Shine On Success

Turning Left When Everyone Turns Right: Reinvention, Impact & the Power of Being First

Dionne Malush

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What happens when you stop following the crowd and create your own path? Meet Sylvie di Giusto, the world’s first 3D immersive holographic keynote speaker, a global voice in leadership, personal branding, and reinvention. In this powerful conversation, Sylvie shares her journey from a multicultural upbringing in Europe to building a groundbreaking speaking career in the United States — all while turning obstacles into innovation.

You’ll hear the inspiring story behind her 4-year journey to develop immersive keynote technology, the critical shift that transformed her speaking business, and how to own your digital reputation before someone else does. We talk about the beauty in failure, how to build a personal brand with intention, and the difference between hiring for skill vs. values.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, speaker, or just looking to stand out in a noisy world — this episode will challenge you to think differently, act boldly, and step fully into your own unique advantage.

🔹 Why being referable is more important than being impressive
 🔹 What the best leaders do differently
 🔹 How your weakness may be your greatest strength
 🔹 And why owning your name online is a non-negotiable

This is more than a podcast. It’s your personal masterclass in personal branding, resilience, and redefining what’s possible.

Connect with Sylvie here:

Website: www.sylviedigiusto.com

Perception Audit: www.sylviedigiusto.com/audit

Mobile Courses: www.howyouimpress.com

The Image of Leadership: https://amzn.to/3WShznX

Discover Your Fair Advantage: https://amzn.to/45ro0C2

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sylviedigiusto

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sylviedigiusto

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sylviedigiusto

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/sylviedigiusto





Connect with Dionne Malush

Speaker 1:

Have you ever made a choice you regret and thought what was I thinking? No judgment, We've all been there. Some of us more recently than we'd like to admit. Or maybe you found yourself cleaning up after someone else's snap decision, shaking your head and wondering they shoulda, woulda, coulda. Then you've experienced the power of unconscious drivers at work.

Speaker 1:

So, how do you make sure your next choice is the right one, driven by clear intention, not impulse? And, better yet, how can you influence your teams or clients to move from autopilot to intention, so their choices work with you, not against you? Our guest is here to show us how, as the world's first 3D immersive keynote speaker and a multi-award winning presenter, sylvie delivers groundbreaking presentations that captivate audiences and redefine how high performing teams maximize their human impact in client and team interactions. She has helped some of the world's most respected organizations, industry associations and government entities excel in leadership, drive sales success and enhance their brand's reputation.

Speaker 1:

Sylvie is the author of more than a dozen books and one of only 12% of certified speaking professionals worldwide. Safe to say, she's also used to navigating rough waters, both as an avid boater and as the mother of two teenagers who test her commitment to making intentional choices every single day. With her signature framework the power of choice Sylvie turns the woefully abstract into the wonderfully actionable, empowering us to lead better, sell faster and persuade instantly. One intentional choice at a time. Please join me in welcoming Australian by birth, german in her work, ethic French in her heart, italian in her kitchen and American by choice, sylvie de Joystew. So, sylvie, I am so excited to have you on today. I've been looking at your information and I'm so blown away by you so I'm very excited. So I always like to start with this one question what is one thing you would like our audience to know about you before we get started?

Speaker 2:

Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. I'm so excited to be with you. What an honor to be with a fellow speaker and a fellow entrepreneur that is known in the US, so audience, to know about me. I am the world's first 3D immersive holographic keynote speaker, and I'm just saying this because it's the first time in my entire life that I am the world's first, and that just has such a unique hue to it and I never thought that I would be able to say something like that.

Speaker 1:

I love it too. I watched a video before we started and I was like how does she do that? That is amazing. So I'm very creative too. I'm a graphic designer prior to owning this real estate brokerage, so I have that creative flair. So I love cool glasses and I love those glasses you have on. I'm just going to go take a picture of those later and give myself a new pair. So cool. Thank you for sharing that with me. And there's something that I read and I thought was so cool. I love how you introduce yourself Austrian by birth, French by heart, Italian by choice, German in work ethic and American by choice. That's quite the mix. So how do these influences show up in your work life?

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, I grew up in a multicultural family Italian grandfather, spanish grandmother, french father, austrian mother. Yet the fascinating fact was or maybe because of that I never felt anywhere at home, and my brother, who is 10 years older than I am and who is my best friend, said it was when I was five years old. He noticed for the first time that when people ask me what do you want to be when you're a grown up, that other kids said things like I want to be a teacher, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a firefighter. And when people asked me that supposedly, I said I want to be an American. And nobody in my family knows where this comes from.

Speaker 2:

And since the moment I had the pleasure to join you here in the United States now 16 years ago, the moment I set foot on planet Earth, I felt home for the first time in my life. And how does that show up? I find it such an, such an honor, such a gift. I feel so blessed and so grateful that I can be one of those dreamers who lives the American dream that everybody else out there in the world is hearing about, and every single day, I hope that I give this country back, with my work and with my enthusiasm and my love, what this country did for me by allowing me to call a place like this home.

Speaker 1:

That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And I love America too. Just so you know, I'm Italian, german and Irish, so I love that and I can already tell in just very few minutes how incredibly special you are. And your love of America means a lot to those of us that were born here and raised here, because sometimes we don't always look at how amazing we have it here, yeah, so I want you to know that. I really appreciate that. So you've had an incredible career corporate leadership, Fortune 100 consulting. Now you're a top keynote speaker. What made you take the leap into speaking? And, as you know, I told you that I am on the board of directors of NSA Pittsburgh and it's such an honor to be a part of that organization. I love it so much. It's one of my favorite three hours of every month being involved in that. Tell me a little bit about what made you take that leap?

Speaker 2:

Well, for 20 years I was on the other side. I hired a speaker and make myself believe that nowadays this is still a huge advantage that I have, that I know the buyer side, the client side, of when people are looking for a speaker. Obviously, we are 20 years in, so it might not be the same exactly anymore. In so that it might not be the same exactly anymore. But when I moved to the United States, I had the choice to either go back into a corporate career but, truth to be told, what held me back was I would have had to start fully over-incorporated.

Speaker 2:

At my last position, I reported to the CEO. I had a huge team. I had a huge budget to play with. It was that dream come true job. I had a huge team. I had a huge budget to play with. It was that dream come true job that I had. I was one of the few HR people in Europe who had unlimited budget, unlimited responsibilities and a CEO who just let me play and said do leadership development. However you think it is good and effective for our organization and I'm kind of yeah, that's only going to happen once in your lifetime. That's only going to happen once in your career.

Speaker 2:

So I decided why not switch sides and become a speaker. The first two years thereon, I was not as successful as you probably started out. Oh my God. I was so unsuccessful because I tried to serve everybody with everything. You want me to speak about body language? Sure. You want me to speak about communication? Sure. You want me to speak about leadership? Sure, About sales Sure. Whatever you want me to speak about, as long as you give me a check, I'm going to speak about. And that is not a wise approach in the speaking industry. But also, if you are a business owner and entrepreneur yourself and tuning in, it's not a wise approach for you either. The moment I entered my first NSA meeting the organization we both are referring to, the National Speakers Association everything changed. Because I was surrounded by people who have done it right. Changed because I was surrounded by people who have done it right and I listened and learned and instantly understood I have to niche down and I have to be an expert in something, and that changed everything.

Speaker 1:

I'm sure it did. It makes so much sense in whether you're in business or you're a speaker, right? Like you said, I have some people in my life right now that are trying to get every get rich quick scheme out there. Right, Try everything at one time versus focus on one thing. Basically what you just said. And it makes sense and I realized after joining NSA I've been there probably about nine months and the learning of being a better speaker helps me be a better leader, Exactly, and so my goal, because we have a real estate company. We have about 200 real estate agents that work for my real estate company. The better I am, the better I can be for them. That's kind of where I'm at, but someday I hope to be on stages like you are and learn. After I watched your video to see what you do. Let's talk about that the 3D immersive keynote speaking. How incredible it's next level. What made you take that approach and how does it change the game for the audience?

Speaker 2:

Let me share some advice for you as a business owner perspective. What I have learned throughout my career as a business owner and entrepreneur is, every single time I tried something that already existed on the market and I just wanted to do it a little bit different, a little bit better, a little bit in my style, a little bit with my hue. It was successful, but it wasn't really a breakthrough. I have learned that over the years, my biggest breakthroughs as a business owner were when everybody looked to the right. I looked to the left. So it was during the pandemic. During the pandemic, all speakers instantly had to revert to virtual presentations and virtual keynotes and you guys were all amazing. I admire you for all your skills that you have with cameras and all those toys and buttons and lights and microphones.

Speaker 2:

I went on my first virtual keynote and it was not a Zoom meeting, it was a keynote. So you need to envision there is just a camera lens in front of you, nothing else, and I looked into this black hole. I didn't know our people on the other side. Art is with me. I didn't hear anything. I was just talking into a black camera lens and when it was over, I cried and I called a very, maybe a common friend of ours.

Speaker 2:

I called Sarah Michelle, who is a trusted advisor and friend of mine, and I said to her if that is my future, I'm going to quit. I can't do that. And she said something to me that changed everything. She said well, if that is not your future, why don't you create your own one? And that stick with me.

Speaker 2:

If everybody's going to the right, everybody's doing virtual trainings, everybody is now focusing on what happens in the pandemic. What if I look to the left? What's the trend that's gonna happen after the pandemic? And I knew when people gonna come back into a room, they are not gonna be. They just sat through 4 000 virtual meetings in the last 12 months. Right, they want to more than PowerPoint slides on a screen. They just saw it for 12 months. They need more. And so I started to analyze holographic technology, quickly figured out I don't, I like it. And I don't like it because it's two-dimensional. I always had this vision of going into a brain, taking audience members with me. I always wanted it to be three-dimensional, then combined it with 3d imaging and other technology to create that effect, and it only four years until we finally launched.

Speaker 1:

Four years, wow, yes, yes so you were still speaking during that four years. You just weren't speaking in this immersive style. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean the technology, to be honest, was done after around two and a half years. And then I realized my team always said to me if you're going to present in it the first time, it will feel very different. And I thought to myself, like often business owners think to themselves oh, I did this, I'm now in here, I don't know 12, 13, 14. It can't be this difficult. But when I was the first time in there I realized, oh my God, I am back at square one, because what people don't realize is I don't see anything. I present in total darkness, I don't see the audience and I don't see the animations. I don't see. The animations are reversed for me. So if you haven't seen it, it's a little bit difficult to describe, but it is a total new experience. And I was like Toastmasters meeting number one. And so, even if the technology, the animations, everything was ready for a year long, I forced myself to fly back to Germany nearly every month just to fly in, rent a studio, rehearse in the dark, fly back the same day.

Speaker 1:

That is a lot of work, yes, but the end result is spectacular, and I look you up immediately and see what you do, because I've flown away. So let's talk about adversity, because that's a lot right. The reason I did this podcast is to prove to entrepreneurs and small business owners that they can push through adversity and get to the other side, because it happens to all of us, whether personally or professionally. Can you talk about a time where that's happened to you and you push through to the other side?

Speaker 2:

Oh, just the immersive experience itself is an example. At the beginning of the pandemic, when we were not allowed to travel, I thought to myself when I looked for business partners, technology partners, I had three favorites One was in Canada, one was in the UK, one was in Germany. I'm going to go with the one in Canada, obviously because they are the closest, because who knows when I'm going to be able to travel to Europe. They are the closest because who knows if, when, I'm gonna be able to travel to Europe now. We all know that entering Canada and during the pandemic is harder than any other place for us. Oh yes, but it also turned out it wasn't the right partner for me.

Speaker 2:

I lost a year by, I think, on the one side, not being clear enough on my idea at this point and not being clear enough of visualizing it and explaining it, and a partner that also couldn't lead me because they have never done that before. And after one year I have invested so much time and money that I can. Many business owners probably can envision that I had many moments, but now I have to stay. I can't leave. I already put so much effort into it. I can't leave and I'm so glad that I ended that relationship for two reasons because it taught me that there are beautiful lessons in failure.

Speaker 2:

The next partner I found, which was the team in germany I was ready for them I'm not even claiming the partner in canada, because at this point I but I better knew what I wanted, I was way more clear in my asks makes sense and so that they could guide me way better of telling me what's possible but also what I don't see yet, because I'm so caught in that past. That failure, that first year, that money that I invested at that time, that was the best investment of all of it, because it taught me so many valuable lessons. I think there is beauty in failure that we often don't see instantly 100% agree with you, and I talk about that a lot.

Speaker 1:

There's always something positive, there's an incredible message inside of it, a beautiful, would you say, a beautiful lesson in failure. That is perfect. And I think once you get to the other side of it, it's extraordinary. You realize that you've put in all the work, you did everything, you spent the money, the time and it didn't work Right, and the next time, when you come through, is what we have today yes, what I've seen. So that's a great message. So you work with some huge brands Microsoft, american Airlines, nespresso, the US Air Force.

Speaker 2:

What do the best of the best do differently when it comes to leadership and sales? The best leaders lead by example. They understand that they set the standard, that they set the tone and wherever they set it, others will follow. I think the best leaders in those organizations, on the other hand, don't create more followers. They create more leaders. The best leaders create more leaders. And, lastly, those leaders in those organizations don't hire talent for skills. They hire them for values, beliefs, enthusiasm, passion first before technical skills, because technical skills can be taught. Values, beliefs, passion, ethics, morals those are things that are difficult to teach as a leader.

Speaker 1:

That is great advice for everybody that's listening. You also talk a lot about personal branding, so what's the biggest mistake you see professionals making when it comes to how they present themselves?

Speaker 2:

Not being intentional. Your personal brand is not what you think it is. Your personal brand is not what people tell you to your face. Your personal brand is what people think and say about you behind your back, how you make them feel behind your back, and so the only option that you have is to try to control part of this narrative. You will never be able to control all of it, but if you don't control at least part of that narrative intentionally, as good as possible, you let somebody else control it those behind your back.

Speaker 1:

It's absolutely true, and you've written a few books, correct? There's a book. Discover your fair advantage. It's all about standing out if someone's thinking I don't really know. What makes me different? What? Where should they start?

Speaker 2:

well, possibly by, uh, buying that book, if I may say so but also by identity. And this book helps you to identify 15 unique selling points. Because the challenge is when I ask leaders or entrepreneurs or business owners what makes you stand out, what is unique about you, the answers are usually quite generic, something like you know, our company offers faster customer service, or I'm the better leader because. And then I say well, and now, if I would walk to your biggest competitor, don't you think they would say the same? And it turns out they would say the same, because you bring yourself always into a comparison trap. And what I say, your uniqueness, not just comes from one element, it comes from at least 15 different ones, and that is your fair advantage. The combination out of those unique selling points is what makes you so unique, and you will find that at places you wouldn't even expect May.

Speaker 1:

I share an example with you. Yeah, I cannot wait to read this.

Speaker 2:

I'm ordering it today For example, years ago at the beginning of my speaking career, I lived in New York City and the media outlet reached out to studio out of a sudden, surrounded by established, well-spoken, sophisticated political experts. And then they invited me again and again and again and I somehow happened to become part of that show on a regular basis. When I watched the show there on the evening I hated it. I was so embarrassed. All I could hear was my accent and my grammar and the errors and the simplicity compared to those sophisticated, yummy, eloquent terminology all those other political experts had around me At the holiday party one evening I addressed the producer with that self-doubt and I think as a business owner and entrepreneur you might have self-doubt sometimes too and I said I pointed at my mouth and said I have no idea why you invite me again and again.

Speaker 2:

And he pointed at my mouth and it changed my trajectory forever and said that's the reason why we invite you Because you sound like an international expert and you say things so simple that everybody at home in front of the TV understands you, but they don't understand the political experts. So I had to realize that what I thought is my biggest weakness is actually my superpower. It's my gift, and maybe you too have something you are worried about. You think it's your weakness, and you can actually turn it into your superpower, because it is so uniquely you that nobody else will ever be able to copy what I have coming out of my mouth.

Speaker 1:

So as we read that book, we'll find out about 14 other great books as well. Right, I love that you're sharing this with us, and I know one thing that's really important, especially as an entrepreneur, is showing up in a digital world. So we live in a time where your online presence can make or break your reputation. What's one thing professionals should stop doing online and what should they start doing instead?

Speaker 2:

what you should stop doing online, given the fact that I assume you already know social media 101, so I'm not going back to the basics of what not to post. But what you should stop doing online is ignoring your unintentional footprint, and by that I mean the following we all are focused on our intentional clicks, what we post, what we comment, what we like, but there are also the unintentional messages that we send. Have you ever had that friend, dion, that posts 14 times a day and you wonder, do they even have a job? Do they ever go to work? Have you ever had that friend who commented on a post six weeks later the event when it was over, and you thought where have you been the last six weeks? Have you not noticed what happened in the world? Have you ever had that friend who has an outdated profile where you thought that picture doesn't look like anymore?

Speaker 1:

Yes, there's many in real estate that have that.

Speaker 2:

So there are so many unintentional messages in between the lines that we send that so many people tend to ignore and hear the devastating truth. We, as business owners, focus always on how much business could we make with our digital footprint right. How many people could we get into our digital world so that they buy, buy, buy from us? Did you ever think about how much business you might lose because of your digital footprint? Because people are sitting on the other end and never reach out. It's a KPI and now we can't analyze right, but every single day, as a real estate agent, for example, you might miss out on opportunities because something was looking for an agent and found something about you online and instantly thought, oh no, that's not my partner, moved on. You will never know the business you just lost.

Speaker 1:

You never know and I think that happens a lot sometimes with bragging. Or you know something as simple as when you go out and you have drinks all the time and you're sharing that online and people are judgmental, right, they just buy it because they see that and then they see it over and over and over again. Or if you're doing the same kind of posting every day. Yesterday I was on a podcast and he said something that made sense. He said they get numb to it. You're doing the same kind of post over and Like. You said they just scroll right past it, they're not going to like or comment and you'll never know because they're over it, right? Thank you for that advice. That makes a lot of sense. So what should they do then? What is a good piece of advice that you could tell someone that they should do on social media to help them build their online reputation?

Speaker 2:

Well, the first thing, and it's very basic and it's so obvious, but I want you to own your name on the internet, own your name on the digital space. What does that mean? You need to sign up every single social media platform. You need to sign up every single professional directory. You need to sign up every industry platform that you might have in your industry or in the real estate industry.

Speaker 2:

I'm not saying you should use all of them, but you need to own your name, because what happens if somebody with your name out of a sudden becomes a celebrity and takes over your space on the internet? What happens if somebody who does something criminal, something horrible with your name over the internet? People don't take the time to differentiate between the two of you If you don't own your name over the internet. People don't take the time to differentiate between the two of you If you don't own your name on the internet. That includes social media. That includes your URL with your name, right? That includes so many places. Somebody else could and even if you don't use it now, something like that ever happens. You need to be prepared so that you can clarify who you are and that you are this or that professional.

Speaker 1:

That makes a lot of sense, Thank you. So let's talk about building a speaking career because at your level it's not easy, and make it look easy and fun. But we know already know that it took you years to get to this point. So what's been one of the biggest challenges along the way and how did you push through that?

Speaker 2:

The biggest challenge for me was defining my core expertise.

Speaker 1:

You know, your talk is like that, how you're talking about niching down right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, how am I going to really help my audiences? Speaking is never about the speaker. It's always about the audience. When the audience leaves the ballroom, what do I want them to know, what do I want them to feel and what do I want them to do? And this could, in my case, include many topics, but I was not brave enough to go really narrow down. My first company was called Success Development Group. My biggest worry was my logo. That was the first thing that I instantly had. If you haven't instantly noticed, sdg are also my initials, so I was incredibly proud of that creativity that, other than myself, nobody understood.

Speaker 1:

But we do now myself.

Speaker 2:

Nobody understood, but we do now. Then I had a website that basically said nothing other than I want to speak, and so from that level I went into. Maybe I should speak about leadership, because I have 20 years of leadership experience. Oh, wow, wow, there are millions of leadership speakers. Maybe I like a specific approach. Maybe I talk more about presence. Maybe I should talk more about perception, maybe I should, until I was down to the smallest element, which in my world, was first impressions.

Speaker 2:

So I became the first impressions speaker, and the beauty of that is, if you find that tiny element, that one or two words down, you become referable and then your business succeeds. Because if I'm with a client and after my presentation, my client says something like next year, I wish we would have somebody who can help us with sales conversations. Philem Jones oh, I wish next year we would have somebody who can help us become better listeners. Heather Young oh, I wish next year we would have somebody who we are all known for something very specific, so the names pop up easier when we refer them, while if you would now ask me for a leadership speaker, well, I might tell you my favorite one, but there are thousands of options that I could probably share with you. So become specific. That's my tip for you. Become as be brave and become as specific and narrow in the beginning. You can always branch out later. Now I speak about way more topic than first impressions, but to build the business, this narrow niche really helps.

Speaker 1:

That makes a lot of sense. So we've talked a lot about business and I wanted to know something about you personally. So tell me something that you love to do outside of work, because you know people like us, we love working, so keep us. Can you share something that you love to do?

Speaker 2:

Yes, If I don't speak about emotional intelligence. My emotional intelligence gets tested every single day at home with two wonderful teenage kids. Every single day.

Speaker 1:

Every day.

Speaker 2:

I love and I adore them and I am so proud of them and they are the greatest gift and the hardest job I ever signed up.

Speaker 1:

So I don't have kids, so I don't have. I don't know about that. I have seen everyone else?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I have kids, you have sleep Dawn. I have kids, you have sleep. Trust me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Besides that, that's also the reason why we moved here to sunny Florida. My happy place is the ocean, and right behind me I'm not sure if you can see it, that wall there is the beautiful Tampa Bay and there is a boat waiting for me every single day and every single moment. I don't have to be on stages or on planes. I have the joy and the pleasure and honor to be with people like you, dion.

Speaker 1:

You will probably find me on that boat and, if I'm extra lucky, I have my two teenagers with me and we spend some time out there on the ocean so I love that and boating is one of my favorite things to do and we don't have the ocean, but we have the river really close, within seven minutes from our door, and the most relaxing thing that I have to do is get on that boat. So I love it. But I also love Florida, because I'm definitely going to be there someday, because it's beautiful and the sunshine. We don't have a lot of sunshine here, like you do there. I think it's like 140 days a year in Pittsburgh to have sunshine. The rest are dreary, but we have good news.

Speaker 2:

Here's the good news now you have a new friend in florida.

Speaker 1:

It has a boat right so I can go on your boat. That was amazing. Thank you so much, and it's this has been extraordinary. I love it. There is so much gold in here for all business owners, whether you are a professional speaker or not. But I do recommend to everyone that's in business to take a professional speaking class. Join n NSA in your area, join Toastmasters, learn to be a better speaker and then learn someday how to speak on stage, because you could have an opportunity of a lifetime. But I love what you said about turning to the left when everybody else is turning to the right. It makes a lot of sense. So I know people are going to rethink some of their choices, possibly after this conversation. So how can they connect with you and dive deeper into your work? Thank you very much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much. I'll just type in my very simple name, sylvie DiGiusto, with whatever typos you prefer, because the internet at this point is probably used to it, and I hope that one of my social media outlets shows up and connect. I hope that one of my social media outlets shows up and connect. Other than that, I hope that you're going to have show notes or some sort of options to connect with your podcast, diane, and if you want to do Diane and me a favor, then leave a review for her, leave a testimonial for this podcast. If it was helpful for you and if you find some of those insights helpful for your business, I would love to hear from you we would love that, and I think both of us there may be only one of us in the whole world.

Speaker 1:

We have such unique names. So you know, I mean, I don't doubt hopefully no one's out there doing anything wrong with my name, but I love that advice. So for everyone, please like, subscribe and share this episode, because you know, my goal is to help one person every single podcast, but lately the podcasts have been so good that I think we're going to help a lot more than one person. So thank you, sylvie. It was a pleasure meeting you and I can't wait to talk to you again soon.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much for having me.

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