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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: What do you feel is the key to getting PR? A seat at the executive table? Obviously, there’s been a huge improvement over the years, but what are some key things we can do to get there?  

TARA: Yeah, there’s been an improvement, but it’s still a struggle for many in the field. And I mean, there’s any number of things that we could point to that will help, but I usually pinpoint three things. Number one, being just a communications professional and an expert in the craft, it’s simply not enough. You have to be a business leader and a business expert. And for a lot of communication leaders, what I see is they’re really great on their particular swim lane, but can they talk the language of the C-suite? And that answer is oftentimes no. Do you understand the business? Do you understand the operations? Do you understand the financials? And so, what I always encourage people to do is take a step back and say, hey, my communications leader, or am I positioning myself as a business leader who belongs at that C-suite level, and part of that does require some intellectual honesty around, hey, where are the gaps? So, for instance, one of the things that I did was I realized, hey, I’ve got a gap on the financial side about ten years ago. And so, I sent myself to IR boot camp to just get smarter on investor relations and just really skill up in that area. And that provided enormous benefit just in terms of my ability to talk the talk, if you will. So that’s point one. Be a business leader, not just a communications leader.  

DOUG: That’s a great point you make. And it reminds me of a conversation I had with Harold Burson about how when he started out, he was looking for people who really understood the industry of the potential client. How do you make sure to gain that knowledge today when there’s so many varied industries? And obviously you can apply your communications knowledge, but how do you mix that with learning about the industries that you’re working in?  

TARA: Yeah, you just have to prioritize it. And I know that seems simplistic to say in a world where we’re all so busy, but I typically look for both within myself and people on my team. Intellectual curiosity. You have to be hungry to learn. What are you reading? Who are you talking to? How are you actively seeking out information? Any company I’m working with, whether they’re a client or if I’m in-house, I take my time to go to the technical leaders, the business leaders who are working on the sales team. Sometimes salespeople can be your best asset just in terms of understanding what are the customer dynamics, what works, and what doesn’t work. So, you have to work at it and really skill up in those areas, but you can’t do that if you’re just taking information kind of served up to you. You have to go look for it.  

DOUG: Yeah, those are important points. And why don’t you go ahead, and you can share the next couple you had because you covered 1, you mentioned there were three points.  

TARA: You have to push for it, and you have to assert yourself. No one is going to make it easy for you to have a seat at the table. It’s not their job. You have to put yourself forward. And one of the things I do see with a lot of communicators is that they’ll step back, oh, maybe I don’t belong there. Maybe there’s a little self-doubt. You know, someone else should be in the room. No. Now, more than ever, Communicators have to be at the table, and you have to push to get yourself there. So, if there are meetings, discussions, I mean, there are very few things happening within an organization that don’t need communications expertise. Push to have that seat at the table. And then the final thing is, once you get it, you have to have a point of view. You have to have a voice. If you just sit there silently and let the conversation happen around you. No one’s going to want you back, and it’s going to be harder for you to assert yourself. So, be a business leader. Push to have the seat and then once you’re there, keep it by having a point of view.  

DOUG: That’s from your perspective. We know that media plays such an important role in shaping what happens, and it’s actually making a kind of a comeback with the whole talk about generalized engine optimization, and AI, and earned media being increasingly valued. How do you go about making those relationships with media people?  

TARA: It’s funny. The sad truth is, I talked to a lot of PR professionals, and a lot of them don’t actually spend any time with the media. So, you know, that’s problem number one if you aren’t actually going out and trying to build relationships at all, then that’s a problem, but I typically think of it in multiple ways. Number one, be a resource, not a roadblock. I think PR professionals have such a bad reputation for being the people of no, for taking a long time. And look, there are certain instances where I understand that happens, but you need to be a resource and someone who is actually of service to journalists. Newsrooms are under pressure. It’s competitive. So, what can you do to make their job easier? What can you tell them they don’t know? Can you provide a source for them? Again, think of yourself in more of a service-oriented role, of what can you do to help them, versus just being the person who says no? One of the top-tier journalists I work with. His point of feedback was, I get so frustrated because I’ll be working with a PR person and I feel like they’re just a router. I asked the question. They route it to someone internally. They route that information back. I’d rather just go work with someone in the company. And so, that’s the sort of thing you really don’t want to see. And I see that a lot of agencies just don’t know the business. Well, they don’t know the client well. They really can’t add any value. They just kind of route information. So, be a resource, don’t be a roadblock.  

DOUG: That’s really great. Advice and data and analytics are playing a role as well. How are they reshaping how PR proves its value?  

TARA: It’s enormously helpful. Communications and PR it’s one of those areas where people have a lot of opinions, and they’ll frequently apply those opinions to make judgments on results. And if you are not in a position to counter feelings and opinions with data, you’re just always on your back heel. So, I see this as a wonderful opportunity. There are so many tools out there now that there’s really no excuse for any program not to have a strong data foundation. And I don’t mean this just in the sense of how are you measuring results, but how are you holding yourself accountable? How are you learning? How are you constantly improving? That has to be a foundational point of any program, and it’s also one of those things that can help you get to the earlier point around getting a seat at the C-suite level. If you bring data to the table in a way that makes everyone else in the room smarter. That’s going to make you feel different and like an asset, because a lot of times PR people haven’t been able to do that. So, if you’re the one who comes in with insights on how you can move the business forward or how you are moving the business forward, it’s a completely different conversation.  

DOUG: Yeah. And it’s so great that you say that because it matches something I would tell our media team, especially when we were hiring them, is typically younger people learning the business. And what I would say to them is you can have more power than the senior person on the client side because you’ve actually been in touch with the media. If you come back and say, this is what they’re saying, this is what they’re suggesting, that’s going to hold a lot of weight. Which brings us full circle back to a topic that I know is a favorite of both of ours. Mentorship and the challenge of mentoring rising PR professionals. I know you put a lot of effort into that. What are you telling them is important today? And you’ve covered a lot of those points already, but what should a rising person in the PR industry be focusing on?  

TARA: Definitely all the things I called out earlier, especially around thinking about the business, not just the craft, that’s very important, but a couple of other pieces of advice. And, you know, it’s funny because sometimes this is less relevant to younger generations and up-and-comers and more towards those who are a little more established, you have to use the tools available to you. AI is out there. It’s a powerful resource. If you are not using it, you are going to fall behind. So, I see AI as a great amplifier. I don’t worry about it taking my job because I know how to use it, and I’m going to keep learning. So, use the tools that are available, but for maybe those younger in their career, I really focus on relationships. And that’s not just for press, but relationships in the broadest possible sense. This is a relationships business. And so, what I see, particularly for those who work hard, they’re ambitious, they focus on the work, but they don’t invest the time and the people around them. And that can mean whether it’s their family, their professional network, it’s easy to lose sight of that, but that network is what will carry you through to your next job, to your next advancement. And really, you have to prioritize that. And if I could think back to one thing I wish I had done differently early on in my career is, gosh, I had all of these great contacts that I didn’t stay as close to as I could have. And number one, just that shared history with people is so valuable, but now they’ve gone on to do interesting things, and I really wish I’d nurtured that network in a different way. And so that would be the piece of advice: don’t lose sight of those relationships.  

DOUG: Yeah, and it’s never too late as well. I’m sure if you reach back to a number of those people.  

TARA: I do that all the time.  

DOUG: They’d be glad to hear from you. Oh, how have you been? And going back and all that. So that definitely is a tool. Obviously, if you’re newer in the industry, you don’t have that people to go back to. You’re still in the process of building it. One of the things that I’m a big fan of, and I tell the people when we bring them on board or even during the interview process. A lot of times, employees will have ideas and thoughts of things that could make their job better, make the client work go better, make the company better, but they fear suggesting it because they don’t want to step on toes. And I was trying to tell them that one. Believe in your own ability to bring up concepts and ideas without being rude about them. So have confidence in yourself. But also, if you do that, you’re cheating yourself and cheating the company. What are some other things that maybe these come up with a hybrid or even remote workplace where for younger people, they’re not getting that learning through osmosis. Any ideas that you’ve had that might help them and help their mentors as well?  

DOUG: The agency I’m at currently, we’re 100% remote, and we know that this can be a challenge in some regards, and in many ways it’s great. We all have flexibility. We can hire in different areas that maybe we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do, but it also means we’re spread out, and it’s easy then, for people to not have that feeling of connection. And to your point, maybe some learning can’t take place because you’re not sitting right next to the person, so you have to work at it. Now we’ve built in several mechanisms to do that. Whether it’s quarterly get-togethers, we do monthly syncs, but also, again, to me, it comes back to relationships. And I would say for those coming up in their careers, push for what you need. Ask for the time. There are very few leaders. I know that if they see an up-and-comer saying, hey, I would love some mentorship sometime with you. They’ll almost always say yes. And if you have someone who doesn’t say yes, that’s probably a red flag. So, to your point, you know, we all suffer from imposter syndrome sometimes. Do not let it hold you back. Just reach for what you want and push for it.  

DOUG: Yeah, well, Tara, you’re certainly the real thing, not an imposter. And thanks for sharing your wisdom with our viewers. It’s great to talk to you, and congrats on your success.  

TARA: Wonderful to talk to you as well. And thank you.