Drink Like a Lady Podcast

Effective branding is one of the ways to ensure your business remains competitive. But you’ll require persistence to keep promoting your brand to achieve success in business.

PR Strategist Emily Heyward engaged us in a conversation on branding. Here are ten valuable tips to persistent leadership that she provided.

1. Be clear about your brand from the beginning.
2. Make your business story personally applicable.
3. Connect your product’s functionality to an emotional feeling.
4. Incorporate an element of surprise in your branding
5. In a crowded market identify your unique value.
6. Identify a narrative line that interweaves many aspects of your brand.
7. Focus on your core market and grow from there.
8. Find the right language to reach a wider market.
9. As a brand, your actions should be louder than your words.
10. Build a community around your brand.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

The CEO of Seramount, Subha Barry here presents the business case of diversity, offering tips and insights into how to bring greater diversity into the workplace, in a way that is beneficial to all.

Barry begins by contrasting the situation in 2021 with how it was ten years ago, when she was a senior executive at investment bank Merrill Lynch.  Then, diversity was a governmentally mandated program, with EEOC Requirements forming a basis for a lot of the DE&I work.  Much of the focus was on the market side – targeting more diverse groups of customers and clients.

In 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a much more far-reaching project.  Following the disparities thrown up by the pandemic and by the deaths of George Floyd and other victims of violence, there has been a much greater focus on systemic racism and bias, both within organizations and processes.

An example she gives is the bias that may be exhibited by an all-male, all-white panel when interviewing employment candidates, even when there’s an explicit instruction to engage in more diverse hiring.

FIVE WAYS TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY

Barry has five key tips for helping make the business case for more entrenched DE&I work:

1. Speak the language of business leaders. Helping leaders see that the ethnic stereotypes they may have grown up with are wrong and there are valuable untapped resources in diverse communities.
2. Utilize big data. There’s more evidence than ever before that diverse working groups, for example, beat homogenous ones hands down in problem solving, because they bring different insights and assumptions to the table.  Diversity drives innovation, and this can be backed up with data.
3. Minimize Staff turnover. A recent study showed that more than 50% of women of color in large organizations are waiting out the pandemic to leave their organizations for better opportunities.  This shocking degree of turnover can be mitigated by building workplaces that respect differences and build a more tolerant culture.
4. Diversity of Perspective Drives Innovation. Building on point two above, it can be shown that the different backgrounds and experiences that diverse employees have can increase creativity and innovation.  To leverage this, employers must recognize that employees from different backgrounds may have to take time out from busy lives to make a special effort to fit into a homogenous organization.  Draining energy resources by expecting everyone to “fit in” is unwise and alienating.
5. Diverse employees have different expectations. Appreciating this builds a more flexible workplace.  Stakeholder capitalism is the term to bear in mind, replacing a shareholder-focused approach with a more all-encompassing on, where staff, vendors, customers and even the wider environment are considered when key decisions are taken.  The largest drivers of this new culture are Gen Z / Millennial employees, who now make up 75% of the workplace.  It would be foolish to overlook their expectations.

Blog post here:
https://www.joyadass.com/how-can-i-be-more-inclusive-making-a-business-case-for-diversity-with-subha-barry/

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Seth Godin on Marketing

Seth Godin has written 17 books on advertising, marketing, business, and leadership. I had the pleasure of hosting a virtual “Fireside Chat” with Seth, and we dug deep into attendee questions after he and I laid the groundwork for our hangout.

Seth is such a great person to talk with, and he’s usually super busy, so it’s an honor to have been able to spend an hour going over his thoughts on entrepreneurial ventures, trust-building and relationship marketing, and being remarkable.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Virtual Fireside Chat with Sarah LaFleur, Founder and CEO of M.M. LaFleur

Have you found your superpower?

Do you listen to your clients and the zeitgeist?

Sarah M. LaFleur, founder and CEO of MM.LaFleur clothing company, believes every successful entrepreneur must address these questions.

Founded in 2013, MM.LaFleur clothing rose to prominence among executive women just in time for the 2016 election. Despite the curveball of a COVID pandemic that made work-from-home casual the new norm, Sarah’s gift for perseverance and out-of-the-box thinking led the way to marketing campaigns that went viral.

MM.LaFleur’s mission, and Sarah’s founding vision, was to help working women take the work out of dressing for work.

She succeeded.

In the process, making office attire so elegant yet comfortable—you won’t want to take it off.

Joya Dass, founder of a women’s leadership platform, sat down with Sarah for a fireside chat. Here are 6 tips that speak to her leadership style and marketing savvy.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

It's Tuesday morning. Back at my desk after an epic 11 hour flight back, an overwhelming sadness grips me.

After 13 days of discovery, magic, nature, and sun, its hard to re-integrate.

I was actually really irritated with Istanbul the first two days. Previous visitors called it 'magical.' I found it dirty, crowded, hot, and very commercial. If I saw one more KFC or Popeye's Chicken, I was going to scream. Sitting in taxi's, the traffic rivalled LA, but on streets dating back to the 13th century and not designed for the load.

Where was the magic?

It came the last night.

We had no dinner reservations at Michelin star restaurants. No art historians leading us on a historic tour of a mosque. Matt and I wandered the city until the sun set. It was Sunday, and all of Istanbul was out, walking on foot. Modern women in hijabs and Converse sneakers, walking with purpose. Women in full black abayas in 90 degrees walking slowly. 

By nightfall, we were crossing the Galata Koprusu bridge. I was eager to get back to the hotel, the weight of an 11 hour flight awaiting. Fishermen bent their long rubbery poles over the sides of the bridge, patiently waiting for catch. Some set up makeshift tables for conversation and cigarettes. The silver flecks of fish visible in gallon water bottles sawed in half and off to the side.

I was engrossed in my phone. Google maps is my north star when traveling, offering directions back to our hotel in the Old City. I looked up, searching for Matt, who was busy photographing the fishermen. Something had happened in the interim.  The entire city had lit up. It was like looking at the inside of a glittering jewel box, like the ones I had as a kid, with the ballerina tinkling music inside. The Blue Mosque with its six minarets, floodlit at night, held its own against the Hagia Sophia on the other side of the square, both standing high on the hill overlooking the Bosphorus Strait and Golden Horn.

The rest in this blog post

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

There is a picture of myself and my business partner from February 13, 2013 (above). Eleven years ago, when my women's leadership platform first launched. We are standing on a stairwell, speaking to a sea of faces.

"You have 300 women RSVP-ed." 

I was overwhelmed.  I had no website. No membership. No Mastermind.  I had no idea what I was doing.

What I didn’t expect was:

1) This would become my full-time business.

2) This would allow me to travel the world.

3) That it would completely change my self-worth.

When I launched this business, it was a by product of a documentary production company. My partner and I were hosting free monthly meetups to build our project pipeline. 

First there were 8 attendees. 

Then 40.

Then 300.

Many had grown up watching me on television at a time when no Indian women were on mainstream TV. I looked like them. I spoke like them. After years of having a one-way relationship with me from their living rooms, they were coming to share that they were building something. They were doing something outside of the Indian-parent-approved ‘doctor, lawyer, engineer’ professions.

Today, my business provides me with so many pinch-me moments, including a month in Paris this year. Watching my clients tell their stories, get clients, get the promotion, get the job—--It’s why I do what I do.

Since last year’s anniversary I’ve created VIP Days, so women can work with me one-on-one on their thought leadership strategy.  This year, I’ll be in Paris, Istanbul, Barcelona, and New York working with women.

I’m already creating the retreats and curriculum for the 2024 Class of the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join the waitlist here.

To give back to YOU, the top three lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur:

1) Work on your mindset first. The clients, the money, None of it becomes possible until that piece is attended to.

2) Protect your energy. You wake up each morning with a reserve. It's depleted over the course of the day. Be clinical. Be critical about where that energy goes and who gets it.

3) Thought leadership is a powerful tool for an entrepreneur. Be customer focused when creating content. Be customer obsessed when creating content. Always be thinking "What's in it for them?"

So much is happening behind the scenes and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

Thank you for being a part of the community that built this.

Joya

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

My business turned 11 years old on July 12th.

The very first event was July 12, 2012 at a champagne lounge in Tribeca. Eight people showed up. Then 40. Then 300.

 Very few people know this: I had started a documentary production company. My contract with ABC had come up, and I was having a moment of reflection. If I was on my deathbed, would I have a body of work I could look back on and say proudly “I did that?” 

I didn’t.

For 10 years, I had been getting up between 3:00 am and 4:30 am to do morning television on TV. Business news. It was get it out, get it out. On the hour. Never stopping to make the stories beautiful. 

I wanted to produce longer stories, have time to revise them, and make them beautiful. I decided to launch a documentary production company. I took on a partner, since I was still on the air. Greta suggested hosting monthly meet-ups to do business development and build a project pipeline.

Avenue Media had a short run. But the dark horse brand that really took off was my women’s leadership platform. Eight women showed up to that first event. Then 40. Then consistently 300. 

It’s been 11 years since that first event, and today, how I network and build community has changed slightly. Here are my top seven tips on how to network strategically.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Michael Parrish DuDell is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business and Shark Tank Secrets to Success. He is listed as one of the most popular business authors on Amazon and listed as one of the top Millennial voices by IBM.

He shares advice on how he acquired sponsors like Forbes and Citrix for his web series The Next Crop and how you can build a brand that attracts sponsors for your podcast or web series.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Last year, 30 members of the Women's Leadership Lab did an 8 day sail of the Dalmatian Coast. Drone footage of the yacht here. 

https://vimeo.com/733969105?share=copy

 This year, we are doing a sail of the Turkish coastline with women leaders August 12-19th. It's my version of Richard Branson's "Summit at Sea," where he puts folks in a closed ecosystem to network, interact and connect over shared activities. We will be on a "gulet," which is a style of yacht native to and built in Bodrum, Turkey. Our vessel is traditional wood on the exterior, but was built in 2022, and features a very modern interior. I feel truly 'disconnected' from my work life when I'm out to sea and in nature.

I had one person drop. Do you want to take the spot? Dm me at [email protected] to join.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.