A career in PR - why I chose it, and why I'm still in it.

As a school boy, career advice never really featured on my radar. It wasn’t that I lacked ambition. Back in the mid-nineties (yes I’m that old!) it simply wasn’t a thing. Self-help used to be pretty discrete too. Of course that’s all changed now. Life coaching is now so ubiquitous as to constitute a sort of ambient noise. It’s the language of Instagram. But this field is now so saturated that it seems you have a better chance of a jumbo-jet landing on your head than actually finding advice that is right for you. Richard Branson’s pearls might be popular, but they aren’t exactly accessible.

So, for what’s it’s worth, here are some of my own, perhaps more ordinary trials and tribulations in the world of public relations, in the hope it may offer some use to a stray Gen Z in search of what to do next:

1. Heading to the bright lights – the allure of the big smoke sucked me into a world far removed from my sleepier rural roots. I guess my time in London started out as a new thrill; a novelty that was nothing more than a bit of fun. But then I found public relations, and once it dawned on me that I had an eye for this funny old game, it suddenly got serious.
2. I’m a chartered surveyor, get me out of here! – Before I stumbled across PR, some would say I pursued the more conventional route. Having studied real estate at university, chartered surveying seemed like the ‘sensible’ career choice. But then, a year into my assessment of professional competence (APC) at Knight Frank, I quickly realised that this world wasn’t for me. So, I rebelled and decided somewhat prematurely perhaps, to hang my boots up (yep, before qualifying) and went off-roading into the seemingly cooler, but certainly more maverick world of media.
3. Head over heart – It would be a pretentious claim to say it’s a passion, but I enjoy it and I’m good at it. I’ve resisted the urge, at various self-doubting junctures in my career, to follow dreams or aspirations of becoming an adventurer, photographer; farmer; gardener, or ski bum. Instead I’ve carved out a successful career in the ‘dark arts’ which has been a source of pride, and remains so. In hindsight, I’m glad I pursued what my head told me to, rather than what my heart was saying. It’s hard to monetise a passion, and even if you can, it’s likely that that passion will eventually fade to be replaced by its functionary role – a job. I like that I can still hear my heart and call winter sports and photography my passions.
4. Adaptation and assimilation – much of the success of any savvy PR practitioner boils down to his or her ability to adapt to, or in some cases assimilate, a huge variety of characters, ideas and businesses. You can’t sit still in this world. It’s always changing, and so we must too, and that’s the beauty of it.
5. The Variety Show – PR isn’t limiting or one-dimensional and it certainly isn’t dull. This profession, with all its flamboyancy and excitement, offers a giant spectrum of variety in terms of the people, markets, sectors, assets, start-ups and ideas it supports, every bit of which keeps evolving. Yet some of that reinvention also means us old-timers are able to draw upon experience to serve the needs of new ideas born out of old ones.
6. Hacks and flaks – I’ve always loved the dynamic, although sometimes strained, between journalists and PRs. My little black book has served me well over the years. But my journalist contacts are more than that. Some are friends; others are just brilliant contacts with enormous talent – to write, translate, convey complex matters in simple ways, or simply to open doors to interesting, useful and influential people. Either way I hugely respect these people as champions and standard-bearers of their field, our language and as third party endorsements of the people and businesses I have sought to promote. Ultimately though, the journalists role is under threat. They need us as much as we need them. More than ever before the hack/flak dynamic remains a symbiotic relationship, although some would not like to admit it.
7. The big scoop – Ask any PR what gets them up in the morning, and it tends to be the thrill of seeing one’s own blood, sweat and toil land in a newspaper! The biggest buzz in this game, for me at least, is seeing my own pitch appear, on-message, on the front page of the FT or as an interview on BBC tv or radio. And the more extensive your little black book is, the more likely it is that you’ll be enjoying those moments more frequently.
8. Be true to yourself – actually, don’t! PR, like almost any career, requires a certain amount of acting. You need to give a robust account of yourself in this game, and sometimes being yourself simply isn’t enough. Fierce competition to impress has meant that I’ve often had to put on a brave face, puff my chest out and ‘look and sound’ impressive, when in fact I’m falling to bits on the inside.
9. Keeping up with the Jones’s – that generic one-size-fits-all life advice often insists that we mustn’t compare ourselves to others. Well, yes on one hand this might prevent certain insecurities, but on the other, in the context of one’s career, it’s also a good way of underachieving if we take this advice too literally. Competition is a spur to performance, and in PR that competition can be relentless. I’ve had my fair share of nemeses en route up the greasy pole, and I’m glad I did, because they have helped me get to where I am now.
10. It’s a peoples game – having said all of that, one of the very things that has kept me in this job has been the decorum and good nature of the people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with. I’ve been lucky enough to spend most of my career working alongside and within the media, property, tech and finance professions. Industries which attract decent, intelligent, engaging and often inspiring people.
11. Oh the lunches – no hymn and verse on PR can go without a mention of the hours spent spilling good claret over pristine white table cloths in restaurants I can’t afford! I’ve also seen my fair share of dodgy basement brasseries. It would however be stretching the truth to say this is still a regular fixture in the PR calendar. I’m afraid times have changed since the great recession. Selling stories over a glass of Sancerre have been replaced by the stiffer more functionary telephone sell-in. BUT, if the story’s big enough, hacks still love a good lunch!
12. Memories – This industry has given me so many weird and wonderful experiences. For me, running a press conference for Jack Nicklaus (any keen golfers dream gig); one-to-ones with political or business heavyweights, Lord Heseltine, Sir Martin Sorrell and the Crown Prince of Fujairah among my favourites; private jets to far-flung isles; dune buggies in Qatar; island-hopping in Cape Verde; yacht-racing from Plymouth to St Malo; rolling through Bulgaria in a pimped limousine (and to this day I can’t be certain how involved the mafia where on that particular trip!); the London Olympics; Cannes (not for films, but for property magnets - way more fun); Milan; Frankfurt; Dubai, and, err, Aberdeen (*your favourite places aren't always dictated by how impressive or exotic they are, but sometimes by how familiar they become!) are just some of the people, places and events I’ve been lucky enough to visit and promote.
13. Multicultural hot pot – my industry attracts and covers every age, sex, race, creed and point-of-view. That’s more than can be said for many other areas of industry, and that’s something I feel immensely proud to be a part of.

So with all that in mind, I admire the purpose of PR and what it stands for. PR fails when there is no authenticity or integrity, and I find that reassuring. Ultimately though, if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will. And that can be dangerous for any business or person. What better way then, to tell your own story, than through the prism of someone else without a vested interest. That’s powerful.