Today I’m joined by my incredible client, Lilia Tarawa, a TEDx speaker with over 12 million views, bestselling author, and brand coach. Welcome to Behind the Business.
Lilia shares her extraordinary story of growing up inside the Gloriavale religious cult in New Zealand, where she lived under strict rules about how women should behave, dress, and live. She explains how storytelling was deeply embedded into the culture through her grandfather, the cult founder, and how that same power of storytelling would later become the foundation of her business and brand.
Growing up, Lilia experienced intense religious control, emotional suppression, and fear-based teachings. Over time, moments of questioning began to emerge, especially after siblings left the cult and she witnessed experiences that didn’t feel right to her. Eventually, her family began their own faith deconstruction journey and moved outside the community.
Lilia describes how difficult but freeing it was to experience the outside world for the first time. Simple things like wearing jeans, listening to mainstream music, or using a card machine felt completely new. Through this process, she started questioning the beliefs she had been raised with and began discovering her own identity, voice, and freedom.
She eventually realized she wanted to share her story publicly to help others. Despite believing she “wasn’t a writer,” she wrote and published her memoir, Daughter of Gloriavale: My Life in a Religious Cult, which became a number one bestseller. From there, she built her personal brand online through storytelling, public speaking, media, and social platforms.
Lilia explains that every successful business is built on a story and that personal brands become powerful when they are truly personal. She shares that in a world increasingly shaped by AI, human stories and emotional connection will become even more valuable.
Throughout the episode, Sofia and Lilia discuss why storytelling is what creates trust, connection, authority, and ultimately sales. Lilia also shares her three-part framework for building a strong personal brand:
- Own your story
- Build your story
- Sell your story
The conversation highlights that no one is “without a story” and that often the experiences we see as ordinary are actually the most powerful points of connection with an audience.
