Elevating an Issue Through Thought Leadership |Reilly Brock | 336

Does your thought leadership solve global issues? How do you draw attention to a multinational crisis, on a personal scale?

Our guest in today's episode is Reilly Brock, the Associate Creative Director at Imperfect Foods. Imperfect Foods is a weekly grocery delivery service on a mission to build a better, less wasteful food system. Through their efforts, they help people save time, money, and the planet.

As Associate Creative Director, Reilly has a passion for making the average person aware of the global food waste problem, and giving them options to waste less food. Through his work, he educates customers on ways to increase and improve regional sourcing, utilize food that would otherwise be squandered, and make empowered decisions. They pay attention to wide-scale problems (like the reason Imperfect Foods doesn't sell bananas), so their customers can feel assured that their choices are having a positive impact on the world.

Reilly has been delivering his message in long form writing, infographics, and even a podcast, in order to engage different audiences through the mediums they prefer. He, and Imperfect Foods, seek to spread the message that even multinational problems can be solved by individual action. By creating a sense of agency for their customers, Reilly creates excitement, so his audience will further share the ideas. That way, he can create an even broader movement.

We close with useful advice for those just starting out in a thought leadership role. Reilly explains why you should determine who your audience is, and just as importantly, who your audience is not. Don't water down your content to reach a wider audience. Focus your efforts where you can have the most impact, and your audience will carry the message forward for you. 

Three Key Takeaways:

• Thought Leadership has the power to shine a light on invisible problems, and provide tangible ways the audience can get involved in solving them.
•      Don't dilute your Thought Leadership message!  Instead, use different mediums and types of content to reach a wider audience.
• When creating powerful Thought Leadership, make sure you have evergreen content that draws your audience back —  time and time again.