Latest / The Action Catalyst / Unleash the Story Within, with Liana Zavo (Public Relations, Branding, Crisis Management, Reputation)

Transcript

Unleash the Story Within, with Liana Zavo (Public Relations, Branding, Crisis Management, Reputation) · The Action Catalyst

0:38
Stephanie Maas: Hello, Liana, how are you?
0:41
Liana Zavo: I'm doing great. Thank you so much for this
0:43
opportunity.
0:44
Stephanie Maas: Hey, thank you for being here. So we have come
0:47
to talk about, which I think is going to be an incredibly
0:50
fascinating topic, especially this day and age, crisis
0:55
management, brand management, not wrong or right, but there
1:00
just definitely seems to be a lot of sensitivity in audiences.
1:04
Really wanted to start with, can you share a little bit about
1:07
your super interesting, unique journey to where you are now?
1:11
Liana Zavo: Absolutely, it all started when I was swayed from
1:14
my my goals and dreams and aspirations as a young girl in
1:19
high school, I wanted to be just like my grandmother, and she
1:23
want she was a journalist in Russia, and so it all started
1:26
when I heard her stories. She was leaving a legacy behind, and
1:31
the legacy was, tell your stories authentically. And she
1:34
taught me that, in itself, it's the art of storytelling. And I
1:38
was so blessed to have met her in my life and witnessed that.
1:44
And when I decided to get into PR, it all was because of her.
1:48
She taught me the art of communications. She taught me
1:51
that it is such a beautiful thing to tell other people's
1:53
stories, to elevate their presence, to inspire audiences.
1:56
There's so much you can do. And as a college dropout, I decided
2:00
to drop out of what I was pursuing at the time because I
2:03
couldn't pursue communications. My parents were not set on that
2:08
idea, because I had to travel a lot, and they wanted me to be
2:11
more conservative and stay back home and, you know, do what a
2:14
good little Jewish girl would should do.
2:17
Stephanie Maas: How long have you been in the states?
2:19
Liana Zavo: Since I was nine.
2:20
Stephanie Maas: Nine years old. Sorry, I just have to I bring
2:22
all this up because I think so much of it speaks to your story,
2:26
not just as a, you know, strong, powerful female, but also a
2:31
female with diversity. This isn't your original country.
2:35
This isn't your original language, even though I'm sure
2:37
you were taught English from a very young age. But I also think
2:40
that really speaks a lot to who you are and your story as well.
2:43
Liana Zavo: Well, I speak five languages.
2:45
Stephanie Maas: Of course, you do.
2:46
Liana Zavo: I love languages. And of course, English is
2:50
something that I was taught from a young age. I think I was just
2:54
blessed to have that in my family. My parents spoke it, and
2:57
my mom used to read amazing books. She even named my sister,
3:00
Virginia, living in Russia. Think about that. My gosh, my
3:05
name is Virginia, like the state like, how?
3:07
Stephanie Maas: Alright. So here you are. You are defying
3:10
your parents. You're dropping out of college. Single mom, odds
3:13
are against you in so many ways. What happens next?
3:17
Liana Zavo: I decide to go and pursue what I was really
3:21
passionate about, and that was styling. I love to style myself.
3:26
I styled my my mom, my dad, my dad would always ask, Well, what
3:30
tie goes with this shirt? My mom, I used to tell her, Mom, do
3:33
not dress like this. This is not the way you should be dressing
3:36
in America. She took my, you know, advice. I went shopping
3:39
with her from a young age. So that was just a hobby, and I
3:42
loved doing it. And so I said to myself, I dropped out of
3:46
college. I have a one year old in my arms, and I was about 20.
3:51
I got divorced at that time as well. So everything just
3:53
happened within the three year span, and I decided to go into
3:57
personal styling. Not only did I open up my own styling concierge
4:01
company at the age of 22 but I also did other things. On the
4:05
side, I said, You know what? Maybe I should also go into real
4:07
estate. Maybe I should also get my series six and 63 there was
4:11
so much that I did because I knew that the more I have under
4:16
my belt, because also I have this voice in back of my mind.
4:19
Did not graduate. You're a college dropout. Mind you, my
4:22
mother, former gynecologist, my father, they all have college
4:27
education, and I was such a great student in high school,
4:29
like, right? Tell you, I had all AP classes, and I was that
4:34
honorable student, and then I'm dropping out of college. That's
4:37
like, it doesn't even sit well with me, because I was such a
4:41
proud student. I loved learning, and I said to myself, I need to
4:47
self teach myself. I need to hone in on personal development.
4:50
I need to learn as much as I can get as many certificates as
4:53
possible, because, again, I don't want to sabotage myself
4:56
because thinking that someone will point a finger and say,
4:59
Well, what do you have? Under your belt, like, are you even
5:01
educated? But life taught me so much that I said I'm not going
5:05
to be afraid to take this on. And I think that even if I did
5:08
graduate college, maybe I wouldn't be as a go getter I am
5:11
today. You know, I became an animal, a beast in my own
5:15
respect. You know, I knew that I had to survive. And even though
5:20
I come from a great family. You know my my family comes to the
5:23
hospitality industry, but I knew that I don't want to fall back
5:26
on any of them. I wanted to leave my own legacy. I need to
5:30
do this on my terms, because my son is looking up to me. And I
5:34
just knew that I had to consume as much information as possible
5:38
and hire mentors along the way. And I have, I was very fortunate
5:42
to find amazing mentors that taught me storytelling, business
5:45
and leverage, right? I found the art of leveraging. How can I
5:49
leverage this relationship in order to get to the next level
5:52
in my career?
5:54
Stephanie Maas: How do we get to a PR firm?
5:55
Liana Zavo: You know, when there is a will, there is a way, when
6:01
there is a desire, burning desire in you, and there's it's
6:04
always been the back of my mind. I've always wanted to pursue
6:07
journalism, communications. I grew up with a grandmother was a
6:10
journalist. Now think about that. It was always in back of
6:13
my mind, and I knew that this dream will have to come to
6:17
fruition one way or another. But how do I get there? I need to
6:20
meet the meet the right people. So every woman that I styled
6:24
when I was selling for like, high, top tier hotels in the
6:27
city, which is like, I would say, St Regis Hotel, I would go
6:30
to a plaza hotel. These women were high caliber, right? They
6:34
would come from all over the world, or even from New York
6:36
City. And when I used to get them dressed for charities and
6:40
galas, I would always ask them, like, so what do you do? Like,
6:42
it was a conversation, right? We always have to find a way to
6:46
talk about something that's, well, first of all, it's
6:48
therapeutic. You know, you wear this dress, you wear that, and
6:50
it's conversation starts, and that's storytelling. And so one
6:54
of them, she says, You know, I don't know what you're doing
6:57
really suits you. And I'm like, the light bulb went just off.
7:00
I'm like, Tell me more. She says, you know, I see you as a
7:04
visionary, and I think that you should definitely come and
7:07
consult from my skincare line. So I know that you know this.
7:11
Hopefully you know this is going to go viral. Her name is Marilla
7:13
Matan, and she's listening to this, and I know that she'll be
7:15
very proud of me. She encouraged me to step out of my comfort
7:19
zone. And mind you, I'm always finding ways. I told you to do
7:23
something new, to step out of my comfort zone, make myself feel
7:26
uncomfortable and and if it's scary, it's great. I'm on the
7:29
right path. She tells me, I want you to consult, and I want you
7:32
to take over the line at Berkeley Goodman, and I want you
7:35
to represent the line. And I'm like, okay, so how does this
7:38
work? I will introduce you to my PR agency, they will work with
7:43
you hand in hand. Don't you worry about it. And at that
7:46
time, my family was building out a restaurant in New York City on
7:50
the Upper East Side. So we had the restaurant on third and
7:54
60th, across street from Bloomingdale's Zabo. The name
7:57
still stands, by the way, if you guys want to pass by, but the
7:59
restaurant is being built out, and I'm trying to pivot now,
8:03
right? I'm not trying to say, You know what the restaurant is
8:05
going to be there, and I'm going to work for my family there was
8:07
never in my mind. I said that I will add value to my family's
8:11
restaurant, and that will be the branding. I will bring on a PR
8:16
team, because they will need a lot of that. We're in a city,
8:19
right? We need to compete with the with the big names. And so
8:23
she introduced me to the PR agency. And before she did that,
8:26
I went on five different interviews to actually inquire
8:31
about PR like I wanted to work as a whatever they would have
8:34
given me bringing them coffee. Hey, I'm there anything that
8:38
they would have offered. I would have taken that but nobody gave
8:41
me that opportunity. I was rejected from five PR agencies,
8:44
company like, nope. Do you have any college education? No, I
8:47
don't, but I can bring you a lot of leverage. Look, I know I have
8:50
a great network. Your network is your net worth, trust me, we can
8:54
find a way, like I thought of it differently. Education is great,
8:58
but it's not the answer to everything. You can be educated
9:01
and then not a go getter, lame, boring person, right? And so I
9:07
had this energy that I was bringing everywhere I went. And
9:11
so it happened to be that that PR agency that Morella
9:15
introduced me to, we ended up to work together. I The very first
9:19
client that I brought them was my restaurant, my family's
9:22
restaurant. They did that restaurant, and it was an
9:24
ultimatum. I gave them a look. I will bring you that very first
9:28
restaurant, which is my family's. They'll be that's your
9:30
first client for me. But I need to know everything about PR. I
9:34
gotta work with you guys, sit with you, be on every meeting
9:38
like that's my ultimatum. Do we have an agreement. That's how it
9:41
all started.
9:42
Stephanie Maas: Awesome. Okay, so let's shift ever so slightly.
9:46
Very cool story, by the way. And I really love how you talk talk
9:50
about the art of leveraging. I think people are so afraid to
9:52
talk about that because it almost sounds like manipulation,
9:55
but if you're doing it right, it's absolutely not. But let's
9:58
shift gears slightly, and. Talk about this idea of crisis
10:01
management. So you get a call somebody's done or said
10:05
something that they probably shouldn't have. Where do we go?
10:09
Walk me through that?
10:10
Liana Zavo: That's the biggest part, and what I have to deal
10:13
with is in the way I mitigate the situation is, how can we
10:19
find your voice and authentically change what you
10:22
have said. The very first thing that comes to mind is make a
10:27
video and apologize for what you have said. Right? The very first
10:31
thing is you have to take accountability. In a crisis. You
10:34
can't just shove it under the rug and be like, hey, nobody's
10:37
gonna pay attention if you were called out and and you knew and
10:40
you know you messed up. You gotta be accountable like I
10:44
hope. I don't want to get in too much technicality with Blake
10:47
Lively and what's happening in Hollywood. Mm, hmm, she probably
10:51
gonna have to apologize for everything she has done. Okay,
10:53
so she's having a huge crisis right now, but you you'll have
10:57
to authentically state what has transpired, and that is the
11:02
number one thing is I say I always tell my client, don't try
11:05
to sound like someone else, because if you're going to try
11:08
to sound like someone else, you're going to get found out
11:10
and find your own voice right at the end of the day, if you want
11:14
to represent who you are, personal brand stems from your
11:18
authority, and if you cannot claim that authority, then
11:22
you're not going to be credible, right? How can you be a credible
11:25
source, a resource or an expert, a subject matter expert, if you
11:29
don't take accountability and responsibility for who you are
11:32
as a personal brand? And the way you should mitigate it is,
11:35
again, make the video, make a statement, a company, release,
11:39
announcement, press release, and start doing a lot of community
11:44
service. That's what I tell my clients. Community service is
11:47
key. Now it depends if it's a personal brand versus
11:49
organization, right? You will take a different approach,
11:51
because it's a professional brand, it's an organization. We
11:54
have to take different strategic approach to that, but it all has
11:57
to be all about accountability. Are you going to be accountable
12:01
for what you have said, and are you going to step up to the
12:03
plate? Because everyone makes mistakes, but if you're going to
12:06
step up to it, then you're going to mitigate it the right way.
12:09
Stephanie Maas: When you share this message, what are the
12:11
biggest pushbacks you get, whether it's from individuals or
12:14
companies? Where do they exhibit heartburn on wanting to follow
12:18
this strategy?
12:19
Liana Zavo: Yeah. Too much information. It's too you know,
12:23
I signed an NDA. I can't release too much information. My
12:27
attorney said not to talk about it, so I have to then go in and
12:30
speak to the attorney and find a way to get that message across.
12:34
Because if they already signed an agreement with the other
12:36
company, for example, and they have an NDA in place, and they
12:39
can't release information like, you know what? We'll just have
12:42
to wait and have the attorney take care of it. Well, the
12:44
attorney will take as long as he can, sometimes prolonging it
12:49
even more than he has to or she has to. And so we can't afford
12:53
that at that time is so precious, we have to act now. So
12:59
I always tell them, it's going to be detrimental like for you
13:02
to step up and say your side of your story. You need to control
13:06
the narrative. If you're not going to control the narrative,
13:09
someone else will. Another journalist will come about, and
13:13
literally, they're going to change the whole story, and it's
13:16
not going to be in your favor. So who's going to do the work?
13:19
No one. But you start speaking the truth and tell your side of
13:23
the story.
13:24
Stephanie Maas: Ok, a couple things I just want to repeat
13:25
back couple things I've heard again, accountability, super
13:28
important, timeliness, controlling the narrative. What
13:31
do you see people do that are mistakes when it comes to crisis
13:37
management?
13:38
Liana Zavo: The number one mistake is, wait. The biggest
13:41
thing is, I'm going to wait. I'm going to let this kind of air
13:45
through like they didn't want to just air this out on its own.
13:48
It's not going to happen on its own. So and kind of waiting for
13:52
their attorney again, for the that legal team to give them
13:56
approval. So you can't be a slave to the legal team, you
14:00
know, because your personal brand will suffer. So if you're
14:03
not going to again, step step it up, then the longer you wait,
14:08
the longer it's going to be a problem. That's the biggest
14:10
thing.
14:11
Stephanie Maas: How do you talk folks off the ledge a little
14:15
bit? I mean, I would imagine, whether you've said something
14:18
that harms your personal brand or you're representing your
14:20
company, people must go into just a flurry of panic. How do
14:25
you get them to step away from panic and start getting back to
14:28
rational and thoughtful?
14:30
Liana Zavo: Yeah, I love that question, even though I think
14:33
they should seek a therapist, and I'm not a therapist, you
14:36
know, but I have to do a lot as a publicist and a strategist. I
14:40
have to take a lot under it. There's a lot of undertaken. So
14:44
I have to make sure that they're common collected. And the way to
14:48
do it is to have them write it out. Can you just write out what
14:54
in the hypothetical world? What is the ideal world you want to
14:58
be living in? Right? So. If they write it down, it's a journaling
15:02
right now, journaling is the best way to calm yourself down,
15:05
right? So journaling getting their action steps and
15:08
implemented strategically. What to say, what not to say. You
15:12
know, what is your unique value proposition? So journaling has
15:15
helped scripting. Script it out. Tell me exactly how you want to
15:19
be positioned, and just get it out. That's the best way. It's
15:22
very therapeutic. You know, I think that when they're in a
15:25
frenzy and they're very like kind of panicking, they need to
15:28
collect their thoughts, right? Breathing exercises, meditate to
15:32
something, but the very first thing is get it on paper. Let me
15:36
know what your what your thoughts are.
15:38
Stephanie Maas: Shifting gears ever so slightly. Talk a little
15:41
bit about branding and reputation. First of all, how
15:44
would you distinguish the two, brand versus reputation, or are
15:47
they the same? Walk me through that.
15:49
Liana Zavo: You know, they definitely go hand in hand, not
15:53
the same, but they go hand in hand. What people say about you
15:57
when you leave the room is your brand. Which is your reputation.
16:02
Your Brand creates your reputation. If you don't have
16:06
that brand, the brand should be speaking before you even knock
16:09
on the door, right? If you have an amazing brand, then it should
16:13
speak volumes, and that will help you get in the door. That's
16:17
why I always tell my clients, let me Google you before we
16:20
start working. Let me see what shows up. Let let's take a look
16:22
at your online reputation. What shows up when I google you, oh,
16:27
I have amazing I'm all over social media, but social media
16:30
does not give you the reputation. It gives you some
16:34
sort of visibility, which is great, but it doesn't give you
16:37
that credibility. Source. The credibility adds to your
16:40
reputation. The credibility adds to your branding. Where is that
16:44
credibility coming from? Is there a third party that
16:46
validated your story? Are you featured in an exclusive
16:50
interview? Have you spoken to a journalist, and perhaps you know
16:54
as a thought leader? Did you give any insights? Those are the
16:58
things that create a very strong brand, a personal brand,
17:02
professional brand, that creates your reputation. If you've never
17:04
spoken anywhere, if people are not eager to hear from you as a
17:08
thought leader, do you really have a reputation? But if you
17:11
always ask hey, I want you to speak on my stage, come to my
17:14
panel, do a keynote, because they looked you up. They know
17:17
that you have credibility. Your reputation is there, and you
17:20
will again, it's leverage, right? If you have that, you
17:23
bring leverage to their company. How should you be positioned as
17:27
a thought leader? The positioning is so crucial,
17:30
right? If you are not positioned in a certain way, people don't
17:33
look at you in a credible way, you don't have the reputation.
17:35
So that adds to the credibility of their organization.
17:38
Stephanie Maas: So meaty. You just said so many really, really
17:41
cool things. I want to highlight a couple, because I think a
17:44
common thing that we hear is when people are trying to create
17:48
a brand. You know, it's all about social media, social
17:51
media, social media, but what you just said there is so next
17:55
level thought, and that social media is visibility, but not
17:59
credibility. So you have to have it. People want to know that
18:02
you're there, but it doesn't do anything just by simply
18:05
existing. So you've gotta take it one step further to have the
18:09
visibility, then the credibility, then the brand and
18:13
the reputation follow.
18:15
Liana Zavo: 100% Stephanie, you got it. Yes, exactly.
18:17
Stephanie Maas: So let's say I'm a business owner or a leader in
18:22
a larger organization. Just educate me a smidge on you know,
18:27
how could an a PR firm really impact my business?
18:31
Liana Zavo: In so many ways. I'll give you an example. So I'm
18:34
working with this nonprofit organization. First of all,
18:37
before they even hired me, they never thought about PR. PR. They
18:42
think, oh, PR is for celebrities, but corporate, PR
18:45
is very important. So when they hired me, they knew that, first
18:50
of all, they understood the concept of what I can do for
18:53
them. It brings them that elevated presence. Now they're
18:56
looking for investors. They're looking for donors. Nonprofit
19:00
organization needs all of that donors. Is what they thrive on,
19:03
sponsorships. How did they get those donors and sponsors to
19:08
trust them? Now this is a huge trust factor that PR creates for
19:12
them. So in order for them to be trusted, they're going to be
19:15
they will be Googled, right? And so I create that trust factor
19:20
with press releases, exclusive articles that adds to their
19:25
portfolio, as to why these donors should even have anything
19:28
to do with them. Another thing is strategic partnerships. What
19:31
partnerships can a PR team create for this organization, a
19:36
nonprofit? Who do we know that we can align you with so that
19:40
you can get the leverage you need that you can get the best
19:45
outcome, right? You need the strategic partnership so events,
19:48
right? PR creates events. So you can't just be an organization
19:52
and not have events. There has to be a buzz. What is that buzz
19:56
around your organization, around your company? Is say that you're
20:01
a medical facility, a med spa. How do people find out more
20:04
about you? Well, you know what? You should create different tier
20:09
events that will take place with these amazing panelists that
20:12
come and speak about the benefits you know, in that
20:15
space, right? So doctors, whoever is a medical facility,
20:19
has their own events. Legal industry has their own events.
20:22
Events is another part. Is a crucial, part of PR.
20:26
Stephanie Maas: Are there any industries that you specifically
20:29
tailor to?
20:30
Liana Zavo: Corporate industry. So I work with finance, legal,
20:34
medical professionals, real estate developer.
20:37
Stephanie Maas: You also have another book, B.E.P.I.C
20:39
Liana Zavo: I do, B.E.P.I.C.
20:41
Stephanie Maas: Tell me about that.
20:42
Liana Zavo: Well, the BEPIC came out in '21. I'm actually working
20:45
on my second book right now. So the be epic method is a one word
20:49
acronym. So when I created this concept, I knew that in order
20:52
for you to step out of your comfort zone, to really hone in,
20:56
into your storytelling, into creating a strong personal
20:59
brand, you need to conquer your mindset. That mindset is so
21:02
important because, again, I'm afraid to I can't speak in front
21:06
of the camera. I'm afraid to be judged. Liana, I can't do this
21:09
there. My message is not going to come across. I mean, everyone
21:13
else is talking about the same thing. You think my message
21:16
matters, but then I teach them, look, you're the messenger,
21:20
right? And eat the messenger delivers the message in a
21:23
different way, so you it's that mindset I teach them. So it's
21:26
the B stands for belief, the belief you can do it, right? And
21:30
it all helped. When I started this book, I actually was
21:33
already on my third round of reading, Think and Grow Rich by
21:37
Napoleon Hill. I love that book like I was so fascinated by his
21:40
story that I made my son read it, and my family members read
21:44
it. And then I read his second book, which was Outwitting the
21:47
Devil, the immense knowledge that I got from that book. And I
21:51
say, know what I'm ready. I'm ready to help them conquer that
21:54
mindset in order for them to come get out of the comfort
21:58
zone, not to sabotage themselves, how to get media
22:01
opportunities. How can you do it on your own? If you don't want
22:04
to hire a publicist, but it's going to take much longer,
22:07
obviously, right? A publicist helps expedite. A publicist
22:11
helps you, but I also teach them how you can do it on your own.
22:14
So that be epic. Book teaches you how to gain authority, find
22:18
your voice, how to be seen, how to become an executive, how to
22:22
take the stage, how not to be afraid, to take the stage. I
22:25
travel to all over the world. I'm in 12 countries. So not only
22:28
am I in American market, but what I love to do is I bridge
22:32
the gap for founders internationally who want to be
22:35
featured in American market. I think it's so important to give
22:38
them that credibility and visit credibility and visibility. A
22:42
lot of them want that. You know, I spoke to a strategic partner.
22:46
He was actually he wanted to work with me, and I Googled him.
22:49
He's based in Greece. I'm like, you know, you don't have a
22:53
Google presence. He's like, You know what? Why is everybody in
22:56
America? Why do they care about the Google presence? I'm like,
23:00
because that's your authority, buddy, if you want to work with
23:03
me, you gotta create, we need to work on your online reputation.
23:07
Otherwise, I can't work with you, because this is what I
23:10
preach and this and if I'm working with you, and it's just
23:14
not going to work, it's not aligned with me. So if you want
23:17
me to work with you, I gotta first create that amazing online
23:21
reputation for you.
23:22
Stephanie Maas: Oh that's awesome. Okay, you have been
23:24
super generous with your time. Is there anything else that you
23:28
want to make sure we talk about or address?
23:30
Liana Zavo: You know, I would say, just make sure you are
23:34
surrounded by amazing people. What I attribute my success to
23:37
is being in proximity with successful people, people that
23:41
have done greater than me. I think that really propels me
23:44
forward in everything that I do, and I I'm just like a sponge. I
23:47
learn because I'm I know that everything is just evolving so
23:53
fast with AI, with so many new technologies coming on board. If
23:58
you're not being in proximity with people that know about the
24:02
subject, then you're going to fall behind, right? You don't
24:05
want to be that, that statistic, that, Oh, you didn't get on
24:09
trend with everything else that's happening. So you need to
24:12
be if you want to be successful, you have to learn the logistics.
24:15
You need to develop that within you. And if you can then hire
24:19
someone who can teach you.
24:20
Stephanie Maas: I love it. Thank you so much. It has been such a
24:24
delight to meet you.
24:25
Liana Zavo: Yeah, amazing. It was great. Thank you, Stephanie.