5 Things Female Founders Must Do to Get Funded in the Age of AI

Liana: So the civil war broke out in Tajikistan in 91, and we had to flee as refugees. As a young girl, I was bullied in school a lot, and so I never wanted to fit in. I've always stood out from the way I dressed, from the way I spoke. Growing up with Russian parents is not easy. Go through a fire, basically walk on fire, and then you'll find the light at the end of the tunnel. If you want to be successful, you need to know when to pivot at the right time and when to adapt. For me, the biggest fear is not to reach my highest potential in this world and in the time that I'm alive. Why do women get only 2% of funding? It's insane. If you can't tell your story, you're not going to get funded. Tomorrow is promised only to those that go after their dreams.

Jeff: So, Liana, thanks for joining. Like, I'm really excited about this.

Liana: Thank you. Me, too. I am from. Originally from Tajikistan, Dushanbe. It's, ah, former Soviet Union. But I moved here when I was nine years old. And so it happens to be that I'm from New York now for the past, uh, 30 somewhat years.

Jeff: Um, so you were 9, which, you know, it's pretty young, but also, like, it's, you know, you're not, like, you're not like an infant. Like, was that. I can only imagine. Was that. What was that like when you showed up? Did you move right to New York, like in the city? And where did you. Where did you guys land first when you. When you moved to the States?

Liana: Yeah, so we came to Queens.

Jeff: To Queens. Okay.

Liana: Yes. And that's, uh, where we settled with. With other cousins and relatives that we have.

Jeff: I mean, that's. I don't know anything about where you're from, but I feel like that would be a pretty stark contrast from Queens to. Or two Queens from the Tajikistan.

Liana: So actually, let me. Let me kind of go back. So I was born into Jikistan, but I also immigrated to Austria, Vienna. So, um, I lived in Vienna for five years. And then so the civil war broke out in Tajikistan in 91, and. And that's when Tajikistan separated from USSR.

Jeff: Okay.

Liana: Because we were part of the USSR.

Jeff: Got it.

Liana: And then the war broke out, then we had to flee as refugees. And so we fled to Austria, Vienna, and that's where we settled. And that's where I learned the language and love the, the art and culture of, you know, just European culture. Right. So it's just so different. And it was something that stayed with me for the rest of my life. And I always go back. I feel that Europe is a part of me. I was raised there. Um, and so, I mean, I even do business in Europe. Right. So I'm very much a global entrepreneur, and so it stems from being raised also in Austria in making those very first baby steps there.

Jeff: Yeah. Um, can we. I'm. I'm super fascinated by this exit from your place of birth. Can we talk about it just for a minute?

Liana: Sure.

Jeff: So, like, was this a shock that. Like, was it a shock when you found out that the country was either entering or going to enter civil war and that you were going to have to leave your country? Did that kind of just happen out of the blue, or was your family kind of preparing for it, or were you kind of also. Were you kind of just young enough that it was just kind of happening and you were just along for the ride?

Liana: Yeah, I was definitely along for the ride. Had no idea what's happening. But from what I gathered, my parents told me that they knew that the war is going to break out, and so a lot of our relatives actually fled way before, years before, to, uh, Israel. So I'm Jewish, and so we're always fleeing from somewhere because, you know, we were being. You know, we were trying to evacuate the area because they didn't want us there any longer, and so, uh, we had to flee as refugees, and we. We chose Austria. A lot of my relatives chose Israel or America, but my father loved, um, Europe, and so he wanted to settle there, and that's what. What happened, you know, So I. I didn't know what was happening at the moment. You know, everything was just so fast. The only thing that I remember was leaving my dog behind. Love my dog to pieces. A German shepherd. I grew up with that dog. And definitely fond memories, a lot of fun memories.

Jeff: Wow. Okay, so you were in Austria for five years. Your family fleas to Jackson. You're in Austria for five years and then decided to make the. The move to Queens and. Tell me about that. I mean, was there a little. A little bit of a, uh, culture shock there as well? I mean, Austria was now your home. You'd lived there effectively longer than you had in Tajikistan, so. Yeah.

Liana: Yeah. So it's a second immigration, Jeff. You know, it's. It's hard as is, because new language and a lot of barriers to overcome. And so I would say, as a young girl, I felt that I was bullied in school a lot. Not trying to victimize myself, but, you know, not knowing the language, not looking the part maybe. And so I never wanted to fit in. I've always stood out, uh, from the way I dressed, from the way I spoke and. Yeah, and a lot of times there were like very lonely days where you would be like, okay, well, I only, you know, I have my younger sister, there's four siblings. But I was very close to my younger sister because I raised her. It's a four year difference. And so I had to like, basically take her to school. I had to get her dressed. You know, my, my mom had to do her own thing, my dad. So everyone was busy. We're all immigrants and we all have to do something in order to survive. And so that's what happened. You know, I, I took on, um, a, uh, very early on in my life, I took on a task to raise my younger sister. Making sure that, you know, those responsibilities are usually meant for someone much older. Right. But not for an eight year old, nine year old. And my sister was only four at time, four or five years old. And so I had to take her to school, make sure that she was my responsible. She was my kid basically. And so I did, I think I was very successful at, um, babysitting her. She can say so herself as well.

Jeff: I believe it. Wow, that's a lot of responsibility though. And that's a big, that's a big change from worrying about your puppy. Uh, you know, not that, not that long prior to then worrying about your little sister. That's, that's a, that's a big, that's a quick growth curve that you were, that you were dealing with.

Liana: Um, absolutely.

Jeff: You know, this, this. I wonder. So you're clearly not afraid of, of change, do you think? I was thinking about how you've worked in a bunch of different jobs and careers over your time. Right. I have them written here. Real estate, insurance agent, stylist, venture capital, PR CEO. Um, do you think, uh, I mean, is there a connection there between, you know, your ability to adapt and those hard lessons that you learned as a kid and your ability to adapt in the professional world?

Liana: Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I'm so grateful to everything that has happened for me right now. The immigration, the fact that my parents were so hard on me. I had to, I was raised in a very strict household, so pivoting was very important. And adapting to the situation like you had no choice, you had to adapt. There was no complaining. If you complain, you would get penalized for it. I will have to look for the fifth corner, like my father would say. So growing up with Russian parents is not easy, you know, very, uh, tough. But that's what really helped me to be the woman I am today. Because knowing that I can't take the easy way out, knowing that under pressure we must work even harder, and that's what really made me understand from a very young age that I can persevere. I know that I can do it. Even if I don't have the answers now. I know I will just have to go through it. Right? Go through a fire, basically. Walk on fire, and then you'll find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Jeff: Walk on fire, and you'll find the light at the end of the tunnel. That's well said. Um, isn't it funny, though, how those things that are in the moment that we like the worst things. You're like, this is like, my parents are the worst. They're so mean to me. They're so strict. And I'm dealing with this hard stuff, and this feels like the worst thing in the moment. But it turns out, the, you know, however many years later, you realize, oh, yeah, that's exactly the right thing. Like, those hard. Those hard things are the. Those hard things are the things that have value.

Liana: Absolutely. And that's what I pass down to my son. You know, I'm. I'm not. You know, my son is almost 20. And, you know, it's. It's very difficult because you think back and you say, well, I wish my parents, you know, made sure that I went to ballet classes more and maybe did more extra, you know, activities that a normal kid would do. But, no, I had to be home, and I had to make sure my sister's homework was done, make sure that I had to cook for my. My mom to come home after work. So I had to be that everything. And so I look back and I say, you know what? Yes, There were times where I sometimes say, wow, I wish I, uh, lived that normal childhood. But that is normal childhood, you know, because that really prepared me for what I am today. I'm not. I don't sway when it gets hard. I don't leave people that matter to me the most because I can't make a relationship work. So I make sure that everything that I learned from a young age of tough and the hard. Of everything that I had to face, I. It translates into my work ethic. It translates into the relationships I foster over the years. And so it's not easy, but. And I know what it is. I know that making it easy, anyone can do it, but the fact that it's not easy. That's what people are surprised by. How can you handle so many things at once? How can you switch from one to another and then find yourself? And yet I did, because I know that pivoting is so important. Future want to be successful, you need to know when to pivot at the right time and when to adapt.

Jeff: I like that idea of knowing when to pivot and when to adapt and when to. Because you, you kind of described two, two different things just now. You talked about, you know, hey, I, I, I'm not afraid of hard work. I'm paraphrasing, super paraphrasing. Please tell me if I missed, you know, doing so poorly. Um, you said, hey, I'm not afraid of hard work. I know how to, I'm going to keep moving forward. I'm not going to give up when times is hard. I'm going to keep pressing forward. And also I know when to pivot and when to adjust. So my question is this. What are the signals that you look for when it might be time to pivot, adjust, or just move from the path that you're on?

Liana: Yeah, great question. You know, I look for few things when it comes to learning a new trend. For example, AI. I knew that if I would not pick up the knowledge on AI and be expansive and what AI has to offer, I'm going to fall off the grid. So I pivoted right off when the new year started in 2026. Right. I understood one thing. If I'm not going to double down on my social media, and I wasn't really doubling down, I would probably post three times a week, no big deal. But, but I understood that I need to pivot because something is missing. Yes, I'm very focused on my clients and yes, I'm very focused on other things. But when it comes to me, you know, on social media especially, that was a hurdle for me to overcome. But I had to pivot. And I understood one thing. If I'm not going to pivot, if I'm not going to improve that side of me, I'm just going to fall back, I'm going to fall behind even more. So, so I look at, first of all, when I pivot, I look at personal growth. How can I personally grow with this pivot? If I pivot, what is the outcome? So more recognition, more visibility, more outcomes. And you don't, Jeffrey, since I've done that pivot on social media and I started posting three times a day, I had so much more self, um, brand awareness. I had Personal growth within me. I have a lot of more sponsorship deals that came my way. So I look for, like, the moment when I see it's not working out, or I feel like I'm stagnant, or I feel like it's getting too comfortable for me. I get scared by that. I'm like, okay, I'm, uh, too comfortable. Like, it seems. It's like, very mechanical day in and day out. Why isn't something new happening here? So in order to make something new, you got to pivot. You gotta switch to energy. You gotta make sure the energy starts flowing differently, and you can't be afraid of that. So for me to stay in one place or. And do the same thing over and over again, it's just like, you know, you're gonna be in a cycle, and it's not gonna get you anywhere. So I have to change. Even if I might fail at pivoting, it's great. I learned something. It's not failing. It's actually a step closer to my success, you know? And that's what I learned also from a young age. When I was, um, ice skating, my father bought me my first ice skates. And I was about 4 years old in Austria. And my father would come, and it was a very, very, like, an important lesson of my life. And he, you know, we would sit at dinner table, and dinner table, dinner time did not happen often, right? And so he would always say, so, what did you fail at today? That was this number one question, what did you fail at? And, you know, my sister. My brother would kind of, like, not say anything. I'm like, oh, I failed at, like, I fell down. I was ice skating. It was slippery, and I had to get up myself. I couldn't even call my teacher. So that in itself, he would literally tell us, you have to fail. If you're not failing, that means you're not risking enough. If you're not failing, that means you're not doing enough. So a lot of this came from my father. And, um, he's still around is amazing. He's. He does so many great things. He still thinks that he's 40 years old. You know, he. He runs a lot of businesses, so he's my inspiration. I look up to him.

Jeff: That's neat. I love that something you mentioned, part, uh, of that answer was around how you're like. I felt like something was missing. And was that more of just like, of a. When you were talking about how you needed. You knew you needed to make a change. Was that just. Is that. Does that just mean that you are. Was that just a gut feeling or was this something that you were like, you know, was there a metric that you were tracking or was this just something you're like? I feel like something's missing kind of in my heart.

Liana: Yeah. You know, it comes first, the intuition. It definitely is. Like I have to feel something is not being aligned here, and I know I can do more. For me, the biggest fear, Jeffrey, is not to reach my highest potential in this world. And in the time that I'm alive, like, I need to reach my highest potential. If I'm not striving, then I feel like I'm falling behind. And, um, I don't like that comfort zone. I get split scared being in a comfort zone. That's why I'm even, you know, when I date, even my personal relationships, if I'm in a, in a relationship with a man and I feel like it's. Everything is just so comfortable and we're just like. It's the same ordeal for me. Just gets really boring and I need to switch it up. I'm like, look, this is, this is just not working for me. I need excitement. I need something that keeps me on my toes. If it doesn't keep me on my toes, whether it be personal or professional, I need to change. I need to pivot. It gets boring for me and I get scared that it might just become very mechanical and routine. I don't like routine. I'm not a creature of habit. I'm really not. I like to switch it up. I like to be in the messiness of things and I like to learn from that messiness.

Jeff: I like that. I like that because I think it, you know, it speaks to your, um, your self awareness. And I, uh, think there's, there's a lot to that. Um, um. And, and also this idea of not reaching our potential. I mean, I think everyone I talk to that seems like it's a, you know, fairly, a fairly deep rooted and, and consistent, um, a consistent theme. You know, people are afraid. It's. Let me rephrase it. It seems like when people reflect their. The higher pain is of risks that they didn't take because, you know, missed potential, missed opportunity, people are really afraid of that. But it's hard because I admire that you, uh, you know exactly that about yourself, you know, what you want to do. Because I think it's also really hard to know, you know, it's really hard to have a North Star to point yourself toward. Let's say that it's where I Heard another guy say that we're really good at knowing what we don't want, but. But we're not as good at knowing what we do want. And, um, I don't know, how do you go about figuring out what you want?

Liana: I always knew that. I mean, and still now it's like always understanding what is the next level. I always, I know that I need to make an impact, a great impact, where I can be look up, looked up to. Right. I'm such a female advocate, and so I know that in order for me to lead women, I need to be a great example. So that is a motivation for me because being a college dropout, single mom and all of that at such a very young age really has shaped my personality into knowing that, okay, well, I need to be a go getter. I need to, you know, my ambition speaks louder than anything else. And if someone is kind of beyond that same path as me, then, sorry, I'm not going to change the way I am. And I scares a lot of people, you know, like, oh, she's too strong or she's too ambitious, or, you know, does she ever stop? Like, she has so many things she's tackling. But that's just the way I love. I feel like that's the way I am. Productive. And I take a lot from my father as well. Like, he's 70 years old and he's. He's building another restaurant. Like, he has 20 restaurants. You would think it's enough for him. No, he's like, that keeps me alive, that keeps me moving. And it's not something that I force myself to do. It's really instilled in my, in my. It's ingrained in me. Right. And in my DNA. I feel like it's in something you, you're raised with. But we're very different. Like, I have four siblings. We're all very different. I would say me, my older brother, like, we are more alike. We're very entrepreneurial. Uh, but I would say that what really drives me is the impact. What really drives me is my son as well. Knowing that I was such a. I was single mom at such a very young age, I want to show him that work ethic speaks louder than anything. There are no, There are no shortcuts. You need to make sure that you do the right thing. Integrity speaks louder than anything. And so when you walk into your, into the room, I want people to be proud of him, and so I want to be that best example for him.

Jeff: Thank you. You mentioned your dad was building Restaurants. So did you. Has he always been in the restaurant business? Did you grow up working in the family restaurants at all?

Liana: Uh, so. Yeah, so. So the very first restaurant he built was in 87, the year I was born. So he would always say, the year you were born was my very first restaurant and brought him a lot of luck. I. I was raised in the hospitality industry, right? I was raised in his restaurants. You know, I was even rollerblading his restaurants. Like, it's like, I've never. I was never a waitress. Okay. I was never a waitress in his restaurant. Um, but I did work and help him with, like, event planning. I did that. Um, that was for a short amount of time. It was, like, for six months. And I came to a conclusion that I can't work with family. It's very difficult. I cannot. You know, my personality is so strong, and it's like, yes, I can help you out, but I'm not going to, like, don't rely on me. This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life working for you. You know, I have my own legacy. I want to have my. I want to pave my. Pave my own way. And I want to be remembered for what I have accomplished through the hard and, uh, the moments of, like, of not easy moments. I want people to understand that people remember me when I did hairdressing, right? When I was a hairdresser, when I was a stylist. People remember those days and like, oh, I can't believe you grew and you became, you know, you're so far ahead. And so that in itself is changing that identity and not, you know, not staying stuck with that identity. Don't be afraid to change who you are, even give yourself a new name. There is actually a, um. I don't know if you know, actually, I heard it on the podcast. It's the Kobe. The Kobe identity. The Kobe identity.

Jeff: Tell the story. I heard a clip on this a couple of weeks ago, but I think. I know we're going, but, yes, please.

Liana: Yes. The Kobe identity is basically. No, uh, Kobe. He was not performing well, and so he was really hard on himself. And I guess he was working with his coach, and he's like, listen, if you're not happy with the way you are, you gotta give yourself a new identity. So he started being the Mamba, right? He started giving himself a new name, Mamba. And. And if you give yourself a new name, you must match that energy. So whenever I work with my clients, I always say that, look, we need to rebrand you, we need to give you a new identity. How should people remember you or how should people even identify you? For me, it's more of the mother of pr. That's how people know me. Oh, she's a mother of pr. So that means that I, uh, you know, it's a big responsibility. The mother of pr. I don't know if you know the father of pr. If you go back in history, I forget his name and it's not good, but he was the father of pr. And so when I heard his story, I said, wow, that resonates with me. What he has done with the PR industry, um, is something that I'm doing now in the 21st century. And so I decided to be the mother of pr and the mother of pr. First of all, I am a mother. I have a 20 year old, thank God. And the fact that I am so passionate about prisoners, that what really sets me apart. So in every stage of my life, I take on a new identity. But I didn't know that there was a Kobe identity law. Whatever I heard on the podcast, I'm like, wow, that's interesting because I've always done it to myself because I said, okay, well, that version of me died. How do I, you know, bring a new identity to me? How do I rebrand myself? And so that's what I do. I, I always have to rebrand, put another name to it, and act as if I'm already there doing it.

Jeff: I like them. So, um, I'm interested to know in kind of bridging the gap a little bit between, between your time, uh, you know, working, uh, supporting the family businesses and things like that. Uh, and then to, to where you got now. So you said you went to college for a short time, uh, and didn't

Liana: quite finish that and a half years.

Jeff: You're right there.

Liana: I went to college for three and a half years, Jeffrey. Yes. And then had to drop out.

Jeff: Okay, so you left college and what, what was your, what was your first job? After college?

Liana: So my first job before college.

Jeff: Okay, before, sure.

Liana: I was actually, I was selling, um, eyeglasses. So I was, I, I did sales at 16 years old. So I went to an optical store. I said, I want to sell glasses. And so that's what I did. And then while I was going to college, I, I then pivoted into working at a bank. I was a teller. Being pregnant, going to school. And then after that, you know, I was still a teller working, wasn't really so happy with that. And I decided that I'm not going to work for a while, try to help, you know, raise my son. And after I got divorced when I was 21, I said, I'm going to go back into sales. And guess what? I went to sell cars.

Jeff: Okay.

Liana: I decided to sell cars because I said, if you can sell cars, I mean, you can sell anything.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah.

Liana: So I went to learn how to sell cars and everyone was just baffled. Like, how can you go and sell cars? Like, you don't. It's a, uh, it's like, you know, you're with men every day. It's dominated by men. And so I had to real fast, you, uh, know, being a good looking woman, understanding that men will, can take advantage of you. And at 21 years old, 22 years old, I was very strong in the way I presented myself. Like, this is where I say, no, this is my work, this is what I do. And then I go home and that's it. Right? So I had to build my personality and be very tough knowing that I'm surrounded by so many men.

Jeff: But. And you did it, you sold cars and. But you ultimately, soldier, you ultimately decided that that wasn't the end all, be all. You're not still, still selling cars today. So where did, uh, where did you. After.

Liana: Yeah, so after that I, you know, said, okay, well what's my passion? And so I spoke to my dad and he's like, well, listen, he was a hairdresser back in the day and says, why don't you have a portable skill set? I'm like, okay, what do you mean by that? He says, well, anywhere in the world you go to, you never know where you're going to end up. You can pick up the scissors, you can color someone's hair, you'll make money. Yes, you need to have a license in that state or country, but, you know, you can do it. It's a portable skill set. And so I went into school to get my cosmetology degree and I did, I got my license, uh, not my license in cosmetology. And um, started styling, started working for Fifth Avenue on, in New York City. On Fifth Avenue, we have amazing hotels where they have salons in the hotel. So I started working there and I knew that in order for me to charge what I want to charge, right, I got to be in the city working with luxury, the lifestyle, you know, of luxury people. And so if I want to charge $250 for a haircut, I got to be in that location, location, location is everything. So very fast. From a young age, I Understood that where you are is going to define your skill set also, right? It's either you're going to be undervalued or not. So I understood that I have to not waste my time and not be afraid and really take a chance on myself, and I have to bet on myself. So I ended up working for, uh, the Plaza Hotel, the Warren Tricomi. And, you know, the thing is, I've never worked a 9 to 5. I came to them with one thing. I said, look, I want to work here, but I'm going to rent a chair. I'm going to rent a chair. I have my clients, and I had zero clients. I had no clients. I said, look, I'm not going to work on when to come, when to leave. That's not how. Uh, I'm going to pay you monthly. And so I started hustling. I started going and basically giving out. You know, hey, I'm, um, um, a hairdresser. Come to me. And so that is how I started creating my. My following. And so I wasn't dependent on their time when to come. And so I paid what I had to pay for my chair. I had my clients, I went home happy. But that wasn't enough for me, you know, that wasn't enough. I'm like, that's not where I see myself. I'm so just. I'm a smart cookie. And I have clients that came to me, and they used to be journalists and publicists and doctors and lawyers. And I said, oh, God. You know, I went to school for three and a half years. I dropped out fine. I always wanted to do, uh, pr. My grandmother was a journalist in Russia. And I said, I knew that it's an. It's in my DNA to be an entrepreneur and tell stories. I need to tell stories. I need to uplift personalities. I want to inspire audiences. How do I get in there? And so it didn't, you know, happen until I met my, uh, my client. So she was. She, you know, I was styling her. She was from Romania. And so, you know, she introduces me to her PR agency. She wanted me to basically represent her skincare line. And so she says, look, I want you to help me out and become a media visionary. Because the way I made women feel when I dress them, Jeffrey, it's all about your brand, how you make a person feel that feeling that you woke in them. It's your brand, essentially. And so when I started doing that over and over, the way I made them feel, when, you know, they got their first color or haircut, or the way I dress them. It's all my brand, right? And so she. She used to tell me, like, if you can bring that energy and those emotions into my skincare line, I mean, that's going to be gold. And so I did that. I did that for a while. And then I got into the PR agency that she was represented by, and I gave him an ultimatum. I said, look, I always wanted to become a publicist, and I will have my own PR agency. And the ultimatums as follows. At that time, on the Upper east side, my family has built their first restaurant in the city, Tsavo. We were on 60th and 3rd Avenue. And so I said, look, uh, I'll bring my very first client, which is my family. You'll give me a percentage on that commission. And I have to learn the ropes right here. Right? I need to learn how the. How you're speaking to publicists, how, what you're pitching, what storyline. So I wanted to be there, and they agreed to it. But before that, I was rejected by five PR firms, right, Because I didn't have a college degree. But nobody looks at social skills. I'm. You know, I'm sorry. Soft skills. I have those soft skills that you're not taught in college. Like, how do you, uh, bring leverage to what you do? How do you have the people conversation, like, real communication with people? Are you people friendly? Are you. Are you there to really accommodate a person? Not just, like, do what you're told, but how are you going to leverage a relationship? How are you fostering a relationship? Those are soft skills that are not taught in college. And so that's what I had. And I knew the art of leverage. And so that's what really brought me to that next level of storytelling.

Jeff: Tell me about the art of leverage. Uh, tell me what you mean by that, if you don't mind.

Liana: Yeah, so I knew what I had to bring in order to close the deal. I wanted to have my own PR agency, but obviously, I know that's my delusional goal. You know, at the time, it was very delusional because I'm like, okay, I had no experience. I don't even. I never worked with publicists before. I mean, I know storytelling. I know, and I read about it a lot. You know, for me, it's all about personal growth. And I. If I hone in onto something, I will read about it and I will learn. And so I knew that my leverage was my knowledge. I didn't come here with no expertise. Right. Even though I'm not hands on, but I know what I've done so far is pr, Right? If I bring you m. Your message to the public, if I know how to dress you, that's already one part of pr, which is your branding. So when I asked them, look, I want to learn the ropes of pr and I leverage my restaurant, my family's business, I can give you the restaurant. Right. As a first client, but I need you to teach me the ropes and you'll give me commission on that. So that's. I knew what I can bring to the table, which was high net worth individuals, which were, you know, the restaurant that we were running as a family. So that is what I knew I can bring. And that's how I knew that I, they would, they would bite. And they, and they did because it was a win. Win.

Jeff: Yeah. That's cool. I love that leverage. The network that you have, you work with the tools that you have in your tool belt. I think that makes a lot of sense. I, uh, love that approach all the way.

Liana: Um, yeah, you have nothing to lose at the moment. You know, you're like, I, I, I have nothing to lose. Like, sometimes you have to think of, like, what can I do at the moment to really become the next best version of myself? And, and I'm not gonna stop until I reach that next best version. And I'm always fetching my next best version. It's never ending game. It really isn't. And I'm in love with the game. It really is the, it's the game of like fetching yourself, not like being competition with someone else, but you being in competition with yourself, being better than who you were. And comparing that. Yeah, I'm not the same person. That was six months ago.

Jeff: I love that. That is, that is. You're right. That's the only game you can play because you legitimately can't compare yourself to anyone else because you don't know them enough. But that's the one. And that's also the only ones worth playing is like, am I better today? Am I, am I self improving? I love that. And I like that you learned that pretty early on. It sounds like. So, um, so you're working with a PR agency and they accept your deal. And I'm guessing, like, tell me what happened after that. Did you continue to grow your portfolio there and bring in some other clients or did you?

Liana: Yeah, started growing my portfolio, brought more clients in. Not all clients were happy with the service they were bringing. Even what, you know, what they promised, like my restaurant, what they promised to deliver it. And I started understanding what they promised was not delivered, or maybe it wasn't on purpose, but they couldn't deliver what they, you know, what they put on paper, what we signed. And so I started learning from those mistakes. Okay, what can I do better when I'll have my PR agency? How can I over deliver and under promise? So I started looking at not what they're doing the best, but what clients were not happy with. So I can double down on that. And, um, so Covid hit, and that was done. You know, the restaurant was, went under. And I said to myself, well, so in 2018 is when I launched Zabo Media, and I decided that I'm going to go full force. And then obviously, Covid hit, and I was not even on social media. I was, Everything was done in person. And so when Covid hit, I had to pivot. I had to knock down on social media doors. I had to do podcasts and lives and talk about one thing that we're all facing. How does it feel to be locked up? Right? And so I started knocking on doors like, Patrick B. David was on my show. You would never think, I don't know if you know Patrick B. I, um,

Jeff: mean, I don't know him. Like, you know him, but I, I, I've seen his stuff. I know who he is.

Liana: Yeah. But, like, you know, I, I, I, I said, you know what? I have nothing to lose. We all are in the same boat. We're all locked up. There's nothing better to do, right? So just be just nonchalant. Hi, Dave. Uh, Patrick, I would love to have you on my show. We want to talk about what we're facing and how we can overcome it and, yeah, let's do it. Um, nothing better to do. Darren Prince is another one. He endorsed my book. I mean, I literally went, tell you, Jeff, I took, I took advantage of COVID I mean, I know there was so many people that, like, struggled and passed away, and I'm sorry for that, but I did not get controlled by fear. You know, I said, there's no way I'm gonna be controlled by this. There's no way I'm gonna be in this, like, delusional state of, like, oh, my God, I'm gonna die if I'm not gonna get a vaccine vaccinated or if I'm not gonna, uh, so I, I just doubled down. I double down on things. I did not let media get to me. I just said, what can I do to 10x my business and take my business on Social media, which is the best time. Time. Because I had no idea what social media really was at that time. Yes, I posted a few times, but I never really got clients from social media. It was all hands on word of mouth. Right. And so when I started doubling down and that was the pivot, the pivot was, well, I can't be afraid of what's happening right now, even though everyone is afraid. What can I do so that I can look back in hindsight and say I actually did something and I wasn't controlled in the moment. And that was one of the biggest pivots that I did, one of the biggest things.

Jeff: So tell me what the outcome of that was. I mean, obviously you're, we're here now, but I mean, how do you have any, like I can you talk about maybe the growth that your business, the growth, your business during that period? I mean, because to your point, like a lot of other businesses are failing and it's also, it is really sad. Sounds like you had a great, sounds like you turned, um, turned it into an opportunity and I'd just love to kind of hear about some of the results from that.

Liana: Yeah. So there were many people that were furloughed obviously. And so those that, you know, at the time, I, I said to myself, anyone that wants to learn about media and you don't need a college degree, I'm gonna, I want you to work for me. Because I need. So I basically created an affiliate marketing program where women would have nothing to do or they're sitting home. And I said, look, I'm looking for affiliate marketers who can start knocking on doors and spreading the message about what I'm doing. So I started paying them a commission on anyone they brought in. And affiliate marketing is a billion dollar industry. And so I, I started understanding that if I'm not going to get more people on board spreading my message, I can only do so much by myself. And so I started giving them, um, an amazing commission and anyone they brought in and, and that's what happened. Like one word got, you know, one after another and then I had 200 that started, started spreading my message and my business, I mean I 10x my business because from that idea of, okay, well if you're not doing anything, then I would want you to sell this service to a founder who needs pr, who needs branding, and then you'll get your commission. And that's what, and that's what really happened then what happened was I positioned them in the press, right. So some of them wanted to get press and so I said, okay, well, how can we. How can I help you? You. How can I build your message? And so a lot of women, I help them spread their message, build their story, and they had no idea how to do it. And so I instilled a lot of confidence in them. If I can instill confidence in you, then it's a ripple effect. And that's what happened. I wasn't afraid to take a chance on what I. What I imagined to work. And it did work.

Jeff: You're not afraid of anything? Uh, I mean, that's how I'm hearing here. Or actually, let me rephrase that. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of anything?

Liana: It's a good question. I'm, um, not afraid of anything, but I am. I feel that, first of all, I cannot have fear. Control me being afraid, that means that I'm not, uh, in tune with myself. That means that something is controlling me. Right? I don't want anything controlling me. I have respect for the higher being. I have respect for, you know, God is something that I'm afraid of. I would say if I act in a way that is not, you know, with the way I want to, I feel like that's what I'm afraid of. How will I be looked at from my guardian angels, from everyone that is looking over me? Right? The only thing I'm afraid of is making them upset. Does that make sense? Like, I don't want to make up people, the spirits, and I'm very spiritual. The spirits that and guide me. I don't want to make them upset. So like my grandmother that I know is my guardian angel, I don't want to do anything to make her feel that I not, um, living up to my highest potential, to my truth. And so that is one thing that I would say I'm afraid of. But here in the physical world, I am not afraid of anything in the physical world, you know, because I know that my integrity speaks louder than anything. I know that I'm a righteous person. Person. And as m. As much as I can be. We're not perfect, but I, you know, live that life. And so. And I love to do things that scare me, Jeffrey, you have to do things that scare me. Because if I don't do things that scare me, I cannot jump and quantum leap. So I quantum leap a lot into the, the next role. Like how do I. How do I get into the VC world, right? I quantum leap into that because I knew that I wanted to find. Fund female led tech startups. How do I fund Them. I know there is a big disconnect here and the disconnect is that if you can't tell your story, you're not going to get funded. Why do women get only 2% of funding? I mean like it's, it's insane. And to me that was always, it bothered me, but I knew I didn't have enough credentials or enough confidence at the moment to even speak about that. But because I got into the VC world, I understood one thing, that I can help these women. And I have been helping them. And so I created a fund and we are supporting female tech startups in health tech, fintech and SaaS. And I had zero experience in the investment relations, but now I'm bridging a gap between investment relations and public relations. Was it scary at one point? Yes. But I did it. Uh, yeah. So I decided to help women even more. So and so for me being a female advocate and I know that I want to help so many women, I decided to have a fund where we help female edtech startups. And this fund is um, basically for health tech, fintech and SaaS founders right now. And we are writing checks anywhere from 250 to $500,000. And so I found two high net worth individuals in Singapore when I was speaking in Singapore two years ago and you know, I'm there, Jeffrey, I'm, you know, I was invited to speak as a keyNote speaker. Flew 24 hours just to get to that destination. Beautiful place. And I said, look, I'm here, obviously I need to make magic happen. I just can't come here and speak. There has to be more. And at that moment I was thinking, well, I want to help these women get funded because I see over and over again what's missing. They're not getting funded. 2% is nothing. And so um, I found two net high net worth individuals there who believed in my mission because I said, look, I want to bridge the gap between VC and pr. I want to have a hybrid approach. If you can tell your story, you can get funded. And so had to foster that relationship obviously with them, but you know, it took time. But here we are.

Jeff: That's cool. Are you doing like what stage are these investments at? Are you looking? Are these mostly seed investments or are they just these more established companies are.

Liana: Yeah, no, it's C to Series A.

Jeff: Okay, nice. I'm curious about the number you mentioned, the 2% number, is that ah, like how does that coordinate or correlate to the number of pitches? Like do we see a sim? You mentioned 2% of venture capital only goes to. Only to. Only to women. Do you have any. Any data or any understanding of how many pitches there are? I guess what I'm wondering is. Yeah, I'm just. I'm just. I'm just wondering about the connection between those two. It's those two, if there is one at all.

Liana: I don't think there's a connection between the pitches. The connection is the visibility gap. The visibility gap is what? NVC is run by men. Right? And so. And then investors are run by men.

Jeff: Yes, I see. So. So I think what I hear you saying is that we see a fairly equal amount of women and men both seeking venture, but their approval rate is much lower. And look, we know that's not a talent issue, you know. Yeah, there's no way that.

Liana: And also men, they are more. They like to wing stuff. You know, men wing it. Men exaggerate their story. Women are more.

Jeff: That's true.

Liana: Perfectionists. Women don't want to kind of, you know, put themselves too much on a pedestal, from what I see. You know, they're very much more like, well, I'm not sure if I'm good enough for this or. I'm not sure that they doubt themselves. Men don't have that issue. Men on, um. Men can just blow up their ego with like. And the confidence, like, I got this. This is me. Like, you know, a lot of times, not every time, but most of the time, men have no issue. And that confidence and that storyline and that in itself and that visibility. Look, I'll tell you this much. I've seen over and over again, and I'm not, I'm not sexist, but I do see it. Men just have an easier time bullshitting. That's it. And women don't. And so when it comes down to that, you know, they buy into the. What can become. So what investors invest into, like, I invest into founders, not who they are now, over the product, but I invest into what they will become. The perception is everything, right? What. What is it that is going to lead their assets? And, um, you know, how will they. How will they be perceived? So, you know, for example, valuation, right, your valuation. If two companies come to me with the same valuation, how do I understand which one to invest into? Right? The numbers are there, they have the same valuation, but what do I. What am I going to fund? And I'll be very honest, I'm going to find someone that I know there's more potential in what they will become. Right. If I know that you are. You have this personality of creating and you have a strong narrative and you are not afraid to be seen and not afraid to invest in your own growth. I'm going to invest in you. I don't want to invest into a company. That happened before investing into a company, a founder investing into a founder that doesn't want to work, doesn't want to grow and thinks that I have to do all the, you know, the pulling, like I have to pull them. Let's do it. Let's do that. Uh, I'm not here to do that. Even though I'm such a advocate and I would love to help as many women as possible. But if I know that you're not a go getter and I have to tell you what to do every step of the way, that is not someone I want to invest in to.

Jeff: I like that. Um, has it been at all a, has there been any difficulty in figuring out how to change your approach from being the builder to being an investor? You know, in your previous businesses you were the, you were boots on the ground, so to speak. Right. I know you're also building your firm and you're building a company at the same time. But is, is there a different, is there, are there any different, um, muscles that you had to build to be, to, to, to adjust and, and then change your mindset from being the, build the actual builder to, you know, being the coach and being the advisor, uh, and the investor?

Liana: Yeah. So the thing that one, uh, change in the shift that happens is, uh, I know I built so many companies and I sold a few of them and so I knew, I know that coming in and, and investing now I have to look at a different lens and I appreciate a founder who knows how to build and not be afraid to fail. So if I can see that. Right. Because knowing my background and knowing that if, if you had all the money given to you by your friends and family and you're not doing the hard work or you were raised in a very privileged life style. I don't want to invest into those type of founders. I want to invest into founders that are underprivileged, perhaps even immigrants, perhaps, you know, those that know what hard work is. Because giving you my money and knowing that you are just super privileged in life, I don't want to work with someone like that. And I'm sorry to say that, but I need someone who's hardworking. Right. So I can't just give you the money because you have great numbers. And again, two companies come to me, right? Two startups. With same numbers, how do I know which one to invest into? I'm going to go with the one that is always striving to reinvent, uh, themselves is always striving to gain that visibility, is hardworking. That is the one that I'm going to go with. Right. It's all about the personality for me. So and, and, and I think that as an investor I uh, I look at companies that can 10x my money obviously and even if I have to coach them through it, I would only if I know there is the potential. Like if uh, they, if they're willing. Right. To learn, if they're coachable. I look at all these things but if they're too good for the game, then I'm not, I'm not going to even go there. So I like to invest into companies with personality. And the way I was raised, it's messy, it's hard. You have to pivot. You need to be under pressure, not be afraid of that. So to answer your question, how I started, how my mindset from being a founder to an investor, I don't think much has changed to be honest with you. I look at it, I look at a founder from the same lens of how I have built my businesses and that is what I know will give me the greatest return because of my personality, of me, of how I am. I'm looking for someone like that, you know, I'm looking to invest into someone that has a little bit of my work ethic and I know that I m not going to be afraid to invest into their next project. Right, their next idea, because it doesn't stop at one idea. They'll have an exit but I want to work with that founder for their next project coming up. So that's how I look at it. I look at it. What happens after the exit? Can they even take on a new startup role or idea? So that is, that's how I look at it.

Jeff: Thanks. I like that. I like that a lot. Um, so let's shift just a little bit here. I'm curious your thoughts on AI as it relates to PR and what are your thoughts on how AI is or will impact, you know, the traditional PR agency? Think it's going to be pretty disrupted or.

Liana: Yeah, it already is, you know, in so many ways. So the AI powered strategies that we use to position now is different than, you know, even last year, what I did, we use obviously all these LLMs. Claude perplexity, Gemini Way People, like people are shifting from Google to these LLMs, right? They want to cite you on LLMs. What shows up on LLMs, these large language models are if you're looking, I'm not sure where you like. If you have a question, right, uh, do you Google or do you go on uh, the chat one, uh, of the uh, LLMs, what do you use?

Jeff: I mean either way, they're so intertwined. Now if you just open up your browser and you do a search, it's most likely going to bring, if you do a Google search, it's going to give you a Gemini result and if you do a Bing search, it's going to give you a copilot result. I mean they're all, it's so intertwined now it's hard to even get away from. You have to be really intentional if you wanted to not use an LLM.

Liana: Yeah. And Google is trying to do everything to stay on, uh, like not fall behind. Right. Everything that they're coming up with, coming out with right now. And so I would say what we are doing right now and the strategies and how we're positioning founders with AI is first of all, every article that we have released and we write or where we brand you and we pitch you to the journalist, every article needs to be then cited into the LLMs. Right. We need to feed it back to the LLM so that it will learn who you are. So we want to basically build a very strong reputation management right on LLM. So if, I don't know if you googled my name on Perplexity or Gemini, you'll see that I have a very high ranking, you know, who I am, my pictures, my bio comes up, everything. Because we are always feeding it. And so, um, I would say that a lot of the clients now what we are doing with AI is there is. Okay, well, how are we building a personal brand? How are you showing up? Uh, if you don't for example, want to show up every day and so speak in front of the camera. We have an AI clone, right? We have create, we create AI clones right?

Jeff: Now I saw a video that you put on LinkedIn a couple days ago. I'm like, I'm pretty sure that's an AI clone.

Liana: Yeah.

Jeff: One of you. Yeah, yeah, it was good. It was, it was well done. I, I watched it for a minute. I was like, I think there's just a couple things that stood out to me. But I mean it got the message across. It did a good job.

Liana: Yeah, yeah. And, and we're still perfecting it. We're making it better. Right. It's only in the beginning Stages now it's just rolling out and we have so much that we are getting our hands on. And so obviously being in person like this, a human to human, uh, relationship, a connection, you know, you can do that with AI, but if you want to spread that message and build a personal brand, you need to intertwine that yourself with the AI clone. You need to make sure that it's interchangeable. And so that's, um, another thing. A personal brand is a big part of pr, and the way people are showing up with AI is different now. We have all these different AI components. And so for me, I would say what has really changed in my personal brand and how I. I mean, I do PR for myself as well, for my own personal brand. Right. I need to. In order for me to speak like I was at a family office summit that I was speaking or I was getting an award at United Nations. How do I get my message across? It's. How do I resonate? And. And a lot of times I would get stopped. I love what you spoke about in that car. Like, that wasn't even me. So a lot of times they would look at me and say, oh, uh, that's you. I'm, um, like, did you get a new car? No, I didn't. But, you know, it's. It's important that you show up and not think, oh, well, it's going to take away from my authenticity. Look, I. In itself, everyone knows that it's gonna take over, so don't be afraid that it might take over that authenticity. As long as a message speed speaks and it resonates, that's all it really matters.

Jeff: Yeah.

Liana: And you're gonna get better at it because everyone is gonna have a cone, Jeffrey. Everyone is gonna. You're gonna have a clone too. Everyone will have a clone. You eventually. Not now. Maybe for you. Five years down the line. But you will have to work on it because that itself is a 247 sales agent for you. You know it's gonna sell for you, and you want to have a 247 sales agent for you because you want someone to. Speaks on behalf of you. All you have to do is prompt what. What it says, and then it just spits it out.

Jeff: You mentioned something a second ago, kind of offhandedly about speaking to the un. Uh, tell me about this. I don't. Tell me how your. Your speaking to the un.

Liana: Yeah, so I was recognized for my expertise in helping women across 12 countries. And because I am such a female advocate during Women's History Month, I got an Award. It's the Global Leadership Women's Award for making impact nationwide, globally. And so it was. Was one of the women that actually, I was introduced to this woman through a mutual partner. So, you know, one thing led to another. What do you do? What do I do? I would like to give you an award at. At the un. I'm like, well, that's incredible. Well, I have to take my mom. My mom never been to the un and so I bring my mom over, and it's been. It's an amazing, you know, feeling to know that you can get an award at the United Nations. It was actually also in the press. Um, and so, yeah, they're like little things. Even when I. When I dropped out of college, Jeffrey, I went back in July, my October of last year. They reached out to me in July. So one of the. I would say, I don't know, someone in LIU wanted me to speak to their students on behalf of PR and branding. I dropped out of that school, but they wanted me to come back. That, for me, was a full circle moment. Coming back to speak about, you know, PR and branding and how the pharmacy students graduating can utilize these skills and build their brand and become entrepreneurs. And so I brought my mom along, too. Mom, you gotta be there, because you're the one who swayed me from my dream. But now you're gonna listen to me. While speaking at liu. And she was just. It was fascinating, and my son was there, so it was a very, um. It was a full circle moment for me.

Jeff: Well, you said your mom swayed you from your dream. Tell me about, uh, how did she influence that?

Liana: Yeah, so, you know, she. Knowing, uh, the fact that my grandmother was, you know, her mother was a journalist in Russia. And so when I wanted to be like my grandmother and I heard her beautiful stories, she would say, no, you cannot. You cannot travel the world. I didn't see my mom growing up, so I guess she was traumatized by that experience. Experience. And so she. She would tell me, like, I don't want you to travel. Why don't you pick something that is less adverse, Risk adverse. You don't need to travel nine to five. And so that's why I dropped out. So that's why, you know, I said, fine, I'll, uh, choose speech pathology because it was popular back in the day, and it has to do with communication, but obviously not to the level that I wanted to take it. But now, you know, I. I went back to what I love. But it took me through so many hurdles, ups and downs, just to get to where I've always wanted to be.

Jeff: That's neat. Um, that. And that is a full circle moment. I mean, how great is that to. To have left the program and then be invited back there as a speaker? I love that. Um, you know, when you're thinking back to when you're thinking about educating or coaching young people, situations like the speech you talked about giving at the, at the school. What's something simple that a lot of people get wrong when it comes to pr?

Liana: Well, I want to debunk the myth that PR is expensive. PR is for large organizations. I can't afford that. No, PR is actually the best ROI for your business. It's an underdog. And so you can do PR for yourself. If you don't want to spend, you can send out your message to the journalists. You can do your own pr. You can't. But if you are a serious business owner, you don't have time for that because you need to know the hooks that actually matter in the media. You need to understand what journalists will write about this. You need to understand what journalists to reach out to. So the misconception is, you know, oh, uh, it's too expensive. Okay, you can do it yourself. The next thing is, PR is not going to get me enough clients like marketing and advertising would. Well, marketing is great, and it goes hand in hand with pr. PR is the why. Why should people trust you? And why are you doing what you're doing? And then you come in with the how, which is marketing, and how do we distribute that? Why if I don't know the why, why you are doing the why are, uh, the publications. The why are, uh, is the TV placements. The why, why your story, even this, this is great pr. This is pr, right? Telling your story, and then you market it. It's the house. So here, podcast, you get the PR and the marketing, right? And so I would say that if you want to do marketing, you know, that's. It's a lot of what ifs. Will it work? Will it not work? But in order for you to really get the best results with marketing, double down on your pr, get your story out there, people will trust you. You want to build that trust. You want to build that, you know, transparency with your audience, and then you want to market it. How do I market my story being authentic and transparent to the masses? How do I bring that message and, uh, change the perception of the public to understand what I. What. Who I am? Right? And that's what I did. Right? So once I got that credibility in the press and media. Then I started marketing it to different, different, uh, platforms, and then that's how I got my speaking opportunities.

Jeff: Is credibility the same as awareness, or is credibility the same as fame?

Liana: It is not. Absolutely. It's not. So you can have a lot of awareness on social media, right? You can be the celebrity on social media. Awareness is more relatability. How do I bring awareness to what you do? Relatability. But credibility is who is validating your story. We need a third party that validates your story, and that is where the credibility comes in. So, for example, you know, Forbes or Fox News, or you're on TV validating your story. That is your credibility. That's where your credibility comes in. But everything else is more relatability. Can I resonate that brings awareness to what you do. So, yeah. So social media marketing is crucial. It is important for you to double down. Which leads into the next step will be, well, how can I take that awareness and then bring more eyeballs and be credible?

Jeff: That makes sense. I like that. And then, so how. I mean, logistically, how does that happen on, like, uh, I don't know, in India, I guess. Yeah. Can you. Can you take me to kind of the next level of that, of how, you know, how you advise businesses to work about getting that credibility? Or is that the secret sauce that we can't talk about today?

Liana: No, no, we can definitely talk about that. I mean, I'll tell you what I do for them, right? So first of all, we build their personal brand. And the personal brand stems on three pillars, right? It's your authenticity, it's your value proposition, it's your consistency. Like, how consistently are you showing up? 80% is consistency. If you're showing up religiously, people will start remembering you and your message.

Jeff: That's true.

Liana: And so once we start building that personal brand, then the next step would be, well, okay, well, let. What angle of your personal brand is really going to make a buzz? So how can I position you? But the word is position. How can I position you whether you are, you know, the next Kobe, whatever, right. Or the next mother pr. How can I position you and then pitch that angle to the journalists? Right. I have my Rolodex of journalists that I know would bite on the story. That is the secret sauce for me. It's the relationships, it's the branding. It's how do I position you? You can do it yourself. Not saying that people cannot do their own pr. You absolutely can. Um, and they can start pitching themselves. But for me, what I do is I take you through identifying who you are in the marketplace. How do you stand out from the crowded marketplace? And how do we build that personal brand so that you become irreplaceable? Essentially, you have to be irreplaceable in the market. And how does that done? That's done by showing up consistently, getting videos done. We bring our team to your studio or to your office. Uh, I work with a lot of attorneys, and so we bring our team of, uh, videographers, and then we make sure that we create 90 videos in 90 days. And that in itself creates a lot of buzz. And that then we would then take that angle and then start pitching that to different journalists. So say, look, this is what's working on social media. We know that it can work also in the press.

Jeff: Would you mind giving that last piece from after we create 90 videos again, there's some. I'm catching up. Sounds like, um, I don't know what it is, but there's something in the background that was picking up. Do you mind staying that last part again? And then I'll. I'll add this together, make it sound all nice. So you said we create nine even just start with, we create 90 videos for 90 days. I love that answer. And I just want to make sure we can. That it doesn't get lost with the background noise.

Liana: Yeah. Uh, by the way, that was Alexa speaking.

Jeff: I couldn't quite tell what it was. I could just tell it was. It was the bong bong and something else. Anyway, yeah.

Liana: Uh, so what we gave for our clients is 90 videos in 90 days. We create a strong personal brand on social media, and then we use that social media marketing tool in order to understand what is going to bring more buzz to your brand. Right. How can we position you as a thought leader and a subject matter expert in the press? So we take what works, what has been working as a thought leader and what people are resonating on social media, and then we say, okay, well, that angle works. Let me pitch that to the journalists and see that journalists will, will pick that up. And yes, sure enough, a lot of times they would be interested in that, um, angle, that storyline. And a lot of times I also rebrand. Right. A brand is not working. Let me rebrand you. Crisis management is another aspect of things. You know, if you have a crisis, your brand is not doing well, you have a lot of negative reviews, and you need to revamp. They come to me as well.

Jeff: That, that makes a lot of sense. Um, two questions. One is the 90 days. Is that Just, uh, you said you do a 90 day, 90 videos, 90 days. And then you test it with, um, you said you look at it with a marketing tool. I think you said, um, is the 90 days then just the first test to kind of get. Yeah. Is it just. Is it just a test to kind of then set the next strategy, or do you usually see like, a decent amount of change in 90 days?

Liana: Yeah, so we see a big change. The thing is, before we start getting our clients placed on tv, and most of my work has to be like, you need to be, be media trained to speak on tv. You need to take on stages, you need to speak on TED Talk. Right. So in order for me to understand that you are, uh, being positioned in the best way possible, you need to pass a 90 day rule, which is create 90 videos in 90 days. And we come to you, or you come to our location in soho, which is a podcast studio, where we record you. And we obviously use those videos on social media. We send, see which angle works best and does really well. And then we run with that and say, okay, this is an amazing angle. We got a lot of traction. Let's see if the, the press is going to, um, bite on that as well. And that angle works. So. Yeah, so we have to make sure that it intertwines and it also gives them a great experience to speak on, on camera. Right. And, um, it just gives them more experience so that then we can take that and teach them how to speak in sound bites and media train them to get them on tv. So there's a lot of work, there's a lot moving, uh, parts.

Jeff: The other thing you mentioned was around, uh, a crisis, how important is your instinct in those? When a client comes to you and they're having a little bit of a crisis mode, how important is your instinct in that moment?

Liana: So few things happened. Um, I don't. I. You know, there are a lot of times when clients come to me and they have really bad case against them. They're being sued, and I see that it's not ethical, and no matter what I'll do, it's not gonna work for them. And so I have to step away. I can't take on every case. And so I need to make sure that they, first of all will repair their damage and come clean and say, I have done this and I'm here to get better. Because, you know, it's like that, um. It's like that situation that happened at Coldplay when both of them were engaged in an affair, they were hugging Blah, blah. And so if they came clean right off the back and taken responsibility for what has happened and not waited so long, it could have been repaired much sooner. Somebody had to take the responsibility. And I would assume it had to be the CEO because he's on a higher level than her and he dragged her into it, or maybe the other way around. But hey, he's the one who hired her and I was expecting to him for him to come clean. And so someone, Someone like that, ah, that comes to me and doesn't come clean and says, what can you do for me to repair my damage, my reputation? I can't do much if you don't come clean first. Come clean, take the responsibility of what you have done wrong, and then we can move forward. But if you do not take that responsibility of actually just being upfront and, and saying, yes, it's my fault, then I'm not. I'm not going to do anything moving forward. Um, I just, I need to work with people that understand that this is, this is ethical. Like, it has to be ethical.

Jeff: I like that. Okay, take. Let me look for a second here. I want to. Because we made a lot of good stuff here and I just want to be conscious of time. What, Sorry, do you have a. Do you have a comment or is that just a breath? Okay. Um. What would you say is the loneliest part of being the person that everyone looks to when things go wrong?

Liana: What an amazing question.

Jeff: Thank you.

Liana: Yeah. Uh, the loneliest part was think that you can handle it all, because you come up so strong and so bold. You think that you have all the answers to everything. And sometimes I don't. Sometimes I just feel like I want to kind of shield myself because, you know, it's a lot of times we operate in that feminine and masculine energy. When they come to you for all the answers, it's the masculine energy. And I think every person should have a good balance of both. But for me, over the years, what I've noticed is that, you know, I had my autoimmune disease at a very young age. I experienced that and I understood that I took on too much upon myself and I had to slow down and I had to think and operate from my feminine energy more so. So I don't get burnt out, so I don't have that inflammation in my body and have that autoimmune disease. So to answer your question is it's very lonely to know that people come to you for all the answers. Even as a mother, you know, some things I have all the Answers, and I don't. I'm trying to live life as it goes, and it's. It's hard. Uh, but what I can say is that I'm there to give great advice. I might not have all the answers, but I can give suggestions and advice. And I think that sometimes not being that go to can be, um, for me, can be the best option, because I don't want to be a go to for everyone. I protect my space, I protect my energy. And with. With. With years of wisdom, I would say that I want to be in my own shell, you know, and preserve that. So, yeah, I can even get lonely with that because I don't want to interact with so many people. I'm just very cautious of who I give my energy to. So I'm not. Yeah, I'm not as giving as I used to be in my 20s. Not anymore.

Jeff: Is that just something you've learned over time about yourself, of what to be aware of and how to. How to manage that? Or was that intentional, like something that you realized, hey, I need to work on this?

Liana: Definitely intentional. I think everything I do comes with intention of what works for me, what doesn't work for me. You know, how much of myself can I give? How much am I being poured into? Uh, you know, in order to run a very successful business, you need to understand that it's your vessel that needs to be filled up. Right? Your vessel. We operate from a vessel. And, um, this vessel can be half empty or half full. And so for me, I'm always pouring into myself, whether it be working on myself, meditating, all the energy that goes out there, all the projects I work on, all the people that I know. It's a lot of energy. Right. How do I then feed myself? And so it takes a lot of work. So I'm very cautious and conscious of who I bring into my circle, who I talk to, who I date, who I just, in general, you know, share myself with. And it isn't. It does come with wisdom, with age and, um. And just saying, no, having that, no, no, I'm not available. No, this is not right for me. I'm not moving forward with that. It doesn't serve me. It doesn't serve my higher purpose.

Jeff: I like that. Um, you mentioned an autoimmune disorder. You kind of dropped it. I didn't. I didn't catch that before. Do you want to talk about that at all?

Liana: Sure. Sure. Yeah. It's a. It's one of big parts of my life, you know, at the time when I was A cosmetologist, got divorced, working few jobs. And again, you know, I come from a family where I can take it easy, right? Take it very easy and say, hey, I just want to work for you guys. Whatever you tell me, let's do it. But I, uh, always find a way to, like, what can I do to do it myself and, and pave the way. And so I had a couple of jobs, right? And when I was 24, from 21 to 25, that's when actually started happening. And so my autoimmune disease, like, one day, obviously, uh, it didn't happen that one day. It took years, right? That, that, that stress level. Um, and then I had, like, loss of hair, like, right over here. And, you know, it was a lot of hair that you lose over time, and you, you don't know what to do. And that is a. Understood that what we think has so much power. And, And I've just became more conscious of myself. And I wasn't, I was very mechanical about my day. I didn't think twice about what I put in my body, even though I was very healthy. I would think so. But healthy eating is not the same thing as healthy thinking. When I put something in my mouth, how intentional is it what I want this to do for my body if I drink something? So everything plays a role. And I think the autoimmune disease, I mean, it lasted very, uh, small. Like, uh, it literally lasted only six months because I went to my acupuncturist and I told my acupuncturist, look, I need to get out of this asap. Like, I don't know what's happening. Don't worry, don't worry. I'll. I'll help you. He said, uh, such an amazing man. I still go to him and treated me, gave me what I needed. But treatment is one thing. Then you have to live the lifestyle. Living the lifestyle of actually understanding that what didn't serve you and what happened to you can no longer serve you in the long run. Because if I'm going to build and build and I'm. And I'm such a. I'm a creative person, and I love to build. And so I need to make sure that I control just the. What. What's what I can't control, right? A lot of circumstances you can't control. So how do you show up when you can't control the. The outcomes you. You know, so, so when you're at peace and in tune with yourself, that I think. And meditation saved me. Meditation, understanding that the law of sound and effect. I mean I can go into the universal laws that I learned. You know, being an entrepreneur, it's not for the weak. You know, you can't just say, I'm an entrepreneur and I run this. You need to understand your spiritual side. You need to understand how to make sure you don't get affected by the naysayers. I mean it's just, there's a lot, you know, it's being an entrepreneur is really not for the week. It's not everyone is meant for to be an entrepreneur because it's not just about building a company. It's about what happens when you don't have clients. What happens when you're literally a negative in your, in a bank account, when you have nothing to your name. How do you get out of that? How do you make sure that you see tomorrow as a day of that's when it's going to happen. You have faith and not have fear. So for me, why I don't lead with fear is because I have faith. Right? And faith and fear cannot intertwine in one place. It doesn't exist. If you, ah, have faith, you cannot lead with fear. So that's why I always choose faith over fear.

Jeff: I love that. Thank you. Do you want to talk? Would you mind tell me about your um, your Be Epic framework?

Liana: Yeah. Uh, so the book that I written, the Be Epic framework is one word acronym and it comes from the five methodologies. The five methodologies is as follows. B is become empowered. Right? Is when you are believing in yourself, you will become that person. So B is for belief. Believe that you will become. E stems from empowerment. Right. So for me it's 80 is mindset. So whenever I teach my um, founders or even help them with a personal brand, I want to teach them that first framework. So they understand that everything they do is 80% of mindset, only 20% is going to be showing up. Right? But if you have doubts that you can't do it or you're not good enough, then you're gonna fall back. Right? So the framework is basically getting them out of their own mind of like self limiting beliefs and the sabotaging moments. So I teach them this framework. Like, well, if we can overcome this, you can do it into belief. Yes, I can. The empowerment, the personal satisfaction that comes from this. Right. A P. The personal satisfaction, the I which is the inner core. Right. Your inner voice comes from your inner core. Believe that inner voice. You can do it. Yes, you can do it. Why not me? And then the C is the courage, the courage to move forward. Um, the courage that you can step into that uncomfortable moment. Right. And, and find a way and pivot. So it's very therapeutic. You know, when my clients come to me, they're like, you know what? I don't even want to spend my money on therapists because I know what you're teaching is something that I can overcome. And they talk to me like a therapist, like, what can I do? You know, a lot of them also come out of nine to fives. They are tired of working the nine to five and they come to me. And so I have to teach them this framework to understand that, well, let's work on that. Where is this coming from? That you're not good enough. Why can't you leave your job? So, yes, it's a lot of hand holding, it's a lot of coaching and I love it. I love helping women especially.

Jeff: I think that's special and I think that's, uh, that's, that's really. Rephrase that, that I really like that you've identified this opportunity and seen this path forward to be able to help and serve, um, women. I, I think this is amazing. You're clearly set for it. Uh, you're clearly the right person for it. And um, I like that you weren't afraid to kind of answer that call. That's neat.

Liana: Yeah.

Jeff: Um, yeah.

Liana: And that's another thing. If God gives you a calling, if he plans that idea, you must act on it. It's like you're doing yourself a disservice and you're not living in your. What you're meant to do here. Right? We're all meant to do something. We're here on a mission. And if you have this, this idea that came to you, for me, I need to act instantly. Another thing I acted on quickly was building my non profit. But that's another story for another day. I have a non profit as well that I run and that idea was planted in me. Like you have, like God spoke to me like I'm his vessel. Like, you must create this. Like I don't have enough on my plate already. But I had to do it.

Jeff: You had to do it? Well, look, I mean, to your point, it's. I, I would love to have another conversation about it, but if you want to give, you know, a brief bit about, about it, I'd love to hear it. We also don't have to, but if you want to.

Liana: Oh, sure, sure. I can tell you briefly, so you know, me being Jewish, knowing That what happened to Israel? You know, at the time of the war. October 7th, I had this calling. But even before October 7th attack, I had this calling to build a school. Build a school to help the next generation of kids to become entrepreneurs. And instead of instill that confidence, instill that faith in them that I, you know, was raised with and, and that I practice day in and day out. So essentially I wanted to build a school in Cambodia or somewhere and serve everyone. Not the Jewish, not the Jewish kids only. But then with October 7th, I don't know, something happened and I got this download and was told to build this nonprofit for Jewish underprivileged Jewish kids. Underprivileged and kids with disabilities that don't have the ability to have mentorship and the resources and the tools to go out there and find a job and just be confident. Right. To know they can do it. And so, yeah, I named the Top Jewish People Foundation. That's another thing that just came to me. I don't even have to look for a name. And, um, yeah, and so we help bridge the gap between mentors and mentees. I have 50 mentors right now that we work with. And by the way, they're not all Jewish. A lot of mentors that come on board want to just help kids. And, and, yeah, and, and that's what, what I'm doing as my passion project. And I know that this passion project is something that I will just live for the rest of my life and just be creating and passionate and just evolve it basically. Um, and, you know, one of my biggest sponsors is Goldman Sachs. And so I just feel that there is this calling that I had and I acted on it. And that's what I'm, and I'm seeing is it's a ripple effect. Like people are believing, people are seeing. People want to be part of this movement. How can we help the next generation? The next gen is these are our leaders. So, uh, yeah, there's, that's, that's, that's the biggest part of what. Why I'm here on this earth and why am I here is because I'm here to empower the next generation.

Jeff: I love that. Just a couple of kind of closing questions here. Um, one is, what's, um, what's the best piece of advice that you've ever been given?

Liana: Yeah, few of them, actually. So my grandmother, may she rest in peace, the one that I look up to, the journalist. What you can do today, do not leave till tomorrow. Don't procrastinate. What you can do Today, do it today because you don't know if tomorrow will come.

Jeff: Yeah, that's good advice.

Liana: And I always live with that. And I'm afraid that if I don't do it today, I don't know if tomorrow is going to come. And that's why I'm just so, you know, I'm just afraid that if it comes to me now, if I don't act up on it, then I'm just, I'm not going to be able to live with myself. Because if I had this idea that came to me right now, if I, if I like right now, I had this other idea that came to me right after, I'm going to fit. If I'm not going to act on it, I'm going to say I'll leave it to tomorrow. I'm not going to feel good about myself because her voice is in my mind. And then this other aspect is like, well, I have this idea. Obviously it came to me for a reason. So that's one piece of advice. Another advice, uh, for my dad is fail as much as possible in order to get to your success, right. You must fail. Cannot if you don't take risks. We say in Russian, if you don't take risks, you don't drink champagne, right? When you, when you risk, you know that you overcame that fear and you cheers to that. So risk to get to, to reap the benefits, right? And don't be afraid to fail. Failure is a stepping stone to that next level of success. I mean, I have so many that I live by. Piece of advice. The other one, I would say the last one that I live by is your reputation can be built over years and years. You build it, but it can be taken, torn down in one day. So be careful who you surround yourself with and be careful who knows your name because not everyone deserves to know your name.

Jeff: That's so good. Not everyone deserves to know your name. I love that those are all three really good.

Liana: Thank you.

Jeff: You were given some, um, really great wisdom from some people in your family. I think that's, that's really. Thank you for sharing that with me.

Liana: Thank you.

Jeff: Related. On the topic of advice, if you could go back in time and give your 20 year old self a piece of advice or have a conversation with her, what would you tell her? Wow.

Liana: I would tell her, life is too beautiful not to believe in yourself. Even though I was very strong growing up, but I didn't always have the belief that I can do it. You know, it's the confidence that comes with age. And my mother wasn't really that confident person that I looked up to. She always questioned herself, but my father was. But I didn't see my father as much as I wanted to because he was always busy building and working. So I would say to myself that believe in everything that you do and show up for yourself. Show up and just. And just believe that you can do it. That. That's what I would say. You can do it. And. And I only learned that through my divorce, that I had to leave a very painful part of my life and bury that and grieve. Um, and only then I understood that I need to show up for myself. But before that, I was a people pleaser. I would please and please and please, but it's not. It's not something you should be doing. So in your 20s, you want to please everyone around you? No, you need to show up for yourself. Please yourself first. Be selfish and please yourself first. Be happy.

Jeff: I love that. Um, and then the last question is, uh, what's your favorite book?

Liana: Oh, gosh, I have so Think and Grow Rich changed my life.

Jeff: Really? Okay. I mean, super well known. I love that. Yeah. Think and Grow Rich.

Liana: Yes. And the second one that he wrote is Outwitting the Devil. I mean, that in itself changed my life. Those. Those two books that he. And then Outleting the Devil actually came out much later after his death, right after he passed away. Because he talks about the devil, and the church was not okay with that. You can't talk about the devil. And that was something. What I was fascinated. Fascinated by. Um, and then. Yeah. I mean, I even interviewed the woman that annotated the book. Yeah. So that was another. Yeah.

Jeff: So you have these favorite books, like, to be able to ask detailed questions about it and like, ask behind the scenes. I bet. That was amazing.

Liana: Oh, yeah, it was amazing. She was just incredible. And, um, yeah, I was lucky. But like, that book, the Desire, if you have that burning desire. And I always had the burning desire. And when I read that book, I'm like, oh, my God, this. This is exactly what I have. This burning desire doesn't leave me. And like, if you have a burning desire, you're always going to strive to get to that level. And. And nothing can sway you. No matter how many times you get knocked down. It's. You're never gonna get knocked down if you have that desire. You can, but you're always gonna get back up and go after even harder. So that's. That's. Yeah, that. Those are my books.

Jeff: I love those. Thank you. Well, Liliana, I've super enjoyed this. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise with myself and, you know, ultimately our listeners. I. I really enjoy this. Any. Any. Anything we missed that you want to cover or any parting words of wisdom.

Liana: Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me. We appreciate the fact that I just love talking about how I got to where I am, because I know I can. It can teach others, and I can instill so much confidence. And I know that there's so many women, men out there, young adults who are struggling and think that tomorrow is never going to come. And tomorrow. And how can I get over this? Well, no, one thing that tomorrow is promised only to those that go after their dreams. Right? You need to show up for yourself. And that. Those are the parting words I would say is if you want to, um, fulfill those dreams, make a promise to yourself that no matter what happens, you'll show up. No matter how you feel. Keep those emotions to the side and show up regardless, no matter how you feel. I mean, I don't care how I feel. I can feel tired. I can feel sick. I'm gonna show up. And that's. That's what really sets me apart from my competitor.

Jeff: Look, I've only known you for two hours, but I believe that. I believe that you're always gonna show up. So I'm sold. And look, that's great parting advice. Thanks so much. Thanks, everybody for listening. And, um,