Founder · Speaker · Cultural Architect
Built from scratch.
Twice.
Maira Genovese founded MG Empower from a coffee shop table in East London. Lost control of it through acquisition. Bought it back. Rebuilt it from the ground up. She speaks about what that took.
The Origin
From Brazil to London
with one suitcase.
Maira grew up in Brazil and moved to London twenty years ago. No connections in the industry. No external funding. No safety net. She arrived with a plan and built everything from nothing.
In 2017, she founded MG Empower from a coffee shop table in East London. What started as a one-person operation became a global integrated marketing agency, operating across four continents with campaigns for some of the world’s most recognised brands.
Sol de Janeiro. Dior. Coca-Cola. Bumble. Unilever. Chopard. Nespresso. TikTok. Campari. Each campaign built on a conviction that culture is the strategy, not the decoration.
The Build
20yrs
Building global brands from London
3x
M&A cycles led: acquisition, buyback, rebuild
2
Languages on stage: English and Portuguese
4
Continents of live campaign delivery
The Rebuild
The chapter most founders
don’t talk about.
MG Empower went through acquisition. Maira lost control of the company she had built from nothing. She navigated the loss, the negotiation, and the years it took to get it back.
The buyback came. Then the restructure. Then the full rebuild from the inside out. Three M&A cycles in total. Not a failure story. A precision story about what it takes to hold onto something you built when the market moves against you.
This is the chapter her audiences remember. Not the launch. Not the growth. The moment she had to decide whether to fight for what she built, or walk away.
Today
Three platforms.
One point of view.
The Agency
MG Empower
Global integrated marketing agency, fully independent. Influencer, social, brand experience and creative across UK, EMEA, North America and LATAM.
mgempower.com→The Platform
The (Un)Known
Next-generation talent and cultural influence platform, placing creators and cultural voices in the moments that define culture.
theunkn.com→The Podcast · Season 6
Beyond Marketing
Real conversations with the minds shaping marketing, culture and leadership. Guests include Sir Martin Sorrell, Coca-Cola's Javier Meza, and leaders from Unilever and H&M.
Listen on Spotify→Commitments
Beyond the agency.
Associate Partner
World Woman Foundation
A global platform advancing women in leadership and entrepreneurship, present in over 80 countries.
Ambassador
Gerando Falcões
Brazil's leading social development network, transforming communities through education and opportunity.
Trustee
Brazilian Friends Foundation
Strengthening cultural and community ties between the Brazilian diaspora and British society.
Awards & Recognition
Entrepreneur of the Year
The Drum Awards
Women in Business
Stevie Awards · Multiple Years
40 Over 40
Campaign Magazine · 2024
Top 30 Trailblazing Women
Influencer Marketing Industry
In Their Words
“She understands how to build a business properly: creative and entrepreneurial, but also commercial. She protected what made MG Empower special while embracing the changes needed to strengthen it. That is a rare balance to strike.
“Not only a visionary founder but a strategic operator who understands how to translate cultural relevance into measurable business outcomes. What sets her apart is her steadiness under pressure.
Coming Soon · The Book
Faith Over Fear
A journey from struggle to purpose.
Leaving Brazil with nothing. Building a global agency from a coffee shop table. Losing control of it, fighting to get it back, and what it costs to believe in yourself when no one else does.
A memoir for founders, immigrants, and anyone who has ever had to rebuild something they built once already.
Bookings
Bring Maira to your stage.
Available globally for conferences, corporate events and leadership programmes. Fees on enquiry, shaped by format, audience and location. English and Portuguese.