Leading With Gratitude in a World That Tests Us
- Nov 14
- 4 min read
By Stephania Schirru
Stephania Schirru is a seasoned marketing and public relations strategist who has built and scaled multi-million-dollar fashion and lifestyle brands. After being diagnosed with lupus in 2015, she founded Dynamically Branded, a boutique PR & Marketing firm dedicated to helping brands tell their stories with purpose and impact.
With an international background and fluency in four languages, Stephania has successfully positioned her clients on a global stage. Her passion for the intersection of fashion and sports is reflected in her diverse clientele, which includes emerging designers, professional athletes, and lifestyle brands.
Throughout her career, Stephania has secured multi-million-dollar partnerships and brand collaborations with industry giants such as Google, Meta, Under Armour, Nike, Hennessy, and Lexus. Her expertise lies in press placements, celebrity relations, integrated marketing campaigns, and strategic brand partnerships that drive measurable growth.
She is also the creator of Elevate in 60 Days, a top-rated fashion marketing course designed to help designers elevate their brands, attract media attention, and build profitable businesses.
I was diagnosed with lupus in my late twenties and carried two high-risk pregnancies to term while building a marketing and PR agency from the ground up. Those chapters taught me the most counterintuitive leadership lesson I know: gratitude is not a soft skill—it’s a survival strategy. In a world that can feel relentless, gratitude steadies my decisions, clarifies my priorities, and fuels the kind of innovation and community impact I want my work to have.
Community Changemaker: Turning Access Into Impact
My agency lives at the intersection of sports and fashion—a space where visibility can change a life. I think about the young designer whose size-inclusive gowns we championed during Fashion Week. Instead of pitching only the product, we centered the mission: every bride deserves to be seen, supported, and celebrated. That gratitude for the communities we serve—plus the press relationships we’ve nurtured—translated into major features and buyer interest that the brand used to expand production and hire locally. In another campaign, we paired a sustainable designer with a nonprofit fighting human trafficking, using a runway moment to spark donations and policy conversations. Gratitude here looks like asking, “Who else benefits when we win?” and then structuring the strategy so the answer includes our city, our suppliers, and our most vulnerable neighbors.
Tips for Leading With Kindness (That Still Hit Your KPIs)
Begin every brief with a thank-you. I open team meetings by acknowledging one micro-win from the previous week. This anchors us in progress before we tackle problems, lowering anxiety and unlocking better ideas.
Make feedback a gift, not a verdict. We use “2+1”: two things that worked, one stretch opportunity. It keeps standards high without draining confidence.
Schedule recovery like revenue. Autoimmune disease taught me to calendar rest as immovable. When the leader models boundaries—water, walks, and screen-free blocks—it signals to the team that sustainability is part of the job, not a perk.
Lead with receipts. Gratitude doesn’t replace accountability. We track outcomes (placements, conversions, inbound collabs) and read them alongside “human metrics” like team energy and client readiness. The mix keeps us kind and effective.
Celebrating Small Wins: Momentum Is a Muscle
I’ve pitched the biggest names and still believe the small wins are where courage grows. The intern’s first confirmed media list. A client’s repost from a micro-influencer who becomes a tastemaker. A teammate who finally says “no” to a misaligned opportunity. We document these in a shared “Wins & Gratitude” hub with dates, screenshots, and notes on why it mattered. When a launch gets delayed or an editor passes, we scroll that archive and remember: progress isn’t linear, but it’s real. This ritual keeps the team solution-oriented, and clients feel seen for more than their deliverables—they feel partnered.
Entrepreneurial Journey: Turning Limits Into Leverage
Living with lupus means my energy comes in carefully budgeted envelopes. At first, that terrified me. Then I realized constraint can be a coach. I redesigned our service ladder to prioritize high-impact, values-aligned campaigns; I automated repetitive tasks; When pregnancies complicated travel, I doubled down on relationship-building via thoughtful digital touchpoints— texts to editors, tailored press kits, and quick-turn story angles aligned with cultural moments. Those choices didn’t just keep the business afloat; they matured it. Gratitude reframed limits as levers for clarity, creativity, and trust.
Why Gratitude Drives Growth
Gratitude is the leadership engine that converts individual resilience into collective momentum. It keeps us curious with clients, compassionate with colleagues, and courageous with our own dreams. It reminds us that success is not simply what we build, but who gets stronger because we built it. In my world, that looks like athletes-turned-designers who land partnerships, first-time founders who feel deserving of press, and a team that knows their well-being is as non-negotiable as any KPI.
The world may be “crazy,” but gratitude creates order: a way to decide, to collaborate, and to grow without losing our humanity. That’s how I lead—authentically, kindly, and with the resilient joy of someone who has learned to count every breath and every byline as a gift.
Connect With Stephania
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