A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Marissa Garcia ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

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Radim Malinic: Hey, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daring Forever Podcast. This is my opportunity to zoom in on a few standout moments from this week's interview, to find those moments that deserve a second look and dig deeper into what makes them special.

This week, I spoke to Marissa Garcia, brand strategist, designer, and self-proclaimed multi-hyphenate, living and building a creative business in Fresno, California. In our conversation, we talked about her journey from being a young athlete to becoming an in-demand brand designer and strategist that she is today.

 the episode published a few days ago was titled "Dare to Make Your Own Brand." make your own brand is Marissa's very much a trademark statement, and it features her trademark three pillar of personal brand: clarity, consistency and connection. If you haven't checked out this episode, let me share with you these four standout moments.

I was always the token Black girl that grew up in a predominantly white community. And the story that I give that kind of kicks off how my understanding of personal branding was with the Spice Girls.

Marissa: And I think everyone that has grown up with the Spice Girls know exactly Scary Spice, what's her brand? Sporty Spice, what's her brand? Ginger Spice, Baby Spice, They all have these identities. and growing up, I was the token Black girl.

I was always casted as Scary Spice, and that didn't sit well with me because I always identified myself, not because of physical appearance, but because I always identified myself as Sporty Spice and wanted to be Sporty Spice because I was heavily involved in sports growing up. I did soccer, basketball, gymnastics, dance, club sports.

I was a runner. I did it all, and I really prided myself in that. And so when I do pretend with my friends or we'd dress up for Halloween, "Marissa, you gotta be Scary Spice." And early on, I understood the notion that if we don't control our narrative, someone else will. And at the time, I didn't have the, language to really speak up for myself and tell people, "No," "This is who I wanna be.

This is who I am." And I kinda just went with it, and,led into my identity as sports and my personal branding was sports from childhood all the way.

through college. And, that's where the, start of personal branding came from. I was known as the girl who runs really fast and far.

Radim Malinic: Marissa shared with me a story that also she mentioned in her TEDx talk for TEDxFresno, where she described herself as a token Black girl in a predominantly white community when she was growing up.

 at a time of Spice Girls, and being the only Black girl, she was always labeled as the Scary Spice, even though she wanted to be the Sporty Spice. She didn't like that identity that was chosen for her because she wanted to be Sporty Spice, and she became a genuine athlete until Sporty Spice was undeniable.

 this was a great hook in an episode because it proves that something as playful as Spice Girls turn that into a real lesson. If you don't actively shape how people see you, someone else will do it for you, and you might not like this version. It's relatable, it's vivid, and it sets her entire adult career and branding before she's even said the word brand.

I didn't come in asking. I came in first, I built a relationship with them. I talked to them on LinkedIn, through the DMs, through, showing, investing interest in who they are. And then when I heard that both of them are going to Cannes Lions, I was like: "Hey, let's meet IRL. We've been talking, I've been commenting on your stuff."

Marissa:  that's literally what he said: "Because of your approach. I liked your approach." And Chris, Do, he charges thousands of dollars just to sit down with him for 20, 30 minutes, and he did it willingly at Cannes. Now that's one opportunity. I was like: "Okay, well, I still need to make back some money because this is an expensive trip."

I approached three people, not, again, not previously connected, prior to going to Cannes, cold pitch, and just relied on my personal brand to make a connection and had three opportunities, paying opportunities, and I was able to completely fund my Cannes Lion trip. So all this to say is that I did not get there It's opportunity didn't find me.

I had to go after it. And again, going back to my athleticism, like I have this drive, this unshakable belief that I can make it happen and I'm going to make it happen. Is that a mindset thing? Sure. Maybe. Possibly. But I just operate with this intent like I'm gonna keep working on it. I'm gonna keep doing it.

Radim Malinic: Throughout the episode, I kept going back to Marissa's statement, which she says, "Opportunity isn't found, it's built." Let's be honest. The more you push, the more you put yourself in a lux path, the more you build, the more you try, the more you knock on the doors, something will happen.

And in this moment, this was almost like a Marissa screenshot. She talked about going to Cannes Lions, and she's invented her own opportunity to be there. If you listen to the conversation, you know what I did and what I said. I used a couple of, spicy words to show my excitement about what she did because it was utterly, utterly genius.

not only she's decided to go to Cannes Lions, she's invented a whole opportunity how to get there, what to do. And throughout the episode, she mentioned a lot of times how she invents these opportunities. You know, you can see anything that's not requested from you or that you're not waiting for as a build opportunity, because you can wait as much as you want, and I always say, unless you got a pot of gold that everyone wants, you'll be waiting forever.

 this theme of asking questions or knocking on doors has been showing up throughout a season of Daring Forever in almost every single episode, and it's very much in Marissa's approach. It's very much her branding philosophy about the fact that you always go and strive to find something that could be your opportunity rather than wait for it.

Marissa:  I think,for me personally, and maybe this is,my own belief, but I very much had like singular identities. And because I did sports for so long, like that was a singular identity. And then I moved to another singular identity after retiring, and then I went to another singular identity.

But now I'm coming to this realization is that no, none of us, me, you, none of us are singular people. We're multidimensional. We are multi-hyphenate. And I feel like personal branding stands,you're claiming, what it is that you want people to see you as. And for some people, maybe they want that singular identity, and there's nothing wrong with that. Absolutely. not. but for a creative like myself, the singular identities is what was keeping me boxed in, was keeping me limited. And that, I think probably that is why I've had this urge of I want to do more. Like there is always, I always came to a point in my life where I wanna do more, I wanna do more.

Radim Malinic: And maybe that was, subconsciously my personal self, my being was telling me, "Marissa, you are not singular. You're not meant for singular work. You're not meant for a singular position, a singular identity. stop fighting against It and start embracing my multidimensionalness," if that's a word.

This was an interesting moment where Marissa was catching herself mid-conversation when she worked through the line of singular identities.

I wanted to know, like, what does she mean that you are just a whole identity, whole person? And she talked about the fact when she was a runner oror corporate employee or brand designer, each time she felt she outgrew the title, and that title often 

felt stuck more than a proud moment. And in a beautiful way, she calls multi-dimensionalness, even jokingly, that's the real world. it is a genuinely moving and interesting title that reframes something that could potentially relabel something that could feel maybe even wrong or, like, multi-hyphenate.

But for people who are looking around the corners, who can't still, stand still, looking for building opportunities Multi-hyphenate is actually a great way of saying, "Look, I do more than you, not because I wanna be better than you, because I really wanna find out more about what this life can deliver."

So I have borrowed that since, multi-hyphenate, and people pay attention when you say that

Well, I'm going to give the advice that I give my kids, is that the other people's opinion, especially if they don't know you, they're not close with you, other people's opinions is none of your business. And I recently actually, in alignment with that, taking it a step further, I recently, with "Spider-Man" coming out, Tom Holland, he had said that, you have to think of people's opinions of like this: if, they have your cell phone number?

And if they don't, then they don't know you good enough to make these opinions or stories or whatever. So while you have no control of your personal branding, and it's absolutely impossible to control the narrative in a really large-scoped way, but I'm more concerned with,where I wanna build opportunity.

going back to the opportunity isn't found, it's built. And so I'm not going to waste my energy of worrying about spaces that I'm not even in. And,there's going to be people that misunderstand me, and that's okay too. I'm focusing on where I'm trying to go, what rooms I'm trying to enter,and I'm talking rooms as in like opportunities, and how am I going to show up there.

This was a really good moment because Marissa was just blunt and had really good advice on why the hell would you, care about people's opinions when they've got nothing to do with you?

And her way, she said she's borrowed this idea from Tom Holland, but she's made it her own, and she even teaches her kids, you know, how to deal with negative opinions or fee-feedback. She says, "Look, if people don't have your phone number, it's none of their business." And you know what? It does make sense.

If you're swamped and swayed and burdened with people's negative feedback, yeah, try to use this because have they got your phone number? No. Why does it matter? Because that little pettiness, in this is actually quite motivational when you think about it.

The mix of grounded wisdom and apologetic fire is very much on brand for Marissa, and it's a great moment that stands out from this episode. You know, just make it on brand. Be who you are. Work with clarity, consistency, and connection, and see what your personal brand can achieve.

Thank you for joining me on this bonus episode. My conversation with Marissa Garcia was very much a reminder of speaking with someone who is building her own opportunity. You know, that opportunity in the world isn't found. You can potentially come across it, but being a person that influences how you show up in a room, what other people said about you, is very much in our own hands.

And her conversation and her wisdom and these, you know, moments that she shared with me were very much a masterclass in on how we can show up bigger and better in all of the rooms. Thank you for being here, and I'll catch you on the next week with another episode.