Leah Nurik of Gabriel Marketing Group: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My Business or Startup
An Interview With Doug Noll
Appreciate the value of creating camaraderie and experiences with your colleagues. The mark of a true leader is someone who knows what they’re good at and what they’re not. Lean into recognizing what you don’t know and trust the people, partners and your community who do. Seek that growth mindset by deferring and listening so everyone can evolve.
Taking the risk to start a company is a feat few are fully equipped for. Any business owner knows that the first few years in business are anything but glamorous. Building a successful business takes time, lessons learned, and most importantly, enormous growth as a business owner. What works and what doesn’t when one starts a new business? What are the valuable lessons learned from the “University of Adversity”? As part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leah Nurik of Gabriel Marketing Group.
Leah Nurik founded Gabriel Marketing Group (GMG) in 2011 to do what she truly loves — uniting changemakers with dynamic opportunities to challenge the status quo. An award-winning communications strategist who has worked for more than 20 years in the industry, Leah has successfully grown GMG year over year; today, GMG offers a full spectrum of PR and marketing services required for rapid and long-term growth — from go-to market strategy to media relations to demand generation, digital marketing automation and content development. Under Leah’s leadership, GMG has successfully partnered with more than 300 growth-oriented clients and earned more than 90 industry awards of excellence for its work.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
After getting out of school, I worked in journalism, tech PR, CPG PR and then left to do political communications for a variety of campaigns. The political campaign cycle isn’t exactly the most stable of careers and, being young and living in the city, it also didn’t pay very well. I found myself on a career hiatus and was looking for a job when I ran into my previous boss at a high-growth technology PR firm. She had moved to a software company as director of corporate communications and offered me a client-side position, which kickstarted my career in corporate PR and marketing.
I worked for a variety of software companies focused on enterprise applications and then field mobility and mobile email. I moved to Symbol Technologies and then Motorola through an acquisition. I ended up driving go-to-market strategy for several horizontal mobility applications for about five years. The travel aspect of the job became a lot, especially with two itty bitty kids at home, so I knew I needed a change. I left and started writing for tech journalism and took on many projects as a freelancer. I founded GMG in 2011 and we quickly closed our first account and started hiring employees.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
It is hard — well, I found it hard, anyway — to start something from the ground up and building. There are many challenges that come with starting a business — growing a team, creating a culture, no investors and your portfolio only grows once you have defined and built your credibility in the market. It’s important to remember that you’re only as good as the quality and reputation of your team, work and your product. This led to defining GMG’s mission and culture and working with high-growth companies, as most have the same mindset. Once we established credibility within the PR and marketing industry, with the help of partners and mentors that vouched for our work, we were able to move forward to the next level, which brought us to where we are today — we’ve successfully partnered with more than 300 companies and earned more than 90 industry awards of excellence for our work in marketing and PR.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
I’ve learned that happiness and joy sometimes go hand in hand with the melancholy sensation that comes with stress and disappointment. All entrepreneurs and achievers of professional success have faults and negative attributes. But when you think about previous trials and tribulations that seemed unfathomable, you remember how you were able to resolve each one and move beyond those challenges and approach the next barrier with more confidence and know-how than before. No challenge is too deep compared to the exhilaration from emotional and mental fulfillment — there is ample joy, contentment and satisfaction gained from overcoming a challenge. You must keep pushing.
So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
I don’t identify as someone who has reached that mountain peak of success yet, but I have no doubt that by continuing to expand our team with the same positive mindset, our mission will continue to be fulfilled and GMG will continue to grow. I’ll never be done growing, evolving and trying to make an impact.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Our SVP of PR and I were in a pitch meeting and I leaned against the conference room’s brand-new audio speaker and it fell off onto the floor — $30K gone and broken. I kept trying to reattach it and then it just kept falling off — it was embarrassing and they were all laughing hysterically, “like, what is up with this nutter?” I’ve always been a little klutzy, but this took it to a different level. They did eventually hire us, though, and we worked with them through a successful exit. The CEO also attended our 10-year celebration in 2022. Not sure what the moral of that story is except, maybe, “stand up straight”?
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We’ve built our company on a commitment to values, ethics, our mission and delivering only the highest quality of work. Our team is very generous with their minds and hearts and they strive to put everything into client results and culture. We instill a “be good, do good and the company will do well” mentality and that is shown through our average client retention of more than four years.
I believe our approach has helped us not just survive but thrive through the inevitable highs and lows. We celebrate all victories, big or small, and we certainly don’t only live to work. In January, we took a company-wide, all-expenses-paid retreat to the Caribbean where a lot of GMG members were meeting in person for the first time. We enjoyed company outings, a team-building scavenger hunt and excursions through underwater caves, all in the beautiful landscape of Mexico.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
To avoid burning out I recommend meditation, exercise and being mindful and kind in everything you do. Know when to take a breath before reacting. Dream big. Celebrate both the little victories and the big ones and do not get defeated by setbacks — almost everything can be overcome with teamwork and a solid support system that cheers you on along the way.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My husband, Gennady, helped me and supported me through all the ups and downs and the many iterations of GMG. He’s been my supporter throughout all the crazy aspects of life and I’ll forever be thankful for that. I’m also constantly learning lessons from every client and team member that comes through our door. It truly takes a village!
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
GMG’s mission is focused on positively impacting the world by living up to a high standard of ethics, humanity, generosity and all the like. The world will always be a better place with a little more kindness and that doesn’t stop in business.
Outside of work, I’m a big fan of children’s theater. It’s especially rewarding to help children grow their confidence at an early age and that continues to be one of the most impactful characteristics you can carry into adulthood and your future career. I also work with Junior Achievement in McLean by teaching economics and business to grade school students.
One of my favorite organizations to spend time with is PowerUp, a unique program for women entrepreneurs to close critical gaps in their strategic planning, financial management, sales and hiring strategies. In 2022, I joined World Unite for Ukraine (WUFU) as their pro-bono chief marketing officer, working to unite millions of people around the world to ease the suffering of the Ukrainian people by raising funds for the US-Ukraine Foundation (USUF). It’s a cause that is very close to home for me and my family as my husband is a refugee from Odessa.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first launched my business” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1. You have good instincts; always listen to them.
2. Define your purpose in life.
3. Excise toxicity from your life — If someone gives you a reason not to trust them, cut them out.
4. Work works for itself — don’t oversell; be yourself and be authentic.
5. Don’t be intimidated by a big name or a big deal; if the person on the other side is trying to make you feel small, refer to tip #3.
Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?
Appreciate the value of creating camaraderie and experiences with your colleagues. The mark of a true leader is someone who knows what they’re good at and what they’re not. Lean into recognizing what you don’t know and trust the people, partners and your community who do. Seek that growth mindset by deferring and listening so everyone can evolve.
In business, the tone is set from the top; leaders must know how to “steady the rudder” and the current will follow. Most challenges you face as a company can be overcome in time with the support of your team. Today’s speed bump is never the end of the road.
With many stress factors in the world, make sure your team is taken care of as much as you take care of yourself. If you don’t show up for yourself, you can’t be there for others. Make sure there’s a real work-life balance, which makes a team more productive and content with the ins and outs of the job, especially in the PR and marketing industry.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 😊
I’m a strong believer in education and the equal right to pursue schooling. If everyone had the same access to a great education — an education based not solely on test scores but the ability to think analytically and ethically, in my opinion, can lessen crime, poverty, substance abuse and hate. I believe education establishes a lifelong love of learning and evolving — it allows gratitude for beauty, the creation of art and appreciation for the everyday world.
We’re all pursuing good things to improve our quality of life — education for all would make the world a more kind, less violent and less polarized place.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can keep up with myself and the rest of GMG here:
GMG blog: https://www.gabrielmarketing.com/blog/
GMG website: https://www.gabrielmarketing.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahgabriel/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.
