Ungovernable Women with Portia Mount
"Ungovernable Women" (formerly The Manifista) dives into the lives and careers of extraordinary women who have redefined success on their own terms. Each episode offers a glimpse into the journeys of trailblazing women who dare to lead audacious, purpose-driven lives and the lessons they learned along the way.
Ungovernable Women with Portia Mount
Being Your Authentic Self to Build a Personal Brand with Brittney Bogues
Discover how Brittney Bogues, a visionary PR strategist and philanthropist, has used her passions and experience to create her own career path. Brittany's story is a powerful testament to authenticity and positivity, particularly for Black women navigating the competitive PR industry. This episode is filled with inspiration, practical advice, and is a celebration of ungovernable women breaking barriers and redefining success.
Have a question or comment? Email us at ungovernablewomen@gmail.com.
Books mentioned in this episode: Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz.
Portia Mount on LinkedIn
Tiffany Waddell Tate on LinkedIn
The Bogues Group on LinkedIn
Learn more about Brittney at The Bogues Group Website
Hi, I'm Portia Mount, creator and host of Ungovernable Women, formerly the Manifesta Podcast, the lifestyle and career podcast for aspiring women. Our new name reflects our mission to reach even more listeners with stories of women who are breaking boundaries and redefining success. I have a favor to ask you, if you haven't done so already, please rate and subscribe to the pod. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, it boosts our rankings and helps more people discover us. Thanks for tuning in. Welcome to Season 5 of Ungovernable Women, the career and lifestyle podcast for aspiring women ready to break barriers. I'm Portia Mouw and I'm thrilled to be back with my co-host, tiffany Waddell-Tate, ceo of Career Maven Consulting. We've got a new name, but our mission remains stronger than ever helping women find their purpose, lead high-impact careers and meaningful lives.
Speaker 1:This season, we'll bring you the stories of women who forged their own paths to success. It's our time to shine. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Ungovernable Women pod, and we are so thrilled to introduce our guest, brittany Bogues, a PR strategist and philanthropist who's redefining success on her own terms. As the founder of Bogues Consulting Group, brittany has built a reputation for innovative approaches in public relations, and her impact extends far beyond business, as we are going to hear, and she's particularly involved with young people and shaping their lives through the Muggsy Bogues Family Foundation, the Junior League and a myriad of community engagement initiatives. Brittany's career journey exemplifies what it means to be ungovernable, creating opportunities, challenging norms and uplifting others along the way. Let's dive in and welcome Brittany.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3:I'm so excited to be here. Brittany, I am excited to just have this conversation with you because we go way back to early college days, but can you help our listeners understand a little bit more about your career path and what took you from corporate to sports to founding your own PR firm twice and what inspired you to step off the corporate track and create your own venture?
Speaker 2:Sure. So I didn't even know the world of PR and event planning existed really as a full-time profession until I was a junior in college and I was able to get a really great internship with the Rust Power Morning Show. So as a nationally syndicated radio station, I was able to see all different departments public relations, marketing, sponsorship, event planning and I mean, I fell in love from there. So I changed my major at Wake and graduated and was able to secure a job in PR working with Floyd Mayweather, and it was just an incredible opportunity.
Speaker 2:I didn't really know anything about boxing at the time, so I learned a lot about boxing and learned a lot about PR and also about how to be a business owner. So I then launched my first company, which was a great experience, but one that I didn't succeed in that business, and so after closing it, I started working at nonprofits, and that was such a great opportunity because I learned a lot about how to be a better leader, but also how to fundraise. Not all event planners and publicists know how to fundraise, and so it was a really unique hard skill that I love adding to my service base. And then, after switching to another nonprofit and seeing how the leader was running the organization. I knew that it wouldn't be a fit for me. So that was about almost seven years ago when I decided to take the leap and start my second venture, which is Vogue's Group.
Speaker 3:Thank you for just your candor around starting the challenges that you faced and then choosing to get back into it, and how that skill mobility went with you to the second launch. And it's been incredible to watch your journey, especially because I know you as a person are so kind and when I think of PR, pr kind of has a reputation of being really cutthroat, a little hardcore, and so I'm curious about how you kind of balance being your authentic self while also carving out your own space in this kind of rough and tumble industry.
Speaker 2:It's so funny that you said that I met with another founder yesterday and he just automatically assumed like public relations was immediately like crisis communications. And no, it's not like. Crisis is a part of communication, but it's not your main mode, unless you're only focusing on crisis communication. So to your point, it does have like sometimes an interesting connotation for the profession, but I found that as long as I am presenting my authentic self and I work with clients that are aligned and they focus on community, they respect what we do, as long as we're producing like results, I haven't found that like kindness, has you know really.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:Brittany, or you know, hampered anything, but I will say that it's something that easily can be taken as a weakness. But I took a strength finders test and positivity is one of my strengths and so I've really learned to actually lean into it and it's been it's. It actually works better for me.
Speaker 3:I'm not surprised at all that positivity is in your top five. You're so, you're like, you're just like a ball of sunshine.
Speaker 1:So and I love the positivity as well, and as someone who spent many years in the PR agency world in New York and Chicago, more kindness and positivity goes a long way, because that world can be cutthroat.
Speaker 1:But what I love about what you're talking about too, is like you have you bring your own person to that role into your business. And I will also just say one of the things I also love is there aren't there are just not enough women of color, black and brown women who are at the sort of like the highest levels within public relations, and we need more. So I just love, I love everything about this story. I want to pivot a little bit and ask you about your family foundation and your personal philanthropy, because it's really clear that you have a deep alignment between your business but also your personal, like your sort of your mission orientation, particularly working with young people. Can you talk a little bit about that and why is? And, more importantly, sort of the why behind that, like why young people, and just talk about sort of how you came to think about philanthropy but also working with young people.
Speaker 2:Sure. So, yes, young people are definitely important. I will say, like my specific focus area is like domestic violence survivors and also the unhoused. But when I moved back to Charlotte from DC, the main reason I did that was my dad and I wanted to relaunch our family foundation. My father lived in, I mean, severe poverty. He was shot when he was five, like he overcame a lot of obstacles to get where he was and so his whole thing is too much is given, much is required, and so it really spearheaded our focus to launch the Muggsy Bogues Family Foundation, which really focused on the family as a whole. We focused on food and security and solving that issue, as well as workforce development, because if a family has a strong workforce behind them as well as stable food coming in, there's amazing heights that they can reach and stability.
Speaker 2:And so that's what our passion is filling in the gaps, providing the basic necessities, because at the common level we all deserve the basic necessities, but it also makes a really big difference.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 3:Brittany, I'm going to pivot into more of your work around personal brand impact. I've been a personal beneficiary of many of the women in corporate and entrepreneur leadership programs that you run. You've partnered on and helping people tell their story, c-suite and beyond. Can you share a little bit of your perspective on what it means to be unconventional when you're building a personal brand and what that means to you?
Speaker 2:Of course, I feel like when people are building their personal brand, they sometimes try to mimic other people. And, yes, there is something you can gain from looking at people that you admire and seeing skill sets that sets you from other people and then lean into that to build your personal brand. Because what I've found is that when you try to pretend to be one thing online and then you're another way in person, it is not positive for your brand, it does not create alignment and people will notice. And people not only will notice, but they won't be able to trust you. And all about personal branding it's about building credibility, and being your authentic self is how you do that, and in a conventional way.
Speaker 1:I love that, brittany, and we have a lot of our listeners are women who are early to mid-career, and so I wonder if you could just give some specific examples of you. Just I want to dive just a little bit deeper of so what does it look like when someone is doing this well, right, when you talk about building this kind of unconventional, authentic personal brand? Maybe a few examples. And then I'd love to hear the opposite of when you like common mistakes that you see when people are trying to, because it's a lot of times it feels like trial and error for people who are not experts and so love to start with. Maybe like what are those few things that when it's going well, when you're doing it well, what does that look like?
Speaker 2:Sure. So I would say, like when it's going well and doing well, everything's aligned and people will notice out in public or in other spaces that you are sticking to whatever pillars that you've kind of come up with as your mode of brand. So, like, for instance, one of my dear friends, she really focuses on uplifting young people.
Speaker 2:So she created a 20 under 20 award because she knew that was a demographic that wasn't being like touched, but was true to her personal brand, because she loves educating and helping younger members grow into their own. Also, she's really strict on making sure that she's always seen in her brand colors and whether it's online, her filters have the same colors, but also in person she's always wearing her brand colors. So what's happened to her is, when she goes out, people may not know her name, but they do know her brand or they know about her, and they always correlate that teal color with her. So to me that means she's doing it well, because they have a little idea of who she is and are leaning in to learn more. What doesn't do well is if you're posting a lot of content about I'm having $10,000 days, but then you're also working at another side hustle.
Speaker 3:So no money. You shouldn't be holding money stacks on Instagram. You don't want us to hold money stacks Flashing all the jewelry.
Speaker 1:We shouldn't be doing that. No, that's a no, Brittany, no. Tell the people, Brittany.
Speaker 2:Tell the people there's definitely a time and place to talk metrics and to visually show your results. I definitely think there's a time and place.
Speaker 1:I love how tactful you are about that.
Speaker 2:I love it Visually show your results. I'm just not sure like that is that. And so, like you want your brand whether it's your personal brand, but also it does lend into your professional brand, that it aligns, and so people are really able to see the true you and also feel like they can trust you. Because I mean, in order for you to turn it to the conversion side of it, people have to trust you at the end of the day, and that's how you build that foundation with your personal brand. That is so good.
Speaker 1:I love that. So it's about building trust. It's about showing up in a very consistent manner around sort of whatever that thing is that you are passionate about, that you want to be known for. And then what I'm also hearing is visually matching how you want to show up so that you can be in aligning sort of the visual, what people see and what they're hearing from you, and being consistent in that Is that kind of a decent summary.
Speaker 2:That was a beautiful summary.
Speaker 1:And then, on the flip side, leave the stack, the tacky stacks of money at home. You know, don't? You know, don't like. Think about everything that you do, what you know, in all seriousness, everything you do should be brand, should be aligned to your brand, and so, being mindful of you know, whatever, while it may be fun and kind of cute, the question is, is it aligned with who I want, how I want people to see me?
Speaker 2:Exactly, and you have to think about the end user at the end of this, like who? Is your ideal target demographic. Maybe funny and silly does work for your demographic, but you know. But do it with thought in mind, intention in mind and really thinking about who is your end user.
Speaker 3:That's good. So no scamming, no money stands.
Speaker 1:I love that and so.
Speaker 3:I'll be adding that to my content strategy for the rest of the year.
Speaker 1:No scamming, tiffany, tiffany, tiffany, no scamming. And Tiffany knows that, like I'm addicted to scammer podcasts though, I will just tell you so if scamming happens, I will very much be listening to that podcast episode. If there's a scammer out there, I will listen to it. So we're not encouraging it. I'm just saying that when it becomes a Netflix special or a true crime podcast, I will download and listen to that.
Speaker 2:That's how I am with true crime. I am obsessed. It scares my boyfriend a lot honestly, we can totally be friends.
Speaker 1:Brittany, I did not know you were into true crime. We're going to have to talk about this. Obsessed, obsessed. I love it, I love it, I love it. Tiffany, bring us back, we're going off track.
Speaker 3:I'm going to bring us back, brittany. I think a lot of times on the pod we talk to our guests about themes like work-life integration. I don't think work-life balance is realistic. Regardless of what your life pie kind of looks like, I know you are always traveling. It's not uncommon for me to say, hey, brittany, do you want to come to this event? And you're like I'm going to be in Greece and then I'm like, okay, I'll try again next time. But I would love for you to just share for our listeners what's your perspective on work-life integration and how do you create space for interesting, really impactful work? You mentioned being partnered and then doing things for your family and also having fun. I see your workout videos. How do you create space for all of that without getting burned out?
Speaker 2:So I'm reading this book that I'm obsessed with it's Atomic Habits and I really have tried to implement some of the strategies in there to have work-life integration Because, to your point, as a small business owner, entrepreneur, like it is impossible to have like work-life balance. So I do a thing called habit stacking, time blocking, and I really try to feed into myself before I start my day. So, for instance, I usually start my day around like 4.30, 5 o'clock in the morning. Wait what?
Speaker 1:Hang on what, what time?
Speaker 3:do you start your day in the?
Speaker 2:morning 4.30 or 5 o'clock in the morning and I like to kick it off with a workout because I know a workout will get my brain and my body in a week. Then I get my macho, I shower and I really put myself together. So then I feel good. When you look good, you feel good, amen. So then I feel good, you know, when you look good, you feel good.
Speaker 2:And then after that I try to free my brain. So whether it's reading the news to help me with something later for a client just doing something to jog that, then I officially start my day. I only do meetings on certain days of the week. So I literally try to create as much consistency because I know there's a lot of inconsistencies.
Speaker 3:That's so good. I was tracking with you on everything but the matcha.
Speaker 1:I love all of that, except for the 430.
Speaker 3:Except for that, I can't.
Speaker 1:No, oh, okay, that was your thing, Okay. So I love matcha. I love matcha, but it's a no for me at 430.
Speaker 2:It's a no.
Speaker 1:I feel like you have so much more time left in the day when you wake up that early. You do, you do, you do, and I'm an early riser, just not a 4.30 riser. But you know what I love? But what I love about what you're saying too, is you have a disciplined approach to your day in order to not only maximize it but to take care of yourself. And I think you know, not everyone's a 430. Some people are five, some people are six, but what I'm hearing you say is like you put into yourself first, and then you kind of get your mindset ready and then you're sort of launching into the day, and I think that's a tremendous set of habits to have, whether you're an entrepreneur or not. So I really love that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, plus one on the James Clear book recommendation too.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and I agree, discipline is really the name of the game.
Speaker 3:We'll definitely drop Atomic Habits in the show notes for our listeners, because it is a great read. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a career girly, whatever you're doing, I'm down for the Atomic Habits, but not the matcha. But down for the atomic habits or the 430.
Speaker 1:Like I feel like I can still have an atomic habit I love that book too without being up at 430. So Brittany's. Like you don't want to be impossible, I know we are impossible, brittany.
Speaker 2:Well you aren't. I will say the cool thing about this I think the overarching thing is self-awareness, because like to be self-aware if you know you do your best work at night, like structure your days to that. So it's like you said earlier, it's discipline, but it's also self-awareness, Like if you know that's not going to work for you. Don't set yourself up for something that's not going to work for you. This is a fact, Facts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, facts. I love that. So, brittany. So what is one? I love the energy you bring and it's clear that you, I think, as Tiffany said, you bring sunshine everywhere you go. What's one bold decision you made in the past, or most recent past, that seemed risky at the time but has paid off significantly now that you reflect on it.
Speaker 2:Starting Bokes Group, starting my company, was, and I say, risky. It was risky. I had all the lessons I learned from my first experience and I knew that setting up automation systems, standard operating procedures was a must in this next business. But I also realized I could not work for this woman that I was working for, like it was not feeding my spirit, it was not anything, it was not conducive for anything positive. So I literally put in my two weeks notice. Didn't have a client yet, but it all kind of came together. Didn't have a client yet, but it all kind of came together. Once I did build my business plan, filed for my LLC, got my EIN, dunn's number, all those fun things that you do. It all really kind of came into place because I had the knowledge from the first time. And they say, fail fast and fail often, and that's what I had to do. But it was a scary move to make. But almost seven years later it's been the best decision of my life.
Speaker 3:Yes, love it. You are so inspiring to me because it's like I want to highlight too. You were like you know what this work situation is? Not it for me, it's not healthy for me, it's not moving me forward. I'm going to do something different, and it takes courage to do that different and it takes courage to do that.
Speaker 1:It really does. And I think it's worth it to maybe pull that threat just a minute, because we hear from a lot of women who are in just toxic work situations. They've got a ton of talent, they are thinking they want to go out on their own but that the fear of the loss of the regular paycheck and being afraid to bet on oneself is really overwhelming. And I wonder for that woman that's out there who is in a situation that she knows is not working and she does want to. She wants to step out on faith, but she's afraid. I'm wondering, if you just talk a little bit about you know, one did you, were you afraid? But two, how you know how to manage that kind of fear when you're making these big decisions that you know like could not work out. I love your fail, fast fail, you know early and often, but how do you deal with, how do you deal with fear?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I will definitely say faith has really helped me with my fear, but also betting on myself. I recently spoke with a woman I was writing a publication and she was a game changer and her story, I mean it, inspired me so much because, to your point, she was in a position where she knew she didn't want to be there, but she also wanted to be really methodical. So she met with a financial planner and literally mapped out okay, I know I can't leave right now, but when can I actually leave? And it was 36 months. 36 months was her magic number but she literally stayed to the plan, started saving and she was able to leave and start her own company and now she's still doing it. It's an interior design business and she really focused on betting on herself and also knowing that there's something better for her. And with the plan you can achieve anything. It doesn't always have to be fast or quick, but as long as you have a plan and you're doing a little step each day to get there, it's going to happen.
Speaker 1:I love that, brittany, one of my favorite things to say is commit and then figure it out. So commit and get that plan and then start working the plan one step at a time. One other question before we dive into some really fun stuff, which is I want to just ask you a little bit about just the industry of public relations itself changing a lot. I think AI is literally changing everything. You know, I can tell you as a marketer, I certainly see that, and so I'm just curious one your thoughts on just the future for the industry overall. And then what do you see? How do you see women in particular continue to shape the public relations industry? Just some thoughts on the industry overall.
Speaker 2:Sure, I mean, I feel like, if nothing else, we have learned from the pandemic and more, that, like, women are leaders and women can make things happen, and so I just feel like there definitely just needs to be more opportunity for women, especially BIPOC women, to see growth in the communication space. I feel like we're often over-mentored and underfunded, so I feel like it's a mixture of things. It's creating spaces for opportunity and networking, but it also has to do with actual policy and just making more access available. To answer that question. And then I think you mentioned something else yeah, just the industry.
Speaker 1:Where's public relations? I mean, I know it's a big, wide field, but just your thoughts overall?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I embrace technology. I always love like if I can do my job better, more efficiently and more creatively. I'm always going to lean into that because my clients deserve that. I will say that I use AI from time to time, but I also know that nothing will replace the relationships that you make, the key writing skills that you've developed. So I just say, use everything as a tool, but always also incorporate your own true ability and talent into all the things you're doing.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that, I love that.
Speaker 3:I was shaking my tambourine when you said women are over-mentored and underfunded, because I am constantly screaming into the void about how true that is across every industry sector, for all businesses, and it's deeply troubling. But I'm going to keep us positive. Okay, and Brittany, we're going to head into the next section of the pod. We do a lightning round. That, I think, is really fun, sometimes a little unhinged, but we're going to ask just a couple of questions of you, don't overthink it.
Speaker 1:Don't scare her, Tiffany. You're scaring her.
Speaker 3:Don't overthink it, just say the first thing that comes to your mind. Okay, first question what is a motto or phrase that defines your personality or mindset?
Speaker 2:Love the life you live, live the life you love.
Speaker 1:We love that, love the life you live, live the life you love.
Speaker 2:We love that, love it.
Speaker 1:So we recently renamed the pod to be called Ungovernable Women. And so what does ungovernable mean to you?
Speaker 2:The first thing that definitely comes to my mind is just someone that's going after what they want. They're not going to be told no, and if they are told no, that's just a no. Not yet it's not a no. So I feel like it's someone that will figure it out away Nice.
Speaker 3:Okay, what is a secret? Unpopular opinion that you hold?
Speaker 1:I love this one. I love this one.
Speaker 2:Literally, I did a viral. I will. It went viral but I did a tweet about. I love reality TV, unfortunately, and Real Housewives of OC. There's a character, tamara, who I was like oh my gosh, it's an unpopular opinion, but I really think she's a mean girl and, honestly, my tweet went viral because, in fact, it might be a popular opinion.
Speaker 3:Honestly, my tweet went viral because in fact, it might be a popular opinion. Okay, I'm gonna have to watch. I'm not familiar. One time I went viral because I told the Twitter streets that I don't like Doritos and people were very upset about this.
Speaker 1:The internet is so we don't have enough time to talk about the unhinged hive mind of the internet, because I too have gone viral for all the wrong reasons, making a seemingly innocent remark and literally getting flamed for days on end. I am still like it was about kids, about not making kids eat, eat all their food. And when I tell you parenting, twitter is a hellscape and you know, we may even need to cut this because I don't want to go viral again before making like talking about parent, how unhinged, crazy parents on Twitter are. But so we'll just you know what. Sorry, because we're living viral traumas and that's not really the point of this, but is there one book that you find yourself recommending or gifting? We're trying to pull ourselves together. You know what? Tiffany is right, we do get unhinged by this part of the pod and it's not by design, but it just tends to happen. Is there a book that you find yourself gifting or recommending repeatedly?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Yes, the Four Agreements. I'm obsessed with that book. It changed my life and I try my best to live by the Four Agreements. I'm not always living by them, but I try my best to live by them. Yeah, it's my favorite book.
Speaker 1:I love it, tiffany. Take us in. Take us in before we do more damage, all right.
Speaker 3:Last question, Brittany what is the best purchase under 150 bucks you've ever made?
Speaker 2:Under $150? Let's see. Probably my, oh, my gosh. Of course, my portable charger, my, you know, like the portable phone charger, phone bank, it is everything. My phone is constantly dying but that saves me the most.
Speaker 3:I love it. Thank you, B.
Speaker 1:We'll have to get the very specific brand that you use so we can share it in our upcoming store, Brittany Bogues. Thank you so much for your wisdom and time. It has been such a delight and can't wait to continue to follow you. We'll post all your socials and we just we love having amazing, beautiful women like you, and thanks for having some fun with us as well.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you for saying yes.
Speaker 2:I had such a great time and, tiffany, I'm so proud of you. I inspired all the time, so thank you. Thank you, you're the best B and great to meet you, portia, you're a gem.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to Ungovernable Women. Our producer and editor is Megan King. Our social media manager is Destiny Eicher. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, spotify or wherever you listen to your pods. Your ratings help other listeners find us. You can follow and DM us on Instagram at ungovernablexwomen, and TikTok at ungovernablexwomen. See you next time.