People trust people, not logos - Stef Lait, Sphere of Influence
Episode 20 - THAT MOMENT
Agencies spend millions on paid media every year, yet the most powerful channel they have often sits unused. Not a platform. Not an ad format. But the people at the top of the business. Founder-led and executive-led influence isn't about becoming a creator. It's about trust, credibility, and showing up where decisions are made.
Stef Lait is Founding Director at Sphere of Influence, a human-first, insights-led B2B influencer marketing agency. She spent 10+ years working in PR, social media, and influencer marketing at OST before taking the plunge to launch her own practice. And in that decade, she watched influence shift from being a transactional relationship with external creators to something that comes from within - employee advocates, founder-led advocacy, people who represent the brand because they are the brand.
But here's what Stef kept seeing: some agencies doing it brilliantly, founders building genuine trust and visibility. And many others ignoring the opportunity entirely, treating influence as something you outsource rather than something you embody. The Edelman Trust Barometer has shown for years that brand trust continues to diminish. Voices matter more. People don't trust logos. They trust people. They trust faces.
So why aren't more agency founders stepping up? Stef asks the uncomfortable question: what are you afraid of? If you want your teams to step outside their comfort zones and take risks, you need to be willing to do the same. Lead by example. Get upfront. Especially in the beginning when you're not a well-known brand yet, having someone who is the face of your agency isn't optional - it's essential.
This episode tackles the tension every agency leader faces: how do you build founder-led influence when it feels unnatural, uncomfortable, or simply not "who you are"? And what's the cost of staying invisible when business is happening in DMs, on LinkedIn, and in conversations you're not part of?
The Uncomfortable Truths About Founder-Led Influence:
Influence Has Shifted From Transactional to Human: For years, influencer marketing was treated as a transactional relationship - pay someone, get content, move on. But especially in B2B, influence is now relationship-led. It's about actually knowing the people whose voices represent your brand, understanding how credible they are, and building genuine connections. And increasingly, that influence comes from within - founders, employees, people who live the work.
People Trust Voices, Not Logos: The Edelman Trust Barometer shows brand trust continues to diminish. What's growing? Trust in voices. People don't trust logos anymore. They trust people they can see, hear, and connect with. For agencies, this means having someone who is the face of the brand - especially early on when you're not yet well-known. Even when you are established, having a human representative builds the trust that paid media can't buy.
Some Founders Take to It Naturally. Others Have to Build the Muscle: If you're a creative founder, you're probably used to pitching, standing up in front of people, putting your voice out there, and receiving feedback (sometimes harsh). But if you're more financial, technical, or operational, it feels harder. The truth? It's a muscle you have to get used to using. You can't ignore it. Brands like Lolavie have very active CEOs, very active communities, tapping into female founder networks and getting validated by credible voices. Agencies can learn from their clients who are doing this well.
Ghost-Written Content Rarely Lands Without Human Touch: You can have someone write for you - but if you're not putting in the effort with the team writing for you, they're not getting the knowledge you have. The quality suffers. The best approach? Live conversations. Video calls. Ask questions, get raw reactions, dig into detail. That's where real value emerges. You can use AI to go through transcripts and recommend angles, but the human conversation is what makes it authentic. Once founders see how they're being represented and the benefit it brings, it becomes a positive experience.
Employee Advocacy Multiplies Your Reach: If your agency has 5, 10, 20, 100 staff, each one of them has potential reach approximately ten times that of your brand's potential reach. You can't force them - that never works. But you can encourage them through employee advocacy programmes to post and share their day-to-day when they have something special to share. Create programmes that help amplify the collective voice of the agency. Tools like SuperGrow and Everyone Social can help - they listen to conversations and form good content starters, making it easier for founders and employees alike.
What Are You Afraid Of? If you're resisting stepping up as the face of your company, Stef's question is simple: what are you afraid of, really? As founders and leaders, you need to lead by example. If you want your people to step outside what they're comfortable doing and take risks, you need to be willing to do the same. That's leadership.
Key Insights Uncovered:
Why agencies treating influence as purely transactional miss the point - B2B influence is relationship-led, based on knowing people, understanding their credibility, and building genuine connections over time
How the cost of founder invisibility compounds - if you don't have yourself or someone representing your brand, you're missing opportunities to grow. These conversations are happening on LinkedIn, in DMs, in spaces where business is done now. If you're not there, you're not in the game.
The strategic mistake of waiting until you're "ready" - especially early on when you're not a well-known brand, having a founder as the face is critical. But even established brands benefit from human representation. Trust is built through people, not logos.
Why finding someone else to be the face is an option if you absolutely won't do it - but you still need a human to represent the brand. Until your brand reaches a level where the brand itself is enough (which is difficult to achieve), you need someone building relationships, advocating, being mentioned, recommended, put forward. Otherwise opportunities pass you by.
How live conversations create better content than scripted answers - when you send questions and get scripted responses back, they're too controlled, too perfect. The raw reaction, the follow-up question based on what they just said - that's where real conversation and real value emerges. Half-hour video calls where you brief ahead of time but dig in live create multiple posts from one authentic exchange.
The employee advocacy multiplier effect - each staff member has roughly 10x the potential reach of your brand. You can't force participation, but through thoughtful programmes that make it easy and valuable for them to share, you amplify your collective voice exponentially.
From Stef's perspective as someone who spent 15+ years in PR, social media, and influencer marketing before launching Sphere of Influence, witness how the industry evolved from treating influence as something external and transactional to recognising it as something that comes from within. She's worked both brand-side and agency-side. She's seen the difficulty businesses face exploring new marketing sectors without the resource or budget for new staff or big agency prices. That's why she created Sphere - for brands and agencies who want to explore or scale B2B influencer marketing while managing the risks.
Stef shares what she tells resistant founders: lead by example. Your teams are watching. If you want them to take risks, step outside comfort zones, and show up authentically - you need to do it first. Get out there. Get upfront. It's not about becoming a creator. It's about being the trusted face your brand needs.
This episode addresses the question every agency leader wrestling with visibility asks: if influence is now the most powerful channel you have, and it starts with you - what's stopping you from using it?
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
For more information about Supo: www.supo.co.uk
About Sphere of Influence:
Sphere of Influence is a human-first, insights-led B2B influencer marketing agency. Born out of a love for meeting new people, collaboration, and making real, measurable impact for businesses, Sphere helps brands and agencies explore or scale their B2B influencer marketing efforts while managing risks. After 15+ years working both brand-side and agency-side in PR, social media, and influencer marketing, Stef Lait launched Sphere to solve the resource and budget challenges businesses face when exploring emerging marketing sectors. Whether you're dipping your toe in influencer waters or ready to scale your campaign, Sphere manages the entire process from beginning to end - strategically, authentically, and with measurable results.
For more information about Sphere of Influence: https://www.sphereofinfluence.org/
Ready to discover why the most powerful channel you have isn't a platform - it's you? This episode isn't about becoming a creator. It's about leading by example and showing up where trust is built.