How to Craft Compelling Stories: Tips for Authentic PR Messages | Didier Morais
This week we welcome one of the top Afro-Latino Publicist in the game and CEO of Vital Versatility, Didier Morais. He’s worked with prominent personalities and brands such as, Fat Joe, Megan The Stallion, Van Jones, Michael Rubin, Puma, Roc Nation, and many more.
In this episode, Didier gives us the inside scoop on how he left his 9-5 and went on to build one of the most sought after minority owned agencies for reputation management in less than two years.
Why you need to tune in:
Key questions to ask a publicist before hiring them
How to craft stories that build your brand and create opportunities from scratch
The key players every entrepreneur needs to have on their team
How to manage your mental health while supporting your clients
Full Transcript:
Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and you know here on the show we talk about the vibrancy and complexity of Latino culture, entrepreneurship and of course all the bene in between. Now, today's guest, I want to make sure you guys go grab your notebook, go grab your pens because we're gonna get a lot of hacks today in terms of visibility and how you should be thinking about yourself when you want to market your services, your goods, your story to essentially attract more clientele, right? And to get a buzz around your business model, around what it is that you are bringing to the marketplace. So, this is going to be a good one. So, let me do a quick intro and then I'll pass over the mic to him. So, DDierre Maurice is the CEO of Vital Versatility, a public relations firm with an expertise in reputation management. He has worked with prominent personalities and brands including Meek Mill, Megan Stallion, Michael Rubin, Van Jones, Fat Joe, Yoatti, Rock Nation. I feel like I can go on and on and on. Puma, Reform Alliance, Duce, Kgnac. Shout out by the way to Nancy and Drenstar over at Duceay and many, many others. And he is truly making a mark for himself as one of the very few Afro Latinos who are killing it in the public relations space. So, I'm really excited to have you on the show. Thank you for being here. Of course. Thank you for having me. So, you almost had the last name pronunciation right. I said it. I was like, But it's all good. It's all good. Morice Morice. There we go. There we go. We got it now. We got it now. Do you like correcting people to pronounce your name correctly? You know, when I was younger, I didn't. And then I I kind of over the years was told like if you don't correct people, it's like you're not educating them. And at the end of the day, we only have one name and our name is our representation of our family. And I kind of when that kind of resonated with me. So now I've kind of done a better job of kind of bringing it to people's to the forefront, not only my first name, but my last name because I always think in the back of my mind, it's a representation of my family. Yes. Yes. I love that because I found like a lot of Latinos who have maybe difficult names. They tend to just let people like rock out and call them by an inappropriate name. And I totally agree with you. We should be course correcting and being like, actually, you know, this is the correct way to pronounce it. So thank you. You're seeing it live in action, y'all. It's as easy as that. It's all about transparency and family vibes. If we don't communicate, you know, and I'm in the business of communication, then how are we going to build as a society? Absolutely. I love it. So, we like to start the show with some chinches. So, so give us something we can't Google about you, which I'm pretty sure there's nothing out there he does not want us to know about him because he's in the business of communication and brand building. So, give us something. Um, uh, let me see. I mean, I think um obviously I'm I'm Colombian in Cape Verie. I know you can kind of Google that. My my father um actually moved recently to Portugal, so he was living in Colombia um for a little bit. And I'm I'm an only child, so you know, thankfully I got my little cousins uh you know, nearby holding me down. And uh shout out to Alejandro and Julian. And Julian just graduated from Princeton. So I always I always considered myself the the smartest of the family, but he has usurped me in that in that sense. But Alejandra is also incredibly intelligent and has a bright future. So shout out to the family out here killing it. I love that. You know what's interesting is a lot of people are moving to Portugal. Like a lot of people What's What's happening over there? I mean, I feel like Yeah, it's become a lot more of a tourist destination. I mean, it was always beautiful, right? But I I feel like I think people are starting to really appreciate Lisbon for the beauty that it is. It is not as it's still, you know, expensive, but it's not as expensive as some of the other major European cities, but it has an incredible lot of history as well. So, I really think people are starting to, you know, go appreciate it for sure. And I mean uh you know obviously for other reasons but especially from a soccer perspective I think Cristiano Ronaldo also did a just for him being one of the best soccer players of all time has raised the profile of Portugal in that sense where I think other people are curious from a sports perspective. So I just think there's a bunch of different factors that have just made uh Portugal pop. But it's phenomenal and I recommend everybody visit. It's on my bucket list. I have not been there. I actually want to go there during the holidays because the pictures that I see over there of how gorgeous with all the lights and the whole vibe. Oh, it's beautiful. I was there for the I've been there like four times, but for the holidays by far super beautiful. Yeah, I've heard. Okay, so you actually made the transition. You were in sports, right? Sports journalism. And then you transitioned to start your own firm. So, what was that process like? Did something happen that made you be like, you know what, I'm not working for anybody else. I'm ready to do me. Like what was the thought process? Well, I think there were a few phases, right? So, I was a sports journalist first, right? And then when I transitioned out of journalism and I saw where the journalism industry was headed at the time because again growing up like my dream was to do sports journalism like I wanted to be the Colombian Kverian Stephen A. Smith and I had achieved that goal. I had high-profile internships. I was covering LeBron James and Dwayne Wade in the Miami Heat as an intern at the Miami Herald. And then I ended up being, you know, I was 23. I was covering the Boston Red Sox for New England Sports Network is like the equivalent of Yes Network. Um, and you know, even doing some on air work and it was a beautiful experience, but at the same time, I think there were a combination of factors. mainly the fact that I had been in the newspaper side of things and then I and I saw how newspaper was cutting down the words for journalism and just it wasn't allowing me to expand and write the way I wanted to. But then when you went online and you have all the space to write, they didn't really care about the quality of reporting and that was towards a shift of aggregation where they were like, "Oh, just rewrite this other person's thing when I wanted to break news or I wanted my feature stories to stand out." So unfortunately I started falling out of love with journalism and with sports journalism. Uh it prompted me to pivot into PR and you know it it was really there was a whole other backstory of me being unemployed and trying to find my footing when I made that shift. That was a real pivotal moment in my life. But I did tech PR for like three and a half years and I I just did it just cuz I needed to get my foot in the door. I went to another firm where then I you know I started getting a lot of uh expertise in entertainment and lifestyle which is a lot of where my passion was and I helped pretty much build the music and entertainment side of that division essentially in many ways from scratch like they had a foundation and I kind of built it with my relationships and just over time I I realized you know I started bringing in a lot of clients I started doing kind of working kind of my division worked in in many ways as a silo and you know again it was it was a testament to also what I was provided by by my boss over there and kind of giving me the freedom um to do you know to move you know you know on my own and that kind of gave me the confidence to ultimately you know move on my own so and working with organizations like you know with Rock Nation and just with different artists you know the the Fat Joe's and and the Yoattis and seeing how they were all about ownership and building their own enterprises and then just you know no pun intended but I was following the blueprint that you know the these individuals and and these artists and organizations were were laying out where I wanted to own you know started with owning my own property and I bought my first property that I'm like what else can I own and I'm like well the only other thing is creating my own organization and building and owning that and that was kind of what ultimately set me into this uh second chapter of uh you know my PR career. Amazing. And how long have you had your own firm now? Two and a half years. That's it. I thought you've been doing this. Well, you have been doing this for years, but I thought you had your firm. So, two years in. Yeah. Give us some major learnings that you've had. What's up, Mi? Are you looking for mentorship and the place to secure the big bag? Have you ever watched me here on the Banking on Cultura podcast and thought to yourself, you know what, I want to work with Victoria Jen? Or maybe you thought to yourself, I want to be a part of her network of badass women and entrepreneurs. Well, guess what? You absolutely can. Join me this November, November 15th through the 16th, in the heart of New York City for my 7th annual Secure the Big Bag and Wellness Summit. Let's face it, so many of us are tired, burnt out, ready to throw in the towel, honey, and quite frankly, we want to dedicate ourselves to the soft life. But what if there was a way for us to achieve both time and financial freedom and also have a healthy, well-balanced life? What if you could secure the big bag, build a business that fuels you versus drains you, as well as build a solid network of business besties who want to support and motivate you while also centering self. This summit is the premier destination for the latest marketing, sales, and AI tools that can 10x your business while also nurturing your well-being. Learn from top experts from both business and wellness, including executives from the corporate sector, so that you can explore corporate level opportunities that can elevate your business to new heights, ensuring you're not just prepared, but fully equipped to dominate in 2025 and beyond. This is your opportunity for your business to thrive while you do, too. Head over to securethepigbag.com to check out the agenda and all the heavy hitters that will be in the building. I cannot wait to see you in New York City. Ni, it's go time. Oo, that's that's a really good question. I think um part of it is making sure you have a strong accounting team. You know, I think that's one of the things that I underestimated at first because I think you don't really realize how much you're paying quarterly in taxes. Like, yeah, of course, the money is coming in 40% adds up real quick, right? And so, thankfully, I've always been good with my money. My father really taught me strong money management skills at a young age. That that has helped me like light years where once I'm throwing in these big quarterly payments, I'm like, well, at least I'm good where I can also pay my my team and my employees, pay myself. And so, I think that's that's certainly, you know, one one big part of it. And um obviously make sure you have a strong attorney, you know, making sure you have you have the legal protection because in terms of bringing in the clients and like I knew I could do that. I knew I had the relationships, you know, building a team. Obviously, that similarly to how I did in other organizations like you've had that experience, but it's kind of the it's the other pieces when you're an entrepreneur, you are legal, you are finance, you are IT, you are absolutely you are HR in the beginning, you are absolutely everything. So, um, you know, thankfully I I had some experience in drafting some contracts and I had some friends in the legal sector that helped me out and and I had some experience on the on the finance side of the business that I already kind of came into it knowing kind of the basic framework. But, you know, having good accounts and good attorneys uh also helped me from a from an operations perspective. These are really good call outs because I find that a lot of entrepreneurs try to skip this part. Like this is the part that's not exciting and so they try to do everything and anything else and then Uncle Sam comes at the end of the year and it's like and then they're like [ __ ] right? They're all upset that they didn't pay attention to like essentially the business fundamentals like the foundation of your business if it's not strong just like a house any wind that comes through knocks it down. Exactly. And part of what I was doing as I was not only prepping but in the early first couple days and weeks was picking the brains of other entrepreneurs, right? And just asking what are some things I should do? What have I not thought of yet? You know, even making sure like all right, separating your personal and and business expenses. Like I learned from other people's mistakes. Oh, I didn't separate them in the beginning. I had them conflated and then when it came down to tax season, it hurt me in the long run. So, at least I I asked people and learned from other people's mistakes off the rip to be able to kind of set the course for a little bit of an easier trajectory. Obviously, still having a lot of challenges along the way, but picking a lot of people's brains earlier so that they can give you the advice and you can learn from their mistakes. Interesting that you say that because so I have an online learning platform called the Dare to Leap Academy that I specifically created because I was in corporate for 15 years and seven years ago is when I decided to step out and I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I didn't even have a circle of entrepreneurs that I could go to. My whole circle was corporate. Like that was my network. So I literally had to figure it out. Trial and error. And thankfully within my first year of business, I actually made some really good money. But because I didn't understand the tax game or understand how to prepare, I had to end up paying Uncle Sam like 40 grand. And it like still hurts me to this day because there's so much I could have done with that money, but I didn't know what I could write off. I didn't know the game. And so the Dare to Leap Academy was created so that they could learn from my mistakes. So that women who want to start and scale up their business, I made all the mistakes. I understand the formula. Like learn it first before you take the leap. because they'll come and they'll bite you in the ass later, you know. So, learn from other people's mistakes. I love that. Super super important. So, there aren't many Afro Latinoowned PR firms, are there? You know, not not to my knowledge, you know. So, um again, I'm I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to blaze a trail for our people. That's the other thing, you know, is really just be able to create opportunities. In many places where I've worked, there haven't been people that look like myself or have the uh the mentality and perspective and approach um and not just myself, but just people of color in general. And I think one of the things I wanted to also create was just an organization that embodies, you know, the culture like Cultura. And I just wanted to make sure that that was really um you know, that really conveyed through what what we're doing with Vital Versatility. I love that. So, were you born in Colombia or were you born here? No, I I was born I was born over here, but I've you know I've been to Colombia like at least 20 times in my life. I have uh a lot of family over there. But um you know I'm I'm a lot closer to my Colombian side uh than I am to my Kverian side. You know I think in this point in life I'm actually trying to learn and get closer to my Kverian side because I was always just so attached to my Colombian side. Like my grandparents live very close. So like you know you love me somebody have pic like you know I would I would go it's really easy for you to gain a lot of weight. Of course I know and I did at one point so but I I had to relax for a little bit. You got to monitor it, man. Uh so you have a a magic to you around storytelling. It's one of I believe your key differentiators from others in the space. So where does your creativity for storytelling come from? I think it comes from my experience as as a former journalist. I think one of the things that has really brought me this far in PR has been my perspective as a journalist because I used to pitch my editor stories that I would write want to write that I would want to do on air and I would be able to just come up with concepts and just bring them to life in my writing. And now in this space of publicity, that's part of the job is like, yeah, certainly you're going to help your clients with announcements and everything, but sometimes you have to be able to bring ideas out of nothing and bring it to the client and create these opportunities from scratch. And it's something that I think it I see a lot of similarities and that's why you see a lot, not all, but some some journalists that are able to make that crossover into PR because at the end of the day, I see it as storytelling. I'm just storytelling from a different lens, right? And now instead of the stories that I would want to write, I'm just pitching the concepts for other people to write to make my clients look good, but to highlight and do that type of storytelling. So, and I think a lot of journalists that I work with can appreciate my perspective because I was in their shoes and I know the nuances and, you know, I know I know, you know, the importance of integrating, you know, additional sources to make sure that your piece is as wellrounded and well reported as possible. you know, I know when you're working on different deadlines and how you have to adjust accordingly. And I'm very respectful of that because I remember being held to tight deadlines myself. And I also just knowing how to differentiate between what's a good story and what's a great story or what's a nothing story. Like what is just nothing that you know is not going to get press coverage and being able to convey that to your client and also telling them, listen, I used to be a reporter. So if I'm looking at this objectively from a journalistic lens, I don't see a story here. M and being able to have those tough conversations with your clients as well. Yeah, that's got to be a hard pill to swallow, especially if they think like they're fabulous and in your industry, I know everybody does think that they're fabulous. Uh so, okay. So given the state of of media in general and kind of clickbait and understanding what is now driving people to actually click and want to read a story. How are you managing that with making sure you're maintaining like the integrity of what the story is supposed to be about? Well, I think the integrity of the story doesn't change necessarily. I think part of it is doing the due diligence on the publication and the reporter and what is their approach and how they're shifting. But I think we're in the midst of a real transformation in media another like and you're seeing it with some of the layoffs and really with the the proliferation of people getting information from social right from a young from a different generation they'd get all the you know their their news from newspapers. others would now get it from you know Twitter but you know and it would be publications you know like being post like their articles being posted on Twitter but now you're kind of just seeing it from like you know Instagram or like Tik Tok and now you have to almost tailor your approach to like you still want to tell you know the objective well-balanced stories and doing it in the traditional way but you also have to be open and receptive to the evolving landscape and knowing that there is now a different way of storytelling that you have to adjust to a different audience. So now instead of having, you know, a client do just an interview for, you know, Forbes or Rolling Stone or Billboard, now it's like, "Hey, you know, you may want to do this hit with uh 12-year-old Jazzy, you know, who's getting getting these looks on." She's the best. She's the best, you know. Absolutely. She comes prepared. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. Shout out Shout out to her and her father doing phenomenal work. Um, but just even some of the other Latina, which I love. Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh, you should have them on. I know. Seriously, you got to make that connection. Say less. Say less. Um, but other personalities and influencers like there's like the the people gallery now the guys like, "Oh, what's your fit? What you got on today?" Little things like that that even just like it moves the needle on social. So, it's just having an open mind to seeing okay. Or like, you know, you seeing, you know, and obviously one of our clients is Duski, and you're seeing what he did recently with with him and Ka Sat at um on Twitch and Kevin Hart. Yeah. So, they blew it up. That's now that's another way that people are consuming media. And it's being able to be sure that you can evolve with the times and it's like, hey, what worked for me in PR, you know, six years ago isn't what works now. You have to make those adjustments. It's like it's like anything like it's like in sports, you know, the way LeBron James was playing earlier in his career is not how he plays now, you know, for the Lakers. It's like and you have to adjust over the times when he was in Miami. So in just many ways regardless of the craft the craft is always going to evolve. Now we see it with AI as well. So it's being open and not having a closed mind and thinking it's your way and the highway. You have to be open to evolving with the times, getting new information and making sure you make those adjustments as a professional to continue to elevate. And are your clients like receptive to this shift that is happening? Like would you say that they're I would say most are. I mean some sometimes you have to explain it and that's why part of it is also building the trust with some of these clients right sometimes you know thankfully there's clients that I've been working with for several years that they have you know five six years that they have the trust that like all right you tell me I'll do it you know there's been others that you know again a couple years in and for newer clients yeah I mean you're going to the job is always to make recommendations right it's like hey I have this opportunity for you this interview this you know whatever the case may be and make influ make the recommendation and make a case as to why you think it's valuable for the client ultimately they're either going to decide to do it or they're not going to decide to do it. Right. But then it's also just making the case and if they don't decide to do it that's fine because I still did my job and if I did then obviously then you see you know the fruits of of the labor and you know but that's always part of it is that sees my job is always to make recommendations and it's ultimately up to what the client wants to do and I respect it either which way. Okay. Amazing. You ready? You you down to do an exercise with me right now? Let's get it. All right. So, banking on cultura, you know what we represent and what we do, of course, and what we're trying to accomplish here. So, given your storytelling magic, like what would be your approach for banking on cultura? Oh, interesting. Okay. Well, in terms of from a PR perspective, right? Well, I think part of it is obviously highlighting some of the strong interviews you've had obviously like with Solad O'Brien. So, it's like also being able to highlight that and your pedigree and your story, right? Because even with you and how you've pivoted as an entrepreneur and now how you're pivoting to start your your podcast and have obviously built it, you know, into a growing powerhouse and I think part of it is telling the story for people to know who you are because at the end of the day, you're the one behind the podcast. So start it starts with amplifying your your PR and your publicity and then integrating the podcast as part of your narrative and then as that builds up in its own then focusing onto the podcast and letting the the podcast grow in itself but you already have some of the foundational pieces to help tell your narrative with some of the guests you've had. So it's it's really it goes hand inand where as your profile grows as will the podcast. So that's kind of one of those ways it's, you know, it's I tell it even some of the restaurants that I represent in in New York City, it's like as as your profile grows as an entrepreneur, as this owner of this hot restaurant, so will just the attention to the restaurant. So if I was a new client on the roster, what would be some questions you would ask me to help with the storytelling piece and like building the narrative? I'll be I would ask what's what's unique about you? What makes you and your story stand apart from others? I think we start there cuz I'm also very selective with with my clients. Like I need to make sure there's a story there. I'm not going to just take people for the check. I tell people this all the time. I care more about relationships. So sometimes it's all about timing for what your story is. And with some people I'm like your story's not there yet. You have XYZ coming this year. let's talk later this year in a few months when you have that because that'll be a better launch launching point to start doing press than now. You know what I mean? So, it's like, hey, I have this restaurant opening in in December, but I want to get press now. It's like, well, if you don't have much of a backstory to you, it'd probably be better as we get a little closer. You know, if you're looking at December, maybe we're talking about October, November to start building a press campaign for you. You know, that is uh tied to the launch of the restaurant. And then that's going to make it more more newsworthy. Otherwise, right now, if there's nothing else you got going on, it doesn't make sense for me to take you on right now. Got it. So, it's really just like, hey, what do you have going on? What separates yourself, right? What's the next era of the podcast? So, you know what I mean? So, I think that's part of it. Okay. Amazing. One of the things that I think about is when you talk about like what's the story? I find that like if you have like a traumatic story, like people like feed into that, right? Like if you like broke your ankle and then you ran into somebody who felt bad for you and wrote you a check and it just blew up or like you know you you grew up in a homeless shelter your entire life and you were able to overcome XYZ. What is the story or what is the angle if someone doesn't have like that type of like I would say emotionally pulling type story but they're doing dope [ __ ] Well the dope [ __ ] is is what the story is. just what is the dope [ __ ] right? That that's a part of it cuz it's not all not everyone has that. Some people just have bland regular stories and that's fine. But what is the dope [ __ ] and what separates your dope [ __ ] from somebody else from from the landscape, right? It has to be it has to be unique. And I I'll take the example of one of our clients, Say Less Restaurant, right? One of the hottest restaurants in New York City. And I think what set them apart was that just from when they launched like just the amount of athletes and musicians like it was just like the celebrity you rarely see a restaurant launch where it's just an influx of celebrities just off the get- go coming in coming in right so it's like okay how did this just become who just opens a place and it just becomes the hottest place period right so that that helps you tell that particular story like hey you know this and it was and it came right out of co so it's like That's the other part of the angle. It was like, okay, co where, you know, the the hospitality industry really suffered and then all of a sudden coming right out of it, you know, January 2022, while you're still kind of in the thick of it, kind of not, how do you all of a sudden come and just like take over the hospitality space coming right out? So, I think there's different layers to it for sure that helps tell that story. But even if you take just a celebrity component out of it is just like what what is moving the needle for others for culture you know that's also what's going to really help tell the story because we're always in a crowded marketplace. So that's why I'm asking what separates your story? What is the story you want to tell that hasn't been told already? I ask people that a lot as well. I love that. So okay so let's get into the nitty-gritty of that. So grew up with a single father. Big- time daddy's girl. He would wake me up 4:00 every day for us to head to Wall Street where he managed a restaurant. So I would see his resilience. I would see his work ethic. I would sleep in the booths. And then fast forward, first one in my family to go to college, first one in my family to start a business. I started my career on Wall Street. I was the only Latina on my team. And I used to walk down the hallways with my loud curly hair, had like a tattoo on my ankle. And I'll share a funny story with you because this story is so funny. So, there was a time where I was looking at um a client's account. His name was Joel Epstein. I never met a Joel before. I know Joel and it's spelled the same way. And so, when I brought the account, so I brought the account to the broker and I was like, "Oh, you know, Joel Epstein has, you know, 5 million to invest." I remember he started laughing and it's like a open floor. He started cackling and everybody's like looking at me and everybody's like laughing at me and he says, "Victoria Jen, are you stupid? Do you not know how to read?" That's what he said to me. So imagine the only Latina on this floor. I already stick out like a sore thumb. Now this white dude is telling me that I'm stupid and I don't know how to read. So in that moment, I said, "Hm, that's an interesting perspective." I walked back to my desk. I put the speakers on loud and I asked Google to pronounce and spell Joelle in Spanish. Yeah. So now the whole trading desk was able to hear this go on and soon all the laughter and chatter chimed down and I walked up to him and I was like you see clearly there's a learning opportunity here. You never met a Joel and I never met a Joel. And it was a pivotal moment because it shifted his perspective and now he's like my broker. He like manages all my accounts and we're like the best of friends. I'm glad you guys are tight though. Yeah, now we're tight. I thought I thought it was going to go. I was going to feel some type of way and then No, now we're tight now. But it happened again when we went out to like a restaurant. It was like this fancy steakhouse and um I'm ordering from the menu and I ordered arugula. Now I'm thinking arugula arugula is cheese because I never had aruga before, you know. I had like encell you know and so when it came to the table I was like sent it back to the waiter and I was like oh this is not cheese again everybody kik laughing but it was those moments where like your cultura like you have an opportunity to either like bow your head down and think like you know the self-doubt and think like wow I'm really this is embarrassing I don't belong here or you use it as a as a learning opportunity. Um, but anyway, I'm pivoting. But that was two funny stories that happened in my career. And so, um, you know, was in the Wall Street game for quite a while, built my client accounts, and after 15 years being in corporate, I decided to bow out and start my own business seven years ago. And now I get to teach women to do exactly what I did, who want to transition out of corporate, don't know where to start, and they don't want to lose their financial security. So, I teach them how to go about doing that. Yeah. And then last year, I feel like this is my interview. You're interviewing me. You know, I used to be a journalist. What can I say? Never left me. Here we go. What's up, Mi? Are you looking for mentorship and the plays to secure the big bag? Have you ever watched me here on the banking on podcast and thought to yourself, you know what? I want to work with Victoria Jen. Or maybe you thought to yourself, I want to be a part of her network of badass women and entrepreneurs. Well, guess what? You absolutely can. Join me this November, November 15th through the 16th, in the heart of New York City for my 7th annual Secure the Big Bag and Wellness Summit. Let's face it, so many of us are tired, burnt out, ready to throw in the towel, honey, and quite frankly, we want to dedicate ourselves to the soft life. But what if there was a way for us to achieve both time and financial freedom and also have a healthy, well-balanced life? What if you could secure the big bag, build a business that fuels you versus drains you, as well as build a solid network of business besties who want to support and motivate you while also centering self. This summit is the premier destination for the latest marketing, sales, and AI tools that can 10x your business while also nurturing your well-being. Learn from top experts from both business and wellness, including executives from the corporate sector, so that you can explore corporate level opportunities that can elevate your business to new heights, ensuring you're not just prepared, but fully equipped to dominate in 2025 and beyond. This is your opportunity for your business to thrive while you do, too. Head over to securethepigbag.com to check out the agenda and all the heavy hitters that will be in the building. I cannot wait to see you in New York City. It's go time. Last year I turned 40 and I felt like, you know, this was a How old are you? Do you mind sharing? Huh? I'm 35. 35. Okay. So, you'll you'll experience this when you get towards 40 or maybe you already have. But it was like, okay, what am I going to do with this next decade of my life? How am I going to like make my stamp? And so, I went on this spiritual retreat to Costa Rica. And it was there when God was like, you know what, V? It's time for you to double down on your community. it's time for you to give them the tools, the resources that they need in order to like break generational curses so they can build generational wealth. And that's how the podcast was born. I was like, "Okay, what am I going to do it? What's going to be the medium?" And I was like, "All right, we're going to call it banking on cultura, which means how are you using your cultura to as a competitive advantage versus an Achilles heel and then how are you getting educated to basically increase your income streams?" Launched last year, over 11 million impressions. Soad is a partner on the project. We've had over 50,000 on YouTube. You know, you know, we've gotten press. We've got some good, you know, inclusion across the press lines. Um, and the buzz is there. So, now it's about how are we taking this to the next level and how I look at it. If you think about Earn Your Leisure and what they're doing for the black community, there's nothing like that that exists in the Latino community. And that so that ultimately goes back to what the original question you was which is what makes your story stand out and that's what it is right there is how you're starting to empower people with the tools and the knowledge and the resources you know especially in in the Latino community where we need it cuz we're not taught that especially right like it's we you know a lot of I'm you know I'm first generation born here and again thankfully my my father when he immigrated here you know my father you know came here in his early 20s started off as a waiter was able to, you know, ultimately, you know, get his masters and work at Bloomberg, was able to make six figures. And for me, I'm like, I have no excuse. I was I was born here, right? My my father came here and only moved with like $200 when he came here, right? So, that's why I say I have I have no excuse. So, I think with that, we're not taught a lot of that. And thankfully, my father did, but I also know a lot of our families aren't. and is being able to again individuals like yourself who are using your platform to blaze a trail and to really work and equip our communities with that knowledge cuz it starts with knowledge is a lot of people just don't know what to do and they need to find the right resource in order to do so like even for me I never even envisioned a life for myself as an entrepreneur never honestly the very first inkling that even that that just the thought happened and came into my my mind I still remember was in 2019 19 where it was um it was you know my old company was just one of the um you know like building administrations I oversaw like just general operations for like for like just kind of like the building the office or whatever and he was just like you know he's like you ever thought about starting your own company I'm like no why I'm just like all the responsibility would fall on me he's like well isn't that how different is that from everything right now it's like you know the CEO got you doing you the last line of defense for everything pretty much and I thought about him I'm like so Good point. And then then it was somebody else that um you know I won't say who, but it was somebody I was doing some interviews with. I had just met for the first time and that individual liked how I moved. And then that person after we did a day's worth of press, she goes, she was like, "You see that office right over there? I could see you owning and running one of these offices one day." From the first time I met this person, I'm like I'm just like, that's amazing. So then that was the first I had at that point then like maybe like three people told me that that year and that was the first time that I really started to think about it. I was just like oh okay if it took other people seeing it overseeing it for myself cuz I had just again I had never thought of that and just where we were raised like even even in my some of my first few jobs like I didn't even know how to negotiate right I would they gave me the first offer for a job I'd be like cool I'll take it. I was never taught to to just how the proper technique to negotiate until a late a little later in life where then at that point then I made up I made up the bread that I lost in the beginning. I was like asking O but but um but so it goes to that point that there's voices like yourself that is absolutely needed for sure and that's part of your story and what makes you unique and the approach that you should take from a press perspective because like you said earn your leisure is doing that and doing that in a major way for the black community but who's doing it for for the Latino community right now and who's doing and I'm sure there are so for those that are but don't get me wrong I'm not trying to get anyone in my DMs being like well I am you haven't seen me yet But that just something that also with your background and what you experience as being, you know, one of the few Latinas in Wall Street, I think is something that also adds just an interesting uh component to your narrative. This is good. And I hope you guys are paying attention, right? So, these are the type of questions you should be expecting to be asked of you whenever you're pitching yourself, whether that's to a PR rep or to somebody you want to get buy in on your project, you're raising money, whatever it is. Like, critically think about the answers to those questions and practice saying them out loud. Like, this is literally a live practice session. Uh, that Thank you so much for participating in that exercise, by the way. But I want you guys to really um take advantage of of what he is dropping right now because it will set you up for the future. With that being said, how should entrepreneurs be thinking about who reps them? Like what are questions they should be asking potential like people that they are considering to represent them? Like how should they be like assessing like who they want to hire in terms of PR agencies and publicists? Abs. Well, I think part of it is is getting their vision for what they see for their cons. So, if I'm a business owner and I'm coming, you know, I I'm a business owner not in PR looking for a publicist, I would want to get a sense of where they think we are in the landscape, what we're missing, what what is room for improvement. What are we doing well? What are we not doing so well? And starting off there, right? What are some publications? Now the the one thing you have to be careful for and that's part of unfortunately the nature of just not only our business but a lot of business is that people oversell and underdel. So I think the biggest piece of advice I would give anybody looking to hire PR publicist is start off with a three-month agreement. Like some people start off with like six month contracts or a year contracts and again like other people are going to be like, "Yo, why are you giving out this free game and and all this stuff?" No, that's that's what we here for. It's all about being transparent because if you're a good PR person, if you're a good publicist, you ain't got to worry about it. You know, the business is going to extend after the 3 months and that's that. But that's your best way to truly evaluate if they are for real or are they overselling and underdelivering. You know what I mean? Because there are a lot there's a lot of people just it's just like how you interview employees for your company. There's people who know how to interview well, but when it comes time to do that work, they don't do that work. So I think part of it that's that's one thing is again kind of getting a sense of what's what's your plan. What are the and then flipping the story. What are some stories that you think can be told about my organization? What do you feel makes my organization you know stand out and then getting a sense you got to also make sure you're you're interviewing the PR person because there's sometimes that people come and just want to be like yo take me and I'm always like why should I take you? I think sometimes the the some other organizations, clients, whoever need to be be like why should you know what makes what what do you feel is how are you going to tell the best story for me compared to other PR companies as well you know I think that's also you got to flip it on its coin because at the end of the day we're we're interviewing each other we got to we got to meet the vibe check but we also got to meet the the strategy you know be on the same strategical wavelength and like what is your your requirement when you're thinking about taking on a new client because your roster is, you know, high pedigree, if you will, people that are I don't know if this is true, I'm assuming, but they already have a vibe. They already have like some type of buzz and then you're like escalating it to the next level. Would you say like that's kind of where you play and that's where you like to recruit from? um in some senses. I mean, listen, we've worked with people um you know, be like in many ways where they were not as well known where like I don't say not as well known like in many ways a lot of people we take in are already obviously strong names but it's just elevating their narrative and telling it in different ways. So that's kind of what it is and there's there's several other you know musicians, entertainers, you know, athletes who have approached us but my thing is also what is the story? like if I feel like you've already kind of maxed out and cuz when it comes to just let's just just say musicians obviously my thing is there are some musicians who are just musicians. They're not entrepreneurs. They're not investing in different things. They don't have other interests outside of music. They're not trying to they're not acting. They're not doing philanthropic work. You know, they they don't own different businesses. They're not um producing different things. So, I what one thing that I really love is when um just some of these musicians have all these other different side hustles because it really helps us paint a picture. I just feel like a lot of people look at us like, "Oh, you're a rapper." But it's like, no, it's like you are such a multiaceted individual. You are not just a rapper. You are not just a singer. You are an entrepreneur. You are a philanthropist. You know what I mean? And making sure you're you're sharing that side of the story. I think some of the biggest things I love telling about my clients is when I throw them on Forbes, when I throw them in the places you you don't expect on Bloomberg, you know, different places where you wouldn't anticipate or when they're partnering with different organizations and you're like, "What's that person doing over there?" You know what I mean? And putting them in the unexpected places. So I think that's one of the things and that's one of the reasons why we called uh you know the organization vital versatility is telling the versatile comprehensive story of these organizations and these brands. I love that. Look look at you saying I'm just saying and how dope it is that you've been able to build a firm where you get to be selective and very intentional about who you bring on. I think all of us who have our own companies are aspiring for that level right where you are so good that people are like constantly knocking on your door like take me take me or like work with me work with me and you get to say yes or no I mean that's why we risk it all right is to have and I don't take it for granted because I'm always a big believer and you know you can lose it at any time that's is life you can lose it at any time so you know I've listen I've been unemployed like one of the big turning points for me in my life was when I went from journalism to PR. And there was a period of like, you know, 7 months when I was unemployed where I went from like living in this like nice, you know, one-bedroom apartment in Boston to like living in my friend's attic. And it was one of those things just like things were not hitting my way. I'm like applying for jobs and nothing. I'm like, yo, I've always been very smart, you know what I mean? Like always on my grind. So, I'm like the fact that I was striking out on a lot of these, you know, job interviews and applications, it was just it was such a tough moment. And I think that's one of those reasons why I grind so hard now because I still remember that moment the clear as day and I'm trying never to get back into that moment ever again. But God forbid that if I'm ever put in that position again, like that's that that's what I think what I what not only keeps me humble but just keeps me kind of motivated is just making sure that it's like you the unexpected can happen at any time and you can be right back. And granted, I was back in that position willingly, like I willingly left and changed careers, but at the same time, it's just one of those things where just like not being complacent. Like I'm very thankful that we have a great roster. I'm very thankful that we're in a position where we can be selective. Um, but at the same time, you know, being mindful of the fact that things can change and you have part of being entrepreneurs being able to weather the storm. And also the other thing they don't teach you going back to the very first question is is like the immense responsibility that you have when you have employees because you are responsible for their well-being you know for for for their salaries and their ability to feed their own families to be able to take care of themselves. So that comes with another extra layer of pressure and I take that responsibility very serious that I think you know people don't realize that yo I'm I'm grinding hard not just for me but I'm for you guys as well. So and I want you guys to want it just as much. How big is your team right now? We have uh four four uh four full-time employees and one intern. Wow, that's awesome. And you guys are spitting out. Goes to show you you don't need like a 30man team to do good work. Yeah, you know, you know, no, we just continuing, you know, continuing the the the trajectory trying to build and, you know, just making sure that um it's people with the with the same hustle and focus and uh goals of just helping to build and not only invest in the organization, but invest in their own personal success and and what's your vision like? Where do you see this going next? Where do you want it to go next? You know, it's so funny. I get asked that question all the time cuz I really didn't come into this with a vision. Like I would have been cool if I just had like, you know, five, six clients and it was just me and, you know, everything. And then, you know, I I tell people all the time, I don't know whether I want to max out at, you know, five employees or 50 or 500. I'm just going to kind of continue to take the journey where it takes me because I just want to make sure at the end of the day that I'm still happy and that I'm passionate. One of the the best piece of advice my father gave me and I'm so thankful to this day was I still remember it was like 10th 11th grade we were in the car and he was just like and he was kind of going through it at work and he's like the one like as you're picking college and you're picking your career just make sure you do something you love do something you love because then it won't feel like work right and I just I took that I took that really like it resonated very deeply with me because that's why I'm like I want to be a sports journalist and that's such a there's only a finite amount of positions in America to be a sports like super finite. It's not like being a lawyer, whatever. Like it's you could pinpoint the you know the positions in newspapers, the websites. So like it was really it was I was kind of really limiting myself but I was able to go and achieve that dream. So ever since then it was like when I did the tech PR job I wasn't passionate about I just needed to get my foot in the door. So I always knew like I'm going to do this for a few years, get the experience and then I'm going to find a way to pivot. And I'm like, you know, then I wasn't as passionate about sports as much, but I always was, you know, just from the get-go from my youth was also very passionate about music and entertainment and still about sports, just not as much when I was like journal journalists. But, um, but that's why I'm still able to kind of bridge sports, music, and entertainment. Um, and now that's why in many ways I'm hustling. I'm always traveling, but it doesn't feel like work because I would still be consuming some of this stuff even if I was just chilling doing some other job. And I think that's just the biggest thing for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there is make sure you're passionate about what you're doing because you're going to work harder at it and you're going to make more money in the long run. I have to look at the camera to say that because that's the biggest piece of of advice I have to give cuz I had even sacrificed over the years like different, you know, when I left for companies like I could have made more money even at the company I was at before I went on my own. Like I had another offer that was going to pay me more than the job that at the other firm that was going to put me in kind of like the entertainment world. But I took the lesser offer because I wanted to get that experience because I knew if I do well I'm gonna get my money up. And sure enough within the first like seven eight months in that position the the CEO of that company saw that I was doing such phenomenal work. He gave me like a big big raise seven eight months in that you know far exceeded what I would have gotten in that other position. So it's also making sure that not everything is predicated on money. Obviously money is important and that's how we feed ourselves and take care of our well-being. But if you're passionate about something, that's your north star and that will guide you in the right direction. Sometimes you're going to have to make sacrifices to get there, but use that as the north star. Great advice. I want to get into the talk that talk segment and really talk about the state of mental health for the entertainment industry and how you manage that because a lot of it is like on your table to make it look right and do right. But before we get there, do you have groupies? What? Oh, what do you mean? Like groupies, like entertainment groupies or like groupies because like you represent amazing clients and people in the industry know who you are like you know you kind of are a superstar yourself. So like do you get that type of love in the space? I mean I I always appreciate you know the the love I get from everybody across the board. But you know what I mean I just I keep it at that. I appreciate appreciate all the love. But pe the true people know where my priorities lie and that's the most important part. Such a diplomatic answer. I tried y'all. I tried to get you so I'm a publicist. I know. I know. I can get myself out of any breaking through. No breaking through. Um I love it. I love but that's like an incredible skill set to have that I think all of us can can learn from is how to first of all operate under pressure and also how to answer questions in a way that you necessarily don't want to answer directly but still give enough where people are appreciative of it. Um, yeah. Well, that goes and I guess it's the segue to to the mental health, but it's a lot of it is kind of, you know, a lot of what we do is pressure, dealing with tight deadlines and, you know, when you're working with people of such a certain caliber and you're on their time, you know, that comes with a lot of pressure. And even just when whom I'm looking to hire and who I'm trying to bring to join my part of my organization, I'm very clear with how demanding the schedule, how rigorous it is and there's going to be sacrifices you're going to have to make to your personal life in order to do this. But, you know, in the same way I said it's like it's still going to be an investment where, you know, it's going to open up a lot of doors for you. I'm very thankful for, you know, what my my past organization and and you know, my CEO, former CEO rather, my guy Ron, the doors that he opened for me, for me to go and flourish. And now I'm trying to do the same to pave the way for some of my other team. But part of opening those doors, I have to let them know there's going to be sacrifices, going to be tough times, you know, that are going to kind of break you that you got to be you got to stay resilient and weather the storm. So, is dating hard for you in this space? It it is. You know what I mean? in the sense of it takes someone that can really um really understand just the work life balance and you know what I mean? So, but it's not it's not even just that. It's just your family. It's your family. You know what I mean? Like I was so thankful when I got to be at my little cousin's graduation a couple weeks ago because I wasn't sure up until like the day of when I knew nothing was on fire. And I'm just very glad that my family has um been understanding. you know, it's it's still very difficult for everybody, for you know, all the loved ones in my life. Um, but it's also it's allows me to create, you know, one of the special moments was um I had I got to bring my father to the White House um a couple months back and it's because I have, you know, good connections, you know, within the White House and, you know, they, you know, and I brought my my little cousins, too, and different things like that. So, I was like, hey, this is what I try to do to make the sacrifices worth it is to create other opportunities for for you guys. So, even with my my two cousins, it's like, you know, they're they're 24 and 22. And it's what I'm trying to do is also set the example for like, hey, this is what is achievable for you guys. Like, now you've seen me blaze my trail, and I want this to be incentivize you to what you guys can do to blaze trails for yourselves and see what's possible, you know? I love it. Yeah. Okay. So, let's go into the mental health piece because you're right. There are sacrifices that need to be made, but what I really would like to double down on is how do you manage your mental health? Because you're taking on the I don't want to call them issues, but the experiences of your clients when they're going through their own [ __ ] and they have super high-profile roles. They're always in the spotlight and that catches on to you, especially if you know there's a narrative going around that doesn't sit well with you. It doesn't sit well in your soul. like it has an impact on your psyche. So, how do you manage your clients, I would say, psychological safety while also prioritizing your own, right? Well, I mean, my clients know I'm always going to go to bat for them regardless. and especially the ones that have been with me long term like they know like I'm going to advocate but in many ways it's also putting some boundaries uh in place you know and it's tough but like one of the big boundaries that I try not to budge on unless again it's emergency or I'm traveling is essentially from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. in the morning I am sleeping like I'm sleeping I that's I need from what time 7:00 p.m. no 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. I'm sleeping, right? Because there's a lot of people in this industry that they don't get enough quality sleep. Like I learned at a young age the the the value of quality sleep. Like I went to a Christian school growing up um and I had to memorize Bible verses for every Friday. And what I started realizing was the better quality of sleep I got, the the stronger my memory would be over the course of. So I really learned the value of sleep at a younger age. And I always had discipline. And that's I think what's always carried me in life. And it's one of those things where making sure that I prioritize for myself to recharge and refresh. That's ultimately what sleep is for. And but you know, I can't take care of my clients if I can't take care of myself first. So that's kind of what now again sometimes I'm traveling. There's exceptions of course you got events till 3 or 4 in the morning. And yeah, but all whenever I can control it for the most part, those are kind of the boundaries that I try to, you know, put in place. you know, making sure I set some time for myself, you know, doing doing some things that, you know, whether it's going to the gym, whether it's playing basketball with with some friends, whatever the case may be, watching whatever I want to binge on Netflix just to like shut my brain off cuz I'm always on strategy go mode that sometimes I just need to shut my brain off. Watch Love is Blind or Too Hot to Handle or whatever, whatever the [ __ ] it is going to be, you know what I mean? Or watch Power, you know, whatever the case is. and then just go sit back, enjoy, relax, you know, unwind. So, there's different pro there's different byproducts to it because there's some people that just all they do is kind of like run themselves to the ground and they don't allow themselves that time. Like these people that work till like 1 2 in the morning, get four. And listen, for some people, that's how they may work. And you know, that's I just know that that doesn't work for me. I try to do the best I can. I'm more effective in the morning than late at night. I know there's a point at night where just like my brain shuts off. I'm I'm incapable of forming good sentences, whatever the case may be. But that's why I'm like, I have to be able to put those boundaries in place so you can get the best quality work out of me. So, I think that's the biggest part. But my heart does go out to so many people who are unable to, you know, have those boundaries in place or, you know, um get caught up in the life a little bit. um because that's ultimately I know that what what results in a lot of people you know just having and struggling with their mental health in that particular case. So um but you know that again for me number one thing is prioritizing time for sleep. Like it sounds very cliche but it works wonders and I feel like that's why I still kind of keep you know I'm uh physically and mentally sharp. Mhm. Is there one thing that you do where like you're in the slums of it like mentally, physically, like spiritually, you're just like, I need an escape. Is there something that you do outside of, you know, putting on some reality TV? Oh, no. I mean, I go to the gym, you know what I mean? I just go I go and work out, right? I think that's that's certainly one of those things. Uh maybe go play some Madden on, you know, PlayStation or something. That's another way to kind of just, you know, just go out go out for some drinks with some friends. That's the other thing is keeping your community in place because that a lot of my friends it's like yeah it's it sucks that I can't always you know hang out with my friends because I'm traveling here or there and just making sure that when I can to make sure that I keep that community cuz the community is your support system and that's what kind of you know continues to you know infuse you and bring you back to life. So I love it. I heard a couple of things. I heard boundaries. I heard tight community that gets it that can support you in your time of need. working out, getting sleep. And for me, the way that I do it is I hop on a flight. Like I by myself, like which is why I went to Costa Rica by myself. I went to Bali in January by myself cuz I was like, you know what? I'm bringing in the new year across the globe. I don't need nobody else to come with me. Like I'm out, right? To kind of like reset, get your clarity and just breathe a little bit because you sometimes have to like exit your environment in order for you to like look from the outside in. when you're in it's very difficult for you to kind of think outside the box. So you need to like I think for me I'm in I'm on flights so many times I'm like I just True. You just want to stay put me like a long vacation that I can just unwind for a little bit. So makes sense. Well tell the people where they can learn more about you, the company, all the things. What do you have coming up? Absolutely. Well, check out Vitalveratility. Um vital versatility.com. U myself on Instagram, DDM Morice. D I D I E R M O R A I S. Um if you know any prospective clients, come holl at me. Anybody looking for advice, holl at me as well. Um and just yeah, and I appreciate the platform and you know, appreciate the work you're doing and however I can continue to help and make sure that we're educating our community and our people, you know, I'm here. I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Emmano. All right, y'all. Thank you for tuning in and I'll see you in the next episode. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one. So, make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.
Follow our Guest Didier Morais:
📲 https://www.instagram.com/audreypuente
If you liked this episode, you'll love our next one—it's packed with similar insights and inspiration!
How to Get Media Coverage for Your Business & Own Your Identity with Arianna Davis
LIMITED TIME ONLY: FREE Workbook
Top Hacks For Entrepreneurs
Claim it Here: https://www.victoriajenn.com/freeworkbook2025
Your opinion matters! Help us improve the podcast. Complete Our 1min Survey Here: https://forms.gle/iEDvZFiTqQuKCsVH7
Join Our VIP Email List & Never Miss an Episode: Sign Up here: https://www.victoriajenn.com/bankingoncultura_vip
Connect with our Host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez
Banking On Cultura:
Don't forget to tag #BankingOnCultura or @ us to let us know what you think of this week's episode!