5 Experts on What Actually Builds Executive Visibility

We've interviewed hundreds of founders, operators, and communications professionals on the We Live to Build podcast. Every so often, a guest says something that reframes how we think about visibility itself, not as an occasional press hit, but as a compounding asset. Here are five of them, in their own words, on personal brand, earned media, and trust.

Stacey Ross Cohen on personal brand as a multiplier

Stacey Ross Cohen, founder and CEO of the communications firm Co-Communications, joined the podcast to talk about why executives can no longer hide behind the company logo.

"CEOs that do have human, likable, strong brands can attract more talented employees, more investment opportunities, more strategic opportunities... When you have a business and the business has a good brand, and then you have a CEO or business owner that has a really powerful brand, that's when one plus one is equal to three."

Her framing was blunt: "Personal branding is not a luxury, but it's a requirement." Hear the full conversation on the podcast.

Curtis Sparrer on why earned media still wins

Curtis Sparrer is a principal at Bospar, a PR agency. On the podcast, he made the case that earned coverage still outranks anything a company or executive publishes about themselves, even in a world flooded with AI-generated content.

"Earned media is the most important. What comes second is how you describe yourself on your own media sites... how can I go after either high domain places or places with tons of industry credibility?"

Listen to the full episode, "Earned Media Is Still King, But Not for the Reason You Think".

Bill Cates on borrowed trust

Bill Cates, a referral growth expert, broke down why an introduction from someone you trust cuts through more noise than any amount of outbound effort.

"They borrowed a trust in one relationship long enough to earn our own trust in the new relationship... How do you cut through all the noise? How do you have a relevant message?... the fastest way to that is an introduction from someone they trust."

Full conversation: "Borrowed Trust: Why Strangers Wire Money Before They Know You".

Jarrod Lopiccolo on the economics of a bad first impression

Jarrod Lopiccolo, an architect-turned-agency-CEO, put a number on why reputation compounds in both directions.

"Brand is sold through emotion... you have a bad experience, you're gonna tell 12 people; you have a good experience, you're gonna tell two people."

Hear more in his episode.

Simon Schillebeeckx on reputation as a founder asset

Simon Schillebeeckx, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Handprint, talked about how his and his co-founders' published track record became a business asset in its own right.

"The way we exemplify this to our corporate clients has a lot to do with building trust and reputation. My own reputation as an academic, my co-founder's reputation... we've written about this, we worked for the UN."

Catch the full episode, "3 White Male Co-Founders Noticed a Pattern and Changed It".

Five guests, five different businesses, one recurring thread: visibility isn't a nice-to-have layered on top of a good business, it's part of what makes people trust the business in the first place. That's the whole premise behind our media and visibility services. For five more guest voices on AI search, PR strategy, and personal brand, see part two of this roundup.