Founder@ Interview
Interview with Luana Ribeira
“Do it. Stop thinking and just take action. Don’t be another person who looks back at their life and wonders what might have been if only that had the courage to try. .” – Luana Ribeira
Today we feature Luana Ribeira, the founder at Dauntless PR. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Luana Ribeira and I’m the founder of Dauntless PR. We get leaders booked for TV, radio, podcasts, magazines and other press, such as newspapers.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
Up until my late 20’s, I felt as though I was born to create some sort of impact in the world but felt as though I was invisible. I felt like I was shouting at the top of my voice but nobody could hear me and I was constantly drawn into situations where I would listen to bad advice that had me hiding in the shadows or pretending to be something I wasn’t because I didn’t think who I am was enough.
An actress at the time, I was hooked in by a dodgy film director which had me dreams crashing down, my confidence shattered and me hiding away from the spotlight once again. However, what I gained from the experience was a tremendous amount of knowledge about PR.
I hired an amazing business coach, Ellie Burscough and opened an acting academy. With my new found knowledge about PR, was able to get local media placements for my new business, including a series on TV and the business flew.
But I didn’t know how to handle it and again, I soon found myself back at square and retreating into the shadows once again. In fact, I ran off to another country to live in the wilderness away from all civilization!
Slowly, I started building my life again and with the tranquility came a huge transformation. In 2018, with the help of Vanessa Moss, I became a bestselling author, booked multiple spots on FOX TV in the USA and she helped me to turn media into a business, even sharing major contacts with me. Not only was I now allowing myself to be fully visible but I had everything I needed to help others too!
I offered to get Vanessa some media. Within 10 days, she was featured in every newspaper in the UK which led to further offers from women’s magazines and a TV reality show.
That’s when I knew that I was now able to offer something really special and that I had finally found my path.
Since then, we’ve built a team and our clients regularly get major bookings including This Morning, Forbes, The Telegraph… and Founder@, as it happens!
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Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
We help online business leaders to get featured on TV, podcasts, radio, magazines and other press, such as newspapers. We are based in the UK but serve on a global level.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Apart from what we already talked about in the first question, I had so many high points and equally as many low points, all of which contributed to me finally finding my place.
I had incredible support from many people but in my darkest times, there were 3 people who were always in my corner nudging my forwards and believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.
They are Ellie Burscough and Vanessa Moss as I spoke about earlier and my mum, Carol Parry.
To get here, I consistently took bold, fast action. Sometimes it worked, sometimes I fell flat on my face, but although it felt like I was going around in circles for a long time, I see now that every experience was bringing me closer to where I am today and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
My biggest lesson has been to trust in myself and my intuition.
Over the years, I’ve ignored it several times and have been held back in huge ways by trusting others ahead of myself.
Dodgy film directors, unscrupulous business partners and fantasist clients have all played a part in slowing me down over the years, (seemingly) causing me to withdraw, back away from my purpose and to go in directions that were completely off track. It wasn’t until I learnt the lessons behind why they kept showing up and trusted in myself and my own voice that I was able to freely move forward.
That the reason I sometimes felt like I didn’t fit in was because I was never supposed to- I was born to create an impact and that involves standing out.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
The biggest thing would be to trust my instinct and to put my purpose ahead of my fears.
I come from a family of entrepreneurs and so it was quite natural for me to want my own business. I had nothing but encouragement from family and friends but a lot of doubt from acquaintances, strangers and people who had ripped me off. Honestly, it baffles me now why I gave them so much of my energy when their opinions were completely irrelevant.
There is nothing in me that says- maybe you should have got a ‘proper job’, absolutely nothing. Yes, it’s challenging at times and during those times but this is what I chose and the rewards are- I have way more freedom and fulfilment than I would have in employment.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
We use Calendly for bookings, monday.com for organization and social media for lead generation.
I found out about them from my mentors. I run all of my own social media but the day to day running within the business is down to my incredible team who keep the running of the show seamless!
If we no longer had them, we’d find other ways and it wouldn’t be an issue- there are always solutions. We’ve never used paid advertising (our organic game is strong!) and we will probably look into that in the future.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That the reason I sometimes felt like I didn’t fit in was because I was never supposed to- I was born to create an impact and that involves standing out.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Becoming a bestselling author and jetting off to the USA to talk about it on TV.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
Well, this is something I haven’t shared beyond our team yet but between you, me and your readers… we have a TV show coming soon that will be broadcast internationally. This has always been one of my major goals and it’s finally happening.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Do it. Stop thinking and just take action. Don’t be another person who looks back at their life and wonders what might have been if only that had the courage to try.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Dauntless PR”
To learn more about Dauntless PR Visit https://dauntlesspr.com
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