WIN Woman Spotlight: Aliza Licht

Our ongoing WIN Woman Spotlight series showcases leaders from across the country/world who embrace the skill of negotiation and advocacy to break down barriers for women: women who are champions for female empowerment within her organization and/or in her personal life. From industry leaders to career coaches to champions for change, our spotlights have highlighted them all.

Today, we’re featuring Aliza Licht, Founder of Leave Your Mark and Author of ON BRAND, and speaker at WIN Summit 2024.

Aliza Licht is an award-winning marketer, bestselling author, podcaster, personal branding expert, and career development coach. Licht has been a prominent figure in the fashion and media industries for over 25 years, contributing to her extensive experience in branding and career development.

As the founder of Leave Your Mark, a multimedia brand and consultancy, she advises businesses and individuals on brand strategy. Credited as a social media pioneer and one of the first fashion influencers, Licht was the former anonymous social media phenomenon DKNY PR GIRL.

Watch the video above or read the transcript from the interview below.

To see Aliza at WIN Summit 2024, you can learn more and register here: https://www.winsummit.com/2024-power-to-summit

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The interview transcript:

Daniella Kahane

Hello everybody I am Daniela Kahana CEO and Co-Founder of WIN (Women In Negotiation) and I am so thrilled to be here with my friend Aliza Licht. By way of introduction, Aliza is an award-winning marketer, two-time best-selling author, podcaster, personal branding expert, and a career development coach.  She's also the founder of Leave Your Mark a multimedia brand and consultancy who leverages over 25 years of marketing Communications and digital expertise from the fashion  industry to advise businesses and individuals on brand strategy. She's also the creator of the social media phenomenon, and DKNY PR girl, an award-winning personality with over 1.5 million fans worldwide and is a regular on-air talent and subject matter expert

For those of you who don't know HerWIN series is a way for WIN to Spotlight a woman in our Network who we admire and who is wielding the power of negotiation in her life not just for herself but for other women.  Ultimately it's an opportunity for our audience to connect women across an array of Industries and to get to know them better.  So today we have Aliza here with us.  Thank you, Aliza.

And look what I have right here. [Shows Aliza’s Book, ON BRAND]

Aliza Licht

Thank you Daniela for that amazing intro.  I'm so happy to be here and I cannot wait for this event. 

Daniella

Yes we are so excited.  We are weeks away from WIN Summit 2024 on May 30th Alisa will be a featured speaker on one of our panels and on brand building and um we really are just so excited for this back in-person Summit.  We hope you will join us. But let's get to you. 

Tell us something about yourself that we might not know from the intro. 

Aliza

I was pre-med in college. I thought I was going to be a plastic surgeon I graduated with a degree in neurobiology and Physiology and then in my junior year of college, I did this horrible internship at a hospital and realized I cannot do that and that my passion is to work in fashion. 

Daniella

That is an amazing pivot and obviously you're a genius because you could kind of juggle both those worlds.  

Aliza

I don't know. I don't know about genius but thanks. 

Daniella

Tell us a bit about the work you are doing and why you do the work you do. 

Aliza

So it's funny because my traditional work has always been in marketing Communications and digital for Brands. When ON BRAND, my newest book came out last year I realized, or when I started writing the book, I realized that everything that Ilearned across my more than two decades of experience for luxury brands in those categories really apply to people.  So what's making me excited right now is really helping women understand that if they're not doing the work to shape their narrative and communicate their value in an elegant way. You know, waiting around for people to notice you're good at what you do is not a strategy and I hope ON BRAND can help a lot of people be self-reflective and thinking okay, “What is my Northstar?” and “Am I communicating my entire brand, my personal brand, to support that?” 

Daniella

Yeah, it's so important today. I mean, people think “self-promotion” and they think “don't want to do that.” But it's a necessity and I think then that layer of  “How do I do that elegantly?” is really where it's at.  So it’s amazing to have people like you in the world and women need more of that. 

So, if you weren’t doing this work - what would you be doing?

Aliza

So, I left corporate PR in 2015 when my first book Leave Your Mark came out. At that point, I decided I had overdosed in public relations and I could never do public relations again and I went into consulting.  I went back and forth in-house in corporate, really taking on a broader role in marketing.  I think for me the the center of the vend diagram is always going to be storytelling.  That's why I write books. That's why I have a podcast: Leave Your Mark.  That's why I am so active on social media.  That's why I love amplifying women.  I love sharing stories and in it doesn't really matter the medium.  It's just the concept of really taking people along the journey.  So, I'd probably be doing storytelling in some format no matter what. 

Daniella

Love that.  What are three adjectives to describe yourself?

Aliza

So I would say I am very sincere, very direct, and very decisive. 

Daniella

I completely agree with all those. 

Aliza

Oh thank you! 

Daniella

Yes, I can endorse all three of those. 

Aliza

Thank you. 

Daniella

Obviously, I mentioned you're speaking at WIN Summit so we're super excited about that. What excites you about WIN Summit?

Aliza

I think what you're doing with WIN Summit is critical.  It is critical.  I mean, and just taking it back to my book ON BRAND for a second, women do not know how to speak about themselves.  It is cringy. It is uncomfortable, and that's just like a general comment.  So when we apply that same mentality to negotiating your worth it's exponentially worse.  So I'm excited about it because I feel like what I can share from ON BRAND can be directly applied to negotiation because it really does start with this concept of - “Why not me?”. Like, “Why shouldn't it be me?” and I think one of the things I speak about in ON BRAND is this idea that if you're in the room you belong there.  And a lot of women waste time thinking, “I don't know, am I the best person to do this?” like, “I don't know, someone else should be doing this.” “Am I smart enough?”, “Am I good enough?” and instead of having those mental gymnastics anguishes wouldn't it be better if we can teach women to say, “Okay. I'm in the room and now I'm going to think about what I'm going to do in this room.” Yes, you want to leave the door open for other people too but it's really about getting comfortable with the fact that somebody else has recognized something in you and invited you to that table so own it. I think I heard Rashma Saujami speak about this in such a powerful way. 

Daniella

I love that.  What do you feel like - or how do you feel about negotiation? What excites you about negotiation?

Aliza

I think hacking negotiation is how I feel about it. In ON BRAND, I give the example of like - “Are you Chanel or are you Zara?” Pick one.  If you are Chanel you are not lowering your rates.  Okay, so what I really find useful is to understand what amount of money a client or a potential partner is working with and then figure out how much time you can give them based on your rate. Which is not a movable number.  And that is how I structure all of my consultancy. Because I would rather be less busy with the right Partners, than lower my rate and be so busy that I'm actually not doing a great job for anyone. 

Daniella

We like to say that everything in life is a negotiation. And yet, at the same time there are non-negotiables so I guess you kind of just mentioned one when it comes to your rate, but do you have any other non-negotiables?

Aliza

I mean, in general, I only want to work with good people, you know? I think growing up in the fashion industry, we certainly live the double life, which was in my first book Leave Your Mark.  I have zero tolerance for people who are not great to work with. 

Daniella

I can relate to that having literally worked for a producer who produced The Devil Wore Prada and like to take some of that to heart.  So tell us about a time that you failed, or a time that you negotiated and failed. 

Aliza

Okay, a time that I failed… Well, I failed at consulting!  The first time when I left my role at Donna Karin after 17 years, I was like I'm going to be a consultant. And what that meant to me very naively, was I'm gonna go on Canva, I'm gonna make a logo, I'm gonna post it on Instagram, and therefore I have a company. Some of that is true, but some of it is not. 

So when I started to embark on this consulting, I realized that I wasn't very good at landing clients because I was extremely picky in who I wanted to work with. And then anyone who wanted to work with me I was kind of like - or anyone, rather, I wanted to work with, my rate was my rate, and a lot of people were like oh we'd love to work with you but that's just beyond our budget.  And I started to question, like, am I choosing the wrong worth for myself?  Then I realized, it's not me - it's them.  Because people do not want to pay for good talent, and unfortunately, you get what you pay for.  So instead of lowering my rates just to land the clients that I wanted, I opted out. Now, full transparency, we're a two-income household.  Obviously, I'm not going to be out on the street by doing that.  But what it showed me eventually, and this took 10 months, is that I am a really bad consultant. So I wrote an article for Forbes when I had a column back in the day called “This Is How You Know You’re Not Meant To Be An Entrepreneur,” which anyone can still Google, and gave myself permission to publicly fail at consulting.  Which then cleared the slate for me to be like - “You know what, it is totally cool to work in corporate. I'm going back in house.”  And I did that for a couple of years and then when I left I realized, oh God I want to start a podcast, but then I need to consult again. Great. And I started to chip away at what didn't work, thinking about the rates; thinking about how I positioned myself; thinking about what I liked what I didn't like; what I know how to do; but do I want to do that anymore? And really fine-tuned all of that strategy which is literally how ON BRAND begins because there is so much thought process that goes into this. 

Daniella

It’s great!  In addition to humanizing leadership through failures we also like to pause and accomplish and celebrate our accomplishments and wins.  Do you want to share a recent win or your biggest win? Either that you know you'd like to talk about today.  

Aliza

Sure!  Well, I mean, I'm very proud of my book ON BRAND that came out last April.  And paperback came out just now in April.  And I think that it is - the way that I write is how I speak so it's taking content that usually can be very dry and kind of annoying and making it really sexy and fun.  So I'm really proud of that book.  It won Best Business Book of 2023 by American Bookfest in marketing and advertising and I'm proud of the Leave Your Mark podcast where I highlight amazing women, mostly, there's some men in there too, but mostly women and their accomplishments. 

What else? Uh yeah, I’m proud of my kids, you know? All the things… I am someone who is grateful every day.  

Daniella

Well I’m proud of you for so many of those things and also for using your public social platform and saying the thing that's not always the popular thing or casting light on the thing that's not always the popular thing and sticking your neck out that way.  So I give you a lot of credit and kudos for doing that. 

Aliza

Thank you.  Thank you! I think, you know, one of the things in ON BRAND, there's a lot about social media strategy and specifically brand guardrails and really thinking through as a person what are your passions, what are your causes, what are things that you want to align with, what are the things that you don't? So having a really clear understanding of what those pillars are allows you to be confident even if you're sharing the unpopular opinion. 

Daniella

 Yes! Do you have a favorite negotiation tip?  

Aliza

Really starting with the question of: “What is your budget?” And they're gonna always say they don't know.  That is where you're going to say, “If you had to throw out a number - doesn't have to be exact - I just need a sense of the range.”  Because that will set the framework first and foremost. 

The second thing is: “What is success to you?”  Because when we negotiate and we get the deal to happen, not having a clear understanding of what success is can be the downfall of that relationship.  So I think those are two important things.  And I do go deep in ON BRAND into negotiation.  Actually, Alexandra Carter, who wrote the book Ask For More, is my resident expert on negotiation in the book so more in there. 

Daniella

Fantastic. So this year’s summit theme is “The PowerTo.”  What is one thing that you are bringing your power to in 2024?

Aliza

What am I bringing my power to -  I think that I am bringing power to myself in creating opportunities.  And I think everyone should do this instead of waiting for someone to offer you something or create something for you start doing the thing you want to do.  Give you an example: I have always wanted to be a talk show host that is why I have a podcast. So I start.  I was like, you know what, no one, NO ONE is noticing me to have my have me host a talk show, so I’m going to have to create my own talk show.  I'm very - I believe in progress not perfection.  I don't believe that everything has to be planned out and perfect.  I don't have a five-year  strategy - like I am super fly by the seat of my pants.  I'm like, all right, I'm making a talk show it's called “The Daily Salad” on Instagram.  And I have branded it.  It is a salad, and it's a mix of news and things that I'm passionate about but people now are really familiar with it so they're asking for the salad. Of course I can use the little salad Emoji, which is so great. So my goal is, I hope that becomes a real show, but in the meanwhile I'm just doing it.  And I think other people should take that cue and start doing the thing they want other people to recognize them for. 

Daniella

Love that. The power to just start to start somewhere. 

Aliza

Well, people get really debilitated by perfection and feeling like it has to be perfect. I put a lot of imperfect things out there but I move really quickly. 

Daniella

Yeah no, the expression right -  like “done is better than perfect”?

Aliza

Yes! Completely. Exactly.

Daniella

Amazing. Well, Aliza, thank you so much for your time today.  Thank you for inspiring us. Thank you for doing the work you're doing. And thank you for speaking at WIN Summit. We can't wait to see you there! We can't wait to see all of you there, hopefully. 

Aliza

Thank you so much I'm so excited can't wait!

Daniella

More soon, everybody.

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