Rebecca started in the arts and non-profits over 25 years ago, supporting government relations, fundraising and Media relations efforts for The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Merchants House Museum and The New York Public Library.

Was PR what you always wanted to do?  

I don’t think kids grow up wanting to be in PR – unless your parent is a wildly successful and glamorous publicist. In 1976, I saw the King Tutankhamun show in Washington, DC and it changed my life. There was nothing more impactful and theatrical than the gangplank the museum created as visitors descended into the darkness of the tomb-setting to first see the spot lit gold funeral mask of the boy king at the beginning of the show. I was hooked. I wanted to work in museums and archaeology and create experiences that told stories and made history alive and exciting.

I grew up in Virginia, making trips to Washington DC to see the National Gallery, worked summers for The National Trust for Historic Preservation and I took classes at the Corcoran School of Art. I attended Undergraduate school in art, art history and language. I wanted to be a museum director, so I moved to New York City to attend NYU where I earned a degree in Museums Studies and Art History. I worked at a NYC historic house museum where I ran their public outreach and education curriculum as well as marketing and public relations. I had the privilege of working at The New York Public Library where I really got a taste for the possibility of public relations and its value in marketing an organization’s Brand and services. It was an amazing time to be in New York and support their fundraising efforts to protect this legendary American philanthropic institution, their collections, and the services they provide to NYC and the world. 

I had a family and I started freelancing to give myself the flexibility that I needed. It is hard to start a business because you have to make rain and execute. But there’s nothing like being your own boss. I started my firm because I wanted to have varied experiences in work and to keep learning and engaging with new audiences and clients. I was tired of positions and situations keeping me from growing and taking on more. 

Every job builds on every other; I’ve had the pleasure of being able to continuously weave PR into other aspects of marketing and communications that brings real value, visibility, and client engagement. 

You've been in marketing and public relations for a long time now; are you still passionate about it?   

I consider it a profound honor and pleasure to get up and do something different and be actively involved in my clients’ lives, stories, and businesses. I work with many entrepreneurs who have founded their companies and so every day is a learning opportunity. It makes me consider what else I can do to make our work and agency better for my team, as well as how we can contribute to the greater good. I have a new client for whom we are working in a volunteer capacity because I believe in his mission of service. He has created an app that helps workers from third world countries find work in first world countries, cutting out the middleman and protecting them from worker abuse. The founder had been an enslaved worker in the Middle East as a young man and that has culminated in the creation of an app and business that protects others and provides a safety net and transparency guidelines. How can you not get behind someone and something like that? 

Also, I am a single parent so it’s important that I demonstrate with actions that we must work hard, do difficult things, solve problems, get out there and make opportunity and deliver with quality. 

At this point, our agency is not necessarily specializing in any one industry, so we represent clients in a few different businesses. As a team, we need to do that deep dive into an industry to be able to truly understand what clients do, what their services offer, what makes them unique, and what impacts/innovations are a part of their work. At the end of the day, everything is about relationships; either between people or how things work together. There is so much to be fascinated by and to be excited about. Caring about our clients, our teams and the work comes across in the things we produce.

How important is PR in business and what should be the ultimate goal of a successful PR campaign?   

I think PR is an essential part of a campaign for any business. It should be as much a part of the strategy as social media and content creation. If you consider the advertising value of a well-placed pr story it is literally worth money. Many metrics have value, and we all must establish KPIs and expectations. I am not necessarily a proponent for AVE but using PR and engaging with journalists is just common sense. And like content creation and social, it requires real thinking and strategy, not spaghetti on the wall. The ultimate goal of a PR campaign is brand recognition and having the readership/public/audience CARE about your client and their story. That builds brand, a role, interest, engagement, and authenticity. Our mission is to create new connections, support sales, articulate differentiation & hone a message.   

What are the 5 top PR tools for startups?  

If you are literally starting from scratch and you’re going to do PR, you have to have access to your media outlets. Investing in a media platform is worth the money because you need to spend time pitching, writing, and cultivating relationships; not researching the name and contact info for journalists. 

Organization – tracking workflows and projects is key – deadlines are everything but so is my sanity. We use Asana to keep track of projects and roles within the agency so I can see where we are with every project without having to track down a team member and ask status questions. 

Cloud storage – DropBox or something that allows you to keep your assets and deliverables in one place. 

VPN- being small makes you a target. Establish safety protocols and use a VPN all the time to protect your modem and computers. It’s smart to have an IT pro get you started with protocols and setups from the beginning. 

Social media management – Hootsuite. I like Hootsuite because it’s the one I’ve used for several years to plan out social media messaging for clients. It allows you to schedule posts at ideal times and work ahead of schedule. Then that leaves you free to be responsive to timely or specific events while maintaining a cadence. 

How does one write an effective press release? Could you give us an example of one?  

I’ve heard wild statistics that most journalists only give pitches 5 seconds. (I’d be curious what your response is to that, Fanele.) A good press release delivers the questions: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why – Tell them why they should care and how it’s relevant to their audience. Make it concise and give options for more information, with everything available so it is easy for the journalist to get what they need. I’ll attach a recent press release for a client of mine – amazing man. 

Finally, what big brands have you worked with and what did you learn from them?  

I worked with The New York Public Library, the US Navy, the FDA, Vogue Magazine, and other organizations. I am excited about two of my new clients that are global companies for whom we are tasked with improving their brand recognition. 

What I learned from working with established brands is this; Brand really is important – but it’s not one thing – it’s collectively a living and breathing organism with core values, public perceptions, and responsibilities to its stakeholders, staff, and customers. There are elements of human relationships that we relate to brands so that elements of trust and responsibility are very much a part of how we think of companies. And people have very high expectations for brands now – they vote with their wallets (or the equivalent). 

When I think about Vogue, it’s luxury and the arbiter of style and culture. When I think about the NYPL, they are the stewards of research and learning, the providers of books, safe havens in the city, and world-renowned repositories of great writers, collections, and art. There are so many ways to build brand ambassadorship and to engage - not only with the public but with internal teams. Everything we do is an opportunity to perpetuate brand identity and build engagement; but to also be prepared for crises and to have those protocols in place because disasters happen.