Karina Michel Feld

expert panel

It's not enough to simply define your brand mission — you have to live it every day. For any business, having a clear and meaningful mission is critical for success. To truly live up to that mission, however, you must ensure that it is consistently and clearly woven throughout all aspects of the business. Your brand's mission should be evident in the company's values, culture and day-to-day operations. To help you achieve this, 15 Rolling Stone Culture Council members each outline one specific step or action businesses can take to ensure their mission is fully integrated into their operations and why this is so important for the success and sustainability of the business.

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If you've spotted an employee who has "quiet quit" their job, it's not too late to turn things around. In today's fast-paced and competitive work environment, retaining employees has become increasingly challenging. One growing phenomenon that has added to this challenge is the concept of "quiet quitting" — employees who have disengaged from their work but are still physically present in the workplace. Companies often struggle to identify and address this issue, which can lead to decreased productivity, increased turnover and a negative work environment. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members offer some practical advice for reengaging and motivating employees who may be quietly quitting, along with strategies for preventing this phenomenon from happening in the first place.

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What does living with intention mean to you? And, more importantly, how can it help you turn your dreams into a reality and level up your lifestyle?

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You can't necessarily buy brand loyalty, but you can earn it with the right customer experience and engagement tactics. Loyal customers are the cornerstone of any successful brand. They stick by a business through thick and thin and support its products or services above all others in the industry. Having this dedicated, repeat customer can be a stepping stone toward increased brand recognition and an increase in profits. However, it takes dedication and effort to convert a casual buyer into someone who sticks by your company for life. To help, a panel of experts from Rolling Stone Culture Council recommend some effective ways any business can turn everyday customers into brand loyalists.

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The end of the year is a notoriously busy time, but it's important to make room in your schedule for these key year-end to-dos. As the end of the year approaches, most businesses are wrapping up any outstanding projects and assessing what needs to be carried over into the new year. It's the perfect time for leaders to meet with employees to discuss what worked, what could be better and how teamwork can help achieve next year’s goals. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share some essential items business leaders should achieve before January 1st. Here's why they believe these 13 tasks belong on your end-of-year to-do list.

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The end of the year is an ideal time to reflect on what you've learned and how you can apply it to your business moving forward. One of the most important aspects of an end-of-year review is assessing what went right and what went wrong for your business. Setting expectations for the following year based on those statistics helps ensure that your company continues to improve. Here, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share the most valuable lessons they learned over the past 12 months and the key takeaways they'll implement in their businesses in 2023.

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Charity work can be a great way to get involved with the community while simultaneously strengthening your brand.

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It’s easy to get swept up in everyday life and forget to put yourself first.

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Any employee who interfaces with customers should have the right skills to properly and effectively represent your brand. Hiring for any position is rarely an easy task, and it can be even more difficult when you're filling a customer-facing role. Not only does the person you hire need to be a match for your company culture, but they also need the right personality and skills to effectively represent your brand to the general public. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share 10 specific skills or traits they look for when hiring for a customer-facing or public role, and explain why each of these qualities is so essential to an employee's success in this type of position.

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How do you know how to ask the right questions and keep the flow going?

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Many entrepreneurs are afraid of failing when they first start out, but it's possible to push past that fear and find success. Today, more people than ever are driven to create their own businesses. While the thought of being your own boss and creating something you love can be exhilarating, many entrepreneurs also experience that prickly feeling of fear when they actually launch. After all, the potential for failure is high in the early stages of a startup, and new businesses don't always make it past their first few years. Some people will fold under the pressure while others will rise to the challenge despite their fear. To help you ensure you're in the latter camp, 14 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share how entrepreneurs can overcome the fear of failure and push forward.

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Staying autonomous as your business scales up requires a strong understanding of yourself and your mission — and trust in your team to carry out that mission. If you're an independent creator, you may be considering scaling your business. While scaling is a great way to increase your presence and profit, it also often requires bringing other people into the mix — a significant adjustment when you're accustomed to working independently. Fortunately, it is possible to grow your brand without losing sight of your original creative vision. To help, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share 11 tips to help you scale your business while still maintaining your autonomy.

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When you choose to lead with love, success will follow.

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'Grinding' can only get you so far if you don't also make time for yourself. Productivity, “hustle culture,” “rise and grind” — all popular topics when it comes to entrepreneurship, making money and leading a “successful” life. While touted as all positive and necessary things if you want to progress in your career, when taken too far, these positives can become toxic and actually hurt your ability to find real success.  But how can ambitious professionals and business owners move away from this mentality when entrepreneurs are expected to “grind”? Below, 10 Rolling Stone Culture Council business leaders offer their tips and insights for professionals interested in leaving toxic productivity and “hustle culture” behind.

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Learn to be open to life.

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If customers don’t think you’re genuine, they’ll take their business elsewhere. In the pursuit of sales, it can be tempting to try any technique you can think of to market to potential customers and get them interested in purchasing your product. However, this — among other actions — can come off as inauthentic and may actually be a turnoff for potential customers, rendering your marketing efforts wholly ineffective. To avoid this issue, you’ll need to watch out for signs of inauthenticity. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council business leaders weigh in on some of the signs you should be looking out for and what you can do to fix the problem once you find it.

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The popular social media platform offers a unique opportunity for marketers. With over a billion monthly active users worldwide, it’s no surprise why TikTok would be such an appealing platform for businesses looking to get in front of as many eyes as possible. However, expanding an audience isn’t as straightforward and simple as creating a TikTok account and posting a video. In order to leverage the platform to its best advantage, marketers need to post with purpose. To help get you started, the business leaders of Rolling Stone Culture Council share the ways they’ve seen brands leverage TikTok for marketing and explain why those methods are so clever and effective.

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Not every influencer is a good fit for every company — and vice versa. Like with any business partnership, an influencer partnership must start with a solid foundation. Relying too much on transactional details may leave your business with a partner it can’t trust, whereas looking at the person as a whole may help you build a better relationship and save you from potential disaster down the line. If you’re unsure about your influencer partnership, consider this advice from the leaders of Rolling Stone Culture Council. Below, they list signs that an influencer partnership might not be working out as you hoped and offer tips on what you should do if you spot them.

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Mastering your mindset is the key to changing your life and continuing to live an abundant life.

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Take the time to evaluate the situation before you jump ahead. Being an entrepreneur is all about taking risks and reaping rewards. But it’s how you go about taking those risks that defines how successful you are in business. And whether calculated or impulsive, any risk has the potential for a negative outcome. However, with time and experience, it is possible to get better at taking risks and determining whether or not they’ll work out for you. Below, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share some signs you can look for that will indicate if you’re about to make a big mistake rather than a risk that’s going to pay off.

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Managing expectations and trust are key to resolving baggage from a previous business partnership. Going into business with a new partner is an opportunity to explore fresh perspectives and exciting ideas. However, if your new business partner is still toting baggage from a previous partnership, it could derail your collaborative journey.  To keep past experiences from standing in the way of future success, business partners must learn how to manage expectations. Below, 10 Rolling Stone Culture Council members offer fellow business leaders their best advice for building trust with their new partners, especially if those partners are wary of getting burned again.

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Celebrate your big win while also earning your audience’s trust. Winning an award is a momentous occasion for any business or entrepreneur — and certainly cause to share with everyone you know. But this win doesn’t just have to be about celebration; it’s also a great opportunity to raise your brand’s status in the eyes of your customers. With these awards to back up your company’s credibility, potential customers will be more likely to view you as a quality, trusted source and be more willing to give you their business. But to truly leverage these accolades, you’ll first need to consider these tips recommended by the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council for how to use these awards to improve your online brand.

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Don’t put off your dreams, but rather, keep them alive.

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When you’re caring for your company, it can be hard to take care of yourself as well. For better or worse, "hustle culture" has become popular among the entrepreneurial community. It's sometimes viewed as a badge of honor to be constantly busy and "hustling" to grow your business. However, when you don’t take time away from work, you run the risk of inducing health- and emotional-related issues that could set you back. That’s why it’s important to take time for self-care, especially if you’re always on the go or constantly feel the need to be productive. To help you find balance, 13 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council give their best tips for busy leaders who may have to "force" themselves to step away from their jobs.

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To ensure success, it's critical to learn how to identify the right candidates from the start. Regardless of the product or service you offer, the right team can make all the difference for the success of a business. Hiring the right people who are highly motivated and skilled can have a major impact on your ability to scale. But finding these people and knowing whether they are the right fit for your company and team can be a challenge. To help leaders find the best future team members, 13 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council offered their advice. Below, they explained how to zero in on the people who will help your business grow.

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Showing up is half the battle.

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The culture space is nuanced and unique and entering it doesn't always turn out exactly how you think. It’s easy to come into any business with preconceived ideas about that particular industry; however, many industries in the culture space are complex and ever-changing. Once you start to build a company, you’ll likely learn there’s much more to each industry than meets the eye.  Realizing you had misconceptions about your industry may lead you to rethink certain strategies and decisions about your business. Fortunately, it's rarely too late to change course based on the knowledge you learn from experience. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members shared some myths and misconceptions they had about their specific industries when they started out, and how those assumptions were later proven false.

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Stories, Reels and TikToks can be great ways to connect with your audience and highlight your brand. In today’s highly digital world, individuals are constantly bombarded with distractions like texts, social media notifications and more. As a result, when consuming content online, most people prefer short-form videos on platforms like Instagram and TikTok that deliver quick, visually engaging messaging. If you've never explored short video content as a marketing strategy, there are a few important things to remember when developing your posts. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members shared tips for leaders looking to use short videos to make their businesses stand out. Here’s why these tactics are so useful and how you can leverage them for your brand.

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When your usual outlets aren't available to you, it's important to find alternate coping mechanisms. It’s no question that the last year has been challenging for everyone. Even with the hope of "normalcy" on the horizon, people are finding it difficult to cope with the ongoing pandemic on top of the challenging social and political climate. With many outlets and resources inaccessible at this time, it’s even harder to find ways to de-stress. To help, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members shared activities and methods that can aid in coping with burnout during multiple crises. Follow their advice to find healthy ways to deal with the stress of the modern world.