Hi, this is Elisa Likt, and this is Leave Your Mark the podcast, where I brew fresh career advice with some of my most inspiring and successful friends.

It's professional advice that you can action immediately, whether you're just starting out in your career or well on your way.

With a massive to-do list and a large cup of coffee, I promise that you can get it all done and still

have time to post about it.

Welcome back to Leave Your Mark. I'm your host, Elisa Likt, and today we're diving into

a real-world personal branding lesson pulled straight from a headline. I'm breaking down

Megan Markle's recent appearance at the Time 100 Summit,

not as gossip, but as a serious case study in personal branding. I'm going to walk through her key

moments where the messaging went off track and what any founder, creator, or leader can learn

about telling their story authentically and strategically under pressure.

Let's dive in.

Megan kicked off her interview, introducing her new lifestyle brand as ever.

As you may recall, that was previously called American Riviera Orchard.

Now, we do know the reason she changed the name was because the

trademark was not approved because they didn't want the products to be misleading. The products

needed to be from Montecito in order to have that name. But she doesn't say all of that.

We'll get into it. She described her brand as ever as, quote, small moments that can be part of your

everyday life that bring you a sense of joy and meaning. Great. She spoke warmly about effortless

beauty, hospitality, and finding magic in the small daily rituals that connect people.

Now, here's where the branding problem quietly began. Joy, as you know,

is a universal emotion. It's accessible. It's human. But at a platform like Time 100,

where the stage is full of change makers, entrepreneurs, activists, and innovators who are best

...