Let’s just put it all out there… yes this was the shoot I woke up with giant spider bites all over my face and yes my face and lips are blown up like balloons. But alas, we prevail and shoot anyway because no one likes waking up at 5:30am for no reason. Why do we wake up at 5:30am for photoshoot you ask? For those of you who have been longtime followers (we love you btw) we both have full-time jobs so carving out time to shoot gets a bit tricky.
I get a ton of questions about what I do and how I have gotten to where I am now. I started interning in public relations in D.C. and New York in college (entertainment and political) and that 100% was the reason I ended up in the PR world in New York. I got my first public relations job at a boutique beauty PR firm. As a beauty publicist, my job was to “place” various brands in top tier magazines such as Cosmo, Elle, Teen Vogue, etc. But also my job was making sure all of the eyeshadows were packed correctly in the product closet and that the Vogue editor got the right colored cupcakes (forreal one time my client yelled at me because I sent the wrong shade of pink on a cupcake…I shit you not). After a short stint, I realized that beauty PR was not my thing. The hours were crazy long and it wasn’t something I was truly passionate about. Myself along with the other assistants would go in on Saturdays and Sundays just so we could keep up with the work during the week (we had the sushi delivery guy down the street on speed dial). If I am working 75+ hours a week I better be making $$$ or curing some type of disease.
Kimono | H&M // Jeans | Bott & Bow // Boots | Ego Official // Satchel | Karl Lagerfeld
I then transferred back to where I interned in college to work in hospitality and entertainment PR. As an entertainment publicist, it was my job to cover celebrity sightings at our venues (i.e. Kim K. was spotted at Happy Endings last Saturday night”), event coordination/red carpet and general venue stories (i.e. “Best Happy Hour Bars in NYC”). From working the Jeremy Scott New York Fashion Week parties, to NBA Championship parties, this job was nothing short of eventful. That being said, I once again had zero balance. I was always out to drinks with editors, at events for my clients or working late nights/early mornings so our clients wouldn’t miss a placement. I also found myself in quite the pickle one evening while working a party at up-and-down with celebrities ranging from Gigi Hadid, to Bradley Cooper, all the way down to a MTV’s “Teen Mom.” Let’s just say that evening I pulled the short end of the stick and had to cater to the “teen mom” – it was also that evening when the “teen mom” was threatening to punch me in the face because the owner wouldn’t allow her in VIP when I decided to jump ship. Longgggg story short (a story I am going to write about soon) I decided to leave the entertainment PR industry in search for something that was more aligned with my values and work-life balance.
After taking a couple months off to blog full-time and really find the next best move, I stumbled upon an Instagram account @SmallGirlsPR and was immediately intrigued. I did some digging and found that they had recently been in Marie Claire and Forbes for being some of the top creative marketers and publicists in New York. And just like that, I cold emailed the founders and began working there 1 month later. I am also going to go into more detail about my job but for the sake of this post, I am a Digital Creative Specialist and work mainly on innovation and tech clients. Let’s just say this move has been nothing short of magical and while it took a while to sift through the bullshit, it ultimately got me to where I am now and makes me understand the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are nice but firm, confident in themselves and what they do, and are invested to see me succeed.
It’s crazy how much I have learned about the P.R. industry in the past 2 1/2 years of living in New York and can honestly say I have almost seen it all. From stories that will make you cringe, to anecdotes that are nothing short of a ‘The Devil Wears Prada” scene, to sobbing in the product closet surrounded by thousands of different (but ultimately the same) mascaras, it has been a whirlwind of an adventure and a career you have to really want. Sometimes I used to question why I got into an industry that is so high-stress and fast-paced for next to no money (forreal I used to take my companies toilet paper because I couldn’t afford my own) but once you get over that innitial hump, it’s so beyond worth it. If you want it and work hard enough, you will find your place and you will wake up every single day excited to go to work.
xx
Kelly
Photos by: Laurel Creative
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