S6 Ep 3 | Building brands through emotion, culture and music | Bianca Franklin, H&M’s Global Music Lead

17:57Bianca Franklin:I'm full on on that. It's like I just like I think titles, they are there because they need to be there. but I think I think the you know as a leader you really need to to make sure that you're treating everyone as equal because at the end of the day we are humans yeah so I have much like kind of that vision as well just like it's just like doesn't matter like your title so you need to make feel comfortable around you because at the end of the day to win is about a teamwork right and then making sure that we are I love what you said about empathy compassion and diversity

18:29Maira Genovese:is so beautiful yeah you have to have a diverse team yeah and diverse doesn't mean different cultures and it can but for me it's different mindsets it's different way of seeing problem solving you know what i mean yeah no it's it's how you together have a consensus of how we move forward and how we take these decisions and that we're all accountable i think accountability is something people forget and that you know it's it's you can be part of a team but i think it's important to be accountable in that team that everybody their effort actually matters and it doesn't matter what you're doing in that team but it's important and that's why you're there and we're all contributing to the same goal and I I really do think that leaders today lead more with their heart because you can see it and that's where people thrive and like people like me yes who are who are different and maybe think differently and challenge a lot um you know There's space for us to grow.

19:24Maira Genovese:I had great management. I've had fantastic leaders that saw my potential and weren't stressed over it. More like, okay, maybe we don't understand really, but we understand you. And this passion needs to grow and go somewhere.

19:39Bianca Franklin:It's about empowering each other, right? I think this is just a beautiful thing. And then talk about diverse because you lived a long time in the U.S., right? It was LA, reminds me. San Francisco. San Francisco. So you lived in San Francisco for how many years?

19:54Maira Genovese:I am born and raised in San Francisco, California. Like in San Francisco.

20:00Bianca Franklin:In San Francisco, okay. In San Francisco.

20:02Maira Genovese:In San Francisco. In San Francisco Woods is where I was born and raised. My parents, both my parents are Americans. My dad's born there. My grandma's born there. And my mom moved there as a child. So I have an eclectic background. People always ask me, it's like, you look this or you're that. I'm like, I have a lot of different things. And I'm so proud of it because I think that diversity that I grew up in with, you know, different languages, different cultures, different music in one household has shaped the view that I have of the world. And then moving to Sweden from San Francisco at the age of 12.

20:41Maira Genovese:Huge change.

20:42Bianca Franklin:Huge change. Different culture. Extremely.

20:46Maira Genovese:It was very different. I mean, I grew up in a home where, you know, open doors, meaning, you know, my grandparents lived with us. I had nannies, you know, family members would always come. There was always music, novelas, you know, it's like it was it was such a warm, rich background where, like I said, every day felt like a carnival in a way because you never knew I was going to come visit. One of my grandma's friends would come over or cousins or, you know, it was always a house full of life. and my mom you know she's such a role model because she gave us this opportunity to not only live in the U.S.

21:25Maira Genovese:but to live in Europe and to be able to experience you know a lot of things that perhaps you wouldn't be able to experience having been you know left in the U.S. yeah and

21:36Bianca Franklin:then Sweden then you went moved there with 12 and then you never went back to U.S. or you had you I did. Because I remember you said that. I did.

21:44Maira Genovese:No, I have lived in many different places now. But I moved there when I was 12. And I would go back to the States every summer to visit my dad and my siblings and my grandma. I mean, my whole family was there. Was there. Was there. And to get that richness that, you know, I missed. Because Sweden is completely different. You know, all our family was in the States. So it was a different adjustment. So we went back. And then when I was 21, I remember, I love that, turning 21 in the U.S. is the best. If you haven't tried it, people, please do. It's an experience to be had. I remember just thinking, I think I want to come and work here.

22:22Maira Genovese:I've never worked in the U.S. And so I first went to Argentina and I was done with my master's.

22:28Bianca Franklin:Do you speak Spanish?

22:29Maira Genovese:Si.

22:29Bianca Franklin:Si. Por supuesto que si. Portuguese is very similar. ¿Te do bien?

22:34Maira Genovese:Si. Muy bien. um but yeah i went to go live in buenos aires and that was the most amazing epic time of my life um i loved it so much the culture of the food you never had another red meat as good as it's

22:50Bianca Franklin:argentina no after being argentina every red meat is lovely after the express exactly i mean it just

22:57Maira Genovese:melts in your mouth yes it was it's the best it was just it was amazing to be able to have the opportunity to study and just live a beautiful, vibrant life as a 20-something-year-old in the culture that is alive in such a different way that the U.S. is and Europe is and the friendliness. And then from that, I got headhunted. I graduated, got my master's in 2007. And then I was working during the summers. This gives you a little picture of my personality. I was working in the summers at our yacht club in Stockholm, a family friend gave me that as an extra job during the summers. And I remember I just graduated and I was so proud.

23:41Maira Genovese:I, you know, did my seven years of school and I was like, okay, so what am I going to do now? So I took that summer and I remember at the restaurant, part of the yacht club, I was waitressing and I had a table of management, American management. And a lot of the time the waitresses and waiters are like, you take the americans and i'm like yeah great you know they give the great tips but they're also really friendly so they were sitting there and i was talking to them and all of a sudden they're telling me yeah we're we're from electrolux in the u.s and i was like oh cool i'm american i'm like oh i just got my master's they're like oh you did i'm like yeah they're like oh can you send us your your master thesis and i was like wow i was literally serving beer and wine and pitching myself to see sweets in the U.S.

24:23Maira Genovese:And mind you, two weeks later, they created a position for me that didn't exist.

24:28Bianca Franklin:And then you flew out.

24:29Maira Genovese:And they flew over. I flew over business for the first time at the age of 24 to go sign a contract with Electrolux Americas. In San Francisco? No. I thought I was going to go to, like, Chicago. I was going to Iowa.

24:42Bianca Franklin:I'm loving it.

24:43Maira Genovese:I'm like, hey, who cares? It's great on my resume. Yeah. So I was like, all right, let's test Iowa. Iowa's cool. not my vibe perhaps but but it was a learning first job it was my first job that i exactly so i pitched myself during that summer so right after i graduated um a month later i had a top position at electrolux north america uh yeah and i was traveling the world as an international marketing specialist uh yeah so i didn't know so but then then it says a lot about who you are and why

25:16Bianca Franklin:you are just this creative mind because you have had those global opportunities so you really understand diversity culture relevance and be able to adapt right because think people that don't understand that you to move around countries there is a huge amount of adaptability that you needed to create within yourself and of course the resilience yeah because each place you go especially with a different country. It's a different language, a different culture, different ways of doing things. But I think there's no best experience than that.

25:50Maira Genovese:You're right. You're so right because it shapes, like I said, it shapes who you are and it shows you what you're made of. And let me tell you, those ice storms in Iowa, I have never experienced anything like it. And I live in Stockholm.

26:04Bianca Franklin:I live in Sweden. You never experienced anything like that?

26:06Maira Genovese:No, I had never experienced like water in the pipes freezing or like I had to hitchhike for the first time in my life because the car did not work. So a lot of experience, many firsts in Iowa. But it was great because I learned so much about myself. I learned a lot about, you know, being just because you're from the States doesn't mean that, you know, all states are alike that we know. But Iowa, it was cool. It was an experience to be had. And I'm really grateful for that opportunity that C-Suite gave this waitress at the Yacht Club.

26:38Bianca Franklin:Did you put on your resume this? Because it's amazing. When it is a God purpose, he will find a way. Even if it's just you serving a beer to an American in a restaurant.

26:50Maira Genovese:There you go. You're right. There you go. And that has been, I think, the way I have been able to navigate my career is that I pitch. And what pitching actually means is that you are putting together a story. It's storytelling. so that the people that are listening to what you're saying get emotionally invested in what you're saying. 100%. Right? And they believe in what you're saying. And they believe in you so much that they want to put, you know, themselves behind you in that belief.

27:18Bianca Franklin:And you have the people that believe in yourself and then they will, you know, get your back. But you also, throughout our lives, we have people that don't believe us. Yes. And they don't want to give us a chance. How do you deal with frustration? and how you deal with no's?

27:38Maira Genovese:No is never a no.

27:40Bianca Franklin:No is never a no. No is never a no. No is never a no. I don't accept no's. I'm just a happy dude. There you go. I am a person. There's a no for a misadvenance. And then my team sometimes, they go like, Mara, it's not possible. There's no time. There's always a way.

27:51Maira Genovese:And I think that's how you look at rivers. Rivers, you know, maybe there is a rock there. All of a sudden, the sand moves and they find a way through the rock and all of a sudden, the river is flowing, but just in a new direction. So I think about no's as no, not right now, but probably maybe later.

28:10Bianca Franklin:So I come at you depending on what it is and how I change strategies to try to see

28:16Maira Genovese:how can I make you understand the value of what I am explaining to you. So that, you know, you, because I think a lot of time no is about not understanding or time press, or many times it's budget and budget you can't really do anything about but I I remember I had a great controller that you know I used to work with and he'd say Bianca you are the only person I have ever met within the organization or the company that does creative controlling I got creative because I got I found ways to make the small budgets that I did have work because I got other people to contribute I got many different departments to go in with me and be like let's test this idea out within what we have within what we have and we make the best we can out of it and then when there is frustrations

29:03Bianca Franklin:how do you do how do you deal with frustrations oh girl in many different ways

29:11Maira Genovese:i work out i am an avid this is like me this is me going to my favorite workout this is not a sponsored but it could be because i am such a berries fan i love berries if anybody who knows me knows that you're very still it's therapy it's therapy and the people that work there are like an extended family they're just such beautiful people like all the trainers very stockholm shout out um but no it's it's therapeutic and it's because i turn off my mind yeah it's when the silence i can just be and i have someone telling me what to do what you had to do what to do and that's where my frustration has space to just let go right and then meditating i mean my dad taught me at such a young age to meditate and mantras and i never really understood how groundbreaking how deep that actually connects with you until i was an adult and breathing breathing is such a powerful tool breath work is such a beautiful tool that you can use in the shower you can use on the train you can use it anywhere in a meeting and counting your breath and that's how I deal with frustration and I also deal with frustration by having beautiful people around me that listen to me and that advise me from their point of view and open up my mind to think like maybe think about this or think about it that way and if when you're able to like ventilate in a safe space you see things from a different perspective and you're able to let it go 100 % and then like

30:44Bianca Franklin:we're talking before we start the podcast right because like we like you the type of personality that you are and then we can see it that you're very passionate right so you're a very passionate woman very passionate leader and sometimes i am like you in that sense like i'm very passionate about everything that i do and i put all my heart into in there you know i work relentlessly hour when i believe in in things that i think that can change perception that can make impact and bring results and but sometimes we we forget about ourselves yeah and it's something that you learn every single day as you're getting older because our body does not function as it used to be when you're 20s but sometimes it's hard to understand that because we're passionate about what we do so how have you been learning and evolved on that sense that you're putting yourself

31:45Maira Genovese:first that has been a long journey um because i think that's why when i started you know the podcast with you the question was you know who are you today and i said i'm not the same person i was with that last year i'm definitely not because this year has taught me so much about myself and how health is such an important puzzle piece to life. Health, like you're mentioning, is something maybe you take for granted because your body is able to adapt. And I don't get colds very often during COVID. I have no idea how. I just did not get COVID even though I was around people with COVID. Blessed, I guess, my many genes that I have from all the cultural backgrounds I have maybe was that.

32:29Maira Genovese:But it's interesting when your body just is screaming at you and telling you to stop and you're just ignoring all the signals and you're ignoring it so much that, you know, your physical body is changing and you're seeing it happen in real time and you don't know what's going on and you're not listening. And it's when it makes you stop. It's when you start to actually be like, okay, what am I doing? I think I need to regroup and And I need to think what's important to me. Like you're mentioning, I love what I do. I love it so much. And stress is stress. Like my mother usually says, you know, your body doesn't know the difference between positive stress or negative stress.

33:10Maira Genovese:It just knows it's stress. And your cortisol just keeps rising and then adding berries into the mix, you know, even though it's something that I love.

33:18Bianca Franklin:It's stressful.

33:20Maira Genovese:So I had to adapt that as well. and it's a learning curve because, you know, my daughter is so important to me. But again, you know, I felt like I have to put food on the table. You know, I have to be able to support her. I want to give her the same, you know, standard life that she should have. I need to work more. You know, you have this drive within you. But if you think about it, all she really does want, you know, I was reflecting with this with my sisters and my mom. She just wants to be with you, you know.

33:45Bianca Franklin:She just wants to sit with you and spend time with you

33:47Maira Genovese:when you're not on your phone working. And it's so true. It's so true. It's so true because those small things that you don't think of, you're like, I'm just going to send this email. I'm just going to reply to this Teams. I'm just going to, you know.

33:58Bianca Franklin:Don't tell me. Yes.

33:59Maira Genovese:You know, and you get so easily distracted because your mind is everywhere else but in here. So that is something I have taken to heart so much after this summer where I just reflected so much. And I stopped. I stopped pushing forward in a way that was detrimental to my health. You can push forward in so many different ways. You can. It's when you surrender to your inner voice and your inner compass that guides you that you're able to heal and you're able to rebuild and find a new resilience and inner strength that you forgot that you had maybe.

34:32Bianca Franklin:And if you have to give like a piece of advice for, you know, for people that how do you actually listen to your inner soul and to ensuring that you're having that balance of what is important and what is love, but it's not as important as yourself.

34:51Maira Genovese:having beautiful people around you that have the audacity I should say to tell you to tell you and to get into that uncomfortable conversation with you because they love you and they see you conversation is so hard it is but that's what family's for yeah and I'm so grateful to my family because they they love me so much and I love them so that when they talk to me and they say it to me from a loving place because they care I have to take it to heart you know and they've said it for such a long time that, you know, your body, your health, you have to think about it. Because I never get sick. I literally never get sick.

35:27Maira Genovese:And the fact that you just take it for granted, you're like, what will it be if I do get sick?

35:33Bianca Franklin:And something that we learned as we evolve and mature in that sense is that it doesn't mean that you're putting yourself first, that you're not going to continue to be successful into what we do. That's not it. Yeah, that's not it. But sometimes when we are younger or we don't have that understanding yet, you think that if you take care of yourself first, then you're not going to be able to succeed professionally because you're putting yourself first. But then when we learned that is actually the opposite.

36:04Maira Genovese:Yeah, yeah, that is so true. It took me a long time to get here. And I'm proud that I have realized that, you know, putting time and effort into myself and my private life you know my work is part of me exactly it's not you it's not me it's you know it's part of me and it's a proud part of me but it's not all of me right yeah and first and foremost i'm a mom and i really need to nurture those few years that she's still small tiny okay she's 11 but she's still tiny for me

36:36Bianca Franklin:she's still 11 she's my baby call him my baby like mom you're not a baby it's like you're my baby

36:41Maira Genovese:forever exactly i want to just you know bathe in the the feeling of love that you have for your child without the stress of having to answer an email answer a teams or answer a text you know what i mean and and i've let that blur the lines for so long doing that with more of a balance

37:02Bianca Franklin:right so i think it's just like having the finding the balance i think that is the challenge that we that we face nowadays and then again looking after yourself first that doesn't mean that you're not going to succeed professionally it's just finding a balance and i think that message that you just said now and it's such an important message for young generations or for all the women with our age that is feeling the same right now because again those type of conversation and awareness you don't always listen people talking about it it's just it feels like it's too a taboo of like where we needed to keep going going going going going going until we break but when we have people like you that is taking that opportunity and talk this openly and very vulnerable is just such a beautiful message thanks so thank you for saying that and then for sharing that beautiful story and journey and if you have to tell a message to bianca 12 years old moving from u.s to sweden what you would have said to her don't resent your mom for putting you in a swedish class when you had no clue what they were saying she did you a favor she did you a favor indeed because

38:25Maira Genovese:back then it was like why am I in a Swedish class I have no clue what they're saying but it helped me so much and that's where I feel that those uncomfortable moments that your family put you

38:37Bianca Franklin:through where you're like why it's a blessing in disguise definitely a blessing and oh my god I

38:43Maira Genovese:think then all the time exactly and that's what I I'm so grateful for uh today to tell my 12 year old self be you be who you are be that colorful different outgoing little girl that you are because it'll take you far because you are unique and I think everybody forgets at times in moments in life that we're all unique and you should not change who you are to fit into a mold or fit into a room, let that room open up for you. Beautiful.

39:17Bianca Franklin:I love that. Future of media, if you can type, if you can say like, because the industry of marketing, media, social media, AI, and all of that is changing so rapidly that sometimes we as a human and we as working for brands, we have to be flexible and changing and thinking and creating and innovating constantly because everything is changing so rapidly. So if you look at the future ahead of us, and I love to say that back in the day, 20 years ago, I would say, oh, what is your career plan for the next five years? Where do you think the marketing will be in five years? Today, you can only think six months maximum.

39:59Bianca Franklin:Because all of the change. So if you're looking ahead for the marketing industry, for the industry that we've been working on, where do you see that the wording is kind of like evolving in which direction especially with the with ai now here and it's not gonna go anyway hopefully because metaverse now you're talking about metaverse i know metaverse came in this ai is gonna go to you i'm confused i don't think

40:28Maira Genovese:machine learning in general tense i mean if you think about ai you know i think it's it's dystopian to think it'll be like the matrix. I don't want to think that way. I want to think it's going to be for good in a sense where you look at the medical industry and you look at science and you want to try to find cures and you want to try to make the world a better place. And when it comes to media, I had a discussion yesterday. I was having a beautiful conversation with different people from different sectors talking about different questions such as AI. How can you tell the difference? How can you see if this text is actually real storytelling or if it's AI.

41:06Maira Genovese:And I think if you look at trends, and I said this yesterday, and I say, if you look at trends, a lot of gen alpha today are super curious about what life was before, you know, what they're used to, what it looked like, nostalgia. And I was just in Amsterdam two weeks ago celebrating my daughter's birthday. And we went to the Barbie experience. That was so cool because they had a room that was literally my high school years it was insane to step into that room i had the phone i had that phone i had the walkie this like the cd walkie talk like it was insane to just walk in there and see the first mac you know the first apple computer it was it was so cool the one with the colors yeah and she was like fascinated with it and she's like a regular phone a computer she's like what is you know like oh what is this cellular phone i'm like yeah i had that version that nokia no but um i I think kids today, there's going to be a balance.

41:59Maira Genovese:I think even though technology is ever evolving and the way we can be more effective, the way we can buy media, the way we create media, you'll never forget the human interaction in it. Right.

42:10Bianca Franklin:That's which I truly believe, too.

42:12Maira Genovese:And I advocate that so much. Me too. Meaning you create spaces where people can connect. If it's digitally, yeah, we all had that during the pandemic and it worked. but nothing beats sitting across from a person that you like love or interested in or want to get to know or curious about or even a person maybe you don't like but you learn something from it because it mirrors something within you so i think the human connection even though we're moving towards more technology driven industries i think it'll always be there and the same curiosity the way kids are showing today about the dumb phone trend where they're not on apps and they want to go back to you know just being analog i think it'll come back more and more more than we think because there's a beauty in it to be disconnected and to be present with someone

42:57Bianca Franklin:Antonio my son which is the 10 alpha is the same age of your daughter he said to me I'm so glad that we're taking over the 10 seas because we will tell them the importance of the balance of human connection and technology and then he's 11 years old but he's can already force in for himself yeah and then i asked him the other day but how are you going to balance that he said with sport yeah and i thought it was so beautiful for 11 so how are you gonna balance that he said i will balance with my sport i will continue to play cricket and football and i wanted to be connected with my mate through sports and show them that connection through sports it's something that we needed to embrace and you know share it together and i thought it was just so beautiful for this age and I truly believe what you said that technology it's here to excited us but technology is not going to excited us without human connection exactly human creativity and

43:57Maira Genovese:Antonio's right you have to have balance and that's what we talked about before you need balance you know you need balance in everything if you don't have balance that's when you know things start going sour and you know it becomes negative a negative force in your body instead of something that's positive. So I truly believe that your son is on the right path because balance is key. Balance is key.

44:20Bianca Franklin:Bianca, what a pleasure to have you here and have that incredible wise conversation and, you know, knowing more about you about the story is even more inspiring than what I already knew it. So thank you so much for being so vulnerable to share a story and share your wisdom that is just incredible thank you so much thank you for having me and i hope you know this

44:43Maira Genovese:brings reflections to people that are in the peak of their career where you're just running so much that you take a pause and you think about you know what brings you joy and what makes you happy

44:53Bianca Franklin:yeah because life is too short exactly way too short thank you everyone that has been you know listening to this episode. And again, what an incredible conversation with Bianca Franklin. So if you're not following us yet, make sure we do on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon podcast and Apple podcast. And now we have our own Instagram account. Please follow us to that because then you can get all the news, all the bites, all the teaser and all the information about Beyond Marketing podcast. So Bianca, thank you so much. Thank you. What a pleasure. Thank you everyone again.