By: Taylor Berry

In today’s business and pop culture landscape, it makes good business sense for celebrities, corporate leaders, and high-profile influencers to leverage their platforms for positive social change. Melissa Creede, who has worked with musicians, athletes, and Fortune 500 executives, emphasizes that those in the public eye amplify their relevance, media coverage, longevity, and positive engagement with fans and followers by using their fame and their platforms for good. And there is an element of personal fulfillment and legacy that results as well. But Creede underscores the importance of professional guidance from someone who has expertise in this area to avoid embarrassing and costly missteps.

Creede helps entertainment and business professionals clarify the causes they care about and identify purpose-driven strategies to make meaningful contributions while strengthening their personal brand, as well as fan, customer, and employee loyalty. 

In the entertainment world, where you’re vying for fans, authenticity is essential. “Audiences are incredibly savvy,” Creede warns. “They know when something is just for PR. But when artists and creators speak about causes connected to their personal values, it not only strengthens their connection with fans but also creates relevance where you’re only as relevant as your latest song release or movie or your last athletic record.

This authenticity matters, especially among Millennials and Gen Z, who actively align their spending with their values. These younger employees want to know that a company’s social change initiatives are genuine, not PR tactics. 

Creede highlights that one essential aspect of this authenticity is the willingness to take meaningful risks. People often worry about choosing a social cause that may alienate some audiences, but as Creede explains, when you support a cause wholeheartedly, it forces those who are indifferent about you to form an opinion about you, which gains you new fans and creates even stronger bonds.  That’s where Creede’s coaching can help celebrities and leaders hone this authenticity by guiding them toward causes that genuinely resonate with their values.

Creede, author of Beyond Your Inbox: Intentional Leadership in a Distracted World, utilizes one of her guiding philosophies, her “what, why, and how” framework. She begins by clarifying their vision and motivations. ‘What and why should always be first and then the how second,’ she explains. For entertainers and business leaders, this means identifying the causes that matter most to them and then aligning them with their personal values. From there, they work with the artist’s broader team to develop a plan of action to incorporate the social impact vision into broader brand initiatives or public persona.

Creede’s leadership coaching offers a structured and impactful path forward for celebrities and business professionals who are ready to connect with values-oriented audiences. As Creede encourages, “Have a conversation. There’s no harm in seeing if this could make a difference for your brand and for your leaders.”.

You can learn more about Melissa and her insights on intentional leadership in a distracted world on her website. Lead with Melissa and follow her on social media: Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Published by Gracia M.