Fana Yohannes, founder of Flora by Fana, social media strategist and consultant

Fana Yohannes is a social media expert with over a decade of experience helping brands like Apple and Meta connect with next-gen audiences. Now, through her consultancy Flora by Fana, she brings her strategies and insights directly to brands, helping them flourish in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

What is your motto or mantra in life?

Steve Jobs is someone I’ve looked up to for most of my adult life. Instead of listening to music while studying most nights in college, I would listen to his keynotes and speeches, including his 2005 Stanford commencement address, which I’ve heard dozens of times.

One of Steve’s mottos that stuck with me was, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

I proudly wore his motto on my graduation cap when I graduated from Santa Clara University. As someone who worked at Apple in the post-Steve Jobs era right out of college, this motto stuck with me.

During my early career at 苹果 , staying hungry encouraged me to never stop learning, while staying foolish reminded me to embrace a beginner’s mindset, be unafraid to make mistakes, and always ask questions.

What industry trend do you find overrated or misguided?

This is a bit of a double-edged sword because one of my top dream collaborators would be Zaria Parvez , who leads social media at Duolingo .

That said, executives and social media leaders need to stop setting Duolingo as the benchmark for social media goals and KPIs. Duolingo has built an incredible organic strategy thanks to Zaria’s brilliance. However, if you’re a B2B company that’s risk-averse or a B2C company without the legal support to approve bold stunts, it’s best to aim for a strategy that’s actually within reach of your own original goals and KPIs.

Brands always want to be Duolingo but rarely want to invest in the storytelling or take creative risks necessary to accomplish such a feat. They want viral content but veto unhinged campaigns because leadership doesn’t understand them. Additionally, brands prioritize messaging and sales targets — a mistake for social media, where consumers don’t want to be sold to. Instead, they buy into brands that foster community and add value through content.

Rather than trying to be the next Duolingo, focus on what works: authentic, mobile-shot content with lo-fi editing, a balanced content calendar, strong storytelling, and a no-sell approach while building trust and community. Find your niche first and grow from there. No one has to answer to the green owl — it’s okay. And if you need advice, I’m always here to help. ??

What unconventional advice would you give to emerging leaders

Build a team that can operate independently without you. For some, leadership is seen as having a team that pushes your agenda forward using resources you provide, with direct access and sign-off. In reality, that’s not always the case.

If you take a top-down approach to leadership and create an environment where your team relies on you for answers, approvals, and resources only you control, both you and your team will burn out. Emerging leaders must learn to build trust with their teams and empower them to take ownership within a designated scope. Always delegate resources and responsibilities to trusted team members and put safeguards in place for check-ins.

At Instagram , my manager empowered me as a subject matter expert to operate with minimal oversight. We aligned on overall strategy, and she stepped in only to remove blockers, allowing both of us to succeed. I applied this when I started managing my own team. One of the most effective strategies I used was a quarterly Google Doc outlining goals and projects so everyone stayed aligned. From there, I gave team members the space to define their projects and map out their execution. This system worked because everyone always knew their North Star and ongoing responsibilities.

Bottom line, as a leader, your goal should be to ensure that if you are offline for a period of time or on vacation, everything runs smoothly without you and no one even notices you’re gone. That’s the true sign of leadership.

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