A Client Transformation Story - This story is true. 

A few years ago, I got a call from the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom.

“Deberah,” he said, “Richard Branson is starting a new U.S.–based airline. He’s considering six cities for its headquarters, including San Francisco. I want you to lead the team to bring him here.”

How hard could that be, right? 

I’d never done anything like that, didn’t have a clue what it would take — so, of course, I said “yes!”

Deberah Bringelson and Gavin Newsom celebrating the Virgin win!

Richard Branson had already decided against California. His team told me it was a hard no.  I learned this nine months later.

At the time, Boston was leading the pack — with Senator Ted Kennedy, Governor Mitt Romney, and the Boston Red Sox all wooing him. They had massive redevelopment grants, professional staff, and big budgets.

Meanwhile, California had no governor. He had just been recalled, and no replacement had yet been elected.

And then there was me:

• One assistant.
• A $0 budget.
• No redevelopment money.
• No big-name backing.
• Not even a Governor of the State.

Branson’s final decision would be announced in just one month — by October 31.

I didn’t even have a team. So, I made one — fast.

Within 24 hours, I was sitting around a conference table with Senator Jackie Speier and 19 others I thought might be crazy enough to join me. 

I asked for help, everyone said yes, and I started handing out assignments like Halloween candy.

That’s how my “staff” became 49 unpaid volunteers — executives, directors, and specialists from across the Bay Area. They had day jobs. They had families. But they showed up because they believed in what we were building.

I didn’t have money to motivate them.

• We had alignment.
• We had vision.
• We had heart.

And honestly? I was having the time of my life — a CEO, a single mom with a one-year-old, juggling diapers, deadlines, and destiny — and loving every chaotic minute of it. In large part because I had such an amazing team!

PRO TIP: People don’t follow paychecks; they follow passion and belief. Inspire them, and they’ll move mountains beside you.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected on October 7, I thought, Finally! Some firepower!

I pulled out my Rolodex and started dialing. When it got too late to call, I’d tuck my baby into bed, then spend the night emailing anyone who might know someone in the new Governor’s circle.

Days passed. Weeks. I got close — but not close enough.

Finally, I reached a member of Arnold's transition team. I explained the situation — the stakes, the short timeline, the opportunity.

Note: The Bay Area Economic Institute had calculated the financial win for the San Francisco Bay Area at between $300 and $350 million per year.

Their response?

“Tell Branson to wait.”

Right. Because billionaires are famous for their patience. 

By late October, Branson’s team still wasn’t taking my calls. I’d make up excuses to “check in,” just to get on their radar.

At one point, I told a friend,

“I feel like a teenage girl trying to get the cute boy’s attention. I haven’t asked about the math homework yet, but I’m close!” 

Finally, I called and said,

“My team and I will be at your headquarters on November 17.  What do you want to know?”

I didn't say it out loud, but my tone did. "We'll be there," it said. "There's no room for disagreement or negotiation."

That got their attention. They stumbled, said they’d call me back. This time they did.  They informed me they expected a three-hour presentation about why the Bay Area was the best location — and what we were "offering".

Offering?

As in… money? Incentives?
We had neither.

My head nearly exploded.

What I didn’t know then was that they didn’t even plan to consider California seriously. When the deal was finally done, one of the Virgin team members told me,

“Deberah, we never planned to come to California. You were only in the mix so we could leverage you to get bigger incentives from the other cities.”

It's a good thing I didn’t know that until after we’d already won.

PRO TIP: Don't  take no for an answer. If they say "no" find another in. You don't have to play by "their" rules. Create your own script.

November 17. Two weeks to prepare.

The team dove into research — not fluff about how beautiful we (the SF Bay Area) were, but a detailed analysis of everything a new airline would need to know. Regulations. Logistics. Workforce. Culture. Pilot Training. Reliability of the Electrical Grid and Internet. Trains, Buses, and BART. Activities for Children and Families were just the tip of our massive iceberg. Every detail that set us apart and... we also included an analysis of the competition's handle on those same items.

PRO TIP: When you’re talking to your “ideal” buyer, don’t strut your stuff — solve their pain. The most magnetic pitch is service, not self-promotion. (I have a free 70-minute training on this at HowToOwnYourMarket.com)

We had 1 Ideal Buyer - Richard Branson - We Learned Everything We Could About Him and His Business

Starting a new airline in the U.S. is tough. Starting one as a foreign national — especially a billionaire with a disruptive brand — is even tougher. 

The domestic airlines weren’t thrilled about Branson flying in their skies, and they made sure it stayed turbulent, pulling every string of influence they could.

So for ten straight days, we worked around the clock. No sleep. No fluff. Just substance. With no “incentive money,” we had to give real value.

When it was done, our pitch was nearly 250 pages — not about how great we were, but all the ways we could solve their problems.

Then came shipping day.

How do you compete with live Maine lobsters wearing “Virgin USA” luggage tags?

Yeah, Boston sent that.

My team? No budget. No lobsters. No problem.

I sent a California care package — a beautiful basket from Cost Plus with two bottles of local wine, Meyer lemons from my backyard, limes from a friend’s yard, local cheeses, and… Jelly Bellies (wait for it!) tucked around our deck. Simple. Real. Human.

And here’s the quantum wink. One of the decision-makers at Virgin, Frances Farrow, absolutely adored Jelly Bellies. Finding them in the basket delighted her. To me, it was another nudge from the Universe — proof that alignment was working right alongside me. There were too many “coincidences” to ignore.

PRO TIP: Authenticity always outshines flash. People feel energy — send yours with love and intention, and it travels further than any marketing gimmick or budget.

The morning of our three-hour presentation, I expected to be solo. But my team had my back. 

Eight of them voluntarily joined me in New York.

The head of the three Bay Area transit agencies rerouted his D.C. trip to be there. 

My volunteer tech wizard took his wife on a "spontaneous" NYC “vacation” that week — and thank God he did, because when the tech glitched (and it did), he had it fixed in minutes.

A few of our power players, including VPs from Oracle, joined by phone to answer questions about the region’s innovation ecosystem.

PRO TIP: Leaders don’t lead through control; they lead through inspiration. Gallup research shows that inspired teams outperform others by 21% — and ours was all heart.

Our three-hour presentation stretched into four as the energy in the room shifted. The “we don’t want to talk to you” tone vanished. They leaned in, hungry for details.

Then came the moment that still makes me smile.

“Can you help us with performing arts training?”

Performing arts? We looked at each other, puzzled.

They explained:

“We want our team to make the Virgin experience spectacular. When someone checks in and it’s their birthday, we want our agent to burst into song. And, to make it up as they go along. We want the experience to feel joyful. Can you help with that?”

We hadn’t anticipated that — but the Universe had. 

One of my team members just happened to be the founder of a major Bay Area dance company and leader in the performing-arts community. She nearly leapt out of her seat.

“Yes,” she said, “we absolutely can.”

That’s when I felt it — the alignment click. The energy shifted. We weren’t pitching anymore; we were co-creating.

Our competitors were experts in bringing businesses to their cities. They were prepared and using canned, off-the-shelf pitches.

Not one person on my team, including myself, had ever done anything like this. I had known almost from the start that we had to do something different. 

PRO TIP: When you do “custom,” it shows you care. Canned saves time but kills connection. I wanted this — for my client and for the fun of it.

The Virgin Sees Red Campaign

NOTE: During the original performances, my team and I intentionally did not photograph the events — we designed them to appear as everyday moments, subtly staged to capture the Virgin Team’s attention while we “didn’t notice.” The images below depicting the Virgin Sees Red campaign are AI-generated recreations. 

What did we do? We became all things Virgin. 

If Branson’s brand was edgy, fun, and bold — we were too.
If they were risk-takers — we matched their energy.

We learned what it meant to be Virgin, and we embodied it.
This wasn’t fluff. It was alignment, strategy, and precision.

We weren’t selling. We were mirroring their DNA.

How a Drag Queen Helped Me Woo Richard Branson

The Branson team was coming to town, and we needed to show them we were just like they were — bold, playful, alive.

They wanted performing arts training? We didn't "tell" them...

Every time they showed up somewhere, we wowed them.

When They Landed

Exiting the plane, the Virgin team stepped onto the people mover — and gliding toward them was a beautiful woman dressed head to toe in her red Victorian gown and wide-brimmed Victorian hat.

My team and I pretended not to notice her. Why?  Because that's how we roll in the Bay Area.  Though I definitely caught the surprised glances passing among the Virgin executives as she drifted by.

At The Hotel

When we arrived at the hotel later that afternoon, a glamorous drag queen, also dressed entirely in red, lounged casually on a bench out front — legs crossed, painting her nails in a glorious shade of crimson.

More glances.
More confusion.

When they commented...

Deadpan, I said, “Oh? I didn’t notice.” 

Breakfast With A Side of Ballet

The next morning, as my new Virgin America friends came down to the lobby, ballet dancers twirled gracefully through the space, dressed, of course, in red.

By now, they were starting to catch on.  

My team and I played it cool as cucumbers!

Even The Kids Were In On The Fun!

And finally, at lunch, five children wearing red shorts and shirts skipped by in perfect rhythm, bouncing bright red balls in unison.

My team and I barely lifted a brow. We let our red attired friends speak for us...

"Yes, we’re fun — and in addition to being a smart business partner, we can absolutely help you with your performing arts needs."

We didn’t tell them we could train them in performing arts; we showed them.

I finally got the call. They're coming to town. They're very clear, they want our “best offer.” 

We didn't have cash incentives. And even if we did... I wouldn't have had access to them.

But, it occurred to me that Silicon Valley had something the others didn't.  Something we could turn into a big asset... more Fortune 100 and 500 CEOs than any other part of the country.

What if we had a party?
Invited them?
Had them court Branson?
...and maybe do a deal or 2 on the side?

Great idea! EXCEPT a few pesky details:

• I have no budget
• No venue
• No contact information for the F100 and F500 CEOs
• Only 7 days to create a plan and execute everything!

I could maybe serve them water in paper cups in the park??? Even if I was able to invite them and have them show up… in 7 days! Not much of a plan!

I was stuck. Or was I?

My Quantum World  To The Rescue!

So I did what I always do when the logical path ends: I turned to the Quantum Field.

Within hours… my phone rang.

“I hear you want to have a party for Richard Branson.”

It was Senator Jackie Speier from that very first meeting. How did she even get my private cell number?

I told her the truth:

Me: “Yes, I want to have a party for Sir Richard" — I told her the plan and said, "but I have no venue.”
Jackie: “You can use my home.” (For the record — it’s gorgeous.)
Me: “I have no budget" and joked about the water and paper cups!
Jackie: “I’ll cater it.”
Me: “We’re down to six days. I don’t know the Fortune 100/500 CEOs or how to get them invitations or get them to respond in time.”
Jackie: “I know Buck. He owns "Bucks" where they all go. I’ll have Buck contact and invite them.”

My Universe had just delivered the impossible.

Six days later, in Senator Jackie Speier’s home, the Virgin team was fêted by 50 of the top CEOs in the U.S.

Delicious food. Great wine. A surprise appearance by the iconic Beach Blanket Babylon and their legendary hats.

And remember those “incentives”? Other cities offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants. We offered something priceless: profitable, long-term business relationships, worth millions.

We didn’t have cash to toss them.
We didn’t have a U.S. Senator or the Boston Red Sox, or live lobsters.
We had something far more powerful — alignment, energy, and truth.

And that’s what won.

The San Francisco Bay Area was chosen as Virgin America’s headquarters, bringing an estimated $300 million in annual economic impact, according to the Bay Area Economic Institute.

"California Dreaming" christened by Grace Slick, lands at San Francisco International

Today, the long-term value of that deal has surpassed $1 billion.

In addition to closing the deal, I got something better — a reputation for doing the impossible.

And a reminder that when you’re in alignment, no budget is ever too small to win big.

Power doesn’t come from resources.

It comes from alignment, conviction, and leadership.

When everyone else played the game, my team and I changed it.

Because sometimes the best way to win is to make your own rules.

Deberah Bringelson is a Profit-Producing Quantum Business Strategist and Transformation Expert trusted by CEOs in 17+ countries to help them break through stress, stagnation, and skyrocket revenue.

She’s the behind-the-scenes force behind billion-dollar partnerships (yes, that Richard Branson deal), 3,546% revenue jumps, and companies that went from nearly dead to dominating their industries.

But Deberah doesn’t just teach strategy — she empowers - you and your team.

Using the laws of quantum physics and metaphysics, she helps high-performing leaders dismantle the hidden beliefs and energetic blocks sabotaging their growth, joy, and success. Her signature methods have helped the C-Suite reclaim their health, their relationships, and their bank accounts — without grinding themselves into the ground.

Ask Me: [email protected]