EP 19 | Monetizing Your Reputation: Positioning & High-Stakes Deals with Monique Sar

Are you "famous" or are you profitable?

In this episode of Think Brand | Talk Brand, Shivani Pandey sits down with Talent Agent and Strategic Advisor Monique Sar to bridge the gap between visibility and revenue. If you’ve ever struggled to explain your value in under 10 seconds, you are leaving money on the table.

In this strategy session, we answer:

• The 10-Second Rule: Why a "confusing pitch" is the biggest leak in your business revenue.
• Reputation Monetization: How to turn personal authority into repeat deal flow and corporate partnerships.
• The Generic Story Trap: How to stop sounding like every other "expert" and start sounding like the only solution.
• Market Positioning: Moving from "Please consider us" to having capital and partners pursue you.
•  _______________________________________________
• Monique Sar is a Founder, Talent Agent, and Strategic Advisor who helps founders, creators, professional athletes, and executives turn visibility into real revenue through clear positioning, strategic branding, and deal-focused marketing systems.
• _____________________________________________________________
• Podcast Host : Shivani Pandey , Founder - Think Brand Forward
• Think Brand Forward exists to help female founders build a timeless brands rooted in proven strategy—brands that outlive the founder and inspire the next generation of women.
• Latest Offer: Your Story Board : ⁠https://www.thinkbrandforward.com/story-board⁠Your Story Board is a strategic storytelling framework that helps you map the narratives that define your brand. Move beyond scattered content into cohesive, repeatable stories that align with your brand persona and actually convert.

Connect With Shivani:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkbrandforward/
• Website: www.thinkbrandforward.com
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivanipandey2506/
• Book your Storyboard : https://www.thinkbrandforward.com/story-board

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The reason founders start to convert is not because their product isn't converted, it's because their story has no sign. Beauty is not exactly clarity, but that's why the comment you are the director of your movie, of your business. So please stop acting like a stylist with the hex codes and the ballots. It's time to strip your blockbuster. Your storyboard is live, it's a new offer, all details in the show notes. Talk a lot about substance, but today we are talking about stakes. My guest today, Monique Saar, is a talent agent and a strategic advisor who has spent over a decade working with Fortune 500 companies, pro athletes, top-tier executives. She's the master of turning visibility into revenue. She is here to help us fix the generic storytelling that keeps most of the creators invisible even when they are shouting. Monique, let's go under the hood of what it really is that it takes to monetize a reputation. So, Monique, welcome to the show and let's get started. All right, Monique, I really want to know what's your hot take on the talent side of the work that you do?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, so um I love this question and thanks again for having me. I'm super excited to be here. Um, my biggest hot take on the talent side is that I do believe that a lot of these content creators that I'm working with, if they have like 50,000 followers or or more, they should at least be charging like 10k per deal. And I don't see that often enough. And that is my hot take because I feel like a lot of these content creators are charging like$500 or doing a lot of stuff for free or not thinking that they're big enough. Um, but yeah, I'd like to start there.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Oh my gosh, love that take. And I I think it's uh it fits so well into uh the work that I do because I it's all about the substance that you carry and how do you craft that substance, how do you craft your messaging so well that uh anyone approaching you knows what you're worth, right? So I think um, as I said, the theme of this episode is really about the uh the return on investment of clarity, right? Like moving from just being known to monetizing it. And I think that's your expertise, and that's why I'm so happy you're here because the audiences are going to, whoever tunes in is going to get so much important information out of it. So I really want to start from the fact that you work with, you know, uh high-level athletes or big businesses. How do you turn their generic story into something that makes them be known for that one thing that they are like, you know, that they can charge that premium because they constantly are known for it? So, how do you make that transformation for them? How do you turn that story for them?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, of course. And I think this definitely applies to like the speaker circuit and the content creators and influencers that are like generating this, right? So I feel like a lot of people talk about niching down, and that's super important because how do you become known as the expert in that one category or space, right? And I feel like what I've seen is that there's this huge push towards everyone moving into having transformations. So especially with these big organizations, like let's say if it's a speaker trying to become an expert and be known in that space, um, they have to sell a transformation. So they have to be like that guy or gal that can help like reduce turnover in tech companies by 50%, right? I know it's a crazy stat, but if you if it essentially if you're known being that person, you know, that's gonna make you the category expert there. Same thing goes on the talent side for like content creators and influencers as well. Because I see a lot of like talent that I work with, they just put like lifestyle creator or tech creator, right? It's not enough. And when we're looking at ROI and like some of those things that you were talking about, a lot of these brands care more about like how can they like get an ROI? How can they actually monetize that audience? And so it's really being very, very clear on the buying um availability that's there. So, like let's say, for example, let's say, for example, that content creator changes their bio to like sustainable Gen Z fashion influencer, right? That's extremely hyper-specific, and that's gonna help a lot of these brands like no hyper focus, like that's the type of audience that they can monetize. And so making it so crystal clear for them is gonna be like the biggest thing. And I'm sure like it comes up in your work too.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Yeah, it does because um when you serve everyone, you serve no one. You know, it's it's it's that the generic approach, being a generalist in today's world, does not work anymore the way it used to pre you know, pre-personal brands and pre-I, I mean, now we have AI that can even create the kind of volume, but if you're not honing in your your that expertise, that that thing that you can really help people transform, then you're just another voice in the noise, is what I say, right? So yeah, so it's it's I know that you work with a lot of these uh people on the talent side. And have you ever seen them uh lose massive deals because they were their messaging was just messy and like you know, there's a cost to not getting that clarity. So I really want to go and like hear from you what have you seen and what's the cost?

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yeah, of course, that's such a great question. So I see it all the time because when we're working with our brands, we do submit several creators at the same time, right? So it is a casting, and I can definitely see like why certain ones continue to get picked over some of the other ones. And you know, and it's like it's exactly like you said, when they're like a generalist or when that's not too clear, it doesn't make it like a no-brainer. Like you essentially have to make it um a no-brainer for these brands, and you have to make them be able to buy without and be able to be able to sell this to their leader teams as well. Because oftentimes these bookers are not the ones that have like the final say, they're also helping with the casting. So essentially, like we're all just like in the casting world together, and then when you actually have to like go back and sell it to the leader team, that's where you know we have to make it like such a no-brainer, where you know, it always goes past the guy who like leans back and is just like, okay, so which one do we actually go with? Right. Yeah, they have that person has to stand out so clearly. And and they can do that just by like, you know, making it super easy for the booker to be able to sell it to other people as well. Um, I feel like the biggest disadvantage that I see from the creators that are not getting picked is that it's really, really hard for them, um, or it's really hard for other people to explain what they do, or they just sound like a generalist, they just sound like everybody else. Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

And so, for example, if like somebody who wants to be a creator, right? And they are in this space where they they have something, whether it's entertainment or they are tech or they are you know in finance, whichever industry they're in, do they need real transformation first or do they need following first? What have you seen helps them get more traction, helps them get monetized? That is their followership, and you know, for followership, you have to do different kinds of things because you also have to dance on TikTok and like you know, I may be a finance creator, but I'm like, I need the followership, and then you work on transformation. So, what's the journey? Which way do you go? Can you, you know, enlighten the audience?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah, no, I love that question because I feel like it is a formula, right? It is like the positioning, which is definitely what you talk about. It's the presence. So having that like big following and it's the proof, right? I think the the positioning is what gets people talking about you and interested in you, and that's how you stand out. The presence is actually what gets you seen, and then the proof is what get people to actually buy and trust from you or buy from you and trust you. Um, and so I think it definitely needs to be a combination of all three. However, I do believe that the positioning is something that can be changed overnight. So even if you like, you know, have been like saying one thing for a very long time, you can change it right away and then just like that can be your new thing. Um, and I feel like a lot of people go with the building up presidents and building up your audience first, um, which is always a good play because like it's building that community. Um, but I think that when you are positioned, it's a lot easier for people to like follow you for that one reason and you know, like you become more well known for that as well. Um, I'm a big fan of like shared influence. And so, like, if that you know, there's opportunities to collaborate with other people that are where you want to go and where you want to target, you know, um, reach out to those people. I don't think it's like gonna hurt, you know, the lot the worst thing that they can do is say no.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, yeah, no, that's amazing advice. And I do see that conflict uh in a lot of people who are in the creator space, uh, where you know they are doing things out of alignment because they're really not clear on on the transformation that they provide. And and that is where I feel that how do you monetize your reputation? Because a lot of these creators are dependent on that monetization, otherwise, it'll be hard for them to carry on. So um, when you you talk about monetizing reputation a lot and uh the readiness that somebody needs to actually get the talent uh agents like yourself to take notice, what are the three things I need to do apart from what you said, like presence, uh positioning, and you know, uh the performance, the transformation. Um, I suppose I'm wanting I want you to get noticed. I want to get noticed by you. So, what are the three things I can do apart from this to get noticed by such talent agencies?

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yeah, 100%. So I know the obvious one is consistency, right? That's what brands are looking at, that's what bookers are looking at because a lot of people just like they'll go really hard for a while and then they'll just like go ghost for a while, right? So that doesn't look good for anybody. So that's obviously the really easy one that you can do right away. Um, the second one is that shared influence, right? So um just line aligning yourself with other like big players in the space. Um and the last one, which is I think the most important, is really locking in on your storytelling. So I feel like this is the one skill that um we're seeing more and more now, like even a lot of these big companies are like hiring for this role, especially in tech and like some of these various industries as well. Um, but I feel like where the content creators have an advantage is like if you can really hone in on your storytelling skills, not only is this gonna help you like with all of those three things, right? The the positioning, the presence, and the proof, but it's also going to help you stand out when you're trying to build um and then just get out there right now. Because at the end of the day, people also don't even know that you're open for business, right? Yeah, like people won't even know how to work with you. But as you're doing more storytelling and you're letting people in, um, that definitely lets people, you know, know that you're available, you're doing this thing, you're doing it consistently, you're here to stay. Gives them a reason to follow you, gives them a reason to trust you. And I think that um that's the one thing that people are missing the most.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Yeah, the consistency piece is so big because it's easy to lose hope that, oh, this is not working, but I don't think you've given it enough time after you've put the seeds in for it to, you know, grow. Let the plant grow and let it, you know, become a healthy plant before you start wanting the plant to give you any fruits, if that's the analogy I'm using here. Yeah, 100%. And I I love the fact that you talk about storytelling because I am a big proponent of storytelling. In fact, I have an offer specifically how to create your storyboard arc, right? Like it's a it's a it's an actual Hollywood secret on how to do a storyboard arc, and you know, that is how you can crystallize your story because we are all filled up with so many experiences, we play so many different roles in our life. Uh, and for our customer, we need to be that one thing, we can't be all of it. So when you are talking to your, you know, the the following that you have, you need to be known for that one thing, and that can come from storytelling. But there's a clear trick to it, and Hollywood has been using it for ages. Uh, I I also love that when I get my clients to come and tell me, please, I just want my storyboard arc with you so that you know I can create that that story that helps. And I work with a lot of product-based, you know, female founders. That's really my niche, uh, who I work with. So, um, do you have something for them on the talent side for these product-based female founders? How can they use this opportunity to showcase what they can do? Like whether it's partnerships or you know, um bigger brands um aligning with a smaller CPG brand, what you have. So, do you have something there that you can share with the audience?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, 100%. I feel like a big part of it too is like these founder stories, right? I think that a lot of people are capitalizing on it. There's a lot of power behind having a brand with a face to it, right? And if you're showing up constantly, people are following along. I think that's definitely really powerful. And there's one thing that I don't think a lot of people are talking about, but I feel like this is a big theme for 2026, anyways, that we're seeing with our clients is that a lot of brands are moving towards offline activations. So for some of these product-based brands, it's like, what are some offline activations that you can be a part of? I think pop-up culture is getting so crazy now, and what they can do with these pop-ups is like incredible. Um, but there's a trick to it. Um, there are certain organizations and even like celebrities that you can even partner with on this, or you can feature your products. Um, you might have to pay like a sponsorship fee. However, you can feature your products synonymous with that celebrity or that group without having to jump through all the hoops of like licensing and stuff. And it's because it's through an offline activation, it's a little bit less red tape compared to like, you know, some of these like big, big, big activations. Um but still, if you're able to align your product with these types of big names, that is some really incredible like um synergy and marketing that you can get there for not having to pay the full fee, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

No, absolutely. That's something that's so valuable to uh a lot of people because that's how you there is not just one way of marketing that can work. Some for some, it's personal brand and storytelling, for some, it is uh, you know, like the community that they're part of and partnerships, right? Like the synergy that you can find in partnerships is so beautiful. It's another way of putting the word out there, being known for what you do. So uh when it comes to uh storytelling and when it comes to visibility, you know, it's it's there is this need to be viral, right? Like I know it's we are in 2026 and virality has its place. But what I also often see is those one-time viral thing that happened for you, but then it fizzles out. There's nothing, there's nothing after that because you didn't have a plan in place. You got viral and you became this ex person known for this X thing, but it never ever kind of returned to the bank, if you have to say, in a way that so people who are chasing virality as a KPI or as something that they they think that is important for being known, does that play a big factor for you uh in your in your assessment? Or do you look at it like they may be viral, but then it's not sustainable, it's not something that can uh like you know continue to grow. So those are two different points of views, and I would really love to know what you how do you see it?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Yeah, totally. I I could talk about this for hours actually. That's such a great question. Um, but um such a great question because I feel like the biggest thing that when we're looking at like chasing virality and some of these big metrics, brands don't care too much about that anymore, right? And so when you look at it from the brand side, they care more about like the likes, the comments, the saves and the shares. The saves and the shares mostly, right? Um, and so those are the metrics they're caring about most. Obviously, impressions and views is still part of the campaign package, right? But then we see so many times as well where like maybe if the creator is falling short of the views that they really wanted to get, they end up just boosting them as well, right? So like there's tricks to that, but yeah, you can't really fake comments, likes, and shares and saves, right? Like these are some of the things that are like more important to some of these, um, more of these brands. And so um it comes down to just having the conversation with the brand and actually identifying the KPIs together. So um, because I'm like, you know, on the talent side, I'm like the matchmaker, if you will. Yeah between the two entities. Um and so from the the creator side, I can see it from their perspective as well because we want to make sure that they're also getting paid their worth and yeah, they're they're doing everything themselves. And also from the brand side because they're also investing a lot of money into something where they want to make sure there is some sort of, you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't go far to say as like a guarantee of results, but they really want to make sure you have some sort of ROI, right? But when we're structuring these campaigns, we will do it in a sense of like, hey, maybe it's a series of videos, and we also look at um, you know, when we're measuring the KPIs together, we choose them together. So it's like, hey, what are the most important ones to you? And then obviously with views, that one's easy because like everyone is chasing virality, and so that's not like a ripometric people are caring too much about, especially because you can just boost it on the back end. Um, but it's like these uh shares, saves, and comments, right? So it's like do we do different types of like engagement tactics or even like a giveaway post? Um, but how we're structuring that is that it also happened has to do with like the usage, dark posting and whitelisting. So for those of you that don't know what that is, it just I don't know what that is. Oh yeah, no worries, no worries. So with dark posting, it just means that the brand can put ad spend behind your post. Okay, and that post might never actually show up on your feed. So who people that are not following you might see it, but it's still a win-win on both sides, right? Because a brand gets to post an ad and it comes from a creator's account versus the actual business account. Um, but then the creator, it's a win-win for them too, because they get so much more traffic and people clicking on their page. So a chance for new and new followers there. Um and then with whitelisting, that has to do with um the ad spend coming on your page. So that is just basically sharing um it's very similar concept, but it's just a matter of like how the viewers can see the content. So when we're structuring these campaigns, um, we have all of these factors in mind because we have to figure out what the KPIs are together and also to usage. So usage is the one thing that a lot of people don't pay too much attention to, but a lot of the creators I'm starting to work with now are starting to lean into making more work for hire. So then that way they can charge the brand a little bit more because now the brand owns that piece of content. So they can use it for like maybe their website or additional ads. And so it makes it like a win-win for both sides because they feel like they can get more out of it without obviously just focus on like just going viral, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

No, absolutely. This is something so talked about and something so people like probably who aren't too familiar with the mechanics of it all. Um, for example, if I'm working with some a product company in the tech space or something like that, the their first question is, how can we go viral? Like, you know, it's it's just becomes such a uh it's doing a bit of a disservice to the strategy part of marketing and to the strategic part of brand making. It's a disservice because you are chasing something which may not which may not align with your customers, which may not align with your own values and own uh you know uh systems, because you are because because it's just become the top of the tongue, right? It's just it's just that need uh that you want to align with. But I I love everything that you said. And I also want to ask you for the benefit of my audiences, which are the top three sectors that a lot of brands want to align with. I think I if I'm if I know anything, I I would say finance would be one of it, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, I would definitely say finance would be a big one for sure, just because budget is there, right?

unknown 21:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

What else? Can you give us some more?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah, so um I definitely think um finance, tech, and food and beverage, to be honest. So these are the ones that we've seen that have like the bigger budgets. Um, we do work with a lot of various organizations across like fashion, beauty, automotive. Budgets aren't always like there, you know. Um we find the bigger budgets are definitely like the finance, tech, and food and beverage. Um and what we're looking at with those brands is that, you know, it's not just like a product placement, right? Where it's just like, hey, buy this drink or whatever. Exactly. Um we're looking at it more like an integration in their entire brand DNA. So what this looks like is that it can be an entire like year long brand ambassadorship or year long partnership, or if we're taking it back to offline activations, right? It's a year long like we're gonna be here at all your offline events. And so um, these things are a lot better and like um better designed for like these types of organizations. Because we were thinking about it in the scope of like their budget, right? So, hey, what is your budget for 2026? These are the types of questions that you should be asking versus just like, how much would you want to pay for this post? You know what I mean? Like, that's not gonna get you very far.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

No, all of this input is so valuable because I'm also working with independent creators, uh, creative businesses. So that's why all my questions are to help them uh, you know, get where they want to be, because a lot of these uh independent brands, it's hard for them to achieve that level of uh coverage, if you were to say, if on their own. So um definitely with your advice and for the audiences, please. If you want to work with Monique, I'll be putting all the details in the uh show notes so you can reach out to her. It's important because otherwise it can feel like you're just shouting in a void, you know. If if you're not aligning yourself with people who like, don't reinvent the wheel, something exists, use it to your advantage. And as a creator, uh be smart. Your time is time is money. Like, you know, you cannot be wasting it uh by creating things that are not aligning with, say, for example, brand deals are part of your uh revenue streams. So you how do you how do you um optimize for that? So all the advice you gave today, Monique, was so amazing. I'm sure you're gonna get a lot of questions and comments uh for more questions about this thing. But I really am so grateful you came here today. These are bite-side episodes, so I want to keep it crisp for the audiences. Uh, do you have any last advice for uh the ones who are listening in the creator side?

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Yeah, of course. I feel like the biggest thing is just go out and just do it, right? And so that's like my biggest advice because I know so many people will say they want to like start or they feel like they're too late. Like, honestly, I think it's still early. The creator economy is just getting started. So yeah. Just start posting.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Last words. Thank you so much, Monique, for your time today. And uh and I hope we do a part two someday.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Sounds good. Thank you so much again for having me. Of course.