The Power of Personal Branding: Kristin Marquet Of Marquet Media On How Publicists Shape Influential Leaders
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Never try to be something you aren’t because it will shine through. The public and media know when a leader is being disingenuous. Authenticity and honesty will always resonate with target audiences. Authenticity will help leaders attract the right team, customers, and business opportunities. When I am just myself on social media or in an interview, it helps build credibility and trust with my followers, readers, listeners, or viewers.
In today’s digital-first world, personal branding has emerged as a cornerstone of professional success and influence. Behind many of the most recognized leaders and personalities stands a strategic partnership with skilled publicists who craft and convey their stories, values, and visions to the world. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Marquet.
Kristin has been a publicist and PR agency owner Marquet Media, LLC for more than 15 years. In this role, she oversees the day-to-day operations of the agency, leads a tight-knit team of 10 members, and ensures clients receive the best possible service through their campaigns. Throughout her career, she has launched over 1000 brands and the careers of today’s most notable thought leaders, experts, and founders in the fashion, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle industries through her proprietary Brand Canvas Model (a framework for designing and implementing the elements of a brand identity and leveraging it to gain visibility through media coverage).
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share your “origin story” with our readers? How did you begin your journey, and what challenges did you face in the early days?
Thank you for this interview opportunity. Like most entrepreneurs, my journey to entrepreneurship and building a profitable business was nothing short of frustrating and challenging. In 2009, I had been laid off from a cushy corporate consulting job during the Financial Crisis, at which time came as a shock. However, I received a severance package, which served as a limited safety net, and I had to decide whether to look for a job or start a business.
After two weeks of weighing the pros and cons of each option, I decided to start my first business, my PR firm, Marquet Media, LLC. This is where I developed and launched the proprietary framework, the Brand Canvas Model! In 2017, I started the media offshoot FemFounder.co, which has now grown into a full-service media company that publishes interviews, how-to articles, tutorials, courses, and templates.
As a business owner, I’ve had my fair share of challenges building Marquet Media, LLC and FemFounder.co. When I started Marquet Media, the company proliferated, and we experienced growth beyond our control. We scaled to 30 clients within six months and lost our identity as an agency, but after I took a step back and evaluated our market positioning, brand strategy, and target markets, I decided to narrow down and only focus on three industries. This served us incredibly well as we built our brand, carved our niches, and became the market leader in working with boutique luxury, lifestyle, fashion, and beauty brands.
FemFounder, on the other hand, was a different story. I started it as a blog where aspiring founders could get free advice, tools, and resources they needed to launch, and after about three months, the readership started to grow fast. Within the first six months, we had over 100,000 monthly readers and 15,000 email subscribers and conducted over 100 founder interviews, which helped the brand become notable and credible. Today, we have over 1 million readers a month and a half million email subscribers, growing more daily. This newsletter is called the Woven Weekly.
Can you share a transformative moment or campaign in your career where you significantly altered the personal brand of a leader, and what was the impact of that change?
Yes, I can. In 2016, a psychotherapist hired my company. She wanted online visibility and recognition for her private practice because she had no notoriety. Yet, my team spent thousands of hours in the PR and online visibility trenches over the last eight years, building her brand and name.
As her team of trusted advisors, we have built her brand into an international phenomenon. She has been featured on Today.com, Newsweek.com, Fortune.com, MSN.com, Oprah Magazine, Allure.com, and Shape.com, earned awards, been interviewed on countless podcasts and television on Comcast/NBC, and is getting ready to launch her first book in April 2024. Not only is she known as a celebrity psychotherapist and entrepreneur, but she is also consistently requested by the media to be quoted.
What are the most common misconceptions leaders have about personal branding, and how do you address these in your work?
Throughout my career, I’ve learned that leaders have two main misconceptions about personal branding: 1) they believe it is for celebrities, influencers, or social media stars, and 2) they don’t think they need to build theirs in today’s digital ecosphere. However, both notions are wrong. Building a personal brand is vital for any company leader in the public eye as a form of branding and differentiation. Leaders who spend time building their personal brands can avoid losing out on the competition.
How do you navigate the balance between a leader’s authentic self and the public persona you craft for them in their branding strategy?
Any leader can find it challenging to maintain a professional image while being honest and authentic. Being genuine yet respectful is important for building trust, respect, and credibility. I always encourage our clients to speak in their authentic voices, be bold, and show who they are to build relationships with their target audience. However, it is also important to know your limits and avoid oversharing personal information.
In a crisis situation, what steps do you take to protect or rehabilitate the personal brand of a leader?
Respond within the golden hour (immediately after the problem/issue happens — this is within the first hour), be honest and willing to answer questions, and don’t hide from the media or the public. Hiding will only make them come across as untrustworthy. Open communication and transparency are keys to maintaining trust during crises.
Could you list and briefly explain “5 Things You Need to Know to Shape a Personal Brand” based on your experiences and insights?
- Never try to be something you aren’t because it will shine through. The public and media know when a leader is being disingenuous. Authenticity and honesty will always resonate with target audiences. Authenticity will help leaders attract the right team, customers, and business opportunities. When I am just myself on social media or in an interview, it helps build credibility and trust with my followers, readers, listeners, or viewers.
- Be consistent in all internal and external touchpoints across all platforms. Consistency with your voice messaging platforms and appearance across various platforms helps you become recognizable. Whether Instagram, your blog, or podcasts, your personal brand should convey a coherent message about your professional identity and offerings. Before posting any content, I ensure that all items discussed above are unified.
- Weave your value proposition through all elements of your personal brand. Ensuring your branding elements contain your value proposition will make a great personal brand. Include what makes you different and unique to your target audiences. This can be as simple as a particular skill or as complex as a proprietary framework. My value proposition is my approach to building client brand identities, evident through all my marketing materials.
- A positive online presence is crucial in today’s digital age, as it is as essential as having customers or clients. Pay attention to what you post and like, conduct regular Google audits to ensure your name remains free of negative sentiments, and engage with your audiences to let them know you are genuinely interested in their wants and needs. I regularly monitor my names and my companies’ brands for any media coverage, social media conversations, and Google News to ensure I stay apprised of what’s being said.
- Be willing to incorporate storytelling into your personal brand: Sharing your journey, challenges, successes, and learnings in a compelling way can engage your audience emotionally and intellectually. It helps in making your brand more relatable and memorable. Craft your narrative in a way that highlights your unique path and the insights you’ve gained along the way. I strive to weave stories throughout all the content I publish.
Looking forward, how do you see the role of technology and social media evolving in the way publicists shape and manage the personal brands of leaders?
Leaders will increasingly collaborate with micro-influencers who have highly engaged targeted audiences. Technology will help build these connections, and Instagram and Facebook will introduce more features to support and track the success of these partnerships.
How can our readers follow your work?
If readers are interested in connecting and learning more about my work, they can follow me on Instagram.com/Kristin_k_Marquet and on Marquet.company, FemFounder.co, BrandStrategyMedia.com, http://www.kristinkmarquet.co/, and http://marquetmagazine.co/.
Thank you for offering such valuable insights into the power of personal branding. We wish you continued success in all of your work.
Thank you for the opportunity.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
The Power of Personal Branding: Kristin Marquet Of Marquet Media On How Publicists Shape… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.