THE POWER OF REINVENTION with Kathi Sharpe-Ross

Melanie is the founder and CEO of the Brandman Agency. Her clients are the who's who of the luxury travel and lifestyle industries. She's got offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Sydney. She's a trusted advisor to her global roster of clients as well as a resource for media and tastemakers.

Melanie also founded Travel Curator, an extraordinary digital publisher dedicated to luxury travel, which now reaches over a million people, targeting the affluent and forward-thinking global travelers.

Today’s episode is a reminder that no matter the circumstances, you have the power to create success, fulfill your dreams, and live with passion. You'll pick up some reinvention and life advice and tips from someone whose passion for life is contagious and whose brilliant mind and sharp business acumen have enabled her to build a global public relations firm doing what she loves.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

Working Hard to Do What You Love Every Day

It's okay to be a nice person. Enjoy what you do. Be nice to people along the way. Help your competitors. There are a lot of sharks in this business who are competitive. But if you do a great job, and you're good to people who work for you, they are your family, you're good to your clients, you do the best that you can do, you find new ways of doing things, then success will come.

About the Travel Curator

Melanie has been spending so much time on email answering people about travel so she created this little website and started loading information doing travel guides, and it started to take off. And it was really very organic and word of mouth. Six years later, they have over a million visits a month and they generate all original content. They do partnerships and collaboration with hotel brands around the world. Just remember that people want authentic, credible information, insider tips, and where to go from someone who knows what they're talking about.

Reinventing Tips

Sometimes you don't have to reinvent your entire life. You just need to look at what you're doing, what you love to do, and how to expand on that to bring great joy to yourself.

With so much great talent was in the marketplace right now, a lot of great people had lost their jobs. A lot of people also realized that they didn't want to work a nine-to-five anymore. Now that they were working from home, they realized they wanted flexibility.

Learn how to listen, sit back, and really dig into what works for you. You don't usually have the time and yet the last nine months have given us such an opportunity.

Take baby steps. You don't have to jump at full speed. It's okay to make mistakes because that's the best way to learn. And ask people you trust to help you because people really want to help.

You can’t be great at everything. A great boss knows their strengths and weaknesses and they hire people who can make up for their weaknesses. Plus, it’s so much more fun than just doing it on your own.

Resources Mentioned:

Brandman Agency

Travel Curator

James Orsini is currently the president of The Sasha Group, which is a division of VaynerMedia. Prior to that, he also served as the CEO and Chief integration officer at VaynerMedia working alongside Gary Vaynerchuk. James has a 35-year career under his belt as he previously worked for The Rowland Company, Goldman Sachs, and KPMG.

The Sasha Group is a company that runs like a consultancy on the frontend and an advertising agency on the backend. The company has now grown to 65 people in just a year. Senior talents help consult these entrepreneurs, founders, or challenger brands into a new way of marketing, which Gary calls Marketing for the Now.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

Dealing with the naysayers

It chokes a vision when people panic. It's therefore important to be able to help translate your vision to the team.

How the Covid Situation and Remote Work Affected the Work Product

What you're seeing is a new norm for working. Even when you're working from home, you can really stay connected. In fact, James has never felt closer to his company than he does right now.

The boxes make everybody equal. They're all equal in size. An account executive has the voice of a senior vice president because it's just the same box size. Plus, there is more effort now to do some social events to keep people together.

What is 4Ds?

4Ds is a classroom workshop type settings of 10 to 12 people in a conference room. It's a full-day immersion and Gary is there for an hour and a half. He goes around the room and everybody gets to ask their question.

Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Absorb the fact that the world is different now. So you have to adapt right now. Most are in survival mode. This is not about producing the greatest profits of all time. This is about being around to live and fight another day.

Attack and move a piece of your business from defense to offense in order to survive.

Resources Mentioned:

The Sasha Group

Marci Freedman is living her true north, and yet still reinventing in many ways every day. She's curious and lives life to the fullest with that bright light that always burns inside her. Marci is a brilliant example of what's possible when you set your mind to it.

Today, Marci shares some reinvention and life advice and tips as someone who has done the corporate gig, the entrepreneurial gig, and everything in between.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

Marci’s Aha Moment

When the investment group that Marci joined went Chapter 7, she lost a part of herself. But then she realized that failure was actually her biggest success in life because it led her to a spiritual journey that she’s still on right now.

Marci no longer wanted to work for a corporate company. Instead, she’s betting on herself because she is the brand. Marci then decided to have her own small company where she had to do everything. But when people ask her what she does, she still tells them that her number one job is her. When you go through change, you learn to live differently.

The Power to Create the Life You Want

It’s very important to take some time to tune into yourself and check if you’re still in there. We get to choose as we do everything in life. And we have to give ourselves more credit and know we're entitled to choose to live the life we want to live.

It's not always happiness and flowers. There's some sadness as well. And when those feelings come in, acknowledge them. Be self-aware of what's happening. Then surround yourself with the smartest people in the room because that collective is what makes you successful.

This is your one and only life. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to wake up 20 or 40 years from now and realize you still haven’t don’t what you should’ve done? Whatever it is that you wish to do, there's no reason to not incorporate some version of that into your life. But you have to believe you’re entitled to do that, then figure out your roadmap to get to that place. You're not just doing what you love. You're making a living doing what you love.

Resources Mentioned:

http://www.number14.us

Reinvent Your Life! What Are You Waiting For by Kathi Sharpe-Ross

Jeffrey Hayzlett is a primetime TV and podcast host, keynote speaker, and global business celebrity. This man has bought and sold over 250 businesses over the course of his career and about $25 billion in transactions.

Jeffrey is a primetime television host of C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett and Executive Perspectives. He is the business podcast host of All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett. He's the Chairman and CEO of the C suite network, home of the world's most trusted network of C-suite leaders.

He is the author of four bestselling business books, the most recent one being The Hero Factor: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations and Create Winning Cultures. He sits on many boards and had an amazing role at Kodak as CMO for four years.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

Insights into Reinventing Yourself

You have to balance yourself – spiritually, personally, relationship-wise, and business-wise. You also have to have everybody to have input on that so you can't just reinvent yourself without taking those into consideration. There are times you could screw up and make mistakes in your business. But it's the everyday stuff that matters.

Advice to Entrepreneurs

You can do anything you want the way you want to do it. If you had to do it the way other people told you, Uber, Facebook or Amazon would never have been invented. Most of those businesses were built and started during downturns, depressions, and recessions. And some of those greatest companies that you see such as Airbnb and many others all started out of necessity. So what are you waiting for?

Delegate, Automate, or Eliminate

Try to get through the five to eight things you need to get done for the day. Then delegate, automate, or eliminate. Also, do the hard things first and don’t wait until the end. Otherwise, you’re just going to be putting it off. Block off a couple of hours in the morning that no one can mess with.

Resources Mentioned:

https://c-suitenetwork.com/

The Hero Factor: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations and Create Winning Cultures by Jeffrey Hayzlett

Deborah Wahl is a veteran of the marketing and business world. She is a leading innovator amongst chief marketing officers, revitalizing brands by aligning customer and company objectives across industries and markets.

Deborah is currently the global CMO of General Motors and CMO of Cadillac. She was the CMO of McDonald's USA for three years. And prior to that, she had incredible senior level and C-suite positions at Pulte Group, Chrysler, Lexus, Toyota, and Ford.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

How to Become Introspective

We all get so busy in our current jobs or roles that we don't take the time to be introspective. And it’s usually when you do a job change that’s the most valuable time in the world because it forces you to stop and think and dive deep. So try to go back to what motivated you when you were young and before your career. Ask yourself what were those things that brought you complete joy in life and when were you happiest?

Choosing The Company or People You Want to Work With

Notice the importance of who you work with. Understand what their personal values are and check if you really buy into that. Find that match. Then you start putting together your environment, what drives your joyfulness, the purpose of a company, and where you want to go.

The Reasons That Hold People Back From Reinventing Their Lives

People just don't make time for them or they don't know what to do or how to tap into their purpose or passions. And then, sometimes they'll wake up 10-15 years later, and they still don't know where they're going or what they’re doing. They still don't feel connected to who they really want to be in life.

Reinvention Tips

We have to work from a place of safety and confidence. The more everyone can provide that, the more everyone blossoms. If we shine the light on these great ideas and the efforts that people have, it's just going to blossom so much more than when people are throwing salt or trying to put holes in your ideas.

It doesn't mean you shouldn't be rigorous. But you have to come from a place of support and good intention. You have to work on this purposefully because it can be so easy for your ego to step in and be worried about territories.

How to Tackle Your Fear of Failure

You never advance personally or learn until you get yourself into a situation that makes you so uncomfortable. So take a risk because it builds confidence every time. And oftentimes, there are people who will offer their support. If you come to work every day and do a great job and really do your best then that's what you should be proud of.

There are some things you can't control but all you can control is doing your best and constantly striving and then putting yourself out there. And the only way we grow is if we go into spaces that are uncomfortable for us.

Resources Mentioned:

Reinvent Your Life! What Are You Waiting For by Kathi Sharpe-Ross

As the founder and CEO of Management Plus Enterprises, Leonard Armato has been a leader in developing, positioning, and building high-growth brands and converging sports, media, marketing, and technology.

A master at Enabling Greatness, Leonard transformed celebrity marketing by masterminding the development and launch of Shaquille O'Neal's brand. He developed the Golden Boy brand for Oscar De La Hoya and created the marketing infrastructure for Golden Boy Promotions, which is one of the world's largest boxing promotion companies.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Episode Highlights:

How He Landed His First

From being a lawyer, Leonard decided to get into the sports business. To get his first client, he offered to work with him the whole year and offered his first 30 days for free. After 90 days, the client finally signed with him and the rest is history. From there, he won a bunch of Super Bowls. Then Leonard got a bunch of clients and his career started to evolve.

When people meet you, there are two things they wonder about:

Things to Keep in Mind When Reinventing Yourself

1. Commit yourself to put yourself out there and go for it.

Once you make that commitment, there's a lot of power that comes to your advantage you've never anticipated. A lot of people are uncomfortable with that. But if you're going to be an entrepreneur, if you're going to reinvent yourself, you got to do that.

2. Dare to fail.

If you don't put yourself out there and dare and make a big try over something audacious, you'll never do anything.

Morning Routines You Can Do to Enable Greatness

The Power of Being Able to Reconcile Strengths and Weaknesses

You have to be able to make other people's lives better. And sometimes you don't realize the impact until later. Be mindful and make sure that you make every day a masterpiece. Treat people the right way, and try to make everyone's life better you come in contact with. You're sowing the seeds of future greatness in them, then you're also doing things that will come back later to make you feel really proud.

Insights into Relationships and Mentorship

Relationships are the single most important factor in determining longevity. Meanwhile, a Harvard study shows that the average students did better than the geniuses because of the way they were treated by the professor.

Resources Mentioned:

Reinvention Virtual Chat with Leonard Armato

Welcome to The Power of Reinvention.  Inspired by the best-selling book written by Kathi Sharpe-Ross, RE:INVENT YOUR LIFE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? (March, 2020) these introspective interviews will provide stories, tips, tools and experiences of great reinventors and curiosity seekers. From Fortune 500 C-Suite Executives and Entrepreneurs, to Exhausted Dads, Homemakers and Artists, these men and women will give you a sense of what is possible in your life through their own journeys in business, career, relationships, health, entrepreneurship, spirituality, hobbies and passions. Let Kathi help you realize that your dreams can be more than just that, and if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you can and will create what you want.  Whether your Reinvention takes 5-minutes or 10-years, you will wake up one day being right where you want to be!

You can share your reinvention stories with Kathi at www.TheReinventionExchange.com