Louis Krubich of MALKA Media: 5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In Your Industry

An Interview With Abe Alon

Show expertise in the field. We do this by presale with a job for a client. We provide examples, case studies, etc. that fall in line with what they are trying to do. We make sure all their questions are answered before they can even figure out what questions to ask. We make sure they know we uncovered every rock and stone and, strategically, they feel we are so thorough in our workflow that we know everything they need before even they do.

As a part of our series about how to become known as a thought leader in your industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Louis Krubich.

Louis Krubich is the Founder and CEO of MALKA Media, an entirely in-house media company that produces ‘content at the speed of culture.’ By applying Hollywood-level production capabilities and agile workflows on top of some serious technology, MALKA can deliver content at scale that meets the brand equity standards clients expect and deliver in time to participate in the conversation, making MALKA unique from the start. MALKA Media has over 250 full-time creatives across Santa Monica (CA) and Jersey City (NJ) studios, leading the production of award winning feature documentaries, digital stack shows and up to a thousand digital assets a month.

Louis and the MALKA team work with SHOWTIME Sports, Proper Twelve of Proximo Brands, Sophia and Sistine Stallone’s podcast UNWAXED, Award-winning All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Katie Austin’s Austin AF, KG Certified with Kevin Garnett, MMA Sports Show of the Year at the MMA Awards Morning Kombat, Shorty Industry Award Winner Dexter: New Blood Wrap Up, and Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, among others.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I was always working in the media space, and while producing content at MTV Networks, I saw first-hand how much money and resources were being spent on hiring a multitude of outside production teams for singular projects. Seeing just how inefficient and costly this process was, I decided to start MALKA, where I created an entirely in-house media company to produce Hollywood-level content “at the speed of culture.” MALKA gained their first client during the NFL player’s strike, with sports agent Pat Capra, and began shooting content and producing footage for all of Capra’s off-field charity work. For the first year, I maxed out all of my credit cards buying the necessary equipment to be an entirely in-house production studio. We leveled up from 1 employee in a 1 bedroom apartment to 4 employees in a 2 bedroom apartment. As we scaled to 3x retainer clients we moved into our first official studio in Jersey City and expanded from there.

Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority about the topic of thought leadership?

Under my supervision, MALKA has achieved numerous accolades including Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Company four years in a row, multiple Cynopsis Media Awards, Telly Awards, and an Emmy nomination. I was also just recently named to the NJ BIZ “40 Under 40” list. MALKA has shown 20–50% YOY growth and we’ve steadily increased our employees on the team from 120 to 200. This past fall, I spearheaded an acquisition whereby Moneylion digital financial platform announced that it acquired MALKA for $75 Million, and because of our thought leadership and creative capital, we’ve worked with them to engage with consumers across all digital and emerging channels, allowing MoneyLion to directly connect with communities natively inside and outside of its platform, through a curated content feed.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

In the entertainment and digital content industry, marketing, film and TV, etc. when you come up early on, there is a jaded view of what the industry is. People think it’s a two faced industry where everyone is out to get one another, everyone is always trying to find a “Gotcha” moment. In reality, it’s actually the complete opposite. The industry is filled with a lot of good people. There’s really no one in the industry who has ulterior motives, and if they do that’s the exception and not the standard, and so I wish I went into the space with that understanding right off the bat. There’s some amazing people in it if you build long term, valuable relationships, and this was something I was grateful to learn early on.

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?

One “mistake” we made early on in our business was when we worked with Johnson & Johnson on their branded Band-Aid content for the new Star Wars movie. We got so excited and were so eager, that we worked overnights all week long, editing the film footage to put Band-Aids over the Storm Troopers’ faces. Needless to say, Johnson & Johnson loved the results and thought it was hilarious, but they couldn’t use any of the footage — we were a bit immature at the time and didn’t understand the licensing issues or ask if they had rights to the film themselves. We realized there were more levels of marketing and bigger processes than what we were used to from our previous social marketing experience.

In a nutshell, how would you define what a ‘Thought Leader’ is? How is a thought leader different from a typical leader? How is a thought leader different from an influencer?

Thought leaders and typical leaders are two very different people. You can be a thought leader without being a leader. You can be a thought leader that is led by someone else. You can be a leader who is in charge of a bunch of thought leaders in very specific areas. I don’t think you need to be both to be successful. At MALKA we have a wide variety of thought leaders in a range of departments. I have designers who are amazing thought leaders in specific graphic design styles and techniques, and varying thought leaders in art direction, but both are being led by our head of creative, who is an inspirational leader. Leaders can lead without having to be the experts on a specific topic. I define a thought leader as someone who is an expert in a very specific topic, ability and task- someone with a deep understanding of the ins and outs of their area of expertise, and how to develop that specific topic successfully in the way it exists today, and how it will grow in the future. A thought leader sees 10 steps, 10 years ahead. Thought leaders are unbiased from any perspective. They are able to speak the full 360 degree truth, relaying both positives and negatives of their niche to provide necessary information to the public. If you are labeled as a thought leader, you should be excited to share the thoughts you have so you can inform others.

Can you talk to our readers a bit about the benefits of becoming a thought leader? Why do you think it is worthwhile to invest resources and energy into this?

I did not set out to be a thought leader. I did not invest research or energy into becoming a thought leader. The best thought leaders are those who are defined as such by peers, colleagues, and everyone that surrounds them in their space. I set out to grow a business and provide resources, solutions and options to our clients with impossible tasks — because impossible has many options. Overtime, you end up showcasing understanding and unique capabilities for specific topics and tasks that the industry in turn then understands as a thought leader because of your work. The best thought leaders go out and perform, and gain years of experience. The work that they do speaks for itself. The need to go out and spread knowledge and information is the responsibility that falls to thought leaders. If you want to become a thought leader, invest resources and energy into executing on what you do on a day to day basis.

Can you share a few examples of how thought leadership can help a business grow or create lucrative opportunities?

There are a few different cases within MALKA in how we’ve helped bring in more business opportunities and grow lucrative relationships with our clients through thought leadership. What it comes down to, truly, is them seeing our experience and our ability to showcase we can do something time and time again, such as live streaming content. When you showcase that scale and consistency, people understand the company as being experts in a certain field, and the leaders within that organization end up being labeled as thought leaders, and provide those clients with those resources and solution opportunities. I think the example of how thought leadership can make a business grow is within the growth of MALKA. The company is 10 years old and we were just acquired for $75M. Over the last 10 years, we’ve hired 15–20 employees every quarter to get to 200 and so that in itself should show as an example of how we can keep doing what we’re doing to reach the highest level. We explain to our clients why we do these things, and it’s understood that we are ultimately a thought leader. It’s the experience, it’s what we do. It’s a term we use for people performing at the highest level due to the experience and knowledge they possess.

Can you share 5 strategies that a person should implement to become known as a thought leader in their industry? Please tell us a story or example (ideally from your own experience) for each.

Here’s three:

1. Impossible has many Options: Never say no to a client — the client should feel like you can do everything they are asking for. If a client asks us to put a billboard on the moon, we don’t say “That’s impossible.” We say “Yes, let us figure it out, put a plan together, and get back to you.” Once we figure out cost, schedule and variables, then we are in a good place. At MALKA, we always make sure the client understands that there’s nothing they can ask of us that we can’t do.
2. Show expertise in the field. We do this by presale with a job for a client. We provide examples, case studies, etc. that fall in line with what they are trying to do. We make sure all their questions are answered before they can even figure out what questions to ask. We make sure they know we uncovered every rock and stone and, strategically, they feel we are so thorough in our workflow that we know everything they need before even they do.
3. Making sure employees and team members know that they are our biggest commodity. We make sure our team feels supported, properly led, and know their input is valuable. It’s important that our clients and senior leaders give the rest of our team the ability to showcase their perspectives on specific topics and their plan of attack. In turn, this shows the client there’s not one way to resolve a problem. All things considered, we make the right decisions together. Thought leaders don’t have to be right or wrong, they just have to present everything so the best decision can be made.

What advice would you give to other leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?

When we were in the throes of our biggest growth spurt, building our bicoastal staff to 200+ creatives, I realized I couldn’t do everything myself and had to let go of needing to be in the weeds of the day-to-day. I had to trust my senior leadership and let go of any insecurities I may have had as the founder. When I magnified the importance of senior leadership at the forefront of our three business divisions (Content Studio, Network, Sports) & 12 departments, from the production team, to the brand revenue team, to audience growth on the network, animation, post-production, etc., MALKA ran and continues to run on all cylinders, providing the necessary deliverables to our best-in-class clients.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would want to change the impact and view social media has on society. The statistics of anxiety and depression stemming from the way social media affects men and women is a factor I personally and through MALKA would like to change, especially being leaders in the programming space for social platforms. Social media is a good thing, offering worldly information and connection that should far exceed the negative aspects, so it is deeply important to MALKA to change the experience people have on a daily basis into a profoundly positive one.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Head of MALKA Sports Pat Capra shared with me a quote that I live by, and that is “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This quote really resonated with me because I truly rely on the partnerships I have with my co-founders in order to succeed and grow the business. We all have such unique, individualized skills sets that together, we are entirely stronger than either of us would be apart.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Check out our site, www.malkamedia.com and follow us on Instagram @malkamedia. We are also on LinkedIn where we share new projects and brand developments.

Thank you so much for your insights. This was very insightful and meaningful.