Val Brown, CEO, Val Brown Group
Val Brown works with CEOs, CMOs, entrepreneurs and business owners to drive company growth through brand and commercial strategy. She began her career directing the global development of the Hard Rock Café brand and has gone on to advise a who's whom in entertainment and hospitality in the US and UK.
Including Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame, MTV, The Elton John Aids Foundation, Liverpool's Cavern Club, Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, City Winery, and many more.
Agency work has included Interbrand, THINKFARM, Trend House and LD Communications. A former client-side CEO, Val is well placed to provide creative vision and strategic acumen to start-ups.
Established companies, and legacy brands, transforming businesses through a redefinition of their brand. Expansion into new markets creates new products, services, and experiences. And collaboration with strategic, promotional, or financial partners.
Val has a keen cultural IQ and specialises in adapting the brand experience or product to new markets without diminishing brand equity or authenticity. Working between London and New York, Val brings new life and expanded horizons to brands and experiences enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn. Of course, it's key in networking and prospecting for new clients. But, it's great for following industry trends, business leaders, innovators, and media outlets. I also like to track advances in sustainability and see what past clients, employers, or colleagues are doing.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I love helping brands grow through innovation informed by strategy. Val Brown Group's focus can be a global development strategy for launching into new markets, extending a brand into new products, services, or experiences, or creating partnerships and licensing that benefit all stakeholders.
I'm a stickler for maintaining brand integrity and authenticity as you grow. Many of our projects begin with redefining and articulating core brand principles and creating a brand platform that acts as a roadmap for all of the brands and the company's activities. In addition, I love to lead brand workshops to kick it all off.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I get to imagine or re-imagine what a brand can be. I get to use both sides of my brain - the strategic and the creative. And to reinvigorate companies and management teams. Many of our projects have been international, and I've travelled extensively and lived abroad for many years.
I'm doing a bit of back and forth between London/New York at the moment. I thrive on meeting new people from around the world and learning about their cultures, including business culture. I like to think I've gained a wider perspective on the world, its delights, and its troubles.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
It's ok to say, "I don't know." But unfortunately, I didn't hear this until my late 30s. I would have learned more quickly if I hadn't believed I was supposed to already know everything and that the world wouldn't open up and swallow me if I did not.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
I'm tenacious and an optimist. Even when I hit bumps in the road, I brush myself off and start again. Trying to live in a place of gratitude is important, not feeling like I'm a "victim" when things go wrong, and having humility when they go right.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
That I'm a good friend, learned to be a good daughter and sister, and try to operate with integrity and compassion in life towards my fellows, animals, and the earth. Developing a small business (Hard Rock Cafe) into a global brand in terms of accomplishments.
Growing up, I spent 15 years in a ballet studio, which required hard work and showing up even when I didn't feel like it. So, I learned discipline early on.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
By being friendly. Of course, through traditional business networking like conferences, referrals, etc. But I've made business contacts, or just new friends, in a Starbucks, on a plane, at the gym, at dinner parties, and in a queue. I find it very easy to speak to people because I'm very curious.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Tenacity, optimism (usually), and both creative and strategic skills. I also think I have the ability to quickly drill down to the core of a business' problems. I, of course, back it up with research, which hopefully bears out my prognosis, but I can admit when it doesn't! Finally, I love leading teams and managing projects; that's always come naturally to me.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
It's ok to ask for help. It's ok to not be perfect. I definitely suffered from imposter syndrome early on. While I was "green", I suppose we're all imposters at the beginning to some extent; it lingered later in my career and was an impediment to risk-taking.
Though both sexes can suffer from it, I think it's more prevalent in women. I believe there was some research done regarding: LinkedIn job searches. Women thought they needed 80-90% of the qualifications before applying for a position, and men would go for it with only a few.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I have always loved Richard Branson and the Virgin brand. His was the first business book I read. He's a great example of a risk-taker. Not all of his have panned out, but he keeps innovating, has infectious passion, and is now doing wonderful things through his daughter Holly, who is his Chief Purpose and Vision Officer.
In academic circles, entrepreneur and professor Scott Gallagher at New York University is brilliant. Creatively, I'm inspired by too many to mention, from music to art, cinema, dance, and literature. I must shout out to Pema Chodron, a female Buddhist monk whose prosaic teachings have influenced me and given me solace in challenging times.
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?
Enjoying all the aforementioned arts, including taking the occasional ballet class, which takes great reserves of humility given that I stopped dancing more years ago than I'm willing to admit. I love to read, especially news, world affairs and other non-fiction. Time with friends is really important, and exercise. I meditate every evening, very imperfectly and not for as long as I should, but it's a great help for focus, creativity, and to give pause when something irritates me.
I do service in various ways. Right now, I'm waiting to hear back from a non-profit that helps asylum-seekers, many from Afghanistan at the moment. I just read the CNN foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward's wonderful memoir and felt moved to help refugees more hands-on. I can't imagine what that kind of displacement feels like. The Ukrainians are now going through it. It's such a travesty.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
As a lot of our clients are in entertainment and hospitality, it had a big economic impact. We tried not to be tone-deaf in terms of trying to get business - our industries were hurting in a major way and are still having challenges. Ironically, I made a lot of new business contacts during lockdown(s). It was easier to get ahold of people; everyone was more open, sharing Covid war stories.
I should mention "Lunch Club," a digital platform where I met some great people and made useful contacts. When I could put aside all the sadness that the pandemic brought to so many families, I somehow managed to maintain a positive outlook. I just accepted that things would be tough for a while. And like for many, it was a great relief to not rush into the office every day, to slow down the pace of life.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
Not one specific mentor, though I wish I'd had. But I've tried to emulate business leaders I admire. I've never participated in a formal mentoring program, but I have helped, I hope, many young women in business. Sometimes it's around business issues, and sometimes the stuff of life.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I would say that regardless of the industry you think you want to get into, be open-minded. Sometimes finding out what you really want to do is a process of elimination rather than a clear vision or belief.
Be patient, and believe that when one door closes, another opens. Try to land where you love doing what you do. I loved music, and somehow much of my work has revolved around that. I didn't formally strategise it, though I suppose I took little actions along the way that led to it. And perhaps the universe had a hand in it, not sure!
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Hitting a difficult part of a project and abandoning it too quickly because you're afraid you won't succeed. But also, sticking with something for too long when it's clearly not working. It can be a fine line. Sometimes it means just putting it on the back burner for a time.
Another issue can be not accepting help or seeking the advice of others, working unilaterally. Or losing confidence when you do fail and being afraid to take risks again. Most business leaders will tell you it's ok to fail. It's a great teacher, as I can attest.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"It's not what you believe, and it's how you behave." I aspire to walk my talk and for my actions to follow my beliefs, which aren't religious but around honesty, integrity and compassion. It's not always easy in challenging situations.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I'm super hot on Oatly at the moment. One, as a consumer. I'm mostly plant-based, and it's the "milkiest milk" out there. Two, I love its inspired challenger marketing even though it is now a very big player in its segment.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
The beginning of the great recession in 2009 was a tough time for my business, but it was a gift. I really learned what was important to me and to not define myself by a title or salary.
Success is not only about work. It's about how you operate in the world, the friends you have, the experiences you create for yourself, and how you give back. I love to work hard, and I do. But there is also much more to life.