Going solo: How to start your own PR agency
Breaking out on your own is a dream for many PRs, but it can easily turn into your worst nightmare. Why not learn from those who have already nailed it?
Join Bram and Sara to learn:
How to carve out a personal niche
Advice on starting out on your own
Expectations vs reality
The last few years have seen more and more public relations professionals venturing out to start their own agencies. But where should aspiring solopreneurs begin and what does it take to make your dream a reality?
In this episode, we speak with Bram Smets and Sara Griffin – two experts that have taken their work into their own hands. We'll be talking about...
What it takes to go solo
Laying the groundwork to make that leap
Practical dos, don'ts, and I-wish-I'd-known-earlier
Episode aired 9 Nov 2021
Our experts
Brum Smith
Bram Smets
43 years old, proud father of Jozefien and cycling fanatic, Bram has launched Brum Smith to help organizations communicate more strategically.
Brum Smith is the name BBC reporters gave Bram Smets, founder of this small but aspiring PR agency, when he was on call as Eurostar's spokesperson back in 2009, when four Eurostar trains were stuck in the channel tunnel. Amidst the chaos and in the middle of the night, BBC reporters simply couldn’t get his name right. In the end, the trains got out of the dark tunnel, and fast forward to 2019, a new PR agency saw the light.
As Ketchum's former Business Unit Director and Eurostar’s ex-spokesperson, Bram is a seasoned PR and communications consultant. He looks at communication challenges from a holistic/integrated perspective, thinking in terms of solutions and ideas, rather than channels.
Griffin PR
Sara Griffin
Sara Griffin is a strategic communications and public relations consultant. She has more than a decade of experience launching and cultivating communications programs for cultural organizations, businesses, products, and exhibitions worldwide.
During her time at Camron PR, a global communications agency focused in the design space, she led a team to launch a major new art & design fair – the enormously successful Object & Thing; guided the international communications for North America’s largest and most significant architecture biennial, the Chicago Architecture Biennial; undertook a major campaign to promote the city of Quito, Ecuador, with the city’s largest real-estate developer; and coordinated partnerships and media campaigns for major retail brands including MUJI and EQ3.
Prior to her time at Camron, she worked with visual arts firm Resnicow and Associates, where she developed and implemented communications campaigns for museums, foundations, and arts organizations around the world.
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