Founder & CEO of ZavoMedia PR Group, Liana Zavo, recounts how a college dropout and single mom made the jump from Russia to the US and from the style world to PR, gives a bit of advice for Blake Lively, reveals THE biggest PR mistake people make, how to come down from the ledge of panic in the moment, why authenticity and accountability equals authority, the difference between brand vs. reputation, and what it means to “B.E.P.I.C.”
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Episode Transcript
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Stephanie Maas (00:38):
Hello, Liana, how are you?
Liana Zavo (00:41):
I'm doing great. Thank you so much for this
opportunity.
Stephanie Maas (00:44):
Hey, thank you for being here. So we have come
to talk about, which I think isgoing to be an incredibly
fascinating topic, especiallythis day and age, crisis
management, brand management,not wrong or right, but there
just definitely seems to be alot of sensitivity in audiences.
Really wanted to start with, canyou share a little bit about
(01:07):
your super interesting, uniquejourney to where you are now?
Liana Zavo (01:11):
Absolutely, it all started when I was swayed from
my my goals and dreams andaspirations as a young girl in
high school, I wanted to be justlike my grandmother, and she
want she was a journalist inRussia, and so it all started
when I heard her stories. Shewas leaving a legacy behind, and
(01:31):
the legacy was, tell yourstories authentically. And she
taught me that, in itself, it'sthe art of storytelling. And I
was so blessed to have met herin my life and witnessed that.
And when I decided to get intoPR, it all was because of her.
She taught me the art ofcommunications. She taught me
that it is such a beautifulthing to tell other people's
(01:53):
stories, to elevate theirpresence, to inspire audiences.
There's so much you can do. Andas a college dropout, I decided
to drop out of what I waspursuing at the time because I
couldn't pursue communications.My parents were not set on that
idea, because I had to travel alot, and they wanted me to be
more conservative and stay backhome and, you know, do what a
(02:14):
good little Jewish girl wouldshould do.
Stephanie Maas (02:17):
How long have you been in the states?
Liana Zavo (02:19):
Since I was nine.
Stephanie Maas (02:20):
Nine years old. Sorry, I just have to I bring
all this up because I think somuch of it speaks to your story,
not just as a, you know, strong,powerful female, but also a
female with diversity. Thisisn't your original country.
This isn't your originallanguage, even though I'm sure
you were taught English from avery young age. But I also think
that really speaks a lot to whoyou are and your story as well.
Liana Zavo (02:43):
Well, I speak five languages.
Stephanie Maas (02:45):
Of course, you do.
Liana Zavo (02:46):
I love languages. And of course, English is
something that I was taught froma young age. I think I was just
blessed to have that in myfamily. My parents spoke it, and
my mom used to read amazingbooks. She even named my sister,
Virginia, living in Russia.Think about that. My gosh, my
name is Virginia, like the statelike, how?
Stephanie Maas (03:07):
Alright. So here you are. You are defying
your parents. You're droppingout of college. Single mom, odds
are against you in so many ways.What happens next?
Liana Zavo (03:17):
I decide to go and pursue what I was really
passionate about, and that wasstyling. I love to style myself.
I styled my my mom, my dad, mydad would always ask, Well, what
tie goes with this shirt? Mymom, I used to tell her, Mom, do
not dress like this. This is notthe way you should be dressing
in America. She took my, youknow, advice. I went shopping
(03:39):
with her from a young age. Sothat was just a hobby, and I
loved doing it. And so I said tomyself, I dropped out of
college. I have a one year oldin my arms, and I was about 20.
I got divorced at that time aswell. So everything just
happened within the three yearspan, and I decided to go into
personal styling. Not only did Iopen up my own styling concierge
(04:01):
company at the age of 22 but Ialso did other things. On the
side, I said, You know what?Maybe I should also go into real
estate. Maybe I should also getmy series six and 63 there was
so much that I did because Iknew that the more I have under
my belt, because also I havethis voice in back of my mind.
Did not graduate. You're acollege dropout. Mind you, my
(04:22):
mother, former gynecologist, myfather, they all have college
education, and I was such agreat student in high school,
like, right? Tell you, I had allAP classes, and I was that
honorable student, and then I'mdropping out of college. That's
like, it doesn't even sit wellwith me, because I was such a
proud student. I loved learning,and I said to myself, I need to
(04:47):
self teach myself. I need tohone in on personal development.
I need to learn as much as I canget as many certificates as
possible, because, again, Idon't want to sabotage myself
because thinking that someonewill point a finger and say,
Well, what do you have? Underyour belt, like, are you even
educated? But life taught me somuch that I said I'm not going
to be afraid to take this on.And I think that even if I did
(05:08):
graduate college, maybe Iwouldn't be as a go getter I am
today. You know, I became ananimal, a beast in my own
respect. You know, I knew that Ihad to survive. And even though
I come from a great family. Youknow my my family comes to the
hospitality industry, but I knewthat I don't want to fall back
on any of them. I wanted toleave my own legacy. I need to
(05:30):
do this on my terms, because myson is looking up to me. And I
just knew that I had to consumeas much information as possible
and hire mentors along the way.And I have, I was very fortunate
to find amazing mentors thattaught me storytelling, business
and leverage, right? I found theart of leveraging. How can I
leverage this relationship inorder to get to the next level
(05:52):
in my career?
Stephanie Maas (05:54):
How do we get to a PR firm?
Liana Zavo (05:55):
You know, when there is a will, there is a way, when
there is a desire, burningdesire in you, and there's it's
always been the back of my mind.I've always wanted to pursue
journalism, communications. Igrew up with a grandmother was a
journalist. Now think aboutthat. It was always in back of
my mind, and I knew that thisdream will have to come to
(06:17):
fruition one way or another. Buthow do I get there? I need to
meet the meet the right people.So every woman that I styled
when I was selling for like,high, top tier hotels in the
city, which is like, I wouldsay, St Regis Hotel, I would go
to a plaza hotel. These womenwere high caliber, right? They
would come from all over theworld, or even from New York
City. And when I used to getthem dressed for charities and
(06:40):
galas, I would always ask them,like, so what do you do? Like,
it was a conversation, right? Wealways have to find a way to
talk about something that's,well, first of all, it's
therapeutic. You know, you wearthis dress, you wear that, and
it's conversation starts, andthat's storytelling. And so one
of them, she says, You know, Idon't know what you're doing
really suits you. And I'm like,the light bulb went just off.
(07:00):
I'm like, Tell me more. Shesays, you know, I see you as a
visionary, and I think that youshould definitely come and
consult from my skincare line.So I know that you know this.
Hopefully you know this is goingto go viral. Her name is Marilla
Matan, and she's listening tothis, and I know that she'll be
very proud of me. She encouragedme to step out of my comfort
zone. And mind you, I'm alwaysfinding ways. I told you to do
(07:23):
something new, to step out of mycomfort zone, make myself feel
uncomfortable and and if it'sscary, it's great. I'm on the
right path. She tells me, I wantyou to consult, and I want you
to take over the line atBerkeley Goodman, and I want you
to represent the line. And I'mlike, okay, so how does this
work? I will introduce you to myPR agency, they will work with
you hand in hand. Don't youworry about it. And at that
(07:46):
time, my family was building outa restaurant in New York City on
the Upper East Side. So we hadthe restaurant on third and
60th, across street fromBloomingdale's Zabo. The name
still stands, by the way, if youguys want to pass by, but the
restaurant is being built out,and I'm trying to pivot now,
right? I'm not trying to say,You know what the restaurant is
going to be there, and I'm goingto work for my family there was
(08:07):
never in my mind. I said that Iwill add value to my family's
restaurant, and that will be thebranding. I will bring on a PR
team, because they will need alot of that. We're in a city,
right? We need to compete withthe with the big names. And so
she introduced me to the PRagency. And before she did that,
I went on five differentinterviews to actually inquire
(08:31):
about PR like I wanted to workas a whatever they would have
given me bringing them coffee.Hey, I'm there anything that
they would have offered. I wouldhave taken that but nobody gave
me that opportunity. I wasrejected from five PR agencies,
company like, nope. Do you haveany college education? No, I
don't, but I can bring you a lotof leverage. Look, I know I have
a great network. Your network isyour net worth, trust me, we can
(08:54):
find a way, like I thought of itdifferently. Education is great,
but it's not the answer toeverything. You can be educated
and then not a go getter, lame,boring person, right? And so I
had this energy that I wasbringing everywhere I went. And
so it happened to be that thatPR agency that Morella
(09:15):
introduced me to, we ended up towork together. I The very first
client that I brought them wasmy restaurant, my family's
restaurant. They did thatrestaurant, and it was an
ultimatum. I gave them a look. Iwill bring you that very first
restaurant, which is myfamily's. They'll be that's your
first client for me. But I needto know everything about PR. I
gotta work with you guys, sitwith you, be on every meeting
(09:38):
like that's my ultimatum. Do wehave an agreement. That's how it
all started.
Stephanie Maas (09:42):
Awesome. Okay, so let's shift ever so slightly.
Very cool story, by the way. AndI really love how you talk talk
about the art of leveraging. Ithink people are so afraid to
talk about that because italmost sounds like manipulation,
but if you're doing it right,it's absolutely not. But let's
shift gears slightly, and. Talkabout this idea of crisis
management. So you get a callsomebody's done or said
(10:05):
something that they probablyshouldn't have. Where do we go?
Walk me through that?
Liana Zavo (10:10):
That's the biggest part, and what I have to deal
with is in the way I mitigatethe situation is, how can we
find your voice andauthentically change what you
have said. The very first thingthat comes to mind is make a
video and apologize for what youhave said. Right? The very first
(10:31):
thing is you have to takeaccountability. In a crisis. You
can't just shove it under therug and be like, hey, nobody's
gonna pay attention if you werecalled out and and you knew and
you know you messed up. Yougotta be accountable like I
hope. I don't want to get in toomuch technicality with Blake
Lively and what's happening inHollywood. Mm, hmm, she probably
gonna have to apologize foreverything she has done. Okay,
(10:53):
so she's having a huge crisisright now, but you you'll have
to authentically state what hastranspired, and that is the
number one thing is I say Ialways tell my client, don't try
to sound like someone else,because if you're going to try
to sound like someone else,you're going to get found out
and find your own voice right atthe end of the day, if you want
(11:14):
to represent who you are,personal brand stems from your
authority, and if you cannotclaim that authority, then
you're not going to be credible,right? How can you be a credible
source, a resource or an expert,a subject matter expert, if you
don't take accountability andresponsibility for who you are
as a personal brand? And the wayyou should mitigate it is,
(11:35):
again, make the video, make astatement, a company, release,
announcement, press release, andstart doing a lot of community
service. That's what I tell myclients. Community service is
key. Now it depends if it's apersonal brand versus
organization, right? You willtake a different approach,
because it's a professionalbrand, it's an organization. We
have to take different strategicapproach to that, but it all has
(11:57):
to be all about accountability.Are you going to be accountable
for what you have said, and areyou going to step up to the
plate? Because everyone makesmistakes, but if you're going to
step up to it, then you're goingto mitigate it the right way.
Stephanie Maas (12:09):
When you share this message, what are the
biggest pushbacks you get,whether it's from individuals or
companies? Where do they exhibitheartburn on wanting to follow
this strategy?
Liana Zavo (12:19):
Yeah. Too much information. It's too you know,
I signed an NDA. I can't releasetoo much information. My
attorney said not to talk aboutit, so I have to then go in and
speak to the attorney and find away to get that message across.
Because if they already signedan agreement with the other
company, for example, and theyhave an NDA in place, and they
can't release information like,you know what? We'll just have
(12:42):
to wait and have the attorneytake care of it. Well, the
attorney will take as long as hecan, sometimes prolonging it
even more than he has to or shehas to. And so we can't afford
that at that time is soprecious, we have to act now. So
I always tell them, it's goingto be detrimental like for you
(13:02):
to step up and say your side ofyour story. You need to control
the narrative. If you're notgoing to control the narrative,
someone else will. Anotherjournalist will come about, and
literally, they're going tochange the whole story, and it's
not going to be in your favor.So who's going to do the work?
No one. But you start speakingthe truth and tell your side of
(13:23):
the story.
Stephanie Maas (13:24):
Ok, a couple things I just want to repeat
back couple things I've heardagain, accountability, super
important, timeliness,controlling the narrative. What
do you see people do that aremistakes when it comes to crisis
management?
Liana Zavo (13:38):
The number one mistake is, wait. The biggest
thing is, I'm going to wait. I'mgoing to let this kind of air
through like they didn't want tojust air this out on its own.
It's not going to happen on itsown. So and kind of waiting for
their attorney again, for thethat legal team to give them
approval. So you can't be aslave to the legal team, you
(14:00):
know, because your personalbrand will suffer. So if you're
not going to again, step step itup, then the longer you wait,
the longer it's going to be aproblem. That's the biggest
thing.
Stephanie Maas (14:11):
How do you talk folks off the ledge a little
bit? I mean, I would imagine,whether you've said something
that harms your personal brandor you're representing your
company, people must go intojust a flurry of panic. How do
you get them to step away frompanic and start getting back to
rational and thoughtful?
Liana Zavo (14:30):
Yeah, I love that question, even though I think
they should seek a therapist,and I'm not a therapist, you
know, but I have to do a lot asa publicist and a strategist. I
have to take a lot under it.There's a lot of undertaken. So
I have to make sure that they'recommon collected. And the way to
do it is to have them write itout. Can you just write out what
(14:54):
in the hypothetical world? Whatis the ideal world you want to
be living in? Right? So. If theywrite it down, it's a journaling
right now, journaling is thebest way to calm yourself down,
right? So journaling gettingtheir action steps and
implemented strategically. Whatto say, what not to say. You
know, what is your unique valueproposition? So journaling has
(15:15):
helped scripting. Script it out.Tell me exactly how you want to
be positioned, and just get itout. That's the best way. It's
very therapeutic. You know, Ithink that when they're in a
frenzy and they're very likekind of panicking, they need to
collect their thoughts, right?Breathing exercises, meditate to
something, but the very firstthing is get it on paper. Let me
(15:36):
know what your what yourthoughts are.
Stephanie Maas (15:38):
Shifting gears ever so slightly. Talk a little
bit about branding andreputation. First of all, how
would you distinguish the two,brand versus reputation, or are
they the same? Walk me throughthat.
Liana Zavo (15:49):
You know, they definitely go hand in hand, not
the same, but they go hand inhand. What people say about you
when you leave the room is yourbrand. Which is your reputation.
Your Brand creates yourreputation. If you don't have
that brand, the brand should bespeaking before you even knock
(16:09):
on the door, right? If you havean amazing brand, then it should
speak volumes, and that willhelp you get in the door. That's
why I always tell my clients,let me Google you before we
start working. Let me see whatshows up. Let let's take a look
at your online reputation. Whatshows up when I google you, oh,
I have amazing I'm all oversocial media, but social media
(16:30):
does not give you thereputation. It gives you some
sort of visibility, which isgreat, but it doesn't give you
that credibility. Source. Thecredibility adds to your
reputation. The credibility addsto your branding. Where is that
credibility coming from? Isthere a third party that
validated your story? Are youfeatured in an exclusive
interview? Have you spoken to ajournalist, and perhaps you know
(16:54):
as a thought leader? Did yougive any insights? Those are the
things that create a very strongbrand, a personal brand,
professional brand, that createsyour reputation. If you've never
spoken anywhere, if people arenot eager to hear from you as a
thought leader, do you reallyhave a reputation? But if you
always ask hey, I want you tospeak on my stage, come to my
panel, do a keynote, becausethey looked you up. They know
(17:17):
that you have credibility. Yourreputation is there, and you
will again, it's leverage,right? If you have that, you
bring leverage to their company.How should you be positioned as
a thought leader? Thepositioning is so crucial,
right? If you are not positionedin a certain way, people don't
look at you in a credible way,you don't have the reputation.
So that adds to the credibilityof their organization.
Stephanie Maas (17:38):
So meaty. You just said so many really, really
cool things. I want to highlighta couple, because I think a
common thing that we hear iswhen people are trying to create
a brand. You know, it's allabout social media, social
media, social media, but whatyou just said there is so next
level thought, and that socialmedia is visibility, but not
(17:59):
credibility. So you have to haveit. People want to know that
you're there, but it doesn't doanything just by simply
existing. So you've gotta takeit one step further to have the
visibility, then thecredibility, then the brand and
the reputation follow.
Liana Zavo (18:15):
100% Stephanie, you got it. Yes, exactly.
Stephanie Maas (18:17):
So let's say I'm a business owner or a leader in
a larger organization. Justeducate me a smidge on you know,
how could an a PR firm reallyimpact my business?
Liana Zavo (18:31):
In so many ways. I'll give you an example. So I'm
working with this nonprofitorganization. First of all,
before they even hired me, theynever thought about PR. PR. They
think, oh, PR is forcelebrities, but corporate, PR
is very important. So when theyhired me, they knew that, first
of all, they understood theconcept of what I can do for
(18:53):
them. It brings them thatelevated presence. Now they're
looking for investors. They'relooking for donors. Nonprofit
organization needs all of thatdonors. Is what they thrive on,
sponsorships. How did they getthose donors and sponsors to
trust them? Now this is a hugetrust factor that PR creates for
them. So in order for them to betrusted, they're going to be
(19:15):
they will be Googled, right? Andso I create that trust factor
with press releases, exclusivearticles that adds to their
portfolio, as to why thesedonors should even have anything
to do with them. Another thingis strategic partnerships. What
partnerships can a PR teamcreate for this organization, a
(19:36):
nonprofit? Who do we know thatwe can align you with so that
you can get the leverage youneed that you can get the best
outcome, right? You need thestrategic partnership so events,
right? PR creates events. So youcan't just be an organization
and not have events. There hasto be a buzz. What is that buzz
(19:56):
around your organization, aroundyour company? Is say that you're
a medical facility, a med spa.How do people find out more
about you? Well, you know what?You should create different tier
events that will take place withthese amazing panelists that
come and speak about thebenefits you know, in that
space, right? So doctors,whoever is a medical facility,
(20:19):
has their own events. Legalindustry has their own events.
Events is another part. Is acrucial, part of PR.
Stephanie Maas (20:26):
Are there any industries that you specifically
tailor to?
Liana Zavo (20:30):
Corporate industry. So I work with finance, legal,
medical professionals, realestate developer.
Stephanie Maas (20:37):
You also have another book, B.E.P.I.C
Liana Zavo (20:39):
I do, B.E.P.I.C.
Stephanie Maas (20:41):
Tell me about that.
Liana Zavo (20:42):
Well, the BEPIC came out in '21. I'm actually working
on my second book right now. Sothe be epic method is a one word
acronym. So when I created thisconcept, I knew that in order
for you to step out of yourcomfort zone, to really hone in,
into your storytelling, intocreating a strong personal
brand, you need to conquer yourmindset. That mindset is so
(21:02):
important because, again, I'mafraid to I can't speak in front
of the camera. I'm afraid to bejudged. Liana, I can't do this
there. My message is not goingto come across. I mean, everyone
else is talking about the samething. You think my message
matters, but then I teach them,look, you're the messenger,
right? And eat the messengerdelivers the message in a
(21:23):
different way, so you it's thatmindset I teach them. So it's
the B stands for belief, thebelief you can do it, right? And
it all helped. When I startedthis book, I actually was
already on my third round ofreading, Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill. I love that booklike I was so fascinated by his
story that I made my son readit, and my family members read
(21:44):
it. And then I read his secondbook, which was Outwitting the
Devil, the immense knowledgethat I got from that book. And I
say, know what I'm ready. I'mready to help them conquer that
mindset in order for them tocome get out of the comfort
zone, not to sabotagethemselves, how to get media
opportunities. How can you do iton your own? If you don't want
(22:04):
to hire a publicist, but it'sgoing to take much longer,
obviously, right? A publicisthelps expedite. A publicist
helps you, but I also teach themhow you can do it on your own.
So that be epic. Book teachesyou how to gain authority, find
your voice, how to be seen, howto become an executive, how to
take the stage, how not to beafraid, to take the stage. I
(22:25):
travel to all over the world.I'm in 12 countries. So not only
am I in American market, butwhat I love to do is I bridge
the gap for foundersinternationally who want to be
featured in American market. Ithink it's so important to give
them that credibility and visitcredibility and visibility. A
lot of them want that. You know,I spoke to a strategic partner.
(22:46):
He was actually he wanted towork with me, and I Googled him.
He's based in Greece. I'm like,you know, you don't have a
Google presence. He's like, Youknow what? Why is everybody in
America? Why do they care aboutthe Google presence? I'm like,
because that's your authority,buddy, if you want to work with
me, you gotta create, we need towork on your online reputation.
(23:07):
Otherwise, I can't work withyou, because this is what I
preach and this and if I'mworking with you, and it's just
not going to work, it's notaligned with me. So if you want
me to work with you, I gottafirst create that amazing online
reputation for you.
Stephanie Maas (23:22):
Oh that's awesome. Okay, you have been
super generous with your time.Is there anything else that you
want to make sure we talk aboutor address?
Liana Zavo (23:30):
You know, I would say, just make sure you are
surrounded by amazing people.What I attribute my success to
is being in proximity withsuccessful people, people that
have done greater than me. Ithink that really propels me
forward in everything that I do,and I I'm just like a sponge. I
learn because I'm I know thateverything is just evolving so
(23:53):
fast with AI, with so many newtechnologies coming on board. If
you're not being in proximitywith people that know about the
subject, then you're going tofall behind, right? You don't
want to be that, that statistic,that, Oh, you didn't get on
trend with everything elsethat's happening. So you need to
be if you want to be successful,you have to learn the logistics.
(24:15):
You need to develop that withinyou. And if you can then hire
someone who can teach you.
Stephanie Maas (24:20):
I love it. Thank you so much. It has been such a
delight to meet you.
Liana Zavo (24:25):
Yeah, amazing. It was great. Thank you, Stephanie.
Hello, Liana, how are you?
Liana Zavo (00:41):
I'm doing great. Thank you so much for this
opportunity.
Stephanie Maas (00:44):
Hey, thank you for being here. So we have come
to talk about, which I think isgoing to be an incredibly
fascinating topic, especiallythis day and age, crisis
management, brand management,not wrong or right, but there
just definitely seems to be alot of sensitivity in audiences.
Really wanted to start with, canyou share a little bit about
(01:07):
your super interesting, uniquejourney to where you are now?
Liana Zavo (01:11):
Absolutely, it all started when I was swayed from
my my goals and dreams andaspirations as a young girl in
high school, I wanted to be justlike my grandmother, and she
want she was a journalist inRussia, and so it all started
when I heard her stories. Shewas leaving a legacy behind, and
(01:31):
the legacy was, tell yourstories authentically. And she
taught me that, in itself, it'sthe art of storytelling. And I
was so blessed to have met herin my life and witnessed that.
And when I decided to get intoPR, it all was because of her.
She taught me the art ofcommunications. She taught me
that it is such a beautifulthing to tell other people's
(01:53):
stories, to elevate theirpresence, to inspire audiences.
There's so much you can do. Andas a college dropout, I decided
to drop out of what I waspursuing at the time because I
couldn't pursue communications.My parents were not set on that
idea, because I had to travel alot, and they wanted me to be
more conservative and stay backhome and, you know, do what a
(02:14):
good little Jewish girl wouldshould do.
Stephanie Maas (02:17):
How long have you been in the states?
Liana Zavo (02:19):
Since I was nine.
Stephanie Maas (02:20):
Nine years old. Sorry, I just have to I bring
all this up because I think somuch of it speaks to your story,
not just as a, you know, strong,powerful female, but also a
female with diversity. Thisisn't your original country.
This isn't your originallanguage, even though I'm sure
you were taught English from avery young age. But I also think
that really speaks a lot to whoyou are and your story as well.
Liana Zavo (02:43):
Well, I speak five languages.
Stephanie Maas (02:45):
Of course, you do.
Liana Zavo (02:46):
I love languages. And of course, English is
something that I was taught froma young age. I think I was just
blessed to have that in myfamily. My parents spoke it, and
my mom used to read amazingbooks. She even named my sister,
Virginia, living in Russia.Think about that. My gosh, my
name is Virginia, like the statelike, how?
Stephanie Maas (03:07):
Alright. So here you are. You are defying
your parents. You're droppingout of college. Single mom, odds
are against you in so many ways.What happens next?
Liana Zavo (03:17):
I decide to go and pursue what I was really
passionate about, and that wasstyling. I love to style myself.
I styled my my mom, my dad, mydad would always ask, Well, what
tie goes with this shirt? Mymom, I used to tell her, Mom, do
not dress like this. This is notthe way you should be dressing
in America. She took my, youknow, advice. I went shopping
(03:39):
with her from a young age. Sothat was just a hobby, and I
loved doing it. And so I said tomyself, I dropped out of
college. I have a one year oldin my arms, and I was about 20.
I got divorced at that time aswell. So everything just
happened within the three yearspan, and I decided to go into
personal styling. Not only did Iopen up my own styling concierge
(04:01):
company at the age of 22 but Ialso did other things. On the
side, I said, You know what?Maybe I should also go into real
estate. Maybe I should also getmy series six and 63 there was
so much that I did because Iknew that the more I have under
my belt, because also I havethis voice in back of my mind.
Did not graduate. You're acollege dropout. Mind you, my
(04:22):
mother, former gynecologist, myfather, they all have college
education, and I was such agreat student in high school,
like, right? Tell you, I had allAP classes, and I was that
honorable student, and then I'mdropping out of college. That's
like, it doesn't even sit wellwith me, because I was such a
proud student. I loved learning,and I said to myself, I need to
(04:47):
self teach myself. I need tohone in on personal development.
I need to learn as much as I canget as many certificates as
possible, because, again, Idon't want to sabotage myself
because thinking that someonewill point a finger and say,
Well, what do you have? Underyour belt, like, are you even
educated? But life taught me somuch that I said I'm not going
to be afraid to take this on.And I think that even if I did
(05:08):
graduate college, maybe Iwouldn't be as a go getter I am
today. You know, I became ananimal, a beast in my own
respect. You know, I knew that Ihad to survive. And even though
I come from a great family. Youknow my my family comes to the
hospitality industry, but I knewthat I don't want to fall back
on any of them. I wanted toleave my own legacy. I need to
(05:30):
do this on my terms, because myson is looking up to me. And I
just knew that I had to consumeas much information as possible
and hire mentors along the way.And I have, I was very fortunate
to find amazing mentors thattaught me storytelling, business
and leverage, right? I found theart of leveraging. How can I
leverage this relationship inorder to get to the next level
(05:52):
in my career?
Stephanie Maas (05:54):
How do we get to a PR firm?
Liana Zavo (05:55):
You know, when there is a will, there is a way, when
there is a desire, burningdesire in you, and there's it's
always been the back of my mind.I've always wanted to pursue
journalism, communications. Igrew up with a grandmother was a
journalist. Now think aboutthat. It was always in back of
my mind, and I knew that thisdream will have to come to
(06:17):
fruition one way or another. Buthow do I get there? I need to
meet the meet the right people.So every woman that I styled
when I was selling for like,high, top tier hotels in the
city, which is like, I wouldsay, St Regis Hotel, I would go
to a plaza hotel. These womenwere high caliber, right? They
would come from all over theworld, or even from New York
City. And when I used to getthem dressed for charities and
(06:40):
galas, I would always ask them,like, so what do you do? Like,
it was a conversation, right? Wealways have to find a way to
talk about something that's,well, first of all, it's
therapeutic. You know, you wearthis dress, you wear that, and
it's conversation starts, andthat's storytelling. And so one
of them, she says, You know, Idon't know what you're doing
really suits you. And I'm like,the light bulb went just off.
(07:00):
I'm like, Tell me more. Shesays, you know, I see you as a
visionary, and I think that youshould definitely come and
consult from my skincare line.So I know that you know this.
Hopefully you know this is goingto go viral. Her name is Marilla
Matan, and she's listening tothis, and I know that she'll be
very proud of me. She encouragedme to step out of my comfort
zone. And mind you, I'm alwaysfinding ways. I told you to do
(07:23):
something new, to step out of mycomfort zone, make myself feel
uncomfortable and and if it'sscary, it's great. I'm on the
right path. She tells me, I wantyou to consult, and I want you
to take over the line atBerkeley Goodman, and I want you
to represent the line. And I'mlike, okay, so how does this
work? I will introduce you to myPR agency, they will work with
you hand in hand. Don't youworry about it. And at that
(07:46):
time, my family was building outa restaurant in New York City on
the Upper East Side. So we hadthe restaurant on third and
60th, across street fromBloomingdale's Zabo. The name
still stands, by the way, if youguys want to pass by, but the
restaurant is being built out,and I'm trying to pivot now,
right? I'm not trying to say,You know what the restaurant is
going to be there, and I'm goingto work for my family there was
(08:07):
never in my mind. I said that Iwill add value to my family's
restaurant, and that will be thebranding. I will bring on a PR
team, because they will need alot of that. We're in a city,
right? We need to compete withthe with the big names. And so
she introduced me to the PRagency. And before she did that,
I went on five differentinterviews to actually inquire
(08:31):
about PR like I wanted to workas a whatever they would have
given me bringing them coffee.Hey, I'm there anything that
they would have offered. I wouldhave taken that but nobody gave
me that opportunity. I wasrejected from five PR agencies,
company like, nope. Do you haveany college education? No, I
don't, but I can bring you a lotof leverage. Look, I know I have
a great network. Your network isyour net worth, trust me, we can
(08:54):
find a way, like I thought of itdifferently. Education is great,
but it's not the answer toeverything. You can be educated
and then not a go getter, lame,boring person, right? And so I
had this energy that I wasbringing everywhere I went. And
so it happened to be that thatPR agency that Morella
(09:15):
introduced me to, we ended up towork together. I The very first
client that I brought them wasmy restaurant, my family's
restaurant. They did thatrestaurant, and it was an
ultimatum. I gave them a look. Iwill bring you that very first
restaurant, which is myfamily's. They'll be that's your
first client for me. But I needto know everything about PR. I
gotta work with you guys, sitwith you, be on every meeting
(09:38):
like that's my ultimatum. Do wehave an agreement. That's how it
all started.
Stephanie Maas (09:42):
Awesome. Okay, so let's shift ever so slightly.
Very cool story, by the way. AndI really love how you talk talk
about the art of leveraging. Ithink people are so afraid to
talk about that because italmost sounds like manipulation,
but if you're doing it right,it's absolutely not. But let's
shift gears slightly, and. Talkabout this idea of crisis
management. So you get a callsomebody's done or said
(10:05):
something that they probablyshouldn't have. Where do we go?
Walk me through that?
Liana Zavo (10:10):
That's the biggest part, and what I have to deal
with is in the way I mitigatethe situation is, how can we
find your voice andauthentically change what you
have said. The very first thingthat comes to mind is make a
video and apologize for what youhave said. Right? The very first
(10:31):
thing is you have to takeaccountability. In a crisis. You
can't just shove it under therug and be like, hey, nobody's
gonna pay attention if you werecalled out and and you knew and
you know you messed up. Yougotta be accountable like I
hope. I don't want to get in toomuch technicality with Blake
Lively and what's happening inHollywood. Mm, hmm, she probably
gonna have to apologize foreverything she has done. Okay,
(10:53):
so she's having a huge crisisright now, but you you'll have
to authentically state what hastranspired, and that is the
number one thing is I say Ialways tell my client, don't try
to sound like someone else,because if you're going to try
to sound like someone else,you're going to get found out
and find your own voice right atthe end of the day, if you want
(11:14):
to represent who you are,personal brand stems from your
authority, and if you cannotclaim that authority, then
you're not going to be credible,right? How can you be a credible
source, a resource or an expert,a subject matter expert, if you
don't take accountability andresponsibility for who you are
as a personal brand? And the wayyou should mitigate it is,
(11:35):
again, make the video, make astatement, a company, release,
announcement, press release, andstart doing a lot of community
service. That's what I tell myclients. Community service is
key. Now it depends if it's apersonal brand versus
organization, right? You willtake a different approach,
because it's a professionalbrand, it's an organization. We
have to take different strategicapproach to that, but it all has
(11:57):
to be all about accountability.Are you going to be accountable
for what you have said, and areyou going to step up to the
plate? Because everyone makesmistakes, but if you're going to
step up to it, then you're goingto mitigate it the right way.
Stephanie Maas (12:09):
When you share this message, what are the
biggest pushbacks you get,whether it's from individuals or
companies? Where do they exhibitheartburn on wanting to follow
this strategy?
Liana Zavo (12:19):
Yeah. Too much information. It's too you know,
I signed an NDA. I can't releasetoo much information. My
attorney said not to talk aboutit, so I have to then go in and
speak to the attorney and find away to get that message across.
Because if they already signedan agreement with the other
company, for example, and theyhave an NDA in place, and they
can't release information like,you know what? We'll just have
(12:42):
to wait and have the attorneytake care of it. Well, the
attorney will take as long as hecan, sometimes prolonging it
even more than he has to or shehas to. And so we can't afford
that at that time is soprecious, we have to act now. So
I always tell them, it's goingto be detrimental like for you
(13:02):
to step up and say your side ofyour story. You need to control
the narrative. If you're notgoing to control the narrative,
someone else will. Anotherjournalist will come about, and
literally, they're going tochange the whole story, and it's
not going to be in your favor.So who's going to do the work?
No one. But you start speakingthe truth and tell your side of
(13:23):
the story.
Stephanie Maas (13:24):
Ok, a couple things I just want to repeat
back couple things I've heardagain, accountability, super
important, timeliness,controlling the narrative. What
do you see people do that aremistakes when it comes to crisis
management?
Liana Zavo (13:38):
The number one mistake is, wait. The biggest
thing is, I'm going to wait. I'mgoing to let this kind of air
through like they didn't want tojust air this out on its own.
It's not going to happen on itsown. So and kind of waiting for
their attorney again, for thethat legal team to give them
approval. So you can't be aslave to the legal team, you
(14:00):
know, because your personalbrand will suffer. So if you're
not going to again, step step itup, then the longer you wait,
the longer it's going to be aproblem. That's the biggest
thing.
Stephanie Maas (14:11):
How do you talk folks off the ledge a little
bit? I mean, I would imagine,whether you've said something
that harms your personal brandor you're representing your
company, people must go intojust a flurry of panic. How do
you get them to step away frompanic and start getting back to
rational and thoughtful?
Liana Zavo (14:30):
Yeah, I love that question, even though I think
they should seek a therapist,and I'm not a therapist, you
know, but I have to do a lot asa publicist and a strategist. I
have to take a lot under it.There's a lot of undertaken. So
I have to make sure that they'recommon collected. And the way to
do it is to have them write itout. Can you just write out what
(14:54):
in the hypothetical world? Whatis the ideal world you want to
be living in? Right? So. If theywrite it down, it's a journaling
right now, journaling is thebest way to calm yourself down,
right? So journaling gettingtheir action steps and
implemented strategically. Whatto say, what not to say. You
know, what is your unique valueproposition? So journaling has
(15:15):
helped scripting. Script it out.Tell me exactly how you want to
be positioned, and just get itout. That's the best way. It's
very therapeutic. You know, Ithink that when they're in a
frenzy and they're very likekind of panicking, they need to
collect their thoughts, right?Breathing exercises, meditate to
something, but the very firstthing is get it on paper. Let me
(15:36):
know what your what yourthoughts are.
Stephanie Maas (15:38):
Shifting gears ever so slightly. Talk a little
bit about branding andreputation. First of all, how
would you distinguish the two,brand versus reputation, or are
they the same? Walk me throughthat.
Liana Zavo (15:49):
You know, they definitely go hand in hand, not
the same, but they go hand inhand. What people say about you
when you leave the room is yourbrand. Which is your reputation.
Your Brand creates yourreputation. If you don't have
that brand, the brand should bespeaking before you even knock
(16:09):
on the door, right? If you havean amazing brand, then it should
speak volumes, and that willhelp you get in the door. That's
why I always tell my clients,let me Google you before we
start working. Let me see whatshows up. Let let's take a look
at your online reputation. Whatshows up when I google you, oh,
I have amazing I'm all oversocial media, but social media
(16:30):
does not give you thereputation. It gives you some
sort of visibility, which isgreat, but it doesn't give you
that credibility. Source. Thecredibility adds to your
reputation. The credibility addsto your branding. Where is that
credibility coming from? Isthere a third party that
validated your story? Are youfeatured in an exclusive
interview? Have you spoken to ajournalist, and perhaps you know
(16:54):
as a thought leader? Did yougive any insights? Those are the
things that create a very strongbrand, a personal brand,
professional brand, that createsyour reputation. If you've never
spoken anywhere, if people arenot eager to hear from you as a
thought leader, do you reallyhave a reputation? But if you
always ask hey, I want you tospeak on my stage, come to my
panel, do a keynote, becausethey looked you up. They know
(17:17):
that you have credibility. Yourreputation is there, and you
will again, it's leverage,right? If you have that, you
bring leverage to their company.How should you be positioned as
a thought leader? Thepositioning is so crucial,
right? If you are not positionedin a certain way, people don't
look at you in a credible way,you don't have the reputation.
So that adds to the credibilityof their organization.
Stephanie Maas (17:38):
So meaty. You just said so many really, really
cool things. I want to highlighta couple, because I think a
common thing that we hear iswhen people are trying to create
a brand. You know, it's allabout social media, social
media, social media, but whatyou just said there is so next
level thought, and that socialmedia is visibility, but not
(17:59):
credibility. So you have to haveit. People want to know that
you're there, but it doesn't doanything just by simply
existing. So you've gotta takeit one step further to have the
visibility, then thecredibility, then the brand and
the reputation follow.
Liana Zavo (18:15):
100% Stephanie, you got it. Yes, exactly.
Stephanie Maas (18:17):
So let's say I'm a business owner or a leader in
a larger organization. Justeducate me a smidge on you know,
how could an a PR firm reallyimpact my business?
Liana Zavo (18:31):
In so many ways. I'll give you an example. So I'm
working with this nonprofitorganization. First of all,
before they even hired me, theynever thought about PR. PR. They
think, oh, PR is forcelebrities, but corporate, PR
is very important. So when theyhired me, they knew that, first
of all, they understood theconcept of what I can do for
(18:53):
them. It brings them thatelevated presence. Now they're
looking for investors. They'relooking for donors. Nonprofit
organization needs all of thatdonors. Is what they thrive on,
sponsorships. How did they getthose donors and sponsors to
trust them? Now this is a hugetrust factor that PR creates for
them. So in order for them to betrusted, they're going to be
(19:15):
they will be Googled, right? Andso I create that trust factor
with press releases, exclusivearticles that adds to their
portfolio, as to why thesedonors should even have anything
to do with them. Another thingis strategic partnerships. What
partnerships can a PR teamcreate for this organization, a
(19:36):
nonprofit? Who do we know thatwe can align you with so that
you can get the leverage youneed that you can get the best
outcome, right? You need thestrategic partnership so events,
right? PR creates events. So youcan't just be an organization
and not have events. There hasto be a buzz. What is that buzz
(19:56):
around your organization, aroundyour company? Is say that you're
a medical facility, a med spa.How do people find out more
about you? Well, you know what?You should create different tier
events that will take place withthese amazing panelists that
come and speak about thebenefits you know, in that
space, right? So doctors,whoever is a medical facility,
(20:19):
has their own events. Legalindustry has their own events.
Events is another part. Is acrucial, part of PR.
Stephanie Maas (20:26):
Are there any industries that you specifically
tailor to?
Liana Zavo (20:30):
Corporate industry. So I work with finance, legal,
medical professionals, realestate developer.
Stephanie Maas (20:37):
You also have another book, B.E.P.I.C
Liana Zavo (20:39):
I do, B.E.P.I.C.
Stephanie Maas (20:41):
Tell me about that.
Liana Zavo (20:42):
Well, the BEPIC came out in '21. I'm actually working
on my second book right now. Sothe be epic method is a one word
acronym. So when I created thisconcept, I knew that in order
for you to step out of yourcomfort zone, to really hone in,
into your storytelling, intocreating a strong personal
brand, you need to conquer yourmindset. That mindset is so
(21:02):
important because, again, I'mafraid to I can't speak in front
of the camera. I'm afraid to bejudged. Liana, I can't do this
there. My message is not goingto come across. I mean, everyone
else is talking about the samething. You think my message
matters, but then I teach them,look, you're the messenger,
right? And eat the messengerdelivers the message in a
(21:23):
different way, so you it's thatmindset I teach them. So it's
the B stands for belief, thebelief you can do it, right? And
it all helped. When I startedthis book, I actually was
already on my third round ofreading, Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill. I love that booklike I was so fascinated by his
story that I made my son readit, and my family members read
(21:44):
it. And then I read his secondbook, which was Outwitting the
Devil, the immense knowledgethat I got from that book. And I
say, know what I'm ready. I'mready to help them conquer that
mindset in order for them tocome get out of the comfort
zone, not to sabotagethemselves, how to get media
opportunities. How can you do iton your own? If you don't want
(22:04):
to hire a publicist, but it'sgoing to take much longer,
obviously, right? A publicisthelps expedite. A publicist
helps you, but I also teach themhow you can do it on your own.
So that be epic. Book teachesyou how to gain authority, find
your voice, how to be seen, howto become an executive, how to
take the stage, how not to beafraid, to take the stage. I
(22:25):
travel to all over the world.I'm in 12 countries. So not only
am I in American market, butwhat I love to do is I bridge
the gap for foundersinternationally who want to be
featured in American market. Ithink it's so important to give
them that credibility and visitcredibility and visibility. A
lot of them want that. You know,I spoke to a strategic partner.
(22:46):
He was actually he wanted towork with me, and I Googled him.
He's based in Greece. I'm like,you know, you don't have a
Google presence. He's like, Youknow what? Why is everybody in
America? Why do they care aboutthe Google presence? I'm like,
because that's your authority,buddy, if you want to work with
me, you gotta create, we need towork on your online reputation.
(23:07):
Otherwise, I can't work withyou, because this is what I
preach and this and if I'mworking with you, and it's just
not going to work, it's notaligned with me. So if you want
me to work with you, I gottafirst create that amazing online
reputation for you.
Stephanie Maas (23:22):
Oh that's awesome. Okay, you have been
super generous with your time.Is there anything else that you
want to make sure we talk aboutor address?
Liana Zavo (23:30):
You know, I would say, just make sure you are
surrounded by amazing people.What I attribute my success to
is being in proximity withsuccessful people, people that
have done greater than me. Ithink that really propels me
forward in everything that I do,and I I'm just like a sponge. I
learn because I'm I know thateverything is just evolving so
(23:53):
fast with AI, with so many newtechnologies coming on board. If
you're not being in proximitywith people that know about the
subject, then you're going tofall behind, right? You don't
want to be that, that statistic,that, Oh, you didn't get on
trend with everything elsethat's happening. So you need to
be if you want to be successful,you have to learn the logistics.
(24:15):
You need to develop that withinyou. And if you can then hire
someone who can teach you.
Stephanie Maas (24:20):
I love it. Thank you so much. It has been such a
delight to meet you.
Liana Zavo (24:25):
Yeah, amazing. It was great. Thank you, Stephanie.
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