If you thought PR was all Ab Fab and ‘bring on the bolly’, then sadly you may be disappointed. But if you think it might be an interesting career then you could be right…our MD Ashley talks through an average day at work for her.
“I normally try and head to the gym early doors armed with coffee as it’s the only time in the day I get to really switch off and if I leave it till the end of the day, often I can be delayed leaving, have a client call or last minute media request that needs attention so mornings are best! I’m a morning person, so getting up is easy but staying up late when we have events is not so easy!
After the gym, it’s a quick shower and if time, I will walk the dogs and then head into the office or if we have client meetings or conference calls I will save the dog walk till lunchtime or evening!
I do drink too much coffee and having a latte machine in the office doesn’t help matters but I try and stick to just three a day and drink plenty of water. I’m normally the first in the office, so I will check our emails, social media platforms and also any of client’s social channels, which we manage.
We tend to have a weekly meeting to review the past week, go through each client’s account and usually include a brainstorming session (or biscuit eating meeting as I call them) to evolve ideas for future client campaigns.
We always have music on in the office and at the moment we are listening to a rather fabulous 80s/90s Italian dance music station which for comedy value alone, keeps us all sane especially during deadline week.
If we have a shoot coming up, I will be planning, booking locations, liaising with the client/riders etc. and even organising lunch details. Being able to incorporate this aspect into my role is perfect and when I get the chance to get my old styling hat on and get my teeth into something – even better!
As our clients are based all over the UK, we have face-to-face meetings with them as and when their diary allows, otherwise we organise Skype meetings. We also communicate with them regularly via email and phone. Regular client contact is something that having worked in PR for over 25 years. I feel is so important as very often we can be busy behind the scenes planning something and of course they won’t know, so it’s important to update them regularly and keep them in the loop.
A lot of my time is spent writing and as a qualified journalist, I do love this aspect of the job, especially if we are constructing a feature on behalf of a client as its always a challenge to produce something the client likes and the publications will love. Fortunately we have a great stable of clients, with whom we have built great relationships and trust with.
I normally grab a bite to eat at my desk at lunchtime and if my workload allows, take the dogs out for a quick run.
I don’t have a set finish time as time, although officially we do have office hours but as anyone working in PR knows, they don’t really exist!”
