The PR industry has gone through considerable changes in recent years. PR is no longer limited to publishing press releases or articles and keeping track of media.
Today, PR agencies work with established and emerging brands to deliver integrated marketing and communication strategies. However, cut-throat competition and fight for relevance among brands is drawing the industry out of its core trait – authenticity.
When April White came to this realization, she wanted to bring forth a change in the industry. This change came in the form of “trust relations.”
The term coined by herself, April explains “Trust Relations is the art of conveying a brand’s authentic actions, value, and goodwill, and illustrating them through great storytelling and creative brand activations that demonstrate how the brand serves its target audiences.”
In this Interview, Founder and President of Trust Relations Agency, April White talks about the PR industry, her own journey, and much more.
What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
I am a powerful woman because I’m an introspective, empathetic, ambitious person who wants to make the world a better place by being a servant of mankind. I am fiercely committed to making a difference and creating a company culture that I always wish had existed before founding my own agency. My agency is equally devoted to making a difference for both employees and clients. We are continuously improving to maximize results and retention.
What is your earliest memory as a leader/entrepreneur that you remember?
I never thought of myself as a leader but, looking back, I can see that I was always the one in high school who led group projects (and sometimes, I even did them alone). I have always felt a responsibility to make the world a better place, and frequently carried my own opinions and ideas about how other agencies and agency leaders could improve. Eventually, rather than complaining about what they did wrong, I viewed these pain points as an opportunity to build a better agency model that addressed the issues I saw.
What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the public relations space?
I initially wanted to be a writer. I always loved stringing together words to create ideas, feelings, concepts, images, and emotions for as long as I can remember.
I started my career as a journalist – which my parents convinced me was the most reliable career path for a writer – but I quickly realized that it was not the right path for me. After a few years as a newspaper reporter, I switched to PR and found my true calling.
What was the idea behind Trust Relations? Talk to us about the significance of its name.
I first entered the field of journalism and mass communications in college because I was interested in sharing information, I believed people needed to hear – but I realized over time that PR had many roots in the art of persuasion and wasn’t always based in authenticity or reality.
I began to think that the entire premise of PR needed a paradigm shift, since trying to convince someone you are something, which you aren’t is a fool’s errand at best or manipulation at worst. This is true whether you’re an individual or brand. You must do what you say before you can say what you do.
This realization inspired me to coin the term “trust relations.” In technology, trust relationships are an administration and communication link between two domains. In communications, I believe they are a bond of mutual respect between a brand and the people it serves.
In other words, trust relations is the art of conveying a brand’s authentic actions, value, and goodwill, and illustrating them through great storytelling and creative brand activations that demonstrate how the brand serves its target audiences.
As the Founder, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?
Beyond honing the vision for the company, I’m heavily involved in the agency’s business development and marketing. I spend most of my time speaking with prospective clients and reviewing new business proposals. I also participate in podcasts, media interviews, and speaking panels, in addition to writing contributed content on business and PR insights. I also continue to oversee all of the other company operations, finances, client relationships, and staffing needs.
What are the biggest challenges in PR in the current marketing landscape? How are you tackling the same?
The biggest challenge in PR today is that the lines between earned and paid media are getting blurrier with every passing year.
As a result, one year ago, Trust Relations introduced marketing services to its offering, delivering a 360-degree, integrated solution. At the onset of every campaign, we conduct a proprietary Trust Analysis so that we can better align clients’ storytelling with story doing.
Looking back at your journey, what would you have done different when starting out?
I would have taken more time to find a finance expert I could trust to help me forecast and budget, to ensure the business decisions I was making wouldn’t financially stress the company to potential breaking points.
Finally, what would be your advice for women entrepreneurs and leaders in the PR space?
PR is and always will be a services industry, which means that the profit margins will always be modest and capped because, as an industry, there is no current way to automate the (wo)man hours required to do the job well.
This is a client services industry that will always be filled with challenging personalities, unrealistic expectations, stiff competition, and unfair demands–and the talent pool is also finite (and increasingly expensive, as a result).
You have to truly love PR and be very savvy to figure out how to create an agency that is sustainable and profitable.
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