Aligning authenticity with passion

an interview with Jessica Zweig | FROM THE VAULT

Authenticity has set a certain standard for most organizations today. As incoming generations are appreciating more transparency from businesses, being an authentic leader, employee, and consumer is the only component driving us forward.

Getting to know yourself can actually be one of the hardest things you can do. According to one study, while most people consider themselves as self-aware, just 10-15% of those people were actually self-aware. There are too many people that don’t even know who they are, what story they want to tell, or what their purpose is. Figuring out who you are will not only drive your passion to a more meaningful career path, but it will allow you to live the honest, fulfilled life you deserve.

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Jessica Zweig

From being an award-winning entrepreneur to a bestselling author, to an international speaker, to an incredible advocate for women empowerment, Jessica Zweig is no stranger to authentically building a business from the ground up. This Chicago-based personal branding expert is the CEO and Founder of SimplyBe. Agency, an industry disrupter that builds brands and tells the stories of clients ranging from Google, Pinterest, Alli Webb of Drybar, @properties, Salesforce, and more. Read more about Jessica’s inspiring story, the SimplyBe. Podcast, the importance of thought leadership, the process of writing a book, and so much more below.

Talk to me about the transition from your previous business venture and largest online women’s lifestyle magazine, CheekyChicago, to bringing SimplyBe. Agency to life. How was SimplyBe. born?

Basically, SimplyBe. was born out of my own epiphany about my own personal brand. I ran this business for seven years, I had a huge magazine following, huge readership of the magazine, tons of subscribers, that was the business and the brand. After seven years, I made the tough but clear decision to start something new. When I did that, I knew I was going to consult. I had no product, website, or strategy, but I did have my network. I knew I could let people know that I was going to go do this new thing, and if they needed my help they could call me. I sent an email to my network, BCC’d 100 folks, and within a month I was making more money than I ever had been in my life. The aha! moment was, the magazine wasn’t the brand. I was the brand. Unconsciously, I had built such a reputation and equity in my name in the market- it was the asset I didn’t even know I had. This set me on the path to invest in my own personal brand first. I do have that extensive background in marketing and branding, and I wanted to take those two understandings and blend them to help other people. That was the start of SimplyBe.

About five years after you founded SimplyBe. Agency, you launched a podcast. What prompted you to start this at that point in your career, and how did it bring your business to another level?

The podcast was a passion. I really wanted to be in that space, I wanted to talk to my community. I’ve dabbled with all sorts of content throughout my entire business. Videos, blogs, everything felt like a lift to some degree. Taking the time to write, paying someone at a production company to shoot video, whereas podcasts are just effortless. You get on a mic, press record, and obviously set it up and edit it. At the time, I was listening to podcasts and feeling so connected to the hosts. The medium of audio is so intimate. To have someone listen to you as you speak in their ears, while they’re cleaning the house or driving, it’s so personal. I wanted to be able to personally express myself and connect to my community. That was the inspiration behind it, and now it’s obviously a huge part of the platform of SimplyBe. It’s a key marketing vehicle, but it’s a way to fill my soul. I don’t do it for the revenue, although it does help grow the business.

You’ve had clients ranging from Google, to Alli Webb (founder of Drybar), to Pinterest, to @properties, to Salesforce and beyond. You and your team have such a diverse and impressive portfolio from a variety of industries – why do you think entrepreneurs and corporate leaders choose SimplyBe.?

I don’t think anyone does it the way we do it. I think we have a magic and methodology that is effective and drives results. I think it’s really at the end of the day, what people pay us for. That said, personal branding is a very hot topic and in-demand conversation right now. Our timing has been good. More and more organizations are becoming keenly aware that their people are their business. And their people are their brand. When you optimize and amplify the voices internally, whether those are internally facing or externally facing, that is a superpower inside of your organization that other companies (i.e. your competitors) hip to the know around, and you have to be part of this future state of work. People want to feel valued, and people want to be themselves. We come in and give them the tools to name their own value and their roadmap to share who they are. When companies reach out to us asking for our support, I’m think: good for you for being that type of organization! We’re happy to help.

Thought leadership is a concept you stand behind and embrace like no one else. For those who aren’t as familiar, what does it mean to be a thought leader?

I think “thought leader” often gets confused with the “social media influencer.” Just because you have influence on a particular social channel, it doesn’t make you a thought leader. If you think about thought leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Oprah, Nelson Mandela, Malala, people who influence the world based on what’s in their unique brains and point of view, and are then willing to vocalize that and share that with their corner of the world. Certain people have larger platforms to reach more corners, and some of us don’t. But it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t share. I think that being incredibly aligned and emboldened with what your unique point of view is and how that can shift and shape culture, society, the industry, community, human beings, that is the step one of really becoming a thought leader. What are you here to truly impact, influence, and change for the better? Then, how do you ascribe that mission to a message? And how does that message come to life? Is it a podcast, book, speaking tour, a series of workshops, a way you live? We all take for granted our own power and our own ability to influence. You don’t have to be Gandhi to change the world. You change the world by touching people, and we all touch people. But I think if you’re in any sort of career where you want to succeed, position yourself as a thought leader online by investing in your people by creating value, that actually increases the perception of your value in the market and allows you to grow your business. Thought leadership in itself is a tactic and a strategy as it is a way of living.

Let’s shift gears and talk about your bestselling book, Be. I’m obsessed with this book, but for those who don’t know about this, who should be reading Be.?

When I first wrote this book and pitched it to an agent, to get a book deal you have to identify three core audiences that would read this book. Who I identified at the time, who still align, were: next wave female entrepreneurs, progressive corporate leaders, and new graduates. That was the foundation of the audiences for this work. But I’ll tell you, I’ve had a smorgasbord of people read my book! It’s been really fascinating to see how many people from all walks of life resonate with the book. My book is really for everyone. I think if you want to build a personal brand, or if you don’t, understanding the value of you and how to tell your own story, my book is an empowerment book. It’s not a branding book. Anyone looking to be empowered to live their highest life and to be themselves in this world, this is for you.

"We all take for granted our own power and our own ability to influence."

What was the process like, writing a book? Do you have any advice for writers who hope to publish a book one day?

I went the traditional route of getting a book deal. A lot of people are self-publishing now, and that’s great too. They’re sort of different journeys and timelines, but I can speak to mine. When you write a book and go after a publishing deal, it’s a very long two-and-a-half-year process. I would say the hardest part of the whole thing was conceptualizing what my book was. Writing the structure, the outline, the arc of the beginning, middle, and end, like what’s my book? You have an idea, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can write fifty thousand words around that idea.

Then you pitch it, get an offer, I got four offers, my book went to auction. It was super fun! Then you get the book deal. Then you get to write the book and it’s super creative, you’re in your flow for six to nine months. I went to Costa Rica for a month just to write, it was magical. I poured my soul into that book. You submit it and go through a bunch of line items and copy edits and all the things…and then your book becomes a product! You go through this process of building your enterprise called your book launch, and that was no joke. It cost me a lot of energy. But despite your creative process and how much you love the art of your book, it’s still a product. If you want to sell it, you have to look at it like a business versus a piece of art. It was one of the hardest things to do, because there’s no scarcity with books. People are more likely to buy a ticket to your $10,000 retreat than your $20 book.

As a CEO and Founder of an incredibly successful personal branding agency, tell me about how you value and prioritize the agency’s mission and align it with your team of experts.

Frankly, that’s my number one focus every day. The way that I like to believe that I show up and share my heart and soul with my business and team is all about values, creating impact, change, love, authenticity, empowerment. Whether I’m having a conversation about optimizing a process, or I’m pitching a new client, or I’m giving tough feedback, everything is in service of what I’ve created here which is completely unique and sacred. We are a corporate entity, we make a lot of money, and I give zero f*cks if people judge me for being super spiritual, overly empathetic, incredibly loving, creating a family. I know they’re my employees, but to me they’re my family. That’s truly what I orient to every single day, no matter what environment I’m in. Am I perfect? No. But I think I’m a damn good leader when it comes to orienting people to a mission and values.

What can we look forward to seeing next from Jessica Zweig and SimplyBe.?

So, spoiler alert, I am working on a second book. That probably won’t come out until 2024, but I’m working on it! I’m really focusing on my agency, scaling, growing, optimizing. We just opened up an office in Nashville, so we’re going back and forth between Chicago and Nashville. Making the client experience more robust and powerful than it already is. I’m hosting a retreat in Nashville in October about next-level leadership, growth strategies, and spirituality all in one, too.

Where can people find you on social media?

IG: @jessicazweig

https://www.jessicazweig.com

Cheers,

Angelina