The Transformative Journey From Performer To Executive Mentor – Interview With Lisa Hugo
- Brainz Magazine
- Jan 10, 2024
- 4 min read
Lisa Hugo is a leading authority in the public speaking arena as a voice coach. She helps entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders in their field to elevate their speaking skills by working on their voice, impact, and performance. She has helped 1000s of people around the world to find their voice and ultimately achieve greater levels of success because they are seen and heard as an authority figure in their industry.
But Lisa didn’t start out coaching business leaders. Her background stems from the performing arts world, where she spent a large portion of her career traveling the world as a singer and songwriter.
Lisa Hugo, Professional Voice Mentor
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hey there, I’m Lisa Hugo – Voice coach, speaker, business owner, professional singer and mother to 2 teenage girls. I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia. I left in 1996 to pursue my singing career and have since lived in many cities around the world. I now call the United Arab Emirates my home, having lived here for 18 years. I coach senior-level executives, leaders and entrepreneurs to understand and utilize the power of their voice and nonverbal communication skills to deliver confident and compelling presentations and speeches. Moving into speaker coaching after being a professional singer for a large part of my working life, was a natural progression to use my performance skills and stage experience to help those in the corporate and business world to be more successful.
What is the primary purpose or mission of your business – Audacia Marketing Management LLC, and how did you come up with the idea?
We came up with Audacia from the English word Audacity, which means to be bold, brave and willing to take risks. Our primary purpose is to empower as many people as possible with the skills to be confident, clear and compelling speakers so they can make a difference. Share their knowledge, expertise, opinions and beliefs to inspire, motivate, and challenge others using their voices.
Can you tell me more about your target audience or customer base? What demographic or geographic groups do you primarily serve?
We primarily work with senior-level executives, company owners, and leaders who have reached a point in their careers where they now need to be in the public eye, delivering presentations, speaking at events, and in media but lack confidence and/or effective speaking skills. Many people don’t feel comfortable speaking, they don’t enjoy speaking in front of an audience and in many cases shy away from it altogether.
How do you differentiate your products or services from competitors in your industry?
There are many public speaking courses available, but 99% of them do not focus on the one most important element – the voice of how you sound! How you say the words. You can learn all the techniques of public speaking, presentation skills, and storytelling, but if your delivery is still lacking luster, you will not be effective. I work with many people who have been through lots of presentation courses in the past but still don’t feel they can deliver a compelling presentation. Why? Because no one worked with them on How to say their words. That’s what makes my programs so unique. Having trained in performing arts, and spent a large part of my career on the stage and in front of a mic, I know what it feels like to have stage fright. I’ve learned how to effectively use my voice as a singer, actress, and speaker. I understand the power of connection and having your audience come away having felt something. I use my training, my stage experience, and my deep knowledge of the voice to transform the lives of others.
What are the core values of your company?
Our company values are simple. Deliver high-quality training, hold our students accountable to get the results they are looking for, respect the need for privacy, understand and respect cultural differences both within our team and our clients, and create valuable partnerships and collaborations that can only add further value to our mission.
Are there any recent or upcoming developments, product launches, or changes in strategy that you would like to share?
We have just launched our podcast /videocast under the title “Impact Through Voice”. We want to use this medium to freely share techniques, experiences, and advice that can help others to grow personally and professionally. We are very excited about this and have some amazing guests lined up in our first episodes.
Our YouTube channel is definitely worth a look at, and we are constantly evolving our courses and offerings on public speaking and online business growth through video-based content.
I’m currently working on my first book and a new program to accompany this book on storytelling. Stories are an integral part of effective speaking and presenting. When a story is told well, it will leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience. They will remember you and your message long after you have left the room because a story connects us emotionally.
Coaching can be intense. How do you balance a busy professional schedule with personal time?
Until the start of 2020 and before the global pandemic forced everyone to stay at home, my coaching model was intense. I was solely focused on 1 on 1 in-person coaching. Meaning every hour of my time was limited to what I could charge for that hour, leaving me exhausted and burnt out by the end of the week. The pandemic was instrumental in transforming my coaching programs to be a combination of video-based self-guided learning, group coaching, and private coaching only for my elite, senior-level clients. This has allowed us to grow, support more people and give me back my time. I also have an amazing small team who support me to facilitate all of the above.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
There are several. Performing as an international artist at the Dubai International Jazz Festival as a singer and songwriter is surely one of them. As a coach, coaching a young 10-year-old operatic singer to the finals of America’s Got Talent with 2 golden buzzers and growing my business to 7 figures in the past 3 years by implementing new automated strategies and the one-to-many coaching approach.
If you had to describe the essence of your coaching philosophy in one sentence, what would it be?
Find your voice, find your success!
