In today’s crowded digital ecosystem, visibility is not optional, it’s a prerequisite for growth. Yet, for many visionary entrepreneurs and CEOs, the digital spotlight often misses the mark. Enter Unleash Group, the fastest-growing personal branding and PR agency in the Middle East, co-founded by two bold entrepreneurs: Ahmed Khaled and Ahmed Khalil. Together, these founders have built a strategic engine that transforms elite professionals into recognized authorities.

Ahmed Khaled, an entrepreneur with deep roots in strategic communications, has worked with global icons and platforms including TEDx, Forbes and Harvard. He brings razor-sharp clarity to branding narratives. Ahmed Khalil, a powerhouse in strategic execution, fuses business acumen with storytelling precision. His track record of creating credibility-driven ecosystems has elevated over 250 CEOs. Together, they founded Unleash Group to unlock potential and engineer positioning at scale.

Unleash isn’t just a PR agency, it’s a movement. The startup’s story centers around turning under-the-radar CEOs into industry icons. With a proven framework, a laser focus on positioning and a mission to make elite minds visible, Unleash is shaping the future of personal branding.

TFS: Ahmed Khaled, Ahmed Khalil – thank you for joining us today. It’s a privilege to dive deep into the story behind Unleash Group, the movement that’s reshaping the authority landscape. Let’s start from the beginning.

What was the moment or client that made you realize your system for turning CEOs into industry icons actually works?

Ahmed Khalil: The turning point came just 90 days into working with a Real Estate CEO who had absolutely no digital presence. He wasn’t on Google. He wasn’t on LinkedIn. He was invisible online. But we saw his expertise and we knew we could position him as a thought leader.

Ahmed Khaled: Within three months, that same CEO was featured in Forbes, ranked #1 on Google for his niche and became a dominant voice in his industry. His inbox exploded with high-value podcast invitations, investor inquiries and strategic partnerships.

This wasn’t a fluke. We engineered his positioning so precisely that inbound momentum became inevitable. That experience became the blueprint. Since then, we’ve replicated it for over 250 CEOs globally. When your framework delivers predictable results at scale, it’s no longer a theory. It becomes a proven system for industry authority.

TFS: You both come from high-performance environments: Forbes, TEDx, Harvard. What personal branding myths did you have to unlearn as founders?

Ahmed Khalil: One of the biggest myths we had to let go of was the idea that visibility alone creates credibility. It doesn’t. Appearing in Forbes or giving a TEDx talk doesn’t matter if your core message lacks clarity or if your online presence tells a scattered story.

Ahmed Khaled: We realized that true authority isn’t about publishing more content. It’s about publishing the right content, with strategic alignment. Authority happens when everything—your website, your LinkedIn, your SEO footprint—sends a unified message.

We built our system around one principle: Visibility must lead to growth. That’s why our method connects authority-building with conversion, relevance and positioning that dominates the niche. For founders, startup leaders and CEOs, this alignment is non-negotiable.

TFS: How did “Unleash PR” and “Elite Branding” come together? What was the original vision and how has it evolved?

Ahmed Khaled: It started with a simple yet powerful realization: Too many world-class CEOs were being overlooked. These leaders had the substance, but not the spotlight. We decided to change that narrative.

Ahmed Khalil: We combined our expertise in storytelling and strategic positioning to launch Unleash. What began as a niche personal branding solution quickly evolved into a full-scale authority engine. Today, we offer everything from Tier 1 media placements to Google search dominance and LinkedIn authority development.

Our startup has grown into a trusted partner for high-performing entrepreneurs and executives. We’re no longer just building personal brands. We’re building legacies. That evolution is what sets Unleash apart in the branding landscape.

TFS: You talk about turning CEOs into the “go-to authority.” What separates genuine authority from just a loud online presence?

Ahmed Khalil: Loud doesn’t equal leadership. A loud presence can be empty, inconsistent and unconvincing. True authority is when someone Googles your name and finds Tier 1 features, thought leadership content and social proof that aligns with your vision.

Ahmed Khaled: Genuine authority builds trust before you even speak. It positions you as inevitable. We build brands that convert conversations into deals. Our system ensures you dominate your digital category, not just appear in it. That’s why our clients attract opportunities instead of chasing them. Because their brand is already doing the talking.

TFS: How do you balance elite positioning with authenticity, especially when working with introverted or camera-shy CEOs?

Ahmed Khalil: We created a framework that doesn’t require extroversion. You don’t need to be loud. You need to be clear. We extract your core brilliance and turn it into content that feels aligned and genuine.

Ahmed Khaled: Some of our most successful clients are introverted, camera-shy CEOs who have no interest in going viral. And that’s fine. Our system focuses on building an omnipresent digital footprint – across Google, LinkedIn and media. When it’s built on truth and alignment, it resonates deeply.

Authenticity isn’t performative. It’s strategic. It’s about showing up as the version of yourself that people trust, remember and want to work with.

TFS: What does “done-for-you” really mean in a world where personal branding is, well… personal?

Ahmed Khaled: “Done-for-you” means you get results without the burden. CEOs don’t have the bandwidth to write articles, pitch journalists or optimize SEO week after week. That’s where we step in.

Ahmed Khalil: It’s still your voice. It’s still your story. But we handle the strategy, execution and distribution. From authority content to media outreach, we lead every phase. You focus on leading your business. We focus on scaling your digital authority. That’s the partnership we offer.

TFS: You guarantee Tier 1 media – Forbes, Business Insider, Gulf News. What’s the biggest misconception about getting published in these outlets?

Ahmed Khalil: The biggest myth is that it’s all about connections. It’s not. Media thrives on relevance. You could know every editor at Forbes and still get turned down without the right angle.

Ahmed Khaled: We reverse-engineer the story the media wants. We analyse editorial calendars, trending topics and audience demand. Then we package our clients’ expertise in a way that fits naturally into those narratives. This approach isn’t luck, it’s architecture. And that’s why we consistently deliver Tier 1 placements.

TFS: How do you reverse-engineer a LinkedIn presence that consistently drives qualified inbound opportunities?

Ahmed Khalil: We treat LinkedIn as a lead engine, not a vanity platform. The first step is positioning—what do you want to be known for and by whom?

Ahmed Khaled: Then we create authority assets: original content, thought pieces, strategic engagement frameworks. We optimise profiles, headline strategy and content cadence. Every post and every comment is designed to build awareness, nurture trust and drive action.

Our clients don’t just grow followers, they grow qualified deal flow. That’s the difference between visibility and authority.

TFS: You work exclusively with CEOs. What unique challenges do founders face when building a personal brand and how do you solve them?

Ahmed Khalil: Founders are incredibly visionary, but that same strength often becomes a hurdle when it comes to personal branding. They’re consumed by operations, managing teams, scaling revenue and executing business goals. Personal branding takes a back seat, not because it’s unimportant, but because it feels like another task to manage.

What we’ve seen is that many startup founders think building a personal brand requires constant posting, time-consuming visibility efforts or being in front of the camera 24/7. We challenge that. At Unleash, we remove the complexity. We help founders step out of the execution and focus on clarity. We extract their expertise, shape it into an industry-leading narrative and then build infrastructure around it – media, search engine results, LinkedIn authority and thought leadership assets.

The end goal? A personal brand that builds while the entrepreneur sleeps. This is not about social media hustle. It’s about long-term strategic positioning that drives business outcomes and opens high-level doors.

TFS: There’s a lot of noise in the branding and PR space. What’s one “vanity tactic” you see others pushing that you’ve completely cut from your process?

Ahmed Khaled: One major vanity tactic we’ve eliminated is the constant, unstrategic posting on LinkedIn. The advice that you should post three times a day without clarity, without strategic targeting and without aligning to a revenue goal – that’s noise.

We’ve seen agencies tell founders to flood the feed to stay relevant, but relevance without resonance is just digital clutter. Our approach is simple: we create signal, not noise. Every piece of content we publish, every media mention we secure, every SEO tactic we use – it all points back to a specific positioning goal. Is the content building authority? Is it converting clients? Is it moving the CEO into the top Google results for their niche? If not, we don’t do it.

Founders need results, not vanity. That’s why our entire PR and branding framework revolves around outcomes, not impressions.

TFS: How do you decide which media platform, keyword strategy or brand angle will make a CEO rank number one on Google?

Ahmed Khalil: It starts with a brutally clear question: “What do you want to be known for?” That’s the center of gravity for the entire system. From there, we reverse-engineer every single asset to match that narrative.

For example, if a founder wants to dominate the conversation around sustainability in tech, we identify the highest-converting keywords in that niche, assess existing search competition and build a media and content roadmap around it. We look at search volume, Google’s ranking algorithm behavior, podcast relevance, knowledge panel opportunities and LinkedIn SEO structure.

Then, we align all channels — Tier 1 press, personal blog posts, guest columns, podcast interviews and authority-optimized LinkedIn content – to reflect the same messaging. There’s no guesswork. We use proven SEO strategies, Google compliance insights and media editorial trends to deliver a brand footprint that Google cannot ignore. The result? The founder ranks, converts and owns their space.

TFS: What’s a leadership lesson you’ve learned from your own clients, something that’s shaped how you now show up as founders?

Ahmed Khaled: One powerful lesson we’ve learned is this: world-class CEOs delegate outcomes, not just tasks. That mindset shift is transformational.

When we work with top-tier entrepreneurs and startup founders, they don’t just say, “Write this content” or “Get me media.” They say, “Build me authority.” That elevated expectation has influenced how we lead internally at Unleash.

We built our culture around extreme ownership, results-driven execution and high-performance standards. Whether it’s a team member or a campaign, the focus is always on what outcome we’re delivering. That’s shaped how we recruit, train and operate. Because if we’re serving the best in the world, we have to lead like the best in the world too.

TFS: If you lost all your media contacts tomorrow, how would you rebuild your reputation from scratch in 30 days?

Ahmed Khalil: We’d do exactly what we teach our clients. First, we’d refine our positioning. We’d ask: what narrative do we want to own in the next 30 days?

Then we’d create sharp, authority-driven content around that — written, visual and audio. We’d optimize our SEO, rebuild our Google presence with updated press releases, landing pages and strategic backlinks. We’d start reaching out to new media with relevant, editorial-ready pitches based on what the media actually wants – not just who we know.

Relationships help, but relevance wins. That’s what Unleash was built on — not favors, but systems. Give us 30 days and an internet connection and we’ll rebuild our media presence, our inbound leads and our digital footprint. This is not theory. It’s a tested playbook that’s helped hundreds of entrepreneurs. We trust it fully because it’s built on repeatable results.

TFS: What advice would you give to a high-performing CEO who knows they’re sitting on gold, but they’ve never posted or pitched themselves before?

Ahmed Khaled: First, know this – you’re not late. But the longer you wait, the more someone else builds authority in your space.

If you’re a high-performing founder who’s achieved great things but stayed quiet about it, it’s time to start playing offense with your reputation. You don’t need to become a content machine or start dancing on social media. What you need is a system that extracts your genius, builds it into authority and puts it in front of the right people — clients, investors, partners and press.

That’s what Unleash does. If you’re sitting on gold, we build the refinery. We package your story, we polish it and we make it headline-worthy. We don’t just create visibility. We make you the go-to voice in your category — without you lifting a finger. That’s our promise.

TFS: That was incredibly insightful. Ahmed Khaled, Ahmed Khalil — thank you both for this powerful conversation. The clarity, the precision and the systems you’ve built at Unleash are truly transforming the personal branding game for CEOs and founders across the world.

Ahmed Khalil: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure sharing our story. We believe every founder has the power to become an industry icon. They just need the right partner.

Ahmed Khaled: Exactly. The future of authority is intentional. It’s engineered. And we’re proud to lead that transformation with Unleash Group.

TFS: To our readers – if you’re a high-performing CEO ready to be seen, heard and remembered, Unleash Group might just be the growth partner you’ve been waiting for.