As part of the Morning Lazziness series highlighting empowering women who are making a remarkable impact with their ideas, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marina Byezhanova.
Marina Byezhanova is on a mission to scale the reach of people’s voices. Co-Founder of a personal branding agency called Brand of a Leader, Marina has been quoted and referenced in such publications as Inc.com, Forbes.com, Fast Company, Success Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Post, and has spoken to audiences of entrepreneurs and business executives in North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The brand of a Leader’s purpose is to help entrepreneurs realize and express their greatness. Marina is a proud member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and is presently part of the Global Products Portfolio.
In this candid conversation, Marina shares her journey, insights, and the strategies that have helped her build a results-driven business and empower other entrepreneurs to do the same.
What inspired you to start your own PR agency, and how did you get your first client?
Several years ago, I became preoccupied with two cultural phenomena I observed in North America: self-censorship and a lack of diversity of thought in most groups or environments.
Self-censorship came in the form of my fellow executives and highly successful business owners being invisible in their industries. I noticed that they would “hide” behind their businesses, not willing to put themselves out there and be known. As a result, they were shortchanging the marketing efforts of their organizations as prospective clients expect to know who the leaders of an organization are. And executives were shortchanging their own career management – often overlooked for internal or external opportunities as a result of their lack of visibility.
Lack of diversity of thought came in the form of group think, more and more prevalent in our Western societies.
I would often have people ask me where I found the courage to be outspoken and to put myself in the public eye. It resulted in several people coming to me for help with this. As a result, Brand of a Leader was born out of that gap and market need, with the first clients coming on board before the business was even ever registered.
What unique challenges have you faced as a woman entrepreneur in the PR world, and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for any career-oriented ambitious woman who is also a parent is to successfully prioritize and manage both of these dimensions of our lives. I want to self-actualize as an entrepreneur, but I equally as much want to self-actualize as a mother. Being highly ambitious often comes with being judged as an uninvolved parent and this was a challenge for me to manage in my life.
I overcame this by constantly investing in my personal development and growth: learning how to be a great business person and a great parent, but most importantly working on my own self-limiting beliefs. I’ve always had coaches: for the business and personally, as well as always working with a therapist.
One of my most successful solutions came from learning how to integrate my children into my business life. I bring them on my business trips, I tell them about the business, and I apply my parenting lessons for the benefits of business growth, as well as applying business lessons for the benefits of my growth as a parent.
How do you stay ahead of trends in an industry that’s constantly evolving with media and technology?
I believe in the power of a community of like-minded people as one of the most important levels of growth and staying connected to trends and innovation. I am part of a peer-to-peer network of business owners called the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). Through it, I attend a plethora of learning events, both in person and online. AI has been a game-changer for many of us, if not all of us, in the business world, and I have been able to access world-class learning through the EO community. I also believe in the power of an abundance mindset and openly share concerns, learnings, and resources, with others in my industry. As they do the same reciprocally, I am able to stay on top of trends in my vertical.
What’s your go-to strategy for building strong, lasting relationships with clients and the press?
One of our core values at Brand of a Leader is “in pursuit of depth.” This means that we prioritize relationships that are rooted in depth and not superficiality. We do not take a transactional approach to relationship building, be it with clients or the press. There are 3 books that have been transformational to me when thinking about this topic: Unreasonable Hospitality, Giftology, and Beyond Giftology. All three are based on the foundational principle of building relationships without focusing on the outcome or a transactional benefit, but rather prioritizing the human-to-human connection. I believe that this approach will become central to all organizations in the rise of AI and our joint overindexing on human-to-machine communication.
Can you share a campaign or media moment you’re especially proud of—and why it stands out?
The foundational service we offer to our clients is the development of their personal brand identity. As part of that service, we create their personal brand story. The moment I am most proud of in our work, which affects me deeply and profoundly, is when I get to read the brand story to the client. Time and time again, hearing it elicits profound emotion in them. These are extremely successful, and often senior, leaders, and yet that moment of seeing their entire journey on one page fills them with pride and gives them the confidence to step out into the “spotlight.” Our WHY at Brand of a Leader is to help leaders realize and express their greatness. And that moment where I can experience them realizing their greatness is exceptionally powerful.
Which platforms or tactics have been most effective for growing your own brand visibility?
Brand of a Leader is presently in the #2 spot in Google search for the term “personal branding agency” and we are now consistently found by prospective clients in AI search (e.g.: GPT, Perplexity). We never invested in SEO services or any PPC work, so this success in a highly competitive field is fully organic. The key tactic to achieving that is doing exactly what we help our clients do: a very clear and compelling positioning powered by creating lots of thought leadership content – on social media, through podcast guesting, by contributing to articles on a variety of platforms, and by creating our own long form thought leadership articles.
What role has mentorship played in your journey, and how do you pay it forward to others in the industry?
Throughout my journey, I have always worked with a multitude of coaches, both in the business and personally. I also tap into the opportunity of being mentored by fellow members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. In turn, I pay it forward by partaking in industry events (or events specifically for women in business or junior professionals who are just embarking on their journey). Although I am a paid global speaker, I frequently waive the speaker fee for events in universities or held by non for profit organizations. I also readily jump on calls with people starting out in my field, even directly in personal branding, and very openly share my experience, the journey, the structure of the business, and anything else they ask me about. Once again – I believe in the concept of abundance.
How do you handle high-pressure situations or crises, whether for a client or your own business?
The entrepreneurial journey is a rollercoaster and definitely not for the faint of heart. The ability to handle those high pressure situations comes purely from working on myself as a leader to constantly improve my resiliency, my focus, and my ability to communicate effectively. Having a circle of people I can trust to whom I can turn in the most challenging moments is also crucial.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to women entering the PR or communications industry today?
Collaborate instead of creating a silo for yourself! Find mentors in your own field, share readily, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. There is no need to re-invent the wheel – learn from the best and then add your own flavor to the work you do for the market.
What are the 5 things you believe are essential to overcome self-doubt and build confidence in this field?
- Work with a coach and a mentor – the two bring very different value, but are incredibly crucial for overcoming those voices in your head.
- Get clear on your personal brand: what is unique and valuable about what you bring to the table? Why should people – prospective clients, current clients, investors, and your team members listen to you?
- Develop a thirst for learning. Outlearn everyone and it will allow you to outperform everyone.
- Build a network of other “builders,” in your industry and beyond. Community of like-minded people is everything.
- Seek out feedback and internalize positive feedback to build confidence and see the value you bring to others.
Is there a quote, mantra, or philosophy that guides your decision-making and leadership as a PR entrepreneur?
My personal mantra is: stand out, speak up, and be radically authentic. I believe in the power we have as leaders when we embrace who we are fully, stop self-censoring, and put ourselves out there. When I did that and built my visibility, I was able to position my agency as a market leader vis-a-vis my thought leadership. We are in the second spot in Google search for the term “personal branding agency” with no investment in SEO and PPC. This is purely thanks to building thought leadership and making it the core focus of our marketing efforts.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I grew up in a society of full censorship and I am seeing a concerning trend of self-censorship in the Western World. If I could, I would start a movement to eradicate group think and to promote the one dimension of diversity that seems to be continuously de-prioritized: diversity of thought. In a way, this is exactly what we are doing through our personal branding agency for GenX CEOs and Founders Brand of a Leader.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Take a look at my website and let’s connect on LinkedIn!
