In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews marketing and branding strategist Sara Albiach, who has built campaigns for major consumer brands such as Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Levi's, Nestlé, and General Mills. Sara shares a personal story about realizing she was not living the advice she gave her mentees at Women Unlimited, prompting her to align her actions with her teachings. She emphasizes the critical importance of cultivating a strong personal brand that offers unique value rather than overt selling, and advises professionals to develop a clear vision that serves as a compass for hiring, culture, partnerships, and client selection. When asked for advice to her younger self, she stresses the need to slow down, be present, and savor relationships. Sara defines happiness as finding and pursuing purpose while surrounding oneself with an authentic, supportive tribe. Her favorite book, Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, taught her perseverance, preparation, and resilience—principles she ties to entrepreneurial success. She also shares favorite quotes, including Maya Angelou’s reminder that people remember how you make them feel, and her own mantra that “life is too long not to do what you’re passionate about.” The episode concludes with Sara directing listeners to connect with her on LinkedIn, where she actively publishes articles and engages with her audience.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Sarah Albiac. She is a marketing and branding strategist whose career was built developing campaigns for clients like Procter Gamble, Kraft, Levi's, Nestlé, and General Mills. She is currently a mentor with Women Unlimited, a national organization dedicated to the education and mentoring of professional women. Sarah makes it her purpose to be a sounding board and voice of guidance that mentors and inspires professionals to achieve fulfillment in their careers. She is a world traveler, amateur photographer, and passionate writer who often publishes articles on LinkedIn as a part of her mentoring purpose. So welcome to the show.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Of course. Grateful to have you here, Sarah. Let's dive into the first one. The first one I have for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Wow. That's, that's a great question to begin with. As you mentioned, I have been a mentor at Women Unlimited for the past year, and I really put a lot of effort and intention into it. And I really care about the people I'm mentoring and At some point earlier this year, it dawned on me that I was not practicing what I preached. I was giving my mentees advice such as keeping high standards at work, staying true to their values, not tolerating disrespect, and I came to the realization that I was not following that advice myself. I was settling for work that I didn't think was good enough, lowering my standards, feeling like I was not true to my values, and um, it just took even tolerating disrespect, and, and it was draining. And one day I had the aha moment that if I was going to do the talk, I had to do the walk. And I walked. And, uh, and I credit my mentoring with helping me finally make that decision, take action, and calling me on it. And I'm much more careful now about staying true to what I preach.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Um, the next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Oh, take great care in building your brand, your personal brand, no matter what kind of work you do. Um, it's competitive out there. You need to market yourself, but you need to do it by providing value and a unique perspective, not by selling. Um, you need to provide thought leadership in your field of expertise and really be mindful of what kind of online presence you have. And the people and companies you associate with, even the content that you engage with, that says a lot about your brand. And so you need to develop that voice and evolve that brand over time. It's really important.
And could tie in, but what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I would, I would say make sure you develop a vision for yourself and for your business and keep that as the compass for everything you do. And a vision is not a business plan. A vision really provides, you should have that as well, but a vision really provides that a destination and the guiding principles by which you should be making all the big decisions like what kind of people to hire and what culture you want to have in your company, what partnerships to enter into, what clients to work with. It just, it keeps you on track. That vision is going to keep you on track not get distracted by projects you shouldn't even be working on. And it really is a mental picture of the future of what you should be working towards.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Oh, wow. There's, there's so many things I could, I could teach a younger me right now. But I would say slow down, slow down and be more present. I, I was always in such a hurry to get everything done, to grow, to overdeliver. And I'm not— I don't regret how hard I worked, and I'm very proud of the work I did, the relationships I built, which I maintain to this day. But I've now learned to savor the moments more and take time to reflect, and that's important. And particularly now, I'm much more selective about the relationships I want to develop. And the kind of work that I want to be involved in. So I would definitely say slow down, take it all in. There's time.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Finding your purpose, finding your purpose and pursuing it and just be authentic and be yourself and having a great tribe and a great circle of support to keep you motivated and challenged. That's really key. You need to surround yourself with the people who believe in you. In the pursuit of that purpose.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I've learned a lot from business books, but my favorite book is actually a novel, a classic. It's The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. You know, it's the story of the old fisherman who goes on that final quest to catch the big one. And I first read it when I was a teenager and I've read it many times since then. And it taught me a lot about the power of perseverance. And there are great lessons in this story about determination and resilience, about not relying on luck. There's actually a quote I really like by the, by the fisherman Santiago, and he says, "It's better to be lucky, but I'd rather be exact, and then when luck comes, you're ready." And that's huge in business. I think there's entrepreneurs out there who are very opportunistic, and that's great, but they jump on the opportunity, and if they haven't developed that vision that I was talking about before, it is just a one-hit wonder and they cannot sustain success. So absolutely great to be lucky, but be prepared. And there's great lessons there too about being courageous and not being intimidated by anything that seems daunting. So great book, I recommend it if somebody hasn't read it.
And then what is your— if that was your favorite quote, that's fine. But if you have another one, what is your favorite quote and why?
Oh, I have a whole list of quotes. I'm really a quote person. There's so many to pick from. I really love Maya Angelou's quote, "People will forget what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel." And that really resonates with me. I want people around me to feel they matter to me a great deal. And I will listen to them and I will be present for them and I will try to help them in any way I can. So that really resonates. And then there's one that I use a lot that's my own. Not, you know, nothing that will go down in history, but I use it a lot when I write and I say, life is too long not to do what you're passionate about. I hear people all the time saying, life's too short, enjoy this, enjoy that, life's too short. I said, I don't know, I've been here for quite a while and I plan I plan to be here quite a while longer if I can. And so I— life's long. I definitely want to do what makes me happy, what fulfills my purpose, and bring value to others and have fun doing it along the way. So life's long, so enjoy it.
I agree. Thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and/or connect with you online?
Oh, LinkedIn. Just look up my name on LinkedIn, Sarah Albiac, and I'm very active on that platform. I publish a lot, I write a lot of articles, and I make it a point to respond to everybody who engages with my content or sends me a message. So that's a good way to get in touch with me.
Perfect. Thanks again for jumping on.
Thank you.
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