188: Trendsetting, Thought Leadership, and Trusted Circles with Gina Bianchini [Use Your Voice Series]

This episode is the perfect bridge between the series we just wrapped up on Thought Leadership and the new series we’re starting called Use Your Voice.

My guest is Gina Bianchini, the founder of Mighty Networks, which enables people like you (and me!) create and host online communities (and more).

I’ve been a fan of Gina’s since her days as co-founder of Ning and in the past couple of years even more so as Gina has been bold and direct in calling out Facebook for their lack of transparency and accountability around data privacy, misinformation, and disinformation.

You’ll enjoy our conversation around trends, thought leadership, and the importance of having trusted circles you can turn to when you want to - and do - use your voice.

In this episode, Gina and I talk about:

• Being a few years ahead of trends and the impact that can have on your business
• The problem with Facebook and Facebook Groups
• How Gina felt about her decision to publish a very direct and bold article against Facebook
• The dangers of being too negative as a thought leader
• A time when Gina didn’t speak up, why she didn’t, and what she learned she needed
• I reflect on a similar situation on not speaking up, “losing my voice,” and what I learned that I do differently now
• Speaking up when you disagree with friends
• What Gina sees as the future of conferences and networking

This episode is the first in our new podcast series called Use Your Voice.

About My Guest: Gina Bianchini is the Founder & CEO of Mighty Networks. Her mission at Mighty Networks is to usher in a new era of digital businesses built on network effects. Mighty Networks serves small and medium businesses that offer digital memberships, online courses, community, and subscriptions–all offered in one place under their brand, instantly available on every platform.

Before Mighty Networks, Gina and Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen launched Ning, a pioneering global platform for creating niche social networks. Under her leadership, Ning grew to ~100 million people in 300,000 active social networks across subcultures, professional networks, entertainment, politics, and education. It was sold for $150M in 2010.

In addition to Mighty Networks, Gina serves as a board director of TEGNA (NYSE: TGNA), a $3 billion dollar broadcast and digital media company, and served as a board director of Scripps Networks (NASDAQ: SNI), a $12 billion dollar public company which owned HGTV, The Food Network, and The Travel Channel that was purchased by Discovery Communications in 2018.

Gina and Mighty Networks have been featured in Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Wired, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. She has appeared on Charlie Rose, CNBC, and CNN. She grew up in Cupertino, California, graduated with honors from Stanford University, started her career in the nascent High Technology Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co., and received her M.B.A from Stanford Business School.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/188

Check out Mighty Networks: https://www.mightynetworks.com/

Gina’s LinkedIn article “Facebook is gaslighting us”: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/facebook-gaslighting-us-gina-bianchini/

Connect with Gina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginab

Speaking Your Brand live virtual summit on October 15: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/summit/

Get our Webinar Idea to Launch online course: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/webinar-course

Schedule a consult call to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Gina Bianchini (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginabianchini/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 144: What I’ve Learned about Being a Leader [Leadership Series]
• Episode 180: You Say You Want to be a Thought Leader: What That Really Means & How to Find Your Voice with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz [Finding Your Voice Series]
• Episode 184: Why Some Speakers Become Thought Leaders with Carol Cox [Thought Leadership Series]

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable