Maria Ross, Brand Strategist, Speaker and Author, Red Slice, LLC
Maria Ross, the founder of brand consultancy Red Slice, believes cash flow, creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. She advises entrepreneurs and fast-growth businesses on building irresistible brand stories and messaging to better connect with customers.
Maria has authored multiple books, including her most recent book, The Empathy Edge, and she hosts The Empathy Edge podcast. Maria understands the power of empathy on the brand and personal levels:
In 2008, shortly after launching her business, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that almost killed her and inspired her memoir, Rebooting My Brain.
She has appeared in many media outlets, including MSNBC, NPR, and Forbes.com, spoken to audiences ranging from TEDx to The New York Times to Salesforce and has written for numerous media outlets, including Entrepreneur.com, Newsweek, and Huffington Post.
Maria lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, young son, and frisky old mutt and serves clients worldwide.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn for real business connections and great content. Instagram for positivity and community. But honestly, I'm getting overwhelmed by social!
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
As mentioned in the bio, I'm a brand strategist, speaker and author. I help organizations and entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences through irresistible storytelling. By connecting through genuine empathy, they can boost impact, loyalty, and success. I am super passionate about telling people about my book The Empathy Edge, which Forbes named as a top 11 book redefining leadership.
In it, I make the case that empathy is actually a strategic brand, leadership, and team advantage - and that we can redefine success to be more human, connective, and compassionate. There is plenty of data and lots of success stories we can point to show that cash flow, creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive!
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Mostly, I'm passionate about the power of stories to strengthen empathy, and I conduct workshops and keynotes about how they can strengthen their own empathy. Leaders and aspiring leaders can now take my LinkedIn Learning course called Strengthening Empathy as a Leader.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
When you need something, the right people and resources will make themselves available. Don't let not knowing all the answers for the entire journey stop you from starting out. Say your goals out loud. Ask for help. Find helpers. And give generously along the way.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Confident women. Social change. Believing there are more good people out there than evil. When I know my work, books, words have inspired someone. Those moments of success and praise are to be savoured to fuel you on the days you are not confident. Also, my seven-year-old son inspires me to create a better world, be a good example to others, and keep work in perspective. Finally, the ability to articulate a goal and keep in mind that I can do everything I want to do, but I don't have to do it simultaneously! (another great piece of advice I've received).
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Surviving a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2008 and rebooting my life, my work. I built back up a thriving business, publishing books, had a child, and did a TEDx talk all in the years since I almost died - and took up Crossfit and built up my physical strength and stamina. I'm also proud that their experience gave me a new outlook on how I manage my work and my relationships.
I'm very proud that my work has helped small business owners, fast-growth companies, and entrepreneurs achieve their goals and stand out in the market. When they have the impact they want to have in the world, then I have succeeded. And I'm very proud that I've published three books - a dream since I was six years old.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
In-person, normally, but I also love connecting over Zoom, seeing people's faces and getting to know them. I also like being connected by other people. I'm a master connector and always thinking about people I know who can help you and brokering an introduction!
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Discovering that empathy is a strength of mine to see the world from other points of view, I end up being very generous with resources or connections even if not asked. But also my ability to communicate clearly, be confident in my voice, which came over time. Connect dots that others can't see, and use humour and charisma to encourage and unite people. I'm also very skilled at tough love.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
“Oh gosh, everything!” I wish I had known that I wasn't expected to have all the answers when I was younger, and I didn't have to pretend. My voice and perspectives were worthy and not apologize for them, and I wish I'd realized sooner how much women really need to advocate for each other and pull each other up.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire people who can clearly communicate complex ideas in an entertaining way. Like Neil DeGrasse Tyson! I admire inclusivity, where no one acts better than anyone else but welcomes everyone from wherever they are coming from.
I admire social change-makers for their tenacity and hope. I admire people who can synthesize various points of view and be decisive yet kind when the time comes. I admire visionary creativity.
I am a very creative person, but I'm not a futurist, and I constantly admire people who see something so big and daring and actually make it a reality!
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I adore spending time with my son and husband. We like to hike, ski, swim, do art projects, mostly just me and my son on that one!. I'm very into Crossfit and Peloton - but not to do crazy competing, just to challenge myself and stay healthy and fit.
We love to travel. We also love great food, red wine, and spirited, witty banter among friends, a delicious dinner party with friends is one of my favourite things to do. I also enjoy film and theatre - I am an actress in my spare time. As a child, I was a professional actress in New York but decided to go into business - however, I still occasionally do independent theatre, film and voiceover work. And I love to write!
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
Negative on all of us personally, I would think. Having to isolate, not see friends, family. We had to postpone some lovely trips for my son, and he's only this age once, so that is hard. But, on the other hand, my business actually did alright. My book came out in Fall 2019, and thankfully, I was still able to promote it into 2020 and do virtual keynotes and talks. And then my brand consulting business picked up wildly in 2021.
We've managed the emotional ups and downs by creating a quarantine pod with dear friends, my husband and I equally sharing responsibilities, taking time for exercise and walks, finding joy in the simple things.
For work, I used the "dead time" to reconnect with colleagues or reach out to new people - I did a lot of Zoom meetings with people I had never met. I started a podcast in 2020, and that's been amazing for my work and my own well-being. I have always worked from home remotely since 2008, so that was not a big pivot for me. But making sure I stayed connected and consistently put out good content, so people knew I was still here helped my business a lot.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I've had many mentors in my life: Some very close, some "formal", others more casual or virtual. But mostly, I see everyone I meet as a mentor because I can always learn something from them, even if we're peers. I have mentored a few people before, very informally, and I'd like to devote more time to that.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I would say to make sure you have a foundation in the basics. You need to be responsible for marketing or branding for a company where you are held to results and performance before you can advise people on how to create a strong brand or marketing strategy. You need to be "in it" for a bit to know what it's like empathy!
I would also say to get a wide breadth of experience across the marketing experience (like I did) and then hone down to the speciality area you'd like to pursue. I would also say, always find ways to align your values with the companies or clients you will take on.
If you don't like their impact on the world or how they do business, don't apply your talent to them. Instead, find a client that aligns with your values. It will always go better if you do.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I think it's two things: Lack of confidence or unrealistic expectations.
For the first, it's thinking you have to have all the answers now before you can even begin and not being okay with not being perfect.
For the second, it's about expecting overnight success or not having audacious yet realistic goals. You have to progress in small steps, or that big goal can seem overwhelming, and you'll just give up before you start.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
I have three that fuel me:
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, attributed." - Eleanor Roosevelt.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." also Eleanor Roosevelt.
"Well-behaved women rarely make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Zoom, without a doubt. A company built on empathy. Airbnb. Parker Clay (social enterprise). Salesforce. And many local businesses pivoted in the pandemic to help both themselves and their communities in creative ways.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success is whatever you decide it is. That seems trite and simple, but it's true. Don't compare yourself to others but get inspired by them to see what is possible - there's not some big game we're all playing, and there's no one winner at the end.
My goal with my business is not to build a global brand agency or to make millions. Instead, my goal is to impact the world and on others, inspire them to action, create financial prosperity for my family and support charitable causes, and do work I love without sacrificing my time or life.
You have to decide "WHY" you are doing something and what you want out of your life and work. And we all need to remember that success "CAN" be achieved with empathy, compassion, and care for other people. We don't have to accept that to be successful, you must backstab, or work a million hours a week, or lie, or ruin the environment, or sacrifice your personal life or health. There are tradeoffs. You get to decide what success means to you!