You don’t need to take yourself seriously to be successful- Richard Branson

When I started Virgin Records we didn’t have a big budget to spend on PR so we had to think creatively to build our brand and raise our profile.

Sir Freddie Laker taught me the value of leading from the front and being happy to use myself as the face of the brand – it has served us very well over the years.

A lot of the outlandish things we have ended up doing have been great fun and made many people smile.

I try not to take myself too seriously and try and instill a culture of adventure and fun in the Virgin brand. The next time you’re really worrying about something at work, ask yourself if you will still be worried about it in a year’s time.

If the answer is no, let it go.

I’m happy to poke fun at myself and get involved – whether it’s working up a sweat to launch Virgin Sport events or swinging into a Virgin Voyages keel laying ceremony by crane.

We’ve always tried to think big but be canny with our budget. When we were starting Virgin Atlantic many years before we could only afford one billboard; we put it up and told the press that it was going to be a massive nationwide media campaign. The reporters turned out in force and wrote all about the billboard – enough so that we never had to launch the massive campaign at all!

If you love what you’re doing then you’ll have great fun doing it. I always believe in taking the chance and saying yes – life is a lot more fun that way!

Culled from Virgin.com