00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to Possible Now Stories of Possibilities, the podcast where we dive into the leadership frameworks, bold ideas, and personal stories shaping the future of marketing, technology and leadership. Before we begin, I want you to imagine something. You start by sharing your life. No strategy, no roadmap, no guarantees, just a camera and a voice. And over time, that voice turns into influence, that influence turns into trust, and that trust turns into an entire company not built on algorithms, but built on connections. This is Possible Now Stories of Possibilities. I'm Christian Mucher, co founder and global president of Possible and your host. And on this podcast we speak with people who don't just adapt to new systems, they create them. So today's guest is exactly that. Valeria Lipovitsky has built more than a brand. She built a movement blending fashion, beauty, wellness, entrepreneurship and digital innovation. She has mastered the art of turning authenticity into influence and influence into trust. As founder and CEO of Valeria Incorporation, she has built a global media company reaching over six one six million people with a twenty five person team and partnerships with brands like Chanel, Dior, Amazon, and Estelauder. Born in Russia, raised in Israel, and now based in Miami. Her journey from model to creator to entrepreneur is not linear. It's intentional. But what truly sets Valeria apart is this, in an industry driven by speed, perfection, and constant comparison, she choose something far more difficult, to be real, to share her wins but also the failures, to build a business, but also alive, to grow an audience but ultimately build a community. And when she shut down her own fashion brand, what many would see as a setback, she turned it into clarity, launching creative method helping others not just grow, but build something that last. Because Valeria doesn't just create content, she builds infrastructure for creators to own the future. And today we will talk about reinvention, identity, motherhood, business at creator economy, and what it really takes to turn influence into something meaningful. Valeria, I'm super excited to have you on our Possible Now podcast. Welcome to the show.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It's my honor. By the way, if I ever come out with a book, can you promise me that you will narrate it because you have the perfect voice.
00:02:41
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much. That was the first time somebody told me that. However, I tried to do my best valeria and you deserve it, of course such an intro, But let me ask you, did I miss anything in my intro about what you would like to share with your audience at the start for those ones who don't know you. I mean, you have millions of followers, many people know you, but maybe there are still a few on our parts who don't.
00:03:01
Speaker 2: I think you did a really great job. I really loved the detail that you mentioned about, you know, starting something and then closing it and doing it so publicly. I think that's one part of my journey that I like to speak a lot more about because it just brings more visibility to the journey of building anything meaningful. Usually a lot of the you know, the stages reserved for those who have these big, mega successes. But my success was built from a lot of small failures and then that specific failure that just became a beautiful redirection.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: So I think you did a great job just covering.
00:03:39
Speaker 1: It all, and we would definitely come back to this point as well, but maybe to provide a kind of framework for everybody. Willeria, you share so much of your life so openly, and I also think, what I see you know so honestly, where do you draw the line between what's real and what you choose to keep just for yourself. I think it's a of developing thing when you grow your audience and the range of topics you're talking about. I'm interested to learn about where's the boundary for you?
00:04:09
Speaker 2: Well, I think the boundary was discovered as I kind of went along. I think that not I think. I mean it was the case when I started. My idea of my presence in social media really was just supposed to be for nutrition advice, maybe a little bit of fashion, keeping it very surface level. And as I continued on building this community started to talking and when I say community, I talk about one hundred people, one hundred and fifty people right, Because it was a slow start, and when I started getting attention, when I started interacting with my community, I've realized that this surface level is not good enough for me. It won't continue to motivate me to show up every single day. I needed something that really made me feel connected and made me feel heard, and I think that I felt it because other people was seeking the same kind of connection as well. So I started opening up. I started talking about, you know, the seasons of life that I was in. When I started, I was twenty six, twenty eighty seven, I already had two small kids. I was talking about, you know, motherhood and finding your own kind of purpose in life aside from being a mother and aside from being a wife.
00:05:23
Speaker 3: And I really.
00:05:24
Speaker 2: Started going into a lot of personal corners to see how far I can stretch myself when it comes to vulnerability and storytelling in a way where other people can feel seen, but not crossing my boundaries. And I have to be honest. There were certain coints in my career where I did something and although it made other people feel good, it didn't feel good for me. So I had to step back and be like, Okay, this is my limitation where you know, I don't cross. But I really learned what it is as I can kept going and sharing more of myself and today, if you ask me, I mean a lot of people tell me you share so much online, but I truly feel that I live a pretty private life.
00:06:11
Speaker 3: I would say that a lot of the real.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: Things are kept for me, for myself or myself and my husband. I'm pretty good now knowing where you know, what are my limitations?
00:06:26
Speaker 1: I think it's for all of us. Doesn't matter who intends you. You share something on social and of course which channel. Everybody feels a bit different, you know, what's still private and your own environment. But of course that moved a lot. And you've mentioned you started when you were around twenty six. Did you have a vision or a business model in mind or was it just simply trying out and find your voice. You started with a few follow us, As you said, you know, it a small community, So it sounds a bit like it was more or less try and error. Is that right?
00:06:56
Speaker 2: Mm? It was definitely trial and error. I was not a where that. I mean back then it wasn't even called a creator economy. There was no economy whatsoever. There were some people, especially on YouTube. YouTube was a platform that was more ahead of its time in creating these personalities with big communities, but I wasn't aware of them.
00:07:16
Speaker 3: You know.
00:07:17
Speaker 2: I was in the suburbs picking up my kids after school, doing my own little thing, and I started on social media more of a way to really try to understand what I do with the knowledge that I had back then, It was this nutrition, and I started with the blog. I was posting my blog to local groups on Facebook, so it started very small, like I did not realize it could be a whole world of its own. But what I did do, which I'm really proud of, was I was very consistent. Even though I didn't see where it could go. I knew that there was something there. And once my husband kind of started payaying attention who is now my business partner, Gary, Once he started paying attention, we were both like, Okay, this could be something, and we just started building a plane while flying it because again, there was no Today, there's just so much terminology, there's so much more infrastructure for this industry, but when we started, there was nothing.
00:08:21
Speaker 1: So he was definitely the strongest reference for you. Right if he would be convinced and he would listen, then of course you knew that there's more than what you thought at the beginning. You said once you didn't want your success to depend on others. Can you explain what you mean in your specific case, because I would say you're responsible for your own success, but of course you depend in some way on others. Because if nobody recognized your success, then it won't be hardly a success, right, So can you explain of it?
00:08:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this was in reference to my earlier career in modeling. With modeling, you know, you are just sitting as a talent and waiting to get called. There's nothing that is in your powers to do in order to move the needle to get a new job. You're just waiting. And I knew that when I exited that career path. Whatever next I'm going to do is going to depend on my efforts. I want to make sure that I'm in a business where if I'm putting the effort, if I'm showing up, and there is a way for me to push my brand whatever it is forward. And you know, with social media, it's interesting because to your point, it depends on other people, but it really depends on me if I am able to be intriguing communicator, being able to tell a story, being able to connect to people, which is all in my powers.
00:09:41
Speaker 3: Right.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: I also mastered kind of my art as I went along with the years. People are coming, people are listening, and I very much created my own luck and build my own career with my community. But there's just I have so much more power and autonomy than I used to in my previous career.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: That brings us very soon to the question of how authentic you could stay and you could be and all the other creators. Before we come to this point, let's go back to the present. You're not running it roughly twenty five person team, is that correct? So was it hard of you to build the audience a couple of years ago or to build the organization all behind? Two different, very different things, but both are very.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: Challenging, very challenging, very different. I think I'm more of a creative So I had a lot of fun building the audience because it was a lot of experimentation with building a company. I mean, anybody that has built an infrastructure and worked with people. Managing people is a whole other ballgame. And making sure that we're all kind of you know, working towards the same goal and everything is clear, very difficult. I definitely did not do it myself. Hence, like I mentioned, my husband works with me, and you know, for him earlier on in the career to be able to recognized the size of opportunity with this creator economy. He came from the internet marketing world, so he just understood certain online behaviors and that's how he was able to recognize, Okay, you're onto something here. There's something that you do that keep people intrigued, and let's see where it can go. And we very much came together. He has more of company building experience, so we very much kind of infused our strengths and figured out how we even hire for this. And we started hiring pretty early on because we betted on this opportunity and betted on ourselves. We were just figuring it out. There was all these different roles that no one even heard of. You can imagine sitting in Toronto, Canada back then, I mean finding somebody, you know, a CEO or somebody to run a media company around one personal brand. No one really understood what we were doing. But the business was definitely harder to build. And as the industry matures, also the needs and how we work changes all the time. So this is definitely a very dynamic environment and industry to be part of.
00:12:16
Speaker 1: And of course you brought something up which I definitely missed in my intro that you also lived for some time in Canada, right, not just Israel and now Miami, but in between there was Canada, very international, very impressive. One question I really ask myself, especially in preparation for our chat today, is you know how you're working with so many different brands. You work with over a thousand brands if I'm right, So what instantly tells you this partnership is going to work or this one probably won't work? At one stage? Do you make some decisions? Right? You talk with brands about the idea behind the concept, strategy, data, da, So give me a better understanding when you make a decision for yourself yes or no?
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Well, right now we have more of a process. Again, this is also something I had to learn and if I'm being fully transparent, you know, when you build a business, especially earlier in my career, I had opportunities to work with companies that I've realized were not aligned with what I wanted to build, you know and the personal brand. And it took also these experiences to really know what questions to ask. I also had to earn my seat at the table. You know, back then when I was working with these brands, no one was listening to creators. You get your brief, This is what I want you to say, this is how you say it goodbye, and you had to kind of follow along. But with the years, we really became a media company, and I'm very proud and very confident in the way that we provide this media and build it in a way in collaboration with the brand. So I no longer allow brands to come say, okay, say this and this and goodbye. It has to make sense. There needs to be a story, There needs to be a messaging that makes sense for my community, and it has to also adhere to a lot of other factors. If it's you know, certain FTC guidelines, like there's languages that I don't say these big claims. Where before I felt comfortable saying them, now I scrutinize everything. So it starts with first really looking at the company. Obviously, if I like the product, if I like the brand, if I'm okay putting my name on it, because to me, every time I attach myself to a brand, everything that we've built throughout these years, we're giving them, you know, a percentage of that right because the trust is there, the recognition is there. So I am very meticulous when it comes to that process. And then it's the fun part. Then it's the storytelling. Then it's the how do we make it fun and how do we make it interesting for people, which it's not another product? And how do you solve their problem in their lives?
00:14:50
Speaker 3: Right?
00:14:50
Speaker 2: No one needs another cream? So how is this different? We then just map out a different creative And I don't like to complicate it when I say a media company. There are media companies that are doing the billboards and all the very you know, big glossy things. I like the real stuff. I like what kind of conversation can I have or a messaging that I can bring that just feels like you're sitting down with a friend. It's a different kind of media, a different kind of content.
00:15:19
Speaker 1: Do you think, hilaria for yourself, but maybe also for many other creators that you are now in a position to be involved from the very beginning on also in the conceptional work or is it still maybe more than when you started? You know, you were more at the end of this whole process, right, there was a final concept and product launch in mind, and the agency worked on everything and ask you can you be involved? Can you share? Can you add your personality to this? Is it true that over the time it developed, and that you're now starting with the brand together and all the advisors from the very beginning.
00:15:51
Speaker 3: On.
00:15:52
Speaker 2: Some companies, yes, of course, there's the big, big companies where listen, there's hierarchy, there's a flow to these user companies that's been around for a hunt of years. I'm not going to come in being like, let me tell you what to do. I mean, I could, but I know I know my place, I know their limitations as well. So when it's smaller companies or companies that are able to really be more nimble, we're more than happy to We come in as partners and we sit down and were like, what are we trying to do here? And then we build out the whole you know flow. Some companies come they already have this is the product, this is what needs to be said. So then our role as an agency is, Okay, how do we then combine it with the social media aspect? How do we make it social, approachable, interesting, fun? And we work around it. Right. Part of it is also being able to do your work well in different situations. So every brand that we work with have different kind of conditions and flows, and we just we find the best way to work with them.
00:16:58
Speaker 1: We touched on this, and I've promised that to come back to talk a bit about authenticity beyond that, let's call it buzzword. Authenticity is often talked about across the marketing world, for sure, but rarely tested. So when has been authentic actually cost you something that you are with your own guidelines, within your own you know, well, you believe this is the right one for me, and staying authentic it provides hopefully a lot of positive effects and moments, but sometimes it may cost you also something. So can you share some experiences.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: I think in terms of working with brands, we didn't have a lot of issues there. I think that when I and I'm still building kind of the personal brand and the company, it can get tricky when it's things that you feel close to. So for me, you know, I am very open about growing up in Israel, being Jewish. That part of me is undeniable, no matter the state of the world, that will never hide my identity, and that was something that was very interesting to navigate in the past.
00:18:06
Speaker 3: Few years online.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: And to your point, like that's when authenticity is becoming a bit scary sometimes because it's easier to just say okay, I don't want to create.
00:18:19
Speaker 1: Any involved or comment on something.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Exactly, But yeah, there comes a time where you just listen. I gotta stand out for what I believe in and I gotta show up because I talk about it all the time in you know, with who I am and this is who I am. And yeah it costs people, and it cost many people loving you. But I guess at some point it comes to fork in the road. It's like I have to stay aligned with myself. If I'm not aligned, then is where's this going? What am I'm just another puppet?
00:18:49
Speaker 1: So this is how do you do? Resist to this? And of course you need support, right, I mean sometimes you can do it just on your own, but I think there will be moments where you need support, of course.
00:18:58
Speaker 2: And I think it's been a beautiful experiment also to just remind me that, yes, when you talk about things that you care about, maybe people don't agree and they can unfollow, they cannot be part of your community, and that's okay. But the actual circle then you create for yourself when you are able to show up in your true form, is actually so powerful. Like I feel I've built such an intentional community around myself that I don't have to feel like I need to walk on eggshells or I need to hide certain parts of myself, And that feels to me rewarding like that to me is success.
00:19:47
Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing this specific topic, and I can imagine that it's becoming difficult, but glad to hear that you have such a strong community to support you. You've mentioned minutes ago that you know we talked about failures quickly, and also that we will come back to this, and you say openly, you know closing your fashion brand, you've called it one of your biggest failures. Was it harder to close it or was it or to admit publicly that it didn't work?
00:20:12
Speaker 2: Well, I think the hardest part was to admit to myself that it's not working. I think that one is the one that took me a little bit longer. And you know, there comes a time as a business owner and an entrepreneur where you just have to sit down and really admit to yourself, I've done everything I know how to do. There's nothing left I need to recalibrate. This is not working. So I would say this was the hardest part. And then when it was time to announce publicly, you know when I put my creative hat on, I mean it made me excited because this is a beautiful story to tell. This is a story of you know, this big moment that I put so much effort into and so much of my time and attention and money. It didn't work out, and I'm okay, And it actually created such clarity in what I need to do next that I'm inviting these type of failures into my life. So to me, that was exciting. So yeah, doing it publicly wasn't very scary, and I kind of knew that it's going to hit a nerve for some people, and I was right.
00:21:20
Speaker 3: I think that it gave.
00:21:22
Speaker 2: Permission for others to share their own failures and just look honestly at what they're doing and being able to you know, navigate their own journeys, because at the end of the day, you know, we're all mirrors to each other. So somebody opened up my Instagram and saw me saying I'm popping champagne because you know, this business failed miserably. Was just that, you know, sign that someone needed to be like, hey, it's time for me to kind of change directions a little bit, like there's something else for me. Out there and that's a beautiful thing. And to me, that's what influence is about.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: As long as we can make our own decisions right, it was your decision to close the business, it's your decision to open it new business, et cetera. Then it makes I think it's all a bit easier than when somebody else make a decision about your future. So with that experience, did it change your relationship with risk? Are you now more cautious or more fearless you know, to start a new business or not at all?
00:22:16
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say fear less. I think that that's a mountain. I'm still climbing, but definitely less apprehensive. Again, this feeling of waking up the next day and just feeling like lighter and realizing how much energy I brought back into my life and the amount of focus now that I have that I can give to something else just made me very excited. And I'm constantly reminded of this feeling. And at the end of the day, I'm just even looking back. Even though it failed, it gave me the lesson that I needed. Like, I've done it and it didn't work, I don't have to think about it anymore. It's never going to be in the back of my mind where oh I wish I started this brand. So I'm very much now living on this, you know, wavelength of I want to do and touch everything, and some will stick and others won't.
00:23:09
Speaker 3: And it's okay.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the creator economy, which of course is now established, as I would say, as one of the key drivers of the marketing world in the meantime. So I've heard you saying that creators don't just need audiences, but they need infrastructure. What do you mean by that and what does it mean in practical terms? You know, if now other creators are listening to us or wants to become a creator.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: So I think that once you build the muscle and clarity and consistency of actually creating content, you have to now think about how to scale it, you know, because at the end of the day, what we're looking at in the creator economy, we have now as creators the opportunity to move from platforms to build our own ecosystems. And in order to build those ecosystems, we need the infrastructure. And today, you know, we have so many different creators that do so many different things. If it's like email list or sub stock or membership ecosystems, you know, different communities and real life events. All of these things are just part of what is possible for someone, depends how big they want to build it.
00:24:18
Speaker 3: But to me, you can't do it alone.
00:24:20
Speaker 2: So back in the day, you know, people used to kind of be so shocked hearing that I have staff. But the staff was necessary in order to build our own little island that we can operate from. So I always very much talk to a lot of creators about it because the amount of work and talent that's out there, there's just so many opportunities, and I think it's important to understand that there's a lot of business tactics and knowledge that needs to be acquired and built through this creator.
00:24:52
Speaker 3: Journey as well.
00:24:53
Speaker 1: So based on your own success and the formula, I mean, you know a lot of creators, what is the biggest illusion creators still believe about success? Yes, today, obviously it's about numbers. It's about the number of followers, things like this, But that can't be right anymore. It can't be the only value you're looking for. What would be your advice to create us? You know about being successful and how to measure this well.
00:25:16
Speaker 2: I think that, yes, the number of followers is irrelevant. I mean, there is right now a rise in the creative middle class. You know, there's a creative middle class that I call them like the professional tear And these are people that are niche experts, educators, you know, community led operators. These are not just influencers per se. These are people that coming in to teach you something. And I think that that's such an amazing layer that was added to this whole world. So you don't need just to become a mega influencers. You can build such a beautiful business from being like a smaller influencer to amitier. So yes, the idea that numbers really matter is not that important. But what is important, and we always talk about, is your output. Your output is the most important thing. I think that right now a lot of creators, especially those who are starting or haven't gotten traction yet, they're so focused on the follow account that they don't give themselves enough time to explore. I feel like the first two three years of a creator online needs to be exploration of your own art. And you actually don't want so many people to follow you and look at you while you figure yourself out online. That's what I want people to remember. It's like it takes time to really nail down who you are and what is your utility and value online rather than rush to, you know, get into virality or get millions and millions of followers. So that I would say is number one mistake. The second one is of course doing it alone. But I think that now a lot of creators are waking up to it. AI has been very helpful as well because it basically became a co worker for a lot of creators. So there's a lot of cool stuff happening. But it's time.
00:27:05
Speaker 1: Do you need to be the most talented one, the most creative one, or the most disciplined one. It's a combination of everything.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: I think it's a combination of discipline, of humility, and of understanding data.
00:27:18
Speaker 1: Every conversation these days is about technology, obviously about these topics. So we may not dive into this too deeply because we all know that it's not just used as a tool. But I would say AI is also part of your infrastructure. You've mentioned before, right to create your infrastructure.
00:27:33
Speaker 3: That's exactly what it is.
00:27:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that there's a lot of conversation, al is AI going to replace creators? No, AI can't replace taste, it can't replace stories. The human patch will always be needed. But to your point, AI is becoming an infrastructure, it's not a replacement. And I think for creators it's actually been one of the most amazing ways to scale and really build their business having access to something like that.
00:28:02
Speaker 1: That was my fastest discussion and conversation about AI ever, you know, within one minute, and we we have an agreement about everything, which is amazing.
00:28:11
Speaker 2: I think everyone always you know, looking to villainize the future and where it's going and listen. I don't know, but so far I've been seeing that I'm getting more time back to be creative and have fun with it rather than doing a lot of the work that now is. You know, I'm assigning to two AI, So yeah, I'm here for this.
00:28:31
Speaker 1: But Larry, you also run your own podcast. Obviously you're you know, a professional in many ways, and it's called Not Alone and it has a specific background. When and how did you first realize how powerful it is to simply make people feel seen Because you do this, you know, with many people bringing into your podcast.
00:28:49
Speaker 2: So I think that my platforms like Instagram and YouTube gave me the first data point to see what people are interested in. And then as I started to develop myself as a creator, I've realized that there's a lot of conversations and a lot of point of views that I'm not able to fit into these platforms and these formats. So also, you know, with kind of my business hat on, I knew that I want to continue growing the media company, and you need to have more offerings and more value. So it was just a very natural thing to get into the podcasting world. And it's been fun, it's been challenging. It's always interesting because anytime a new form of media takes off, because I mean, who doesn't have a podcast? These days, I feel like everybody has one.
00:29:37
Speaker 1: Thank you.
00:29:37
Speaker 3: Yes, I agree, everybody has one.
00:29:40
Speaker 2: But you know what, now, what I'm starting to see is that slowly people are starting to drop off because it's again, there's no such thing as this like viral one thing that just blows up. It takes time to build something really meaningful. So I do see a lot of those dropping off. But to me, again, as a medium of having conversations, is that I'm already having on my other platforms, just in a different format and in a more connecting way. So I feel very fortunate that I'm able to continue doing.
00:30:11
Speaker 1: That, and having you on our podcast today will further increase my audience and nobody will look off here for sure. But therea So you're multi talent, you're a founder, your creator, your mother, you're a partner. Which of these roles challenge you most right now? I mean there are different phases in our lives, and of course it will change all the time, But right now, what is it is it to bring your creator business, let's call it like this onto the next level?
00:30:38
Speaker 2: Is it?
00:30:39
Speaker 1: You know that you have something in mind to found maybe or to initiate another company or you know, another project? What is it these days?
00:30:48
Speaker 2: If I'm being honest, I think that right now I'm in the season where I'm looking at my fast growing boys and I just want to make sure that I and putting everything that I can in raising you know, functioning amazing men to society. So my focus is there. There were other seasons in life where I was very focused on growing the business. But you know, there's this beauty and I think not a lot of people talk about it. There's a beauty of knowing when to Sometimes you don't have to press so hard, Like I'm in a season where I don't feel like I have to press so hard in my career. I'm able to continue doing what I'm doing, showing up consistently, but also letting things flow and go and trusting the infrastructure that I build around me to really keep pushing the business so I can really focus on, you know, my children right now and my own like exploration, because at the end of the day, I have to be constantly inspired in order to produce my work.
00:31:54
Speaker 1: I like that. I like this confidence to say, hey, I did obviously something right. You know, it runs smoothly, you know, right now I can really enjoy what I initiated here in terms of business at least, So I like this confidence. Not many, as you said, not many do this.
00:32:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, I think we put success and an accomplishment and a lot of these things in this bucket of It has to feel really hard and you have to suffer, and I'm just I've been working really hard to find the joy in it.
00:32:24
Speaker 3: You know.
00:32:25
Speaker 2: Not everything has to be constantly feeling like, you know, the roof is about to blow up. So I'm leaning into that kind of season in my life.
00:32:34
Speaker 1: So my final question if your audience, which is you know, millions of people, could take just one thing from your journey, what would you want them to truly understand about building a life that is both successful and real? Obviously, what would it be?
00:32:50
Speaker 2: I think, to echo what I mentioned earlier is just you know, being able to be very honest with yourself and know when to lead in and know when to opt out has been a true skill that I've developed through the years because I truly feel like you can have it all and it doesn't have to come with so much suffering. Hard work yes, consistency yes, discipline yes, but you want to enjoy the process as well. So I've very much came to this place in my life where I remind myself I can reinvent myself all the time. You know, every day is like a different opportunity, and I will get to everything that I want to get.
00:33:35
Speaker 3: It just doesn't have to all happen right now.
00:33:37
Speaker 2: So I think that it gave me an opportunity to give more grace to myself and enjoy what has been built and what is being built, so that touches every aspect of life, whether you're a mother, whether you're a creator, an entrepreneur, everything. So there's anything I can leave people with is.
00:33:57
Speaker 1: That it was an amazing chat me Laria. I've learned so many things, and I've impressed by your confidence to talk about so openly about all these things. And something what stands out to me is that in a world where so much is created and optimized and filtered, you've chosen to build something real. And this is not just an audience, but a space where people feel seen and heard and you embrace them and bring them into your world. And that's far more powerful than just reach. We talked about this, you know, having just looking after numbers, which is obviously not the most important thing, and maybe that's real shift we are witnessing with you and hopefully with others as well, from influence to impact. That's amazing. So congratulations on your success so far and the life you have, and thank you for being on our podcast today. It possible now, and I'm really looking forward to see you in Miami in a couple of weeks when you share these amazing stories with a broader audience and even border audience as possible.
00:34:56
Speaker 3: Thank you.
00:34:56
Speaker 2: I am very, very excited and thank you for giving me an opportunity to tell my story. The Possible Summit will be amazing. We're going to have some good talks.
00:35:09
Speaker 1: If you're curious to learn more about Possible, sign up for our newsletter, or if you want to join us at the Possible Show in Miami, visit possibleevent dot com. Possible Now is a co production of iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan Martz and Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks to Colleen Lawrence Mac from our programming team. Our theme music is composed by Anthony Keatticoli. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows
Speaker 1: Welcome to Possible Now Stories of Possibilities, the podcast where we dive into the leadership frameworks, bold ideas, and personal stories shaping the future of marketing, technology and leadership. Before we begin, I want you to imagine something. You start by sharing your life. No strategy, no roadmap, no guarantees, just a camera and a voice. And over time, that voice turns into influence, that influence turns into trust, and that trust turns into an entire company not built on algorithms, but built on connections. This is Possible Now Stories of Possibilities. I'm Christian Mucher, co founder and global president of Possible and your host. And on this podcast we speak with people who don't just adapt to new systems, they create them. So today's guest is exactly that. Valeria Lipovitsky has built more than a brand. She built a movement blending fashion, beauty, wellness, entrepreneurship and digital innovation. She has mastered the art of turning authenticity into influence and influence into trust. As founder and CEO of Valeria Incorporation, she has built a global media company reaching over six one six million people with a twenty five person team and partnerships with brands like Chanel, Dior, Amazon, and Estelauder. Born in Russia, raised in Israel, and now based in Miami. Her journey from model to creator to entrepreneur is not linear. It's intentional. But what truly sets Valeria apart is this, in an industry driven by speed, perfection, and constant comparison, she choose something far more difficult, to be real, to share her wins but also the failures, to build a business, but also alive, to grow an audience but ultimately build a community. And when she shut down her own fashion brand, what many would see as a setback, she turned it into clarity, launching creative method helping others not just grow, but build something that last. Because Valeria doesn't just create content, she builds infrastructure for creators to own the future. And today we will talk about reinvention, identity, motherhood, business at creator economy, and what it really takes to turn influence into something meaningful. Valeria, I'm super excited to have you on our Possible Now podcast. Welcome to the show.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It's my honor. By the way, if I ever come out with a book, can you promise me that you will narrate it because you have the perfect voice.
00:02:41
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much. That was the first time somebody told me that. However, I tried to do my best valeria and you deserve it, of course such an intro, But let me ask you, did I miss anything in my intro about what you would like to share with your audience at the start for those ones who don't know you. I mean, you have millions of followers, many people know you, but maybe there are still a few on our parts who don't.
00:03:01
Speaker 2: I think you did a really great job. I really loved the detail that you mentioned about, you know, starting something and then closing it and doing it so publicly. I think that's one part of my journey that I like to speak a lot more about because it just brings more visibility to the journey of building anything meaningful. Usually a lot of the you know, the stages reserved for those who have these big, mega successes. But my success was built from a lot of small failures and then that specific failure that just became a beautiful redirection.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: So I think you did a great job just covering.
00:03:39
Speaker 1: It all, and we would definitely come back to this point as well, but maybe to provide a kind of framework for everybody. Willeria, you share so much of your life so openly, and I also think, what I see you know so honestly, where do you draw the line between what's real and what you choose to keep just for yourself. I think it's a of developing thing when you grow your audience and the range of topics you're talking about. I'm interested to learn about where's the boundary for you?
00:04:09
Speaker 2: Well, I think the boundary was discovered as I kind of went along. I think that not I think. I mean it was the case when I started. My idea of my presence in social media really was just supposed to be for nutrition advice, maybe a little bit of fashion, keeping it very surface level. And as I continued on building this community started to talking and when I say community, I talk about one hundred people, one hundred and fifty people right, Because it was a slow start, and when I started getting attention, when I started interacting with my community, I've realized that this surface level is not good enough for me. It won't continue to motivate me to show up every single day. I needed something that really made me feel connected and made me feel heard, and I think that I felt it because other people was seeking the same kind of connection as well. So I started opening up. I started talking about, you know, the seasons of life that I was in. When I started, I was twenty six, twenty eighty seven, I already had two small kids. I was talking about, you know, motherhood and finding your own kind of purpose in life aside from being a mother and aside from being a wife.
00:05:23
Speaker 3: And I really.
00:05:24
Speaker 2: Started going into a lot of personal corners to see how far I can stretch myself when it comes to vulnerability and storytelling in a way where other people can feel seen, but not crossing my boundaries. And I have to be honest. There were certain coints in my career where I did something and although it made other people feel good, it didn't feel good for me. So I had to step back and be like, Okay, this is my limitation where you know, I don't cross. But I really learned what it is as I can kept going and sharing more of myself and today, if you ask me, I mean a lot of people tell me you share so much online, but I truly feel that I live a pretty private life.
00:06:11
Speaker 3: I would say that a lot of the real.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: Things are kept for me, for myself or myself and my husband. I'm pretty good now knowing where you know, what are my limitations?
00:06:26
Speaker 1: I think it's for all of us. Doesn't matter who intends you. You share something on social and of course which channel. Everybody feels a bit different, you know, what's still private and your own environment. But of course that moved a lot. And you've mentioned you started when you were around twenty six. Did you have a vision or a business model in mind or was it just simply trying out and find your voice. You started with a few follow us, As you said, you know, it a small community, So it sounds a bit like it was more or less try and error. Is that right?
00:06:56
Speaker 2: Mm? It was definitely trial and error. I was not a where that. I mean back then it wasn't even called a creator economy. There was no economy whatsoever. There were some people, especially on YouTube. YouTube was a platform that was more ahead of its time in creating these personalities with big communities, but I wasn't aware of them.
00:07:16
Speaker 3: You know.
00:07:17
Speaker 2: I was in the suburbs picking up my kids after school, doing my own little thing, and I started on social media more of a way to really try to understand what I do with the knowledge that I had back then, It was this nutrition, and I started with the blog. I was posting my blog to local groups on Facebook, so it started very small, like I did not realize it could be a whole world of its own. But what I did do, which I'm really proud of, was I was very consistent. Even though I didn't see where it could go. I knew that there was something there. And once my husband kind of started payaying attention who is now my business partner, Gary, Once he started paying attention, we were both like, Okay, this could be something, and we just started building a plane while flying it because again, there was no Today, there's just so much terminology, there's so much more infrastructure for this industry, but when we started, there was nothing.
00:08:21
Speaker 1: So he was definitely the strongest reference for you. Right if he would be convinced and he would listen, then of course you knew that there's more than what you thought at the beginning. You said once you didn't want your success to depend on others. Can you explain what you mean in your specific case, because I would say you're responsible for your own success, but of course you depend in some way on others. Because if nobody recognized your success, then it won't be hardly a success, right, So can you explain of it?
00:08:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this was in reference to my earlier career in modeling. With modeling, you know, you are just sitting as a talent and waiting to get called. There's nothing that is in your powers to do in order to move the needle to get a new job. You're just waiting. And I knew that when I exited that career path. Whatever next I'm going to do is going to depend on my efforts. I want to make sure that I'm in a business where if I'm putting the effort, if I'm showing up, and there is a way for me to push my brand whatever it is forward. And you know, with social media, it's interesting because to your point, it depends on other people, but it really depends on me if I am able to be intriguing communicator, being able to tell a story, being able to connect to people, which is all in my powers.
00:09:41
Speaker 3: Right.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: I also mastered kind of my art as I went along with the years. People are coming, people are listening, and I very much created my own luck and build my own career with my community. But there's just I have so much more power and autonomy than I used to in my previous career.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: That brings us very soon to the question of how authentic you could stay and you could be and all the other creators. Before we come to this point, let's go back to the present. You're not running it roughly twenty five person team, is that correct? So was it hard of you to build the audience a couple of years ago or to build the organization all behind? Two different, very different things, but both are very.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: Challenging, very challenging, very different. I think I'm more of a creative So I had a lot of fun building the audience because it was a lot of experimentation with building a company. I mean, anybody that has built an infrastructure and worked with people. Managing people is a whole other ballgame. And making sure that we're all kind of you know, working towards the same goal and everything is clear, very difficult. I definitely did not do it myself. Hence, like I mentioned, my husband works with me, and you know, for him earlier on in the career to be able to recognized the size of opportunity with this creator economy. He came from the internet marketing world, so he just understood certain online behaviors and that's how he was able to recognize, Okay, you're onto something here. There's something that you do that keep people intrigued, and let's see where it can go. And we very much came together. He has more of company building experience, so we very much kind of infused our strengths and figured out how we even hire for this. And we started hiring pretty early on because we betted on this opportunity and betted on ourselves. We were just figuring it out. There was all these different roles that no one even heard of. You can imagine sitting in Toronto, Canada back then, I mean finding somebody, you know, a CEO or somebody to run a media company around one personal brand. No one really understood what we were doing. But the business was definitely harder to build. And as the industry matures, also the needs and how we work changes all the time. So this is definitely a very dynamic environment and industry to be part of.
00:12:16
Speaker 1: And of course you brought something up which I definitely missed in my intro that you also lived for some time in Canada, right, not just Israel and now Miami, but in between there was Canada, very international, very impressive. One question I really ask myself, especially in preparation for our chat today, is you know how you're working with so many different brands. You work with over a thousand brands if I'm right, So what instantly tells you this partnership is going to work or this one probably won't work? At one stage? Do you make some decisions? Right? You talk with brands about the idea behind the concept, strategy, data, da, So give me a better understanding when you make a decision for yourself yes or no?
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Well, right now we have more of a process. Again, this is also something I had to learn and if I'm being fully transparent, you know, when you build a business, especially earlier in my career, I had opportunities to work with companies that I've realized were not aligned with what I wanted to build, you know and the personal brand. And it took also these experiences to really know what questions to ask. I also had to earn my seat at the table. You know, back then when I was working with these brands, no one was listening to creators. You get your brief, This is what I want you to say, this is how you say it goodbye, and you had to kind of follow along. But with the years, we really became a media company, and I'm very proud and very confident in the way that we provide this media and build it in a way in collaboration with the brand. So I no longer allow brands to come say, okay, say this and this and goodbye. It has to make sense. There needs to be a story, There needs to be a messaging that makes sense for my community, and it has to also adhere to a lot of other factors. If it's you know, certain FTC guidelines, like there's languages that I don't say these big claims. Where before I felt comfortable saying them, now I scrutinize everything. So it starts with first really looking at the company. Obviously, if I like the product, if I like the brand, if I'm okay putting my name on it, because to me, every time I attach myself to a brand, everything that we've built throughout these years, we're giving them, you know, a percentage of that right because the trust is there, the recognition is there. So I am very meticulous when it comes to that process. And then it's the fun part. Then it's the storytelling. Then it's the how do we make it fun and how do we make it interesting for people, which it's not another product? And how do you solve their problem in their lives?
00:14:50
Speaker 3: Right?
00:14:50
Speaker 2: No one needs another cream? So how is this different? We then just map out a different creative And I don't like to complicate it when I say a media company. There are media companies that are doing the billboards and all the very you know, big glossy things. I like the real stuff. I like what kind of conversation can I have or a messaging that I can bring that just feels like you're sitting down with a friend. It's a different kind of media, a different kind of content.
00:15:19
Speaker 1: Do you think, hilaria for yourself, but maybe also for many other creators that you are now in a position to be involved from the very beginning on also in the conceptional work or is it still maybe more than when you started? You know, you were more at the end of this whole process, right, there was a final concept and product launch in mind, and the agency worked on everything and ask you can you be involved? Can you share? Can you add your personality to this? Is it true that over the time it developed, and that you're now starting with the brand together and all the advisors from the very beginning.
00:15:51
Speaker 3: On.
00:15:52
Speaker 2: Some companies, yes, of course, there's the big, big companies where listen, there's hierarchy, there's a flow to these user companies that's been around for a hunt of years. I'm not going to come in being like, let me tell you what to do. I mean, I could, but I know I know my place, I know their limitations as well. So when it's smaller companies or companies that are able to really be more nimble, we're more than happy to We come in as partners and we sit down and were like, what are we trying to do here? And then we build out the whole you know flow. Some companies come they already have this is the product, this is what needs to be said. So then our role as an agency is, Okay, how do we then combine it with the social media aspect? How do we make it social, approachable, interesting, fun? And we work around it. Right. Part of it is also being able to do your work well in different situations. So every brand that we work with have different kind of conditions and flows, and we just we find the best way to work with them.
00:16:58
Speaker 1: We touched on this, and I've promised that to come back to talk a bit about authenticity beyond that, let's call it buzzword. Authenticity is often talked about across the marketing world, for sure, but rarely tested. So when has been authentic actually cost you something that you are with your own guidelines, within your own you know, well, you believe this is the right one for me, and staying authentic it provides hopefully a lot of positive effects and moments, but sometimes it may cost you also something. So can you share some experiences.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: I think in terms of working with brands, we didn't have a lot of issues there. I think that when I and I'm still building kind of the personal brand and the company, it can get tricky when it's things that you feel close to. So for me, you know, I am very open about growing up in Israel, being Jewish. That part of me is undeniable, no matter the state of the world, that will never hide my identity, and that was something that was very interesting to navigate in the past.
00:18:06
Speaker 3: Few years online.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: And to your point, like that's when authenticity is becoming a bit scary sometimes because it's easier to just say okay, I don't want to create.
00:18:19
Speaker 1: Any involved or comment on something.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Exactly, But yeah, there comes a time where you just listen. I gotta stand out for what I believe in and I gotta show up because I talk about it all the time in you know, with who I am and this is who I am. And yeah it costs people, and it cost many people loving you. But I guess at some point it comes to fork in the road. It's like I have to stay aligned with myself. If I'm not aligned, then is where's this going? What am I'm just another puppet?
00:18:49
Speaker 1: So this is how do you do? Resist to this? And of course you need support, right, I mean sometimes you can do it just on your own, but I think there will be moments where you need support, of course.
00:18:58
Speaker 2: And I think it's been a beautiful experiment also to just remind me that, yes, when you talk about things that you care about, maybe people don't agree and they can unfollow, they cannot be part of your community, and that's okay. But the actual circle then you create for yourself when you are able to show up in your true form, is actually so powerful. Like I feel I've built such an intentional community around myself that I don't have to feel like I need to walk on eggshells or I need to hide certain parts of myself, And that feels to me rewarding like that to me is success.
00:19:47
Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing this specific topic, and I can imagine that it's becoming difficult, but glad to hear that you have such a strong community to support you. You've mentioned minutes ago that you know we talked about failures quickly, and also that we will come back to this, and you say openly, you know closing your fashion brand, you've called it one of your biggest failures. Was it harder to close it or was it or to admit publicly that it didn't work?
00:20:12
Speaker 2: Well, I think the hardest part was to admit to myself that it's not working. I think that one is the one that took me a little bit longer. And you know, there comes a time as a business owner and an entrepreneur where you just have to sit down and really admit to yourself, I've done everything I know how to do. There's nothing left I need to recalibrate. This is not working. So I would say this was the hardest part. And then when it was time to announce publicly, you know when I put my creative hat on, I mean it made me excited because this is a beautiful story to tell. This is a story of you know, this big moment that I put so much effort into and so much of my time and attention and money. It didn't work out, and I'm okay, And it actually created such clarity in what I need to do next that I'm inviting these type of failures into my life. So to me, that was exciting. So yeah, doing it publicly wasn't very scary, and I kind of knew that it's going to hit a nerve for some people, and I was right.
00:21:20
Speaker 3: I think that it gave.
00:21:22
Speaker 2: Permission for others to share their own failures and just look honestly at what they're doing and being able to you know, navigate their own journeys, because at the end of the day, you know, we're all mirrors to each other. So somebody opened up my Instagram and saw me saying I'm popping champagne because you know, this business failed miserably. Was just that, you know, sign that someone needed to be like, hey, it's time for me to kind of change directions a little bit, like there's something else for me. Out there and that's a beautiful thing. And to me, that's what influence is about.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: As long as we can make our own decisions right, it was your decision to close the business, it's your decision to open it new business, et cetera. Then it makes I think it's all a bit easier than when somebody else make a decision about your future. So with that experience, did it change your relationship with risk? Are you now more cautious or more fearless you know, to start a new business or not at all?
00:22:16
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say fear less. I think that that's a mountain. I'm still climbing, but definitely less apprehensive. Again, this feeling of waking up the next day and just feeling like lighter and realizing how much energy I brought back into my life and the amount of focus now that I have that I can give to something else just made me very excited. And I'm constantly reminded of this feeling. And at the end of the day, I'm just even looking back. Even though it failed, it gave me the lesson that I needed. Like, I've done it and it didn't work, I don't have to think about it anymore. It's never going to be in the back of my mind where oh I wish I started this brand. So I'm very much now living on this, you know, wavelength of I want to do and touch everything, and some will stick and others won't.
00:23:09
Speaker 3: And it's okay.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the creator economy, which of course is now established, as I would say, as one of the key drivers of the marketing world in the meantime. So I've heard you saying that creators don't just need audiences, but they need infrastructure. What do you mean by that and what does it mean in practical terms? You know, if now other creators are listening to us or wants to become a creator.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: So I think that once you build the muscle and clarity and consistency of actually creating content, you have to now think about how to scale it, you know, because at the end of the day, what we're looking at in the creator economy, we have now as creators the opportunity to move from platforms to build our own ecosystems. And in order to build those ecosystems, we need the infrastructure. And today, you know, we have so many different creators that do so many different things. If it's like email list or sub stock or membership ecosystems, you know, different communities and real life events. All of these things are just part of what is possible for someone, depends how big they want to build it.
00:24:18
Speaker 3: But to me, you can't do it alone.
00:24:20
Speaker 2: So back in the day, you know, people used to kind of be so shocked hearing that I have staff. But the staff was necessary in order to build our own little island that we can operate from. So I always very much talk to a lot of creators about it because the amount of work and talent that's out there, there's just so many opportunities, and I think it's important to understand that there's a lot of business tactics and knowledge that needs to be acquired and built through this creator.
00:24:52
Speaker 3: Journey as well.
00:24:53
Speaker 1: So based on your own success and the formula, I mean, you know a lot of creators, what is the biggest illusion creators still believe about success? Yes, today, obviously it's about numbers. It's about the number of followers, things like this, But that can't be right anymore. It can't be the only value you're looking for. What would be your advice to create us? You know about being successful and how to measure this well.
00:25:16
Speaker 2: I think that, yes, the number of followers is irrelevant. I mean, there is right now a rise in the creative middle class. You know, there's a creative middle class that I call them like the professional tear And these are people that are niche experts, educators, you know, community led operators. These are not just influencers per se. These are people that coming in to teach you something. And I think that that's such an amazing layer that was added to this whole world. So you don't need just to become a mega influencers. You can build such a beautiful business from being like a smaller influencer to amitier. So yes, the idea that numbers really matter is not that important. But what is important, and we always talk about, is your output. Your output is the most important thing. I think that right now a lot of creators, especially those who are starting or haven't gotten traction yet, they're so focused on the follow account that they don't give themselves enough time to explore. I feel like the first two three years of a creator online needs to be exploration of your own art. And you actually don't want so many people to follow you and look at you while you figure yourself out online. That's what I want people to remember. It's like it takes time to really nail down who you are and what is your utility and value online rather than rush to, you know, get into virality or get millions and millions of followers. So that I would say is number one mistake. The second one is of course doing it alone. But I think that now a lot of creators are waking up to it. AI has been very helpful as well because it basically became a co worker for a lot of creators. So there's a lot of cool stuff happening. But it's time.
00:27:05
Speaker 1: Do you need to be the most talented one, the most creative one, or the most disciplined one. It's a combination of everything.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: I think it's a combination of discipline, of humility, and of understanding data.
00:27:18
Speaker 1: Every conversation these days is about technology, obviously about these topics. So we may not dive into this too deeply because we all know that it's not just used as a tool. But I would say AI is also part of your infrastructure. You've mentioned before, right to create your infrastructure.
00:27:33
Speaker 3: That's exactly what it is.
00:27:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that there's a lot of conversation, al is AI going to replace creators? No, AI can't replace taste, it can't replace stories. The human patch will always be needed. But to your point, AI is becoming an infrastructure, it's not a replacement. And I think for creators it's actually been one of the most amazing ways to scale and really build their business having access to something like that.
00:28:02
Speaker 1: That was my fastest discussion and conversation about AI ever, you know, within one minute, and we we have an agreement about everything, which is amazing.
00:28:11
Speaker 2: I think everyone always you know, looking to villainize the future and where it's going and listen. I don't know, but so far I've been seeing that I'm getting more time back to be creative and have fun with it rather than doing a lot of the work that now is. You know, I'm assigning to two AI, So yeah, I'm here for this.
00:28:31
Speaker 1: But Larry, you also run your own podcast. Obviously you're you know, a professional in many ways, and it's called Not Alone and it has a specific background. When and how did you first realize how powerful it is to simply make people feel seen Because you do this, you know, with many people bringing into your podcast.
00:28:49
Speaker 2: So I think that my platforms like Instagram and YouTube gave me the first data point to see what people are interested in. And then as I started to develop myself as a creator, I've realized that there's a lot of conversations and a lot of point of views that I'm not able to fit into these platforms and these formats. So also, you know, with kind of my business hat on, I knew that I want to continue growing the media company, and you need to have more offerings and more value. So it was just a very natural thing to get into the podcasting world. And it's been fun, it's been challenging. It's always interesting because anytime a new form of media takes off, because I mean, who doesn't have a podcast? These days, I feel like everybody has one.
00:29:37
Speaker 1: Thank you.
00:29:37
Speaker 3: Yes, I agree, everybody has one.
00:29:40
Speaker 2: But you know what, now, what I'm starting to see is that slowly people are starting to drop off because it's again, there's no such thing as this like viral one thing that just blows up. It takes time to build something really meaningful. So I do see a lot of those dropping off. But to me, again, as a medium of having conversations, is that I'm already having on my other platforms, just in a different format and in a more connecting way. So I feel very fortunate that I'm able to continue doing.
00:30:11
Speaker 1: That, and having you on our podcast today will further increase my audience and nobody will look off here for sure. But therea So you're multi talent, you're a founder, your creator, your mother, you're a partner. Which of these roles challenge you most right now? I mean there are different phases in our lives, and of course it will change all the time, But right now, what is it is it to bring your creator business, let's call it like this onto the next level?
00:30:38
Speaker 2: Is it?
00:30:39
Speaker 1: You know that you have something in mind to found maybe or to initiate another company or you know, another project? What is it these days?
00:30:48
Speaker 2: If I'm being honest, I think that right now I'm in the season where I'm looking at my fast growing boys and I just want to make sure that I and putting everything that I can in raising you know, functioning amazing men to society. So my focus is there. There were other seasons in life where I was very focused on growing the business. But you know, there's this beauty and I think not a lot of people talk about it. There's a beauty of knowing when to Sometimes you don't have to press so hard, Like I'm in a season where I don't feel like I have to press so hard in my career. I'm able to continue doing what I'm doing, showing up consistently, but also letting things flow and go and trusting the infrastructure that I build around me to really keep pushing the business so I can really focus on, you know, my children right now and my own like exploration, because at the end of the day, I have to be constantly inspired in order to produce my work.
00:31:54
Speaker 1: I like that. I like this confidence to say, hey, I did obviously something right. You know, it runs smoothly, you know, right now I can really enjoy what I initiated here in terms of business at least, So I like this confidence. Not many, as you said, not many do this.
00:32:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, I think we put success and an accomplishment and a lot of these things in this bucket of It has to feel really hard and you have to suffer, and I'm just I've been working really hard to find the joy in it.
00:32:24
Speaker 3: You know.
00:32:25
Speaker 2: Not everything has to be constantly feeling like, you know, the roof is about to blow up. So I'm leaning into that kind of season in my life.
00:32:34
Speaker 1: So my final question if your audience, which is you know, millions of people, could take just one thing from your journey, what would you want them to truly understand about building a life that is both successful and real? Obviously, what would it be?
00:32:50
Speaker 2: I think, to echo what I mentioned earlier is just you know, being able to be very honest with yourself and know when to lead in and know when to opt out has been a true skill that I've developed through the years because I truly feel like you can have it all and it doesn't have to come with so much suffering. Hard work yes, consistency yes, discipline yes, but you want to enjoy the process as well. So I've very much came to this place in my life where I remind myself I can reinvent myself all the time. You know, every day is like a different opportunity, and I will get to everything that I want to get.
00:33:35
Speaker 3: It just doesn't have to all happen right now.
00:33:37
Speaker 2: So I think that it gave me an opportunity to give more grace to myself and enjoy what has been built and what is being built, so that touches every aspect of life, whether you're a mother, whether you're a creator, an entrepreneur, everything. So there's anything I can leave people with is.
00:33:57
Speaker 1: That it was an amazing chat me Laria. I've learned so many things, and I've impressed by your confidence to talk about so openly about all these things. And something what stands out to me is that in a world where so much is created and optimized and filtered, you've chosen to build something real. And this is not just an audience, but a space where people feel seen and heard and you embrace them and bring them into your world. And that's far more powerful than just reach. We talked about this, you know, having just looking after numbers, which is obviously not the most important thing, and maybe that's real shift we are witnessing with you and hopefully with others as well, from influence to impact. That's amazing. So congratulations on your success so far and the life you have, and thank you for being on our podcast today. It possible now, and I'm really looking forward to see you in Miami in a couple of weeks when you share these amazing stories with a broader audience and even border audience as possible.
00:34:56
Speaker 3: Thank you.
00:34:56
Speaker 2: I am very, very excited and thank you for giving me an opportunity to tell my story. The Possible Summit will be amazing. We're going to have some good talks.
00:35:09
Speaker 1: If you're curious to learn more about Possible, sign up for our newsletter, or if you want to join us at the Possible Show in Miami, visit possibleevent dot com. Possible Now is a co production of iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan Martz and Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks to Colleen Lawrence Mac from our programming team. Our theme music is composed by Anthony Keatticoli. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows
