Latest / Skin Anarchy / Wisdom Of Women Ft. Liana Zavo, Forbes Thought Leader, Author, Leading Lady Of PR & Branding Expert

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Wisdom Of Women Ft. Liana Zavo, Forbes Thought Leader, Author, Leading Lady Of PR & Branding Expert · Skin Anarchy

• 0:00
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  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the four.
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• 1:00
  SPEAKER_04: The Council of Franks, on behalf of Delicious Oscar Meyer, 100% Beef Franks, has declared its official position.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_04: Oscar Meyer 100% Beef Franks are 100% beef frank delicious.
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  SPEAKER_04: Keep it, Oscar.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_05: And I have such a wonderful guest today for our Wisdom of Women Wednesdays.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, this series is so near and dear to my heart because I try to invite on true powerhouse women that have paved their way to not just success, but truth, like thriving status, you know, as a career um executive and also just people that really I want to learn from and I want you guys to learn from.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_05: So with that being said, I want to introduce you guys to our guest today.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_05: She is truly a thought leader.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_05: She has been named by Forbes as a thought leader and publicity strategist.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_05: She is also a personal branding expert and an impact speaker.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, she's got tons of experience under her belt, um, tons of wisdom to share with us.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so without further ado, please welcome Liana Zabos.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_05: Welcome to the show, Liana.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_05: I'm so, so uh thankful to host you.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: Dr.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: Ekta, thank you so much for having me.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's an honor, really, to speak to your audience.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, it's an honor to host you, Liana.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_05: And I and I must say, you know, I am truly impressed by the the work you've done already.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, you you and I are the same age, and I look at your accolades and I'm like, oh my gosh, talk about Power Woman.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_05: Powerhouse, like to the tenth degree.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_05: So I can't wait to dive in.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_05: I want to learn all about you and your career and just where everything began.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, if you could do a little walk down memory lane for our audience just to tell us about your career journey and um, you know, how you chose this path for yourself.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, this is going to take a little bit more than a minute.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I also did write a book, by the way.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: For anyone who's interested, Be Epic is as a lot of it's a part memoir and part sub-development where I write about my story and how I have transitioned into the formidable woman that I am today.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I, you know, I am the CEO and founder of Zabamedia PR Group, which is a global PR agency now.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: We are in seven different countries, uh, started off in Manhattan, Midtown, and still headquartered there.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: But, you know, working with so many women and understanding that women for me are the is the answer.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's the answer for everything.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Picking the right team and delegating.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I never knew that growing up because I grew up with a very strong father and a submissive mother.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: And my mother is very well educated.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: You know, she's a gynecologist, a former gynecologist.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: My father is in the hospitality, he has an empire.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: He has so many restaurants, and I always aspire to be like my dad.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: My mother loves to read.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, was a journalist.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so I wanted to be a journalist and traveling the world.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so I wanted to combine journalism with entrepreneurship.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: I always had that dream.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: And so as I was, you know, growing up and in high school, and we had to decide what we want to do.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: I told my mom, hey, you know, I really want to pursue communications and I want to do what grandma used to do.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know what?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: I've never really seen grandma around the house as much.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: She was always traveling.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think this is the right path for you.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: So she swayed me for my, you know, my dream, I would say.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_03: She's like, look, you are a Russian Jewish woman, and you need to know the essence of family.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: You need to be, you know, conservative about that.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: You need to know what it is to raise a family and know that your kids need a mother.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so I did and I didn't understand.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what do you mean?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: I can't do it all.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: She says, No, you can't.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you need to be there for your family.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think she was traumatized by the fact that her mother wasn't around and she grew up with her father mostly.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so I understood that later in life, but I I did hold a you know, a grudge for a really long time.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_05: And so I by the way, can I just say, can I just say, Leanne, I think our mothers are sisters because honestly, that's exactly how my mother raised me too.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_05: I I I've never like literally like what you said, it's like you took like the words out of my brain and just uh explained them so articulately.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_05: So I hear you, I fully hear you, but please continue.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, it gives me goops, goosebumps because I know that from where I came from and you know how many struggles I had to face as a single mom.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I got to I got married when I was 18.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: I had my son when I was 19.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: And because I knew that if I'm gonna be told what to do, I might as well get out of the house and get married, you know?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: And and I did that while I was in college.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: I was pursuing actually speech pathology.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I said to myself, okay, well, you know, I'm very independent.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: I raised my younger sister, so I know what it is to, you know, to be there for someone, and I know what it is to be a nurturer, you know, and so I decided to have a family of my own.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I knew that I am, you know, I was confident enough to know that I will have a very happy family.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: But unfortunately, I, you know, when I got married, you know, my partners saw everything black and white.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so it was hard for me to, you know, leave a family that saw a lot of black and white and then get into another relationship that was black and white.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so I said to myself, well, I need to get out of this relationship because I don't want to live my life black and white, and I need to have a supportive partner.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I got divorced at I got divorced at 20 years old, you know, it was not even legal to drink, and I was like, I need to get divorced.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, when you get divorced, Ecta, it's like losing yourself in a way like you know, they say they compare it to death, right?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: A divorce is like you had to, you know, face death.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: And what what really happened was I reinvented myself.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: That person, that Liana that, you know, was married, you know, had to die.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: I had to reinvent a new version of myself.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: And so when I was, you know, going to college, I was contemplating, I'm like, this is not what I want to do.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to do speech pathology.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: Why am I always being told what to do?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I had to work on my confidence.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't think, you know, I thought I was confident enough to stand up for myself, but I wasn't.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Because if I did really stand up for myself, then I wouldn't be controlled by so many people around me, right?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: And and also, you know, I can I was, you know, I have two more sisters.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's actually the four of us.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_03: I have an older brother and two sisters, so it's the four of us, and it's very hard when you're the black sheep, when you're like standing up for what you believe, because the everyone else is like, but you're not a man, like you're not the boy.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: My brother had all the rights to speak up and and say what he wanted, to voice his opinion.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: And but we, I had, I really had no voice, you know.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so I had to find my voice, and I had to say to myself, okay, well, what can I do to, you know, I'm a mother now, I have a one-year-old, and um, I got divorced when my son was one.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I said to myself, I'm dropping out of college after three years, actually, in under speech pathology.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: I dropped out and I said, I would love to become a stylist, and I will love to, you know, present myself through my image because I was so amazing and still am.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I this is what I take pride in.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: My image is my everything.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, women need to show up.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: And in the way a woman shows up is her authority, authority, right?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_05: It's like you know, you know what, Liana, let me say one thing before you continue because this is so powerful what you're saying here.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_05: And I really want to highlight this for everyone listening.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_05: I have never in my life heard another woman articulate these kind of like emotions so well because I think it's very easy for people in this, especially in America, I feel in the West, it's easy for them to assume that a career woman is just somebody who's out for herself, or we're just, you know, we're we're just those women that can't balance work and life, or you know what I mean, that kind of thing.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_05: But in reality, it's what you're saying here, which is we grow up with very like high pressure on us.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_05: We like you what you described is like something I resonate with.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_05: I know other women that I've met that are like, you know, also very much similar in their upbringing.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_05: And I've noticed this as a trend is that this level of pressure that's put on you to just not by anybody else, I think is more of like a self-pressure you put on yourself to succeed.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_05: Like it makes you this diamond, you know what I mean, that you come out being because it's literally high pressure environment.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_05: You don't give yourself room to fail.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_05: You don't give yourself room to like, you know, say, no, I can't do it.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_05: You're just like a go-getter, you know?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_05: And it it and a lot of people assume, like, okay, well, you have all this success, but in reality, you've got a lot of responsibility on your shoulders as well that you're carrying, you know, and so that's something I think women don't speak out enough, like you said, like we don't speak up, but I think that that's so remarkable that you're able to sit here and you know, especially given your career and your accolades, like and say, listen, you know, I went through this and here I am, you know, and here I am strong and I've done it and and I I'm gonna keep doing it.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_05: That's that's phenomenal to me.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_05: So I just wanted to say that, you know, it's really important to put that message out.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think, yeah, the fact that you highlighted that right now, it's so yeah, important for women to understand that self-sabotaging moments can happen and it's normal, but it's how you come out of it, right?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's what you tell yourself every day.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_03: And what I learned to tell myself positive affirmations.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, when I was 25 years old, because of all the stress that I had to face and raising my son on my own and working three different jobs and being a college dropout, I, you know, had to, I went through like a crazy autoimmune disease.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: I had alopecia.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: And so I lost my hair.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: I I didn't know what was happening.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Just imagine, like I decided to pivot.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: And when I dropped out of college, I said, okay, what can I do now?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so I decided to become a stylist.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I went from a hairdresser, which I love to do, it just came so natural to me.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: I love to do hair and I was a colorist and I worked um, you know, just top-tier salons on Fifth Avenue.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I was fortunate enough that, you know, because of my talent, because the way I projected myself, you know, I was a necessity, right?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: People wanted me, salons wanted me, and because I knew what I was doing.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: Anything I touched turned to gold.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: I knew that I would make it happen.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: And so I grew out of it.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, okay, you know, what's next?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: What else can I do?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: Because I never saw myself doing hair.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's a very tedious job.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: I loved it, but is this what I saw for myself?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm a smart cookie, I'm not gonna be doing hair for the rest of my life.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: And first of all, inhaling all those toxins, it's it's just a toll on me, you know?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and that's why I got my autoimmune disease.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm like, okay, I have to change something about this because this is not where I see myself going.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: So then I became a wardrobe stylist.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: I said, okay, well, I love to dress women, and I think that the way they show up is their is how they become recognized, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: And how people remember them.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And so that is a very important part of telling your story.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: And so I knew that I wanted to gravitate again towards what I how it started.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted to go into journalism, I wanted to go into communications.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so I said to myself, okay, I did the hair, great job.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: Now I want to go into storytelling.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: But how do I get into storytelling?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't have a college degree.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Everyone looks like, what are your accolades?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm like, all right, the best way to tell your story is how you dress, how you show up, right?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: Showing up in the best way possible.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that that's like you're right there.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_03: People will, you know, will tell who you are.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, unfortunately, right?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: People judge by the way you dress.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: And that's a good thing.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good thing, right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was fortunate enough to get into that industry, and I was very successful working with women all over the world, and you know, working again with all these different uh hotels that hired me to work with their clients, whoever came in, their their guests that stayed there to dress them for, you know, I would say gallas, events, even how you show up to work, you know, first day of interview.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: I had to find different attire.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: So that was my very first step in how to tell your story, right?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Your image is your everything.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: People remember you by that.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so I had a very, you know, I had an amazing um client.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: She, you know, her name is Marella Mitton.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: If you're listening to this, and I know that you will, you will definitely be very proud of me because I did lose touch with her.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, she's Romanian.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: She did tell me that she goes she's going back to Romania.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: But she, you know, when I was uh dressing her and helping her with her attire, she saw something in me.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: She's like, Look, you're a visionary.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I want you to work for my company.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I said to myself, Wait, what do you mean?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how do you want me to?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: She could look, I want you to consult for my company, and I want you to be the face of my company.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I am the face, but I want you to be there to talk to others and and sell my product.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, but I'm not a salesperson.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like, no, but I want you to be the visionary because the way you dress me, I can tell right off the bat that you got the vision happening.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I decided, yeah, I decided just to take that venture.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, wow, like you believed in me.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like another woman gave me uh like this confidence, right?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: She gave me a voice, and I will be forever grateful to this woman.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I said I will repay back everything that this woman did, and other women believed in me.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I'm doing right now.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm repaying women back.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: I am giving a voice to the voiceless.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: And so when I started working for her company, that time, right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: I said to myself, I'm gonna be sending out like resumes to like different PR agencies just to work as an assistant.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Anything just for me to learn the ropes, you know.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_03: And guess what?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: I was rejected like by all of them.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: They would ask, Well, so what you know, what's your experience like?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, what where have you worked?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, look, I haven't worked for anyone.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_03: This is my you know brand new.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_03: Did you go to college?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it's unfortunate, you know, when people hire you, they hire you based on what you finish and what you graduate, but they don't hire you based on your drive, your personality, your passion, your entrepreneurial spirit.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's how I hire right now, Etha.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: You have no idea.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't look at what you have, like you're you know, what you graduated, as long as you have the passion and you have an entrepreneurial spirit, I'll hire you, you know.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_05: You know what, Liana, I'm gonna say this right now, and I am so like just blessed to be having this conversation because I kid you not, and I hope my interns are listening, because and I hope you guys are listening and listening to Liana's words, because this is exactly what I try to explain to like anyone that I have the opportunity to like, you know, come across that we can, you know, as like as women of our age, like we want to contribute as much as possible, right?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_05: Like we're we're at this point now where we can give you feedback, and I try my best as well, you know, to give this feedback.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_05: And you know what I find a lot in this youth and this generation now is that everybody is looking for that like end result and gain, but they're not willing to put in that work and they're not willing to be like, you know what, I'm gonna hustle and I'm gonna bust my butt to like get what I want.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_05: And that's where I get very frustrated, not because of them, but because I'm like, I feel like you need more guidance.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I there needs to be more women like yourself that are sitting here and telling people like these kids, like, listen, this is what it takes.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not that we're not here to support you.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_05: We are.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_05: We're here to like prop you up, we're here to teach you, we're here to do whatever we can, but you have to take the initiative to be like, you know what, I want to be better and I want to do better and I want a career for myself and go out there and work your butt off like everybody else did before you.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_05: So like I just I want to take that minute and just highlight that for myself, like even from my like saying it, you know, from me to anyone listening that's in that peer group is that like, you know, listen to people like Liana.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_05: Like she is like the creme de la creme of her profession, and she's telling you, like, you know what I mean?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_05: So I just I love that you said that and I love that you went down that road, you know, just in terms of advice.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_05: But please continue.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and so you know, the rejection point in my life when I was rejected from all these different companies and firms in the city made me realize I have to take another approach.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: So what happened was when my um, you know, when my client, Marella Maton, she said to me, You're a visionary, you know, work for my company.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: She introduced me to her PR company that did all of her press.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: And so when I started engaging with them, and and obviously I had to speak to them because that we need to have the same vision, um, I approached them and I said to myself, Look, yes, I'm ballsy, yes, I'm a leader, yes, I'm gonna get what I want.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna get what I want because guess what?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: At the end of the day, if I'm not gonna do it, someone else will, right?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have enough guts.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: So it's so it might as well be me.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be mine.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I told them this look, I have a lot of leverage.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I am not what you think I am, I'm not a college graduate, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: But I have all everything else.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_03: I know how to dress the part, I know how to present myself, I'm a good-looking woman, I have the brains, and guess what?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: I had a restaurant on the Upper East Side that I was running with my family, okay, at that time.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: We're talking about six years ago, uh, seven years ago.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: And so we're running a restaurant and we need PR for the restaurant.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so I didn't know who to approach.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: And my brother's like, look, find me a PR company.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: We need help with our restaurant.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I had no idea, right, what to do in PR.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so I reached out to the same company that I was introduced through my my my uh client, Morella.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so I said, Look, I'm gonna get, I'm gonna hire you from my restaurant, but under one ultimatum.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: This is it.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to give you all the clients, my restaurant being the first one.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_03: And as a result, you're gonna teach me the ropes in PR.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: I want to know what's happening.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna teach me what I need to know, and guess what?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna have a win-win, you're gonna have amazing clients.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so they agreed to it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, I mean, it was a great run for the time being, for two years, and then um, yeah, and then you know, everything just started kind of shifting because I learned the game, and then I hired mentors along the way.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: It was very, you know, and they knew they knew the end game.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: I was very transparent with them.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: Look, I want to be in this industry, I am going to have my own PR company, but I just need a little push, and I'm gonna give you back, you know, 10 times more.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, they like the idea, and guess what?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they see me now, and it's like, wow, like, wow, what a taste.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, wow, man.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like you did it.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: You really did.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's when you have a drive and unstoppable, like knowing that you have to bet on yourself, and there's nothing else that's gonna hold you back.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because look, I come I come from a very um, you know, I come from a very affluent family, wealthy family.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: But do I need to write off my family's like business and and become who I am today?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: No, I wanted to establish my own legacy.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_03: For me, it's important to be my own woman, woman, you know, to be your own woman means you need to stand on your own two legs, be independent, and you know, financially be independent.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: And my son looks up to me, so I needed to do that for him as well.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, it was it's it's a long journey.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_05: I just told you little highlights and here and there, but it's just oh my god, no, I could honestly, I could honestly pick your brain for hours about this because let me tell you something.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_05: I love what you had said in the beginning, and this is something that is so close to my heart.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_05: I literally the science backs this, by the way.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_05: Everyone listening is this idea of when a father is very prominent in a daughter's life in the sense of like they expect more from you, they put that pressure, like it really does work because I was the same way with my dad, how you described your relationship.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_05: Like, my father pushed me in the sense of like always supported, always was there to encourage.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_05: Like, literally, like in my culture and Indian culture, I'm sure you're aware of this, um, Liana, you know, but in like a lot of Eastern cultures, there's this whole arranged marriage thing, right?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_05: And like I was at that juncture where even though I was pursuing medicine and I was doing doing all these things, there was still this pressure on me from my mother where it was like.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_05: exactly what you had said, which was, you know, no, as a woman you have to settle down.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_05: You have to learn how to do this.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_05: You have to learn how to do that.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_05: And it's like, okay, that's fine.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_05: You come from that culture.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_05: But when you my dad was always the one like similar to yours, that was always like, you can do whatever the hell you want.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_05: But just make sure you freaking do it.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_05: You know, just like that was my dad's thing was like, if you're gonna do it, do it, but you better freaking do it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_05: Don't don't do the half-ass shit where you're going out there and you know pretending no, you gotta do it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_05: So it with having that kind of like you know parental backing or whatever it is, it doesn't have to be a parent.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_05: It could be anybody in your life, you know, any mentor.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_05: It and by having that pressure, I feel like the women that come out of that, like the way we are built mentally, it is so hard to explain to others how we think.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_05: I kid you not, I have been called like everything under the sun because I am just like you in the sense of like being a go-getter and people don't know how to respond to that.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_05: They're like, what are you doing?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_05: Like why are you so like aggressive after your goals?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_05: Like why are you unapologetically ambitious?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm sitting here I'm like I'm not the only one.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_05: There's a whole group of us out here.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_05: Like we are here and we're not gonna leave and that's the thing with women nowadays that I see and I I really wish they would get it is they look at they need to look at thought leaders like yourself and say she's here representing everything I want to be.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_05: So what do I need to do next?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_05: What you do need to do next for everyone listening who might be wondering this is study the things that Liana's teaching you here, which is one learn how to dress yourself, show up, you know, put in the work, put in the time to learn, find the right people who can like give you these words of wisdom and listen back on these kind of conversations and take notes.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: Like this is the whole point, right?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_05: It's like you got to start from somewhere.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_05: And I can bet you anything Liana you know you probably face the same situation that a lot of us in this generation faced where we didn't have women to look up to really there were a few of them like you mentioned.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_05: You know I also have those moments but for the most part there's not a lot of them that were there guiding us.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_05: So you know it is a lot of self-learning you know what I mean like it it really is.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I think thank you and you know as you said showing up in the best way possible because people remember you by that it's like your business card but also telling your story authentically like when I started I didn't care about being judged I didn't care about any of that because guess what one thing that people will remember is when they can resonate with your story right and they can say wow she actually authentically like she was so transparent about it.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I teach my clients right as a publicist as a PR expert I teach my clients one thing is tell your story authentically because people buy from other people on an emotional level and it will resonate with you because you're like oh wow I remember her story.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'd rather buy from her or I'd rather go to her firm and get her services because I know she's just honest and I know that her story is it's relevant you know and it resonates with me.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_03: So so so important in PR if you're getting your name out there I would say you know try to tell your story and the first way to do it I would say do it on your social media just pick up your phone record yourself and just talk about who you are and then you know next day you you kind of add to that and you add to that talk about it in the mirror to your pet wherever you know wherever you can I mean when I just started out I had literally I was so afraid to talk about myself because I was just in a different world I was in a different industry and then I had to teach myself everything and it's like rewiring your brain you got to rewire your brain NLP is such an important part of my life as well and so meditation and NLP, you know, all of that helped me become the woman I am today.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_05: I love I love that and you know I want to I'm glad that you actually just said that because I was one of my biggest questions for you was you know this idea that every time I have had the immense privilege and opportunity to interview um you know female leaders such as yourself I've always been in awe of this this you know magnetism that's around you you know you you guys are like you're just a different level like a playing field and I I want to ask you you know like what is that like ritual for yourself and that thing that you do for yourself that always keeps you going no matter what because I know that failure you know as I'm sure like you can speak on is you know failure is a part of success and we all go through it but it's really the people who are able to bounce back and come back stronger the next time and that ability is something that I think you you know I I've noticed in women such as yourself like you guys have it down.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean like in terms of like no matter what like you will hustle and you will make it work.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_05: And so I would love for you to give advice on that specific component about how to really get there and maintain that energy you know if you could uh share some words on that.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah absolutely I think it's such an important topic and I'm gonna kind of go back again to my childhood and I learned it from a very young age.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: So when we're sitting at a dinner table my dad will always ask so guys you know kids are at the table tell me what happened today what did you guys fail at when he used those words what did you fail at?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: I mean like I I would just I I would say yeah I was so proud of it.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like yeah dad I failed I wanted to ice skate I like fell on my butt so many times he's like well did you get up again what what happened yeah yes yeah I did get up he's like exactly so fail more often so you know how to bounce back so that would like stuck with me throughout my whole life and I teach up to my son.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: So what I would say is for me failing is fun to be honest with you it's like a it's a game for me it's a journey it's like yeah I'll fail as much as I can because guess what I'm learning from it I'm I'm reinventing myself from every time I fail at something because I'm going to show up as a different person even better.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: So what I would you know tell others who are afraid perhaps to fail or they are afraid to take the next step is don't be a perfectionist.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: I am far from being a perfectionist actually I'm so imperfect that I'm perfectly happy because what happens is when you are trying to be a perfectionist that takes a lot of energy from you and it is scientifically proven I think the ones that are imperfect actually accomplish much more because what happens is those perfections make you procrastinate and you don't need the procrastination.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: If you procrastinate it will take time away from your goals and dreams because you know by the time I get this perfect I'm gonna wait till this gets perfect.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: So that's a trait that I never had and I'm blessed I'm I'm a mess and I think being messy is is amazing because I'm like okay whatever you know I'll brush myself off and I'll get to the next point and I and I'll figure out the rest you know like I'll figure it out once I reach a goal I said okay what's the next step but I'm not gonna wait till I'm gonna be perfect at something think about it when I was you know selected to be a Forbes thought leader and economist and share my insights every month like do you think I was perfect?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: No they looked at other things they look okay how much revenue did my business bring what you know what are my metrics my impressions who is actually going to listen to me right and so that's when they invited me to become a writer and so sharing my insights and that you know that was like the like the highlight of my career in 2020 when I was selected to become a Forbes thought leader.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_05: That's amazing.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_05: I love by the way congratulations for that you definitely deserve it.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_05: I mean we need we need your insights and we need people of your caliber to speak because honestly in this world that we live in like I said um a good advice is actually becoming harder and harder to get and what I'm noticing a lot of is that there's a lot of patting on the back of things that don't deserve really in my opinion like they're either incomplete projects or they're incomplete progress.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not about failures which I'm okay with I'm okay if you get you do something and you fail.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_05: But what I'm not okay with is for people to like do something start it and leave it halfway and just be like I'm never going to finish this you know what I mean or just like change their mind in the middle.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_05: That's what I I feel I see a lot of in the younger generation and I often think you know it's like even if you're gonna fail, you fit see it through you know what I mean?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_05: See through what you're doing.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_05: Make that a habit.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_05: And so I think that you know like some of the things you've shared here in terms of like you know the things that you practice and the things you've gone through like those are lessons that I think the youth really needs to cling to because unfortunately we live in a world where you know everyone loves to say things like yeah women empowerment and yeah okay you know you can do it and everyone can make it big but then it's like so hard to actually apply that like vision to real strategy and then practice that strategy and bring it to life.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_05: And that's where people like yourself come in for me is that you're not just a thought leader but you're able to break it down and explain like this is what you do to make it happen.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_05: Like that's where I think that the youth really needs help is that someone needs to tell them this is how you make it happen.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_05: You know like this is the real formula to success and that is really hard work at the end of the day, you know, hard work and and just like resiliency.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_05: And so yeah, you know I I'm with you.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_05: I think that that that's a wonderful thing that you know you're with Forbes and you're you're really putting this information out there.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah thank you definitely a big accomplishment yeah no absolutely um no I want to actually talk to you more about the public relations realm because one of my biggest questions and you know I have such a true um you know I don't know what the word is like I guess um appreciation for public relations just because of the hustle and the real hard work that goes behind this specific career path.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I really want to ask you about you know when it is when you're picking like clients or you're picking anyone to work with like what are some things you look for in terms of like you know someone that you think that you can actually help someone you can help grow you know whether it's a brand whether it's a personality um what are some of the things that really you know you look for to stand out to you before you sign someone on yeah great question so I represent the face behind the brand for me personal branding is crucial because when you are the face behind the brand people will trust you you build trust and credibility because you tell your story because you become recognized as the number one authority and so for me the you know some of the things that I look at is a do you have the the time to tell your story if you're way too busy and you're running so many things and I have to talk to your assistant I can't do it.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: I have to talk to you I need to make sure that I am going to share your story to the core and that it's going to be relevant right so and you have to be a top expert obviously you know PR is not cheap very very transparent here.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know we need to make sure that you're a top executive and you are a top you know a leader in your industry because if you're going to invest time into your business and money then you need to know that this is going to take it's an investment right you need to know this is our time and your money.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah yeah so absolutely that's fair no I I think it also it's it's more of like you know for me I always wonder too because you know there's so many brands out there nowadays and so many people who want to become like the next big you know whatever it might be and I often wonder is like you know from a pre R's executive's perspective like how do they see you you know what I mean like in terms of like first impressions kind of thing like because I'm sure you analyze right like where can I improve like you know how can I really brand you so that's where I'm like you know it it's it's interesting to hear your thought on that.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_03: The story angle actually you know you're yeah exactly like the story thing is it newsworthy what can I bring to the table so that the audience reacts you know the public as to actually has to be influenced by this idea.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: So it's all about how we can influence the public's eye and so yeah it's it's important because when I build these strategies right and I work with this client it has to like for example we just I did a huge women's month campaign right and so my clients were you know you know the whole embracing equity is what you know women's month was about so it was a DEI right the the whole aspect of talking about inclusion equity and diversity so that was a major month and getting my clients to speak on on TV Good Morning America and global news I mean a lot of things I look is like can you speak in front of a TV like in front of the media or like in front of the audience do I have to media train you how much work is going to be entailed in this because my company also does media training we teach you how to speak in sound bites we make sure when you get on TV you're ready for that and so we have a team of journalists at anchors that will work with you.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot that goes in it right and so you have to be ready to make that change a lot of them are very like a lot of my clients who are top executives guess what don't even have the confidence to go in front of a camera or don't even have the confidence to speak about their story in public.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: They're afraid to be judged you know and I would think oh my God you make millions a month I mean yeah a month or whatever like and you're afraid to talk about it like you should be confident to tell your story and I'm there not only as a strategist but also you know as their mentor I would say I would boost their confidence and like okay this is the strategy we're taking this is the angle we're gonna be pitching and that's how I'm gonna project you this is the light you're gonna be in.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_05: I love that I really love that and I love that you're you you're so candid about that because honestly I see a lot of brands that come on my show even that you know they'll talk to me like after the interview and they'll always be like you know I don't know how I feel about PR and all everything and I'm like you know I'm the last person to ask you know I'm not a PR executive but I often you know I like to reference the lessons I've learned from you know like for example yourself and others that come to mind such as Priscilla Martinez you know and and just uh some amazing women in PR that I've had the honor of hosting you know it like Sherry Jauber for example you know you guys are just you're cut from a different cloth you know in the sense of like you're you're no BS you're just people who are really good at you're really good at what you do and I think the transparency level that you're gonna get with a PR firm such as yours is so different than some others that I've seen because I'm not gonna lie in the realm of beauty PR right now what I'm noticing is there's a lot of like hype going around like and people are saying things that they're gonna be able to do but they're not able to deliver on you know for their clients and it always makes me wonder is like you know um for you're ruining it for the rest of the people right because it's like on one spectrum you have yourself and like the women I just named you know and then on the other side you have these new PR firms that are popping up but they might not have the experience yet to really go that extra mile and and land those deals for their clients or land that level of you know just I guess security.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_05: And so I guess my question for you is is for those budding firms and for those budding PR executives, you know, what are some things that really helped you in the very beginning in terms of like making sure your business was aligned with your values, but also that you were able to deliver on the things that you felt you were promising to your clients.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah exactly you know um just be transparent with your my clients all the time and tell them this is exactly you know we can't promise on what we can deliver because obviously when we pitch the journalists will pick up the story different time so there's a lot of time that can go into pitching and by the time the the journalist picks up on the story so we never tell them you know this is what we are going to promise we're going to guarantee that it's that's wrong right we always have fostered relationships with journalists we have that relationships that we have fostered over the years and I'm proud of that and I know that a lot of the articles that we do get you in like for example living right magazine which is a very luxury magazine I know that I can have amazing relationship there.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: I can get it in no problem and it's not gonna be like wait waiting like two months or whatever right so there's a or there's like for example Forbes Forbes is very picky.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know you need to you know have a proven track record like you know where have you been featured before you know and they really and that's great you know they really want to make sure that whoever they're going to have in their publication it's going to be worth mentioning right and so we create that proven track record we make sure that we finesse you in a way that your story will be like on point and they will like exactly we want her.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: We want to talk about her so it there's a lot of strategy goes into that and so yeah you know with a bigger company we have to be very transparent with a small company and but in all honesty I love to work with a smaller company I feel like they need PR more anywhere from like one to 20 people in the in the firm in the company or whatever it is I don't like to work with bigger ones because they're very like I feel like old school oh what can PR do for me I'm like okay no we just stick with advertising and I think that will be that'll be great for you.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_03: PR is not for everyone you know not everyone wants to share their story.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_03: So you know you everyone is everyone has a preference and at the end of at the end of the day for me what I have to teach my clients and whoever wants to sign up it's like okay well why do you want it?
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_03: I want to ask them like why do you need it?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I'm not gonna push my services on them never did never have so why do you want what what significance will it play in your business right and then I tell them what how it can help them.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_03: So but I need to know from them first like why do you think so because they need to do their own homework like go and do your homework like what can PR do go and shop around go see what other PR uh firms are offering and then come to me.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_05: No that makes sense I love that because I I like that you're you know you're honest there because I think a lot of people take advantage you know of that that a lot of brands don't know what they're doing so they just sell them dreams and really it's not about that it's more of like you know what can you really do in terms of your own expertise for that brand and I I love that you you know you really outlined that because there are a lot of small brands out there that don't have the budget and they don't have you know they might not need PR but everyone is just pushing that you know or like you know heralding it from the rooftops that everyone needs a PR agency.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_05: But you know I agree with you I've definitely interviewed brands that I think are too small, you know, to even think about that right now.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_05: Like it's more of like, you know, work on your story, work on what you know that you can fix and then go to a real executive and say I need your help.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_05: And you know that's where I my my next question for you really is is you know what are some prep um you know tips or tricks that you can give to smaller brands or people who are on the smaller scale that will help them prep for a PR company such as yourself, you know, before they approach you, before they come to you like what are some things they can get together on their side of the thing so that your work is more easily defined and you're able to give them a realistic you know what I mean uh thing of what they can expect from you.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah yeah social media has to be down pature all your channels are working properly LinkedIn is key you know LinkedIn is king if you're not on LinkedIn I think you know you're just I mean we met on LinkedIn me and you it's I mean it's insane because I think there's so many connections come from like pure organic connections come from LinkedIn.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: And so if you're not on LinkedIn if you're not making these connections and just trying to be of value then you're missing out.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: So make sure you're on LinkedIn make sure that you are posting I would say a couple times a week about who you are your story get your story down like nailed down when you're working with a PR company obviously we're gonna work around your story and help you amplify your voice and make sure that it sounds amazing and it's like really who you are and we'll tweak that but you need to know who you are like who is your target market who is your audience who are you speaking to if you are lost about those then nail that down find out figure it out who you're selling to and who you want to attract and when you have that down when you have for example your brand identity down right the brand identity is also important for you know like how do you want people to remember you by make sure that your website is up to par as well because once the PI gets rolling we need your website we need your your backlinks to put in the in the articles to you know the the backlink is so important for SEO and so I can't have you tell me oh my website is not ready I need to get it ready and can you give me some time sure I can give you time but I'm gonna use other you know social media links and I can't use your website and I can't give you the organic growth and traffic that your website can can get you know so you're losing time.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_03: So make sure you're you're prepared you know because this is going to go quick.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: You know PR is is also very quick.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's like once your story is out it's out that's it I can't I can't tell the journalist you know don't post it because I'm losing my you know my relationship like it's it's bad on me you know so right so I have to make sure that everything you know you have all the basics down and then you're like okay you know what I'm ready I'm ready to get myself featured in top tier publications I'm ready to be a thought leader and I'm ready for people to you know recognize me for my work.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_03: I'm an authority and yeah I'm gonna bring value and I'm going to be speaking on whatever it is you know whether I have a lot of clients in the legal and um the healthcare I represent a lot of surgeons, you know.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like, you know, you need to know exactly who your audience is.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_05: Right, right.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_05: No, that makes sense.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_05: That makes a lot of sense.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_05: And I hope that, you know, everyone tuning in, if you're a small brand, you definitely uh take note of that because that's very, very true.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_05: I think that, you know, a lot of times people just really want to jump that gun and they want immediate success, but there are building blocks that have to be put in place.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_05: So I completely agree with you.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, but I I think to round out the interview, you know, Leanne, I want to really circle back to this idea of advice and um the wonderful, you know, um, words you had mentioned earlier, you know, in terms of just what you did in terms of your career and your your journey so far, and give that advice to the younger people out there if there's anything else that you could share with us, any words of wisdom for them as they're, you know, in college or maybe not even in college, maybe somebody who's waitressing right now, but that person wants a better career, you know what I mean?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_05: And they want to go into PR, but they don't know the first thing about it.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_05: Like, what would be like your, I guess, top five tips for them, you know, where to start kind of thing?
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, first of all, I think that it's so crucial to get a mentor.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I mentor, you can always reach out to me, and I would love to find a way to mentor you.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: Number two, you need to value your time.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know, time is the biggest commodity that's undervalued a lot of time.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like, like, oh, it's it's just my time.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'll get it back tomorrow.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: No, you have to respect yourself so others can respect you for your time.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: So make sure you keep that in mind.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_03: Whoever you work with, time is of essence.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, the next thing I would say is don't be afraid to speak up.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_03: My book that I've written is Be Epic.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's a one-word acronym, and I teach the five simple hacks into how you should become an authority, how to find your own professional voice.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_03: And so that book is gonna do wonders for you.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_03: Get that book, be epic, be seen and be heard.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I teach you the five simple elements and methodologies, right, that help me to get to where I am today, you know, to get me through my weak times.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: And it really did help me that one word, um, one word acronym, B Epic.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_03: So B briefly, I'll tell you, B stands for belief.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure you have that belief to go out there and know that you will tackle anything that comes your way, right?
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_03: E is for empowerment, you have to feel empowered every day.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_03: And how do you get that?
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_03: Positive affirmations, meditation, hang out with amazing people who feed you and not leeches.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_03: You know, there's so many people that just want to take from you, but you need to find people that actually give back as well.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's important to become empowered, and then you know, P is for personal development.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are you doing to you know, create yourself like a better you?
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are you doing?
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_03: Are you reading books?
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I would highly recommend the the very first book that I read about.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, it's uh Del Carnegie is amazing.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_03: He, you know, my my father gave me the book is how to make friends and influence people easily.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you need to learn that in not in a very like, you know, you're not going to um you're not going to influence them by controlling them, but you're going to find a way to be friends with people.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_03: Del Carnegie is amazing.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_03: But the other book that I will highly recommend is Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_03: That book, I mean, by far changed my mindset.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I will go back over and over said book.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_03: And he wrote a second book, Outwitting the Devil.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_03: Outwitting the Devil was the second book that he wrote, but it couldn't get published because his wife was afraid, you know, the what the church would say and what what people talk about.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_03: And when he died, that book got published.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_03: And I actually was lucky enough to interview Sharon Lecter, who annotated that book.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was very lucky, you know, to yeah, to interview her.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, those two uh three books, um, you know, especially Outwitting the Devil and Think and Grow Rich will change your mindset.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_03: And if I talk to people and they haven't read Think and Grow Rich, I don't know.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_03: I look at them a little like no, right?
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like everyone should have read that book by now.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's just the secret kind of thing.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's like thinking grow rich on the same level.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's a prerequisite, it's a prerequisite.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like, right, it's I mean, but like college didn't teach me that, even when I was in college, like our English professor never taught us that.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what are we reading?
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_03: Poetry, no offense, but I don't care about poetry.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_03: I can't believe that's a good idea.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_05: They never teach the real stuff ever.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I literally don't get why.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like, right, exactly.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I even told my like I was reading it with my son, like, you know, we had when he was a little younger, he's 17 now, but like when, you know, when we had like library time, whatever, like I was like, okay, let's let's talk about the you know, think and grow rich.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are the aspects?
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what did you pick up?
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_03: So, anyway, you know, reading is key, it's fundamental, personal growth is fundamental.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_03: So, uh, you know, so that's another hack that I teach in my book, like how to develop your personal development.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_03: And then I would say, I is for your inner voice, right?
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_03: Your inner voice, what's speaking to you every day?
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, don't, you know, don't try to block that out because that voice spoke to me for a very long time to say you deserve better.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_03: You need to have women looking up to you, you need to give voice to the voices.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_03: You have to be an example.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, oh, I'm not ready for that.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wait, what are you talking about?
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how am I gonna even show up for these women if I can't even show up for myself?
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so that voice was preparing me for who I am today.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_03: And if I didn't block that voice out, I would have been on my path much faster.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I would say, use that voice to your advantage, the inner core, the inner voice, because remember, your inner core speaks to you, right?
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_03: And so then C finally is courage.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_03: Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are you doing today?
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_03: Every day you gotta do something that would scare you, like, oh, I can't do it.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's so scary.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like, approach a person, send a text message to someone, or make a connection on Instagram or Facebook or in LinkedIn, like reach out to whoever you think it's scary because you feel like what would they think of me?
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_03: Do it, get out of your comfort zone.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_03: And that what made me so successful today, because I always did something and I still do what's scary for me, you know.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, who cares?
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_03: Let's see what happens.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's just a game for me.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm like, okay, well, I'm holding the pen.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_03: I'm holding the pen.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_03: I'm writing my own story.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_03: This is my movie, and I'm gonna be directing it.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_03: So why not?
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_03: Why not me?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: Why not me?
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_05: Hundred, hundred thousand percent.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_05: Oh my god, I could not agree with you more.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, it is you, honestly.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_05: You've done it.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_05: You are such a like beacon of light in this industry, and I cannot thank you enough.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, you are so, so right about everything you've said here, Leona.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I wish I could put you in every college, genuinely, and just have you lecture everybody because at the end of the day, I got my, you know, I got my MBA and I realized like very soon after graduating, I ended up fast tracking it because you know what I realized?
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_05: They weren't teaching me jack shit.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_05: Let's be honest.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I wasn't learning anything there that I couldn't learn from interviewing amazing people and people who've really done it.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I I ended up getting it, don't get me wrong, but there was so much that I wish professors would talk about and that they would really put out there.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_05: Like some of the things that you've mentioned here.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I would imagine much rather see you in, you know, like Columbia University teaching about this than some random professor who's like a dinosaur.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_05: They don't have any reality of what's going on because unfortunately the youth that's coming out of these colleges now, they're still confused.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_05: You know, they don't feel like they've learned anything.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_05: And that's where I'm like, you know, you well, that's where the mentorship part comes in.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_05: So I just can't thank you enough for all the wisdom, all the knowledge that you've shared with us here today.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_05: I hope that for everyone listening, you will go back into this episode and re-listen to the parts where Liana is really talking about this, um, the fundamentals, and and definitely check out her book.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_05: Definitely, definitely check that out.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um, if you have not read any of the books she mentioned, in addition to that, definitely check those out as well.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_05: We can also make a little list, a book list for you guys that is linked to this episode so that you can easily access them.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_05: But Liana, thank you so much.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_05: This has been truly, truly an honor to host you.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my God, thank you.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_02: Dr.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: Ector, you're amazing.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_02: You did so many wonders for so many people.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm happy, I'm so glad that we can connect this way.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_05: And for everyone listening, I will be back next time.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_05: And I hope that you take a minute and just you leave us a review, leave us a rating, let us know what you think of our episodes in general, and I will be back next time.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_05: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 52:47
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• 52:52
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• 53:52
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