Frank Strong

Director of Public Relations for Vocus and PRWeb

Washington, DC

@vocus and @frank_strong

On LinkedIn

Blogging at Sword and the Script

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR: How did you wind up in this field? FS: Uncle Sam brought me to DC for a full time gig with the Army — working at the National Guard Bureau (NGB) – soon after college.  I decided I liked the area, knew NGB wouldn’t be a permanent assignment and so started considering my options.  Given my undergraduate degree in communications, an affinity for technology and the thriving tech PR community in circa 1999, PR seems like a great option; I started planning my career accordingly.

My first gig in PR was working for a boutique tech agency called ProMarc.  Ironically, ProMarc was Vocus’ agency of record then and as such, I was also a beta customer.   I remember working closely with Kye Strance, who was an account executive back then, and remains as the director of Product Management for Vocus.

About a year after joining that team ProMarc was acquired by Hill & Knowlton. That was a valuable experience on many different levels, for example, exposed me to the culture differences between a large and small PR shops, and also allowed me to experience the process of M&A from the inside. One memory from H&K is indelible:  I’ll never forget standing on the balcony of the firm’s old office at the Watergate building and staring in disbelief at the smoke streaming from across the Potomac River from the Pentagon on 9/11.

Mopwater: Describe a pivotal moment in your career. Did you have a mentor or internship that really solidified your interest in this field or helped you hone in on a specific focus area? FS: In 2002, the recession had by then long since taken the air out of the technology bubble.  I’d left H&K to join a start-up – a risky venture – and about six months into it the owner decided to shut it down.  Times were not good and it took me well over a year to land another full-time position.  In the interim, I scraped out a living as a freelancer and managed to score a couple clients of my own, but mostly, worked as a subcontractor to other small shops around town – those with more business than they could handle, but not enough to merit hiring a new employee.  While I enjoyed the work and the freedom, financially speaking, it was trying.   For a time I pondered opening up my own shop, though I ultimately decided I needed a little more time-in-grade before I could make that work.  However, the freelance experience gave me much to think about.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day? Describe your office setting and workplace. FS: No two days have ever been the same:  there’s always something new.  On a good day, I get to the office about 7 a.m. to get a workout.  Vocus has two gyms for employees on-site which is an especially nice perk, and helps me to avoid the nightmare of cross-town DC traffic.  Once I’m desk-side, the first thing I do is check the reports – the news forwards – Vocus sent me the previous evening.  I have searches set up in Vocus on the company, on PRWeb and the industry, which gives me a sense for the relevant news of the day in both traditional and social media.

Throughout the day, I can be found on social media networks, especially Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn – or working on media relations, whitepapers, contributed articles and case studies.  One area I spend significant amount of time on is interviewing customers:  this is the best of both worlds because by extension of my job, I’m also afforded the opportunity to learn from my peers and hear their thoughts on the latest industry trends.

Finally, the marketing shop at Vocus is tightly integrated, so I spend a lot of time with Vocus personnel focused on other marketing functions including campaigns, direct marketing, search marketing, events and product management.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR/marketing/SM tasks and why? FS: As a PR person, for a company that sells PR software…to the PR industry, I literally live, breathe and sleep PR; I love every minute of it.  My father used to say to me when I was growing up: do something you love.  I’d like to think that I’m living those words.  Of course, it’s always easier when you represent a product and a company in which you truly believe.

Mopwater: Who are some of your company’s clients, and what kind of projects do you take on for these clients? FS: Vocus has more than 4,400 customers ranging from corporations including Southwest Airlines to non-profits like the Humane Society and each has a unique story to tell.  It’s fascinating for me to observe the news and know a little bit about what’s going on behind the scenes.

PRWeb has upwards of 30,000 customers, and while there are global companies that use PRWeb for online news releases, most are small businesses.  What I most enjoy about this aspect is talking small businesses owners and writing case studies.  Their stories are both very compelling and inspiring.  In addition, it’s often it’s an opportunity to provide a little coaching on the side too – and a little chance for me to give something back to our customers.

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud. FS: One recent project that stands out was the survey of PR professionals that Vocus conducted last fall.  It was a chance to learn from my peers, collaborate with thought leaders like Deirdre Breakenridge, and also give something back to the PR community.  Let’s face it, we’re all looking for good ideas and Vocus provides me the opportunity to gather information from my peer group, analyze it and share the findings with the PR community – all while adding value to my company.

Another aspect that is exceptional is the opportunity to use the Vocus platform, including all the add-ons, like news monitoring and analytics.  It’s a chance to have some fun while also providing illustrative anecdotes of the software in practice.  This case study — What Santa Claus Can Teach PR About Media Monitoring – is a good example.

Mopwater:What is your favorite thing about this job and do you think you’ll be in this position in 5 years? FS: Vocus really is a great place to work, I’m challenged every day, have a great boss who pushes me to grow, and despite the cliché, to really ‘think outside of the box.’   I see great potential in the company and feel quite fortunate to be employed at Vocus.

Mopwater: What aspect of the industry are you most excited about? FS: There has never been a better time to be in PR.  While I firmly believe mainstream media still matters, there’s a new opportunity for PR professional to help their causes find, cultivate and grow their own audiences.  I’ve always viewed PR as being a tool for facilitating the sales cycle, but the speed and ease of publishing content on new media, provides an opportunity for PR to contribute directly to the bottom line.  PR professionals are being challenged to adopt and perfect new skills – SEO, multimedia and interactive marketing among others.   I believe PR should champion social media efforts, should be the glue for integrated marketing, and lead organizational efforts in creating high-quality content that contributes to the conversation and advances an organization’s goals.

Mopwater: If you could work on any dream project of your choosing, what would it be? FS: Politics and government have always fascinated me – I wrote a thesis on Jesse Ventura’s use of the Web in his bid for governor of Minnesota.  That campaign is clearly old news now, but it was very new then, and the first solid example of how the Web is transforming how organizations interact and communicate.  I could easily see myself getting wrapped up in a political campaign one day, or perhaps find myself as a press secretary.

Mopwater: What if anything would you have done differently in your career up to this point and what advice would you give someone who is trying to break into this field? FS: The best piece of advice I received when trying to break into the PR industry was from a professor:  he told me to find a topic I was passionate about and write letters to the editor.  It proved sage advice and I landed letters in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.  Those samples demonstrated that I was current on trends, had an eye for news, and the writing talent to be published.

Today, I’d offer similar advice, though I think it’s been adjusted a bit – today you have to be a blogger and be active on social media.  Blogging showcases your writing and you’ll learn important skills about the Web distribution like RSS, SEO and content marketing.  Social media isn’t a fad, it’s not going away and so obtaining experience in the social norms, culture and principles of effective social media evangelism is imperative.

Grant Turck, 26

Santa Monica, CA

Literary Publicist, Manager and Producer

Velocity Management, 5 years

On the Web: grantturck.com

LinkedIn: in/gturck

Twitter: @grantturck

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field? GT: It was during a successful campaign to start a GSA at my public high school in Cincinnati, OH that I first taught myself how to write and format a press release.  I was drawn to the power of the press and its ability, when properly managed, to effect positive change.  In short, I was intrigued.  After graduating, I moved to Malibu, CA and attended Pepperdine University where I majored in public relations.  Although still a student, I began to utilize the PR skills taught to me in the classroom by leading a campaign to form an official student organization on campus called Students Against Homophobia, which garnered coverage in The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and Cincinnati Magazine.  It was also in college that I started a public relations consultancy called Rath Relations (clients included Johnny Rockets and Actor Jeremy Slate), interned for BNC PR and GolinHarris and became a founding partner of Velocity Management where I continue to focus a majority of my time as a literary manager and producer.  My business card may say literary manager and producer, but I’m a publicist at heart trying to advance clients’ careers and the projects I am working on.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day? GT: On average I work 12-hour days and typically begin around 10:00 AM.  Daily tasks can vary greatly, depending on whom I am working with and what I am working on, but have been known to include: reading scripts and books, giving notes, writing press releases, meeting with clients, pitching stories to reporters, tweeting for clients, rolling calls and drafting deal memos.

Mopwater: Describe your office setting and workplace. GT: I have a home office and my iPhone permits me to get a lot done while on the move around the city.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks and why? Do you love to pitch? Dread writing releases? Adore blogging for your brands? GT: I love everything about media relations from writing press releases and developing media lists to pitching the story to reporters, because it all requires a lot of creativity!  I also really enjoy micro-blogging, but I have not gotten into long-form blogging as of yet.

Mopwater: Who are some of your clients, and what kind of projects do you take on for these clients? GT: As a literary manager I work primarily with writers such as Science Fiction Author Ben Bova and as a producer I have been developing film and television projects that include the feature adaptation of John Grisham’s bestseller The Partner and the miniseries adaptation of Gary Jennings’ bestseller Aztec with Mexican-born director Alfonso Arau.  On the literary management side for Ben, I established and maintain his online presence through Facebook and on the producing side I pitch and secure media coverage in various trade publications and online sites for individual projects when appropriate.

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud. GT: In August 2009, I drafted a press release and pitched an exclusive story to The Hollywood Reporter about Aztec and secured my first front-page placement!

Mopwater: Do you think you’ll be in this position in 5 years? GT: I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can say that in 5 years I will be in a position that allows me to be a risk-taker, creative and rewarded for my accomplishments.

Mopwater: What aspect of the industry are you most excited about? GT: Social media, because it has greatly reduced the gatekeepers’ power over what news and information gets distributed to the masses.

Mopwater: If you could work on any dream project of your choosing, what would it be?   GT: As a producer I would love to produce a feature adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical Sunset Boulevard.  As a publicist I would love to work with The Walt Disney Company someday.

Mopwater: What if anything would you have done differently in your career up to this point and what advice would you give someone who is trying to break into your field?  GT: The biggest piece of advice I would give to anyone trying to break into entertainment would be to take risks and to never give up.

Chandra M. Hayslett, 34

Somerset, NJ

Hayslett Media Consulting

Twitter: @cmhayslett

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field? CH: After spending 11 years as a daily newspaper reporter covering education, my paper [the New Jersey Star Ledger] offered a pretty lucrative buyout. With newspapers laying off reporters and closing, I saw the writing on the wall and took the money and ran! But before I left, I called my contacts and sources to let them know I was leaving and I was available for freelance work. About a month after I left the paper, a former contact called to inform me that his non-profit agency was looking for someone to do public relations work and Hayslett Media Consulting was born.

Mopwater: Describe a pivotal moment in your career. Did you have a mentor or internship that really solidified your interest in this field or helped you hone in on a specific focus area? CH: I accidentally fell into journalism and the same thing happened with public relations. I didn’t leave the paper to start a PR firm, but accidentally fell into it. But it was a natural transition from journalism to PR because of my extensive knowledge of how the media works.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day? Describe your office setting and workplace. CH: I work from home for now. It’s a love-hate relationship because some days, I work very odd hours. I may be writing a press release at 10 p.m., after starting my day at 8 a.m. My average day ranges from interviewing subjects to write press releases for clients, pitching the releases and following up with the media. I also spend part of my day improving my marketing skills. I’ve never taken a marketing class, but public relations and marketing go hand-in-hand and some of my clients have more marketing than PR needs.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks? CH: Even though my firm has a 95 percent media-placement rating, I don’t enjoy pitching stories. I remember as a reporter getting those dreaded calls from folks in PR trying to get me to write about their story or non-story. Now, I’m on the other side of the fence, but the difference is that I know exactly what the media is looking for. But sometimes the client wants you to write a release about something that’s not newsworthy. It’s hard to pitch those releases.

Mopwater: How do you handle this conundrum? CH: When faced with pitching a story that’s not really a story, I always tell the client that the media will probably not be interested in picking up the release. But I  try to look for ways to spice up the release. One of my clients’ job was to promote new businesses in town, but the largest paper in NJ didn’t cover grand openings or ground-breakings. So I would look for something that made the story news – is this the first bookstore opening in town? Is it a gym operating in an art studio? [I would try to find] something to make it more than just a grand opening. I was never told not to write the release because the story wasn’t newsworthy [because] most of my clients have a news and events section on their websites, so they would just post the press release on their website.

Mopwater: Who are some of your  clients, and what kind of projects do you take on for these clients? CH: I have five clients and they are either non-profits or small businesses. They range from Main Street Highland Park to Middlesex County College to BKW Solutions Group. With each of these clients, I provide media and marketing consulting and PR work.

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud. CH: In December, I wrote all of the copy for Middlesex County College’s Annual Report. My last five years as a reporter were spent covering education, which I really enjoyed. This project allowed me to write about a topic that I’m passionate about. I have a good relationship with Middlesex County College and believe I will continue to work on their annual reports in the years to come.

Mopwater: What aspect of the industry are you most excited about? CH: Definitely, social networking! Between Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn, marketing opportunities are endless.

Mopwater: If you could work on any dream project of your choosing, what would it be? I love fashion and would love to attract some fashion designers or boutique owners for clients.

Mopwater: What if anything would you have done differently in your career up to this point and what advice would you give someone who is trying to break into your field? CH: A year in, I still don’t have a website. It’s a tool that is desperately needed. Advice for someone trying to break into PR: get a website sooner than later and network, network, network.

As you may recall, a few months ago, I featured PR job seeker Karyn Watkins on  Meet Me at the Top. As I mentioned, Karyn is a great writer and web savvy communications professional seeking employment in the healthcare or nonprofit sector. Since the interview, Karyn landed a great internship at the Chicago office of the global public relations agency Weber Shandwick. She graciously shared this account of what a typical intern’s day at WS is like. Read about her day!

For the past two months, I’ve had the opportunity to work as an intern in the Chicago office of a leading worldwide public relations firm. For some, the idea of being a 20-something intern is at the top of their “No Thanks” list, but I was all over the idea. For starters, I’ve spent months trying to steer my passion for communication, brands, and conversations into a public relations career but I knew that there were some fundamental skills that I needed to build. So, here I am…Karyn Brianne, Intern.

8:23a - Stumble off the bus and throw today’s RedEye in my bag.
8:28 - Grab a cinnamon raisin bagel from Corner Bakery.
8:30 - Walk into the “pit” and greet the four other interns. There are four intern pits in the office containing 5-6 people at a time. Great experience because there’s always somebody to talk to or ask a question.
8:35 – Grab coffee while PC loads up.
8:40 - Open Outlook and get ready to scroll through the 20+ Google alert emails related to my clients.
8:50 - Remember that I need to send my daily update to the my team members and the Intern Coordinators. This helps them monitor my daily workload and to chart my overall progress in the program.
8:54 - Start monitoring for my accounts and preparing the daily reports for my teams. I currently monitor for three accounts: a consumer health/wellness product, a high-end appliance company, and an education institution. Every account has a different set of monitoring terms and that keeps me coming across some great stories. I use a combination of Google News, Yahoo! News, Factiva, and Radian 6 (social media monitoring). This spread makes sure that we have a good idea of what conversations are happening around our brand/the industry.
11:10 - Send my last monitoring report. Each account has a different setup for reports. My consumer health brand is probably the most demanding of all of my reports. Each media hit requires a detailed summary, and because we’re in the health arena, that can mean summarizing clinical studies and more. Luckily, my pharma background served as good prep. What’s also pretty cool is that my summaries (plus or minus a few changes) are gathered in a report to send to the client each week. He sees my words. Pretty cool.
11:15 - Take a look at my emails and my to-do list to determine the next task. Although interns often receive requests to run errands to complete tasks, monitoring is our first morning priority, unless otherwise noted or OK’d by someone.
12:15 - Pry myself away from my creating a media list to run over to the hospital cafeteria and grab some lunch. I often dream about meeting a cute doctor over there. So far, no luck.
12:30 - Return to my desk and research the top radio stations in a market. Cision gave me a listing for every radio station in Charlotte, but every station won’t be an ideal way to reach our target audience.
1:30 - Add today’s media hits into a massive spreadsheet also known as “The Tracker.” This document captures every hit, impression numbers, the estimated value of the coverage, and how the hit measured up to a few key criteria. In addition to the updating the tracker, we also create “mock-ups” of each hit, so there’s record on file in case we (or a client) needs to refer to a specific mention.
2:00 - Weekly meeting with the team members for one of my accounts. They discuss upcoming or current programs, go through tasks and responsibilities, and present any questions. Sometimes, I come out of these meetings with specific things to do (in addition to my regular duties), sometimes not. It depends on the week.
2:30 - Return back to my desk for the afternoon haul.
2:35 - Start feeling sluggish. Get up to grab a chocolate milk from the fridge. I am not a huge milk drinker but having chocolate milk at my fingertips has done wonders for my calcium levels, I hope.
2:40 - Research mommy bloggers for outreach. Due to the nature of many of our brands, our firm has great relationships with mom bloggers. Don’t quote me, but they’re like gold.
3:50 - Decide that I will need Pandora to help me finish out the rest of this day. Favorite stations: Erykah Badu, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z.
4:15 - Receive an email asking if I can run an errand and grab 50 white, glossy folders for Staples. Our team needs these folders to stuff press kits for a media event. Errands are pretty common. Whether you’re asked to grab 18 boxes of cookies, or pick up stickers from a vendor, every task is important and there is a reason behind it. Plus, it gives us interns a chance to get some fresh air and hand the snooty cashier a corporate AMEX (even if it isn’t ours).
4:45 - Return to the office and see what emails I missed. My Account Exec needs something scanned, my Senior AE would like me to look through some magazines for a client mention, and a fellow intern wonders if anyone has the latest issue of Shape because she needs to pull a client story.
5:20 - Survey what I’ve accomplished for the day and begin making my to-do list for tomorrow. If it’s something that needs to get done during monitoring hours, I have to put a post-it on my screen before I head home. Or else, I am liable to forget until after 11a…Then it all comes back to me.
5:30 - Day’s done. Time to head home and get ready to do it again. NOTE: There are days when quitting time slides past 5:30 but you all get my drift!
So, there you have it! A day in the life…What did you think? Not bad, huh?

You can read the original post on Karyn’s blog, Passion Stew here.

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Tonya Seavers Evans
Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta
President, Style Strategist Inc.
Twitter @TonyaSE

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR: How did you wind up in this field? TSE: I grew up in the Midwest – in Illinois and Indiana – and moved to Florida when my father’s job was transferred during my junior year of high school. You know those kids who’ve known exactly what they wanted to be when they grew up from the age of five? Well that was not me. When I enrolled in college I was a business major and then an advertising major before discovering public relations. I landed a part-time job at an advertising agency as a receptionist and realized that I didn’t like ad copy writing at all. One day one of the account executives asked me to support her on a public relations project. After working on this project which happened to be a Porsche promotion I fell in love with public relations. I went back to school changed my major for the second time and earned my degree in journalism and mass communications with a concentration in public relations. It is really the best – and one of the most expensive – decisions that I have ever made. My first real job in public relations was exactly where I wanted to work, at an agency.

Mopwater: Describe a pivotal moment in your career. Did you have a mentor or internship
that really solidified your interest in this field or helped you hone in on a specific
focus area? TSE: There were two pivotal moments. The first was working in a small agency environment where I learned to work and write on very tight deadlines. In a small office you can’t afford to drop the ball because there is no one there to pick up the slack. The second was when I got in to work one day and learned that our CEO had been removed by the board of directors the night before. I was devastated but it taught me that there is no such thing as job security and that I had to take control of my own career by becoming as marketable as possible so that I am prepared for any change.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day?
Describe your office setting and workplace. TSE: At Style Strategist Inc. we have three primary areas of focus. First, we work with our clients to develop a style strategy where we consult with individuals and groups to help them develop a style that is consistent with their external message. Sometimes we encourage clients to make external lifestyle changes that better reflect their core message and sometimes we advise clients to make more subtle style changes to their wardrobe that help to reinforce their message. Our clients are primarily CEO level executives and entrepreneurs. Secondly, we provide writing services where we work with executives to manage their speech, writing and messaging. We help them identify causes they would like to support and then manage their messaging to ensure it is in line with their personal and company values. Our goal is to position our clients as leaders in a specific area or topic. And finally, we provide media relations specific to fashion pr.
So, like most public relations roles, a typical work day at Style Strategist really varies from day to day. For some projects I’m writing and staring at a computer screen all day and on other days I am meeting with my clients at a retail store and taking photos and videos, so we can evaluate the looks we’ve tried. I have to meet my clients in their environment so I understand their style needs. I use an executive suite for formal meeting space and host our style engagements over lunch or brunch at places like 59th & Lex Express in Bloomingdale’s on other days. The days are long but we have flexibility too which is most important to me.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks and why? Do you love to pitch? Dread writing releases? Adore blogging for your brands? TSE: Pitching is about contacting someone that I have a relationship with and sharing some information that I think they would find interesting, so I’ve always liked that part, but the thing I like most about PR is that I have to be extremely knowledgeable in various areas. I have to be able to talk about earnings today and beauty products tomorrow. Who doesn’t love being an expert?
Right now, I really dread writing traditional press releases because they are seldom necessary. I think that most PR professionals are using them less and less, but we need to do a better job of educating our clients about other, and many times more appropriate, PR and marketing tools like micro-blogging and SM releases.

Mopwater: Who are some of your (or your company/organization’s) clients, and what kind of projects do you take on for these clients? If you work in government or a corporate communications office, describe the work you do in your role. TSE: I work primarily with executives and individuals. Recent clients include executives from Tyco International, Play Pretty Beauty and Genuine Insights. I worked with the president of Genuine Insights to develop a style strategy. She has a great message on “discovering your genius” and needed a style to reinforce her message of individuality. We also represent a natural based line of skincare products called Play Pretty Beauty. We manage the company’s public relations and promotions.

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud. TSE: My client recently sent me a twitpic link with some photos from a keynote speech she delivered to a Fortune 100 Company. Her look was chic and confident yet approachable and friendly. She incorporated some natural elements using accessories and selected some travel pieces to pull her look together – all of the style nuances that we developed as part of her style strategy.  After that speech she was booked for a longer engagement with another top firm. It’s rewarding to see a strategy come to life that way and see a real business impact.

Mopwater: What is your favorite thing about this job and do you think you’ll be in this position in 5 years? TSE: Absolutely! I have designed a career that allows me to marry my two passions: writing and fashion. In five years, I plan to continue working with clients, but hope to expand our consulting engagements so that they are more global in scope, and I definitely want to expand into fashion PR.

Mopwater: What aspect of the industry are you most excited about? TSE: I am most excited about the changing media landscape. I think we’ve just scratched the surface in terms of what new media will be around tomorrow and I think it’s great that every day people have a voice and a significant influence in the marketing space. Taking your own photos and video footage, writing and editing the story, and then distributing it really gets us back to the core of journalism in many ways.

Mopwater: If you could work on any dream project of your choosing, what would it be?
TSE: My dream would be to work with a company on a business transformation project that would include working with each department to develop a style strategy that would be reflective of their roles and their individual styles. The project would include working with executives on their personal styles and designing work spaces or what we call creative spots that make each team member the most creative and effective. It would be awesome to work on a project that embraces style as part of a lifestyle change.

Mopwater: What if anything would you have done differently in your career up to this point
and what advice would you give someone who is trying to break into your field? TSE: The only thing that I would change is that I would have worked in an international public relations role outside of the U.S. Understanding the dynamics of a global marketplace is really critical and would have been a great experience.  The advice that I would give to a public relations newbie is to write a detailed description of your perfect job and shoot for that, and if there is not a role for you develop one. Create your own opportunities.

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Melissa Davis, 39
Berkeley, CA
Founder,  Ruby Press
Blog and Twitter @rubypress

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. MD: I knew that I wanted to be a fashion editor since I was 15 years old. I’m originally from Vienna, VA, a suburb of Washington DC.  I was lucky enough to have marketing and fashion merchandising classes at my high school  [Madison High School] because the schools in Fairfax County offered marketing and fashion merchandising classes, which were likely pivotal in me realizing a career in fashion was even possible. I went on to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and got a BA in Fashion Merchandising.
I started my career as a fashion editor in New York City. But my career really took off when Sassy magazine ran a feature on “The Eye,” a fashion “zine” that I had created in college.  From that, I developed a relationship with the Sassy editors and they hired me as a general editorial intern after I graduated from college.  I interned for two weeks at Sassy, which I was thrilled about since it has such a cult following and it was really the first magazine which brought the editors into the pages of the magazine.
After two weeks at Sassy one of their editors heard that Harper’s Bazaar was in need of fashion interns, and they recommended that I go over for an interview.  Harper’s Bazaar hired me, and I started work there the next day.  It was September 1992, and Liz Tilberis’ first issue had just hit the stands and it sent shock waves through the fashion industry and editorial community.  Hearst had snatched her from British Vogue to turn Harper’s Bazaar around, and she very quickly made it THE fashion magazine to watch.  Liz hired top talent: the very best editors were there and many of the top fashion photographers were on exclusive contract with the magazine.  It was such an exciting time to be at the magazine, I really couldn’t believe my good fortune.  After 4 months interning there they hired me (they actually created a job for me, since there wasn’t one available) and I worked as a fashion market assistant for three years.  I learned from the very best, and loved the team I worked with.  It was quite a thrill to live out my dream job.  (The first shoot I ever went on was a cover shoot with Patrick Demarchelier and Kate Moss!)
After three years of working with the American and Italian apparel markets, I was hired as a fashion market editor at Mademoiselle Magazine.  I was promoted to Senior Market editor within a couple of years and worked with the American apparel market.  For anyone not familiar with what that job entails, it was my job to attend the fashion shows, visit designer showrooms, and to determine what trends were important for the upcoming season and who is doing it best.
I spent 5 great years at Mademoiselle, but as my 30th birthday approached, I felt like I needed a new challenge and a new life.  As much as I loved being a fashion editor for those 8 years in NYC, the downside is that it’s the kind of job that envelopes your life and I wanted a little more balance.  In 2000 I was recruited as the fashion director for a new fashion dotcom in San Francisco – which I took.  I was very excited about the move to the West Coast and the opportunity to work in the field that I love ……. Unfortunately, two weeks after I made the cross-country move, the company dissolved and I was left jobless.
I soon found myself doing freelance editor jobs in San Francisco.  I started working as the fashion editor at a SF city magazine called 7×7, which had just launched and when Lucky launched, I became a contributing editor for them as well.  Through those two jobs, I started to meet a lot of designers and creative people who were starting their own businesses and I thought, “Wow, I’d love to tell everyone (my editor friends in New York) about what’s happening here in Northern California!”  At that moment, I started Ruby Press.  I had honestly never considered working in PR.  PR for PR’s sake isn’t particularly interesting to me, but spreading the word about brands I really believed in was and continues to be very exciting to me.

Mopwater: Describe a pivotal moment in your career. Did you have a mentor or internship that really solidified your interest in this field or helped you hone into your focus area? MD: The pivotal moment for me was when I was meeting with Erica Tanov here in Berkeley.  I was borrowing clothing for a cover shoot for 7×7 Magazine and she told me she didn’t have a publicist because none of the PR agents who had approached her had national connections. I thought, hmmmm…I have all of those connections!  The editors are my friends, and most importantly, after having been an editor for 8 years I knew exactly how to work with the media.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day? MD: Everyday is truly different, but in general: I start working within ten minutes of waking up.  I usually spend about an hour and a half working from home in the morning.  It’s nice to have quiet time when I can reply to emails from editors and clients on the east coast and plan out my day.  I get into the office around 10:00.  (The rest of my staff arrives at 9:00.)  When I’m in the office I am almost always at my computer, and I would estimate that about 95% of the daily communication with clients and editors is by email.  I oversee all of the strategy for all of our clients, manage a staff of four and am also involved in the pitching.  I’m very hands-on and quite frankly have to be – after all, we are a boutique agency.  Each day typically involves working on some pitches, working on new strategies and working with clients on projects.

I am typically out of the office on appointments at various times throughout the week and I actually really love when I get a full day in the office.  I usually go home between 6:00 and 8:00 pm, but I don’t think I ever really “turn it off”.  When you own your company, and you’re passionate about it, you can’t help but always be thinking about ways to do something better.

Mopwater: Describe your office setting and workplace. MD: Our office is in a beautiful historic building in downtown Berkeley, CA.  We occupy the whole top floor of the space and it’s light-filled and very open.  Of course, the office reflects the Ruby Press brand as well. It’s a place in which I love spending time.  I also love having an open office- I think it creates an environment of openness and community with an added benefit of allowing interns and staff members learn by osmosis.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks and why? MD: I love meeting with great potential clients, working with clients on their next season’s collection (I also offer design consulting), and strategizing.  We have a Ruby Press blog and while it does take up a decent amount of my personal time in the evening, it’s quite satisfying as well. You really understand how bloggers work when you are also one of them!

Mopwater: Who arre some of your clients and what kind of projects do you take on for them?  MD: Our clients all fall under a fashion/style/design umbrella, and currently include Cost Plus World Market, iomoi, Ladybug Art, Marie Veronique Organics, Plover Organic, Rikshaw Design, Rubie Green, SenSpa, Swoon, Vicente Agor, and viv&ingrid.  We do editorial product placement for most, marketing initiatives for some, and event production for some…

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud. MD: We’re nearing the end of our pitching for holiday gift guide inclusions and we are thrilled that our clients will have a very strong showing this season.  One client in particular will have 11 national print publications placements, ranging from Lucky to Real Simple to Town & Country, with a total of over 32,000,000 media impressions.  (We’re still working with short-lead media so that number will only grow.)  We’re excited for our clients to have a great holiday retail season.

Mopwater: What is your favorite thing about this job and do you think you’ll be in this position  in 5 years? MD: I love seeing how PR affects our clients’ businesses.  There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing their growth.  I also take great pride in our relationships with the media.  I think we truly prove that you don’t need to be in NYC to have quality relationships with the editors.  In five years I’d like to see our current clients’ continued growth and be working with some really exciting new brands as well.

Mopwater: What aspect of the industry are you most excited about? MD: I am excited about the fact that the industry is changing so much right now.  Just within the past two years we’ve seen online outlets and blogs become so much more influential.  I can only imagine what the next few years will bring.

Mopwater: If you could work on any dream project of your choosing, what would it be? MD: Honestly, we’ve had projects that were dream projects.  I feel very lucky to say that our first event was the after-party for the LA premiere of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.  Our client was Chanel and the party was at the Chateau Marmont down in LA.  We have about 500 guests- most of them fabulous celebrities- and we had the entire lobby and grounds transformed into a mini Versailles.  It was a magical night.

Mopwater: What if anything would you have done differently in your career up to this point and what advice would you give someone who is trying to break into your field? MD: Actually, I don’t think that there’s much that I would do differently- I think mistakes are valuable as you learn so much from them.  And I love that I came to this job from the editorial world- it gives me a perspective that’s different from most publicists and is very valuable to our clients.