GoKawiilThis week on How Success Happens, I sat down with Zach Rosenfield, CEO and president of RMG, a 360-degree media strategy firm that shapes the narratives of everyone from billion-dollar brands to icons like Daymond John and Shaquille O’Neal. Zach has spent nearly three decades in the PR trenches, evolving from a reluctant publicist to the guy who entrepreneurs call when they are ready for their big moment. We broke down his hard-earned insights to help you craft your own headline-making success story in three, two, one!
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Three Key Insights
1. You Can’t Force Passion
Early in his career, Zach realized his biggest problem was that he “didn’t know how to be passionate about other people’s passions.” He spent years grinding in jobs that didn’t feel organic until he began working with entrepreneurs and creators whose missions he could genuinely get behind. That shift—from “this is my job” to “this is my client’s dream and I’m all in on it”—changed everything about his energy, his relationships, and his results.
Takeaway: You won’t excel unless you care — find projects you can authentically throw your energy into.
2. Let Your Clients Hand You the Playbook
Zach admits that a major turning point came when he stopped trying to “spiritually lead” companies he didn’t control and started learning from the entrepreneurs he represented. Working closely with Daymond John, he realized “it’s amazing what will happen if you just start listening to people and what they’ll do is they’ll give you the playbook for success.” Those conversations helped him see that he was already acting like an entrepreneur for other people’s businesses—he just hadn’t done it for his own yet. That insight directly shaped how he built RMG into a 360° communications firm, from its business model down to company culture choices like paying employees’ full health insurance and hiring based on someone’s potential, not just their resume.
Takeaway: Treat your best clients like mentors—ask how they think, listen without ego, and use what they reveal as a playbook for your next moves.
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