This Valentine’s Day, 14 PR pros answered the question: What do you love about PR? Here’s what they had to say.
I love the fact that PR brings challenges each and every day. It’s never something that is going to get monotonous or boring and PR is an industry where you’re constantly able to grow and push yourself. As we move into more performance driven PR, it’s forcing those of us that have been in the industry for a while to really re-examine how we approach our clients’ goals from a long-term perspective. I also love that PR is becoming more of a multi-media driven arm of the marketing department. No longer do we just push out a press release, but we’re packaging landing pages, videos, and other assets into campaigns that can truly be measured and go beyond vanity metrics.
Abbi Whitaker, President, The Abbi Agency
I love the ability to use my creative skills in any sector of the industry. Over my career, I’ve been able to work in education, healthcare, small business, festivals and events, heritage, human rights, automotive, hospitality and tourism, and more. I was able to move from sector to sector without retraining my skills or going back to school.
AJ Adams, Manager, Communications, Egale Canada
Finding the right words to tell a story that educates, entertains, inspires, impacts perceptions, or encourages action is a thrilling challenge. There are many nuances that make communications effective: tone, timing, pauses, humor, compassion, and attentiveness, among others. Putting it together is a true craft, a rewarding one. I jump with excitement every time I hear a spokesperson’s confident voice clearly and respectfully getting their message across, skillfully pivoting away from the negatives, and keeping their audience engaged based on my advice.
Anna Treszczotko, Corporate and Executive Communications Advisor
I love PR because I love people! Public Relations is a very social industry and for me, it’s fun and energizing to connect with so many different people—colleagues, clients, media—in a day. Each day is different—I don’t think I could get bored if I tried!
Annie Scranton, CEO, Pace Public Relations
I love working in PR because… It’s not your typical 9-to-5 job. My work in communications has led me from Disney World to the National Press Club; afforded me the chance to work on high-profile campaigns with Fall Out Boy and Mary J. Blige; and introduced me to some of the greatest minds of our time behind innovative brands in cleantech, augmented reality and blockchain. Every day, I work with teams and journalists from Miami and NYC to Turkey, New Zealand and everywhere in between. There’s magic in building relationships and sharing powerful stories from all corners of the world that connect, inspire, and educate people. That’s what I love about being a public relations consultant.
Bridgette Borst Ombres, Founder and Principal Consultant, The Commsultant
I’m a journalist at heart but have big social anxiety. Being a PR person is like being an internal journalist and that breaks down the barrier enough for me to feel at-ease doing interviews and then putting my stories out in the world. I love telling human interest stories and PR is a comfortable way for me to do so.
Dana Engelbert, Purposeful Storyteller
I love public relations because of its ability to have a positive impact on the lives of everyday people. We also are a multi-dimensional profession with folks working in many disparate areas of communications; so diversity in its truest sense is seen among our practitioners. PR professionals have great responsibilities and influence, and every day those responsibilities grow. I’m truly so proud to see how our profession positively influences our communities, our nation, and yes, the world for the better. That’s why I love our profession!
Felicia Blow, PhD, APR, Associate Vice President for Development, Hampton University and 2022 National PRSA Chair
I have worked in PR for 25+ years and so I view most of life through a communications lens. When I experience something good or not good, my first instinct is to want to understand the roots of it, and how it might be better understood and communicated. PR is a terrific career and in this rich and sometimes rugged middle part of my life, this is a great feeling and one I have absolutely grown into. On most days, I enjoy working collaboratively and so the most rewarding part of my work to promote nonfiction books is working with scholars, subject experts, and publishers to design, build, and share. I also like to solve problems and have gotten pretty good at seeing opportunities where others often do not. Joy is when I feel and others recognize that my experience, skills, perspective, and work are having a meaningful impact on the project at hand.
Helena Brantley, Principal, Red Pencil Publicity + Marketing
I can be a bit of a newshound, so I love working in PR and comms because it allows me to use this habit in my day-to-day responsibilities. I also get to use skills I learned when I got my journalism degree, like writing, asking questions and digging deeper to learn more about a person, product, or topic. While there can be stress in this career, it’s fun and stimulating to constantly be asking questions and learning.
Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, Garrett Public Relations
I love being able to work with so many different amazing companies and people. I learn new things every day and appreciate playing a role in helping tell stories, whether helping a journalist source a news story or helping a company elevate their messaging to broader audiences.
Mike Atkinson, PR Account Director, Sage Communications
I love how PR is the path for organizations and executives to build relationships with their employees, customers or members, the media, and other stakeholder organizations. I enjoy crafting the best ways to reach these audiences and meeting their informational needs.
Myles Goldman, Senior Communications Manager, 340B Health
While I don’t work in public relations directly, I have been covering the industry for more than 20 years now, so mine is more of a bird’s-eye view. I love reporting on PR because it’s so creative, fast-moving and unpredictable—and these days, as the economic and political landscapes become more fragile, well-executed PR is so critically important for every brand and business. And while the goal is more or less the same, the variety of strategies and approaches by which different agencies and professionals tackle these challenges makes PR such an intriguing field to write about. I passionately celebrate their successes and feel the sting of every shortfall, but always admire the creativity and tenacity PR brings to the table. It’s never routine or workaday, and certainly never boring, and I learn something new every day. While my wife will always be my true valentine, I’m putting aside a “be mine“ candy heart for PR as well this year, and I’m looking forward to many more years of this love affair!
Richard Carufel, Editor, Bulldog Reporter, Host, PR Profiles podcast
I like working in PR because I get to support clients from various industries from travel and retail clients to those in consumer-packaged goods. I enjoy the diverse work I get to do in this field from helping with planning around new product launches, creating media strategy, or helping with research into business awards, events, or industry trends. At a big agency like Golin, I also get to interact with my colleagues in the other offices. I get to work with clients that align with my interest and help them convey their messaging around their brand to select media. I also get to challenge myself and work on projects that are out of my comfort zone to help me grow my skillset and network.
Samiha Fariha, Senior Associate, Golin
I’m a self-professed ‘news junkie,’ and PR people must stay relevant in our rapidly evolving world. That means we need to be aware of breaking news, pop culture, societal issues, and emerging trends. I also love to learn. In PR, we often get the opportunity to interact with communicators from various organizations and industries and discover things we never would’ve been aware of. It’s a match made in heaven!
Tressa Robbins, MPRCA, VP Client Onboarding, Content & Social Media Manager, Burrelles
We had more than 14 PR pros respond to our call and while we couldn’t feature them all, we do want you to see the rest of the responses, so check out the original post here.
