Mia’s current column talks about an interesting trend she has observed among the many women executives she has met.

 She writes: “I’ve spoken with countless executives over the years and I’m inspired everyday by the women I meet who are truly making their mark on the business world. That said, I’ve noticed a surprising trend among these women. I’ve heard it from editors of major publications and I’ve heard it from the women themselves: no matter how talented, hard-working or respected they may be for their leadership skills and business acumen, they prefer to avoid the spotlight. For some women, self-promotion is a dirty word.”

Mia stresses the importance of cultivating a strong personal brand, and explores the benefits that this type of public relations can deliver to your small business.

She writes: “Sharing your personal story is crucial to developing a relatable identity with the public, your teams and your stakeholders. Small companies often can’t afford big advertising campaigns and this is one of the most cost-effective and credible ways to get your message out, raise the profile of your business, drive sales and aid in the recruitment of top-tier talent. Whether you’re a man or a woman entrepreneur, if you are armed with a solid communications plan, taking the stage won’t just be a simple exercise in self-promotion; your personal story is an essential component of your company’s corporate branding – you just need to share it.”

Check out Mia’s column every Thursday in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

In this week’s column, Mia talks about her personal experience developing herself as a leader.

She writes: “With every move, every talk, every interaction, we contribute to our personal brand – not just the brand of the company we represent. The strongest corporate leaders cultivate their own trademark, a brand that their employees, investors and colleagues can invest their confidence in and stay loyal to.”

Recently teaming up with BlueMoon Productions to integrate high quality multimedia and simple storytelling into an internal presentation, Mia learned an important lesson: investing in your personal brand may seem like an unnecessary cost, but if done right, the payoff will be huge.

Check out her column every Thursday in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

We’ve updated our website and refreshed our brand. We used our tenth anniversary to not only celebrate but also make changes to our corporate look and feel.

We loved our old logo with the road-that-leads-to-the-mountain. It’s been with us ever since High Road was founded back in the days when a website launch still created excitement and media started to think they might want to look into this thing they called “Cyberland” (“Extra! Readers talk back!”).

A lot has changed since then. High Road has grown from two to more than 70 people. We’re still doing technology and digital lifestyle PR but now we are doing it in six divisions and four offices.

We’ve been to the mountain and back many times. But we still love the hike, and we always strive to find new and better ways to get up there. And that’s what we wanted to focus on with our “refreshed” brand.

We searched for people who could help us with that, and found the team of Evoke Solutions (branding and design), or as I like to call them: Knights of the White Space – and The Working Group (website planning and development).

Together, we came up with a new logo, a new corporate identity, and a new website. We hope you like the result.