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There are over 55,000 PR agencies in the U.S. — a majority of them are based in NYC. So how does one go about cracking arguably the most oversaturated global market for comms?
Start by throwing out everything you’ve been programmed to think, write, believe. Having worked in some of the largest global PR networks (and small shops along the way), I realized quickly that in order to cut through the noise, we had to open up The Romans Brooklyn with an entirely rogue approach. One that went hard on culture, and nixed the BS.
Here are four things I learned over the past two years.
Rome wasn’t built in a day… or by one person. You need people around you who believe in you, and believe in the vision.
What was the first step? A phone call to a tried and true comrade, who, like me, always wanted more from PR life. Enter Katherine Espinosa — a brilliant mind with killer media relations skills — I knew she would be the first person to help build the empire. So very quickly she quit her job (with no formal contract by the way — her fiancé was furious) and came in to get to work.
We sat down, put pen to paper and networked like hell. We developed a distinct offering that offered clients transparency and unapologetic candor on what we believed was needed to win in this highly competitive landscape. With the unwavering support of London and our fearless CEO, we went to town mapping out a dream of a U.S. agency outpost that believes currency is culture, and never, ever compromises on the creative integrity of a stellar idea. We also realized that in order to launch, we needed a stellar team of like-minded visionaries.
How do you find these people? Comb through your network on LinkedIn. Do research on who is also doing work that offers a clear POV and lays out their perspective based on what they’re posting. If you align with it, set up time to have a power session.
It helps tremendously to have a support structure. Especially on hard days… and there will be hard days.
But we were never alone, even in the early days. We were lucky in the sense that we had the support of Mother, a shareholder in our business, and had a crazy bunch of wonderful British counterparts who got us some intros. We still had to RFP and sell our offering, but it was a start. We also had some incredible relationships we leveraged from our past agency lives that helped open doors to client relationships we’re still growing today.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Through all of it, were we scared? Sometimes. But for the most part, we were just absolutely determined to have a hell of a lot of fun and build the agency we always wished we were a part of — fear couldn’t really be part of that equation. This was another part of our deprogramming. At so many past agencies, we were groomed to fear failure. Here, we had our CEO backing us up and saying, “Ahh screw it. ONWARDS!” With his support, there were days we felt absolutely invincible and that was important — especially on days that weren’t so easy.
Talent is only one part of the job. You want to build a team of people that bring out the best in each other, but also that are fun to be around. People who can riff with you — with your thoughts, and your ideas, and help take them to the next level. People who can make you laugh.
“Team” can and should mean a lot of things.
Since then, we’ve been on a rocket ship. We’ve built an organization that we’re very proud of and brought on leaders, like Maryanne Milano, to help lead us to even bigger endeavors. Together with the team, we’ve built an impressive list of clients who we adore — Amazon, Candy Crush, Grindr, Pernod Ricard, StockX, etc. — true partners and we go hard for them. They treat us with respect (also a rarity if you’ve worked in this field long enough!) and take our counsel to heart. We do work we love together and test and learn to keep it exciting.
Find clients who value you and don’t settle for anything less. If they didn’t need your wisdom and intel, they wouldn’t have brought you on in the first place. A great client team can make all the difference.
You won’t be for everyone — and that’s a good thing!
As we were growing, there were several points where we paused and questioned our approach. In our experience, many agencies will do just about anything to sell new business — tell clients what they want to hear, undervalue themselves just for the win, you name it. But at the end of the day, I’m incredibly proud that we took risks and went for work that reflected our true POV. There was always a chance that clients wouldn’t buy in, but we agreed as a team that if clients didn’t align, they probably weren’t right for us and that was okay. The result? Today we have clients we can play with — we work together on initiatives because at the core, we realize we all have the same objectives in mind — and that’s almost always doing what’s best for brand growth and innovation.
Never, ever bend to be something that you are not. Even if it’s for a large sum of money. While it might help you win the business upfront, it won’t pay off in the long run.
What am I most excited about looking ahead? The work, yes. The clients, sure. But actually, it’s building a team that can be at home at The Romans as we continue to grow. A creative space where people can show up unapologetically as themselves and thrive.
