Episode 96: Anika Jackson

Episode 96: Anika Jackson 

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pretty Powerful Podcast, where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport, industry, or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the pretty powerful podcast. My name is Angela Gennari. And today I am here with Anika Jackson. How are you Anika? I'm pretty good. Thank you. It's so nice to be here, Angela.

Absolutely. Thank you for being here. So, as a executive and instructor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and co host of USC's Mediascape podcast, Anika's knowledge of the intersections between public relations, branding, and [00:01:00] digital media management is a perfect match to elevate results for brands.

She serves on the advisory board for the UC Santa Barbara women in leadership executive program is a member of Intuit's small business council and contributes her knowledge and thought leadership for the benefit of multiple local, national, and global organizations.

5 percent of podcasts. That's amazing. That's really cool. So I love talks about branding because I feel like it is one of the most important things that we can do for our business. And, I can become kind of a stickler about branding. so my employees wrote, Oh, you know, they come up with ideas and I'm like, looks great.

But can we just make it brand compliant? You know, I made this new marketing folder or a flyer. Okay, great. Can we just make sure our brand colors are in there? Can we make sure? Oh yeah. So like even, we even had these like. Fun cost, custom golf shirts, or excuse me, bowling shirts made for an event that we attended.

And I was so adamant that [00:02:00] everything be brand compliant, like with colors and even like, I'm like that lettering doesn't look quite right. Like it was, I probably did like 15 revisions, but I understand the value.

Anika Jackson: Oh, yeah. Well, and that's the beauty of having accent colors, secondary color, add that little spice.

Angela Gennari: So I love that. We're going to talk about branding and PR and marketing. I think all of those things are just so important and we don't talk enough about them. So let's start. I just want to find a little bit more about you. So what made you want to go into branding? Oh, wow.

Anika Jackson:

Angela Gennari: I think

Anika Jackson: like almost everything I kind of fell into it.

So I grew up in Kansas and there wasn't a lot to do. So when I was in high school, I would go dancing, with my girlfriends and like, go listen to music, go to drive to Kansas city for some excitement. at that point, a friend of mine said, Oh, this DJ would like you to start promoting them.

And I was like, Oh, that's cool. I never. realized that was a thing, right? And, so I started promoting DJs and different [00:03:00] events, and that way I got in free to the shows, and that kind of just snowballed. I started a little zine, I had my own club nights, I started throwing parties, and that parlayed me to a move to Chicago.

to work for Kevin Bergen associates marketing and work on a lot of different accounts from Audi to Smirnoff and Camel when people still smoked in bars. Yeah. Yeah. and then I moved to LA, worked for KBA out here and then started working at a magazine publisher. And I was using really more in the experiential marketing space and learning as I went.

I started working more with like. Programs for advertisers and putting together different packages and really thinking about brand and how you portray your brand, whether it's to advertisers or consumers and create that sweet spot for both of them to connect. And I think that's what it really is, is my journey has always been about connection and helping people find the collaboration points and bringing people together.

And I didn't really even realize that was brand at the time. And you know, [00:04:00] I, I have had a few other moves. I'm in LA for the third time now after San Francisco, LA, Houston, and back to LA. And what I realized is that I've collected people from every place I've lived from all the different experiences and jobs I've had.

It's because I like to be intentional about those relationships, but it's also helped me get work. And I've also been able to see, oh, even though I don't live in that city anymore, people remember who I am because of how I acted, how I showed up, and they'll hire me for that.

And so it was really eye opening to just be I mean, that sounds really silly, but to realize that I could be hired on the merits of the work that people saw me do, and not just having to be in the community or be in all of the publications or be at all of the events, which is a very Houston thing, by the way.

So we love to connect in the South. It's all about, you know, those interpersonal relationships that you have. And I think that's also probably where your podcast came from is that just desire to connect and, [00:05:00] wanting to share information and wanting to make sure everybody is kind of like, sharing some really great insight with people.

Angela Gennari: I love that. So, yeah, but I am a big. Believer in building a personal brand because your personal brand follows you everywhere you go. And so, whether I'm leading a company or a networking organization, like I want my brand to be not just my company, but who I am, my values, what I stand for.

And that consistency is throughout everything I do. I want to be so consistent in everything that I do that you know what my response is going to be before you ask the question.

Anika Jackson: I think people forget that when, especially when you're starting a business.

Your brand, your business brand is you. Yes. Yeah. And, and if there is a difference, we, we've seen it time and time again, whether it's in politics or in the business world, when brands say one thing and then the people behind the brand say something completely different. Yeah, it lose trust.

Angela Gennari: Yep. Yep, exactly.

Well, you know, it's, and it's your, your words matching your actions, [00:06:00] you know? So I was just thinking the other day, what a brand nightmare this is because with the whole Boeing thing, you know, with everything that's happening with Boeing, you have the CEO talking about how safety is his number one priority.

All of these things, but none of the actions that he has had have been in alignment with that brand. And so, what he's saying and what he's doing, what he's putting his money behind, what he's putting his, intentionality behind is not safety. It's shareholders. And so not to go on a soap box about Boeing, but it was just, to me, it was like, that's the epitome of losing trust when you don't align with what your words and your actions don't align.

You're going to lose trust all day long because you no longer have a brand. you're not compliant with what you're saying you're doing. I could

Anika Jackson: totally go on a tangent about this because I think so many of the big companies, especially with AI now, right? there's been a lot in tech in the world of tech and aerospace as well.

There's a lot of ask for forgiveness, right? Rush [00:07:00] and get things done. And we're not going to care as much about privacy or safety or other issues. Or behold to these other people, our shareholders, which usually are Majority shareholders in a lot of these cases. And so I think we're seeing this time and time again where you see people get fines or companies get fines, but then doesn't really matter because they have so much money and market share.

Our companies still have to use them and there's not a great alternative. And that's why I think people look to be more invested, especially when they're working with smaller brands, with small to medium sized businesses, because they like, we may not be able to trust those bigger brands that we kind of, you know, an Amazon, like, yes, I order from Amazon often, but some of the things that they do are not always great.

But I want to be really intentional in my actions where my deeds, show up with my values and everything I do. And I want to make sure people who work with me or partner with me see the same thing consistently.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Well, and you know, it's in everything that we [00:08:00] do, even parenting, you know, even parenting.

And I actually had this conversation with my son yesterday because we were talking, he's 17 years old. And we were talking about Something where, you know, there was a child that was acting up a lot and the mom kept threatening, Oh, you'll lose your phone. Oh, you'll do this, you know, whatever it is. And I'm like, okay.

And when she did it again, did she lose her phone? Well, no. And I'm like, that's branding like that. That's, you know, not being consistent. I was like, if you don't know what version you're going to get, and then all of a sudden you, you threatened 10 times, you don't lose your phone. And then all of a sudden they snap, you know, they take the phone.

Everything goes crazy. Everything burns down and now, you know, the kid is thinking, well, they're really crazy. And it's like, had you just been consistent from the start? You know? And so again, it goes back to consistency and branding is all about consistency. It's all about, you know, you should know what that brands, you know, values are before you ever even have to ask, you know, like you, you should already know they should just be [00:09:00] that consistent.

Exactly.

Anika Jackson: a story about my

Angela Gennari: kid.

Anika Jackson: please daughter 16. And she's we've always done volunteer work together. And we've all been that way. And, something that happened the school year was there were a lot of books being we have we're in a public school district, but it's a very wealthy one, where they have a lot of books that they just get rid of.

And she saw this happening in several departments. And she made it her mission to rescue the books because she's like, Oh, well, my mom will know somewhere to donate those two. So three times this year, I had to go to school and fill my car with books, figure out, okay, where are we going to donate these?

Because textbooks, not every nonprofit will take them. So we might want to send overseas. But because she knew that. She loves reading. I love reading. And she also knows that this is something that's part of our nature and our heart is we don't want those books to be put in the dumpster. We want to make sure that they find a good home because there are a lot of people who don't have that access to those books that could use them.

And so that, to me, [00:10:00] I was like, Ah, I must be doing something right. That is awesome.

Angela Gennari: Yes. And I love that she already expected that you would already know, and that you would be on board. And that says so much about you and your relationship with her and, what you've been able to convey and what your values are.

So that's amazing. I love that story. So when you're talking about branding with companies, and this is, this is where it gets really tricky. Everybody wants to create a brand, but they're like, well, what does that mean? Is that just a logo? Like, tell me what a brand is.

Anika Jackson: that's so many people think it's a logo.

So many people think it's colors. And yes, that, that's your brand identity. I try to be really intentional, whether it's a podcast or a business or whatever you're putting out into the world. Take the time to take a step back and think about why are we here? What is the purpose of this business?

Of this service, and most of us, it's because we saw a hole in the market that we're [00:11:00] like, okay, we can't find this so other people can't find this or, oh, we can do this a little better differently. So you need to know, be really clear on your purpose and then figure out what your vision is, what will the world look like once you've enacted this purpose and then the mission is the tangible day to day, here's the tactics and here's what we're going to do to enact what this vision to life.

Both: And

Anika Jackson: then purpose values, all of those things, the brand blueprint is so important to build a strong foundation before you move on to the colors, before you move on to the fonts, before you move on to the accents. Because the other thing with color is that there are colors that reflect different things, but the color green would be important for your business, but it's not a color that you love.

Yeah. And that you see yourself in, then don't use that color. Like find another color that's similar, that has, you know, the same messaging or two colors that you can put together. And so I think people usually think about that first and they might think about colors that are, may or may not work with their [00:12:00] brand, but you really have to go back and start with who are you?

Why are you here? What are you bringing to the world? What will people get out of working with you or buying your product or service? And if you have that nailed that everything else becomes so much easier, your customer personas, how you're going to message to people, what social media platforms you should be on, who you're going to speak to, what podcasts you want to be on, or what, publications you want to be interviewed in.

Angela Gennari: All of that just

Anika Jackson: clears up.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you start with the values of the business first, you know, you start with values and why are you here? And what are you doing before you get to the logo? Because, yeah, it almost would make more sense to develop all of that and then communicate to the person that is designing the logo.

This is what we stand for, because it will inspire them to come up with a logo that reflects that.

Anika Jackson: Yeah, nowadays it's so easy, people go on, and I do it too, right? We go on to Canva, we go on to different platforms, and we find some, Oh, we like that, and that, and that, okay, that looks good. But, taking [00:13:00] that step back, and it helps with the intentionality, it helps you find that little, extra zhuzh that you're going to put into logo mark or to your tagline that you wouldn't find if you start with a logo.

And it's the same thing with PR, with marketing in general, right? People have come to me and said, I'm ready for PR. What's your brand? I have a website. What does it say? Like, who are you? What, what do you really want to bring into the world?

Angela Gennari: So there's a book that I love called start with why by Simon Sinek.

I actually give it to my team and, it's a really big part of how we communicate about our business because, I own a security and event staffing company, and we generally are not the cheapest, we're never the cheapest. we're kind of a premium service, but the reason that we're able to go in and still get new clients is because we don't start with, the, what we do, we talk about why we do it and the values and the mission and all of those things are what make us a premium service.

[00:14:00] You know, why would you want to do business with us versus our competitors? And it's the why, you know, it's the why we do what we do.

Anika Jackson: And that's where people usually get things wrong. They want to put everything that they can offer somebody up front and center.

But how does it differentiate you? So starting? Why and really being able to speak to that. I can completely understand why some walk in and feel so much more comfortable working with you than with five other companies that might offer similar services, but they don't start there.

Angela Gennari: Right?

Anika Jackson: Looking at as a transaction instead

Angela Gennari: of a relationship, you're building a relationship.

Right, right. And we're not just selling them on the idea of having security services. You know, selling them on the idea of having a partner who cares about safety. And it's a different, it's a totally different mindset. You know, it's, we're going to work together to create the safest, most susceptible environment.

And, you know, not just, we're going to put a security guard on that door.

Both: Anyone can do

Angela Gennari: So, yeah, we really try to differentiate ourselves through our [00:15:00] values and not just through our tasks. Anyone can do the tasks, you know, when we talk about you mentioned PR and people wanted to go into PR, when is the right time to go into PR as a small business?

Anika Jackson: I'm a big believer in what we call the peso model, which is paid, earned, shared, and owned media. And even though it starts with paid, the first part is really the owned and then the earned. So the owned media is your website, what you put on your blogs, shared media would be how you're sharing on social media, for instance, or how other people are helping you share your message.

Angela Gennari: Okay. Earned,

Anika Jackson: earned media. I know I'm going a little backwards. Earned media would be interviews, PR publicity, but also it could be. Reviews that you get. Party websites, right? Other people validating that you are who you say you are. And then paid is, of course, paid advertising, direct messaging. [00:16:00] And so, I always think they all need to be part of the mix.

If you start with owned and shared, of course, you want to make sure you have a great presence, so that when you get earned media, People can find you, see that you really are this wonderful company that they've read about. And then you can turn that into paid advertisements too, especially if somebody else is saying something great about you.

So for me, I don't think it's ever too early to start with PR. Because I also think a lot of people who start businesses aren't necessarily comfortable talking about themselves. And so I want to get them out of, it's really about what you're providing to the world.

Angela Gennari: Right. Right.

Absolutely.

Anika Jackson: If you take yourself, take the ego part out, then it becomes a lot easier. But also, people usually need a little time to warm up to speaking their message.

Angela Gennari: Yes.

Anika Jackson: I like to start with smaller publications, with smaller, Podcasts or local, events, maybe just speaking to a class of students so that you really get used to sharing and then you see how people react and then you feel more confident and comfortable and then you [00:17:00] can go on bigger platforms.

And so I always look at it as kind of like being a child. you learn to crawl and then you learn to walk and then you learn to run. And I look at PR is the same thing. So I was just talking to somebody earlier today and she said, well, when is a good time to start book publicity when it's out?

I said, no, no, no. You need to start way before you need to make sure that, if you have a book coming out, you're telling people about it, you're maybe sharing little snippets. You're teasing it. You're getting people to sign up for your mailing list, right? For pre orders. So then they, you can send them a thing.

Okay. Today's launch day. Here's my special link on Kindle for 99 cents or whatever you're doing to entice people to try to get to bestseller status. If that's one of your goals, right? So you think about what your goals are, but I do think that it's always a great time. And also. We know doing podcasts, doing interviews, it's not like this is going to come out tomorrow.

So you want to make sure that you have some things coming out when your product service book is going to launch.

Angela Gennari: [00:18:00] I love that. So, yeah, because I was always under the impression that if you didn't have anything newsworthy, then, you don't have PR, but I guess when you're talking about it could be your website, it could be, reviews.

If we have a customer that has a great experience, then encourage them to write a review. And, I love that it's not just press releases because that's what I had always thought of when I thought of PR.

Anika Jackson: Yeah. And that's, in the world of press releases, there are so many backlinks in the world.

they're great for SEO, but it's very seldom nowadays, unless you partner with one of the bigger press release services that you're going to get journalists actually looking and, you know, reaching out to you from a press release these days. so they are good, but all of this other stuff, the interviews do build up SEO value as well.

Really important these days, especially with more traffic. And some people use social media search and video search and AI and all these different things that are coming about. So you [00:19:00] still want to make sure that your message, your why is what people find, and it's not somebody else's.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. So I have found that, sometimes I'll have, one creative agency design our website and then a different creative agency will go do our print materials and there's a misalignment there, you know? And so you almost want, I like that you're talking about this as just a whole package, you know, the whole package should just really float together.

Anika Jackson: Yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't have to be the same teams, right? Maybe specialties, but. You have to at least, they have to be in the room and understand you,

Angela Gennari: instead of looking at it

Anika Jackson: from their own construct.

Angela Gennari: Right, right, right. So, when you're doing PR and you're doing branding, when do you start, like, what do you find to be the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to small business marketing and advertising?

Like, where, where should a small, a small business doesn't have a huge marketing budget, right? So, how, what would you say? would be [00:20:00] the best use of money and the biggest ROI for a small business with a small budget.

Anika Jackson: That is, that's a hard one, but I would say thought leadership right now is, it's a buzzword, but it is also really important.

So yeah. Even if you're just, you know, obviously depending on what your business is, find a social media platform that most of your audience will be living on. really focusing intentionally on one platform. So for instance, LinkedIn, that is. a great place right now.

I think people are really seeing that. Oh my gosh. LinkedIn has been really undervalued for the connections you can make on it and how you can find people. And now they have the collaborative articles where you can add your thoughts to an article in your field and position yourself as a thought leader.

And it's free.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Well, just small speaking gigs, like every conference that you go to in your industry, they're always looking for speakers to just talk on a topic, whether that topic is, something very specific to what you do, like if [00:21:00] I wanted to talk on a security topic, I could submit when they have a call for speakers, you may not get paid for it.

it might just be something where you might get a free conference registration. But it's getting yourself out there and making yourself be a thought leader. Like you were saying, that's a really, smart move.

Anika Jackson: And if you don't have big budgets, but you have time or you have an assistant.

You can also, there are a lot of great Facebook groups where you can Google podcast guests and you'll, a whole bunch will come up with groups that you can join where people are looking for podcast guests. You're going to have to be active and go in and search, right? But that's a free way to get started on that journey.

There are so many resources and tools right now to get PR that don't cost anything. you have to figure out what your investment is, right? time, treasure, talent. So if you don't have one, then you need to focus on the other two.

so that you can start just seeding things and find people with small publications. There are so many women's publications out there. If you just go on their websites, you can learn [00:22:00] how to submit an article or learn how to put yourself up for a potential interview. they all need content.

Angela Gennari: So who inspires you? Because I mean, there's so much that you probably, you know, are able to give to people in terms of inspiration and advice and guidance, but who inspires you?

Anika Jackson: Oh,

Angela Gennari: well, my mom and

Anika Jackson: my daughter. I love that. Yeah, my mom came over from Thailand when she was, 18, 19 to go to university, right?

Yeah, I had this whole adventure, had to just be a really strong resilient person. And I think Growing up, I always thought she was just this quiet woman, and then I see how my dad's friends would talk about her and how much they respected her, and then I turned 18 myself and moved away, and I was like, oh, okay, now I get it.

Oh my gosh, my mom is amazing, she's a saint, and I've really tried to emulate so many things that she does. She always made us, breakfast and she always made [00:23:00] time for us and was really intentional. She also gave back to the community, and just really pours so much caring in.

And so I've tried to model that. And then my daughter is so different than me in so many ways. She is. very driven, but she's known for years what she wants to do when she grows up. And to have that mind and that capacity and just seeing the way her mind works and being able to support her on that journey and see who she's becoming.

And so really the two of them are my

Angela Gennari: biggest role models. That's amazing. So it looks like, you know, it sounds like philanthropy and volunteering is really close to your heart. So can you tell me about some of that and some of your passions and how you've gotten involved with different organizations?

absolutely.

Anika Jackson: So one of my favorite activities was being president of junior league of Los Angeles. That organization is such a training ground. It really is about providing committed volunteers, trained volunteers to communities. And [00:24:00] I learned so much, not that just for the volunteer world, but that I took into the business world of how, not just how to be a leader, but how to be a good leader, how to be a manager, how to really listen to people, how to make sure other people had autonomy.

And could learn to do their jobs and their roles in their own way. Not the way that I would do it. learn how to lead teams of people to create budgets, so many different skill sets. And then that really helped shape what do I want to do next? And so out of that, some fellow members and I started learn, grow, lead, which focuses on children in Cape coast, Ghana.

So we started out a little over 15 years ago, helping fund education. And then we built an orphanage. It's not really a traditional orphanage, but it's a home for kids who don't have a home. and so they have a safe place to stay, where there'll be cared for, where they can go to school, where they'll have meals and things provided for them.

Found, we got a grant and we rented 10 acres of farmland for self [00:25:00] sufficiency for our partner organization. And out of that, now they have that land, but we've been able to purchase 10 acres, a little closer to the orphanage as well. And so within a couple of years, they should have complete self sufficiency, which is always the goal.

Nobody wants to depend on a handout. They want a hand up and it can be really volatile, particularly in a lot of developing countries, where. if we think inflation is bad, we don't know anything compared to countries up there where it's just so different. that's one of the things that I'm really passionate about is just, I know it's only a few hundred people that we're making a difference for over this time period, but if we can help spark, change and help, somebody else get an education, help them not become a victim of trafficking or labor and be able to inspire them to inspire others.

That's all you can ask for.

Angela Gennari: That's so beautiful. I love it. So, so it was a difficult to start a nonprofit in another country. Was that really [00:26:00] challenging or did you start it here and then it's just, it serves over there? How does that work? Yeah.

Anika Jackson: So there is a partner organization that is a registered.

non profit in Ghana run by Canadians. we need to show transparency. We need to show where their money is going. We need to show results. We need to make sure they can get a tax deduction in the States. That's important.

Angela Gennari: That is important.

Anika Jackson: Yeah. and so we started a 501c here that then would help serve, Over there. And then our, our intention was to hopefully be able to serve other, nonprofits as well in other areas. But it's so hard to move the needle a little bit in one area, especially when you're a very small, all volunteer run, nobody makes any money, you know, we're just piecemealing the budgets together every year going, can we pay for, not just the kids in the orphanage to go to school, but these other 50 kids who really need an education, who have families to live with, but can't afford to pay the fees.

Yeah. So it's every year. You do what you can, and we do our best, it is not too difficult to start a non [00:27:00] profit, but you have to really keep on top of. is it going through the process? Is there paperwork that they sent us that we missed?

And there's the client start. and I, they just called me and said, not the client, the government and said, we sent something back in April, with questions that we needed answered so we can approve your status. And I think it went to one of her, you know, to her address, but she's so busy. we have been able to connect and I'm like, okay, so we should have the status already, but we need to make sure this is taken care of.

Right. So, you know, you just have to keep on top of things. You have to make sure you're getting the paperwork done. So there is like running any business.

Angela Gennari: yeah. I love that you have the organization in the U. S. and you have a local organization in Ghana, and I think that's really the key to success in a local, you know, economy like that, because there's a book called Half the Sky.

Have you ever heard of it?

Anika Jackson: That is, oh my gosh. Can't believe you just said that. Yes! When I read that book, I was ending my presidential term for Junior League That [00:28:00] solidified. It's like, ah, education, health care. Yeah. And if you have those two things, then people will not. Get married as young.

They won't be victims of trafficking as much. Yes, that book was my inspiration.

Angela Gennari: a game changer, isn't it? Like it just made me think about everything so differently and like where money goes and you know, how to be successful in those organizations. But you know, one of the points of the book is that you need these local grassroots organizations to partner with because Red Cross can come in.

But, you know, people don't trust it, and you have a U S based, you know, where it's this big local global organization, people just assume money is being mismanaged and many times it is. but you know, when you have these grassroots local organizations, they can put a face to it, right?

Like there's actual people in the community who are, who are working towards something and then getting that U S. And so, I think that that support through that partnership is really key to funding it. So you kind of need both. You need that local [00:29:00] organization, but you also need that US presence to be able to really truly fund it in a way where donors feel comfortable giving, you know, to an organization out of the country.

Anika Jackson: another organization that I'm more recently part of is called Influence Hers Foundation.

Both: Okay. And

Anika Jackson: There's a More travel and social component. And then there's the foundation, which I'm on the board of. And we give grants to, micro grants to women owned organizations, nonprofits in the U S and outside.

that started with the founder was taking a trip around the world and she is black and she went to Kenya and the number of people there who she was working with an organization. they said, we never see people who look like us. she created a mission to help women of color and allies do volunteer work in different countries, bring practical skills, but also do more.

And so she works with an organization in Kenya on the ground, teaching women and teenagers, digital marketing skills. [00:30:00] Wow. Blog posts, SEO, things that they can do to earn a really great living. And it doesn't matter where you live, it's not, you, you know, maybe need to learn no English, but everybody is taught in those countries.

that really struck me of, yeah, we all have to do our part, but it's also about like showing up in. Then being able to see faces that look familiar and how do we do that? because I think this is also great, but sometimes as Americans, we have the tendency to be Pollyannas and want to go in a place and solve everything and it's not going to solve things for the longterm.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Well, you need a community mindset change, you know, it has to be something where they see their own community members. Changing and when they see that that's when the real impact happens it's not because they're told to do something it's because they see somebody else doing it and they think that's what I want to do I want to have a mindset like a paradigm shift and so it's a paradigm shift that [00:31:00] starts in the community not just in you know this is what you should be doing coming from you know a very rich American culture so very easy to say you know what other people should be doing when you're not in it but.

Yeah, when they can see their own culture changing and they can see the mindset of their neighbors and their friends changing, then that's where the difference is made. Very cool. So, you know, this is taking a different tangent now. I love it because I feel like it really does circle back to branding because, you have certain values and it is expressed in everything that you do and, your personal brand.

Is this charitable, you know, amazing person, but you also understand the value of living with your wife, you know, putting your wife first. And, you know, that translates to your daughter, it goes to, everything that you do within other organizations as well. And then being able to, you know, your corporate job helps other people see their why, and it [00:32:00] helps them see their brand and build that.

So that's, it's really cool.

Anika Jackson: have you heard of the reflected best self exercise?

Angela Gennari: No, what is that?

Anika Jackson: So, you can Google it, RBSC, it's an exercise that I just had to do, for one of my, cause I'm also getting my MBA right now. And so for that, you basically write stories about yourself, but then you ask people to submit stories about you.

Angela Gennari: Oh, interesting.

Anika Jackson: You get the stories back and then out of that, we're creating action plans for our team leadership class. And it was, it really struck me. When I started reading stories that my partner, my siblings, my daughter, co workers, people who used to work for me, people who are colleagues, directors, When I saw the stories they wrote, I saw my brand very clearly expressed, and that made me feel so good, because I saw the good parts and the bad parts, right?

Like, the sometimes over caring and doing too much and like, where I need to pull back, things I already [00:33:00] knew, but it just reinforced that I am showing up the way that I want to. So, I am Being intentional in what I do. And I think that's a really great exercise for anybody to go through. and just, it can help you get a sense of who you are and also get those stories from people.

Angela Gennari: That is really cool. And, you know, recently I have an executive coach and she had done a 360 exercise and it's similar. That's like the corporate version of what you're talking about is the 360 and the 360 is when your employees review you, right?

As a CEO. And that can be scary. I'm not going to lie. It can be like, Oh gosh, what are they going to say? But, yeah. the key for me and what I really, took away from it is that I am, living my brand, you know, like my actions are matching what I say. when I think about how I want to show up as a CEO, it's coming across to my employees in the same way,

And then my employees get this very different version. I love that because when you're talking about a personal life and, you know, the [00:34:00] people around you being able to share stories about you and how you're showing up in their lives, that would be really, really powerful. I'm going to try that.

Anika Jackson: It's something I never would have thought about, but it really was eye opening and helpful for me to go. Okay, I see, you know, The things that I have, that I want to work on that are like the bad parts of the good parts. Right. So I'm glad, like I'm on the right track.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. So what obstacles have you had to come overcome during your journey?

Oh gosh. I know this is always like a loaded question.

Anika Jackson: divorce, the big one. I had worked, I was working, I was making six figures and I got married and then I had, you know, got pregnant and decided to stay home

Both:

Anika Jackson: completely dependent on another person. second wife signed a horrible prenup, marriage fell apart.

We're great co parents now, but it was pretty rough and I had to start over and then I had to go back to [00:35:00] work and realize like I don't have my own retirement, I don't get, you know, I'm not being financially taken care of, so I have really have to build everything back up and that's can be really scary when you're in your 40s and you're doing this and then we moved back to Los Angeles from Houston, and I had lived here before.

I know people, but also not having had that work background and being a specialist in one thing, because I applied for jobs. I've worked in development for nonprofits. So I applied for those jobs, but I didn't have that specific, you know, I wasn't that specific, all kinds of jobs. And I had a really hard time finding something until somebody finally got, gave me a contract for PR.

And then during the pandemic, I started my own agency because I just started getting so many referrals and built up an agency. And that was really beautiful. But before that happened, I was, I had to go on food stamps because I spent all my money moving back. I left a business that was running in Houston.

We ended up having to close [00:36:00] it, shortly after I left. And then the pandemic happened and it was a retail business, a social club. So, you know, that wasn't going to be happening for a couple of years.

Both:

Anika Jackson: And it was really hard to ask for help.

I just dropped my daughter off at school and I was getting groceries and a bill had gone through that I wasn't anticipating yet. I thought it would go through a few days later after I'd gotten a check from, you know, some work

So I didn't have any money to pay for the groceries and I was devastated and, you know, it hurts your ego a little bit.

Yeah, it does. I'm not used to being that person. and I was going to walk out and the manager said, Come here, pick out the things that you really need for you and your daughter. Like right now, I'm being called to buy this for you. Wow, that's really amazing. Yeah, I just, I'd never experienced that. And I was crying.

I said, I'm usually the one who does this. Yeah. It's very humbling and it's, really beautiful to realize that you have to be willing to accept help. Yeah. and so that moment I said, okay, I need to go on food stamps. I need to figure out what else I [00:37:00] need to do while I'm looking for work.

And luckily I had a couple of friends who hired me for contract work until the bigger jobs came in. That was a big moment.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. and I say this all the time because, you know, I've had, you know, I've been married and divorced and, you know, one of the big things that kind of was the straw that broke the camel's back in my divorce was, you know, my husband and I owned a business together and we were equal partners.

In fact, I was 51%, he was 49 percent and, you know, I have always been adamant that I need to always have my own money. Always and all my own credit, my, I mean, I've worked, been working since I was 13. I was raised by a single mom. I know how important it is to not give up that financial independence. And so he and I were married and I was just kind of trusting him to manage all the finances and the business.

And I was working on sales. I was bringing in all the money and then he was managing it. And then I [00:38:00] find out, when we go to apply for a mortgage, we're moving back to Georgia and, we go to apply for a mortgage and the mortgage broker says, well, Angela is not going to be able to be on the mortgage.

She doesn't have an income. And I was like, I don't what, like, excuse me, I was like, I don't have a what. And apparently he had put himself as head of household in me as a dependent. So I wasn't on the deed. I wasn't on the mortgage and it was just, it was bad. And that was kind of like, you don't know me at all.

If you think that this would be okay. And so, yeah, but I can't tell people enough, like, just make sure that you have something like, you know, if you're going to stay at home. Force the nest egg, you know, like make sure you have money set aside, that is only your money.

Anika Jackson: I did have and then I said, well, I'm not getting enough for the household budget. He's traveling all the time. So I'm going to have to use my money to supplement. And that's the right . We also, owned a business together. real estate investment. And rental and development.

And I'd built it up from a small, you [00:39:00] know, he put the seed money in, but I built it up to multimillion dollar business. And when we got divorced. I wish I'd taken a step back and said, I want this business. Don't worry about anything else. because then I would have had my little nest egg and my safety.

And I was the one person working in the business anyway. I just said, okay, let's just liquidate everything. And all that did was help delay me having to get a full time job a little bit longer so that I could.

Pay the bills and take care of my daughter before I made that

Angela Gennari: transition,

Anika Jackson: but yeah,

Angela Gennari: people don't, you know, and every time I hear about somebody who is trying to get divorced, but they've been a stay at home mom for a while. I'm like, Oh, geez, like, you know, it's so dangerous, like, you know, and I just, I encourage women to, to just always have your own set aside.

Period. And that would be the condition for me to stay home is this money is my money. It sits in this account that my husband does not have access to, and it is my safety net because you need a safety net. You know, you just never know. I had a, a neighbor who her husband [00:40:00] passed away unexpectedly. And then she comes to find out he never had life insurance and she was a stay home mom.

So you just don't know. And so you have to have some sort of a backup financial plan. that's my soapbox and I'm going to get off of it now.

Anika Jackson: These are the best conversations to me because we, yes, we're talking about business, but we're also This is who we are. Yeah. And it's like our whole selves to everything we do.

Angela Gennari: So, so yeah, I understand the divorce and having to rebuild because that can be one of the most challenging things and, you know, especially if you're trying to rebuild in the way that you want to rebuild and you're trying to do it with quality and you're trying to do the right thing and you're like, I really need this money over here too.

So maybe I should work part time and do this. And, and then you're being torn into directions and you know, there's, there's. Just so much that goes into rebuilding when you come out of it, but you know, the, the accomplishments and the grace, if you can give yourself a little grace, that, that goes a long way.

Anika Jackson: Yeah. And that's where you have to [00:41:00] really look at everything you're doing and be willing to say no to things more. So that you. Pour more into yourself or like right now I'm pouring more into I had a great, you know, job plus my own business plus teaching. And I realized I can't juggle all of these balls.

I was getting sick a lot. And I was like, I really need to go back to school and get this degree so that I can fulfill my dream of being a full time professor, but also having my podcast business, also having my consulting, but on my terms. and so I'm like, okay, this is a temporary sacrifice, but I know where it's going to end up and I'm going to work really hard to get there.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. And sometimes it's just saying no to the little things like, you know, I say no to phone calls. I don't do phone calls during the day and that sounds really weird, but like when somebody calls the office. The automatic answer from my office manager is she's not available. I could be sitting three feet away and she's not available because phone calls are so disruptive.

And if it's not a [00:42:00] scheduled call, it derails me from what I'm doing. And I think there's some statistic where it takes you 20 minutes or something to get back to the same rhythm that you were in. so like to me, that disruption is just, I don't want to deal with it during the day.

If you want to send me an email, great. If we feel like this needs to be a discussion, we'll schedule it, but I don't want to just have random phone calls throughout the day. And so like, that's just a, it's a me thing. And, and that, yeah, I just know it it's for me, it's my way of providing that order and not overwhelming myself.

Anika Jackson: Yes. I have my phone on. Do not disturb. So that phone calls come through. if I'm going to lunch or something, I'll check it, but otherwise if people really need to get ahold of me, they can text me, they can email me, like you said, but I try to really hold that space.

I also try not to schedule meetings too early in the morning because I know I'm not my best self. I want time to ease into my day to make sure my. Families taken care of that do all the other things I need to do before. So that when I get to my desk, I can just focus.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. [00:43:00] Yeah, I am with you on that.

so as women, we give our power away a lot, you know, whether it's, Not having an income, or it's, taking criticism or it's somebody else, kind of stealing our work and us not standing up for ourselves in some way.

So can you tell me about a time that you gave your power away and then another time that you stepped into your power?

Anika Jackson: I would say that I definitely, when I had my PR firm, I was building it. I had a couple of clients I just trusted and did not make sure I had firm contracts with, and I even let my employees work for them extra.

I paid my Right. And I felt I needed to pay my team fairly and I need to make sure that benefits and all the things before myself. So I gave a lot of my power away that way, and it just put me into a situation where that person decided they weren't, they lost a grant. They weren't able to pay.

They decided, well, we didn't have a contract. I don't owe you anything. They decided to play that game, but [00:44:00] okay. You know what? I was on his wife's board of directors for her school. I just said, all right, I'm going off of this and cutting all ties and I will borrow money. I will figure out what's next, no matter how long it takes me to pay it back so I can pay my team, but I'm not going to do this again.

I tend, to give my power away to not trust my own instincts, to think I need a partner for work. place where I took my power back is. Last year, I had moved into a great role with an agency that I'm still part of, but, I realized that I couldn't fulfill the CEO's vision that we had, because it wasn't really where my heart was completely.

I loved the teaching, the podcasting, the other things that were really inspiring to me. And so we had to figure out a way to work together. We do. And she's an amazing woman and we work really well together. I just have a lesser role, but it works well for both of us. And it's given us a chance to see each other in the best possible light together [00:45:00] that we both are really love doing.

and that was a time when I had to just be realistic because I had to say, you know what? I'm getting sick every month. I'm having these health issues. I'm not sleeping. All these other things are happening. So I know that my daughter is the most important thing to me. I am not going to sacrifice my relationship with her to work more and to not give her that time and intentionality.

So I just had to say, all right, I'm still working. I'm just taking a step back from that. I have this other work that's really fulfilling and that's great and that's monetizing. and so that was a time when I finally had to just go, yeah, it's because otherwise I'd probably be in the hospital right

Angela Gennari: now.

Anika Jackson: well, that's so important.

Angela Gennari: It's so important because if you're not taking care of yourself and you're getting sick and you know, your daughter, she needs you to show up. at a hundred percent of you and not what you have left,

Like there was a time when my business was running me and I wasn't running my business. And I was showing up with scraps of me to give to my child. I've got to do better. This [00:46:00] is not okay. So yeah, it took a lot of, me saying no and, stepping into my power and saying, okay, this is where this ends.

Anika Jackson: And I have to have these boundaries because if I don't create boundaries, nobody is going to create them for me. I've been using that continuously. And even with teaching. Yourself saying, you know, what am I teaching next semester? How much of my teaching because it can take a long time to find out what classes and it may be a little bit chaotic, even university system.

But I've learned to really be an advocate for myself. Still be kind. Being an advocate and say, here I am. Here's my skillset. Hopefully you need it. If not, I will create something else that is another income stream over here, right? And so it's been a good lesson and I'm going to be 50 this year and I feel like I'm just finally completely coming to my own.

I know what I want to do when I grow up and I feel like I have a whole lifetime ahead. To achieve

Angela Gennari: it, I love it. Yeah, I can relate to [00:47:00] that. I keep telling myself, you know, this is, I'm finally at a point where I'm so comfortable in my own skin that I can be authentic, no matter what the situation, I don't feel like I have to put on a mask, no matter what room I walk into, no matter how much more successful, no matter how much more powerful I think people are, I can still be authentically me and it's okay.

And it took me a long time to get there.

Anika Jackson: I think we, you know, everybody thinks that you're in your thirties or twenties, and that's like the pinnacle of being a woman. And when you turn 40, all of a sudden you just feel stronger. And then now keep going. And it's like, yeah.

Now I really, I am exactly who I always have been, but now I feel comfortable expressing all of it.

Angela Gennari: So what advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

Anika Jackson: Oh gosh, not to not worry so much about belonging about thinking I had to be a certain way to fit in. Yeah. you know, not worrying so much about am I wearing the right thing or am I talking to the wrong person [00:48:00] to just, just do it, just be and explore and, and cut that out.

Yeah. Then also to not get into that complacency of just trusting somebody else with the money.

Angela Gennari: Like

Anika Jackson: letting myself get in that position

Angela Gennari: So one last question. what do you wish more people knew?

that's a hard question.

is one.

Anika Jackson:

I would have to go with either cooking or dancing. Yeah. I love dancing in another life. I would be a professional ballroom dancer. I love it. I had to do that for an event in Houston and it was one of the most fun. Few weeks of my life training to do a dance competition at an, a charity event. That's cool.

Yeah. That, and just, I love cooking. I love feeding people. so my other, other life would be like running a bed and breakfast and making all the meals for people and just pouring

Angela Gennari: That's awesome. Well, [00:49:00] thank you so much, Annika. You've been such a pleasure to talk to. I've really, really enjoyed our conversation.

so where can people find you? Yourbrandamplify.

Anika Jackson: com is the best place you can find out. You can schedule time with me. you can listen to my podcast. You can see anything else that I'm doing, projects, sign up for the mailing list. You can also reach out to me on LinkedIn or other social media.

I'm always happy to do a free strategy session with people. No strings at all to talk about PR or marketing or digital or AI or podcasting or whatever you want to talk about.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. I love that. I think that's a really generous offer. So, any great advice, people should just jump on it. thank you, Anika Jackson for all of your time today.

You have been such a great inspiration and I am wishing you so much success. you can also find Anika on pretty powerful podcast. com and we will talk to you guys next week. Have a great

Intro: Thank you for joining our guests on [00:50:00] the pretty powerful podcast, and we hope you've gained new insight and learn from exceptional women.

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