Disrupting the Status Quo
Cindy Gallop, a trailblazing entrepreneur, brand innovator, and advocate for social change, shares her unique insights into disrupting the status quo and identifying your core values to live a simpler and happier life.
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With over three decades of experience in advertising and brand building, Cindy is known for her disruptive approach and has been described as a woman who will change the way you think about sex and money. She’s the alchemist turning advertising lead into gold and the voice shouting ‘show me the money’ to a VC world that seems to have misplaced its checkbook when it comes to female founders.
After a notable career as chair of BBH New York, Cindy ventured into entrepreneurship, funding Make Love Not Porn, a groundbreaking social sextech platform.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
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1) Walking in Your Authenticity
Cindy has famously said, “I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.”
She explains that that soundbite came from a lighthearted statement she made when she was talking to some potential consultancy clients about her approach to consulting.
“I thought actually, that is a very good way of characterizing what I do. And so I've been using that tagline ever since.” - Cindy Gallop
However, Cindy explains that she doesn’t use that tagline as just a bit of fun, she uses it very deliberately.
“I'm a big believer in being your own filter. When I characterize what I do in that way, it attracts to me the people who want what I do, it repels the ones who don't. And I want to repel the ones who don't because they're a waste of time, effort, and money.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that what you put out there is what you will attract. By being your authentic self, you will attract your tribe to you and you will keep away the people who are not for you.
“I don't go around looking for shit to blow up. I just live and work my values every day. And it's an indictment on the rest of the world that all too often that means disrupting the status quo.” - Cindy Gallop
We talk about authenticity and alignment so often on the podcast. So many women are so afraid of walking in their own authenticity. If you don't be your authentic self, you're not going to attract the network, the village, that you need to go on this journey.
2) Identifying Your Values
Cindy often speaks about chasing a path that is aligned with your values. Below is the business model that she advocates for:
shared values + shared actions = shared profits
Cindy recommends taking a long, hard look into yourself and identifying:
What you stand for
What you believe in
What you value
What you're all about
“When you do that, it makes life so much simpler because life still throws at you all the shit, it always will. But you know exactly how to deal with that shit in any given scenario, in a way that is true to you.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy recommends that businesses do the same thing.
“Take a long, hard look into yourself as a business and identify the reason you were founded in the first place, what you stand for, what your values are, what your values should be if you've lost sight of them over the years. And those should inform the way that you operate on a daily basis.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that when brands and businesses come together with their constituents around shared values, they can make things happen in the real world that will benefit the consumers, the employees, and society as well as the brand and the business.
“You will never truly bond with anyone if you don't share the same values.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy recommends that you only work for companies with whom you share the same values because otherwise, you are not going to progress in that company and you will not be happy within that company either.
“Many years ago, I read a report on stress in the workplace. What this report identified was that the single biggest cause of stress in the workplace is [...] when because of the environment and the culture of the people around you, you are forced to do your job in a way that does not come naturally to you. Because that is the definition of stress, being forced to operate in a way that is not the way you would choose to.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that that is the single biggest signal that says it’s time to get out.
3) Overcoming Fear by Taking Action
In one of Cindy’s talks, she said that fear of what other people think of you is the single most paralyzing dynamic.
“To live and work your value is what overcomes the fear of what other people think because then all that matters is that you know you're being true to you. And when you make that your Northstar, you don't give a damn what anybody else thinks.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy is a great believer in micro-actions because she believes that change happens from the bottom up.
“Every one of us taking micro-actions every day to change what we want to see change. Cumulatively, all of those micro-actions add up at scale to enormous impact.” - Cindy Gallop
There is one micro-action that Cindy recommends everyone do.
“It is the micro-action that will have the most dramatically beneficial impact on your life and your career going forward.” - Cindy Gallop
It’s very simple - say what you really think.
“Because we don't. Because every day, especially as women, we are man-terrupted, mansplained to, talked over, held back, not listened to, not heard, and we often cease to say what we think.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that it's incredibly important that we say what we think for two reasons:
1. That’s how you bring your value to the table.
“You are employed to contribute what you uniquely can contribute to this business. If you're not saying what you think, you are not doing that.” - Cindy Gallop
2. It’s a great way to be your own filter.
“If you contribute your unique perspective and it is not welcomed and is not listened to, it's not appreciated and it's not valued, then again, get the fuck out.” - Cindy Gallop
4) Getting out of Toxic Situations
Alongside being an entrepreneur, Cindy works as a consultant, public speaker, and personal coach.
“I coach a lot of brilliant women who have no idea how brilliant they are because, for their entire careers, they've been held back by men, kept down by men, beaten down by men, had their careers sabotaged by men, had their ambitions derailed by men and it's my job to show them how bloody brilliant they are and to enable them to get the fuck out of those circumstances. And the reason I'm being emphatic about it is because the only way is to get the fuck out.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that you may think you can live with micro-aggressions (micro-sexism and micro-racism) but bit by bit, those micro-aggressions are destroying your soul.
Cindy shares that there is a danger in thinking that shared values and shared thinking are the same thing. They absolutely are not.
“Shared values are fundamentally the way you believe in approaching life, the way you believe in dealing with other people, the way you believe in conducting yourself. And shared thinking is similarity of thought.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that to get the most innovative and disruptive ideas in a business context, having a bunch of people in your company who all think the same way is not a good idea.
“At the top of every industry is a closed loop of white guys talking to white guys about other white guys. And those white guys are sitting very pretty. [...] Why on earth would they ever want to rock the boat? [...] They don't want to change a thing because the system is working just fine for them as it currently is.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy shares this statement:
How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.
“In every industry, the light bulb does not really want to change. And that is why you get homogeneity of thinking, homogeneity of staffing, and homogeneity of the way you do business. And that's precisely the environment that I'm saying get the fuck out of.” - Cindy Gallop
5) Fighting the Boys Club
One of the things you see a lot of is women cutting down other women.
“The syndrome of women being bitches to other women is a syndrome that is entirely caused by men. I call it Highlander syndrome - there can be only one. When you as a woman work in places where there's only ever room for one token woman on the leadership team, on the board, on the project, that is what forces women to compete with other women. A dynamic that I deplore and it is entirely the fault of the men.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that the root cause of this is a male-dominated working environment and when the boys club is truly entrenched, women don’t even have the power to fight this.
“Getting the fuck out does not require any courage whatsoever. It just requires not being willing to put up with that shit anymore. And so that is why I encourage women [...] to get very angry.” - Cindy Gallop
To bring this point home, if you are unsure if you are in an environment like the one Cindy is talking about, put yourself out there and do some advocating for your fellow women. If you find yourself getting hit with the brakes, this may be a sign that you need to leave this environment.
There are some environments that you can navigate and there are others that you need to leave.
6) Ageism in the Workplace
Archita told a story of how she recently put forward a woman in her late 50s as an advisory board member to a really young startup. She’s extremely qualified, they needed her expertise, and they could afford her.
It sounds like a no-brainer.
The startup didn’t even take the time to talk to her in person, she was immediately discounted because of her age.
“You have the responsibility to be the role model that you never had. The only way you're going to change that young white male startup is when he is surrounded by older female role models, proving that they are making a shit ton of money doing brilliant business, etc. And the fact of the matter is, he is not currently because those women are few and far between because they were never allowed to.” - Cindy Gallop
It can be easy to try and push these older qualified women into these situations.
“Do not shove that woman down his throat.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy shares a similar experience she had where she was the one approached to be a board member.
“I ran into the man and he went, I'm sorry, they decided with a different direction. But honestly, I didn't care because I just knew from that fact that they would not have implemented anything I recommended. Why would you force a woman in that horrible situation?” - Cindy Gallop
7) Reinventing Industry Through the Female Lens
Cindy has some advice for women in business spaces who keep running into brick walls from a DEI perspective.
“Start your own industry. And what I mean by that is start your own business. But I deliberately articulated it like that because when you start your own business, you can design it to work any way you want it to. You can design in the workplace culture in which you thrive. You can design in the work life balance that you want to operate. You can design in the business how you want to make money. And when you do that, you are starting the industry we all want to live and work in.” - Cindy Gallop
There is another reason CIndy deliberately uses the word ‘industry’.
“We have not even begun to see how every single industry can be reinvented through the female lead.” - Cindy Gallop
Cindy explains that the closed loop of white guys talking to white guys at the top of their industry cannot innovate because homogeneity is the opposite of creativity and innovation.
“When you reinvent an industry with a female lens, you don't even have to run your business effectively for very long before a giant company will buy it from you for an absolute goddamn fucking shit ton of money. And that is the quickest path to wealth creation for any woman in any industry.” - Cindy Gallop
If you are starting your own industry, you may be tempted to try and speak the same language as the white men at the top.
“Why do you want to speak their language? Speak your own and you will attract to you other people who speak the same language.” - Cindy Gallop
To hear the full conversation, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 70.
About The Hosts: Archita And Olivia
ARCHITA
Archita Sivakumar Fritz is the Host and Producer of the Embracing Only Podcast. Archita is a MedTech and Life Science Strategist. She is a LinkedIn Top Voice for her insights into product strategy and nonprofit management, and the creation of inclusive cultures that champion a 'speak up' philosophy.
Following a successful 19+ year corporate career she now helps C Suite across organizations as a Fractional Product Marketing Leader through her company Ready Set Bold.
She works with individuals with 10+ years of corporate experience to find new paths away from toxic or underappreciative environments, enabling both personal fulfillment and broader organizational impact.
→ Grab your FREE resource to build your career transition here: https://embracingonly.com/cubicle-escape-blueprint
→ If you want to work with Archita you can reach out to her here: www.readysetb.
→ Book her as a speaker, moderator, or coach for your next company event or workshop.
OLIVIA
Olivia Grant Cream is the host and producer of the Embracing Only podcast. Nothing makes her happier than providing a platform to women who are changing the world.
Olivia is a proud US Veteran and HR Leader who is passionate about changing the face of corporate America by helping underrepresented people reclaim their power and live the life of their dreams.
She is an advocate for transitioning military members seeking second careers in the corporate landscape.
Olivia is a proud Jamaican and enjoys mentoring, coaching, classic cars, and nature. The way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
→ You can work with Olivia here: www.oliviacre
→ Book her as a keynote speaker or moderator for your next ERG or company event.