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Telling the stories of startup founders and creators and their unique journey. Each episode features actionable tips, practical advice and inspirational insight.
Greg Moran (00:02.691)
Hey, welcome back to the Founders Journey podcast. I'm here today with my co-host, Peter Dean, and a guest we're both super excited about having on.
Peter Dean (00:13.127)
Good, I'm great, I'm really excited about this one.
Greg Moran (00:15.991)
Yeah, no, absolutely. Want to welcome our guests real quick and I'll do the quick intro, but Lily Gilveletta is with us today. So really thrilled to have Lily on the podcast today. An incredible story you're going to hear all about in a minute, so Lily, welcome.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (00:29.73)
Thank you so much, Greg and Peter. What a treat.
Greg Moran (00:33.108)
Yeah, absolutely.
Peter Dean (00:33.219)
Yeah. Do you know how when you talk about hiring smarter people than you? Like part of what we do on this podcast is get smarter people than us. And you're one of them.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (00:44.643)
That makes you a very smart man. I love it.
Peter Dean (00:47.339)
Hahaha
Greg Moran (00:48.323)
Well, admittedly, it's also a pretty low bar. So, you know, it's you cleared it by a mile versus, you know, versus us. So just real quick before we get started, just one quick thing in my sort of constant, my constant random location thing with doing these podcasts, both actually, Lily and I are sitting in.
Peter Dean (00:51.079)
Yeah
Greg Moran (01:10.111)
in airport lounges in different parts of the country. But so if you hear a bunch of background noise and stuff, it's the two of us trying to do this from an airport. So anyway, Lily is a, she's a award winning entrepreneur, recognized cultural intelligence expert. We're gonna talk a lot about that. AI tech innovator, World Economic Forum, global leader. So and co-founder of Culture Plus Group.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (01:19.342)
I'm sorry.
Greg Moran (01:37.507)
which is a brand new conglomerate of four different companies. And she, if you if she looks familiar to she's a regular commentator on Fox News, Fox Business. CNN has been featured in every major publication out there. So we'll like we said, it's a it's a great pleasure to have you with us today. And so really, you know, love to just kind of get started with your story. Right. You're you're a founder in this podcast as for founders. Tell us about.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (02:04.156)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Moran (02:06.875)
Culture Plusker, Culture Intel, how you got going with these businesses? What sort of, what inspires you to start?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (02:13.622)
That's right. Well, Greg, I love, by the way, the name of your podcast, because the journey is a journey. And to me, the journey implies that it kind of never ends. So for those listening, do not panic. But it's true, it never ends. So it is, it is it is a moving target. If you really are in the pursuit of growth and innovation and excellence, it should not stop. But anyway, back to the background noise, my apologies. But I think this is
Peter Dean (02:28.582)
It's so true.
Greg Moran (02:28.761)
Nope. Let's try it.
Greg Moran (02:41.589)
exciting.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (02:43.382)
This is very representative of the journey itself. So in a way, the fact that both you and I are on the go and in our airport lounges validates the fact, people, those of you listening, that it's a very dynamic journey. But anyway, back to my stories. Let me start with the end in mind. Thank you for acknowledging our group, which now has consolidated cultural intelligence companies underneath a conglomerate structure.
Peter Dean (02:47.075)
Yes, absolutely.
Greg Moran (02:47.419)
Absolutely, absolutely.
Greg Moran (02:58.632)
I know Jose, Patiko, and I know my first.
Greg Moran (03:11.183)
Yeah, Mario should be at least like...
LILI GIL VALLETTA (03:11.554)
Culture Plus Group was just announced to the media. We were featured by AdH recently in a big splash about two months ago. And really is the consolidation of cultural intelligence services for big corporations that wanna successfully reach America's fastest growing consumer markets and diverse segments, which we see shifting demographics, but a lot of the big corporations don't know how to go about it. And it's not just goodwill and...
Greg Moran (03:28.96)
Thanks for watching!
LILI GIL VALLETTA (03:39.926)
translating things to Spanish that are gonna do the trick. So that's what we do. We do research, business strategy, training and analytics as well. We do shopper marketing and media, all with a cultural intelligence twist, which I'm sure we're gonna talk about. But honoring your question about the journey, it really started with me as a young immigrant coming to this country when I was 17 from Columbia. That's where I'm originally from. And when I came,
Greg Moran (03:40.111)
Yeah, they need to go downstairs in the basement on the front wall. There's probably a cut-off.
Greg Moran (03:55.352)
I don't think so.
Greg Moran (04:01.127)
Kids are mine.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (04:08.674)
First of all, I didn't speak English. And second of all, I had zero desire to be ever, ever an entrepreneur. Shocker, a lot of people don't even realize that. I wanted to be a corporate executive, and that was the path that I was on, and that was what I was very proudly working towards. I saw myself in the C-suite before 40. That was actually my goal from the very beginning. So...
Greg Moran (04:17.2)
Yeah. Right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (04:36.362)
I want to do a quick check. I don't know, Greg and Peter, if you're still hearing me, or I don't know if we got frozen, or if the system kind of is playing tricks on us. I don't know. Hello, hello.
Peter Dean (04:40.527)
Yes, yeah, you're great. Yeah.
Greg Moran (04:40.567)
Oh yeah, no, nope, loud and clear. Nope.
Peter Dean (04:47.483)
No, you're here. We can hear you.
Greg Moran (04:48.791)
You're fine.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (04:50.13)
Maybe I lost you. I'm not sure.
Peter Dean (04:54.835)
Can you hear us?
We can hear you.
Greg Moran (05:10.171)
Can you?
Peter Dean (05:11.287)
Oh, that's right. We can just edit it.
Greg Moran (05:16.478)
Yeah, we'll just keep.
Peter Dean (05:19.763)
They can just cut it off. We'll just ask her.
Greg Moran (05:24.863)
Just make sure we're still.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (05:29.682)
What happened?
Greg Moran (05:31.075)
Hey, we could hear you fine. No, uh,
Peter Dean (05:31.427)
I'm not sure. Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (05:34.03)
You could. You both were completely frozen. And I was putting comments in the chat and everything. Anyway, it's OK. We can do take two. Go back to my journey.
Peter Dean (05:38.246)
Oh.
Peter Dean (05:43.487)
Oh yeah.
Greg Moran (05:45.525)
Yeah. That's all right. We'll just cut that whole part out.
Peter Dean (05:46.719)
So let's go to the next one. No, you actually ended it pretty well there. So like, no, it sounded, so I can just start because I was gonna make a comment, that's cool. So it sounded like you're actually pretty along the path to that goal of being in the C-suite by 40. You were definitely along the way to do that.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (05:51.654)
What did I say that you caught last?
Greg Moran (05:53.349)
You were.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (05:58.3)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (06:06.878)
Mm-hmm. Exactly, so my journey, which was not one of entrepreneurship, definitely was chasing the C-suite before 40, as I just said, and I was working very hard towards that. So you're right. So my corporate career, the bulk of it was at Johnson & Johnson, where I spent a decade. Before that, I was in other big corporations, a lot of healthcare, actually. A lot of people don't realize that when they...
Peter Dean (06:22.024)
Yeah.
Peter Dean (06:28.018)
Yep.
Peter Dean (06:32.703)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (06:34.558)
kind of see what I do today, but I love the world of healthcare. I feel like it's the type of work that can impact genuinely lives and sometimes save lives. But anyway, so back to the journey, I never ever wanted to be a founder. Really was looking at C-suite and the role that it represents. However, in my corporate job, when I was at J&J heading global marketing services in the pharma sector, which is...
Peter Dean (06:42.184)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (07:01.966)
Now J&J has split up, but at the time it was and is the biggest contributor to revenues and growth for the whole corporation worldwide. So I had a big job at a very young age, and I guess ignorance is bliss because I didn't even realize it was so big at the time. But really, and this applies to any entrepreneur, whether you're selling cupcakes or AI, what I saw was an emerging trend that nobody was paying attention to.
Peter Dean (07:04.093)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (07:06.135)
So thank you. Yeah.
Greg Moran (07:18.537)
Yep.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (07:31.798)
So I think that is the gist of entrepreneurship. And we can call it entrepreneurship now as we see it in the era of, I don't know, Shark Tank and everyone wants to drop out of traditional careers and do this thing. Well, you can be an intrapreneur inside a corporation. And that's kind of what I started doing without knowing that was a thing. So when I saw that they were shifting demographics projected out,
Greg Moran (07:43.449)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (07:47.438)
Mm-hmm.
Peter Dean (07:52.243)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (07:56.978)
five, 10 years ahead that were showing that at some point we were going to be a majority minority nation. I saw that not through the lens of DI because now everybody's talking about inclusion and these things. No, I literally, I'm going to confess here on this podcast, genuinely saw it as a commercial and business growth signal. And that's what moved me to kind of see the numbers differently and challenge the way we were going to market at the time with J&J's.
Peter Dean (08:02.62)
Yes.
Peter Dean (08:22.685)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (08:26.522)
you know, compounds that were in the pipeline and new product development, you name it. And I realized, wait a second, I'm looking at numbers and trends that are going to impact our expectations with the street, my sales forecast and how we go to market. And it was the light bulb moment and created this task force out of nowhere. I guess my first incubated, you know, startup was inside J&J, which was the creation of a task force to look into these shifting demographics and what they meant to the business.
Peter Dean (08:29.189)
Eh.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (08:56.342)
And also the quest for strategists or consultants or agencies, somebody that could help me figure this out into the market. So I did my market research looking at the outside world and who's out there that knows how to do this. And the combination of numbers and trends, nobody was paying attention with a market that was kind of scarce for experts that could help a giant corporation figure this out, gave me the idea to create the company I couldn't find to hire.
Peter Dean (09:17.565)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (09:24.234)
And fast forward 13 years later, here we are. So that is kind of like the spark that started the journey.
Peter Dean (09:24.496)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (09:24.517)
Yep.
Peter Dean (09:29.128)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (09:31.343)
It's so funny, you know, when we hear that kind of story a lot, we actually just had a guest on last week and it was the same, different, obviously very different business and stuff. But really, it was exactly that same sort of inception story of I created the business that I couldn't find, but I needed. Right. And, you know, that's just such a, I think, common path into this for the, you know, when somebody is getting into the entrepreneur world for the first time. So, so this is kind of what led you down the path of this concept, right?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (09:47.71)
Exactly.
Greg Moran (10:00.347)
cultural intelligence, which is sort of this feels like the sort of centerpiece of all of the businesses that you're operating today. Can you can you talk about that? What is it? How does it kind of relate to not only, you know, the services that you're delivering, but sort of the, you know, the world as you see it.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (10:06.682)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (10:17.238)
Exactly. Well, the term itself hit me in my corporate job as well. I was literally sitting in my office in New Jersey, in J&J land, and realized, wait a second, all of us leaders, you know, in the MBAs and business training we all get, we know that emotional intelligence is important. Okay, check that box. And then we also know, obviously, that you got to know your stuff. So that is where the CQ, no, the
Peter Dean (10:33.672)
Mm-hmm.
Peter Dean (10:38.376)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (10:45.342)
IQ comes into play, right? Preparation, the numbers, the know-how. And then it just kind of hit me. I'm like, wait a second, if these numbers of shifting demographics are real, then we're gonna need to have cultural intelligence into our business plans to understand the role that culture and those shifts play into the business decisions we make. So fast forward a few years, I mean, I filed the patent and the trademark at the time, I guess now many people are using the term. And...
My lawyers are quite busy with that. But anyhow, which is a sign of flattery, by the way. I love that people borrow it. But it's cultural intelligence, the technical definition, after kind of playing with it for a couple years, is three action verbs. It's actually pretty simple but profound. It's the ability to be aware of, understand, and apply cultural competence and inclusive data into your everyday business. So.
Greg Moran (11:16.624)
the
Peter Dean (11:20.625)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (11:42.362)
You're aware when you see something is happening in the markets, in the category you serve, in the business circles you see, you understand when you do the homework and actually double-click into that stuff and see how big is it, what are the implications, what do the numbers tell me. But unless you apply it, it becomes just this wishful thinking and an academic exercise with no input into your plans, and that does nothing. So that is why aware, understand, and apply.
cultural competence, which is that intelligence. I'm not talking about empathy and DEI stuff. No, we're talking about having the know-how of what these shifts mean to your business, to your goals, to your markets, and the data to embed it into your everyday business. So it's not one person's job. Again, follow the evidence. This is not me just saying it because I'm in this body of work. It really becomes kind of mathematically impossible.
Peter Dean (12:16.264)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (12:39.09)
for any leader in corporate America, which is my audience, at least, to achieve their full potential in growth without cultural intelligence into their plans because of the numbers. So that is kinda how we go about it. And you're right. So all of our businesses now that it's a conglomerate, a global conglomerate, really parts from that point of view that without cultural intelligence, businesses, brands, companies, corporations are gonna fall short.
And we come in with the data, the strategy, the solutions, the creativity to help them get over the hump.
Peter Dean (13:11.579)
And the data is really compelling, really compelling. And you said, I've heard you say before, return on inclusion for ROI and, and then versus return on ignored. And that's really what you're talking about, right?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (13:13.294)
Mm-hmm, exactly.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (13:19.502)
Yes.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (13:23.358)
Uh-huh. That's right. That exactly right. In fact, another shameless plug here, thank you for allowing me to throw it in. There is a reason why at a time when the world was quite stressed out right after COVID, right? So 2020, George Floyd, a lot of very serious matters that kind of brought a whole new sensitivity to the world. I actually did that kind of rebellious title of a TED talk called diversity is overrated.
Peter Dean (13:38.259)
Mm-hmm.
Peter Dean (13:50.429)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (13:52.13)
And it was for that very reason, because we could make this performative and compliance driven, or realize that unless we take action in understanding the demographic shifts of our country and what it means for everyone's well-being and economy, we may be falling short and not stay competitive. So it is a different take, a little bit of a rebellious, capitalistic twist, but still always with a heart and the purpose behind it.
Peter Dean (14:06.751)
Yeah.
Peter Dean (14:18.847)
Yeah, yeah.
Greg Moran (14:20.239)
Yeah, that's you know, I think that's so that's to me is what is so interesting about what you talk about, right? You talk about a lot of culture trends and you're talking about diversity, but as not necessarily a means to alter it. We all know it's altruistic. We all know it's the right thing to do. Right. And that's the hard part of it. But but it's the it's the actual hard economics that you're talking about. How how
LILI GIL VALLETTA (14:31.974)
Yeah, we've been operating good pages for you guys. Because you guys said you have a dashboard in your business. And you signed an agreement.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (14:43.666)
That's right. 500 additional items.
Greg Moran (14:47.495)
How does that message resonate? Right. I guess I'm really curious about this because when you you're going into a company and you're sort of shifting this dialogue from, Hey, this isn't just about really just feeling good. Right. It's it's really, it's actually about growing your company. Right. And what is, what's it, do you get pushback on that? What's the, what's the sort of feeling that people have about that message?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (14:52.538)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (15:00.915)
Compliance, yeah.
Peter Dean (15:03.583)
Right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (15:07.819)
Exactly.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (15:13.799)
Yeah, so I do feel like, and it's not just me by the way, shout out to my whole team. We have well over 100 people all over the country and in Latin America and we just had our first hire officially even in the Middle East. So because cultural intelligence is something that applies to every corner of the planet, depending on the context, right?
Peter Dean (15:33.887)
Yes.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (15:35.526)
But anyhow, so to answer your question, Greg, I think the best indicator of how well this is resonating or not is the fact that our firm for two years in a row has been listed by Inc 5000 as one of America's fastest growing privately owned companies. And let's caveat that with the fact that every one of our clients is a Fortune 100. So I feel incredibly responsible because we are shifting
budgets as well as redirecting hearts and minds in the boardrooms of corporate America. And we're able to do that because it's not an emotional discussion, it's not a performative discussion, it's not because all of us in the SEC is demanding a new ESG disclosure, it genuinely is because it makes business sense. And by the way, when you have an inclusive approach to your business decisions, you also have
societal impact. So it's almost like you get to kind of have your cake, eat it too, and put all the toppings that you want as well to enjoy it because it's purposeful profits that deliver impact and growth. And I'm not just saying that. We're not just consultants that come and preach a good message. The work that we do has unlocked for our Fortune 100 clients double digit growth in categories that to them were either flat or declining.
And in that process of unlocking double digit growth by tapping into the power of Hispanics, women, black Americans, you name it, with precision, not to perform but to really serve and deliver growth, then it becomes a mute point to try to argue whether this is right or not, whether we need to invest in it or not. But don't get me wrong, we still are every single day in some capacity, my team.
is presenting this case for action numbers, depending on the category, because we work from everyone from the Googles of the world to big pharma clients like J&J and Gilead and Genentech, you name it. So it has to be a personalized message that speaks to the numbers and growth patterns of that category, but the numbers are easy because they speak for themselves. So...
Peter Dean (17:33.023)
Mm-hmm.
Peter Dean (17:44.895)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (17:57.39)
What surprises me though, Greg, sorry for my long-winded answer, is that even to this day, even to this day, like 13 years later since I left J&J, where I first kind of put this message on a stage and presented it to the CEO at the time and the executive committee, still feels for most corporations that we work with as new news. Which, again, it gives me comfort because it's kind of like job security for my team. But.
Greg Moran (18:01.272)
Now please.
Greg Moran (18:25.42)
Well, yeah, it spells growth, right?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (18:26.438)
But at the same time, it's like, oh my gosh, we're still talking about this, even though the numbers are so, it's like the numbers are so clear. But anyhow, I love it and it's a big responsibility and we keep scaling it and making it more sophisticated, tech enabled, full of like frameworks, methodologies, and it's just a lot of fun to get to influence the boardrooms.
Peter Dean (18:30.207)
that we're lagging that much, you know? Yeah.
Greg Moran (18:33.732)
Right.
Greg Moran (18:48.279)
Yeah. So I want to take this to like the startup founder, right? So clear, obvious implications to the kind of the topics that are discussed in boardrooms today, right? If you were a startup founder and you gave, you know, I've seen other you've written about and spoken about some great examples, right? Brands that have been built great beats and, you know, other brands that have really been built around this concept.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (18:54.322)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (19:07.603)
Thank you.
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Greg Moran (19:13.795)
If you're a startup founder, how should you be thinking about that, incorporating the cultural demographics that changes the trends in the U.S. into your kind of thinking about your strategy as a startup?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (19:19.856)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (19:25.55)
I love it. Well, first of all, and this is gonna sound a bit weird coming from an immigrant Latina right here, you don't have to be from the community, speak Spanish, have a certain last name or coloring to be good at this. In fact, what I tell people often is, hey, this is no different than how, let's say marketers had to up their game with everything digital. So at some point,
and now I'm totally dating myself, definitely a decade ago, you had to hire digital experts. Now, if you are selling, you know, birthday cards or flower arrangements or sophisticated whatever security, cybersecurity services, if you don't know digital, you don't know marketing, period. So it became just the mainstream way of doing things.
So I do see this notion of cultural intelligence as that new superpower that everybody has to exercise on if they wanna stay relevant in a multicultural nation that we serve, of customers, of people, of voters, of employees, whatever it is that you're chasing. And that will become the norm. So that kinda sounds crazy and contradicting because I do feel like at some point, if we do our job well over decades and decades, we should...
no longer be needed. But yes, exactly. It's back to the basics. That's right, Peter. You know, it's like, if you are opening an ice cream shop in Miami which is 70 plus percent Hispanic, you better have dulce de leche flavor in there. I mean, seriously, things like that, you know? So, and you don't have to be a Hispanic shop owner to know that, it just doing market research. So I think
Peter Dean (20:51.167)
It's like know your audience is what you're saying, right? Really need to know your audience, yeah.
Peter Dean (21:03.295)
Yeah.
Peter Dean (21:09.919)
Yeah.
Peter Dean (21:15.615)
Yep.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (21:18.33)
We're now turning it into this more kind of a mysterious thing that you almost have to dance around or be worried not to say the wrong thing. And what I tell founders or business leaders equally is just go do the homework. Where do you live? Where is the consumer and population growth coming from? What are their unmet needs? And how do you fill those needs? And just don't be blinded to the fact that
when you are inclusive in understanding everybody's needs and those segments that are driving growth is not just because you're excluding and segregating, it's you're just being smart. Now, exactly, but here's the cool thing about it. The cultural things you mentioned, beats, when beats was purchased, if you were just a black and white analyst looking at the valuation, it made no sense. Seriously, like what kind of I...
Peter Dean (21:55.423)
you're getting full market opportunity. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Greg Moran (22:12.701)
Right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (22:13.538)
new technology that they have. They were buying cultural equity and that had an intrinsic value that gave it a premium. And the same thing happens with, you know, tortilla sell more than bread in America. You know, Sofia Vergara is still seven, 10 years on a row, the highest paid television actress in the world, not just in America. And she owns a power culture. You know, we've seen the bad bunny revolution where, you know, now that I live in Texas, my friends in Texas don't even believe me when I tell them, guys,
Greg Moran (22:18.169)
Right.
Yeah.
Peter Dean (22:25.087)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Moran (22:32.227)
Yep.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (22:41.998)
Latin music is more popular than country music in the United States. And they're like, what? It's like sacrilegious. And I'm like, no, it's true. Look at the numbers. So there you go.
Peter Dean (22:48.767)
Yeah
Greg Moran (22:50.759)
I live in, I spend half my time in Montana. So that is a, that part of the revolution hasn't made it up there yet. But it's.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (22:55.375)
Exactly.
It's like, it's so, but I bet you we pick up a 13 year old in Montana's like phone and Spotify, and I bet they have bad bunny in there. I bet you they do. So it's good for business because the mainstream of America and music and entertainment kind of are good guardrails for where the world is turning. Are already showing everybody, I don't care what business you're in, that you gotta pay attention to those cultural dynamics and capitalize on them.
Greg Moran (23:04.819)
No, no doubt. No doubt. You're absolutely right. No doubt.
Peter Dean (23:07.839)
Yeah, guaranteed.
Greg Moran (23:13.239)
Yep.
Peter Dean (23:22.303)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (23:23.886)
Yeah.
Peter Dean (23:28.095)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (23:28.247)
Absolutely. So where speaking of capitalizing on it, right? Where I mean, you've obviously you've built a night. You've built a great brand for yourself and your business now, right? Where do you where does this go for you? What's kind of how are you thinking about your business moving forward? Because you're the prime example, right? Of being on the front of this, you know, of this kind of new way of thinking.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (23:32.953)
Mm-hmm.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (23:45.256)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (23:53.53)
Yeah, so it's interesting, Greg, if you had asked me this question maybe three years ago, I probably would be giving you a completely different answer. Because it's so funny how many of us founders, and I get asked this question all the time, like, ooh, why haven't you been acquired? Right? It's almost like, well, since when did the American dream became selling the dream? Like, wait, so we are paraded and courted by people
Greg Moran (23:57.062)
and you get to go. Yep.
Greg Moran (24:15.996)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (24:22.821)
Yep.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (24:23.938)
I would have probably answered something along those lines that, oh yeah, maybe we team up with a strategic, you know, one of the big four consultants or somebody. Maybe that'll happen. I won't jinx it. But at least how I see it right now, the numbers and the market is so prime for growth as we are experiencing it. I see ourselves flipping the script, meaning instead of hoping to be acquired by a strategic,
Greg Moran (24:28.199)
Thank you.
Peter Dean (24:30.815)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (24:50.726)
How about we become the strategic tip of the spear that also acquires underneath and create the conglomerate power of cultural intelligence that corporate America needs in the US and abroad. But I cannot do that alone. This is not the Lilly show or my business partner, Enrique. We have a team and there's a lot of people doing great work. So what I would like to see is that we become as big as...
Greg Moran (24:58.639)
That's right.
Greg Moran (25:09.527)
She needs some help in the access panel.
Peter Dean (25:10.591)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (25:15.813)
Thank you.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (25:17.81)
powerful as the big conglomerates or the big consultants that have been able to grow through acquisitions. So we're in conversations, maybe part two of the podcast, we're in conversations with some very strategic capital growth providers, some very strategic potential allies or collaborators for acquisition underneath or JVs, so that the breadth of what cultural intelligence means as an ecosystem of solutions. It has...
Peter Dean (25:21.407)
It's awesome.
Greg Moran (25:24.202)
Yeah, we can see Ziki at Christmas. All of your and his partners in the agency. Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (25:47.038)
more of the Avengers together than just one with one superpower, which right now has been my firm and the conglomerate. So I see us growing into the recognized cultural intelligence expert with every facet of business ranging from AI powered technologies to very sophisticated, market commercial campaigns.
Greg Moran (25:59.255)
Yep.
Greg Moran (26:10.235)
Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank you, Mark. Thank you.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (26:16.822)
that are tapping in with a culture first mindset in everything we do. So watch out, maybe we will be the next Accenture, right? And maybe by then Accenture, because they have pockets that are way bigger than mine for sure, maybe they will acquire us, who knows? But at this near term...
Peter Dean (26:25.791)
I think it's great. That's the right answer. That's the best answer.
Greg Moran (26:26.762)
That's right.
Greg Moran (26:30.727)
That's right.
Peter Dean (26:35.007)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (26:35.642)
and uh, I always thought Alex gave me this job. Did he, did he officially change his job?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (26:40.194)
I want to scale and help scale other like-minded people so that we are the default solution for these big corporations that continue to have the need. So more to come on that because we're in the middle of conversations with very exciting people.
Greg Moran (26:49.651)
Yeah
Greg Moran (26:53.079)
Well, it's and that's it. And, you know, so much of so much of what you're doing, right? Because you are like we just said, I mean, you are living sort of on the front edge of this of what you know is this massive demographic shift. That demographic shift creates this sort of macroeconomic tailwind. That's going to that's going to really drive your business going forward. Right. It's it's rare when you see when you're a just take it out of the cultural context or anything like that. But just if you look at startups in general, it's just so.
Peter Dean (26:54.623)
That's great.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (27:11.314)
That's right.
Greg Moran (27:22.467)
It's so rare when you can get that kind of a tailwind behind you that really just pushes the growth of the business. And it's something, yeah, in a million years I wouldn't be selling if I were you right now.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (27:26.193)
Mm-hmm.
Peter Dean (27:32.703)
No, no, I'm on your team for... Keep growing. Grow bigger than them. Let them be the laggards.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (27:33.604)
That's exactly right.
Greg Moran (27:36.323)
That's right. That's right. I think. Yeah, that's right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (27:40.179)
That's exactly right. And you know what is so funny, you said it's, I do pinch myself and I feel very responsible for the role we play. Actually my business coach, shout out to him, Rand Stagen is his name and Chris Johnson, I have two. But Rand did tell me this year actually in a very kind of sobering conversation, she said, Lily, you guys are the company that corporate America needed for such a time like this.
Greg Moran (27:47.023)
So.
Greg Moran (28:06.521)
That's right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (28:06.582)
And it didn't happen because of COVID, George Floyd, the INA awakening. It happened because we've been prepping for it for a decade. So it's being at the right place at the right time, right? So many are jumping into it with the narrative, with the saying they're inclusive, but I feel like you cannot improvise preparation. And we've been preparing and demonstrating this for a long time.
Peter Dean (28:14.879)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (28:16.129)
That's right.
Greg Moran (28:26.621)
Right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (28:31.498)
So it is right, you're right, the tailwind and the perfect storm is one that I see it with responsibility and a little bit of sweatiness in my palms, which is good, because otherwise we're not dreaming big enough. And just excitement, excitement altogether, because I think we'll lift many boats in that journey.
Greg Moran (28:35.527)
So what else? How is it? I think it's a bit of a long story. Yeah, I'll take you through it.
Greg Moran (28:54.377)
Yeah, well, it's an extraordinary story. I'm thrilled that you were able to share it. I know you've got a flight to catch here, but really thrilled that you were able to join us and share it. And yeah, we definitely need to have a part two on this one. I can't wait to see where this goes.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (29:01.854)
I'm going to go.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (29:08.643)
Yes.
Peter Dean (29:09.631)
Yes, me too.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (29:11.738)
Absolutely. And Greg and Peter, I guess, for those listening that maybe are thinking, gee, but I'm not selling stuff to corporate America or things like that. I think that principles are the same. There is a cultural curiosity that everyone in business needs to have. Because when you have that curiosity, that means you have empathy and discipline to understand and learn who you serve as your market. And that in itself will tell you where you need to head and go.
Greg Moran (29:29.767)
Absolutely.
Greg Moran (29:35.463)
I got it.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (29:40.99)
So there is that. And then the other thing is maybe for those that are not entrepreneurs yet, you don't have to wait to jump ship and quit something to become something else. To me, entrepreneurship is a mindset. It's not a title that you have just when you quit your corporate job, like in my case. And you can start creating the new or tapping into a trend that others maybe are lagging and seeing today.
Greg Moran (29:46.864)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Moran (29:56.367)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Moran (30:06.919)
It's all about it. I follow. Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (30:10.266)
It really does. And then the last point, because a lot of people, it's so funny. I mean, I'm all made up like this, not because I look like this all the time. I just came from a TV show this morning. Yes, but...
Greg Moran (30:22.096)
Incidentally, Peter and I actually do look like this all the time. So we're at.
Peter Dean (30:23.455)
Yeah. We don't get asked in the TV show.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (30:26.722)
Hey, it's easier. It's easier for the for the gentleman. But anyway, but where I'm going with that is like a lot of people do tell me today because they only maybe see what we post on LinkedIn or watch me on TV, whatever. It's like, oh, well, yeah, it must be nice to be the CEO of your company when you have a platform like television. I'm like, well, that wasn't always the case. And I do not have shocker. I do not have a PR agent. I don't have bookers that do this stuff for me.
Greg Moran (30:30.479)
I'm out.
Peter Dean (30:37.983)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (30:47.461)
No.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (30:56.774)
The way I ended up on television, and I'm saying this because anyone listening could get there too, was because I started a YouTube channel in 2009 actually. This was before everybody had makeup tutorials and funny cats on YouTube. So, seriously. And it was because I started putting video content to teach people the numbers.
Peter Dean (31:17.631)
It's so true.
Peter Dean (31:25.279)
Yeah.
Greg Moran (31:25.688)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (31:26.334)
And that was seen by a TV agent slash producer that totally stalked me, which was so funny. I thought he was a creep and he's a great guy and became my friend. But he was just like, I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you. So I literally got discovered on YouTube. So that's how I ended up on television eventually. And here I am still doing it. I don't get paid by any network, but I get to be an expert in my field. So anyone, anyone listening.
Peter Dean (31:39.839)
Hahaha
LILI GIL VALLETTA (31:55.278)
You have a phone, you have more platforms than I had a decade ago, from writing LinkedIn articles once a month at least, or putting videos on YouTube about your industry, or featuring your products in a clever way on social media. There is no excuse for everybody to become their own megaphone and voice for their expertise. And the magic is, oh, how do you tell that story differently? How are you
Peter Dean (31:59.519)
Yeah.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (32:24.87)
adding value and not just selling stuff. And, cause it happened to me very organically, Greg and Peter. It was so bizarre. I had never ever thought or had the aspiration of being on television. Now I enjoy it. I think it's fun and I feel responsible to, to be a voice and be a diverse voice on television sets, but anyone can do it. So there's no excuse people.
Greg Moran (32:27.579)
That's right.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (32:51.234)
If you are selling cupcakes, be the absolute best cupcake tip content creator that there is. Write articles about it. Give us ideas about holidays and occasions. Everyone can do this. So don't wait for others to do it for you. And no, you don't have to hire some expensive PR agent. PR people don't hate me for this comment. But in my case, I have never done that. So it's be good. Yes, be.
Peter Dean (33:14.911)
So we have a future, you're saying? Recognize? Yeah.
Greg Moran (33:20.124)
Where?
LILI GIL VALLETTA (33:21.254)
Be good at your craft, guys. Keep sharing the journey.
Greg Moran (33:25.848)
So it's so funny. And to wrap it up, I just wanted to say one thing about how Lily ended up on the show, right? Because it's a perfect testament to what you just said. I saw you on Fox one day. I was like, this would be a great topic for the podcast. I'm just gonna reach out to her, right? And normally when that happens, we end up getting to a booking agent or some sort of an agency or something. I sent...
LILI GIL VALLETTA (33:34.686)
I'm so sorry.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (33:42.141)
Uh-huh.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (33:50.349)
My assistant
Greg Moran (33:53.363)
I sent Lily a direct message on LinkedIn and I think it was like three minutes later. You're like, yeah, sure. I'm in. So holy crap, that actually just worked.
Peter Dean (34:00.959)
And then he literally texts me and he's like, guess what just happened?
Greg Moran (34:08.425)
So, so you are. That's right. Don't be afraid to ask it. You are that humble and, and we really, we really do appreciate it. It's just a great story and, and thrilled to have you on. So we'll.
Peter Dean (34:09.247)
So don't be afraid to ask.
Peter Dean (34:15.039)
Thank you.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (34:17.266)
Oh, I love it. I love it. Well, and that's the other thing, entrepreneurs, anyone that reaches out on Instagram, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, please respond. I mean, I feel so bad and Greg, I mean, it was meant to be because I'm not that good at responding timely. So it was just it was just it was meant to be. But but, you know, I wasn't always on major networks or big interviews. I've answered.
Greg Moran (34:35.403)
Maybe I just got lucky.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (34:46.422)
all calls because I feel the audiences that you, for example, cater to deserve that respect and want to hear the information. And the more you replicate it, the better it is. So don't be a snob either, entrepreneurs. Maybe at the beginning you get called by someone you don't know, but that is one more place to replicate your value. So go for it.
Greg Moran (35:10.031)
That's right. Luli, last question. How do people reach you if they want information on what you're doing, you know, with your companies, if they want to write LinkedIn, I can tell you that works. You know, how else like a website, you know, what's the best way to kind of get information about what you're doing?
Peter Dean (35:15.487)
Obviously leaked in.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (35:19.634)
There you go.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (35:27.126)
Yeah, so kind of to learn more about the conglomerate and who we are now as Culture Plus Group, you can just type that out. CulturePlusGroup.com is the website for our group. You can find me on social media all over. So Lily Gill USA is what it is on Instagram. A good old Google search will probably pull up a lot of information, too, which is kind of scary sometimes, but it's all in there. Yeah.
Greg Moran (35:53.551)
Got it. Well, we'll add the socials to the show links as well, so people can find you there as well. Awesome. It does. It does. Every time. Thanks, Lily. Really appreciate you being here. We'd definitely love to have you back. Have a safe flight, and hopefully we both make it out of airports in the next hour or so.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (35:59.022)
Absolutely awesome and LinkedIn works Greg it connected us.
Peter Dean (36:03.455)
Hahaha
LILI GIL VALLETTA (36:15.266)
I know, please go have a glass of wine on my behalf.
Peter Dean (36:19.743)
Have a good one.
Greg Moran (36:20.059)
I will, that is my next stop. Take care, Lilly. Thanks so much.
LILI GIL VALLETTA (36:23.038)
Absolutely. Thank you guys. Adios. Bye
Peter Dean (36:26.879)
Bye.