selection. Retailers are already finding ways online to help shoppers make the buying choice that’s best for them by providing ratings, reviews and alternative/additive products that they might like. This will expand greatly as retailers get better and better at using data to help shoppers, and this means products on the shelf in stores will be more tailored to an individual’s personal community, and prices or promotions to that specific shopper. The best brands will make shoppers feel like they have their own personal shopper, allowing customers to focus on just reaping the value of their purchase.
  4. Intelligent automation. It’s not only just about the customer; the retailer needs to get more efficient. In order to meet the demands of a new retail industry and have more resources to take care of the customer, retailers need to automate, and now they can do that more intelligently. Machine learning will be highly leveraged to determine the best ways to merchandise and supply products. It will also be used to determine how well operational processes are being executed and where improvements can be found. Computer vision will be used to help alleviate labor tasks in the middle of aisles or even at the checkout lane. Robotics will help to automate repetitive tasks such as picking product for orders or shipments. In fact, our research shows that almost 26 percent of retailers are already currently providing some level of robotic assistance with 29 percent looking to incorporate the technology within the next year. And, finally sensing devices that help locate assets or workers will be leveraged to fine tune operations.
  5. True omnichannel, tech-driven retailer. The retail business is changing at breakneck speeds both because of the demands of the consumer and the technology innovation that supports that demand. A modern, next-generation retailer will not succeed if they maintain the lines between channels; rather, they must see themselves as a brand that delivers great product, great value and a great experience. To do this, retailers must change their organizational structures to eliminate silos, they must embrace change and applaud the value of failing fast; and finally, they must embrace technology as the best tool they have to improve their business.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

In the context of work, success is defined not by the amount you accomplish but by the amount you help others while doing so.

How can our readers follow you on social media? You can follow me on LinkedIn.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years: “Delivery on your terms” With Anees Hairdri of Zebra was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” with Deborah Brenner of Women of the

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” with Deborah Brenner of Women of the Vine & Spirits

Practice Gratitude: I count my blessings every morning and state what I am grateful for. I am a very spiritual person and I truly believe that failures are just a way for preparing us for what we are meant to be doing — it is like a practice run so we get it right when we are called to fulfill our purpose.

In my work as a consultant, I speak with business leaders across multiple industries about their most significant challenges. One common theme continues to emerge — rapid change and disruption are the new norm in business, and the only constant is the demand for resilience. At the heart of resilience is the ability to adapt and recover quickly from adversity. I am certain that more than intelligence and talent, resilience is the single most important trait required to succeed in today’s highly complex market. My “Rising through Resilience” interview series explores the topic of resilience in interviews with leaders across all walks of business.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Brenner of Women of the Vine & Spirits. Deborah came to be Founder and CEO of the Women of the Vine & Spirits via a circuitous path that includes passions for science, art, stories and people.

After over 20 years in the male-dominated field of high-end technology and owning a marketing and public relations firm, a fortuitous trip to Napa and Sonoma showed Ms. Brenner that women in the wine industry — like her own — were extremely under-recognized.

“It was from that point on that I felt compelled to tell their stories,” she says, the result of which would be her bestselling collection of profiles on women in the wine industry, Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women who Make, Taste and Enjoy Wine. Wine Spectator would name the book one of its Critical Reads for 2007.

Through the process of writing the book and championing its subjects, Ms. Brenner became inspired to take a further leap in developing the two-day Women of the Vine Global Symposium in April, 2015. Overwhelmed by a sold-out attendance of 500 women from five countries — and their demand for more education, tools, and camaraderie — Ms. Brenner launched the first-of-its-kind Women of the Vine trade alliance in September, 2015, and opened membership to all women professionals across the alcohol beverage industry, including wine, spirits and beer.

Ms. Brenner has received a Rising Star Award from Women for WineSense (2008), a New York Small Business Administration Women in Business Champion Of The Year (2009), a New York City National Association of Women Business Owners Signature Award (2010), the Lillian Vernon Award for Outstanding Community Service by the Women’s Enterprise Development Center (2011), a NY Women in Communications Rising Star Award (2013), and the Rockland Business Women’s Network Woman of the Year Award (2014). She is also a member of Senator Gillibrand’s NY Agriculture Working Group.

Thank you so much for joining me Deborah! Our readers would love to get to know you. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?

Thank you for having me! Right after graduating college, I spent almost 20 years working in the high-end technology sector. The tech industry continues to be a traditionally male-dominated one where women have to fight adversity and conquer gender stereotypes without much guidance or support. Back in the late 80’s and 90’s no one was talking about mentors, sponsors, or coaches. I found myself navigating unchartered waters without any female role models.

Year after year, I was becoming more disenchanted by Corporate America even though I was deemed very successful by society standards; I had a company car, I was the first female executive in the company, I made a good six figure salary, but (the big BUT) I was so unhappy, I dreaded going to work on Monday on Sunday. I never felt I could bring my full authentic self to work. It was as if I had to check a huge part of me at the door. I knew deep down that I could never really thrive if only a part of me was out front and center.

A sudden divorce was the aha moment for me in 2003. Within three weeks of my husband moving out of the house, I walked into my boss’s office in downtown Manhattan and gave him my resignation. I just quit. I had no plan. I look back at that now and think, “oh my God, what was I thinking?” but it was the best decision I ever made in my life.

I needed breathing room. I had been working since I was 14 years old and never took time off between school, college and career. I just knew that if I kept commuting an hour each way, working long hours, managing a team and traveling, there was no way I could figure out what was next in my journey. It was the first time I was really alone since I married my high school sweetheart. It was the first time I took a well needed time out.

I freelanced for a short while to pay the bills and during that time, I took a trip to Napa and that trip changed my life and career trajectory. While I was there, I discovered that so many iconic wine brands had incredible women behind them as winemakers, proprietors, viticulturists, and running operations. I also discovered how male dominated the wine industry was and after meeting many women, I learned that many of them were the only females on the team, they often had to fight extra hard to earn their seat at the table, or in the cellar, as it were. This was in 2004 and there wasn’t much talk about the women behind the wine at that time.

They were mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, volunteers, mentors and mavens whose responsibilities at work, at home and in the community far outsized their pay bracket or job description. This pattern was so familiar, I couldn’t ignore it. Upon my return to NY, I started my research. My thirst for knowledge was my driving force. I identified with these women: Their struggles with work/life balance, their fears, their disappointments and their triumphs. From that point on, I felt compelled to tell their stories and after several months of interviews and writing, I wrote the book, Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste and Enjoy Wine and got published in November 2006! In 2007, Wine Spectator selected it as a Critical Read in their Top 100 December issue.

Through the process of writing the book and championing its subjects, I became inspired to enter the wine business myself, I started the first-of-its-kind collective of seven artisan women winemakers from Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles. For the following seven years, I learned the business inside and out. I couldn’t have predicted the recession and I was way too early to market since so many of the distributors and buyers just didn’t understand the concept and why anyone would care if the wine was made by a woman.

Ultimately, however, despite all the money, blood, sweat and (a lot of) tears I could not sustain the business, which led me to shut down the Women of the Vine wine brand and return to the drawing board. Now, it was 2013 and I found myself at another crossroads. I was single and I had used my savings and my home equity loan to fund my wine business. I was broke, my house in foreclosure, and in debt at 47 years old.

Even though it was the toughest six years of my life, it was also some of the best years in my life. During that time my soul was alive, and I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do in my life. I felt like I had a purpose. I may have been broke but I truly felt that I was living a richer life than ever before. I dreaded the thought of going back to Corporate America and losing this feeling.

For the next twelve months, while admitting defeat and searching for full time employment, I took odd jobs, freelance gigs and consulting work…and started looking for an apartment.

Luckily, I didn’t take any job offers and in 2014, I decided to take the business concept from a consumer product to the trade. It was then that I decided to organize the first of its kind and Inaugural Women of the Vine & Spirits Global Symposium, held in March of 2015, which quickly sold out to 500 women from five countries. I took a huge leap of faith, signed the contracts with the venue, hired an event planner and paid for it using the bit of consulting money I was making. Everything I had went into this event. After the Symposium I went to work, alongside prominent and dedicated men and women in the alcohol beverage industry developing a consortium that supports professionals in the alcohol beverage industry year-round. Thus, emerged Women of the Vine & Spirits, a membership-based organization, anchored by the annual Global Symposium, whose mission is to empower and equip women worldwide to advance their careers in the alcohol beverage industry, fostering gender diversity and talent development across the industry at large.

What are the top three factors you would attribute to your success as a leader at Women of the Vine & Spirits?

  1. Optimism & Faith — for me they go hand in hand as one
  2. Meditation — quieting the inner critic
  3. Collaboration — you don’t have to go it alone

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company stand out from the crowd?

All of our members are connected through our shared mission. We are committed companies and individuals that don’t want to just continue to talk about the lack of diversity and inclusion but rather to accelerate the pathway to equality and to create a culture for all to thrive in an industry we love. We are about taking action and we do this together, women and men, entry-level, middle management to senior leaders. We are also unique because we bring together members from all industry sectors and everyone takes off their competitive hats for the greater good of the cause.

How has your company continued to thrive in the face of rapid change and disruption in your industry?

The industry is a fast moving one and is extremely competitive. It is a globally traded industry and margins are small and due to laws, we work within a three-tier system which makes it even harder for many companies. For Women of the Vine & Spirits, I believe that we are thriving because we are always innovating. We spend a lot of time talking to our members to understand their issues, their needs and their challenges. We need to keep adapting to the needs of our members and provide key initiatives to augment their internal women’s initiatives or to be their initiative if they don’t have one.

I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. All of my successful clients seem to have one quality in common, and that is resilience. What does resilience mean to you?

We have a membership pledge, which says it all to me. It is where your power meets your poise and your grace meets your grit. Where skill is nothing without soul, and hard work is nothing without heart. At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself or no one else will.

When you think of tenacity and endurance, what person comes to mind?

My attorney when I had the wine business, Steven Paul Mark. I was referred to him by an acquaintance and I worked with Steve for my book was published in 2006 until his death in July 2015 just months after the inaugural symposium. Steve was an excellent attorney and helped me with my book deal and my wine business. I worked with him remotely for over a year until we met in person and to my surprise, he was a quadriplegic. He was 6”1, handsome, smart and on a football scholarship for college. Three weeks into freshman year, he broke his neck in a football game. Flash forward, he never had a bitter word to say, he never complained, he never felt sorry for himself. He was tenacious and he endured so much pain and suffering through the years and yet he overcame every obstacle and pursued his dream of being a lawyer. He continues to be one of my role models.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? (Can you share the story with us?)

Definitely, before the book got published, I was working freelance with a PR firm in NYC. When I told the owner of the firm that I needed to stop working to focus on writing my book, he told me, “You’ll be back. Who do you think you are and think you will get published? You’ll be back.”

It is a true story and when Wiley & Sons published my book and the back-cover quotes were from Margrit Mondavi, NYTimes Contributing Wine Writer and Wine Enthusiast Magazine Editor, I sent him an autographed copy of my book in the mail. I never heard from him again.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever?

The failure of my wine business was the greatest failure, but I learned so much through the process. It truly was the school of hard knocks and I believe it was meant to be that way so that I wouldn’t make those mistakes now.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency?

I played sports from the time I was in grade school. I was a tomboy and I loved to play sports with the boys as well as on girls teams. Playing sports taught me so many life lessons and resilience is one of them — you have to get back up and keep going. You have to work through physical pain and you have to work as a team. You have a lot of people counting on you in your position — I didn’t want to let them down.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. What strategies do you use to strengthen your resilience? (Please share a story or an example for each)

Mindfulness: I am an advocate of meditating every day. It helps me remain optimistic, gain clarity and creativity on projects. It keeps me focused and most importantly, keeps my emotions in check.

Practice Gratitude: I count my blessings every morning and state what I am grateful for. I am a very spiritual person and I truly believe that failures are just a way for preparing us for what we are meant to be doing — it is like a practice run so we get it right when we are called to fulfill our purpose.

Practice the Power of Now: It is a great book and I keep it next to my desk and it is a great way to strengthen resilience. The past is over and the future hasn’t happened yet so all you have is now. My Dad had a great saying when I would dwell in my past and my mistakes, he said, “you can’t drive a car looking in a rearview mirror.” I say it to myself all the time.

Purpose: We have a saying in our company along the lines of “stay in our own lane” and always question “why” we are doing something. Is what we are doing going to help us achieve our mission?

What are your thoughts on how leaders can create a more resilient workforce?

Lead by example. It is the only way to create a resilient workforce and to cultivate the next generation of leaders. Be a role model and share with them your tips and techniques. When your team sees how you as a leader can handle difficult situations, confrontation, unexpected challenges and taking calculated risks, they will see that emotions can be controlled in all sort of situations. Challenge your teams, give them autonomy and coach them along the way. Leaders need to not only build good businesses but they build great people.

Extensive research suggests that people who have a clear purpose in their lives are more likely to persevere during difficult times. What is your purpose?

I couldn’t agree more. My personal purpose is to make the world a better place and I hope I can achieve this through my business. Women of the Vine & Spirits purpose is to be the springboard for action, and the connection to the brave collective. Complacency isn’t in our nature — we are boldly pushing the alcohol beverage industry into a new era that empowers all to succeed.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

“Don’t judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again” — Nelson Mandela

Can our readers follow you on social media?

Absolutely! They can follow me through Women of the Vine & Spirits pages and learn more about us at womenofthevine.com

facebook.com/womenofthevine365

instagram: womenofthevineandspirits

linkedin.com/company/women-of-the-vine

twitter.com/womenofthevine

This interview was inspiring. Thank you very much.

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” with Deborah Brenner of Women of the was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: “Consider whether the importance of purpose driven brands is relevant to your…

Brand Makeovers: “Consider whether the importance of purpose driven brands is relevant to your rebrand” with Paige Arnof-Fenn

Consider whether the importance of purpose driven brands is relevant to your rebrand. Consumers, especially women, do not just buy brands they like to join them. Finding ways to connect with your customers on a deeper level in a way that transcends the product or service you are selling is the goal. Purpose gives buyers the reason why they should buy you versus the competition. Purpose creates loyalty with your customers and attracts great talent too, people love being associated with a great mission and it drives organizations to find new forms of value which accelerates growth. With more loyal customers and less turnover in staff, the organization becomes more profitable too. Consumers become advocates and champions for the brand which keeps marketing costs lower too. Coke’s mission of refreshing the world in mind, body and spirit and inspiring moments of optimism and happiness came through in their Super Bowl ads under the theme of “Different is beautiful, together is beautiful too“ as groups of people shared their love of Coke. Brands like Always and Dove have done an excellent job too of connecting with women and girls on a deeper level and empowering them to achieve greatness and feel beautiful.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Paige Arnof-Fenn. Paige is the founder & CEO of global marketing and branding firm Mavens & Moguls based in Cambridge, MA. Her clients include Microsoft, Virgin, venture-backed startups as well as non profit organizations. She graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. She is a popular speaker and columnist who has written for Entrepreneur and Forbes.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Paige! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I did not plan on starting a company. I always wanted to go work for a large multi-national business and be a Fortune 500 CEO. When I was a student I looked at leaders like Meg Whitman & Ursula Burns as my role models. I started my career on Wall Street in the 80s and had a successful career in Corporate America at companies like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola and worked at 3 different startups as the head of marketing. I took the leap right after 9/11 when the company I worked for cut their marketing. I had nothing to lose. Being an entrepreneur provides me a platform to do work I truly enjoy with and for people I respect. I get to set my priorities, I have time to travel and hang out with my inner circle, and work out every day. It has been a journey to get here but I am lucky to have found it. I love the autonomy, flexibility and the fact that I know every day the impact that I have on my business. When I worked at big companies I always felt the ball would roll with or without me, that if I got hit by a bus someone new would be in my office right away. Now my DNA is in everything we do and I can trace every decision and sale to something I did or a decision I made and that is incredibly gratifying and fulfilling. Like most entrepreneurs, I am working harder and longer than ever and I have never been happier. Working for yourself and building a business you started in incredibly rewarding and gratifying. It has been a lot of fun, I joke that I am the accidental entrepreneur. I knew I had made it as an entrepreneur when Harvard wrote 2 case studies on my business a few years after I started it, we were very early to pioneer sharing resources on the marketing front (before my company it was really only done with HR, legal and accounting/finance).

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It can be hard to laugh at mistakes but looking back I remember one week early on when I had 3 or 4 talks lined up over a couple of day period so I went from one evening event to a breakfast the next morning to a lunch and evening talk the following day. I enjoy public speaking and get a lot of referrals and business that way. The morning after my final speech I showed up at a meeting with a prospective client along with a ew of my colleagues and I realized I was completely out of business cards. I was so embarrassed and my team laughed at me since I always remind them it is important to be professional and prepared all the time. I ended up sending a hand written thank you note to the prospect with my card enclosed and we won the business so I turned my mistake into a good outcome plus I have never run out of business cards again! It is a great lesson in the power of humility, resilience, persistence, manners and having a sense of humor.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

In the first few years of my business I had pitched a CEO about a month before I ran into her at a networking event where she was the keynote speaker and her topic was about being a woman leader in a traditionally male-dominated business. I had followed up after sending my proposal several times via e-mail and voice mail but the CEO never returned any of my messages or even acknowledged receipt of the proposal requested. You can imagine my shock when she announced at this event as part of her speech that she believes it is important to put your money where your mouth is and for women CEOs to support other respected & well-run women’s businesses and that is why she has hired my firm to handle all her company’s marketing & PR! Everyone congratulated me after, it was a better endorsement than the New York Times because she was very well known and had the reputation of being very tough with high standards so I got a LOT of business from people in the room that night because they thought if I was able to impress her I must be very good 😉 I am so glad I showed up at that event! She continued to refer business and talk about how great our services were until she sold her company years later. Wowing her was a huge multiplier for my business in the early days and helped us build a great reputation from the start.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Current projects include market research for a B2B tech company, new websites for several B2B and B2C companies, creative development for a nonprofit, public relations and marketing communications for several tech start ups. We do anything a marketing department, ad agency, market research shop or PR agency does on an outsourced basis. We have resources in 14 cities in the US and major metro areas overseas. Everyone in the group comes out of industry so our heads and hearts are much more aligned with our clients than a typical agency or consulting firm. We are not professional PowerPoint makers, we have actually done the job as marketing and communication leaders so our recommendations come from having been in our clients’ seats before. We are an extension of their team and spend their money the way they do, not as a vendor so I think that is a compelling angle when they hire us. We do not see marketing as a necessary evil, we believe in the power of great brands and think all organizations regardless of size or budget deserve great marketing advice. Our passion comes through in our tag line and everything we do.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

It might sound counterintuitive but my favorite hack is to disconnect from technology and focus on cultivating human, face to face relationships. Meeting for coffee or lunch not only allows you to refuel and recharge but it also can accomplish so much more than e-mail exchanges, social media posts, etc. and it is a great way to get to know people better, their interests, hobbies, and dreams. I have found that building relationships is what drives my business and technology supports them once they are solidified. Technology helps advance the conversation but it will never replace the human interaction that builds trust over time.

I also try to find creative ways to multi task that incorporates work and exercise. When I worked at large companies they had gyms at the office or groups who walked at lunch but when you are an entrepreneur you have to get creative to find balance. Instead of meeting up with your local colleagues at a coffee shop, over a meal or chatting with them on the phone, meet them for a walk so you can catch up while you are getting some exercise too. You’ll feel great after, the time will fly & it will be a fun activity to share. It works with customers too, I have clients who play golf so sometimes we meet at a driving range instead of the office to discuss things especially when you are trying to think outside the box. A change in venue is always nice and you feel so much better when you are moving and not trapped behind your desk. The other tips I like to incorporate are taking public transportation when possible, parking at the far end of the lot and walking as well as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, it adds up to a lot of extra steps and movement if you do it every day. I think that respecting my time on the calendar and taking myself as seriously as I take my most important clients is the least I can do because if I am not at my peak performance I am not going to be useful to anyone else either.

Give yourself permission to say no. Whether it means sleeping in (no to an alarm clock), getting a massage, taking a walk, or just turning off my phone and computer (no I will respond later on my own schedule), simple acts of letting myself relax and enjoy the moment are the very best gifts I can give myself. Like most small business owners and entrepreneurs there are never enough hours in the day to fit everything in so when something has to give it is usually time I have allocated for myself to exercise or just relax. What I have come to appreciate and realize in my 50s is that “me time” is not a luxury or pampering like it was in my youth, now it is maintenance!

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

I have spent much of my marketing career working for world-class brands including Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. A brand is a promise in the hearts & minds of your customer of a consistent experience. You know when you walk into a Starbucks or McDonald’s and you order a Frappachino or Big Mac exactly what you are getting whether you are in Omaha, Santa Fe, London or Boston. It will be the same everywhere and that is comforting and reassuring. Brands deliver promises, they will be there as promised. We have come to expect that and it makes us happy. It is important for a company to own specific real estate in their customers’ brains so that when they need that specific product or service they know exactly where to go to find it. Brands help you stand out from your competition. Without a brand you are a commodity so have to compete on price. A brand is what makes you visible and considered by customers. Your brand is how other people feel about your company, not how you feel about it. What great brands understand is that their brand is not the hero. The brand is the guide, and the hero is always the customer.

Branding is the systematic process to develop the strategy and Advertising is a piece of the marketing pie, one of the tools in the marketing toolkit to reach your target audience and help persuade them to purchase your product or service. Ads change regularly with new messages and content but the brand values remain consistent over time.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

My business school professor used ot say “marketing is everything and everything is marketing” but it is the brand that helps you become visible in an increasingly invisible world. If you do not have a brand then you are a commodity and have to compete solely on price. Brands create value and personality which allows you to charge a premium and stand out vs your competition. Brands also help you build relationships with your customers.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

We do a lot of rebranding work for our clients and it is time to review your brand when the market changes with new products or services, new competition comes in, new tools like social media enter the scene, consolidation starts to occur, etc. Market conditions dictate the need and timing of a rebrand across all industries, none are immune. In my experience, there really are no tricks or short cuts to success, the classic branding principles still apply: figure out who your target audience is & what is important to them, pick out no more than 2 or 3 key messages you want to communicate and reinforce those key messages in everything you do. Whether you use print, online media, direct mail, social media, etc. these rules still apply. Brand marketing plans are not about whether you send a postcard or e-mail blast, it is about understanding who buys your product or service and what info they need to make a decision. It is more about benefits than features. What is in it for THEM not you? What works in 2020 is being authentic and doing your homework. Listen to your customers. Understand what real estate you own in their minds vs. your competition. Be consistent so that every touchpoint reinforces those key messages you want to communicate. If you do that you are on your way to building a great brand. It worked for me in my corporate career at P&G, Coke, the 3 startups where I ran marketing and now in my own company and it will work for you too!

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

The key to a successful rebrand is Being true to your company’s identity and making it all about the customers you want to serve. Customers can tell if you’re rebranding just for the sake of change or because you want to tell the story of who you have become. Rebranding isn’t just about changing graphic designs, it’s about making inner transformation outwardly tangible so companies should only embark on a rebranding effort when there is a new story to tell. it must be authentic to be successful.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

  1. It all starts with Market Research to evaluate your current brand assets and how your brand resonates (or not) with your customers, prospects, employees, and key stakeholders vs, your competitors. Make sure you question your assumptions and examine them against your research findings and data not just what you think.
  2. Build a team you cannot rebrand in a vacuum. Involve key stakeholders from the beginning and throughout the entire rebranding process, through to post-launch. Collaboration, participation, and communication are all part of rebranding best practices. Change for change sake can backfire so make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and have the right team in place to activate it and roll it out after.
  3. Keep it simple. Companies seeking to refresh their identities are opting to make their visuals clean and uncluttered. Brand simplification and minimalist designs look best on digital media, particularly on mobile devices, and are characterized by the use of white or negative space and clean fonts. I like Mastercard’s streamlined logo dropping its name idss a great example of it done well since the colors and brand are so recognizable.
  4. Consider whether the importance of purpose driven brands is relevant to your rebrand. Consumers, especially women, do not just buy brands they like to join them. Finding ways to connect with your customers on a deeper level in a way that transcends the product or service you are selling is the goal. Purpose gives buyers the reason why they should buy you versus the competition. Purpose creates loyalty with your customers and attracts great talent too, people love being associated with a great mission and it drives organizations to find new forms of value which accelerates growth. With more loyal customers and less turnover in staff, the organization becomes more profitable too. Consumers become advocates and champions for the brand which keeps marketing costs lower too. Coke’s mission of refreshing the world in mind, body and spirit and inspiring moments of optimism and happiness came through in their Super Bowl ads under the theme of “Different is beautiful, together is beautiful too“ as groups of people shared their love of Coke. Brands like Always and Dove have done an excellent job too of connecting with women and girls on a deeper level and empowering them to achieve greatness and feel beautiful.
  5. Be Transparent. Whether a company is making a play for a new market, introducing a new product, or simply looking to shake things up, transparency is key to a successful redesign. I think PBS did a great job recently bringing their “flip-phone brand” into an “iPhone world,” It was not a radical departure but they brought their audience along with them in a smooth transition recognizing the broad demographic they reach without jeopardizing the high level of trust of their brand equity.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

I think the rebrand of Federal Express into FedEx in the 90s is a great example of a successful rebrand. The new name and visual identity perfectly encapsulate the company’s value proposition: speed. And the new logo even has a hidden arrow in between the E and the X which is brilliant and very clever. The new branding catapulted FedEx into the next century and still remains relevant and powerful today.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d try to start a kindness movement to counterbalance what we see in Washington and all over the media today. I grew up in the South and people were generally nice, respectful, kind, and friendly. I do not believe life or business is a zero sum game. We do not have to divide up the pie we can work together to bake more pies so there is enough to go around. I think the people around the world in the center want peace and we need find ways to bring the extremists back into the fold but it is going to take people from all walks of life to band together to make it happen. There really is more in common across cultures when you realize everyone wants the best for their family and community so we should all be putting our energy into building stronger foundations and ecosystems that will help us all.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

This quote really resonates with me:

I am strong because I have been weak

I am fearless because I have been scared

I am wise because I have been foolish

It is an important reminder that stumbling is part of the journey to success. As an entrepreneur you just have to keep going and pick yourself up and be smarter every time you get up and try again. It was true for Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Sara Blakely and it is true for me too!

Another one I really like is “you have to make mistakes to find out who you aren’t.” Again, making mistakes is just part of the process. Brilliant.

How can our readers follow you online?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigearnoffenn

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Thank you!

Brand Makeovers: “Consider whether the importance of purpose driven brands is relevant to your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With John

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With John A Demato

What does life look like beyond the work? One of the main goals of the branded portrait sessions that I conduct with clients is to create an image content portfolio full of photos that visually punctuates stories related to their expertise, life as a business owner and life as a human being. That “life as a human being” part is not a nice-to-have — it’s a prerequisite. Why? When you share the full scope of what motivates you to show up in the world the way you want, that paints a full picture of who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do. And when you do that, that helps create that emotional connection with your audience that leads to them trusting you. As a result, I’ve shot clients during their morning workouts, meditating, playing sports, reading, engaging in some type of arts and crafts, among many other scenarios. These activities are highly relatable to those you serve and it inspires them to lean in and learn more about you. It never hurts your brand to act like a human being, 🙂

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview John DeMato. John is a branded lifestyle portrait photographer who collaborates with expert-based business owners to create an emotional connection with their audiences through persuasive visual storytelling.

More than just a photographer, John sets his clients up for success beyond the portrait session by coaching them on how to best leverage their image content for every touchpoint across their online, and off-line, presence.

In addition to 20 years working in the television production space, John also is a C-Suite Network Advisor, a sponsor for the NYC chapter of the National Speakers Association and writes guest posts for various photography trade magazines about creating a memorable online presence.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

After spending years working as a television producer for Maury, my mother died of cancer.

It was a painful and drawn out process. One night while sitting by her bedside at the hospice, she was, at this point, non-responsive. So, my mind wandered and I had a moment of deep clarity.

I thought to myself that if I were in the same position as her at this moment, I would have a list of regrets as long as the eye can see. Despite the fact that I was someone who craved stability, I also realized that my current work was creatively stifling and left me angry, resentful and depressed.

Once she died, I set my mind to figuring out the next move.

That next move involved following my heart, so I quit my job, and began my portrait photography business.

In the 5+ years that I’ve been on my own, sure it’s been up, down and outright scary at times, but, not for one second have I ever looked back and regretted my decision.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

For years, I basically wrote the type of social posts and blogs that I see from every other photographer.

I’d share technical aspects of photography that no client would ever care about and share galleries of photos with zero context or relatability to the audience.

I assumed that’s what was required. And of course, no one cared to follow what I was writing — for years.

And then I hired a creative consultant who basically told me that no one will ever care about my work until I start to inject “John” into the equation. He pointed out that although the photos I create are pretty, people can hire a photographer to shoot pretty photos anywhere.

I need to sell ME, and that meant that I needed to write more from the heart and weave it into stories that are relatable to my audience and teach them lessons.

Rather than positioning myself as a commodity or a means to an end, I need to build relationships with those I serve through my online presence, including my content.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

The “tipping point” began about two years after I committed to writing more value driven content while also engaging a national organization for speakers (the National Speakers Association).

You see, the takeaway was that, yes, the content was important, but the spark was having direct content with those I serve and get them on my list so that I can nurture them with the content that I’ve created.

They, in turn, share that content with their colleagues, and that’s created a ripple effect for my business.

My clients don’t simply want a shutterbug to show up and snap a bunch of photos of them — they want someone that holds their hand throughout the entire process and ensures that all the strategy and prep leads to a wildly successful portrait session.

And the type of content I create lays out exactly how we do it.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Every new client that signs on is an exciting project for me because it allows me the chance to unearth the juicy nuances and wrinkles of that person’s expertise and personality.

That information is critical in shaping the types of lifestyle portraits that we capture during their sessions.

While many people work on phones and computers, that’s where the commonalities end and their uniqueness shines through.

It’s a hell of a lot of fun to make those magical discoveries and turn them into persuasive image content.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

When it comes to creating compelling and persuasive content, listen to your body and mind.

If you try to shoehorn creativity into a day where you’re not feeling it, your ideas will reflect that.

So, when I hit the wall, I walk away from the computer and do other things to reset.

Listen to podcasts, people watch, read something unrelated to work — they all serve to help you reset. The faster you acknowledge that the ideas aren’t flowing, the faster you’ll get back on that horse and begin creating good stuff again.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

I exclusively deal with personal brands, so I can only speak to that, honestly.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

If you’re looking to build an audience of engaged and loyal potential clients, you need to give them a reason to care about you in the first place.

You not only need to show through your brand that you are the solution to the friction points in their lives and businesses, but you also are a relatable human being who is empathetic to their struggles.

This type of persuasive messaging builds relationships and creates a unique distinction between you and those who share your space of expertise. This is how trust is built and trust leads people into buying decisions.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

For my clients, rebranding is a common occurrence because they constantly find new ways to update and evolve their intellectual property, which ultimately leads to new service and product offerings, which necessitates the need for them to call me for new photos to reflect these pivots.

Another reason why clients rebrand is because they started their brand building in the corporate space and now have struck out on their own. As a result, they need to tighten up how they’re presenting themselves to the world and clean out the old corporate language and images that no longer serves them.

Strictly speaking about photos, some clients want to rebrand their images because they look different than the previous round that they’re currently using.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

There’s always a risk when thinking about a rebrand. Personally, I know that every time I pivot my messaging to reflect a new spin on how I serve is potentially alienating a core group of audience members.

But, I remind myself that it’s important to keep the messaging as current and consistent as possible because wherever I am with my business and life, I want to serve people that appreciate the way in which I approach my work and how to create value for them.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

All of my strategies are related to branded lifestyle portraits for business owners that are the faces of their brands. The goal of every single image, whether for a rebrand or otherwise, is to create an emotional connection with their audiences so that it inspires them to want to get to know you better.

1 . Create a consistency in your image content

Eliminate the patchwork of content — stock photos, random outdated photos and smartphone photos — and create a streamlined and continuous look across your entire online presence with professional lifestyle photos and self-created smartphone images.

2 . Don’t simply post content to post — be purposeful

I’ve had several clients that have hired me because their online presence was a mess. It had images that were horribly outdated, stock photos that didn’t resemble who they are or who they served, and smartphone photos that not only looked terrible, but made no sense to post based on their businesses and brands.

That’s why I conduct a lengthy strategy call that not only addresses the types of photos that we need to capture for their businesses to shine, but we also spend time talking about the other image content they would need to fill in the holes since they don’t have the paparazzi following them around 24/7.

3 . Be a superhero, but also relatable

My clients are magicians when it comes to their spheres of expertise, and it’s important to reflect that in their image content.

It positions them as an authority who is willing to help those they serve. But, too much of anything isn’t good, and balance is needed in order to create relatability and connection with their audiences.

It’s a fine line, but a line worth toeing, especially when it comes to building an engaged audience.

Oftentimes, I have speaker clients who have the big hero speaker shots on stage in front of hundreds and thousands of people, but nothing else to supplement that. This can, oftentimes, create intimidation in the minds of their audience members. “S/he’s a superstar, look at all those people. There’s no way s/he can relate to me and where I am with my life.”

Eliminate that objection with image content that speaks to the contrary. In short, show image content that spans the emotional spectrum, from confident to joyful to vulnerable.

4 . Show your audience how the sausage is made

Another part of the lifestyle portrait sessions I conduct include capturing lifestyle portraits of clients revealing what their creative process is for serving their clients. For some clients, I’ll shoot them facilitating a workshop or other training. For others, I’ll capture them during an in person consultation. And for others, I’ll capture candid portraits of them during a Zoom call or a one-on-one, in-person consultation.

It’s important to break down the fourth wall and reveal these aspects of your process because it provides an entry point for your audience to enter your life and it gives them a chance to preview what working with you looks like.

It’s a great way to get your audience thinking beyond the fandom of following you, and leads you one step closer to a sale.

5 . Showcase all aspects of your business

I work with a lot of clients who have many slashes in their titles — speaker, author, consultant, podcaster, trainer, etc.

Show each arm of the business in your image content, not only to create familiarity with how you serve, but also to alert potential collaboration partners and clients of how you can be hired.

I had a keynote speaker client tell me during one of his live facilitations once that a couple years prior, he had difficulty booking in-person facilitations because the companies he contacted didn’t really see him as a facilitator — they only saw him as a keynoter.

That prompted him to invest in photography to capture one of his smaller events, which he used to promote that arm of his business.

Since then, he hasn’t had a problem booking workshops with organizations. The photos were enough social proof to get those conversations started.

This is why I flesh out my clients’ business structure during strategy calls — so I can help them visualize how we will represent each aspect of their business in their image content portfolios.

6 . What does life look like beyond the work?

One of the main goals of the branded portrait sessions that I conduct with clients is to create an image content portfolio full of photos that visually punctuates stories related to their expertise, life as a business owner and life as a human being.

That “life as a human being” part is not a nice-to-have — it’s a prerequisite. Why?

When you share the full scope of what motivates you to show up in the world the way you want, that paints a full picture of who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do. And when you do that, that helps create that emotional connection with your audience that leads to them trusting you.

As a result, I’ve shot clients during their morning workouts, meditating, playing sports, reading, engaging in some type of arts and crafts, among many other scenarios.

These activities are highly relatable to those you serve and it inspires them to lean in and learn more about you.

It never hurts your brand to act like a human being, 🙂

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

As far as my clients are concerned, Speaker, Author and Provocateur, Ted Rubin, is the gold standard for how he leverages his branded lifestyle portraits.

What impresses me is his passion and consistency for sharing his story across his website, blogs and social channels. He seamlessly weaves smartphone photography with the portraits and event photos we’ve created together, and it leads to a tremendous amount of engagement from his audience.

The best way to replicate this model is to fully commit to creating daily social content, weekly blogs and constantly updating your website to reflect your distinction from other experts in your space.

Oh, and be sure to invest in a boatload of photos because Ted runs through his like nobody’s business, 🙂

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would start a campaign that centered around my personalized #yeahabsolutely hashtag.

As a way to combat against the ubiquitous noise online that’s framed towards canceling people, I’d want to create a space for people to share positive moments, insights and experiences that aptly represent my #yeahabsolutely philosophy.

I see it centered around creating a landing page with testimonials from people describing what #yeahabsolutely means to them, and attach those words to an image of them wearing a #yeahabsolutely t-shirt.

I was gloomy and angry for a long time, so a project like this would be a nice change of pace, 🙂

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“There is no mountain top moment — it’s all a series of steep inclines and plateaus.”

When I first started my business, I had no clue what I was doing or where I wanted to go with this photography thing. I would often say, “well, once I reach a certain level, I’d…”

One day, a colleague was very blunt in saying to me that running a business is not a “once you’re there, you’ve arrived” thing — it’s constantly shifting and evolving, and as such, your goals inevitably change.

I paused on that insight for a while, and one day, I came up with the “no mountain top moment” quote and now I regularly share it with friends and colleagues when they need to hear it most.

On an artistic level, this philosophy drives me to continuously get better at my work behind the camera.

Although I’m happy with the direction of my work, I always want to get better every single time I’m behind the camera. In my eyes, there is no mastery — it’s constant series of improvements that lead to better work — that’s it, and I’m totally cool with that!

How can our readers follow you online?

The best way to follow me is to sign up for my blog: www.johndemato.com/personal-brand

Otherwise, they can follow me on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndemato/

Or Instagram — @dematophoto

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.

Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With John was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “Take all the disparate needs and demands you have across…

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “Take all the disparate needs and demands you have across the home, and provide a single platform to take care of those for you” with Kenny Alegbe, CEO of HomeHero

The problem that I’m setting out to solve is how to save people time wasted on managing a household, to free them up for the things that matter in life. HomeHero looks to take all the disparate needs and demands you have across the home, and provide a single platform to take care of those for you — whether that’s paying bills, fixing a boiler or waiting for packages to be delivered. We are creating a whole new category around turning the home into a service. Using machine learning alongside human potential, our platform aims to restore a degree of harmony around the home — fundamentally freeing people from tasks that make their lives busier and more stressful. And like the world we live in, it will soon be 24/7, with a 60 second response time.

As a part of my series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” I had the pleasure of interviewing Kenny Alegbe, Co-Founder and CEO of HomeHero. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Kenny worked in legal and marketing roles at Mansard Capital (a London-based macro hedge fund), Fragomen LLP (an international law firm), and in merchant corporate finance. Kenny has raised £3 million to date for his current company and is embarking on a Series A round in early 2020. The concept of HomeHero grew out of Kenny’s frustrations with the time wasted managing a home, from moving into and setting up bills, to maintenance and chores after that point. His mission is to give people back their valuable time.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Time and freedom are two things that are very important to me. Setting up a company always appealed to me as a way to take ownership over these areas. I was also looking for a chance to tackle a problem around the home environment head-on with technology. Having been on the other side of the investment world, I started my entrepreneurial journey with insight on what it was to grow a business, raise money, and juggle your own vision as a founder with divergent voices from investors, team members, and the board. I still wasn’t put off.

So, my co-founder and I saw an opportunity in the home space and wanted to address this. Our first hypothesis was around property transactions: how to make them easier and quicker. However, we soon realised there was an opportunity to address problems further on in that lifecycle, as we started to see new trends around where the home space is headed. We then worked through a process of first-, second-, and third-order thinking around what those steps would look like in the context of new versions of the product, and came to what we have with HomeHero. The overall problem I was interested in was how to manage all the disparate needs across the home, and came to a platform solution that will fundamentally change how people relate to the home space.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

A surreal thing happened the other day when I started a conversation with someone in a hospital reception who reminded me of my mother. She was telling me about her son and then asked what I was up to with work. I told her about my product for the home, she asked what it was called, and it turned out she was an existing customer. She was as shocked as I was and told me my mother should be proud. It was pretty emotional actually.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

Health, honesty, and humility govern a lot of how I think and act. I’m also really into stoic philosophy. For me, stoicism is a personal operating system that allows me to be grateful for what I have. A lot of people get stuck forever wanting things that they don’t necessarily need. I’m always optimistic and aiming for the best, but I tend to be happy in the moment because I’m grateful to know that what I have is what I wanted. Generally I’m able to balance a lot of the conflicts that life throws at me and have a pretty grounded attitude to life.

Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?

The problem that I’m setting out to solve is how to save people time wasted on managing a household, to free them up for the things that matter in life. HomeHero looks to take all the disparate needs and demands you have across the home, and provide a single platform to take care of those for you — whether that’s paying bills, fixing a boiler or waiting for packages to be delivered. We are creating a whole new category around turning the home into a service. Using machine learning alongside human potential, our platform aims to restore a degree of harmony around the home — fundamentally freeing people from tasks that make their lives busier and more stressful. And like the world we live in, it will soon be 24/7, with a 60 second response time.

How do you think this will change the world?

In the first instance, it will free up people’s time for better things — whether that’s more time spent with the family, or more time to focus on your work or friendships. On a macro scale, it will fundamentally change how we relate to our homes, just as Deliveroo changed how we order food, and Uber changed how we use transport. HomeHero will be where extreme convenience meets a more holistic vision of returning some peace and order to the home space — taking stressors like paying bills, home maintenance and emergency repair off your hands. My ultimate vision is that, in an increasingly busy world where the home space is yet another battleground to manage, HomeHero will play a key part in returning the home to what it should be: a haven.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?

One potential drawback is that if you start to rely on a home manager to do all your tasks, big or small, you may eventually forget how to take care of basics at home. Over reliance on technology always has its dystopian drawbacks. There’s been a lot of coverage around how Millennials struggle with “adulting” and “errand paralysis”, in terms of doing basic things like sending a package. Without the need to learn these things they’ll lean on technology to do everything. There’s also an argument that an important element in the home is the division of labor and collaboration. Splitting tasks, or doing them together, can be a part of bonding, unwinding or sharing responsibility as a group at home.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?

It was less a tipping point and more a gradual realisation. One of the things that has characterised my entrepreneurial journey so far is an openness to iterate on the product, as long as the core problem we are solving remains the same: To save people time to do things that matter most to them. It was really our customers who informed us what the original product should turn into. As the original idea (Homeshift) took off, with tens of thousands of customers using us to set up their utilities as they moved home, customers also started using the platform to message us for ad-hoc requests around the home — from fixing boilers to supplying cleaners. This got us thinking that there was a much larger opportunity to create a whole new category around the home and manage all the disparate needs around it. This took us to the current product, HomeHero.

What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?

Right now we’re maturing our product. We know there’s a good appetite for the proposition. However, like any business, we need to build our profile, and need capital to do that. For widespread adoption, a big factor would be securing the collaboration of some key building owners. Once we have a few big strategic building owners taking it on, then we’ll have a strong springboard for future adoption.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Things always take longer and cost more than you imagine. When we raised our first angel round people were trying to encourage us to raise more. I’ve always been capital-efficient and felt it was counter-intuitive to ask for more than you need. Perhaps there was a bit of naivety there.
  2. Picking a market where you can meaningfully add value is important. Our first iteration helped simplify the contract process around purchasing a home. Great for consumers, who want transparency, but lawyers are selling complexity by the hour, so they were naturally disincentivised to work with an entrepreneur working to make that whole process easier and quicker.
  3. Think carefully early on about role assignments and delegate. Naturally, as a founder you think you can do everything yourself, and you just end up doing everything badly. For example, agonising over a piece of work for hours, rather than working with a team member who can deliver something good, quickly.
  4. We have a culture of thinking we need to kill ourselves to be successful, built on the premise that success is the end result. But you have to enjoy the journey. Hard work is definitely a prerequisite to achieving something ambitious. However, I wish someone had told me earlier to also make parts of the process fun, and enjoy the growth and challenges.
  5. Don’t overcomplicate things. Focus on People, Profit, and Product. You need to be able to tune out all of the distractions to focus on what actually moves the business forward.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

Paul Graham says every founder needs two things. One, to stay fit. Two, to have somebody they can talk to. I keep in quite good health, walking around 20,000 steps a day (mostly running around for meetings). However, my big focus is on the power of peer networks. Being in a network where I speak to other founders helps to give me perspective and gain insight, as well as be useful to others. It’s great for moments when you don’t know what to do. Being a founder is a lonely journey so these networks have given me support in unpicking problems. Luckily, I also have a mutual respect and friendship with our investors so feel able to share issues with them.

On top of networks, reading has been a vital part of my growth as a founder. I’m actually not a fan of condensed reading or apps like Blinkist. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a fantastic product, but I feel the need to get all the nuances from reading a whole body of work, the connection to the author, the whole picture of what’s being said and the voice of who’s saying it. Reading blogs and summaries is a way to augment your knowledge but not drive it. I always end up asking people what they’re reading and adding it to my phone notes. I’m currently reading Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile, which touches on what I think is an important part of a successful mindset: resilience.

I also have “Self-Development Sundays” at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch, setting personal goals as well as work goals, and keeping a sense of perspective on this founder journey. I find travel also helps with keeping myself refreshed and continuously motivated.

Finally, just say no. As much as possible. Your time and focus need to be safeguarded.

Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

HomeHero is building a platform for the home, that helps people find time for the things that matter. The home is one of the last trillion pound opportunities. We believe there’s a large unaddressed and emerging new category called “Home as a Service “ that at maturity will support a double-digit billion-pound business. We’re early in our journey but are already seeing strong indicators that our thesis is not only correct but inevitable.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’ve always kept a low profile, much to the frustration of my comms team! I actually recently wrote a Medium post about why it’s important for founders to have a profile and share their insight, vision, and experience. I’m most active on Medium and LinkedIn so feel free to follow and connect with me there.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Big Ideas That Might Change The World: “Take all the disparate needs and demands you have across… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years, With Ashwini Asokan of Mad Street Den

We’ve seen a paradigm shift in retail over the last five years. I believe that for retailers to compete, they need to adapt to the new experience economy, and AI will be the driving force behind this evolution. As a company, we’re helping brands gear up for this new experience economy by providing the tools to automate their processes so they can focus on building the concepts meant to entertain their customers. Think of what Nike has done with their members-only store format complete with localized products and hyper-personalized service, or Casper’s nap lounge, with bookable pods designed to help New Yorkers to get some sleep. DisneyWorld theme parks are entirely experience based, where pictures, payments, wait times, etc. are almost 100% automated.

As part of our series about the future of retail, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashwini Asokan.

Ashwini Asokan is the CEO & Co-Founder of Mad Street Den, a Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence company. At Mad Street Den, Ashwini and her team of 175+, give the power of sight and learning to machines, teaching them to see and experience the world like we humans do. Working across US, India, LatAm, EU and Japan, her team has been known to build some of the most cutting edge AI tech and products.

In 2016, the company launched its first industry vertical Vue.ai — an AI based Intelligent Retail Automation solution that is redefining the future of retail, online, across social channels and in-store. After more than a decade in Silicon Valley, Ashwini returned to India to bootstrap her startup which she founded with her husband, Anand Chandrasekaran, a neuroscientist. As a product leader working at the intersection of socio-cultural and technological systems, Ashwini has been exploring how Artificial Intelligence can be brought out of the Science and Tech labs of the world, applied meaningfully and made accessible to billions of people across the globe. Prior to starting her own company, she led the Mobile Innovation Portfolio as part of Intel Labs in California, driving research and development of AI & mobile products.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

In the long run, the road to pursuing your passion is less about a skill, a road, or a particular path and more about the ability to grow tangentially across a variety of skill sets over time. This is a mantra I had drilled into my head from the time I was 5, and one that I have held close to my heart ever since. Art was a crucial part of my upbringing, as were design, science, knowledge about computers, debate and logic. I’ve been a UI designer, an ethnographer, a product manager, a program manager, an artist, a business development rep, a wife, a mom. I’ve worn many other hats throughout the last 16 years of my life, and I believe this cross-section of experience has allowed me to do what I do today. I am very well aware that having the freedom to pursue this career path is a privilege.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I’ve had mentors and teachers across a variety of the fields I’ve worked in. These mentors taught me to dream BIG and also taught me the discipline I needed to reach my goals in every step of my career. My career was not a straightforward move up a ladder. Most of the ladders I wanted to climb were not available to me for a variety of reasons. I learnt to make my own opportunities, design my own path, my own journey and create new roads where there were none. I have stopped asking for a seat at someone else’s table, and now I insist on building my own. I have my mentors to thank for that confidence.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

Like most other founders, I assumed that if I did all the research and followed all the steps in building a customer problem centric product, the customers would just come. In the early days, people would keep asking us why they needed AI and I’d often say, “Why won’t you need AI?”. Learning how to sell my product was one of the steepest learning curves I experienced. Developing a greater understanding of sales and marketing has changed me, and humbled me in ways I never imagined — they have taught me about human needs, relationships, intent, trust and so much more.

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

AI is evolving alongside our society. AI cannot succeed without societal and cultural change. AI for AI’s sake often leads to use cases like deepfakes, celebrity swaps and face recognition for surveillance. While there is a dystopian vision of the future of AI,we’re working hard to overcome that, to tell a different story. Our goal is to show how AI can have a meaningful impact on how people work and how businesses can imagine the future of their industry.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Reality checks. I have a few friends who routinely keep me grounded, and remind me of life beyond my startup. It’s hard to keep that perspective when you’re growing a young startup. It’s not easy to keep working an 80–100 hour work week for years at a stretch — it’s important to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Sounding boards and reality checks can help you navigate back to ground zero and remember your foundational principles when you’re lost.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Building a startup is like raising a child, it takes a village. There isn’t one person I can point to. I can point to about 50. My parents, my close friends, my cousins, my board members who are routinely there to show me a mirror, my cofounder … the list goes on. It really does take a village.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I don’t presume to have brought goodness into the world. What makes me tick is the ability to be surrounded by fantastic people; their creative and logical processes come together to create something special. Building a global AI startup across multiple countries with some of its largest foundations in Madras, India — my hometown — has been a hugely rewarding experience. I don’t know if I can pinpoint the goodness I’ve brought to the world, but I can definitely say that the world I’ve surrounded myself with has been a product of mutual creation and co-existence.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main question of our interview. Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?

We’ve seen a paradigm shift in retail over the last five years. I believe that for retailers to compete, they need to adapt to the new experience economy, and AI will be the driving force behind this evolution. As a company, we’re helping brands gear up for this new experience economy by providing the tools to automate their processes so they can focus on building the concepts meant to entertain their customers.

  • Think of what Nike has done with their members-only store format complete with localized products and hyper-personalized service, or Casper’s nap lounge, with bookable pods designed to help New Yorkers to get some sleep. DisneyWorld theme parks are entirely experience based, where pictures, payments, wait times, etc. are almost 100% automated.
  • Steve Dennis famously said ‘boring retail is dead’. Companies that have been unable to keep up with societal change are dying. Only those that understand the new consumer are growing. If you’re boring, you’re over.
  • Web Smith, Editor in Chief of 2pm, routinely talks about ‘commerce as content’ and vice versa. This is not just a trend, it’s reflective of how people around the world engage with media. Experiential retail is about storytelling. Commerce will be part of a larger experience, not just a roadmap of ways we can buy. Take Away for example — the luggage company touts itself as a travel experience company, it sells the experience of travel, not suitcases.
  • The secondhand market is likely to grow to $51B by 2023. There’s going to be a heavy focus on Resale, Rental and Subscription models which can be attributed to the new conscientious consumer and the Gen Z shopper. I recently read a Forbes piece about a survey conducted by the NRF and IBM Institute for Business Value. The article noted that 40% of consumers’ purchases are driven by sustainability and wellness, with over two thirds saying that they are prepared to pay more to organizations who serve their values.
  • Better Data for Better Customer Experience — At Vue.ai, we often talk about retail having a data problem. To really put the customer at the forefront in a meaningful way, retailers will heavily invest in AI and big data. It’s not just about collecting and analyzing your customers’ data, it’s about using it effectively to personalise experiences. AI will be retail’s biggest investment in 2020.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I believe I already have. At Mad Street Den and Vue.ai my team is made up of 50% women across all levels of our almost 200 person global organization. This was one of my goals from day one. I stand on the shoulders of so many women who are bringing about change in their own ways. We have a fabulous gender ratio, maternity/paternity policies, equal pay and so many more foundational principles surrounding diversity. It’s a core philosophy at our startup.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@ladyashborg on Twitter and Instagram, Ashwini Asokan on LinkedIN.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years, With Ashwini Asokan of Mad Street Den was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things We Can Do To Improve the US Healthcare System” With Douglas Schmid of Predictive Biotech

“5 Things We Can Do To Improve the U.S. Healthcare System” With Douglas Schmid of Predictive Biotech

I have been doing a lot more research and development recently, and one of the things I have noticed is how important it is to listen to the team members around you. Steve Jobs once said, ”It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do .” I completely agree with him. I allow my technician to be free and think about things the way she wants to and see problems in her own way, and because of that, we’ve made huge advancements. In the last two months alone, we have made huge progress in research and development because I have allowed her the freedom to approach our projects as she sees fit. Ultimately, my advice is to empower people and allowing team members to influence how we do things, and to work on things in their own way, will allow you to thrive.

I had the pleasure to interview Douglas Schmid, Ph.D.. Douglas is Chief Scientific Officer of Predictive Biotech, where he oversees laboratory operations, manages the production of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps), in addition to inventory tracking and distribution, ensuring that all products meet FDA regulations. Douglas has over two decades of experience in biotechnology and has contributed to more than 20 scientific manuscripts and presentations.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My journey to this career started when I was in graduate school. The laboratory that I was working in was studying cells from umbilical cord blood, and the first project was to see if the cells could be transformed and function as a different type of cell. That project really sparked something in me and I wanted to see where we could take this technology of transforming cells for other uses in the human body.

I strived to do anything and everything that had to do with tissue allografts and birth tissues. I wanted to see how far we could push this technology and how much we could improve the human experience and quality of life. That’s how I ended up working at Predictive Biotech, a leader in regenerative medicine with products derived from tissue sources that are rich in properties that support the body’s natural ability to heal itself, developing these products in the hope that they can improve people’s lives in some way.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest, or perhaps worst, mistake I made was with the allografts themselves. We make and store each of the allografts in liquid nitrogen to ensure the freshness and quality of the product. However, it is very difficult to work with them in that condition, because they are so cold. We get around that problem by taking the racks of product out of the liquid nitrogen tank and resting them on the lip of the tank. As long as we ensure we do this quickly, the allografts keep their temperature and maintain their freshness. But one time, at the end of the day, I took out a rack with the samples I needed and I forgot to put them back in the tank. I lost about four boxes full of products that were extremely important to company production. That mistake taught me that you have to be extremely vigilant, even with the smallest details, so that mistakes don’t become catastrophic.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

I would say the biggest thing that makes our company stand out is the concerted effort we have put into our quality department over the past two years. We do everything possible to have the safest products out there. Having a quality department as thorough as we do has made an incredible difference in the laboratory, and in the products themselves.

Unfortunately, in this field, there is a lot of room for error. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner has talked about a few bad actors in the field of regenerative medicine which can impact how people view of the industry as a whole. The strength of our quality department sets us apart from other companies in the space.

In fact, we recently passed our International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-13485 audit, which means that we successfully established and implemented a world-class approach to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and servicing of our products. That certification alone should give you an idea of the steps we have taken to elevate our laboratory to provide the highest quality product and safety levels that no one else has. The inspector during our audit told us over and over again that he couldn’t believe a company as young as ours was as prepared as we were. We ended up passing with flying colors, zero observations and zero non-conformances. So, I really believe that our dedication to quality and safety sets us apart as a company.

What advice would you give to other healthcare leaders to help their team to thrive?

I have been doing a lot more research and development recently, and one of the things I have noticed is how important it is to listen to the team members around you. Steve Jobs once said, ”It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do .” I completely agree with him. I allow my technician to be free and think about things the way she wants to and see problems in her own way, and because of that, we’ve made huge advancements. In the last two months alone, we have made huge progress in research and development because I have allowed her the freedom to approach our projects as she sees fit. Ultimately, my advice is to empower people and allowing team members to influence how we do things, and to work on things in their own way, will allow you to thrive.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this study cited by Newsweek, the US healthcare system is ranked as the worst among high income nations. This seems shocking. Can you share with us 3–5 reasons why you think the US is ranked so poorly?

As a scientist, I have a different perspective than other healthcare providers and physicians. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems is that our system is set up so that we have pharmaceutical and surgical intervention. Historically in healthcare, we have only been taught to look to either drugs or surgery as a solution to medical problems. We tend to skip over everything in between.

That’s how we see regenerative medicine in the healthcare continuum, we believe it has a place between drugs and surgery. Currently, there is a lack of consideration for that space. I think that looking at how this space is seen is one thing we have to address as a system. We have to get away from some of the bad actors in the industry and build confidence in the regenerative medicine arena. We also need to look at legislative means to propel our ideas forward.

You are a “healthcare insider”. If you had the power to make a change, can you share 5 changes that need to be made to improve the overall US healthcare system? Please share a story or example for each.

I would absolutely focus on regenerative medicine because I believe it is a strong example of the change needed in the U.S. healthcare system.

We need more education among healthcare professionals.

I would allocate more efforts to increase education surrounding regenerative medicine for physicians and other healthcare professionals. Currently pharmaceutical and surgical interventions are widely talked about and accepted for patients, so regenerative medicine is out of sight and out of mind. Many professionals don’t have easy access to where they would begin to explore the treatment, let alone criteria to properly vet their options.

We need to empower patients.

I would make information about regenerative medicine easily accessible and digestible for the patient population. We live in the patient advocacy era, but patients are unable to advocate for a treatment option they have limited knowledge about or understand.

We need to debunk medical myths.

Regenerative medicine is the poster child for how false information that is not addressed quickly or prominently can delay progress. Many of the myths that are popular among the general public are due to the unfortunate presence of bad actors in the space or lack of awareness around what regenerative medicine actually is.

We need to cut costs.

I believe that utilizing regenerative medicine as an intermediary between pharmaceutical and surgical intervention could cut down healthcare costs in the long run. Because the technology is new at this time, it comes with a heavier price tag, but with wider adoption I believe we could create a more cost-effective option for families.

We need to raise the bar.

Because we go above the current standards when it comes to safety and quality at Predictive Biotech, I have recalibrated what it means to have “high standards.” I believe that stricter requirements would make it more difficult for bad actors to get through and subpar products to get to market.

Ok, it’s very nice to suggest changes, but what concrete steps would have to be done to actually manifest these changes? What can a) individuals, b) corporations, c) communities and d) leaders do to help?

One of the first steps has to be to get in touch with legislators. We need to let them know this is something that patients want, and we need to help make it accessible to everyone. To manifest these changes it is essential that we approach each step with safety as our cornerstone and under FDA oversight. But again, the first step is to get the word out and talk with legislators at all levels: federal, state and local, to get the ball rolling in this direction.

How would you define an “excellent healthcare provider”?

I look at an excellent healthcare provider as someone who genuinely cares, wants the best for their patients and will do whatever they possibly can for them. They can’t be transactional or as if they are reading from a script. An excellent healthcare provider isn’t someone who just wants you in and out, but genuinely shows concern for your wellbeing.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is the same Steve Jobs quote from my previous response about how great things are accomplished when you empower your team. In addition to living this out in the lab, I coached soccer for 20 years where I applied it as well. It’s truly what I embody in everything that I touch, even with my children. Empowerment is key in every relationship.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I have several projects I’m working on with my team, and while I can’t say much about them due to our process and patents, I’m excited to be constantly working to improve and deliver a more consistent product. It’s exciting to be part of this team and everything we’re doing to better the quality of life for those around us.

What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a better healthcare leader? Can you explain why you like them?

I am not much of a podcast listener, but some of the most influential books I have read recently have been by Neil Riordan. He talks about working with specific cells that have self-renewal and regenerative abilities, and are free of ethical concerns, to be used to improve people’s health.

His books really inspire me as I look at the future of Predictive Biotech. Because the human cell and tissue space is under scrutiny, and the FDA wants to tighten things up this upcoming November, these books help me think about how to keep things moving as a company by going down the FDA-approved drug pathway. They’ve made a huge difference in how we view the future of Predictive.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

A movement I would like to inspire, and it comes back to regenerative medicine again, is to have an affordable, readily available option for patients that is basically off the shelf. That’s where I would like to see this work go. I want people to get excited about regenerative medicine and to see that this treatment can improve their quality of life and offer an intermediate option before surgical intervention.

“5 Things We Can Do To Improve the US Healthcare System” With Douglas Schmid of Predictive Biotech was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Neillie Butler of Mariée Ami: “To develop resilience think about the worst possible outcome and how

Neillie Butler of Mariée Ami: “To develop resilience think about the worst possible outcome and how you would handle it”

Think about the worst possible outcome and how you would handle it. For years I would think about getting re-diagnosed. I would anticipate my response and my willingness to fight. This made the days during the second and third rounds of cancer easier to manage.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market. I had the pleasure of interviewing Neillie Butler, the founder and Executive Planner of Mariée Ami, a premier full-service wedding planning and design studio in Birmingham, Alabama. The team specializes in distinctive weddings throughout the Southeast and worldwide. Mariée Ami has been recognized as one of the nation’s premiere event planning and design firms by notable media including BRIDES Magazine and Southern Weddings Magazine.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

I’m Neillie Butler, the founder and Executive Planner of Mariée Ami. My first event was a sweet sixteen party for a family friend’s daughter. My husband — an accomplished lawyer — acted as my assistant that night because I needed someone to serve the food. Now, a decade later, our firm has been recognized as a top wedding planning firm in the nation, our staff has grown to eight, and that little girl who celebrated her sweet sixteen is now one of my bridal clients.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I started Mariée Ami in the height of the economic crisis in 2009, with just a few dollars to my name that I used to purchase a computer from Sam’s Club. The subsequent years were spent growing the business with a scrappy and resourceful mindset; hiring smart women who shared my philosophy on client service still contributes to a large part of our success as a company. Today, Mariée Ami has blossomed into a multi-million dollar business with seven creative full-time employees. Given my unique journey into entrepreneurship, my personal mission is to always lead with a heart-centric approach.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Meaning “a bride’s friend” in French, Mariée Ami works to build foundations with our clients that will create not only a beautiful wedding, but a friendship that will last long after that day. Building that kind of relationship with our clients and community is a reflection of what true hospitality means to us. We prioritize the human connection that can sometimes be lost in the modern age of digitized, fast and impersonal decision making. We’ve flown across the country just to have lunch with our clients and help them through the planning process. We’ve even held up a deck at a wedding so that no part of the celebration was interrupted!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My husband, Tom Butler is the person I am most thankful for. He believed in me enough to let me quit my job to chase a dream, despite finances being tight. When I didn’t have a single party to plan, I started a blog. Being a terrible writer myself, I would dictate the content and he would write it. Tom talked shop at every meal, discussing things such as colors, potential clients and pricing. He worked as my assistant the first few years of the business serving food, setting up, managing vendors, and loading up the car at the end of the night. People would ask if it was our family business. He has been the sounding board on every decision relating to Mariee Ami. Now that the company has grown, he is our “counsel” for all legal and financial decisions. He provides me with full time help at home so that I don’t feel pulled too thin balancing motherhood and work. Whatever I need, he makes it happen. He is my biggest supporter!

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

The word resilience is at my core — it’s truly the foundation for my professional success and personal journey. I’d define the word resilience as the capacity to recover quickly from times of challenge. A resilient person is someone who is known for how he or she handles adversity, despite all odds. Resilient people are driven and determined to succeed no matter the circumstances presented before them. They solve problems and persevere with grace.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Katherine Wolf- Author is Hope Heals and Suffer Strong. After having a stroke which left her wheelchair bound, she chose to overcome and turn her life into an inspiration to others.

Martha Stewart — After serving her sentence she humbly had to get up, brush herself off and keep moving on as a public figure who continued to inspire her community.

Tiger Woods- When the rest of the word though he was finished after a public fall from grace, he chose to get the help he needed and come back winning the Masters in 2019.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

When I was a child, I was diagnosed with a severe learning disability that made school very difficult. I remember hearing my fifth grade teacher tell my mother that college would be a waste of time for someone like me. I worked my way through school, determined to succeed, knowing that I would have to study longer and work harder than my peers.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

During my college years, I battled 3 rounds of Desmoid Sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer. I was faced with endless dead-ends, but have come to find that every set-back should be dealt with a unique mixture of creativity, empathy and good old fashioned kindness. In the years after college, I went into long-term remission and handled events for a number of large companies before finally starting Mariée Ami. It’s a strange thing to say, but fighting cancer — even when my body was so weak — made me feel strong and powerful. It’s given me determination and perspective. That mindset has informed the way I build, nurture and grow Mariée Ami.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

1-Being resilient is a choice. When battling cancer I found that not everyone viewed the glass half full. A positive outlook and grounded attitude was such a huge part of my recovery.

2-Think about the worst possible outcome and how you would handle it. For years I would think about getting re-diagnosed. I would anticipate my response and my willingness to fight. This made the days during the second and third rounds of cancer easier to manage.

3-Believe in the saying “This too shall pass.” It allows you not to focus too long on the present. Everything is temporary. When a negative experience is taking too much room in your consciousness, I remind myself that it will soon be over, and that restores my faith in the future.

4- Identify the things you can control and the things you can not. Only focus on the things you can fix or have influence over. Agonizing over each diagnosis and remission protocol would have only resulted in further exhaustion and an ineffective use of my time and brain power. Instead, I focused on the way I was treating my body during those times, prioritizing my health through food, exercise and mindfulness.

5-Knowing and believing hard work pays off. When you have nothing but yourself, realize you can accomplish so much with your own source of power. I built Mariée Ami with very little cushion — financial or otherwise — and used that foundation to fuel our growth with a scrappy, savvy mindset and a strong worth ethic.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Given my unique journey into entrepreneurship, I’ve come to realize my ambition to spread empowerment and kindness. I’ve instilled those virtues in my team and into our work as much as possible. The way we treat our clients, partners and community members is a direct reflection of that goal to serve meaningfully and with intention. I’m incredibly passionate about promoting health and well being in the creative industry, seeing first hand how easy it is to neglect one’s health, particularly in an industry where burnout is so prevalent. Using my personal health journey inspires so much of my leadership approach as well as our impact in the larger community.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

There are so many powerful women I admire. If I had to pick one, it would be Oprah. Coming from nothing, her story of success is incredible. I love how her life experiences have given her empathy towards all types of people. The way she empowers and enlightens those around her is inspiring. I want to love the way she loves and tell stories the way she tells stories!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Follow our work and read our blog at https://www.marieeami.com/ and on Instagram at @mariee_ami

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Neillie Butler of Mariée Ami: “To develop resilience think about the worst possible outcome and how was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic” With Laurie Berzack of Carolinas…

“5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic” With Laurie F. Berzack of Carolinas Matchmaker

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Research has shown that loneliness can lead to emotional and psychiatric disorders, and can even have negative effects on the body. Loneliness on the scale we’re currently seeing is bound to result in higher medical costs across the board, which eventually affects everyone. The divisiveness we’re seeing in society bleeds into my work as a matchmaker. It used to be that people with different ideologies could have happy relationships. Now people treat different ideologies as an automatic dealbreaker. I connect this trend to the loneliness epidemic because people are not spending time face to face to find commonalities in spite of different beliefs or leanings. The more we separate from each other, the lonelier and more divided we become as a society.

As a part of my interview series about the ‘5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic’ I had the pleasure to interview Laurie F. Berzack, MSW. Matchmaker, relationship expert and dating coach Laurie Berzack, is the founder and owner of Carolinas Matchmaker in Charlotte, North Carolina and co-founded the international Matchmakers Alliance. In addition to in-person consultations throughout the Carolinas, Laurie offers online dating coaching and one-hour consultations worldwide. Media outlets routinely seek out Laurie’s expertise. She has been featured in international and national outlets including U.S. News & World Report, O, The Oprah Magazine, Bustle, POPSUGAR and Romper, and Charlotte’s FOX, CBS and NBC television affiliates. In 2016 Laurie pioneered the successful Philanthrodating™ series, which combines singles mixers and community service projects. Since its creation, Philanthrodating™ has raised more than $20,000 for Charlotte nonprofits. Laurie earned a master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Organization from Wurzweiler School of Social Work, a division of Yeshiva University in New York, NY. Prior to Wurzweiler she received a BA in English and Psychology from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Laurie has been happily married for more than 25 years and has two sons. The happiness she finds in her family life is what she wishes for all of her clients, and it’s what drives her passion for matchmaking and relationship coaching.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Laurie! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us? What was it that led you to your eventual career choice?

I have a natural tendency to introduce people to each other, whether the introduction is about jobs, friendship, or potential partners. As I was getting into my mid-thirties, I saw more and more people around me getting divorced, and I really wanted to help them find love again.

When I introduced my first couple, who fell in love and ended up moving in together, the joy I experienced was so moving to me, it felt like I was falling in love myself. I wanted more of that feeling and now that I’ve been doing this for 13 years, I know that this is my mission.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I could fill a book with all of the stories I’ve collected from more than a decade of helping people find love. In fact, I am writing a book — two of them, actually!

My favorite story is a small moment that will always stay with me. I introduced two people in their 60s who fell in love and stayed together. In fact, it was a trans-continental match! He was visiting from South Africa, I introduced them, and he stayed in touch with her by Skype for about six months. One day, he showed up on her doorstep and proposed! Later that year, I saw the man’s grandson hug the woman I’d introduced to his grandfather, and that’s when it hit me. The work I do is multigenerational and love impacts the entire family. I’ve always taken pride in my work but when I realized how it enriches entire families, it added an extra layer of joy to my work.

Can you share a story about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?

We used to share the first name of the person we were introducing a client to in advance of their first meeting. We would also share some of their interests and maybe their alma mater. It turns out that this is enough information for curious people to find and Google their prospective match before they even meet the person! This is problematic because people are tempted to rush to judgment and may not give someone a chance even if our experience and wisdom tells us that this could be a great couple. Our takeaway from this experience was to keep the person’s first name to ourselves. We now only supply their first initial — and no alma mater!

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I have an entrepreneurial mind and I’ve always got several things going at once in my mission to help as many people as possible. I’m currently writing two books. One book is going to help people learn to love themselves, date successfully, and be their own matchmaker. The other book is going to be a fun behind-the-scenes look of at life as a matchmaker. I’m also planning workshops and developing programs for larger audiences so I can make a bigger impact on more people. Self love, beating the loneliness epidemic, and online dating are only some of the topics that I will cover in depth!

Can you share with our readers a bit why you are an authority about the topic of the Loneliness Epidemic?

As a matchmaker and dating coach for 13 years, I’ve worked with thousands of people who are looking for a companion. When these people come to see me they are almost always in a state of loneliness. They want to change something in their lives but they’re not sure how to start, or they’ve given up hope that change is even possible. I’ve seen firsthand how loneliness impacts people’s lives on every level, from work and health to friendships and love. I have helped people truly get in touch with themselves on a soul level, through meditation, journaling, daily affirmations, manifesting, and many different forms of self-love practices to help them get on track with loving themselves to combat the loneliness epidemic.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this story in Forbes, loneliness is becoming an increasing health threat not just in the US , but across the world. Can you articulate for our readers 3 reasons why being lonely and isolated can harm one’s health?

What I see most often in my clients is a negative thought pattern that turns into rumination and keeps them stuck in a cycle of loneliness. Constant worrying or negative cycles of thought can shut you down and alter your psyche. This rumination harms relationships, because it becomes difficult to be around someone who is constantly negative. Most importantly, it harms people’s relationships with themselves. If your relationship with yourself is unhealthy, you’re unable to have healthy relationships with others.

A second consequence of loneliness is fatigue. Some of my clients feel beaten down by isolation. It has become impossible to imagine a life that’s different than the life they’re experiencing right now. They feel stuck and can’t figure out how to free themselves from their loneliness. Simply put, they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I’ve also noticed that anxiety accompanies loneliness in many cases. After long periods of isolation, people are scared to take the first step toward change. This fear can become a generalized sense of anxiety, especially in the modern world where we’re constantly bombarded with distractions and stimulation.

On a broader societal level, in which way is loneliness harming our communities and society?

Research has shown that loneliness can lead to emotional and psychiatric disorders, and can even have negative effects on the body. Loneliness on the scale we’re currently seeing is bound to result in higher medical costs across the board, which eventually affects everyone.

The divisiveness we’re seeing in society bleeds into my work as a matchmaker. It used to be that people with different ideologies could have happy relationships. Now people treat different ideologies as an automatic dealbreaker. I connect this trend to the loneliness epidemic because people are not spending time face to face to find commonalities in spite of different beliefs or leanings. The more we separate from each other, the lonelier and more divided we become as a society.

The irony of having a loneliness epidemic is glaring. We are living in a time where more people are connected to each other than ever before in history. Our technology has the power to connect billions of people in one network, in a way that was never possible. Yet despite this, so many people are lonely. Why is this? Can you share 3 of the main reasons why we are facing a loneliness epidemic today? Please give a story or an example for each.

The first thing that comes to my mind from a matchmaking perspective is social media. People think that social media equals connection, but it’s a fake connection. People are not connecting authentically and organically and a lot of it is due to social media. The other issue with social media is that it compounds loneliness. People are scrolling through curated images of seemingly perfect lives and comparing them to their own imperfect lives. For a lonely person, every social media platform feels like another place where people are having fun without you.

Technology in general is another culprit in the loneliness epidemic. These days there are so many ways for people to get in touch with you. If no one is contacting you, it feels worse than ever. We’re not paying attention to what’s going on around us, and we’re missing opportunities to meet people in real life as a result. Even things that we think make our lives easier are actually making us more lonely.

Take rideshare apps, for example. People no longer have those sweet moments in the car at the end of the date — moments that used to be perfect for a first kiss. Now people go home in their own separate rideshare cars. People don’t drink responsibly because they know they can call a ride on their app, so they’re more likely to get sloppy and make a bad impression.

Another example of technology compounding loneliness is streaming services. At the end of a long day, it feels easier to lay on the couch and binge watch TV than to go out into the world and mingle or try something new. But in the long run, all this bingeing is keeping us from engaging with people. It’s making us sick with loneliness.

The third main reason we’re facing a loneliness epidemic is our abundance of options. In the matchmaking world I see people hesitating to settle down with a partner because they want to see what’s behind doors number two, three, and four before they commit. The sheer number of online dating apps is causing “paralysis by analysis” — people are just drowning in choices and feel unable to choose a partner.

Ok. it is not enough to talk about problems without offering possible solutions. In your experience, what are the 5 things each of us can do to help solve the Loneliness Epidemic. Please give a story or an example for each.

Over the years I have developed five practical steps to help people love themselves. If you truly love yourself, you become immune to loneliness. These are all things I do myself and I recommend them to my clients as well.

The first step is to start a daily meditation practice. Start with five minutes and gradually increase to 20 minutes. Use an app to help keep track of your streaks and increase your meditation stamina. My favorite meditation app is Insight Timer. Meditation allows you to connect with yourself and your soul. It leads to a total mindset makeover if you stick with it. With practice, you will be able to identify when a negative thought comes to you, and you will be able to consciously let go of the thought. Negative thoughts turn into negative self-talk, which turns into rumination. Once people start ruminating, they begin to feel stuck in their circumstances and unable to change the things that make them unhappy. Meditation prevents this from happening by giving people the ability to gain control over their negative thoughts.

The second step in combatting loneliness is to get outside and get grounded — literally — in nature. Walk in the sunshine, even if you only have ten minutes a day. Get fresh air and realize you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Sometimes when we’re lonely, the only connection we have is with our negative self-talk. Getting outside is a simple way to get out of your head and connect with the world around you.

Step three is called mirror work. It is simply saying kind things to yourself in the mirror. You’ll feel silly at first, but stick with it and your subconscious will actually believe what you’re saying. When you subconsciously believe that you are worthy of love, everything you do will reinforce that belief. For example, repeat, “I am beautiful” many times. What you’re really saying is, “My soul is beautiful.”

The fourth step is to write down your thoughts and feelings consistently. Get your thoughts out of your head and onto the page. I suggest making a daily list of ten things you’re grateful for. I do this every day, and it keeps me focused on the positive things in life. Gratitude will make you a happier, healthier person, and there is no room for loneliness when you’re in a state of gratitude.

My last recommendation for solving the loneliness epidemic is what I call a God Box, but you can call it a Spirit Box, a Universe Box, or any name that works for you, since we all have different beliefs and traditions that comfort us. When you’re feeling stressed or upset about something outside of your control, write it down and put it in the box. When you close the box, consciously release the thought that’s bothering you. This is an act of surrendering your worries to a higher power. Even if you’re not near the box, if a negative or worrying thought comes into your mind during the day, consciously release it as you imagine yourself closing the box.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would teach people to love themselves and encourage everyone to get together in person rather than online. In my home city of Charlotte, I host monthly meet ups for single people in their 40s and 50s, as well as regular events for young professionals that I trademarked Philanthrodating™ (singles events that raise money and awareness for nonprofits). I believe it’s important to provide opportunities for people to meet in an authentic way. Simply put, we need more gatherings.

We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I thought long and hard about this answer, and while it would be lovely to meet someone that I wouldn’t normally have an opportunity to meet, my answer was simple. Who do I want to spend time with? It would be my Dad. We almost lost him last year, and more and more I realize how fragile life is. My dad is one of my favorite people and he inspired me to be the person I am today. He has always been supportive and truthful. He loves me unconditionally, and he has a very calming presence. He is always excited about my work and listens to what I have to say. He taught me that no matter what you’re going through, you can still wake up in the morning and be grateful for a new day!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolinasMatchmaker
Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolinasmatch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinasmatchmaker/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-berzack-29b8952/

Thank you so much for these insights. This was so inspiring, and so important!

“5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic” With Laurie Berzack of Carolinas… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.