Unconventional paths make for great PR pros
Despite a learning curve, these comms outsiders offer unique insights and expertise.
The journey to a career in public relations typically follows a well-trodden path: a communications or journalism degree, an internship at a PR agency and a steady climb up the corporate ladder. But for Katie Morris and others, the road to PR has been anything but conventional.
Morris, a senior account executive and scientific liaison for ENTENTE Network of Companies, earned a PhD in clinical translational science from the University of Notre Dame. She left an academic career focused on drug development for pancreatic cancer and a rare childhood disease to begin a role in communications.
“Many people don’t realize there are other careers you can pursue with a PhD beyond sitting at the bench with a lab coat and pipette,” she said.
Across the PR profession, there are numerous individuals like Morris who’ve transitioned into agency life without what most would consider a traditional comms background – artists, CPAs, lawyers, data experts and more.
Though they lack a traditional agency pedigree, their unique perspectives and ability have been valuable to the agencies and companies they work for, according to Leela Stake, senior partner at FleishmanHillard. She noted that over the years, FleishmanHillard has had a number of “wonderful success stories” of workers who have transitioned from sales teams, nonprofit leadership, government careers and other industries.
“We are fortunate to have their talents to bring fresh perspectives and specialist expertise to our work — like how to craft pitches that reporters want to read and how to cultivate relationships that drive business growth,” she said.
When searching for new hires, Stake said her firm often looks for those with outside experiences. Not only do those individuals help improve workplace culture, she said, but they also bring important technical know-how in-house.
“Many of our clients want to engage with community organizations and policymakers authentically and effectively and having people who have been in those positions is valuable,” she added.
That’s exactly what Morris does at ENTENTE. Many of her clients have PhDs in the sciences. As a scientific liaison, it’s her job to break down technical jargon into “absorbable and digestible” content for consumption by the layperson, whether that’s members of her team or their clients’ customers.
“You really have to understand the science before you can try to explain the science,” Morris said.
Bringing new viewpoints to agency life
Jeremy Tunis’ LinkedIn reads like a patchwork of experiences, including running political campaigns and becoming an attorney. He believes that those disparate roles prepared him for a PR career.
A position as a hybrid attorney-lobbyist for a trade association in Washington, D.C., led to him being recruited to Burson-Marsteller in 2010. Tunis initially worked in the executive office on business development and client relations before moving to account work.
“A lot of these skills, when we think about communications, advocacy, reputation management, the legal background and working on campaigns — I think the skill set was probably there, and it is there for a lot of people,” Tunis, who works as a fractional public affairs advisor and counsel, said.
Tunis has worked with Morris as part of his fractional work for ENTENTE.
Despite his lack of formal communications experience, the agency viewed his skills in advocacy, writing and persuasive messaging as valuable PR assets, Tunis said. His experience in high-pressure, fast-paced environments, such as political campaigns, taught him the value of resilience, adaptability and the ability to think on your feet.
Aligning skills, passions with the job
Dave Manzer, founder of Swyft , a PR firm focused on B2B tech companies, pivoted to public relations after a successful career in accounting. A CPA, he had worked for companies like Schlumberger and Dell, but the feeling of being a “square peg in the round hole” never went away so he decided to pursue a career more in line with his passions.
Manzer, who holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama, began his media relations career by offering free press releases to “anyone who would take them” before transitioning to a business model based on placements.
“We’re not playing by the rules of the game you’ve learned in the agency world,” Manzer said of PR outsiders who make their way to the field.
Manzer said his business acumen mixed with his knack for creative storytelling made him a good fit for public relations. Numbers can sometimes lie or be difficult to present, he said, so his background in business and writing helps him to articulate them in a compelling way.
“Having this background – the financial discipline, understanding trends and what’s going on behind the numbers – played into my innate ability to communicate,” he said.
Making the transition
Of course, transitioning into PR midcareer can present challenges. One of Morris’ biggest hurdles was adjusting to the style and pace of the work. After spending years on a 300-page thesis in graduate school, she now often has to craft replies within minutes.
Morris also admitted to enduring some bumps in terms of working with new PR and marketing processes and simply “navigating corporate America.”
There can be a steep learning curve when it comes to adjusting to servicing multiple clients, billing their time, and managing the financial and operational aspects of agency life, Stake said. To that end, she believes there’s a benefit to creating programs to help new hires adjust to the nuances of agency life.
“Making career transitions successful for the new team member and the agency alike requires intention and openness for all involved,” she added.
Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.
Excellent article confirming a viewpoint that I followed for many years — I’d rather hire a PdD in Brazilian poetry faster than someone with a PR background. And I did, and was opposed each and every time, but each one was a star at the agency and afterwards.
One example. We were pitching an international bank and I suggested — to great laughter — assigning a new hire (a PhD in French literature) to interview a senior banking reporter at the NY Times. The “pros” said it will never happen but she returned after a three hour meeting including a tour and introduction to all the business writers. Why? Because she didn’t know it couldn’t be done. (The pros, meanwhile, lost the pitch.)
Now that agency with an A-list brand and not much else is top heavy with mediocre “traditional” leadership while the stars I hired are running companies, writing books, making movies and doing things that would have never qualified them as a traditional hire.
(Incidentally, none of them mention the agency on their Linked In profile if they even bother to have one.)