Learn actionable PR strategies to boost your business’s visibility with Mallory Blair

Akua: Now, if you are a business owner that is looking for more ways to put yourself out there and gain more visibility in your business, then this episode is for you. Mallory Blair, who is the CEO and co founder of small girls PR joins us on the show for a very fun conversation on how business owners can find and pitch for various PR opportunities to help bring more exposure to your business.

Mallory shares with us the unique way she started in PR tangible strategies to find and pitch ourselves to various media outlets and shows us how having grit and resilience in your business can pay off in the most amazing ways. Now let’s get into the episode. Hey everyone, this is your host Akua Konadu and you’re listening to the independent business podcast.

More people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs, and creators to break down the signs of self made success so that you can achieve it too. How are

we doing? Good. How are you? Good. So excited to have you here because I feel like you were like the queen of PR, but I saw your Instagram bio where you were like Forbes 30 under 30. And then you’re like last place of like PR. 

Mallory: What is your bio? You just gotta, you gotta bring yourself down to earth.

Sometimes have a little bit of humility, like I’ve been on all these, you know, lists and I’m really grateful for that. But I think the funniest one is when, you know, all these lists, these best of, some of them have rankings where it’s like number one through 50. Um, and one time Business Insider ranked the top PR pros in the world, and I was literally last place on the top 50.

And I just thought, you know what, that in and of itself, if you’re not going to be number one, you might as well get last place. 

Akua: I know. I cackled so hard when I saw that and I loved it. So I was like, let’s bring in the last place PR person on the show to talk about PR. So welcome. 

Mallory: Listen, like our, our team tends to fare better in all of these lists than I do.

Like yesterday, actually we were named one of the best places to work for 2024. We came in the top 20 for that by. Uh, vote of 3000 members of the PR industry. And of course, that’s a testament to the team. That’s really less about me. That’s more about the collective. And so that’s where we tend to show up better and the work that I’m more proud of.

Akua: Well, it’s definitely what you have built. So I’m just really, really excited to just learn more about you and just learn more about the culture that you have created at small girl PR. And so while I was doing some, some digging, I found out that you had your very first. Like PR campaign when you were 10 years old.

Please tell me about that. Cause I just loved seeing this photo of you, like a 10 year old in front of a magazine, on a magazine. So break that down, share with us that story. 

Mallory: Yeah. So I started young. You could say I grew up in the city in Manhattan and my grandparents were living in Brooklyn at the time.

And it was the first night of Hanukkah. So went over with my family to go celebrate. was driving back, and as you drive back from Brooklyn into Manhattan, you get this beautiful view of the New York City skyline, and front and center was the Empire State Building, and that particular year, it was lit red and green, even though Christmas that particular year fell about three or four weeks after Hanukkah.

And so I asked my family, from the back seat, Hey, why is the Empire State Building already red and green for Christmas? Why isn’t it blue and white for the first night of Hanukkah? And, you know, my dad thought that was a funny question. He didn’t know. And he was like, I don’t know. Why don’t you ask the building?

And so when we got back home to our apartment, I busted out my fluffy pink Hello Kitty pen and wrote on my Hello Kitty stationery and said, Dear Empire State Building, I’m writing to find out if you can change your lights to be blue and white for Hanukkah. Um, it’s a holiday that my family and I celebrate.

Unfortunately, we don’t celebrate Christmas, but I noticed that you have it lit for Christmas already three weeks in You know, with love, Mallory. And about six months later, Got a letter back being like, Hey, great to hear from you. Thanks for inquiring. Every religion has one holiday that we light up the building for, and you’ve got Israeli independence day, so you can celebrate that.

And, you know, at this point, the letter that I first wrote, I was seven by this return letter, I’m eight. And I turned to my family and I’m like, Oh, am I Israeli? And they’re like, no, you’re actually not. And I was like, but I’m Jewish. And they were like, yes, you are. These are two different things. And I was like, maybe the Empire State Building doesn’t realize that.

So I wrote back a second letter. And said, Hey, I asked my parents. That one’s not as relevant for me. And I am making the ask again. And then, you know, another half a year goes by. And I get a letter back. And this time it’s from someone called a publicist. And it’s the publicist of the owner of the Empire State Building.

And he says, Hey, The owner got handed your letter and she was really touched and she thinks you’re right and that we should be honoring Hanukkah Especially when it’s falling, you know far apart from Christmas, but even when it does we can Split the building to be half red and green, half blue and white if it’s on the first night.

And we’d love to invite you to come and flip the switch and talk to media about what you’ve done. And so that was really my first experience both writing a pitch to a stakeholder, conducting a follow up with a stakeholder that initially passed on the opportunity that I was putting in their hand. And then three, my first media blitz where there was It was an embargo lift, if you will, when the news went live for Hanukkah that year.

I was doing a press junket, Howard Stern talked about it, I was on the Rosie O’Donnell show, I was in the New York Times, the LA Times, and I thought, you know what, there’s something to this, and then of course, lo and behold, you know, 20 years later, I ended up starting a PR agency my senior year of college.

Akua: That is the best story I have ever heard. And I just love your persistence within that. And also too, that you were just, um, not only persistent, but also too, providing people education on things that they may not necessarily even know about. And I think you just already had that spirit of entrepreneurship.

You’re like, I didn’t get a yes, but I’m like, you’re going to, you, you kept going that grit, like you’re going to figure it out. Right. And I love that. Love that so much to where like you just went on your first PR tour at 10 And i’m sure at that time you never realized like holy smokes. I’m gonna be running like a dope PR firm So thank you so much for sharing that story.

I absolutely love that And so what does it take then to really run? A PR firm truly like I definitely have creeped like I said on your social media. You guys have a good old time It looks so much fun But also too like how are you able to really find a lot of the right opportunities for the vast amount of clients that you guys have 

Mallory: Yeah, I think actually the story that I just shared with you I brought all the lessons I learned from that seven to ten year old time period of my life Into not just running PR campaigns but starting a company and being an entrepreneur because one of the lessons I learned was Large impact can happen at any level, even for my case in the first grade or in my case later in life and starting my company, I had very little experience in actual PR.

I never interned in a PR agency. I never took PR specific courses. I didn’t have connections in the PR world. And yet I had sort of the confidence, the hustle, the drive, and most importantly, the idea that I’m going to try and do something a little bit differently. I believe it fits in the PR realm from what I understand about PR.

And I think I can make a large impact even if I have minimal experience. So that’s a lesson I learned from my empire state building story that then applied to how I ran and started small girls. The second lesson was just because something’s never been done before. It doesn’t mean it can’t be my inspiration and starting my PR agency to paint a picture was.

This was a time where Facebook had recently opened up beyond. edu emails so that anyone can sign up for Facebook, not just college students. It was also a time where on Twitter there were only a couple of celebrities, now known as X. Obviously this was a different time. But on Twitter there was Shaquille O’Neal, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears.

I think were the first two. three early adopters. So kudos to them. And it was a time where PR was still done basically using a phone book, doing call downs, issuing press releases, putting things on the wire. And I thought, I think there’s an opportunity to connect brands creatively and quickly with the rising voices on these emerging platforms, like a Facebook, like a Tumblr, like a Foursquare, like a Twitter, now X.

And that didn’t have a name yet. The name influencer marketing didn’t exist yet. We called it downtown cool kid tastemaker marketing when we first started. And I think that’s another example of just because something hasn’t been done before, just because PR hadn’t been practiced that way, just because the Empire State Building hadn’t been lit blue and white for Hanukkah before, doesn’t mean it can’t be.

You always have to, you know, Make the ask, have the conviction and give it a go. And then the third lesson is just because someone says, no, doesn’t mean it can’t be done another way, or it’s not worth a follow up. And so obviously that was the case with the Empire State Building story, but also with starting a peer agency.

We heard hundreds of no’s before we heard our first yes for a particular stunt idea or campaign or even just pitching new business. Like it takes a lot of no’s to get to the yes and each no gets you closer to the yes. So I would say having determination, drive, resilience, those are all things that were, that coursed through from the story when I was a kid versus when I was 21 starting an agency.

Akua: Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that so much because again, I love the fact that you didn’t have the credentials, right? But you were like, no, I know I have this gift and, um, I have the grit. I have the natural talent to make it work and to figure it out. And I think that’s just what I, again, that’s the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Like even me personally, myself, like I have a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry wanting to go to med school. I now, and the host of a podcast Right. 

Mallory: Art history major for all intents and purposes. And now. 

Akua: Exactly. Exactly. And it’s, it’s, it’s just wild where life, you just have no idea where life will lead you to.

But when you go back and reflect to your point of just that story of like everything that happens in your life is preparing you for the next season. And so everything that you have walked through has prepared you for the next season. For right now, which is just, it’s just really fun just to see how you have evolved, how you’ve been able to build such an amazing team and really, truly just make an impact.

And I love what you shared too. Like, it doesn’t matter what level of business that you were at. Like you can make an impact with what you have. And I, and it’s such an important thing, such a really. Key thing to remember is entrepreneurship is whatever you have in that current season. It’s more than enough to make it work, to do whatever it is that you want to do.

So it just, we have to be innovative, creative, step outside the box. And so, and you’ve done all of that. So thank you so much for, for sharing that. And so I love what you also to how you just talked about. What PR was back in the day, you know, with, uh, you know, Facebook and there was no such thing as influencer marketing and all that stuff.

And I feel like especially the last few years, I say this all the time that there’s just been such a huge shift in entrepreneurship, right? Social media. There’s just been, there’s been so many shifts and transitions that we have been experiencing. So what about like PR? What are your thoughts of how you’re viewing PR these days?

How has your strategies evolved now? 

Mallory: Yeah, there was actually a report that recently came out from Muckrack, which is sort of a PR industry insights and database provider, that as of 2021, there are more than six PR professionals for every one journalist. So we know that it’s no longer enough to have just a new product or a new feature to get your brand and your story in the news.

Things have to connect to culture. So there has to be some kind of emotional resonance or a connection to the cultural zeitgeist, not just functionality, not just you can do it cheaper or faster. What is that emotional cultural connection? Um, a trend that your client can prove or disprove that’s emerging, that feels like a bigger story that impacts consumers writ large and isn’t just self serving for.

Their product alone or if or if you’re b2b, maybe it’s not consumers. Maybe it’s Impacts business owners writ large. And then the way that social media has played into that shift as well is obviously with diminishing, perhaps like journalists or reporters that are doing magazines or. com. There’s also been an increase in social media managers that are running editorial for Marie Claire’s Tik TOK or CNN’s Instagram or vice versa.

And so we also come up with, for every single story we plan to tell, What is our social editorial play? How do we repackage and repurpose and sweat the assets we have for the stories we’re hoping to tell in an earned capacity to then be able to live? through a social editorial or social media manager perspective.

And then that also applies to what are the sub stacks that editors are reading that’s feeding into their more mainstream or more household name publications. What are those niche newsletters or the podcast? Like the one we’re here on today is this listened to by an editor or a marketer who then maybe picks up a trickle of something and.

repost it or waxes and wanes on it in their own coverage as well. So those are all things we’re thinking about with the dual evolutions of how newsrooms are changing and then also how newsrooms are becoming social as well. And then the third thing I think that’s been a really big shift that we’ve been really proud to be at the forefront of and guiding our clients on is affiliates.

So thinking about share a sale or skim links and ensuring our clients are appropriately set up for affiliate and that we are connecting with the right outlets that care about linking. And by the way, when I say affiliate, I mean having a trackable Link that can be embedded in editorial coverage And so there’s some kind of a rev split or a kickback When the outlet is covering that particular product or software or service And there ends up being conversion downloads click throughs from that particular piece of coverage with that link And so we’re providing counsel and that might mean um Oh, you were talking about holiday earlier before we actually turned on and started recording for holiday.

We might advise you and your company to do a pulse up on their affiliate offering so that there’s a timely reason for editors to be convinced like, Oh, I should cover this now because they’re pulsing up the affiliate performance for this two week period at the end of November in time for people to read the coverage.

Click it, get the kickback for the outlet, that rev split, and then be able to, um, have that coverage go live in time for holiday for customers to purchase. 

Akua: Hmm. I love that. So many really great, tangible things. And I didn’t even realize that with, of course, even what you said earlier with like newsrooms and how they’ve now, like social editorials are even being created.

And so like, I had never even heard of that term until just, just now, but I’m assuming that is right. You’re taking an article and you’re really just repurposing it in a different format or way for. Social media, is that correct? Okay. I just want to make sure I understood. Yeah. But I think that’s such a strategic way too.

I think that’s so smart. And so I think even for business owners, just even thinking about that too, like we talk about the power of repurposing. So it’s like, but how can you repurpose some of your additional content, but really repurpose it and repackage it in a way that’s going to be really impactful for your audience.

Right. And so I think those are such really, really great tips that even we as business owners can really take with us that we’re not thinking about, but also to. Um, even just to how you were able to just so easily of like, thinking of like, Oh, what to do with the holidays and really just strategizing. I think for visibility, I think visibility is something that we miss a lot as business owners.

And I think that’s something that many of us struggle with. Um, especially as we’re just starting out or, you know, we’re like, Hey, we don’t have like somebody in PR in our, in our back pocket. And so what do you, what do you see the common thing of independent business owners that they’re missing in terms of visibility in PR?

Mallory: Yeah, so one thing that we see a lot is what I’ll call a botched launch And that could be the launch of Your company in general that you’re unveiling yourself to the world, or it could be the launch of a new product or service that you’re rolling out that is net new to the customers you already have.

And when I say botched launch, what I mean is you are only going to have that moment moment once where it’s new and has not been heard of before. And journalists really care about. Is it new? Is it fresh? That’s one piece of evaluating newsworthiness. Another piece, of course, is does this connect to cultural conversation or emotional resonance with an audience, which I mentioned earlier, but that piece of, okay, is it new?

Is it fresh? Is it something that maybe our readers or our listeners can relate to? Or our viewers have not heard about before. And so what you want to do is you want to get out early. I would say start planning 60 days in advance if you can, and thinking about how do you want to package up that new thing you’ll be offering?

How does it suit you? So if you trends in culture in your industry, you can find publicly available statistics online. Even something we do when we can’t find a statistic to prove a trend is we’ll go on Google and look at Google Trends which is free, publicly available to anyone. We’ll type in some search terms, see if we can take some screenshots and prove, hey, customers are searching for this now more than they ever have in the past five years.

There you go. That’s your publicly available data or your connection to culture. Um, in the absence of being able to find a publicly available report otherwise, and you’ll package that up. Explain how it’s relevant for this time and place. Explain what the use case is for their audience and do it in a really pithy, you know, four sentences, minimal links, minimal attachments and start sending that out likely under embargo well before your launch.

And what an embargo is, is it’s almost like a gentleman’s or gentle woman’s or gentle person’s agreement that you are saying, Hey, um, editor or journalist. Jane Doe, can you agree to hold this news under embargo until my product is ready to launch? I’d like to share some big information with you, whether it’s a fundraise announcement, whether it’s a brand new brand launching from scratch, they’ll usually say yes, and then you write back and you tell them the pertinent details of what that information is.

And you want to do that at least 30 days before the launch, because you want the Reporter or stakeholder at hand, social media manager, whatever it might be To be able to both consider and review what you’ve sent them As well as schedule an interview hold the interview and then author it edit and publish their piece That takes time on their end.

So I would say my number one recommendation is to Take the net new news you have And make a mountain out of it. Don’t let it just kind of You Live and die without any coverage. And then three months later, hope to get what we call evergreen coverage because it’s no longer new by that point, even if it’s new to the journalists, they’ll ask how long has this been live?

So I think that’s one piece that I often see for individuals struggling with visibility for a new product, a new piece of software, a new company. And we always say, man, we wish we could have been there before you launched it. That’s sad. You can always get coverage for something that’s already launched.

You just need to figure out what’s a way to make this sexy, feel new, feel culturally relevant. And that’s something that we do all the time on behalf of our clients as well. 

Akua: I love that. I think there’s such really, really great things because I think certain things of like, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Like what is there a product or service that you really love and speak that, you know, is impactful. And I know a lot of us in the industry, we rely on our community, right? Like we will. Um, I think it’s really important for us to be able to, you know, leverage other people’s audiences, like other 

Mallory: people to.

Akua: Help spread that word for us, which is a great, also a great form of PR. But I also think too, I think a question I want to add to that is. For people that are like, Hey, like, how do you find these journalists? Or like, how do you find some of these outlets where you’re like, I have this brand that I would love to work with.

Like, right. That has been on my dream, how. How do we find these people that we feel like could be right for our brand that we know what we’re offering could be impactful and any strategies or tips that you have for independent business owners just to really put themselves out there? 

Mallory: The truth is at Small Girls PR we use a tool that we love called Muck Rack.

And MuckRack is a database that you can sign up for, that you can search by keyword and see what journalists have been posting about on their own personal social media. You can see archives of the past coverage that they’ve written about and what their beat, or their typical, topics they cover have been in the past, on average, and you can find their most relevant and up to date contact information.

So that’s something that we use now as an agency. However, when my co founder and I started this company, we started the company with a hundred dollars and eating a lot of ramen and fish sticks and crying a lot because we were worried about money. And we could not afford these kinds of tools like muck rack or scission or any of the other players that are common to the industry.

And so what we did is we did two things. We would go to newsstands, we would buy up magazines, and we would look and write down in our own google sheet, who is everyone on the masthead when you open the magazine. It’ll list all the individuals that work there and what their job title is. And then we would go on google and we would find what is their contact information.

So we did that back in the day. Another thing that you can do is You can go online to virtually any outlet and you can find, often the contact information will be listed when you click on the name of the reporter or the editor that published the piece, you can then see their bio on the website and usually it’ll have their contact information.

Sometimes you can go one step further if it doesn’t immediately list it. You can find what is the typical style of that publication. So it might be first letter, last name, BuzzFeed or whatever the outlet might be. Um, and of course you can always go to their social media platforms on Instagram or on X.

And find what they’ve listed as their bio or we’ve slid into dms and we’ve asked for contact information as well Where they best like to be pitched and when they best like to be pitched Some people want to receive pitches at 8 in the morning Some people say it’s best to pitch me at 3 p. m after i’ve filed So that’s all information that we try to keep tabs of as well that I don’t necessarily expect an individual to do that level of um labor, but I think listen hunting and pecking for contact info You Can work in the absence of a tool like scission or muck rack.

Akua: Yeah, no, I think this is still very helpful though as a way just for Independent business owners just to even get started like it like I said If there’s a brand that people really that you really like to connect with and you know Or if there is a specific reporter or if you want to get on a podcast episode, whatever like there’s no shame Shame number one in sliding in people’s dms.

I have done that to obviously get podcast guests myself. I have done that Um, you know what I mean? And I And I think it just goes to the fact of researching. I think that’s just so, so important of really just being strategic of, okay, I have this product or service. I would really like to get this visibility.

What would visibility look like for me? Right. Do I want to do a whole bunch of podcast interviews? Do I want to speak on some stages? Do I want to be like for a reporter, right? Like where I’m interviewed, like, I think also too, just getting clear and like what we want the plant, how, what does visibility look like to us as business owners?

And creating that plan towards that. So I think everything that you shared, I think is really, really valuable. Another question I would love to know your thoughts on is, I’m sure you’ve heard of Help a Reporter Out. So that is something that has like floated around as an independent business owner. I have definitely submitted pieces into Help a Reporter Out.

What are your thoughts on that? Is that a great place? Okay, cool. I’ve done that. Okay, yeah. 

Mallory: Yeah, no, in fact, we all subscribe to it as well. And we’ve tapped into it too. And actually, um, listen, it’s probably like one out of every 15 to 20 that you submit for will actually result in inclusion and coverage.

I think those folks get pretty inundated pretty quickly. But for those listening that aren’t familiar with help a reporter out, or as we lovingly call it, Harrow, H A R R O. It is a tool where journalists, editors, TV producers can go on and say, Hey, I’m looking for a subject matter expert in this, or I’m writing an article on that, and I need Samples of people to talk to or products delivered to the newsroom, um, for trial, et cetera, whatever it might be.

And then if you’re a fit for that, you can submit yourself and you can respond to that particular HARO. Or you can respond in our case on behalf of the companies that we represent. So not everything is going to be a perfect bullseye, but we’ve certainly had experiences as well, or maybe you reach out and they’re like, Hey, you’re not a perfect fit for this story, but I’d actually love to stay in touch for future things that I’m working on in the same thing.

Akua: Oh, I love that too. Yes. I think that’s a really good reminder that well, cause you said that earlier, like you get a lot of nos, but either way, you’re still building connections with some of these people, even if you don’t get a yes right away, like you never know where that relationship can absolutely lead to.

So I think it’s a really just good point just for people to keep trying. Like, and yeah, help a reporter out. I just, I sometimes sift through there and I’m like, Oh, okay. Maybe this might be of interest where, and I always look at it too, where I’m like, Am I passionate to talk about this? Because if I’m, if it doesn’t give me any joy, I’m like, no, I’m good.

And I just keep scrolling. Yes. So, so I think, but yeah, no, okay, good. So I was, I always wondered that of like, well, let’s help a reporter out like a legit, um, I’ve submitted things, but I don’t know. We’ll see. So, yeah, but I think that’s a really great starting point for, for business owners. And so, um, I first also to like, love that you guys also still like use that even as you have, your business has evolved and all that stuff.

Like, you’re like, Hey, we still sometimes go back to the basics and just, you know, like some of these things that just have continuously worked for you, like why, why stop that now? So love that. Some quick tips for if you are writing a pitch yourself 

Mallory: about your brand. Oh 

Akua: yes. Yeah, please. Yeah. Yeah. So if there are any tips for pitching, cause I think that’s like such a hard thing for independent business owners, please.

Yes. Share with us some really great tips. 

Mallory: I think the number one tip is. To approach a reporter as you would any other person and respectfully Um, but what I mean by that is don’t make it overtly formal Don’t send, you know, a white paper, an essay at first blush. Use their first name. Not to whom it may concern or dear Mr.

or Mrs. E. Like really humanize and make the interaction more personable. And then you want to indicate in the very first sentence why you thought that they specifically Might be interested in the story that you’re sharing. So saying like, hey, I saw that you had covered X And was thinking connects to Y.

I thought you had been You know, renumerating on the future of AI, we have a company who is, um, a law firm coming up with what they think will be the future guiding principles for the AI revolution, whatever it might be. So saying like, you might’ve talked about this one thing, here’s an adjacent topic that we see as related.

And then I would keep your entire note. So your introduction, why, um, you think that they might be the best fit for this particular piece of news you’re about to share, the news you’re about to share, and where you can be reached for follow up, it should be four sentences max. Like, this should not be an essay at the first blush because You have about 30 seconds to capture and keep attention, especially going back to that metric.

There’s about six reporters for every one person pitching. And then if you’re an entrepreneur, you’re adding yourself to that mix of the publicists that you’re up against pitching as well. The other thing is avoiding spam filter sensitivity. If someone’s never emailed with you before, You want to avoid attachments as the first blush.

You don’t want to include more than one or two links for that first piece of outreach. And if your company uses something other than a dot com domain, for example, dot biz, I would probably Uh, send it from your gmail and cc that email because there’s more spam filter sensitivity usually when it’s not dot com I’ve i’ve heard about that and then I would end the email with a question Which is would you like to connect for 15 minutes?

Would you like to learn more? Would you like me to follow up with some photos of what i’m talking about? Would you like to be the first ever to see the plan for this business or whatever it might be but leave them With a opportunity to respond and feeling like they have to take an action with you. 

Akua: I love that and I think to I also just wanted to speak with even just some of the great facts that you shared, because I feel like even if it’s a reporter, but even other things, like even if you’re pitching for a podcast, you still have a very short amount of time to capture people’s attention, no matter what.

So it’s like, how can you hook people in right away? And I love, too, that you also ended with like asking a question to where like it, Requires the person. I mean, when you think of anything I do pitches in asking that question at the end, instead of just being like, thanks, I hope to hear from you or something like that.

Like that doesn’t sound as confident, like even doing those little things of like, you’re very sure of yourself. And it’s like, you’re now forcing them to have to take action in some way. Right. So, and making it very easy for them to respond and you’re giving them that call to action. So I think those tips are super, super helpful, especially if you, if it’s somebody that you have never reached out to before, has no rapport with, I think those tips are super, super good.

So. This conversation has been amazing and so impactful. What are you up to? Like, what are some really fun things that you’re working on in life, business? What’s bringing you joy? What’s next? 

Mallory: Wow. What a loaded question. I know. Business and what’s next. All right. I actually, you, we’ve had this conversation in a moment where I just have.

There’s so much going on. Uh, we just wrapped our review season. We do that twice a year. We do a 360 review. Um, and then halfway through the year, we also do a manager report review, not including like the peers and the whole 360 kit and caboodle. In terms of my personal. I just came back from this four and a half day crazy wedding weekend for a friend where they did camp activities throughout the day They rented out a summer camp and we all stayed in cabins and then every night was a different elaborate dress code theme So I’m still coming down from the natural high Getting to relive summer camp during the day and act like it’s our own Met Gala every night And then i’m also planning my honeymoon in three weeks from now I’m going to be going to South Africa and going on a safari So I think this is all actually a testament to what an incredible team I have the pleasure of working with for a very long time Being an entrepreneur for me meant, you know, not taking weekends, not taking holidays.

We’re bootstrapped. So I couldn’t even afford to make my first hire until two and a half years in. And I’m very grateful that that first hire, Annie, is just celebrating her 12th birthday. anniversary with us this week, actually, but now we’re at a scale and a size where I can go on that four day wedding weekend for a friend, or I can go on a two week honeymoon and have no concerns because I have such a remarkably talented.

incredible team and incredible senior management that are so committed to creativity and pushing the envelope every single day on behalf of our clients. Um, and so to be able to look back and say, like, I’m at a place where I even have a personal life to talk to. So you can check it out. If you want to see more of our videos, you can click on that link in the 

Akua: description below and go check out our other content.

And yeah, go check out all of our other channels. I’ll see you guys next time. You But truly, it’s so beautiful, just honestly, when you see business owners that have created the life and the business that they deserve, that they have dreamed of. And so for you, what would you want to say to those business owners that are currently, you know, they’re either just starting out with, you know, they’re, uh, you know, doing a consulting business, uh, you know, photography, whatever it may be.

And, or the ones that are just like in the thick of it. And they’re just like, Oh man, like, Sometimes it gets tough. Like what would you say to these business owners now with like, when you think about your own journey and where you have been, 

Mallory: there’s so much I want to share here, I think something I say a lot is that the joke about being an entrepreneur is that they say, sure, become an entrepreneur.

You can work whenever you want. But the truth is, when you become an entrepreneur, you actually have to work all the time. And I think that’s true up until a point. That for a long time, you have to be prepared, ready, willing, and committed to practicing what I call other care rather than self care, which is caring about your employees, caring about your clients, caring about your team dynamic, and being a leader in my case meant really always making sure that.

Those things have come first and foremost, and that requires a lot of grit, a lot of resilience, a lot of giving things a back seat or being patient and saying, I’ll take that, you know, vacation in the future, et cetera. Like I, like I shared, it was really my co founder and I, for the first several years.

And then even my co founder, myself and Annie for the next several years. And like with all things in life, this too shall pass. So I think the first couple of years of being an entrepreneur, my grandpa always used to say, who was also an entrepreneur, that it takes three years to get any business off the ground and feel like you can breathe again.

And in my case, that was absolutely true. And I think those first three years for many of my friends who are entrepreneurs have felt that where it’s like, you constantly have so much pressure, you feel like, you know, can never catch a break for yourself. This too shall pass. And then I think about this too shall pass constantly, even now where we are with an incredible team of 72 individuals, because there are high highs and low lows.

Every single day being an entrepreneur is like being on the most fun, most wild, most unpredictable rollercoaster. You could have a really long term client say, Hey, we didn’t raise the round of funding. We thought we would, and we need to actually either drastically diminish or pause the relationship altogether.

In the morning and then that night when a client that you’ve been pitching for four months. So you just never know and I try and keep it an even keel by saying Nothing is going to have me so worked up in one direction or the other because this too shall pass and I think that’s been Really helpful To kind of keep myself grounded as an entrepreneur and what I would impart to anyone else 

Akua: Oh my gosh, now I’m going to say that with myself all the time, this too shall pass.

That is so, that is just so vital because yeah, when you’re in the thick of things, you just, you know, you’re on that hamster wheel, you’re just going, going, going, and you’re just, especially those first three years of entrepreneurship, like I’m in my fourth. So I get it and I’m still trying and I’m, I’m still trying to, especially this season of my life where my capacity has drastically changed.

And yeah, everything’s always pivoting and shifting. And it’s just a reminder that this is a season that nothing, it’s not going to last forever. This too shall pass. And so, 

Mallory: You’re in your business, but I heard you say, uh, at the beginning of when we started chatting that you’re thinking about bringing on people for your company, and that sounds like it was a relatively new exploration where you were like, actually, we need extra help.

We need extra hands and thinking about holiday and as daunting as that can seem to bring on other people or give up control. It also creates new opportunities for you and maybe gets you to the place where you’re like, oh, I feel like a sense of relief that that was a really scary, daunting thing. Hiring is always that way.

And I wonder if for you, maybe that is, that’s what happens in your fourth year. And you feel like you can kind of relax, you know, on one piece of the business, at least and focus on something else. 

Akua: Girl, I’m hoping I’m hoping

I’m hoping I’m not even gonna lie. Cause I’m like, yes. Yes. I’m like, oh my goodness. You know, and I, you know, with, even with, um, my other business, I’m on a cool, you know, my brother just joined. And so that’s been really exciting to, cause it’s a family business. And so like my brother was like, you know, he works in I T tech, but he has a finance degree and, and, He was kind of like, you know, I think I’m, I’m ready to come and help them, you know, in the family business and let’s see what we can make of it.

So that’s been fun. Um, it’s hard working with family, but it’s been fun to have him come along. Cause like he was that first, you know, he’s that first person, but he’s been such a trooper. I’ve been like, Oh my gosh. You know what I mean? Like, okay. Yeah. Like somebody, okay. Maybe like there, I can do that. You know what I mean?

Where it’s like, I can bring, people more permanently. Let’s see, because I feel like to your point of like, you obviously have a team of 72 when you’re really building and growing. Like it really does pull a lot of things out of you as an entrepreneur, where you’re like, I got to fix that. I got to work through that.

Like, I didn’t realize I, you know what I mean? Like, Ooh, so it’s definitely not an easy thing to lead. And, but it’s just been really cool to see how you talk so highly of your team and just seeing that trust and like, where you again can live a life that you love. It’s very, very inspiring. And so people that are listening, like, I hope you feel just as inspired to that.

Again, the life and the business that you have is out there and it is very, very possible. And it’s just been so fun just to see how much your journey has evolved and how just again, that grit, that resilience, like you keep showing up. And so thank you so much for that. Like I’m like, okay, I’m ready to go.

I have loved this conversation, not only just these tangible tips, but also to just, it’s really fun just to see your passion for PR and just the passion for the, the team that you have and the people that you serve. And so. A question that we always love to end with is, what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail?

Never getting too 

Mallory: comfortable. So when we’re at our highest high, reminding myself this too shall pass, I need to start iterating on what that next big idea is. Because as incredible as this wave is, when you’re at the top of the wave, there’s only one place to go, which is down. And so you need to figure out what is that next peak that we are Looking for and so I think anyone that gets too comfortable that continues like it’s great that you have that one service or that One product that you’re offering but you can only get so much share of the market with that one product or that one offer What else can you do?

What other peak can you climb or surf or whatever the analogy is? I would say it’s that 

Akua: Oh, I love that. I think there was, it reminds me of one of our previous episodes with Shea Cochran. She says, build the business that you want tomorrow now. And I think that just speaks completely 1000 percent to that of like, however you envision your business in the future, build it now.

Move like that now behave like that now, right? Because I think again, to your point, it forces you to constantly be innovative. It forces you to constantly be creative as business owners and not get comfortable. Cause I, that’s true. I realized that too, like, even as business, when we get comfortable, you can get bored of your business again.

And then like you said, like. You can decline, especially I think it’s a really great way just to continue to find that passion and what it is that you’re doing and finding new and unique ways to do it. So those are such key things. And thank you. Thank you so much, Mallory, for this conversation. I have loved it.

Yes, this has been so much fun. And so for people that want to connect with you, where can they find you? How can we support you? 

Mallory: Yeah, I am your pal Mal on every social platform, so Y O U R P A L M A L, and then of course at Small Girls PR as well, so just small as in tiny, girls as in young women, and PR as in public relations.

Akua: Love it. Cause yes, check it out. Cause you, I was like, I was like, Mel B having a good time, y’all. She can live in her best life. So I was like, go ahead, girl. 

Mallory: Thank you so much. Love HoneyBook. Big fan of you. Big fan of HoneyBook. And really excited to see, you know, both, um, how your company does over that, that mass holiday rush.

How HoneyBook and their customers are doing in the year ahead and going from there. 

Akua: Yes. Thank you. We are just so thankful for you. We appreciate this conversation so much and for everybody listening until next time. That ends our episode of the Independent Business Podcast. Everything we’ve discussed today can be found at podcast.

honeybook. com. Head to our website to access for show notes, relevant links, and all of the resources that you need to level up. And if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss our future content. Drop us a review and leave our guests some love on social.

And thank you again for listening.