Leila Zogby
 Leila Zogby, a business communicator, began her corporate writing practice in 1984, after 10 years of working as a financial journalist, a government public information officer and a corporate editor. With her own business, Leila Zogby Business Writer, Inc., Leila gets to focus on her passion: writing. She writes brochures, newsletters, corporate profiles, annual reports and many other business materials for clients ranging from American Express Direct, Merrill Lynch and Sotheby’s.
A graduate of New York University, the Wharton Seminars for Business Writers, University of Pennsylvania and the Bourguiba Institute, University of Tunis, Leila has an international background. Being raised in a Spanish-speaking household, with a Cuban father and Nicaraguan mother, has influenced Leila’s life beyond enjoying “fabulous cuisine” — she wrote a 10,000-word advertising supplement sponsored by the Commercial Office of Spain to promote foreign investment into Spain. “A second language has been a door into the bigger world,” Leila says.
1. Who is your professional role model and why?
My paternal aunts were wonderful role models. These three women were highly skilled seamstresses, who in the early 1950s established their very own, very successful women's clothing manufacturing business. This was, needless to say, unusual for its time. As a young girl, I would visit their factory with my mother when she would go there on some errand or other. Often, one of the seamstresses there right on the spot would whip up a couture confection for whatever doll or stuffed animal I brought. Now that I think of it, maybe that’s why I like clothes so much!
2. How has the rise and demand of electronic communications affected your business and writing style?
The immediacy of electronic content has forced me to become a better writer. I must use fewer words to make a point, and I must get to the point right away. From the perspective of my business, I feel that the advent of technology, be it for writing, design, photography or whatever, has given people the idea that creativity happens on demand, that somehow a lay-out or a photo isn't hard to do “because the computer can do it.” It causes clients to have unrealistic expectations of how long things take, which can result in work that is not as good as it could have been if you had been given more time.
3. Who is your favorite writer and why?
This is a very tough question. After thinking about it, I'd say that for fiction, I would choose the novelist Anne Tyler. Her characters are so real and quirky, and she puts them in such human situations. In terms of journalistic writing, it would be the late Red Smith, sports columnist for The New York Times. When someone can actually make me look forward to reading about the opening of trout fishing season in New York, a topic he covered annually, you know he's got to be good. Such elegant language. A true gentleman and scholar.
4. What advice can you offer for working with CEOs and high-level executives? What is the key to successful communication with such individuals?
CEOs and their colleagues are very smart and very busy. So, I always make it a point to be extremely well prepared when I have to interview someone of that rank. You want to get right to the heart of the matter to be discussed, and you had better anticipate that they may ask you more than one tough question. That’s why being prepared is so important.
I also think it’s important to be confident in their presence. A CEO is not your peer, so you must be respectful. At the same time, though, you have to give the impression that you have something of value to add to the encounter, that you are important or competent enough to warrant a spot in their appointment list. Wearing a killer pair of high heels is a good idea, too, regardless of whether the CEO is male or female.
5. What’s the best movie or book of the year so far?
I recently saw Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe,” a rock opera based on the songs of Lennon and McCartney. The imagination and creativity of this film knocked my socks off. The integrity of the music was left intact. It was just used in a completely new way that was dazzling. It’s always impressive to witness an artist re-purposing the material of another to create a wholly new work of art. It’s a tribute to both parties.
Last year, I joined a reading club that focuses on books about art history, a particular interest of mine. So, I’ve read a number of excellent books. Strapless by Deborah Davis is the story of the John Singer Sargent painting, “Madame X,” which hangs at the Met. It is full of details about Paris in the Belle Epoque and about the status of women of society at that time. Very interesting, educational and fun to read.
— Rachel Buttner
rachel.buttner@gmail.com
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