Morning Mantra

To start off my morning besides my tea and a bagel, I read through my ever growing list of blogs. Then I move on to newspapers and magazines. As a publicist it is your job to keep up on what everyone is talking and writing about in the field you are in.

Here is a little rundown on what my chic bloggers are talking about today.

The Fashion Bomb expores the Summer Trend: Fedoras

Ask Fashion Kitty talks about the Trend Alert: Fringe

Black Pearl highlights the looks she loves

I Like Her Style Likes His Style

Flats & Frappuccino's has their eye on Season 2 of Baldwin Hills- (Which one of my clients clothes will be featured this season)

This week’s US Weekly- Michelle Obama

Behind every story there is a publicist.

Catching up on the weekly must-reads for a publicist, I came across the 6 page cover story for US Weekly (Issue 698- June 30, 2008) on Michelle Obama and why Barack loves her. It was an awesome story to show the world that Michelle O (who may be our new Jackie O) was not only successful in her corporate career, but a loving and dedicated mother, who will fall back when needed to support her husband. From a “Good” PR point of view you couldn’t do any better. Have the public fall in love with your client on a number of levels.

But, what caught my attention initially about the story is that they begin talking about her through the words of her close friend of 20 years, Yvonne Davila, who was no other than a PR Exec. Love it.

Over the next 5 pages they quote everyone from people who went to High School with Michelle O, to a waitress who served her and her family on Father’s Day. But, Ms. Davila was quoted in and out of the story almost like she wrote it. Hmmm.

Most people aren’t aware but a publicist is the front line for a celebrity. Press rarely gets to speak directly to Talent. Most statements that you read or hear are issued through their rep or their team. A good publicist should clean up the ugly fast and promote the wonderful for a long time. With that being said I challenge you to share things you have read or heard through the media when clearly there wasn't a publicist on the scene. lol

This will lead me into other stories I will write labeled…Where Was Their Publicist?

In the words of M.I.A.- Hussel, Hussell, Grind, Grind

Yes I know it’s actually HUSTLE, but let this be one of the most important words in your vocabulary.

Much like any career you want to pursue, what you put in is what you will get back. There are a bazillion girls who wish to have this job. (Sound slightly familiar) Honestly, there are so many young ladies who would love to be a Publicist, so what will set you apart? What will make you succeed where others fail? Your drive and HUSTLE. Of course there are more, like what I noted in my first post, but your ability to go above and beyond for what you want is what is going to put you out there.

I have come across some super wonderful and extremely intelligent young ladies who get nice jobs and never grow. Then there are young ladies who will get a job as an intern and in a year and a half they are the VP of XXX. You may think that is extreme, but believe me I have seen it happen. So, how did they do that? It is not always luck. It has a lot to do with setting your goal and hustling/grinding to get there.

This applies to publicists at all points in their path. If you are interning to learn more about PR and decide this is the career for you, hustle to learn every aspect of the business. Believe it or not this is the best place to be because you have the opportunity to see the ups, downs, ins and outs. People are willing to show you what to do because they want the project done and completed well. So make sure you hustle to be assigned to every project. Don’t just sit there and relax in the glory with the other interns that you are working at some hot agency, but you are still not getting anything out of it. Grind to have the projects completed fast so that you can move on to the next opportunity to learn. Trust me, ladies like that are eye-catchers.

If you are a mid career publicist, grind and hustle hard as well. If you have one client you may want two. If you are representing a small client you have to hustle and grind to make them a huge client. Point is there are always goals that should be met to make you a success.

And finally even if you are a PR Icon with your own agency you darn sure should hustle and grind. Your goal is to make sure that you stay at the top of your game and your business continues to grow. You have to hustle to get new clients and to make sure that your existing clients are very pleased with you and your agency.

We need to coin the phrase “GO GETTERS HAVE MORE FUN!” I want to leave you with a quote that has always worked for me.

“Watch your Thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your Habits, they become character.
Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny.”

Ladies set your goal and hustle to get there. The world is yours for the taking.

Diaries of a PR Urbanista- VSessions featuring Chrisette Michele

This is my first installment of Diaries of a PR Urbanista. Event planning and event attending is definitely on the must do list for any publicist. Therefore, when I attend an event, I will share photos and insider tidbits from a publicist’s point of view.

Last night I attended VSessions featuring Chrisette Michele, held at Boucarou in NYC. It was a small venue, but excellent for an afterwork event like this. The invite stated that doors would open at 7pm and they were punctual. This is a wonderful example of professionalism, because you should always be on time. Prior to the performance everyone was mingling well and the DJ was on point. Maybe the open bar sponsored by Seagrams helped, but nevertheless everything seemed to be going well.

Ms Chrisette Michele took the stage and she was fantabulous. Although the crowd was extremely rude and talked to the point that she cut her set short, I was extremely impressed by how she handled things. I will even venture to say I am a bigger fan now.

I left the event after she walked off because I did feel it was disrespectful to her the way the crowd maintained the talking. But, this brings me to a point that is rarely talked about. Crowd Control at your event. As a PR Professional when having an event it is important to monitor your crowd. You always want to have your attendees leave feeling like your event was a memorable and enjoyable event. I will admit uncontrollable things do come up, but you should always keep in mind that if you plan a certain type of event and there are individuals who are not on that page... it is your responsibility to take control and bring the event back to focus so that your talent and attendees are happy.