Quite simply, 2015 has been a great year!
It certainly didn’t start that way – I was working in a job that wasn’t the right fit, putting in long hours, travelling and then suddenly… I lost my job.
I had been thinking about going it alone, so I set about getting in touch with old contacts and fortunately picked up some work working for a PR agency specialising in communications and publicity for jewellery and luxury men’s accessories. At the same time I also started working for Health Champions Training, through a contact from my days at West Sussex Primary Care Trust. They were working with various Wellbeing Teams in West Sussex, teaching overweight people how to change their diet and lifestyle for the longer-term.
Through interviewing people on the courses, I could see what a difference it was making to their lives and how much happier and healthier they were. We managed to secure great publicity across a raft of newspapers, magazines and on social media and course uptake doubled.
Performance psychologist Miranda Banks (Excel in Exams) was looking for someone to do PR and publicity – primarily to promote her exam preparation plan, Smartivate (TM). The programme, which has seen 80% of her struggling students achieve or exceed their target grades, is now being rolled out across schools in the South. It not only enhances performance but it also reduces students stress and anxiety, at a time with stress among young people is at an all-time high. We’ve picked up their social media, secured great publicity – getting Miranda on TV and are now helping with YouTube and other areas. Smartivate (TM) is now being offered in the U.S and there is also interest from India.
Previously these services wouldn’t have been available to most students and currently it is being offered free to all secondary schools. The more we publicise it the more people hear of it and the more students benefit.
Having previously done the Corporate PR for Bluebird Care for three years, I approached some of their local offices and quickly started working for their Slough, South Bucks and South Wycombe office – this has recently been followed by their Guildford and Waverley office. Both teams are incredibly caring people, who work tirelessly for their customers at all times and in all weathers.
I really enjoy writing about homecare as it provides an essential service to millions of older people who would otherwise be alone, struggling or be forced into moving into a care home. I also have personal experience, with my late father and now mother, using care services.
We enjoyed writing a website for Achieving Together (West Sussex), a professional development, hypnotheraphy, counselling, coaching and mentoring organisation and we can’t wait to see the website when it launches in the New Year.
We are also doing the PR for Carey Braham, a teacher of the Alexander Technique, as well as Nola Granola, an organic West Sussex food producer – all very exciting for 2016.
In late summer, I was delighted to start working with Lyndall King – an experienced communications, advertising and social media professional. Having her on board meant we could double the offering and expand.
What all my clients have in common is a need to communicate details of their work and services with their audiences, at home, nationally or internationally. What we love doing is working with them to get the most from their PR and give them the best possible communications and PR service we can. We love telling their stories and can’t wait to tell more in 2016!
Thank you to everyone who worked and supported us in our first year.