Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Duran.
Claudia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My parents were immigrants from Bolivia, I was born and raised in Washington DC, a first-generation American. My mother was conservative old money, seeking opportunity, and my father was artistic no money, seeking adventure, lol!
Confusing as it was, they were united when it came to education and hard work, and they drilled into my sister and me that all we ever needed to survive were those. I graduated from college Dean’s list and went to work for a DC think tank, and then a global management consulting firm. I bought my first home. That’s what you do in DC, but it wasn’t long before I felt suffocated. I turned 25 and decided it was time to live my dream life which included moving to sunny Miami Beach! I wasn’t sure exactly what else…
MIAMI:
Things took off quickly once I got here. I landed a job with newly formed Playboy TV International alongside a small group of entrepreneurially spirited professionals who had been assembled by Hugh Hefner and Cisneros Group to create and distribute new content for a global market. We worked out of the 404 Washington Avenue offices and were all over the world: Paris, Cannes, Marrakech, working across cultures and time zones.
Budgets and boundaries were limitless. In 2002, Playboy was moved back to LA. I decided it was time to get serious and move to New York City, where serious people go. Ironically, I wound up at Hallmark Channel marketing shows about the lives of Saints! There was a poster on the wall of one of the documentaries when I went for the interview, “St. Francis: from Playboy to Saint,” and thought wow, maybe there are no coincidences!
DARK TIMES:
I thought if my career succeeded, I would too. I was working six days a week, but my lifestyle and choices were taking a toll. I found myself in a toxic relationship, and I didn’t want to admit it, but I was struggling with an addiction. It was a very dark period. I returned to Miami, where I began a deeply transformative journey which taught me so much about love, acceptance, honesty, and fully embracing who I was. I started to see the world from a whole new perspective.
COME BACK:
My life took off again, but this time I was able to be present for it. This new journey took me through many new adventures, most notably, starting my own marketing and lifestyle agency, The Communication Studio, where I’ve had the incredible opportunity of working with Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, Variety, and Walt Disney. I was tapped by a client to lead marketing for a private jet operator servicing a Forbes billionaire clientele in Los Angeles, and I hired by a leading e-commerce company to work alongside Sir Richard Branson in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
HELPING OTHERS:
I read somewhere early on that people achieve the highest level of fulfillment and happiness when they are in professions where they are actively helping other people.
At the time I couldn’t imagine anything better than marketing, so when I was approached by Sherri, Elite Connections’ CEO, to get involved with her Beverly Hills-based matchmaking agency, my first thought was – give me a break! Sherri doesn’t really take no for an answer, however.
What started as a fun passion project (no pun intended!) evolved into a perfect opportunity to apply my communication skills in a relaxing, discreet and confidential manner on behalf of a diverse clientele, many with fascinating stories and backgrounds!
I’ve amassed a wealth of insightful knowledge about love, men, and women, and been the conduit for many happy couples. Local community and national press began turning to me for insights on matchmaking and relationships, something I never anticipated.
THE OUTLOOK:
What I’m seeing is that many people have become so very disconnected from themselves and each other in this overly digital world. That opened the door to coaching, helping people best market themselves as individuals, not in a #brand way, but in a more authentic way, who they really are and what makes them unique. I was already doing similar work in my personal life, working with women who suffer from substance abuse issues, eating disorders, shopping, etc., and I realized I could apply similar principles for one-on-ones in dating, communication, and even photo shoots and styling.
LOVE:
Back to the principles of love, acceptance, honesty, and fully embracing who we are, I feel, is not only critical in healing, but in love and relationships. It’s been very cool to acknowledge that everything I went through makes me uniquely qualified to empathize and connect with others, and was most likely paving the way for me to be able to do it successfully.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Early in my career it was working like mad to prove myself and my worth, getting paid nothing, putting in crazy hours, doing grunt work like unloading boxes at 3 a.m. in Cannes for the privilege of being there, running around for neurotic execs, pulling all-nighters (I’m talking about proposals here) as well as classic all-nighters, excessive partying, keeping up appearances, and balancing all of it together.
Later in my career, it was managing people, which is challenging, excessive and exhaustive business travel, and weathering the occasional jealous or hostile colleague or associate, which comes with the territory whenever you step into any high visibility role. In Los Angeles, having to prove my worth all over again, from a tiny windowless office near accounting where I slaved through the holidays before the CEO would even really speak to me.
He made me a Vice President three months later and gave me his assistant. But nothing compares to running your own shop, to wake up every Monday and know there is no paycheck and it is up to you to take the action necessary to make things happen while staying grounded and projecting optimism, that’s tough. Some days I’m IT, and other days I’m legal.
I recently published an article on my LinkedIn called “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship,” and it went viral, so the stigma seems to be going away, and it’s awesome to see people openly discussing their struggles more, and bonding over them.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Communication Studio – what should we know?
A MARKETING & LIFESTYLE AGENCY
Miami | Los Angeles | New York
I have had over 20 years of experience working in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. for global brands including HALLMARK CHANNEL and PLAYBOY TV INTERNATIONAL, and alongside VOGUE, VARIETY, WALT DISNEY, THE ANNIE LEIBOVITZ STUDIO, award-winning global advertising agencies, live event production agencies, and proudly, Sir Richard Branson.
Over the last few years, I have had a shift focusing more on individually based one-on-one marketing. Helping people best market themselves as individuals, not in a #brand way, but in a more authentic way, who they really are, and what makes them unique through a passion for matchmaking and coaching.
My expertise has been developing and executing large scale go-to-market communications strategies across entertainment, private aviation, hospitality, technology, lifestyle, and health and wellness. I’ve successfully assembled teams for rebrands and launches, in traditional and complex digital media. In any industry, it’s always been about impactful communication.
I love brands, and I love people.
What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
Yes! Big shifts and changes I see coming are very much in line with what we are seeing in the media with regard to speaking out, accountability, and unity. Real people, real stories, real struggles. Better communication and connection with each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.commstudiollc.com
- Email: claudia@commstudiollc.com
- Instagram: claudiaduran305
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002956771293
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
