We were lucky to catch up with Mai-kee Tsang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mai-kee , appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

When it comes to increasing your visibility as an entrepreneur, the industry’s core narrative is to “Put Yourself Out There at All Times” (often at all costs).

The problem is? This primarily serves the folks who have more dominant identities which naturally come with their own respective set of privileges.

As an entrepreneur myself with a multitude of marginalised identities (intertwined with my dominant ones), it became clear very early on in my journey where the following the “Put Yourself Out There at All Times” caused more harm than it helped my business.

That’s why in 2020, I founded The Sustainable Visibility® Movement where I hold space and lead conversations about being visible in a way that honours the intersections of your identity, your personal capacity, and your sense of safety.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you introduce yourself to our readers.

I help underrepresented entrepreneurs to become more visible in a way that feels good, and does good for their business.

Why? So they can show up consistently for their community, clients, and collaborators without compromising their personal capacity, integrity as an entrepreneur, as well as their bottom line.

Back in 2019, I pitched myself to 101 Podcasters in 30 days, and I received a 33% booking rate. Since then, I’ve taught hundreds of entrepreneurs my Pitch with Purpose™ methodology to send pitches with integrity and intention. Then in 2020, I reverse engineered the process to uncover *why* Podcast Guesting served as a sustainable strategy for my visibility and held conversations with folks who wanted to understand WHY some strategies worked for others, but not themselves. This led to my Certification in Trauma-Sensitive Leadership which helped me explore the impact of intersections of one’s identity on how they show up in their businesses. From there, I started leading and holding conversations in the Sustainable Visibility® Movement to help entrepreneurs – especially the underrepresented – to uncover their own way of showing up on their terms.

I work with clients in 3 key forms:

1) My “Safely Seen” 1:1 Coaching – For leaders who yearn to have a private space to design their timeless and adaptable Sustainable Visibility® strategy and signature topics of influence.

2) Sustainable Visibility® Incubator Group Mentorship Program – For rising leaders to learn the foundations of Sustainable Visibility® in terms of their Safety, Signature Body of Work, and Customised Strategy alongside aligned peers.

3) On-Demand Digital Workshops:

i) The Ultimate Podcast Guesting Workshop Series: Want to book yourself on more aligned podcasts by sending FEWER pitches? Learn my signature 3 stage framework where you’ll learn the complete process from A-Z to build your authority, amplify your voice, and expand your business’s impact as a Podcast Guest Expert.

ii) Converse with Consent™ Workshop: For coaches, brand strategists and interviewers who want to hold safer space for their clients and community by integrating more trauma-conscious practices.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A mentors word must always be taken with a pinch (or a handful) of salt.

Naturally we want to learn from those who have been where we are, so we often hold their advice in high regard – even at the expense of our needs at times.

When I listened to a mentors advice around being visible earlier in my journey, I reluctantly followed it (my nervous system knew I was going down the wrong road) and it ultimately reopened a trauma wound. This was a major setback in my business because I had to prioritise my healing and re-regulation of my nervous system – this meant saying no to aligned growth opportunities, pausing client projects, postponing launches and more.

In retrospect, I can see how it was a cleverly – and likely subconscious – projection of their own results. But what was missing in the advice-giving was the acknowledgement of their own privilege and access to resources played a role in their success.

So now whenever I listen to someone’s advice it’s essential for me to assess how closely our degree of privileges and access to resources are aligned (or not).

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency is often spoken about through the lens of frequency (how OFTEN you show up).

To me, I’ve always prioritised to focus on consistency through the lenses of character and intentionality.

As the quote by the great Maya Angelou once said: “People will forget what you say, people will forget what you do, but people will never forget how you make them feel.”

I’ve always focused on developing the depth of my relationships with my community, clients and collaborators, and it shows. When people enter my orbit of influence, they stay for 6+ months up to several years, and my peers I’ve met years ago still continue to be folks I collaborate with.

So in a nutshell, my reputation has been built because I’ve focused on developing the depth of my relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maikeetsang.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maikeetsang/
• Facebook: N/A
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maikeetsang/ <– new!
• Twitter: N/A
• Youtube: N/A
• Yelp: N/A
• Other: My Podcast: https://maikeetsang.com/podcast/ My email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Svetlana Bennington (For all 5 photos provided)