The public relations professional career sphere has been taking the world by storm in recent years. Public relations has been the key to many professionals’ success in the media and print world. With the advancements of technology and the beast that is social media, online presence and image is more important than ever.
Account supervisor and public relations specialist, Julia Coats, recently shared her experience living her dream in the public relations field in today’s world. She currently works at Prim + Co, an award winning public relations firm and marketing agency that represents many hospitality and lifestyle brands. Prim stands for “public relations and integrated marketing.”
The agency itself, according to Coats, has grown exponentially in the year and a half she has been working there. The company has expanded to representing consumer product goods, fashion, and real estate brands.
Coats remarked, “We are certainly not sectored into one type of industry. Which is great. And that’s also great for someone that’s, you know, looking to explore public relations and kind of get their hands dirty in different fields.”
According to Indeed.com, the role of a public relations specialist is to maintain and or create a positive public voice, identity, and image of an organization or individual. One of Coats’ proudest accomplishments while working at Prim + Co has been the opportunity to work with XDenver, a co-living apartment space inside a members-only club.
Working in public relations isn’t your normal 9-5 p.m. desk job. There are many facets to what a public relations professional does that isn’t shown in movies or television. CareerGlider writes that it can often be a demanding job to maintain your company’s public image round-the-clock.
CareerProfiles mentions that, normally, public relations specialists will work 30-40 hour weeks, but their schedules can be very erratic. Coats shared what her average day-to-day work looks like. She reflected that she loves that everyday at her job looks different.
“The fun weeks are the weeks where I’m, ‘boots on the ground.’ I’m helping run events, staffing photoshoots, staffing broadcast shoots, facilitating interviews and media training,” said Coats.
There is a vast range of skills that are required to be involved in a public relations career. The U.S. Burearu of Labor Statistics write that the entry level education needed to work in this field is a Bachelor’s degree. According to the Bureau the average pay of a public relations specialist is estimated to be a little over $62,000 per year. This number may vary depending on who you’re working with and what type of clientele they bring in.
Coats advisesd that some soft skills a prospective public relations specialist should have include: adequate writing and verbal skills.
“Being a publicist involves a lot of human interaction and communication between clients,” said Coats.
Coats emphasized that being in the public relations field is all about knowing how to tell a story. Telling good stories can help inspire creative ways to market your client to the public. Networking and building relationships is the foundation and core of public relations. With social media taking the world by storm, knowing how to be a social media influencer also plays a huge role in your success in this career.
Coats has accomplished many things in her time at Prim + Co. She is passionate about PR and has been since she was 14 years old. Her mom, who was a global director for a global streetwear brand, had taken her on a trip to New York to show her around the fashion industry. This was how publicity was introduced to Coats and from there she just fell more in love with the career.
With a career and job that’s founded in bright, new ideas and human interaction, there are difficult parts to the field.
Coats recounted, “One of the more difficult parts of my job is the pressure of needing to secure press on a very frequent basis. Your clients are paying you a lot of money to get, you know, hits in magazines, on TV, and things like that.”
While this job allows you to be creative and on your feet often, it can be hard to pitch great ideas all of the team. Coats is apart of a team that she can depend on to help take a pitch in a different direction. This career isn’t idle, it’s interactive and open. Being able to come up with compelling stories for your clients, being consistent with news sources, and understanding a media space is what’s going bring success for you and your clients.
Public relations is a very competitive field, especially in a world where there are more and more journalism outlets and freelance writers.
Coats said, “It’s much more difficult than it used to be to get stories written about you. It’s become really competitive to fight for story space. It’s kind of just the challenge of being a publicist is that you really have to be persistent with journalists and building relationships with them.”
If you are someone interested in pursuing a career in public relations, Coats provides some great insight on how to explore this multifaceted realm. The name of the game is connections and relationships with people, companies, and clients. The public relations field thrives on one’s ability to network.
While Coats has been with this company for only a little over a year and a half, she’s accomplished so much and has flourished under the difficult trials that publicism brings. She loves the storytelling, the spontaneity of her day to day schedule, and being able to build those relationships with people.
“It’s about who you know versus what you know,” advised Coats.
MFJS Reporter Spring 2022 