Building your personal brand is more important than ever. The proliferation of social media gives us as individuals a platform where we can share both our personal and professional lives. Apps and sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has given us a voice and freedom to share ourselves online. It’s therefore important that the stories that we tell are authentic. I met with one entrepreneur who has spent over 20 years working with some of the world’s largest fashion, luxury and entertainment brands (such as Nike, L’Oreal, Aston Martin and MTV) and more recently, has turned her attention to helping female leaders build and commercialize their personal brands. Kubi Springer, Founder of She Build Brands shares her journey in this feature, which took her from professional dancer to brand-building expert.
Early Beginnings
As a child, Kubi trained as a dancer, starting in classical ballet from the age of 7. She was accepted into the Royal Academy of the Arts at age 8 and signed with a top agent in her early teens, where she began working on commercial projects. She made various appearances on TV shows in the 90s, such as Top of The Pops and CD:U.K., two popular music shows in the U.K. at the time that had hosted some of the biggest talents in the industry. However, at the age of 17, she had a significant injury which abruptly ended her dance career. Devastated but determined, she wanted to figure out her next move. She remembered during a Spice Girls tour that she had worked on, a particular team member stated that working behind-the-scenes had just as much impact as being on the stage. This sparked an initial interest and so Kubi pursued an internship at MTV, where she worked on The Lick Parties featuring prominent DJ Trevor Nelson. As Kubi sought more work in the entertainment industry, she realized that she needed to branch out into the U.S., the country where branding was thriving. Fortunately, she landed an internship at Essence Magazine where she worked on their annual festival Essence Fest. She socialized, built her network, solidified her passion and absolutely knew that working in marketing was where she belonged. Her parents, however, only gave their approval once she had completed her degree. That autumn, she enrolled at a university on a course titled Business of The Music Industry where she majored in marketing. Her dissertation was focused on women in the music industry for which she featured Kanya King, Founder of the MOBO Awards, a connection which would blossom later in life.
Moving Back Across The Pond
Kubi wanted to sink her teeth into the U.S. entertainment scene, so secured a work placement in New York through the Mountbatten Institute in 2001. She re-connected with some of the people she had met during her time at Essence Fest and even landed a second work placement at Diddy’s marketing agency Blue Flame. “Spending three years at Blue Flame was instrumental in learning how to build a brand” Kubi recalls. Whilst she was at Blue Flame, Diddy launched his Sean John clothing line on 5th Avenue – New York’s most famous fashion district. At that time, it was unheard of for hip-hop artists to have significant influence on mainstream fashion trends, let alone owning their own clothing brands. The practical knowledge that she acquired during these years gave wings to the 4P’s or PR tips she had learned at university. She now knew that building a brand is very much about values, promise and experiences – what you stand for and who you’re trying to impact. Whilst in America, Kubi was introduced to the team organizing Justin Timberlake’s Justified tour and got her first freelance job, helping to promote the European leg of the tour. This was quickly followed by work with Nike, Eminem, Mariah Carey and the ‘Sex & the City’ U.K. movie release.
The MOBO Awards
After a few years, Kubi took up a role with the MOBO Awards, coincidentally the company that she had written her dissertation at university. She joined as the Head of Marketing, where she was in charge of pushing the brand forward at just 26 years old. Much of her work was on their 10-year anniversary award show, which was a great avenue to showcase her knowledge of branding and brand partnerships. The MOBO Awards were typically compared to The Brits or The MTV Music Awards but, rather than try to imitate these iconic events, she felt it was important to celebrate and accept their differentiation to other mainstream British award shows. The MOBOs went on have many international winners such as Beyoncé and Jay Z, and the anniversary award show raised an approximate £1.3m in sponsorship under Kubi’s marketing leadership.
Finding Her Calling
After 3 years at the MOBO Organisation and with several freelance projects under her belt, Kubi had worked with many of the brands on her bucket list - including Rio Ferdinand, Wella Professional and Rolls Royce Motor Cars - yet felt oddly empty and unfulfilled. She wanted to do more. She gave a talk to young women looking for female role models, which was followed by launching herRUNWAY featuring eight international female designers at London Fashion Week, held at the Aston Martin’s Park Lane dealership. She started to appreciate the importance of these campaigns and the impact that she could have by assisting women to build their own global brands. She ran with the idea and, shortly after, was delivering brand training in South East Asia, Ghana, New York, Dubai and many locations worldwide, empowering women to build their brands.
Today, Kubi’s focus is on equipping female leaders with the tools needed to build their brands, understand the science behind it and properly commercialize their products. Kubi’s work has attracted attention from major corporations such as Facebook and Santander and she has been commissioned to carry out masterclasses for their “future leaders”. She has recently signed a book deal with Bloomsbury Publishing, which is titled "I Am My Brand", scheduled for release in early October 2019.
As we wrap up our conversation, I ask Kubi about what exactly has given her the confidence to take risks, such as moving to America or deciding at 30 to focus on female brand building. She says two things, the first was advice that her grandmother gave her at a very young age – to “reach for the stars and you’ll hit the moon”. She has held on to this ever since she was young and considers herself a real dreamer. Secondly, she refers to her experience as a dancer, where going to auditions and dealing with unexpected injuries and numerous rejections forced her to embrace change. She turned her misfortune into what has been a most fulfilling career. For me, it’s a real lesson on how to spin what many would perceive to be negative incident, into a real positive outcome that lasts a lifetime.
This article is part of a series featuring diverse founders making a difference. Follow me on Twitter @TommyASC91 to be updated as new features are released.
