Unleash the Story Within, with Liana Zavo – Episode 491 of The Action Catalyst Podcast

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.”

About Liana:

Liana Zavo is a highly accomplished PR executive, global speaker, female advocate, Forbes thought leader and CEO of ZavoMedia PR Group. With over a decade of experience in the field of public relations, Liana has established herself as a prominent publicist in the corporate industry. She helps NPO’s, startups, and small to midsize businesses gain recognition, visibility, credibility and profitability in their respected industries.

Her passion for strategic communication, branding, and media relations has driven her to help numerous founders and organizations achieve their goals and elevate their businesses nationwide and globally. As the CEO of ZavoMedia PR Group, Liana leads a team of dedicated professionals in New York City and 12 countries to create and execute innovative PR campaigns and strategic partnerships.

Liana is bridging the gap for founders and organizations by helping their companies become recognized in the American market. This helps grow their portfolio to attract investors. Her expertise lies in developing effective strategies and narratives that enhance brand visibility, manage reputations, and drive business growth.

Liana’s keen understanding of the media landscape allows her to build strong relationships with journalists, securing valuable press coverage for her clients. Beyond her role as a publicist, Liana is a respected thought leader and speaker. She has shared her insights and expertise at various industry events and conferences, empowering audiences with her knowledge of PR strategies, personal branding, and leadership.

Liana Zavo’s commitment to empowering women in the business world is evident in her work. She advocates for diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunities, inspiring other women to achieve their fullest potential. Her dedication to mentorship and community building has earned her recognition and respect within the industry. With a strong drive for success and a genuine passion for her work, Liana Zavo continues to make a significant impact in the world of public relations.

Learn more at ZavoMediaPR.com.

The Action Catalyst is presented by the Southwestern Family of Companies. With each episode, the podcast features some of the nation’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing meaningful tips and advice. Learn more at TheActionCatalyst.com, subscribe below or wherever you listen to podcasts, and be sure to leave a rating and review!

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(Transcribed using A.I. / May include errors):

Stephanie Maas
Hello, Liana, how are you?

Liana Zavo
I’m doing great. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Stephanie Maas
Hey, thank you for being here. So we have come to talk about, which I think is going to be an incredibly fascinating topic, especially this day and age, crisis management, brand management, not wrong or right, but there just definitely seems to be a lot of sensitivity in audiences. Really wanted to start with, can you share a little bit about your super interesting, unique journey to where you are now?

Liana Zavo
Absolutely, it all started when I was swayed from my my goals and dreams and aspirations as a young girl in high school, I wanted to be just like my grandmother, and she want she was a journalist in Russia, and so it all started when I heard her stories. She was leaving a legacy behind, and the legacy was, tell your stories authentically. And she taught me that, in itself, it’s the art of storytelling. And I was so blessed to have met her in my life and witnessed that. And when I decided to get into PR, it all was because of her. She taught me the art of communications. She taught me that it is such a beautiful thing to tell other people’s stories, to elevate their presence, to inspire audiences. There’s so much you can do. And as a college dropout, I decided to drop out of what I was pursuing at the time because I couldn’t pursue communications. My parents were not set on that idea, because I had to travel a lot, and they wanted me to be more conservative and stay back home and, you know, do what a good little Jewish girl would should do.

Stephanie Maas
How long have you been in the states?

Liana Zavo
Since I was nine.

Stephanie Maas
Nine years old. Sorry, I just have to I bring all this up because I think so much of it speaks to your story, not just as a, you know, strong, powerful female, but also a female with diversity. This isn’t your original country. This isn’t your original language, even though I’m sure you were taught English from a very young age. But I also think that really speaks a lot to who you are and your story as well.

Liana Zavo
Well, I speak five languages.

Stephanie Maas
Of course, you do.

Liana Zavo
I love languages. And of course, English is something that I was taught from a young age. I think I was just blessed to have that in my family. My parents spoke it, and my mom used to read amazing books. She even named my sister, Virginia, living in Russia. Think about that. My gosh, my name is Virginia, like the state like, how?

Stephanie Maas
Alright. So here you are. You are defying your parents. You’re dropping out of college. Single mom, odds are against you in so many ways. What happens next?

Liana Zavo
I decide to go and pursue what I was really passionate about, and that was styling. I love to style myself. I styled my my mom, my dad, my dad would always ask, Well, what tie goes with this shirt? My mom, I used to tell her, Mom, do not dress like this. This is not the way you should be dressing in America. She took my, you know, advice. I went shopping with her from a young age. So that was just a hobby, and I loved doing it. And so I said to myself, I dropped out of college. I have a one year old in my arms, and I was about 20. I got divorced at that time as well. So everything just happened within the three year span, and I decided to go into personal styling. Not only did I open up my own styling concierge company at the age of 22 but I also did other things. On the side, I said, You know what? Maybe I should also go into real estate. Maybe I should also get my series six and 63 there was so much that I did because I knew that the more I have under my belt, because also I have this voice in back of my mind. Did not graduate. You’re a college dropout. Mind you, my mother, former gynecologist, my father, they all have college education, and I was such a great student in high school, like, right? Tell you, I had all AP classes, and I was that honorable student, and then I’m dropping out of college. That’s like, it doesn’t even sit well with me, because I was such a proud student. I loved learning, and I said to myself, I need to self teach myself. I need to hone in on personal development. I need to learn as much as I can get as many certificates as possible, because, again, I don’t want to sabotage myself because thinking that someone will point a finger and say, Well, what do you have? Under your belt, like, are you even educated? But life taught me so much that I said I’m not going to be afraid to take this on. And I think that even if I did graduate college, maybe I wouldn’t be as a go getter I am today. You know, I became an animal, a beast in my own respect. You know, I knew that I had to survive. And even though I come from a great family. You know my my family comes to the hospitality industry, but I knew that I don’t want to fall back on any of them. I wanted to leave my own legacy. I need to do this on my terms, because my son is looking up to me. And I just knew that I had to consume as much information as possible and hire mentors along the way. And I have, I was very fortunate to find amazing mentors that taught me storytelling, business and leverage, right? I found the art of leveraging. How can I leverage this relationship in order to get to the next level in my career?

Stephanie Maas
How do we get to a PR firm?

Liana Zavo
You know, when there is a will, there is a way, when there is a desire, burning desire in you, and there’s it’s always been the back of my mind. I’ve always wanted to pursue journalism, communications. I grew up with a grandmother was a journalist. Now think about that. It was always in back of my mind, and I knew that this dream will have to come to fruition one way or another. But how 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 would say, St Regis Hotel, I would go to a plaza hotel. These women were high caliber, right? They would come from all over the world, or even from New York City. And when I used to get them dressed for charities and galas, I would always ask them, like, so what do you do? Like, it was a conversation, right? We always have to find a way to talk about something that’s, well, first of all, it’s therapeutic. You know, you wear this dress, you wear that, and it’s conversation starts, and that’s storytelling. And so one of them, she says, You know, I don’t know what you’re doing really suits you. And I’m like, the light bulb went just off. I’m like, Tell me more. She says, you know, I see you as a visionary, and I think that you should definitely come and consult from my skincare line. So I know that you know this. Hopefully you know this is going to go viral. Her name is Marilla Matan, and she’s listening to this, and I know that she’ll be very proud of me. She encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. And mind you, I’m always finding ways. I told you to do something new, to step out of my comfort zone, make myself feel uncomfortable and and if it’s scary, it’s great. I’m on the right path. She tells me, I want you to consult, and I want you to take over the line at Berkeley Goodman, and I want you to represent the line. And I’m like, okay, so how does this work? I will introduce you to my PR agency, they will work with you hand in hand. Don’t you worry about it. And at that time, my family was building out a restaurant in New York City on the Upper East Side. So we had the restaurant on third and 60th, across street from Bloomingdale’s Zabo. The name still stands, by the way, if you guys 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 going to work for my family there was never in my mind. I said that I will add value to my family’s restaurant, and that will be the branding. I will bring on a PR team, because they will need a lot of that. We’re in a city, right? We need to compete with the with the big names. And so she introduced me to the PR agency. And before she did that, I went on five different interviews to actually inquire about PR like I wanted to work as a whatever they would have given me bringing them coffee. Hey, I’m there anything that they would have offered. I would have taken that but nobody gave me that opportunity. I was rejected from five PR agencies, company like, nope. Do you have any college education? No, I don’t, but I can bring you a lot of leverage. Look, I know I have a great network. Your network is your net worth, trust me, we can find a way, like I thought of it differently. Education is great, but it’s not the answer to everything. You can be educated and then not a go getter, lame, boring person, right? And so I had this energy that I was bringing everywhere I went. And so it happened to be that that PR agency that Morella introduced me to, we ended up to work together. I The very first client that I brought them was my restaurant, my family’s restaurant. They did that restaurant, and it was an ultimatum. I gave them a look. I will bring you that very first restaurant, which is my family’s. They’ll be that’s your first client for me. But I need to know everything about PR. I gotta work with you guys, sit with you, be on every meeting like that’s my ultimatum. Do we have an agreement. That’s how it all started.

Stephanie Maas
Awesome. Okay, so let’s shift ever so slightly. Very cool story, by the way. And I really love how you talk talk about the art of leveraging. I think people are so afraid to talk about that because it almost sounds like manipulation, but if you’re doing it right, it’s absolutely not. But let’s shift gears slightly, and. Talk about this idea of crisis management. So you get a call somebody’s done or said something that they probably shouldn’t have. Where do we go? Walk me through that?

Liana Zavo
That’s the biggest part, and what I have to deal with is in the way I mitigate the situation is, how can we find your voice and authentically change what you have said. The very first thing that comes to mind is make a video and apologize for what you have said. Right? The very first thing is you have to take accountability. In a crisis. You can’t just shove it under the rug and be like, hey, nobody’s gonna pay attention if you were called out and and you knew and you know you messed up. You gotta be accountable like I hope. I don’t want to get in too much technicality with Blake Lively and what’s happening in Hollywood. Mm, hmm, she probably gonna have to apologize for everything she has done. Okay, so she’s having a huge crisis right now, but you you’ll have to authentically state what has transpired, and that is the number one thing is I say I always 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 at the end of the day, if you want to represent who you are, personal brand stems from your authority, and if you cannot claim 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 and responsibility for who you are as a personal brand? And the way you should mitigate it is, again, make the video, make a statement, a company, release, announcement, press release, and start doing a lot of community service. That’s what I tell my clients. Community service is key. Now it depends if it’s a personal brand versus organization, right? You will take a different approach, because it’s a professional brand, it’s an organization. We have to take different strategic approach to that, but it all has to be all about accountability. Are you going to be accountable for what you have said, and are you going to step up to the plate? Because everyone makes mistakes, but if you’re going to step up to it, then you’re going to mitigate it the right way.

Stephanie Maas
When you share this message, what are the biggest pushbacks you get, whether it’s from individuals or companies? Where do they exhibit heartburn on wanting to follow this strategy?

Liana Zavo
Yeah. Too much information. It’s too you know, I signed an NDA. I can’t release too much information. My attorney said not to talk about it, so I have to then go in and speak to the attorney and find a way to get that message across. Because if they already signed an agreement with the other company, for example, and they have an NDA in place, and they can’t release information like, you know what? We’ll just have to wait and have the attorney take care of it. Well, the attorney will take as long as he can, sometimes prolonging it even more than he has to or she has to. And so we can’t afford that at that time is so precious, we have to act now. So I always tell them, it’s going to be detrimental like for you to step up and say your side of your story. You need to control the narrative. If you’re not going to control the narrative, someone else will. Another journalist will come about, and literally, they’re going to change 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 speaking the truth and tell your side of the story.

Stephanie Maas
Ok, a couple things I just want to repeat back couple things I’ve heard again, accountability, super important, timeliness, controlling the narrative. What do you see people do that are mistakes when it comes to crisis management?

Liana Zavo
The number one mistake is, wait. The biggest thing is, I’m going to wait. I’m going to let this kind of air through like they didn’t want to just air this out on its own. It’s not going to happen on its own. So and kind of waiting for their attorney again, for the that legal team to give them approval. So you can’t be a slave to the legal team, you know, because your personal brand will suffer. So if you’re not going to again, step step it up, then the longer you wait, the longer it’s going to be a problem. That’s the biggest thing.

Stephanie Maas
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 brand or you’re representing your company, people must go into just a flurry of panic. How do you get them to step away from panic and start getting back to rational and thoughtful?

Liana Zavo
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 as a 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’re common collected. And the way to do it is to have them write it out. Can you just write out what in the hypothetical world? What is the ideal world you want to be living in? Right? So. If they write it down, it’s a journaling right now, journaling is the best way to calm yourself down, right? So journaling getting their action steps and implemented strategically. What to say, what not to say. You know, what is your unique value proposition? So journaling has helped scripting. Script it out. Tell me exactly how you want to be positioned, and just get it out. That’s the best way. It’s very therapeutic. You know, I think that when they’re in a frenzy and they’re very like kind of panicking, they need to collect their thoughts, right? Breathing exercises, meditate to something, but the very first thing is get it on paper. Let me know what your what your thoughts are.

Stephanie Maas
Shifting gears ever so slightly. Talk a little bit about branding and reputation. First of all, how would you distinguish the two, brand versus reputation, or are they the same? Walk me through that.

Liana Zavo
You know, they definitely go hand in hand, not the same, but they go hand in hand. What people say about you when you leave the room is your brand. Which is your reputation. Your Brand creates your reputation. If you don’t have that brand, the brand should be speaking before you even knock on the door, right? If you have an amazing brand, then it should speak volumes, and that will help you get in the door. That’s why I always tell my clients, let me Google you before we start working. Let me see what shows up. Let let’s take a look at your online reputation. What shows up when I google you, oh, I have amazing I’m all over social media, but social media does not give you the reputation. It gives you some sort of visibility, which is great, but it doesn’t give you that credibility. Source. The credibility adds to your reputation. The credibility adds to your branding. Where is that credibility coming from? Is there a third party that validated your story? Are you featured in an exclusive interview? Have you spoken to a journalist, and perhaps you know as a thought leader? Did you give any insights? Those are the things that create a very strong brand, a personal brand, professional brand, that creates your reputation. If you’ve never spoken anywhere, if people are not eager to hear from you as a thought leader, do you really have a reputation? But if you always ask hey, I want you to speak on my stage, come to my panel, do a keynote, because they looked you up. They know that you have credibility. Your reputation 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? The positioning is so crucial, right? If you are not positioned in a certain way, people don’t look at you in a credible way, you don’t have the reputation. So that adds to the credibility of their organization.

Stephanie Maas
So meaty. You just said so many really, really cool things. I want to highlight a couple, because I think a common thing that we hear is when people are trying to create a brand. You know, it’s all about social media, social media, social media, but what you just said there is so next level thought, and that social media is visibility, but not credibility. So you have to have it. People want to know that you’re there, but it doesn’t do anything just by simply existing. So you’ve gotta take it one step further to have the visibility, then the credibility, then the brand and the reputation follow.

Liana Zavo
100% Stephanie, you got it. Yes, exactly.

Stephanie Maas
So let’s say I’m a business owner or a leader in a larger organization. Just educate me a smidge on you know, how could an a PR firm really impact my business?

Liana Zavo
In so many ways. I’ll give you an example. So I’m working with this nonprofit organization. First of all, before they even hired me, they never thought about PR. PR. They think, oh, PR is for celebrities, but corporate, PR is very important. So when they hired me, they knew that, first of all, they understood the concept of what I can do for them. It brings them that elevated presence. Now they’re looking for investors. They’re looking for donors. Nonprofit organization needs all of that donors. Is what they thrive on, sponsorships. How did they get those donors and sponsors to trust them? Now this is a huge trust factor that PR creates for them. So in order for them to be trusted, they’re going to be they will be Googled, right? And so I create that trust factor with press releases, exclusive articles that adds to their portfolio, as to why these donors should even have anything to do with them. Another thing is strategic partnerships. What partnerships can a PR team create for this organization, a nonprofit? Who do we know that we can align you with so that you can get the leverage you need that you can get the best outcome, right? You need the strategic partnership so events, right? PR creates events. So you can’t just be an organization and not have events. There has to be a buzz. What is that buzz around your organization, around your 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 with these amazing panelists that come and speak about the benefits you know, in that space, right? So doctors, whoever is a medical facility, has their own events. Legal industry has their own events. Events is another part. Is a crucial, part of PR.

Stephanie Maas
Are there any industries that you specifically tailor to?

Liana Zavo
Corporate industry. So I work with finance, legal, medical professionals, real estate developer.

Stephanie Maas
You also have another book, B.E.P.I.C.

Liana Zavo
I do, B.E.P.I.C.

Stephanie Maas
Tell me about that.

Liana Zavo
Well, the BEPIC came out in ’21. I’m actually working on my second book right now. So the be epic method is a one word acronym. So when I created this concept, I knew that in order for you to step out of your comfort zone, to really hone in, into your storytelling, into creating a strong personal brand, you need to conquer your mindset. That mindset is so important because, again, I’m afraid to I can’t speak in front of the camera. I’m afraid to be judged. Liana, I can’t do this there. My message is not going to come across. I mean, everyone else is talking about the same thing. You think my message matters, but then I teach them, look, you’re the messenger, right? And eat the messenger delivers the message in a different way, so you it’s that mindset I teach them. So it’s the B stands for belief, the belief you can do it, right? And it all helped. When I started this book, I actually was already on my third round of reading, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I love that book like I was so fascinated by his story that I made my son read it, and my family members read it. And then I read his second book, which was Outwitting the Devil, the immense knowledge that I got from that book. And I say, know what I’m ready. I’m ready to help them conquer that mindset in order for them to come get out of the comfort zone, not to sabotage themselves, how to get media opportunities. How can you do it on your own? If you don’t want to hire a publicist, but it’s going to take much longer, obviously, right? A publicist helps expedite. A publicist helps you, but I also teach them how you can do it on your own. So that be epic. Book teaches you how to gain authority, find your voice, how to be seen, how to become an executive, how to take the stage, how not to be afraid, to take the stage. I travel to all over the world. I’m in 12 countries. So not only am I in American market, but what I love to do is I bridge the gap for founders internationally who want to be featured in American market. I think it’s so important to give them that credibility and visit credibility and visibility. A lot of them want that. You know, I spoke to a strategic partner. He was actually he wanted to work 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, You know what? Why is everybody in America? Why do they care about the Google presence? I’m like, because that’s your authority, buddy, if you want to work with me, you gotta create, we need to work on your online reputation. Otherwise, I can’t work with you, because this is what I preach and this and if I’m working with you, and it’s just not going to work, it’s not aligned with me. So if you want me to work with you, I gotta first create that amazing online reputation for you.

Stephanie Maas
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 about or address?

Liana Zavo
You know, I would say, just make sure you are surrounded by amazing people. What I attribute my success to is being in proximity with successful people, people that have done greater than me. I think 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 that everything is just evolving so fast with AI, with so many new technologies coming on board. If you’re not being in proximity with people that know about the subject, then you’re going to fall behind, right? You don’t want to be that, that statistic, that, Oh, you didn’t get on trend with everything else that’s happening. So you need to be if you want to be successful, you have to learn the logistics. You need to develop that within you. And if you can then hire someone who can teach you.

Stephanie Maas
I love it. Thank you so much. It has been such a delight to meet you.

Liana Zavo
Yeah, amazing. It was great. Thank you, Stephanie.