In October, I was honored by PRSA Bluegrass with the Pinnacle Award. This new award “honors public relations and communications professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their careers and show great promise in shaping the industry’s future.” The organization’s board said, “Pinnacle PR Award winners have demonstrated a commitment to communications and continually push the boundaries of excellence.”
Being in the first class of Rising Stars in 2015 to being the first recipient of the Pinnacle Award is truly special to me. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on where I was 9 years ago — reviving the communications program at Oldham County Schools — and all the way back to the beginning of my career 23 years ago, working at my first newspaper job where we were still doing paste-up and shooting film. At the awards ceremony, I thanked some of my amazing mentors, and I want to share them here, too.
Tracy Kitten, who gave me that first newspaper opportunity at The Spencer Magnet, and Richard Des Ruisseaux, my editor at SNITCH — they both took a gamble on hiring a high schooler who wanted to be a journalist. William Thompson and Katherine Taylor, two of my professors at the University of Louisville — and the whole communications department for helping me make the most of my time there. Leslie Smart, who I worked with at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in my first PR job, and who I got to reconnect with this year on the Tempo by Hilton NuLu grand opening.
I have to say thanks, too, to my husband, Chris. He’s seen my career evolve — I’m not sure which statistic startled me more, the fact I’ve been in comms for 23 years or the fact Chris and I have been together for two-thirds of it.
And of course, an immense thank you to the entire Estes Public Relations team — I couldn’t do it without them, and it’s a joy to work with such an amazing group of colleagues. A special thank you to Jamie Estes, a constant and consistent champion for me and everyone at EPR — she’s taught me so much about food, beverage, hospitality, travel, tourism … but despite already having so much knowledge, she’s always constantly learning herself.
In my remarks, I also wanted to share some of the knowledge I’ve gained from two decades in communications and from the amazing mentors I mentioned in my thank yous. I distilled it down to three principles that guide my PR practice day to day.
Be Patient
PR is a long game. I’ve had stories that took 15 months to appear in print, or the four years we worked to have national media attend the KYBF. It’s cliche, but I think of the saying “Shoot for the moon; even if you fail, you’ll land amongst the stars” — except it’s not an either/or, you can be working on that stellar moon landing level story while still grabbing stars along the way.
Be Proactive
Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. Read, research, watch for trends, make your own predictions, take classes, learn new things, look for connections in unexpected places. Say yes to coffee even if you’re not sure where it might lead. I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t asked someone to lunch because I thought her job sounded cool when she posted about it on Twitter.
Be Personal
Relationships matter. We all know this — but when I think about the future of public relations and the influence of AI, I know it is our relationships that a robot can’t replace. Journalists turn to the people they can trust and rely on when they need a source. And, nothing matters more than those relationships and how you treat the people around you. We should all treat our media contacts, our clients, our colleagues — honestly, pretty much everyone — with grace and kindness. And I hope more than any achievements, any big media hits, any successful events — that the reason I received this award is at least in part because of the way I treat the people around me.
It was truly an honor to be recognized by my peers with this award and to have the opportunity to say thank you publicly to some amazing people and share some insights.
