Meet the Community Builders - Kian Bhaktiari - The People - Interview
One of the best things about working in community is that I get to meet inspiring, talented community builders and business leaders.
In 2023 Kian Bhaktiari and I were on a panel together at The Community Leaders event. I was blown away by him.
It’s not an understatement to say that Kian is one of the most exciting, young business leaders in the UK today. He is the former Youth Insight Lead at Dentsu and founder of The People.
Kian has been named as one of the Top 50 Future Leaders by the Financial Times, is a UN Climate advisor and writes regularly for Forbes CMO Network.
His community led business model and collaborator community of young, diverse, global creatives and change makers feels right for these times.
The business is growing during one of the toughest periods on record for advertising and marketing agencies.
The People is a community of young, diverse, global creatives and change makers
This is the first in a series of interviews with community builders around the globe.
The People places community at its very heart, is commercially successful AND also creates significant social impact.
We discussed:
Why Kian became a community builder and his career path
Definitions of community
Which category of community The People is
What Kian is most proud of in the community, and ingredients for success
Some community learnings that Kian wished he knew before launching
The importance of ‘why’ in community strategy
How to increase community member engagement
Future plans for The People community
Famous people Kian would love to have in the community (when they were young changemakers themselves)
Watch the interview in full below.
I hope it inspires you to do great things with your community, or perhaps like Kian, you create a community-led business in 2024.
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Want help developing a community-led business, launching or growing a community? Whether its a Minimal Viable Community (MVC) or a larger community project, I’m ready and waiting to hear from you. Book an introductory call.
Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
