Hi ☺️👋! I’m Mica - the founder RunYouself, a pioneering AI-powered platform that helps managers develop transformational communication skills, which helps their companies develop a high-performance culture (without burnout). Here’s my story and what led to RunYourself:

My first experiences of leadership were highly authoritarian and directive. I grew up in an ex-soviet country and my first job was in investment banking. So for a long time, I thought that to lead meant to tell people what to do with a lot of authority. Luckily the following 15 years would teach me differently.

In my first role at Graze.com I found myself managing a team of data scientists and engineers (without being one). I quickly realised that telling people what to do wasn’t going to work, but I didn’t quite know how else to lead. Following that, I held various other leadership positions including a COO position. And during these years I kept wondering - how do you lead without telling people what to do? How do you lead in an enabling and empowering way rather than command-and-control … but still get stuff done at the pace that it needs to be done? How do you develop a culture of ownership, responsibility and accountability?

Years later, I stumbled upon coaching because I was interested in behaviour change. I was absolutely amazed by this different way of communicating that I had uncovered. It taught me that when someone comes to me with a challenge, I don’t need to fix it for them - I can help them solve their own challenge. I call it a super-power - the ability to catalyse critical thinking, creativity and self-awareness in someone else without telling them what to do. 

Over the past 5 years, I’ve spent thousands of hours coaching over 100 founders and leaders in tech companies. Developing the skill of coaching has absolutely transformed my personal and professional interactions. I have whole-heartedly come to believe that it is an essential skill for every leader and manager. And guess what? The research backs that up - employees who have a coach-like manager are eight times more likely to be highly engaged (source: Forrester).

The good news is that coaching isn’t rocket science. The bad news is that it requires behaviour change, which is easier said than done. And hence our mission at RunYourself is to make it easy for leaders and managers to have effective coaching conversations - both between peers, as well as managers and their team members.

Mica Vaipan

Co-CEO Auspicious Group | Entrepreneur | Non-Exec Board Director | Success Consultant | Sunday Times Fast Track 100 | Entrepreneur of the Year Nat West | Cannes Grand Prix Winner | Founder of Media Zoo Group

I am proud to be a female entrepreneur.

Increasing the visibility of female entrepreneurship in the UK is vital. I truly believe that closing the entrepreneurial gender gap and igniting female ambition is a necessity and to do this, women in leadership positions need to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs with their trailblazing stories of success.

I was delighted to be named The Natwest Female Entrepreneur of the Year and Management Today’s Entrepreneur of the Year in both 2020 and 2021. I was also voted a Rising Star in the business world by LDC and in 2020 I was named by The Telegraph as one of Britain's Top 50 most ambitious business leaders. I hope that my successes inspire girls to achieve their goals and found companies of their own.

As the co-founder and Managing Director of Media Zoo, an award-winning creative comms agency based in Chelsea, I feel it’s essential we always use our creativity as a force for good. Over the last few years Media Zoo has won over 200 creative industry awards and is the only agency in the world to win ‘The Grand’ at the Cannes Corporate Film Festival, in the same year as winning the prestigious ‘Grand’ at the New York Film Awards. I’m incredibly proud that many of these awards were for films and campaigns we produced that shine a light and educate people on the most important issues of today.

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