We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Ross and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria, what is the most important factor behind your success?
After thoughtful reflection and examining my strengths several years ago, I realized that what has made me so successful in my career and in my own business has been empathy, optimism, and honest communication. My career spanned management consulting, corporate marketing, advertising, tech marketing, and then I started my own consultancy. The common thread was always a curiosity to learn more, the ability to connect and engage with people from very different backgrounds and understand their perspective. And the ability to being humor, and joy to my work. I may not always get it right, I may disagree, – but they can respect my desire to ask questions, collaborate, and even say hard things out of respect and love. As a marketer, empathy is vital to success. You can’t connect and engage with people if you are not willing to learn and understand their goals, needs, and values. This work as a brand strategist led me to focus on empathy as a strategic advantage for work – and life! In addition, I value authenticity, integrity, and tough love and that has helped me build bridges and gain trust.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My work has evolved from marketing to brand strategy and now to speaking about empathy as a strategic and competitive advantage. I have always been mission-driven, but had a hard time incorporating that into my corporate career. I started out as a management consultant, then went into marketing, then advertising, then joined the dot-com craze as a brand and marketing director, and eventually got to tech marketing. I gained experience across all aspects of marketing – from lead generation to strategic positioning to website to PR to customer marketing to events. But my joy was alway in th storytelling part. In finding a way to connect and engage people at an emotional level. And once I learned that humans actually make most buying decisions with emotion and justify them with logic, I knew I was on to something and launched my own consultancy in 2008. I With that business, I started doing more writing and speaking, which is what I most enjoy.

Then in 2008, I almost died from a brain aneurysm rupture. It was a miraculous recovery that forced me to review my priorities and what made me most happy. I loved working with clients on their brand story, but eventually that was not mission-driven enough for me. As an author, I had published a few books and spoken about both marketing and patient advocacy – and it sharing my personal story, inspiring people, and being an advocate for change that most lit me up.

Eventually, I landed on writing about empathy as a competitive leadership, culture, and brand advantage – and was hooked. So just this year, I pivoted my work to go all-in on empathy leadership training, keynotes, and workshops. I do flavors for how to be an empathetic leader, build an empathetic culture, and create a genuinely empathetic brand.

The common thread across all my work has been to connect and engage. Inform and delight. I never set out to run my own business but the valuable lessons I learned about business – and myself – include: Build your community (no one can ever do it alone), learn to say no, find the humor, and listen to your body.

I want the world to know that you can do anything if you find the right resources, the right people to support you, and understand what your roadblocks or fears are so you can make a plan to move past them. It would thrill me to know that my work and brand enabled people to live a fulfilled life and find their own voice.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Pacifica, just 10 minutes south of San Francisco on the coast. I would of course take them to the beach and the pier (bring a jacket!), drive them through the cutest San Francisco neighborhoods, like Noe Valley the Mission, and Glen Park, And we’d definitely have to take in an Italian restaurant in North Beach! I might skip Fisherman’s Wharf as it’s very touristy, but it is fun to see the sea lions!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Too many people and influences led me to where I am today! But some that stand out are Stephen Covey and his habits of highly successful people, and anything by Daniel Pink and the Heath Brothers – which have added so much to the way I think, work, and live. I admire brave, smart, action-oriented women who speak out, stand tall, and act with empathy, such as Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, Gabby Giffords, Shannon Watts (founder of Moms Demand Action), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Eleanor Roosevelt. There have been so many personal mentors at all stages of my life – both leaders and peers – whom I have learned so much from in various disciplines. People like David Zinman, Kathi Kaplan, Patrick Morrissey, Marty Neumeier, Denise Brousseau, Scott Montgomery, Rhonda George-Denniston, Gina Hortatsos, Steve Hartman, Jennifer Benz, Ursula Ayrout, Rebecca Friese, Jamie Greenwood, Dorie Clark, Jay Baer. Some have influenced my marketing and business skills, but many have more importantly shaped my views on strong, empathetic leadership, humility, positive influence, generosity, and how to be a better human. And I know I’m leaving out a ton of people!

Website: www.red-slice.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redslicemaria/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariajross/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/redslice

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redslice

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mariajross

Image Credits
Professional Photos: Rebecca Henry Photography

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