Zakiya Larry is a celebrity media coach, best selling author, and elevation strategist who has influenced and impacted people from Dallas to the White House, to South Africa.
As CEO of Quest Media Training, Larry’s job is to coach people and elevate brands to their highest potential. Larry spoke with rolling out about her brand and her Z-method for transforming people and businesses globally.
How would you describe your brand?
I would describe my brand as an intensely precise, insightful, nurturing place to find clarity, transformation, and ultimately elevation for a brand, business, and self.
My brand is The Elevation Strategist. I elevate ideas, initiatives, events, and people’s skillsets and inspiration through strategic communications campaigns, media and brand coaching, and transformational speaking.
I determined my career path by assessing and aligning my skills with my interests, then weighing that against my purpose. My “ah-ha moment” happened when working in a TV newsroom as a journalist. I saw a need to help people deliver more confidently on camera while not leaving out important details, nor getting derailed by unexpected questions. I knew exactly how to coach through this because I was the one producing the stories and asking the tough questions.
I expanded my vision because I wanted to continue to tell compelling stories, but choose them. So I stepped into entrepreneurship as a publicity executive and chief strategist. Speaking has been a thread throughout it all, whether on-camera, on-stage, or in conference rooms training executives or teams to align or elevate their brand, create a crisis plan, or learn how to master the media.
I have grown my business significantly over the years by maintaining synergistic business relationships, offering referral incentives, defining my niche and zoning in on unique, custom client offerings, including The Z Method— my four-step process to “find your core,” which, depending on the client, maybe your core polished brand, core message, core brand direction and amazingly, your purpose.
Essential skills for future entrepreneurs, business leaders, and innovators include the ability to: think strategically and long-term; create a trackable, scalable plan, and make tough but smart financial and persoonal decisions.
I used these skills while running my company as a secondary income stream before resigning from my ‘dream job’ with a global powerhouse to run my operations full-time. I still use these skills to operate, manage challenges, and grow, daily.
I coach that in today’s authenticity-hungry environment, personal brand and professional brand should be congruent. I define “Zakiya Larry culture” (or my personal culture), as measured, thoughtful, deep thinking (sometimes overthinking), nurturing, protecting and punctuated by levity. The same is experienced in my professional culture. The key is consistency, which builds trust and leads to brand and business success.
@ZakiyaLarry
