motivation
Celebrating Women’s History Month with 6 PR Women to Know
It’s Women’s History Month and we’re celebrating by sharing our picks for the most influential women in public relations. These are the women who paved the way, the women who are crushing it now, and those who will continue to inspire us going forward. Learn more about these PR women to know.
PR Women Then
1. Muriel Fox
Not only was she the co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she was also the first woman to join a major agency (Carl Byoir & Associates) as a professional. Describing her experience there she stated, “When I was interviewed at Carl Byoir in 1950, they said sorry, but they don’t hire women except as secretaries, so I went away and took another job. But then I was hired in the radio and television department by a very enlightened man, Bob Davis.
Then a couple of years later, when Bob became the head of all the departments, to everyone’s surprise, I got the job as head of my department even though there was a man making much more money in the department, and I remember the CEO said to me at that time, ‘Well Muriel, you’ve come far, we’ll see if you’ve come too far.’ I remember when I became a vice president in 1957, the CEO said, ‘Well, you’ve come far, but you’ve come as far as you can go because CEOs can’t relate to a woman.’ And it took NOW (National Organization of Women) in 1966 to make it the law that you couldn’t discriminate.”
2. Barbara Hunter
The first woman to buy a major agency (Dudley Anderson Yutzy) in 1967. In 1989 Barbara founded Hunter PR, which she headed until 2000. She was also one of the first in the industry to push for equal pay stating, “When my sister and I took over management of the firm (that they had purchased), we were left with a whole lot of empty real estate because the guys had left. When we looked into the records of the firm, we found that the men were being paid much more than the women in the same positions. So, the very first thing we did was to equalize the pay of the few men we had left with the women. That was very important to us.”
PR Women Now
1. Andy Coville, CEO, Brodeur Partners
She is a 2021 Winner for Changemaker in PRNEWS’ “Top Women in PR” who, during the pandemic, led the creation of BWell, a wellness program focusing on the physical and mental health of employees. Under her leadership, Brodeur also started a Diversity & Inclusion practice, and she started a consulting practice focusing on leadership for women. She oversees Brodeur’s strategic direction, has run Brodeur’s healthcare practice since its inception, and developed Brodeur’s Relevance Methodology which combines behavioral science and digital communications for brand transformation. Coville has also led the creative planning process for three global movements: cancer, hepatitis C, and entrepreneurship.
2. Michelle Olson, PRSA Chair, Managing Partner, Lambert & Co.
A 2021 Winner for Industry Innovators on PRNEWS’ “Top Women in PR” list, she drives the execution of PRSA’s strategic plan with its CEO and is the spokesperson for the organization and its Board of Directors. Olson now leads PRSA’s Voices4Everyone information and resource platform which is designed to help communication professionals address misinformation and disinformation, diversity and inclusion, civility, and civic engagement. She also leads the automotive and mobility practice at Lambert & Co.
PR Women Going Forward
1. Sarah Zets, Account Executive, Poston Communications
This PRNEWS “Top Women in PR” 2021 Winner for Rising Stars started her career with Poston Communications by successfully completing the Precision Curriculum internship program. As the youngest member of the Crisis Management and Litigation Communications team, she was communications counsel to the litigation team in a landmark civil rights and workplace discrimination case before the United States Supreme Court. Zets is also a member of the Young Professionals Board and Marketing Committee for HOPE Atlanta, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness.
2. Jenny Wang, VP, Clyde Group
Another PRNEWS 2021 Winner for Rising Stars, Wang has been a vocal advocate for DEI within the public relations industry pushing for greater representation of people from underrepresented communities and has championed diversity in the workplace. She leads the Clyde Group’s largest account and amplifies its voice on health equity and DEI efforts. In addition, she guides two internal employee resource groups, the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accountability Group (IDEA) and Clyde Visibility which works to recruit and retain people of color.
To learn more about the amazing women on R PR team, check out our public relations services. Or, schedule your FREE Discovery Call Today!
10 Ways To Help Small Businesses Right Now!
We are the behind-the-curtain folks, the weavers of words, the people that help share passion and spread good news! I am writing this as, like many of you and like most of the world, I want to save all the restaurants and bars, and help small businesses from the hardships being immediately faced. I feel like every morning I wake up and see someone else I care about posting about making a hard decision with their business, and it seems that although we are practicing things like “social distancing”—a phrase I never have used in my life as both an extrovert and a lover of people—we are also in the midst of times where supporting and giving services is needed more than ever.
As communications pros, we can be a beacon of hope during these strange and difficult times—we are the messengers to the media, we are the media, we move the needle from fear to fearless by being courageous and creative innovators in a time of great need! So I ask, HOW can we help—now? I’ve listed some of R teams ideas below on ways to help small businesses, and support clients, media friends, and most of all each other. Let us know what you’d add, too, we are here to bounce ideas, support, and help small businesses! Let’s do this!
1. Pick up the phone
Get off email and CALL your people—they need you. They’re reading the news and social media and seeing their friends close down and make difficult decisions—offer creative solutions that can help them weather this storm (an abbreviated but awesome take-out menu, clever delivery options, etc). Read this again, CALL and connect, it makes a world of difference—trust me.
2. Source ideas with other professionals.
If you are like me, you have been writing crisis communication plans, scraping all the content you planned for this month and next and next and gearing up for a daily swipe of your ideas—you need some creative support! Call, text, and email fellow communications pros! This is the time to give extra hours, time, and talents to each other to support the world of small businesses. THIS is our time to really support each other and get over any fear that someone will take your client or idea. In this case, we all need to save this sinking ship for EVERYONE and we are the answers.
3. Be a marketing genius
During the Great Depression, furniture stores offered free incentives called “Depression glass” (like a plate or a teacup) and people went wild shopping for furniture just to get the free glasses, even when they didn’t have much. Today a tiny Depression tea glass is worth $25-$75 (some more), and these were given out for free to our grandmothers. Who came up with that idea? A MARKETING GENIUS, that’s who. Us marketing pros are the people behind the curtain and we get to show off our most genius ideas—often in the most desperate times.
Just this week alone I have seen café owners delivering goods, celebrities reading storybooks online, museums offering free tours, and even Disney taking viewers on virtual rides. The internet is blowing up and our ideas are just waiting to take off and find value with our clients. So do what you need to be risky and wise and get someone to sign up for something they never thought they would—it WILL work!
4. Be calm + confident
Be confident, be collected, and know this too shall pass. If we hold our visions our clients will too, and we are the ones who help document and execute those visions. So it is up to us to be calm in the storm when they need to freak out because their business is taking turns they never imagined. Be confident. Know you were hired because you are smart, talented and clients can count on you to share their message—that’s you!
5. Be mindful
Be mindful of your words instead of “hard times” change that up for “things are constantly changing” instead of “closing” change that up for “we will open as soon as we can.” Words have power and now more than ever WE are responsible for encouraging clients and media to lessen the drastic language and fear and see things as a work in progress. As the truth is this is actually a golden opportunity to be creative with businesses. Those that know how to pivot and stay calm will be the ones on top after the storm blows over.
6. Be generous with your time
We need to write more blog posts, edit more press releases and help more than we probably ever have before—now is the time to get our boots dirty. It’s hard work, but so worth it!
7. Shop, shop, shop
Buy all the things—get merch, get gift cards, and practice what you are preachin’ sister!
8. Make your pitches short and sweet
And with all information in digestible deets—who, what, where, and website links—and nothing else! We don't want to make more work for our media friends who are getting more emails than ever right now.
9. Share other people’s creative work
Not just your clients! Ask and offer fellow comm friends ways you can lend a helping hand! Giving truly makes the world of difference in stressful situations.
10. BE KIND
Be kind to yourself included, take a bath, do an online yoga class, pour a glass of wine at the end of the day, whatever gets you to zen. You can’t save the world if you aren’t taking care of you and from there sprinkle out the good witch vibes and let people know they have had the power to change and shift and grow within them the whole time. (‘nuff said).
From friends in the comm worlds:
“Entertain and engage! This is the time to show your audience your brand value through digital marketing by giving them what they need the most right now. Something to do. You literally have a captive audience, so don’t waste that opportunity with your average content. Find creative ways to entertain and engage your audience. A great way to do that is through mixed media: video, graphics, motion graphics, email campaigns, etc. Create giveaways, quizzes, and games! The more your audience feels supported by your brand during this time, the more brand loyalty they will reciprocate when things go back to normal.” Sarah Wlliams (digital marketing guru)
Have something to add and help small businesses? Please share!