Unleash Your Value: Storytelling, AI, and Brand with Maha Abouelenein

Everybody just wrapped up an amazing conversation with my really good friend,

Maha. This episode, if communication is something you struggle with in your

business, we're going to talk about it. But most importantly, we're going to talk

about why building your brand is critical. And Maha gives some amazing tips and

things that you can do right now to start building your brand. We're going to

talk about how you can incorporate AI into all of that. We talk about the

goods and branding. We go into her book, the seven rules of self-reliance.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome up. You're ready for a superstar. I present to you my good friend.

Maha, I'm willing.

You're listening to Mick Unplugged hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt.

This is where Purpose meets power and stories spark transformation.

Mick takes you beyond the motivation and intramene. Helping you discover your

because and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush. And trust me, you're in the right place.

Let's get unplugged.

Maha, how you doing today there? Thank you, Mick. I'm so grateful to be here. Yeah,

it's a little bit chilly outside, but it's all relative.

It's chilly, but you said it's not chilly though. In the 40s, that's not cold.

Yeah, that's cold to someone from South Carolina. We've been in the 40s and we're

bundled up in like, you guys are in the 40s and shorts and T-shirts.

For T-shirts, yeah, we're like, what? No jacket. I just came back from lunch and I didn't wear a

jacket. See? See? I can't live there. I can't live there. Yeah, you can live here.

Maha, I'm a huge fan of yours. Been a huge fan for a long time. Your teachings, your methods,

your mindset, your thought leadership is all shaped a large part of who I am in the leadership space.

So I just wanted to tell you thank you for being such an amazing human being.

Oh, Mick, you're making me blush. Thank you. I'm so grateful.

No, I'm the honor one. And you know, on the show, I love to ask people about their because,

that thing that's deeper than your why. And it shifts a lot of time. So if I were to say today,

in the presence that you're in, what is your because? Why do you continue to do the things that you do

and give the way that you give? I think my because has a lot to do with my upbringing.

I feel like life, I always, you know, my mom had MS, my dad had ALS. Both of my parents were very sick.

For most of my life, I was my mother's caretaker for 22 years. My dad got ALS and died within two

years. But it is because of them that I thought, what is my purpose to bring value to other people?

And how can I bring, I learned at home, taking care of my parents, especially my dad when he was

very sick very quickly. What can I do to bring value to him? What's the small thing that becomes the

big thing? What's the little thing that I can do to make him feel a little bit better? And when I

created value for my father, I actually created value for myself because I felt a great deal

satisfaction by putting a smile on his face or making his day just a little bit brighter.

And I said to myself, huh, I wonder if I can create value for my colleagues at work?

I wonder if I can create value for my clients? I wonder if I can create value for the company

that I worked for at the time? And that was my because is I want to do things because I want to

create value for people because ultimately if I serve you or if I serve my team or if I serve

my clients, that's great. But what it really reflects on is me and it makes me feel good and it

makes me feel a sense of satisfaction. I get the value of saying I did that. I get the value of

the confidence it built in me. I get the value of the achievement or the accomplishment that makes

me feel like, hey, I can do something that I didn't think I was capable of doing. I get that satisfaction

of knowing I help somebody out. And when you learn to live your life by creating value for other people,

it's a pretty good place to live because you are giving more than you're taking and you're really

putting multiple deposits and other people's trust banks along your lifetime. And that feels

really good. That's one of the many reasons that I adore you as much as I do. That was so very

well said. And I know that it's a pillar of who you are and it's a part of the core values that you

have. You know, I love the fact that you truly believe in and helping people communicate with

purpose. Talk to us about why that is so important and as a big pillar for you are as well.

Learning how to communicate is not just a nice to have skill. It is the ultimate leadership skill.

If you can learn how to tell a story, you can learn how to connect with others. If you can

learn how to tell a story, you can learn how to build a relationship. If you can tell a story,

you can learn how to build the thing that everything needs, everyone needs today more than ever.

And that is trust. Being good at communications is not just a nice to have. It's a top leadership

skill. How do you connect with your team? How do you communicate with your family members? How do

you communicate with people that you work with? How do you show up in the real world? How do you show

up online? Being able to articulate who you are and what you stand for is essential. And when

we think about the presence of AI and I was just telling a colleague a minute ago about this photo

I saw online and I was sharing it with one of my clients and then I didn't read the fine print

that said this is AI. Like we just, you don't know what to trust. And so you really need to be good

at communications to articulate who you are, what you stand for. And the only thing that will

help you defend against the on thrust of technology and AI that is shifting our worlds is you

investing in your brand and you knowing how to communicate who you are and what you do.

That is so powerful. I've been having this communication conversation with a lot of people

over the last several weeks and I even just did a post on LinkedIn that and I emphasize how

how you communicate is much more important today than what you communicate.

Right? And a lot of people miss it. A lot of people try to put themselves in the middle of a

message like I'm just the messenger. Don't shoot the messenger or they don't take enough skill

development into how to communicate because as leaders everything is not always perfect.

We have to communicate sometimes bad news. We have to communicate losses. We have to communicate

even the good news, but how you communicate is much more important than what you communicate.

What are some tips Mahad that you can give those that are watching or listening into how to

into how to communicate more effectively and how to or why to put an impetus on how they're communicating.

Yeah, so we want to think about how you're communicating. It starts with you. First of all,

it's about what you're going to be saying. In order for you to think how should I do it,

you want to be confident in what you're talking about. So start with something simple.

What are you already passionate about? What are you already well versed in that makes it easy for

you not to overthink what am I going to say? Because how you do it is by having a conversation,

by not overthinking it, by being your authentic self, by talking about something you feel

confident in. That is the easiest way. I don't want you to figure it to your make it. I don't want

you to perform. I want you to be yourself. And the easiest way to be yourself is to talk about

something you you really feel you you know very well. And if it's talking about photography or yoga

or football like we did in the beginning of this call or talking about something you really know

very well, then you will come across as someone who really understands the topic. You will bring

that confidence. You'll be able to build that trust. So it starts with what is it that you're

going to be talking about that you know you feel comfortable doing. That's so impactful. So powerful

as well. And yeah, how you communicate like if I want to tell Maha, hey, Maha, I know you love

the Vikings. They're just not that good at football. You know, we were having a football conversation

and somehow you interjected the Vikings. They don't play football. But anyway, but but it's how you do

that, right? I could have just dismissed you, but I did it. I let you engage. I listen.

I tried to bash my team and I'm like, wait, but look at our record. Look at yours. Look at our

quarterback. Look at yours. But it's how we did that. Yeah. I think it starts with that kind of

being authentic. Like I'm a sports fan. I love sports. I love football. You guys had an easy record.

So that's why your record is so an easy schedule. But I feel like, you know, a lot of times so many

people, because I coach a lot of people, I do a lot of workshops and training besides my clients.

And it's always like, what should I be talking about? What's my narrative? How do you help me find that?

It starts with what you're passionate about. What are you known for? What do people come to you for?

Like there's a couple of questions I can give you to share with your audience to ask themselves.

But then it also comes to like, what's the thing that I can do authentically? Like do I, am I good at

videos? Do I want to talk on video? I don't really want to be on camera. I'm really good at writing.

Is that some way for me to do it? Do I not want to do it online at all? How I can do it is in person?

One on one, small settings. That's where I feel confident. That's where I feel comfortable or going

to bigger events. Like you need to find the speed that makes you be comfortable, confident and

consistent. Those are the three C's I always look at. Like what's the thing you can do to make

yourself confident in a situation? How can you be consistent in doing it and making sure that

you have that confidence to take it forward in your communications? I love that. And I love that

you want to give insights to the audience as well too. You're going to just miss you talking about

this easy schedule that we have. You just have to play the game. But whatever. You've built

communication strategies for Titans, Google, Netflix and many, many others. What's a core element

or what's the core element that kind of translates across all of those stories even into the solo

manure or the person that runs a small team of maybe five to 10. What's a core element?

We talk a lot about trends on this show. And for the past year, AI has been everywhere.

But here's the truth. Talking about AI does not make you more productive. Using it does.

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Z-A-P-I-E-R dot com slash mick. Yeah, so I've worked with these big companies, the ones that you

mentioned. I also work with people. I work with Gary Vee and other major, like personal brands and

CEOs. And the common denominator for all of those people is tell a story that's relevant in culture.

The timing of what you talk about has to be relevant to what people are thinking about.

So if you're a small business, you have four or five people, what are you doing to take advantage

of small business Saturday or things that have to do with small businesses or leaning into local

culture or local activities or local community. If you are in the sports industry, what are you

doing to make sure you're in the relevant conversations during times during the sports calendar?

If you can be relevant in culture and know what people are talking about and find a way to tell

your story, it's going to catch on. People are going to see it. It's going to get the visibility and

it's going to get the attention you want. The number one thing I would advise all these big companies

or these personal brands and other high profile people we work with find a story that can be relevant

based on what people are talking about today. Love that. And another thing that I know you coach

and teach also is something I'm proud of. I do a lot of work with emotional intelligence and leaders

and the first two pillars of emotional intelligence is self-awareness, self-recognition.

And I know you've written a dynamic book that talks about self-reliance. I did not know that

there were seven rules of self-reliance. But I do want to talk to you about that. One,

what was the initial intent of saying, yeah, I'm going to write a book about this. I want to start

there. Yeah, I mean, my whole life, that life, maybe 10 or 15 years, I really wanted to write a book,

right? I grew up Egyptian in Minnesota. I lived half my life in the US, the other half in Egypt and

Dubai. I thought maybe I'll write about being part of both worlds and both cultures. I work in

communications. I've worked with the, I've worked with 300 secretaries to stay for public diplomacy,

Google, Netflix, all these tech companies on the forefront of internet and social and all these

companies. And I'd gone to, you know, a publisher many years ago and said, I want to write like

not a biography and not a comms book. I want to write like a hybrid thing and they're like,

people don't do that. I'm like, okay, well, that's not my door. I knocked on that door. It wasn't

my door. And so I parked the idea of doing the book for a while and then I came back and I said,

what's the thing that could be the most valuable for the audience would be sort of like telling a

story of the through line when I had to think about my 30 year career that could be value to people.

The book is a practical playbook. It is every chapter has reflection exercises and questions

because I want you to put the book to work. And the concept of self-reliance is not like, oh,

I don't need anybody. I just need to rely on myself. I know everything. It is, in fact,

the opposite. But the book talks about is it starts with you. What are the things you should do

to make yourself valuable and powerful so that when you do want to do something, you got it,

you own it. You know how to do it. But the seven rules have to do, for example, with a couple

of things that I teach you how to create value for other people. When you are a value creator,

people are going to want you in their lives. People are going to want to keep you close to them

because you know how to create value for them. And that's very, very valuable. I teach you how to

build your own relationships and network. I can't come to you and make and say, hey,

Mick, you built a lifetime of building all these relationships with these wonderful people.

Excuse me. Can I borrow those? I need to be self-reliant. I need to rely on myself to know how to

build a relationship with you, how to build and nurture that relationship with you, how to grow

my network through you, and how to take that relationship to the next level. And it's a skill

that people can learn. And I want everyone to have in their pocket relationships that they own.

Another principle of self-reliance is knowing how to build your personal brand.

I say, treat your reputation like a currency. It is valuable. What's its worth?

What's its value and how do you grow it? It's like money. It is the most precious thing

that you can invest in. Your name opens doors. Your name gets you relationships.

Your name gets you more money. Your name gives you freedom. Your name gives you all the things if

you know how to invest in it and make sure you have a strong digital reputation. So when people

Google you, they find what you put out there and not with somebody else put on the internet.

Like, you have to be smart. People are living online. If I Google somebody, I want to make sure

what they have there is what they put there. And if not, then I teach them how to improve those

search results. How do you build your brand yourself? And again, this isn't about being a social

media influencer. It's really about protecting yourself so that opportunities come to you

because you were smart about how you built your brand.

This is a masterclass right here. There's so many places that I want to go unpack and unplug.

But I want to start with where we just were, which is the brand reputation.

I think especially in leaders and companies, they forget that their personal brand is almost

as more important than the business brand because we're in a time now where yeah, I love Nike.

I do a lot of things with Nike. But it's the people that I actually do business with. It just

so happens that Nike is a product. And I think we miss that so much as leaders, as entrepreneurs

that we think big brand, but we forget who we are as individuals is the most important brand.

Can you talk to the viewers and listeners about that? Yeah, under pressure. So this is what I do

every day, right? So people are so busy doing their jobs. They don't focus on their careers and

their brand and their image, right? And I think think of it as your behavior or anyone listening

their behavior. People follow people. They don't follow companies. And you build a relationship

with the person and that person might leave that company and go somewhere else. I was

coaching someone earlier today this morning who had a job for many years and left that job.

And it was like, now what do I do? And I'm like, well, you go to work and you build your personal

brand on LinkedIn, your skills that you had at that company, the secret sauce was you.

You brought the effort. You brought the skills. You brought the knowledge. You need to take those

skills, package them up, start sharing your insights on social media. So for example, you would

go on LinkedIn and say, take an article that you see, share your hot takes on it, your insights,

your point of view, those insights matter. People want real lived experiences. So if you work at

a company today, you need to build your personal brand because that's your reputation to get a

promotion, to get assigned to the good projects, to get a lateral move, to be someone that is a

pleasure to work with that people will recommend. If you work at a company, your personal brand is

so important within the organization. So people know who you are and what your contributions are.

Now, if you're an entrepreneur or a CEO of a company or you work at as a in a startup,

you need to build your personal brand because that's the only way you're going to attract investors

or attract the right talent or attract the right strategic partner partnership or sponsor.

So we are in the business of trust of relationships and your personal brand is the only thing that

will carry that for you. I'm over here taking notes because it is so powerful.

One of the things that you said, I literally just did a video on and now I'm going to have to maybe

not put the video up because I don't want you to think I took it from you. But people follow

people. They don't follow companies. I literally just did a whole message on that too because I don't

think people understand enough the impact of just who they are now. Social media is the new PR.

Like you don't, you can be your own publicist today. For sure. You can be your own marketing agency.

For sure. You can tell your own story today. And this is where I know you also,

I don't throw the term genius and guru out of love. But you are that when it comes to storytelling.

Talk to us about how storytelling for yourself is impactful in today's world too.

Yeah, I think like if you are not visible, you are invisible. And I really just think about that

for a second. You really need to make sure that you have a solid LinkedIn profile. If you're not

going to be on anything else on social media, to tell stories about what you care about the work

that you do, the insights you see on industry trends. The reason why storytelling is so important

is storytelling is what connects us. You know, storytelling is what makes us stop our thumb when

we're scrolling on LinkedIn or Instagram or TikTok. Something moved us. Something made us laugh.

Something made us react. A headline caught our idea, our attention span. And you know, think about

the olden days. We used to sit around the campfire and tell stories. That's where we really

would really connect with each other. And I think that's the power, you know, of building a

relationship and telling that story. So you get that way to do that with your audience and with

the people that you care about. And I think of my behavior, who are the people that I follow?

Why do I follow them? Because they tell stories that are relevant to me or they tell stories in a

way that makes me understand it better or they deliver it in a way that it's easy to understand.

And I feel like in a world where we're real time, we're 24-7, there's a lot of social media content,

there's a lot of movement in general in the market. Even if you're not online, you feel a little bit

inundated. The things that stand apart are the stories that make you listen. And your goal is

to tell a story that makes somebody listen. Totally agree. So for everybody that's listening or watching,

how is AI impacting that storytelling prowess? And how are you teaching your clients to

utilize or not utilize AI? And more importantly, to stay savvy, no pun intended.

That is so funny. I am launching, actually, of course, in January about how to build your personal

brand using AI. Because I feel like people want to know what are the prompts they should use?

What are the frameworks they need? And how could they do it fast? Yeah. We don't have time. And so we

need to figure out a way for us to do this and do it fast. And so AI can be really good at helping

you structure and scale your stories in ways unimaginable before. And so for anyone who says,

I don't have time to work on my personal brand. Let me tell you, there's a fast way to do it.

AI can help you. And there's just specific frameworks that you need to learn how to do about

who you are, what you want to talk about. And then you can put it into action. I really believe that

it's a powerful tool. If you can use it in a way that's authentic to you and your voice and what

you want to discuss. And I use it to help structure and scale stories or analyze a lot of data.

And, you know, I teach clients about how to use it all the time. But I feel like

get in the kitchen. Get your hands dirty. Start playing around with it. Stop being afraid of it.

Start by using it to do like Google search work and start to really talk to it more and get

it to help you in support you in a way. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. You hit on exactly

what I tell my clients as well. You're going to have to play around with different things, right?

And you're going to have to find the tool that works best for you. With everything now, video editing,

there's 200 new AI software, copywriting. There's 5,000 new software or AI tools that are out there.

Creating images and documents. There's a ton of AI software or AI products that are there.

But you've got to understand works best for you because what works best for Maha might not work

best for Mick. But the end result should be the same, right? And I think that's what I teach people

too. Like there's no press a button and it's done. Well, I'll take that back. There actually are

press a button and it's done, but it won't be authentically you. And that's where it has to be

trained on you, developed by you so that it can think and get the output that you want. I think

there are people that will take the lazy method and you and I can sense that and see that really

quickly. I can tell someone didn't think about it. They just print they had AI build something and

it's not them. And it's like, okay, I'm not working with that person. Yeah. And I hear

one thing. I heard someone say it. I did a workout class about a month ago. And it was like a 90

minute or 75 minute endurance class. I'm like, what am I doing here? I can't do this class.

And the beginning of the class, the teacher said, it's not hard. It's new.

And that's stuck with me. And so we think about AI and learning how to use a new tool or

learning how to use a new app or learning something that we never think that we can take it on or

understand it. I want you to say to yourself, it's not hard. It's just new.

Amen to that. Amen to that. So back to seven rules of self-reliance. Yes.

Where can people buy and get a copy of this book? Because it's game changing. Yeah, thank you.

It's on Amazon. It's available at Barnes & Noble. Any of your book retailers that you go to,

but Amazon is the fastest way. They'll deliver it and everything. No time.

All right, so I'm going to make sure I have links to all the places and obviously

support in your local bookstores as well too. Go to your local bookstores, see if it's there.

If it's not there, ask for it, demand it. That all helps authors. I promise you. I promise you.

So maha, before I get you out of here with my rapid fire, quick five. Where can people find and

follow you? And what are some things? I know you talk about a course that you have. Like,

what are ways that people can actually work with you or hire you as well?

Yeah, so I'm at Mahakabra, which is my middle name, M-A-H-A-G-A-B-E-R, or go to my website,

which is my first name, lastname.com. Please join this online course. It's game changing.

I'm going to do it in four sessions and I'll do live sessions for the first one.

It's an online course. How to build your personal brand fast using AI.

It's a perfect way to start your January sign up. It will be on my website mahabulinane.com.

I'll have links to that as well. Everybody, please make sure you join. Do maha favor,

and when you do connect with our letter, know that you connect it through the Make-On-Plot

podcast. That helps both of us just make you sure that we know that the patriots are the best

human football in the entire country. Okay, okay. Well, please hit me up on Twitter or on

Instagram and say, I listen to you on Mac. I'd love your feedback on this episode and then I'll

also share with Mac that we connected. Okay, patriots, Drake, May, I can't deny. They're a good team.

This is about time you admitted that. You know, that's good. I will just get one of

self-reliance is looking in the mirror and saying, our quarterback is garbage. Mix quarterback is good.

Okay, but you know what I'm doing on Christmas Day? I'm going to the Vikings game. So like,

I'm spending my Christmas day with my team. That's diehard for you.

Who are they playing? They're playing the lines. I will root for the Vikings on Christmas Day.

We're purple just for me and send me a selfie. I'll see what I can do. Okay. I'll see what I can do.

I wish you'd find luck. Okay, fine. I'll see what I can do. Something just for you.

All right, quick five. You ready? You're favorite Viking player of all time.

Fran Turkentan. Okay, Randy Moss is mine. Okay. Yeah, I could have been Randy Moss. Could have said

Chris Carter, but I'm old school. Okay, I like it. I like it. Vikings are patriots. Vikings?

Patriots are Vikings. Vikings? Before you go outside of the Vikings,

my favorite quarterback in the league is Josh Allen. Like, I'm obsessed with Josh Allen.

So like, I have to say, everybody's over. Everybody's not listening. I'm going to say,

Drake made Josh Allen. That's like, yeah, the mentor and the mentee, but I didn't bring it up,

but I, no, no, no, no. We do not get mentorship from people that lose four Super Bowls. Sorry,

that is not happened. That wasn't in Josh Allen's era. Oh, oh, yeah, because he hasn't been to one.

Exactly. So we also don't take mentors. Different. The page, the Ravens are going to be out.

The Bengals are out. Patrick Mahomes is not there. There, there's nobody standing in our

way now, except for Drake. Okay. So we're interrupting this quick five. We're interrupting this

quick five because it sounds like Mahan and I are about to have a wager. I don't want to call it a

bet, but we're going to have a wager on since your Vikings are eliminated. You're, you're riding

with Josh Allen and the bills. Let's, let's put a little friendly wager on that. We'll tell

you what I am riding with Josh Allen, the bills, all the ways to revolve for the AFC. That's my pick.

Okay. Well, we'll, we'll come back to this episode in the immediate future. I promise you.

The Broncos, no, you think the Patriots? I only have one team and one team only. I don't,

I don't do this. My team is horrible. Let me find someone else. I don't do that.

Tells me a lot about you though, but I don't do that. No, I am a Vikings fan, but I had,

I like Josh Allen. That's, that's okay. To you. Okay. Got it. Got it. I love you. All right.

You're walking on stage. What's your get hype song that you're playing in your ear before you

hit the stage? Oh, I'm from Minnesota. It's purple. It's, I mean, it's not purple. It's prints.

It's, let's go crazy. I love it. I love it. So is that your favorite print song, which was one

of my other? Okay. Yeah. That's like, that's a great walk outside. And like, it's the best. Okay.

What is the biggest lesson you've learned from a setback? That setbacks, that failure is not

the opposite of success. It's part of success. I love that. Last question. I was going to say

Patriots are Vikings, but I know you're going to ask me that. Yeah. No, you said Patriots. So

when the story of Maha has been completed, what's one word that's going to describe your journey?

She helped us. That was three.

Value? I love it. I love it. Maha, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. We're definitely

going to have to do this again. This was fun. I was going to say we need more time together.

Yeah. We should have like a recurring segment, maybe like a quarterly sit. I love it. I'd love it.

We should do like Q&A and take questions from people and answer those too. I love doing that.

We'll make that happen. Okay. I'll see it. I'll see you in the Super Bowl in San Francisco.

I mean, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there. I go for work, not as a fan for your Patriots,

but you really think you're going all the way, huh? We're going to play. Who's on the NFC side?

So I'm going to give you the Rams Patriots Rams Reboots. You heard it here first.

It's a big game. Rams Seahawks. We'll see how that goes. Exactly. Exactly. Well,

dear, I appreciate you more than you know. I appreciate you. Thank you so much for all the viewers

and listeners. Remember, your becaus is your superpower. Go unleash it.

That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged. If this episode moved you,

and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen, share it with someone who needs that

spark and leave a review so more people can find there because I'm Rudy Rush. And until next time,

stay driven, stay focused, and stay Unplugged.