Name:  Brunda Sunil

Title: CMO

Organisation: Success Vitamin

Brunda Sunil is a seasoned marketer for coaches building their personal brands, founder of Brand The You and CMO of Success Vitamin. She says she has fallen in love with marketing in her Engineering Class.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Brunda's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

As a leader I found that the fine line in being assertive and friendly was blurred many times. I overcame it by investing in a leadership coach. I want those of you reading this answer that you invest in a coach and skip years of trial and error. Choose a safe hands and fall back.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I started out as a fiction blogger with a WordPress blog as a hobby. Then the world of marketing and writing engulfed me into its charms. But the journey wasn't easy, with an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. I started solving problems and failed thrice when it came to establishing a business of my own. I then invested in a coach to tap into the abundant mindset and consumed free content. This helped me realise a big gap in the market. After which I started a personal branding agency that takes away the tech ache from my audience. Later as I entered motherhood and an experience with a couple of toxic clients. I started working full time as the CMO of my ideal client

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

It is crazy right now as I have a 9 month old infant.

Planning the day around the baby is the biggest challenge I have faced.

Hence I start my day as early as 5 am to tap into the 4 hours of the early morning without interruptions.

Then some cleaning and cooking. I give time to the baby.

Then again I resume work.

Which goes on as the project demands.

One of the productive practices I follow Is planning the night before and using timers for focused work

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

A recent leadership lesson was to track the time and deadlines from the other teammates.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I think the books like " The Secret" and " The Alchemist" has had a very prominant impact with respect to how I view a certain problem. And how mind is the landscape for new solutions.

I loved how in the alchemist book, the boy writes his own destiny.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Help your subordinates. If they are unable to do a particular task properly then you as a leader have to sit down with them, sort it out and teach them through creating strong SOPs.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I love how in the remote working culture has given an opportunity to my peers to underestimate me and how the very situation has provided the trust from my boss. Play along