UK brand strategist Ana-Maria Ciubota has received three major honours this week, marking a significant milestone for Exclusive Branding Edge Academy. She has been named National Winner (First Place) for Best Business Branding UK 2025 at The UK Small Business Awards, selected among the UK Top 50 Winner Female Entrepreneurs of the Year, and awarded the Excellence in Brand Strategy Award by Big Business Entrepreneurs UK.
The recognition comes just one year after Ciubota formally launched her academy in November 2024.
“I gave myself twelve months to operate with focus, discipline, and non-negotiable standards,” said Ana-Maria Ciubota. “Not as a casual attempt, but as a decision with a deadline. A year to build something that could stand next to global brands — not in theory, but in execution.”
She acknowledges that reaching that standard came with personal and professional challenges.
“There were highs — momentum, breakthroughs, moments where the mission felt unstoppable. But there were also more downs than most people realise: the pressure of building without shortcuts, the silent seasons where nobody claps, the mental weight of being the engine, the strategist, and the standard — all at once.”
Ciubota believes this perspective is often missing from entrepreneurial narratives. “Recognition often arrives long after the hardest parts have already been survived. That’s the part rarely spoken about in entrepreneurship.”
In her view, the awards reflect changing expectations around branding.
“Best Business Branding is not simply an award — it’s a spotlight on what modern businesses are finally understanding: attention is not the goal. Authority is. And authority is built through clarity, consistency, and brand decisions that are impossible to mistake.”
Her recognition among the UK Top 50 Winner Female Entrepreneurs of the Year also represents a wider shift. “Not because it’s a list,” she added, “but because it signals something deeper: the market is rewarding founders who lead with substance, not just visibility.”
The Excellence in Brand Strategy Award aligns closely with her philosophy.
“Strategy is the invisible architecture behind every strong brand. The fonts are not the brand. The logo is not the brand. A brand is the decision you make in the mind of the market and the systems you build to keep that decision consistent. That is the work I do. And that is what Exclusive Branding Edge Academy stands for.”
Ciubota’s work focuses on helping founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs establish authority that attracts high-value clients, media credibility and long-term trust.
“Not by becoming louder,” she said. “But by becoming unmistakable. Because today, the market doesn’t reward the most talented. It rewards the most positioned. And positioning is not a guess. It’s a framework.”
She also shares three core principles she considers essential.
Consistency beats intensity. “Most people sprint when they feel motivated, then disappear when it gets hard. The market doesn’t trust bursts. The market trusts patterns.”
Your brand is your decision-making, not your aesthetics. “If your message changes every week, your brand stays forgettable — no matter how beautiful it looks.”
Build a brand that selects people. “The strongest brands don’t chase clients. They filter. They create a standard that makes the right people lean in — and the wrong people move on. When your brand is clear, marketing becomes lighter. Content becomes easier. Selling becomes cleaner. And your growth becomes sustainable.”
Despite the accolades, Ciubota remains focused on what comes next.
“These recognitions are not the finish line,” she said. “They are confirmation that the standard behind Exclusive Branding Edge Academy is not only relevant but needed. The UK — and the global market — is full of founders with incredible expertise but invisible positioning. I built this academy for the entrepreneurs who are done being overlooked. For the ones who are ready to become the headline, not the best-kept secret.”
