🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, MCIM)

Hey - I’m Sabrina 👋🏽I’m a proud portfolio entrepreneur. I run multiple businesses, build different revenue streams &amp; wear a lot of hats - by design. I believe breadth is a strength, not a weakness &amp; I actively encourage founders to embrace it properly, with the right systems.Everything I do connects, but here’s some clarity so you know exactly what I do &amp; who I help.I’m known as The No Bullsh*t Entrepreneur because I tell the truth about business. I don’t pretend it’s easy or I’m “always smashing it” &amp; I don’t sell shortcuts. I show the highs &amp; the lows - and I’m usually the one saying what people are already thinking but are too afraid to say.My work consistently challenges the status quo in entrepreneurship. When everyone says “work harder” or “do more marketing”, I’m often saying: we’re solving the wrong problem. I help founders who want small teams but big profits.That’s why I create No Bullsh*t content across multiple platforms:	•	No Bullsh*t Entrepreneurship (YouTube): educational videos	•	Sniffing Out the Bullsh*t (audio podcast): weekly myth-busting with practical alternatives	•	No Bullsh*t Talks (video podcast): REAL conversations with founders without the BSIt’s also why I founded N0BS: a no-bullsh*t members’ club for entrepreneurs. We’re deliberately anti-community in the modern sense: no performative networking, no hype, no fake relationships. N0BS is for ambitious founders who want genuine connections, access to quality people &amp; to grow their businesses sustainably and ethically.I’m also an International Chess Master &amp; former England international. Chess has shaped how I think: position before tactics, long-term strategy over short-term wins. Today, I coach privately, work with kids/adults and run corporate workshops using chess to help businesses solve complex strategic problems.After years of being known as “the Chess Master with an MBA”, I created The Positional Advantage™: a framework for founders who want to win more clients without spending more on marketing. Using principles from chess, I help businesses fix their positioning so growth becomes easier, clearer &amp; more profitable.In practice, I’m brought into companies as a Fractional CMO/COO, but my real work is as a Small Business Diagnostician. I identify what’s actually broken, spot missed opportunities &amp; optimise strategy and operations so businesses can grow without burning out or bleeding cash.At the end of the day, my goal is simple:To help founders build profitable businesses that give them more time, more clarity &amp; a better life - not just more work.

Founder

Complex Creative is known as the No Bullsh*t Agency, as we are fully honest and transparent with our work and we explain things how they are. No more getting ripped off by agencies because your job is "so complicated" and XYZ needs to be done because it's essential to your brand. 

We provide you with no BS answers and explain our processes throughout. 

If you know someone who may be being ripped off by their agency, feel free to get in touch for a second opinion!

🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)

I never thought I’d be ranting about Kylie Jenner on LinkedIn… but here we are.

WHY ON EARTH IS VANITY FAIR ASKING KYLIE JENNER TO DO A “POKER MASTERCLASS”? 🤬🤬🤬

Apparently the idea is that “Hot Girl Poker” will help grow the game.

But why pick her though? There are sooooooo freaking many actual hot girl poker champions out there. 

Women who have:
💪🏽 Won WSOP bracelets
💪🏽 Earned millions in tournament winnings
💪🏽 Spent years mastering one of the most strategic games in the world.

Absolute badasses.

And yet… when a global magazine wants to showcase poker…

They pick a celebrity who learned the rules two years ago and film her explaining them in a bra 🙄🙄

Seriously???

If the goal was to promote poker, why not collaborate with actual champions and celebrate the women who’ve already conquered the game?

New Balance just did this brilliantly when Eberechi Eze played Magnus Carlsen at chess. 👏🏽

Celebrity meets genuine excellence - everyone wins. 

Instead we get Hot Girl Poker 🤦🏾‍♀️

It feels somewhat insulting!!

Women do not need to strip down to be taken seriously in strategic spaces - they already belong there.

Especially disappointing from a brand like Vanity Fair… And during International Women’s Month, no less. 🙂‍↔️

Surely I can’t be the only one who thinks we could have done a lot better than this??

Sabrina Chevannes-Denman

I’m for hire again baby!!! I’m available for speaking gigs. 🥳

And for the next 3 gigs, I’m waiving my fee.

Yup - you heard it. You get me for FREE. I get paid nada. Zilch. Diddly squat! 😱 

No, I’m not feeling generous - there is a caveat. It’s a trade… 

For professional footage for my speaker showreel. 🎥

I’ve been really laxed with filming my keynotes and workshops and now I need to get intentional about it. 

For those who don’t already know me, here’s what I speak on:

💥 Small teams, big profits: how to grow your business without the BS
💥 Chess in business: strategy, analytics and critical thinking
💥 Creating an authentically authentic personal brand

Requirements:
👥 Live audience
🎥 Proper videography
✅ Permission to reuse clips

So, if you’re running an event and you’re wondering how to get an epic speaker within your measly speaker budget - your prayers are now answered!

Get in touch for more info, or if you want testimonials, but I’m sure my audience will vouch for me too 😅

This weekend, I stayed in the Four Seasons in Tower Bridge, even though it’s just 20 mins from my house.

It wasn’t about going far - it was about switching off. 

🥞 Eating great food
🍸 Sipping on fun cocktails
🧖🏾‍♀️ Enjoying the luxury spa
👩🏽‍❤️‍👨🏼 Spending quality time

Plus, Bella came too - she approved 🐶 

I didn’t realise just how rejuvenating that weekend was until I got up this morning at 6am and felt instantly productive. 

And I’m NOT a morning person!

I bashed out so much work on my way to my team day today and suddenly had all this clarity to the things I wasn’t sure about a week ago. 

I always underestimate how much I need a rest. 😴

But I do also think there’s something about surrounding yourself with luxury that has such a positive effect on you. 

Taking that moment out to “escape” and just purely enjoy everything, without worrying about work, money, health etc., was somewhat liberating. 🥳

I encourage everyone to take a staycation and just enjoy the finer things in life for a weekend. Enjoy doing NOTHING. 

When was the last time you took a genuine break? Didn’t even look at your phone? If you can’t remember, this is your sign to take one!

Today I’m calling bullsh*t on International Women’s Day! 🤬

I’m SICK AND TIRED of what this day is about now. 

What started as something powerful - rooted in labour movements, protest, and women fighting for basic rights - has slowly turned into corporate propaganda and exploitation.

Every year I’m asked to speak at IWD events to help “empower” other women.
But somehow there’s never a speaker budget. 🙄🙄🙄

Funny how empowerment rarely seems to include actually paying women for their expertise.

Instead, every year, you get men organising token events so they can look like the “good guys”.

🦸🏼‍♂️ Putting women on a stage.
🦸🏼‍♂️ Taking photos.
🦸🏼‍♂️ Posting about how much they “support women”.

And somehow acting like the women should be grateful for the opportunity. 🤦🏽‍♀️

They call that empowerment, but somehow it feels more like free labour wrapped in PR. 

Then there’s the absolute bullsh*t behind the “official” International Women’s Day website. 😤

Most people assume it’s run by the UN - it’s NOT!

The domain is privately owned by a marketing company that has essentially turned the day into a global branding campaign - selling themes, hashtags and corporate partnerships every year. 

Profiting off the vulnerability of women. 🤮

Their defence?
“International Women’s Day belongs to everyone.”

BULLSH*T!!

International Women’s Day didn’t start as a marketing campaign.

It started in the early 1900s labour movement, when women were protesting for basic rights like voting, fair pay and safe working conditions.

The UN only formally adopted it decades later in 1975.

But now?

It’s become a yearly parade of corporate LinkedIn posts, pastel graphics, and panel events where women are asked to speak for “visibility” instead of being paid like professionals. 🥱

And honestly, the irony is almost too perfect.

A day that exists because women were historically exploited… is now being used to exploit women again. 🤦🏽‍♀️

So highlighting this bullsh*t should be a core part of International Women’s Day.

But if you really want to support and respect women… it’s not that difficult:
💪🏽 Pay them for speaking gigs
💪🏽 Treat them the same way you treat men
💪🏽 Pay them equal salaries
💪🏽 Don’t act like they’re just decorations for diversity panels
💪🏽 Don’t treat them like s*xual objects
💪🏽 Don’t take advantage of their vulnerability

Basically, just be decent human beings. 

At least try, FFS.

Are we now in a world where bad behaviour can just be blamed on disability?!

And does a diagnosis give someone blanket immunity to be a d***??

I’ve watched the BAFTAs incident unfold with disbelief. 😢

A racial slur was shouted at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they were on stage - and it was aired on national TV.

Let me be very clear before people jump in:
I fully understand that Tourette’s involves involuntary tics and outbursts. I cannot imagine how difficult that is to live with. And I am not attacking people with Tourette’s.

However, I have never experienced someone with Tourette’s directing that word at me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

And my disgust is aimed far less at the individual involved and far more at BBC, who chose to broadcast it - while apparently having no problem cutting references to Palestine from another speech.

That decision matters.

What’s made this worse is the narrative that’s followed.

It’s quickly turned into “Black people vs people with disabilities” - a false and harmful divide that helps absolutely no one. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Then I scroll social media and see people joking about “claiming Tourette’s” so they can say whatever they like with no consequences. 🤬

Others comparing it to people using ADHD or neurodivergence as an excuse for bad behaviour at work.

That’s what’s truly upsetting.

Because people who genuinely live with these conditions are now being lumped in with those using them as a shield from accountability. 💔

We’re seeing more and more incidents where there are no consequences - and worse, where systems seem to protect harm rather than address impact.

So I’ll ask the uncomfortable question:

Where is the line between compassion and accountability?
And what happens if we keep pretending this isn’t becoming a problem?! 🤔

Two years ago, I was on a billboard for International Women’s Day 🤯

I remember walking around London and suddenly seeing my own face staring back at me as part of a brilliant campaign run by Tobi Oredein and the Black Ballad team, in partnership with Google.

The campaign was about showcasing the future of the workforce.

🙌🏽 Women who excel in their fields.
🙌🏽 Women who are breaking ceilings.
🙌🏽 Women who don’t always look like the stereotypical image of success.

The campaign genuinely moved me. 

To have a giant like Google invest in a campaign that centred women... Black women... and celebrated excellence like that was incredibly powerful.

Not just for us...

But for every little Black girl walking past those billboards thinking:
“Maybe that could be me.” 🥹

Because representation matters.

Seeing someone who looks like you doing the thing you dream of doing can change how big you allow yourself to think.

To me, THIS is what a powerful International Women’s Day campaign looks like!

👎🏽 Not empty posts.
👎🏽 Not token panels.
👎🏽 Not performative LinkedIn captions.

🙌🏽 Real investment.
🙌🏽 Real visibility.
🙌🏽 Real impact.

I was incredibly proud to be part of it.

And massive respect to the people and companies who actually put their money, platform and influence behind initiatives like this.

That’s how you celebrate women 👏🏽

I'm soooo excited to be writing for Entrepreneur Media again!!

I'm going to be investing a lot more time into writing now, while I work on publishing my next book. 

So, I will be producing a fair few articles for Entrepreneur.com

First up of 2026: Why all entrepreneurs should play chess!!

Whenever I've seen chess and business compared, it's the same usual, boring comparisons. 

So I picked 5 completely new ones I've never seen suggested anyway. 

Check out the article here:
https://lnkd.in/gb5XCijh

PSA: Just because someone doesn’t put “ADHD”, “Autistic”, “Neurodivergent”, or “Neurospicy” in their LinkedIn headline… doesn’t mean they don’t live with it.

Just because you’re louder about it, doesn’t mean you suffer more.
Just because you’ve made it your entire identity doesn’t mean you’re entitled to more sympathy, more grace, or more respect.

Some people are just getting on with it.
🧠 Doing the work.
🧠 Building the business.
🧠 Managing the chaos in their brain privately.
🧠 Learning coping mechanisms.
🧠 Trying to improve.

Without broadcasting it.

I have huge respect for neurodivergent creators who educate, advocate and genuinely help people. That work is totally needed and they’ve helped change many a life. 

But the thing is, a diagnosis may explain behaviour, but it doesn’t excuse it.

Being neurodivergent doesn’t give you blanket immunity to:
👎🏽 Talk down to people
👎🏽 Be consistently unreliable without accountability
👎🏽 Be rude
👎🏽 Refuse feedback
👎🏽 Dismiss impact with “this is just how I am”

Invisible disabilities work both ways.

You can’t demand that the world recognise nuance…while assuming that anyone who isn’t loud about it must be “less aware” or “less evolved”.

I totally get that it’s harder for some people, and that’s OK. No one is expecting anyone to be perfect. But people are expecting you to care. To want to try and manage things better. 💕

Look, some people don’t want labels to define them.
Some people are still processing it. 
Some are navigating significant challenges and choosing to handle them privately while working relentlessly on the parts that hurt their relationships or careers. 💔

Advocacy is powerful, yes, but so is personal responsibility. They are not opposites. 

They can (and should) coexist. 💪🏽

And maybe the real flex isn’t announcing your diagnosis…
Maybe it’s doing the work to ensure it doesn’t become your excuse.

Former Dragon from Dragon’s Den agrees that there’s a lot of bullsh*t in entrepreneurship! 😱

And it’s genuinely hurting entrepreneurs - making them lose money, endure unnecessary stress and not preparing them for how difficult running a business really is. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Richard Farleigh on his new podcast, The Boardroom, where we talked about how most founders do marketing wrong, and why so many of them choose to bullsh*t. 🐂💩

Richard has invested in over 120 businesses, so he’s seen first hand the most common mistakes founders make in business and what actually makes entrepreneurs successful. 

This was SUCH a great episode, covering so many useful topics for founders, PLUS, how chess can be used to help problem solve in business too! 

Tune into the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eeW-b35N

Why is there still so much racism in 2026? 
And why do so many people pretend it doesn’t exist? 😢

I’ve been thinking a lot about the latest racism incident involving Vinícius Júnior - and it’s been a little difficult to take. 

For those who don’t follow football:
Vinícius is one of the best players in the world. A Brazilian international playing for Real Madrid - arguably the biggest club on the planet.

Last week, during a Champions League match against Benfica, he reported being racially abused on the pitch. 🙊

The accused player now denies it, and because he covered his mouth, there’s no clear footage. Some players say they heard it, others say they didn’t. 🤷🏽‍♀️

But here’s the bit that really upsets me:

Instead of the conversation being “racism is disgusting”, it quickly became:
“Why does it always happen to him?”
“Maybe he misunderstood.”
“He provokes it.”

Apparently, celebrating a goal now makes racial abuse understandable.
Even José Mourinho weighed in - reinforcing the idea that Vini’s behaviour is the real issue. That he was celebrating the goal too much… as if that somehow justified the racism. 😡

Vini has:
– Had racist effigies made of him
– Seen people jailed for abusing him
– Been targeted repeatedly, across multiple stadiums

And yet… people still say he’s making it up. 🤦🏾‍♀️

I scrolled through Instagram after the incident and all the comments were against Vini and it really got to me. 

It made me think that this is exactly why so many Black people stay quiet.

Because speaking up doesn’t just mean reliving the incident - it means being cross-examined, doubted, and blamed. 💔

I even see it myself here on LinkedIn. The reactions I get on my posts are very different to other posts, even with the same opinion. 

And when you constantly get negativity and even hate, just for speaking your mind - why do you want to keep doing it?

💪🏽 Being outspoken does NOT make racism acceptable.
💪🏽 Confidence is NOT consent for abuse. 
💪🏽 Celebration is NOT provocation.

The “No Room for Racism” campaign means nothing if, the moment it appears, we rush to explain it away.

And to those who say racism doesn’t exist because they haven’t seen it:
Just because something doesn’t happen to you… doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

This World Book Day, I want to share my TBR for the month. 

And its no coincidence they’re all written by women as that’s what I do every March during International Women’s Month. 

I’ve been needing inspiration lately from hugely powerful women. And when I say powerful, I don’t mean rich. 

I’ve picked: 
- Finding Me by Viola Davis
- The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
- Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
- How To Fail by Elizabeth Day
- I am Malala by Malala :) 

Would love to hear thoughts from anyone who’s read these and any other suggestions by incredible women that helped motivate them through a difficult time in life

No alternative text description for this image

A podcast with a former Dragon and a tour around Steven Bartlett's office - this month was incredibly motivating 🙌🏽

February was the month I decided to come out of my shell again. 

I actually met up with people, went on podcasts, attended events etc. 

After dealing with grief, I really struggled to feel comfortable around people. So, I hid away and even pivoted my business so that I ran fewer events and had less contact with people. 😢 

This month, I gradually picked myself up to do some one on ones, and even joined a dance class!

It’s felt amazing to see a glimmer of my old self, and now I’m psyched for what March will be like. 

It’s already picking up that fire horse energy, so I’m feeling really pumped for this Lunar New Year. 🥳

I’m definitely looking to do lots more events, keynotes and collabs this year, so please do get in touch if you fancy doing something together!

What I did in February 

Most business owners make the same mistakes amateur chess players do. 

They play speed chess with their business. 

Now, speed chess (or blitz, as we call it) seems fun - it’s fast, it’s exciting and keeps us on our toes. But the problem is, it’s poor quality chess. 🤦🏾‍♀️

If we want to improve, we should be taking our time and studying classical chess and playing longer games. 

But most people don’t want to do that, as that’s “boring”. 🥱

So they constantly play blitz and wonder why they don’t improve. 

It’s the same in business. People are going after hacks, delving straight into marketing without any strategy and looking for shortcuts wherever they can. 🙄

This just means they will never learn how to run a business properly. 

Sure, they will find some quick wins and get lucky here and there, but they will never really improve and get the respect of investors and real business moguls. 

I’ve just done a video on my YouTube on how similar blitz chess is to how founders are running businesses these days. 

So, if you want to learn how to play REAL chess with your business, here’s the link to the full video:
https://lnkd.in/eHBt22YQ

When I posted that I made £126k on LinkedIn last year, I had mixed reactions.

Some called BS, some thought it was great and many others claimed that number was pathetic and they were making that in a week. 

I wasn't saying it to brag, but to be transparent. 

I live in Zone 2 in London and live a very social life. I get that £126k doesn't buy you that life. 

So, it's not about the number, but I wanted to show people tangible proof that there is money to be made on LinkedIn if you do things properly. 

That's why I've broken down how I did that on my latest YouTube video, which can be found here:
https://lnkd.in/e7u4DdVG

If you're worried your posts aren't reaching enough people, then this one is definitely for you.

This week's theme of my content has all been around the LinkedIn bullsh*t out there and how to ACTUALLY make money on LinkedIn. 

I'm bringing back my weekly newsletter - No Bullsh*t Entrepreneurship, which summarises the content I put out on a weekly basis, the lessons from them and the discussions from other entrepreneurs. 

If you don't want to miss the content I do, this is a great way to get everything in one place, straight to your inbox. 

Hit subscribe if you don't want to miss an issue.

View newsletter: No Bullsh*t Entrepreneurship

This Week’s Theme: LinkedIn BS Lately, the LinkedIn feed has been filled with complaints about LinkedIn. Very meta. The consensus is that LinkedIn is 

Open article: How to make money from LinkedIn by Sabrina Chevannes-Denman • 2 min read

I think Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist is one of the most misunderstood books for entrepreneurs. 

People think it's a free pass for plagiarism! And we wonder why there have been all these silly posts starting with "Steal My...". 

It's actually an incredible book, IF used properly. 

So, I decided to review it on my YouTube channel and explain how this book can genuinely be super useful in entrepreneurship, rather than lead you into a massive legal battle and lose your creativity and credibility along the way. 

Full video here:
https://lnkd.in/e5qmN7mB

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 80% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬?

Movies make poker look like constant action:
💥 Huge bluffs.
💥 Big all-ins.
💥 Dramatic showdowns.

But the reality is much quieter.

Most professional players are patiently folding hand after hand… watching, analysing, waiting for the right moment.

Because good poker isn’t about playing every hand - it’s about playing the 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 hands.

Business is exactly the same, yet I see so many founders doing the opposite:
👎🏽 Saying yes to every opportunity.
👎🏽 Every collaboration.
👎🏽 Every meeting.
👎🏽 Every shiny new idea.

That’s the equivalent of playing 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 with your business.

I am constantly seeing more and more parallels between poker and entrepreneurship - and I’ve broken down why folding more hands might be the smartest thing you can do in your business in my latest YouTube video. 

If you feel like you’re busy all the time but not necessarily moving forward… this might explain why.

🎥 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eJk4jBJD

Fractional Creative Director helping growing B2B companies stand out and scale with senior-level expertise in brand, design, marketing, and communications

I partner with forward-thinking leadership and marketing teams who need senior-level creative expertise without the overhead of a full agency or in-house team.

What I do: I integrate directly with leadership teams as your fractional creative director, delivering comprehensive brand strategy, identity development, and creative execution that positions you as the leader in your industry.

Who I help: Growing B2B companies with innovative solutions that need their brand to reflect their forward-thinking approach and capture their true market value. I work extensively with technology, energy, sustainability, construction, and manufacturing organizations, but welcome any industry with a growth mindset.

The result: Clear brand positioning, cohesive visual identity, and compelling marketing materials that help you stand out from competitors, build trust with stakeholders, and win more ideal clients.

My approach as a fractional partner:
→ Develop strategic brand foundations aligned with business goals and market positioning
→ Transform complex technical solutions into clear, compelling brand stories
→ Create comprehensive visual identities that resonate with your target audience
→ Design high-impact marketing collateral and digital assets
→ Manage end-to-end creative projects from brand strategy to final execution
→ Build scalable brand systems and guidelines that maintain consistency as you grow

Core services: Brand strategy and identity design, website development, marketing collateral, annual/ESG reports, trade show materials, creative direction, and integrated marketing campaigns.

Why fractional works: You get 20+ years of senior creative and brand expertise, strategic thinking, and seamless project management—exactly when you need it, scaled to your current growth stage and budget.

Ready to elevate your brand? Let's connect!

Charmaine Muzyka

I told a manufacturing company to remove the robots from their homepage and put their workers front and center instead.

Their close rate jumped from 12% to 36% within 6 months.

We flipped the story.

Instead of leading with automation, we led with the humans who made it work.

The homepage became about their team's expertise, their problem-solving approach, and how they partnered with clients.

The robots were still there. But now they were tools in skilled hands.

I keep seeing industrial brands make this mistake. Leading with machines and burying their people - the exact thing that makes them different, trustworthy, and worth paying a premium for.

Your machines are impressive. But your people are your brand :)

Fractional Creative Director | Senior-level expertise in design, brand, marketing and communications → Helping companies scale and stand out by fixing brand and marketing gaps that slow down sales

"We'll rebrand your entire company for $15K and triple your leads in 90 days."

"We guarantee #1 Google rankings for your top keywords in 30 days."

"We'll build a funnel converting 40% of traffic to demos in 60 days."

This is how a standard agency promise looks like.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it probably is.

I've talked with dozens of industrial CEOs over the years, and most of them have been burned by promises like these.

They paid good money for work that didn't deliver on the promises. Wasted months going back and forth, then had to start over with someone else. 

By the time they got to me, they were skeptical of everyone, and I don't blame them.

Here's what I tell them: 

If an agency guarantees specific results or promises the world for ridiculous prices, walk away. 

Good work always takes time, strategy, and realistic expectations.

Especially when it comes to the B2B industry.

I caught myself doing something stupid last year.

A client questioned a design direction I'd taken.

It was valid feedback. 

But instead of considering it, I spent 20 minutes defending my choice.

Admitting I was wrong felt like admitting I wasn't good at my job.

Later that day, my self-awareness kicked in and I realized my ego had taken over my judgment. I thought I was maintaining standards and protecting my vision. 

What I was really doing was protecting my image.

I keep seeing this all the time..

Leaders who reject good advice because it came from someone junior.

Founders doubling down on a failing strategy because they committed publicly.

The pattern is always the same: ego makes you optimize for looking right instead of getting results.

The main lesson I’ve learned:

The faster you can separate your identity from your decisions, the better those decisions get.

You're not your strategy. 
You're not your design choices. 
You're not even your business.

You're the person trying to make the smartest call with the information you have.

And sometimes, the smartest call is admitting you were wrong and changing direction.

People think most of a Creative Director’s work happens in design tools.

In reality, I spend more time in sales calls and technical specs.

Before creating a single visual, I'm trying to understand:

- Why prospects hesitate
- What sales teams keeps having to explain on every call
- Where customers still don't ‘get it’

The glamorous 20% of the work - the logo reveal, the trade show booth, the website launch - that's what people see.

The 80% that nobody sees looks more like an engineer's whiteboard than an artist's studio:

- Customer interviews
- Competitive research
- Working out how to explain a complex service so it actually clicks

That's where the real foundational work is.

And it follows me everywhere, including booking calls at airport gates.

If you've hired a creative before and felt like they never really understood your business, it's probably because they skipped that 80%.

Customer acquisition costs in B2B have climbed 60%+ in the last five years.

And most industrial CEOs are overlooking one major factor driving it:

Their brand.

I spoke with a frustrated CEO last year. Their sales team was working hard, their ad spend was climbing, but every new customer was costing them more to acquire.

They blamed the market... the usual suspect, right?

But when I dug into their materials, the problem was obvious: they'd become invisible in a market full of companies that all looked the same.

A weak brand costs you more and more at every stage:

1. No recognition or trust = higher cost per click, lead, and sale
2. More touchpoints needed before prospects feel confident
3. More ads, more follow-ups, more convincing

Meanwhile, their competitor with a strong brand was spending less and closing faster, because prospects already trusted them.

My point here is; a strong brand directly reduces customer acquisition costs.

It's the foundation that everything else stands on.

When your brand does the heavy lifting - sales, marketing, and growth all get cheaper and easier.

taplio

The Battle

🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)

Charmaine Muzyka

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Performance Score🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCharmaine Muzyka's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)

Charmaine Muzyka

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCharmaine Muzyka's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance Score🧙🏽‍♀️ Sabrina Chevannes (EMBA, CMktr)'s LinkedIn Performance