We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nora Rahimian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nora below.

Nora, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

I had been managing a popular hip hop artist in Liberia, and we’d had some great successes together, including some significant press, producing a 20,000 person music festival, and securing an endorsement deal for him with a major telecom (the first Liberian artist to do so!). When he and i parted, i continued to nurture my industry relationships. And people would frequently reach out and ask me for advice or to “pick my brain”. I usually said yes, but as their asks got more complicated and required more from me, i realized it was only fair that i be compensated for my work. So the next time someone asked, i named a price. And they said yes, no questions asked. So i named a higher price to the next person, and they also said yes, no problem. And that’s both how i realized that my expertise and experience had value, and how i figured out what a fair rate looked like for both me and my clients.

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

I’m an anticapitalist business coach. What that means is that i help people achieve their goals without giving up financial freedom or creative control. And it means we do it all without contributing to or participating in systems of harm and oppression. What makes me different from other coaches is that my work is people-first; it recognizes the humanity in you as a creative or entrepreneur, in your customers and clients, and in the communities which we’re all a part of. And this framework works! I’ve helped clients achieve their yearly income goal in just 9 months, leave their day jobs to live off their creative passion, fundraise for big projects, develop partnerships with major institutions, establish themselves as public speakers and thought leaders, restructure their relationship with social media, increase their earnings with negotiation coaching, come up with values-aligned business and marketing plans, and build more time into their schedules for joy and rest.

I also run #CultureFix, a global, collaborative network for artists and entrepreneurs who use their platform for social change, produce Den Music Fest, an artist-first hip hop festival invested in amplifying independent artists who are making great music and making new music discovery easy for fans who are tired of the mainstream, and sit on the board of two organizations focused on wealth redistribution and human rights work.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Most people will say social media, but social media stresses me out. I don’t like feeling like i have to create for an algorithm when what i really want to do is nurture genuine human relationships. So i allow myself to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to clients. This is also one of the ways my anticapitalist values are built into my business: i put people ahead of vanity metrics and, in doing so, my clients get a better experience with me.

I have a newsletter, and i really love the community i’ve built there. Even if they don’t open it, folks see my name in their inbox each month, and it’s a gentle way of reminding them that i’m here and want to be of value. I run a Discord that feels like a community clubhouse in the best, and my bi-weekly co-working hours let people tap in find support, accountability, and encouragement. My DMs are always open and i respond to all my messages. And i check on my clients. I send them opportunities that might be good for them, and i refer them for things, and i write them handwritten mail to say “congrats” or “i’m thinking of you during this time”.

Ultimately, i’m very intentional about the connection with my clients. I treat them like humans, and let them see the human in me, and that let’s us build a relationship that’s about more than the transaction of services. And because they see that i care, and that i’m good at what i do, and that i do it with integrity and values, i earn their loyalty. It’s not about branding but about how i consistently and authentically show up.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The literal answer to this is that i put myself out there: I speak on podcasts and panels, share tips and ideas in my newsletter, lead workshops and classes. I make myself accessible so that folks can engage with me and my ideas.

More broadly, though, everything i’ve done in my career, i’ve done without sacrificing my authenticity or my integrity. And over the years, folks have seen that. I show up consistently. And even if that means saying no to clients who aren’t values-aligned no matter how much “clout” they have, or losing engagement because of my stance on a human rights issue, or walking away from a bunch of money because the partnership didn’t feel right, my practice of being authentically human, of leading with values over profit, and of not being afraid of saying no to what might seem like an opportunity has allowed people to know me and trust me, and that’s what my reputation has been built on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/norarahimian
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/norarahimian
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norarahimian/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/norarahimian
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OfficeHoursWithNoraAndSto/streams
• Other: Newsletter signup: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLjbZuZq_H3rN_Zs2kjjdqSMWS9UsZYorDTGaRs8Yk8ztBgA/viewform

Image Credits
Simon Rahimian