308-SYB-Angela-Guice.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
What does it take to thrive as a woman in business? You’re going to love my conversation with Angela Geiss on this episode of The Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. Thank you so much for joining me today. We have a tour de force conversation all about being an entrepreneur as a woman, whether it’s in a very male dominated, hard to get into industry like Hollywood all the way through to how to navigate changes in the economy, especially unexpected ones, whether it’s the current economy. Back when the pandemic started and all the way back to 12, 14 years ago from the Great Recession. So my guest today is Angela geist, who is the founder of a Los Angeles based production company called New Context. She has been in Hollywood for over 20 years and she has worked with clients like the Walt Disney Company, Netflix, Hulu, BET, NBCUniversal, DreamWorks and more. She’s an Emmy Award winning executive producer, and she has a list of clients and people that she’s worked with that you would definitely recognize, including ones like Amy Schumer and Lizzo. So fun. Angela and I have been working together on her signature talk on her keynote over the past few months. And it’s really about this idea of personal branding and how much that personal branding sets you apart. And definitely Angela has experienced that. And in Hollywood, that applies to you too. Angela, welcome to the podcast.
Angela Guice:
Thanks so much for having me, Carol.
Carol Cox:
All right. Well, let’s start with all the way back to when you decided to move to Los Angeles and have a career in the Hollywood industry. Tell us about that. Where did you grow up? How did you grow up? And then why did you decide that’s what you wanted to do?
Angela Guice:
Well, I am from Biloxi, Mississippi, a very small town on the Gulf Coast. And my parents actually owned an advertising agency. So I grew up since birth, basically in the marketing and advertising business. So it wasn’t a natural for me to kind of take that step. But moving to Hollywood certainly was. But I always dreamed of being like Sherry Lansing one day, who was the president of Paramount, And I didn’t end up quite going into the movie industry, but I did end up back where my parents started, which is in the advertising business. So what we do at new context, we promote television shows, movies. We’re basically an advertising agency for television networks and streaming services. It’s a very interesting niche where I landed, but it’s awesome because it takes the two things that I love advertising, marketing, branding and combines it with the entertainment industry. So it’s been a really amazing career so far. We worked with a lot of interesting people and I do feel like my Southern roots really have informed the way I run my company, the way I promote my personal brand, and just the overall way in which we run our company.
Carol Cox:
And I know, Angela, from having worked with you that that your your Southern roots and the sense of Southern hospitality was not something that you really put front and center when you initially moved out to Hollywood in your early twenties because you felt that it was actually could be a hindrance to you, right?
Angela Guice:
I felt like it was definitely a hindrance. I was embarrassed of my accent. I thought that people would think I was stupid. I would say the wrong thing sometimes. And of course, when we’re in our early twenties, we’re very hard on ourselves, right? We were so hard on ourselves as adults sometimes. But it took me years, many years to figure out that what I perceived as one of my biggest weaknesses was really one of my biggest strengths. Why not be different? Why? Why try and be someone else? So I think really taking that stubbornness that just happened to be my special sauce, everybody has their own different special sauce is what really catapulted us to into being different, to differentiating our company from all the other production companies that were out there. The fact that that was my personality and also that I was a woman was very different in Hollywood. There weren’t a lot of women in charge. So I think those two things which could have been seen as major setbacks to some people in their career, thankfully, I was able to evolve and use that as is actually an amazing selling point of what makes us different.
Carol Cox:
Angela Why do you think that for so many of us it is challenging because we don’t want to want to be different, especially if we’re younger, but maybe even at any age. We want to fit in. We want to be accepted by other people and we feel like if. We seem so different that we’re going to stand out, but maybe not stand out in the way that we want to stand out with them.
Angela Guice:
It’s an interesting thing, and I feel, especially as women, we pigeonhole ourselves and we compare ourselves at no time in our history, probably as humans. Is that more true than today with social media and all those things? And I’m grateful that I didn’t have that when I was in my early twenties. Back back in the early 2000s late nineties. But I think we’re at an interesting point sort of in a society evolutionarily where we’re probably comparing ourselves more on a daily basis on a minute by minute hourly basis, looking at our phones all the time, comparing ourselves to other people’s careers, other people’s bodies, other people’s lives, and wanting to fit in that, that space. But I think also to what’s different about now than, say, the early 2000s when when I was coming up and starting my career is that there’s also never been a time in our society party where being different is actually cool, where the thing that you might, whether it’s the way your hair looks or the style you have or where you came from, especially in the industry we’re in, in entertainment, nothing is so homogenized. People’s differences are what makes them unique, what gives them an actual selling point. We see influencers on TikTok and on on Instagram. You see people from all walks of life now. Are they attainable or not? I don’t know. But it does go to show. I see commercials all the time featuring people who look different, who who come from different backgrounds. So I think in the 20 something year span since sort of I was coming up, I do feel there there is a change, a shift in accepting who you are. And it’s it’s something that’s hard to do, I think, when you’re young and just starting out in your career. But it’s a message that can’t be amplified enough. It’s, you know, take take what what sets you apart. And that’s going to be why people remember you.
Carol Cox:
Absolutely. And I’m thinking a couple of different things, Angela. So first, as you point out with social media, like I we didn’t grow up with social media when we were young, and I’m grateful for that. The flip side of that is, though, I feel like we see so many different types of people that in our quote unquote mainstream media kind of silos that we grew up with, there was there were no opportunities to see people who the mainstream media or kind of like the gatekeepers wanted us to see marketing, advertising, films, TV shows, what have you. And I think of one of the clients you work with, Lizzo and her body positivity movement, I don’t know, 20 years ago, much less earlier than that, that someone like her would have been able to achieve the level of visibility and exposure and now success that she’s had.
Angela Guice:
Absolutely. And it’s it’s a culture shift, which is so exciting to watch. And we definitely still have a long way to go. But Lizzo is particularly inspiring, not just because of the body positivity. That’s a big part of her story. But she didn’t start out wanting to be a pop star. She was in a marching band. She played the flute. She is just such an interesting person who is coming. There was a point where she was homeless in her car, I think for a year or so. She was really trying to make it because people weren’t they didn’t know what to do with her. They didn’t know how to market her. But she kind of refused to to change. She’s like, am I a singer or am I a rapper or am I a flautist? What am I? I’m LIZZO. Right. So working with her was was incredible. And I think she’s such a great a great role model just for young girls everywhere. Maybe just to know, no matter what, what you look like, who you are, what you want to be, it is possible. And I think to see people in that position of power, it holds so much value, even more than than we know because we didn’t grow up seeing a lot of that. I don’t think even her being from Houston, she’s not you know, she came from nothing and really changed her whole life.
Carol Cox:
I just watched the HBO documentary about Lizzo that recently came out. I just watched it literally a couple of nights ago as of the recording, as of this recording. So I know so much more about her like you just described than I had before. So really, she was really inspiring story because she stayed so authentic and true to herself.
Angela Guice:
Yes. I feel like in order to be successful at anything you do, whether you want to be a pop star or just maybe be the best accountant you can be, whatever whatever industry you’re in, the best way to truly connect with other people and to connect with your audience, whether that’s your coworkers or your social media following, it’s to really be yourself. That’s the way you’re going to succeed. And you see it all the time with stars, and it’s the industry I work in. So that’s kind of who I relate to. But you see people who try to be someone they’re not and. We are also savvy now as consumers and also just as people. But you can tell when people are being disingenuous or they’re not really following their truth, as we like to say. So it just feels good. It feels good and it connects with other people. So it’s a trend that I’ve seen over the past ten years, and I think it’s not just something that applies to celebrities. It’s really something that can apply to everybody in their in their daily lives.
Carol Cox:
Absolutely. And Angela reminds me of the framework that we created for your keynote. And so we worked together on that, that the opening and the closing, everything in between. And we we came up with this acronym, ACT, Act. And so it’s except, except who you are like, except that uniqueness about you. And then the C is for create your own narrative. So decide like what do you want to put out there, just like Lizzo did. And then the T is to tell your story, which of course that’s what we do here as speaking your brand. So, Angela, can you tell us a little bit about for yourself you mentioned you’re moving to Hollywood when you’re relatively young and feeling like you wanted to fit in because obviously you want to be accepted, but then realizing that these uniqueness is about you being a woman and also being from the South was a way that you could stand out and actually could attract great clients, like the kind of clients you would love to work with. And I remember that part of your talk. There was another element, though, of your identity that you resisted for a long time until just about, what, a year or so ago that changed.
Angela Guice:
Yes, I it’s another narrative that I think is women specifically we tell ourselves is, you know, could I be a good mom and also be a business owner? And I’d accepted so many things about myself, my southern ness, my my womanhood, my abilities to be in business as that person with those experiences. But I had this loop in my head, and I’m sure this is something that a lot of other women feel. How can I do it all? Is it possible to do it all? And so I really struggled with figuring out how to let that part of me blossom, really. But it really did, because I had a kid a year and a half ago. I have a 16 month old son, but it was incredible to me as this sort of power woman, business woman that I was still questioning myself. And sometimes I would think about it like, okay, I’m playing this tape in my head and I know that I can do it. But it’s hard for a lot of women because we’re kind of told by society, I think, that we can’t have it all or that you can only be good at one thing. And trust me, there is a lot of days where I’m not feeling like I’m succeeding at either. But I think that that’s just normal. But I do know that, like a lot of things in life, sometimes you just have to do it and you have to have a supportive partner and a support, a great support system, whatever that looks like for you. But it was incredible. An incredible realization the day that I realized, okay, well, it doesn’t matter who I hire to replace me in business, who I try to be me, there’s nobody that’s going to be me. So how about I just be myself as a bad ass business owner? A bad ass mom, A great example for my kid. And the rest is history. Here he is in the world and we’re thriving. So.
Carol Cox:
And I think this is why I wanted. I asked you about this. I wanted you to share it here, but then also in your keynote, because I do feel like for so many women out there is sharing these thoughts, these limiting beliefs, these things that we have, especially from successful people, Someone like you, Angela, you have this incredible production company. You work with all of these well known brands and people. Your Emmy Award winning. Yeah, we all have those doubts and insecurities and we’re not sure. And so you sharing that helps others to feel like, Oh, I’m not alone in this as well.
Angela Guice:
Absolutely. And it’s only through that. And I think that’s sort of one of the secret powers of women, is so many times we don’t share because we’re again comparing ourself to others. We see Supermom on Instagram making dinner and doing her Tiktoks and her kids are perfectly dressed and everybody’s great. Well, I’m now that on the other side of that and I know what it takes to get my kid into that perfect little outfit when oh, before the picture is taken, he spills all over himself and it’s actually an hour long ordeal. So, you know, just like in Hollywood, where it takes a long time to set the scene, it’s not always as as pictured. And I think the more that we start sharing that, that, hey, this is my life is not picture perfect and I don’t think anybody is. And if they’re telling you that, they’re probably not telling the truth.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, exactly. That is, you know, I’m living a human life is is there are challenges. That’s how we learn and grow. Absolutely. All right, Angela. Well, speaking of challenges, as I teed up in the intro, obviously our our economy, the marketplace is going through a shift right now. You know, when the pandemic started in March 2020, that was a huge shock to the economy. And I feel like there were definitely a segment of the population who experience a lot of lost jobs or what have you. And I feel like for a lot of the entrepreneurs that I know, actually the pandemic had a silver lining. You know, as long as everyone was healthy in the sense that it allowed us to have some extra time to focus on our business, to really understand our clientele, to really put out great content. And I know, like speaking your brand, our business really thrived over the past two years, but I’m definitely feeling a shift in the marketplace now, understandably so. There’s so much going on. And Angela, you may be feeling this, too, but I know because you’ve been in business a long time, not only did you go through the pandemic in 2020, but you actually went through the great what’s called the Great Recession, 2008, 2009, 2010, however long that lasted. You know what? What did you find was effective for you in these different changes that you’re taking with you now?
Angela Guice:
Yeah, it’s such an interesting time, Carol. And just talking to other business owners and even people that are on my team who haven’t maybe had as much experiences as some of us veterans, I guess Now I’m an industry veteran, which is kind of weird. But you know, when you’ve been in business long enough, you start seeing these cycles. It’s all cyclical, right? And I think one thing that I really learned, especially through the pandemic, because we really did survive and thrive thankfully during the pandemic, is your your customers, your clients, whoever that might be, are going to be looking for solutions to their problem. You know, I like to give this advice to all the business owners that I work with and that I know that are in my circle is we have to just start thinking about solutions, right? Don’t go to the clients asking for more business. Go to them asking, what can we do to to help you and whether that’s your client or your customer or whatever kind of business you’re in. At these times, people want to see that you can help them. And during the pandemic, specifically, our clients weren’t able to film anything because everything was shut down. There wasn’t any filming. And I was of course very concerned because my job is usually being on set with at least 100 people. So when it was like, okay, we can’t shoot anything, we came up with a solution for remote filming, which is completely contactless. When I think about how we did it, it just amazes me.
Angela Guice:
And so we were able to not only stay busy, but we were able to stay at the forefront of the clients top of mind so that when filming came back, we were top of mind and stayed really busy and had even more business than before the pandemic, which was incredible. So I think as women, especially not that men can’t do this too, but I think as women were very intuitive, We’re we’re really we excel at reading the room. So in these times of uncertainty and crisis, I think trust your we have to trust our guts and say, okay, intuitively I I’m a nurturer, so what can I do to help take care of whoever my client or my customer is? What’s going to going to make them trust me and know that I will help them? So I feel like that’s a good place. A little nugget of what kind of kept us going through and not only surviving, but thriving during the pandemic. And I think it’s also something that just in times of uncertainty, really can help get you through these sort of interesting times, because there are I mean, we’ve been in business for 17 years and you never know what it might be. I mean, in the entertainment business, we’ve seen such a seismic shift between networks and then cable and now streaming. So it’s just no matter what business you’re in, it’s evolving and it’s evolving right now. And if you don’t know, it’s evolving, It is. And you should find out how.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, yeah, it is true. And like the cycles seem to be coming faster and faster and the needing to evolve is faster and faster because I imagine 20, 30, 40 years ago, of course, business has had to evolve, but not at the same rate that we have to nowadays.
Angela Guice:
Exactly. Technology changes and depending on what what sector you’re in, it doesn’t matter. We’re all connected in this sort of fast paced world, right? So it is evolving at a very rapid rate and there are a lot of unknowns. But I think to me, trusting your gut and using your intuition has always been the best course of action for me as a business owner. Sometimes you’re not always right, but it leads you down. Maybe even a different path that you didn’t know is possible. But I think that. There are ways to turn. What? Again? Going back to my talk, turning what could be a perceived weak economy and how do you turn that into a positive? Because I think it’s really about how you spin it. Right. Clearly, I’m an eternal optimist, but, you know, how do you take something that you think might be a bad thing and spin it into something that could be really positive?
Carol Cox:
Yeah. And then I love your approach, Angela, with your clients or prospective clients as how how can we help you? What is it that you are needing right now? And because and not just assuming that whatever your solution was or product or service was that worked six months ago or a year ago, it may be a great product service solution, whatever it happens to be. And it may have worked really well at the time, but it may not be the right fit for where people are today.
Angela Guice:
Exactly. And I think one of the best, you know, speaking your brand, it fits perfectly with this is speak to your clients, Talk to them. What are you looking for? What is keeping you up at night? We sell products, we sell TV shows. That’s what we do. So what are our audience is looking for? Your clients, your customers. You have to approach it in the same way. So I think it’s really about listening, observing and listening and then acting out. And it goes back to the sincerity, acting from a place of, you know, obviously you want something beneficial for yourself, but you also want to make sure that you’re serving a purpose too.
Carol Cox:
And this is where your relationships and your network will come in to play so strongly. And I know Angela, we actually met through Colleen O’Mara and Jesse Nagel, who are the founders of a PR and social media agency out in Los Angeles called Hype. And Colleen and Jesse went through our Thought Leader Academy earlier this year. They were on the podcast in August Episode 292 on your net worth is in your network because they have they are amazing at building their network, but truly from a place of service and and authentic connection and deep connection, not just, Oh, I’m going to go put a bunch of people in my well, whatever, Rolodexes nowadays in my phone contacts and in my email list. And so, Angela, I assume that because you also have been in Hollywood for over two decades now, that you have a lot of really deep relationships with people, that whether it’s the pandemic in 2020 or the changes in the economy now are going to serve you.
Angela Guice:
Absolutely. And when I mentor young people or when I talk to young people or the young people in my team, I really stress that point of networking, really building authentic, amazing relationships with other people because it has served me throughout my entire career, whether it’s someone helping me out or I’m able to help them out. It’s really building these friendships. And what’s great about sort of being a woman in business is there are so many people that are just willing to help you. It takes it truly does take a village to start a business and to keep thriving. And I know that I had the woman who’s in a few men, but mostly women, to be honest, who supported me as a 26 year old young girl who was just launching, launching a company. You need that support, right? And they might need you someday. So it’s been interesting during the pandemic because a lot of the young people coming into their careers didn’t have a lot of opportunities, right? There weren’t mixers, there weren’t conferences. So I think there’s a whole generation of the early 20 somethings that have kind of missed out on not being in a workplace and not having those connections. So I think it’s going to be really interesting to see as we’re hopefully coming out of the pandemic, teaching that to the next generation of how important that is, because I really, truly, truly believe it’s been difficult. I went to an industry mixer and there’s a lot of young 20 somethings there, and that was the first thing they had ever been to. And business cards are also obsolete. I don’t know if you knew that, but maybe that happened before the pandemic.
Carol Cox:
I feel like it probably did happen before the pandemic, but we held on to them. So what are the what are the youngins using nowadays?
Angela Guice:
It was so bizarre, Carol. It was it was a little interesting because I hadn’t been to a networking event and since COVID, so have probably been about two years almost. And the kids these days, they just they swap Instagram handles or LinkedIn. If it was me and another middle aged person, we’re just emailing each other on the spot, which is difficult. If you have a glass of wine and your phone and you’re, you know, there has to be a better way. So if you could do a podcast with someone on the new rule, the post pandemic rules of networking, I think that would be really.
Carol Cox:
That’s a great idea. Well, I have heard of these things called dot cards. Dot.
Angela Guice:
Yes, yes, the dot car.
Carol Cox:
And so they have like a QR code on them. And then obviously you put all your information on there. So it can do it can automatically when someone scans it, add you to their iPhone contacts. Go to LinkedIn, Instagram, whatever you want it to do. So that I think, is the thing you.
Angela Guice:
Think is the new thing. But, you know, if I went to an event, I would come home with the business cards in my pocket and I would know exactly who to follow up with. When you’re doing when you have the pause thing, you really just have to have the mental rolodex. It’s just different. And I was never a fan of business cards to begin with. Anyway, you lost them. They were just annoying. But it’s it’s a brave new world out there. And I do think it’s important for the younger generation to really establish that network and establish kind of their their tribe because it is so important. But I would be really interested in seeing a podcast about the new the new networking rules, because I need a little I need a little brush up.
Carol Cox:
All right. So for those of you who listening, if you feel like you would make a great guest to talk about that, please contact me and let me know. Or if you know someone who would make a great cast, please send them my way and let them know you listen to this episode and that you have someone in mind. I think that’s a great idea. And speaking of LinkedIn and Instagram, I’ll make sure that Angela’s links to connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram or in the show notes. So make sure to do that and say hi to her as well. And you can also connect with me on LinkedIn. Angela, thank you so much for coming on the Speaking your Brand podcast. You are an inspiration. I really have enjoyed getting to know you, Carol.
Angela Guice:
Thanks so much for having me. You’re just amazing. You’re you’re part therapist, part speaking coach. Just overall general, fabulous person. So thank you so much for having me on.
Sonix has many features that you’d love including automated translation, world-class support, automated subtitles, share transcripts, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.
