Speaker 1 (00:02):
This podcast is for PR Pros who are looking to discover the best strategies for landing their dream retainer clients and scoring them top tier media coverage. I'm your host, Jen Bersen, and I want you to have a fulfilling career in PR that totally lights you up without sacrificing your personal or family time or your sanity. Welcome to the Pitching Powerhouse podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hi guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Pitching Powerhouse podcast. I am so excited about today's guest, Michelle pava. Michelle, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am super excited. I am so thankful to be here because this has been such a life changing experience in such a short time,
Speaker 2 (00:54):
So, oh, okay. Well, we're gonna dive into that. I wanna hear more about that, but can you start off by introducing yourself to our listeners? Tell us about your PR business, um, what you specialize in, and you can also kind of give us a bit of your background, like where you started even in your career before pr.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Well, number one, I'm quite old, so , I'm going back to paper press releases where you had piles of them on your desk. So I started out actually as a journalist, and I also had a small business separate from being a journalist In the interim, I started learning PR and marketing. I ended up doing PR and marketing while I went to school to be a psychotherapist. Mm-hmm. . So this whole chain of events started happening. And during all of this time, I never, even as a trauma therapist, I never let go ever of marketing in pr. I loved it. I was obsessed with it. So, and by the way, I'm gonna be throwing off my watch right now. Um, so anyway, I absolutely loved it. I I really just to, to explain my business and my background is really one and the same. So I have a PR agency that really focuses on mental health and science, and for the most part, uh, there's a little dribbling of wellness products as well that would support mental health.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
So that's where I really decided just fairly recently, well, I had a five year plan, but the five year plan I saw your ad in the five year plan went like, like, really, really quickly. Yes. Interesting. . And, and I was like, you know what? Like, let's not do the five year plan. Life's too short. And so I sped that up a little bit and so I really just took my past with trauma therapy and with marketing, which I had already been doing. I already had some clients and I just decided, you know what, I'm keeping three trauma clients and easing them out. And then I'm just doing this full-time and I've been doing it full-time since pretty much weeks into my course with you lit, which was crazy. I think it was a little crazy to jump in like I did. Okay. . But that's how I do things. So, which two weeks, in
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Which course, which, uh, program?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Well, I have two of them. And so I, the only one I'm not in I think is Agency Accelerator, which is like my next frontier. So I'm
Speaker 2 (03:18):
In Alright, ready?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I did the pitch one and I, I, there's two of them that I'm in. I came in Pitch lab. Pitch lab. Yeah. So I guess I was two weeks, I was two weeks into pitch lab and I just decided I'm just doing this full-time, only two weeks in, and it has been life changing. So like, I just like, wait, I wait every week for like, you have new content to, to look at from you. And I'm like, I need it. Let's do it. So, um, yeah. So I love it. Absolutely
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Love it. Oh, that's so awesome. You know, it's interesting. I feel that way too. When you're passionate about something, it's like you just can't get enough and, you know, it's like feeding that passion. You have that fuel in you, um, that fire that's burning and now you have something that is just keeping that flame ignited. And I find that the more that I learn about something that I love, that I'm really passionate about, the more my passion grows and I want even more of it. Exactly. It's like you create a monster , but, um
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And also the Facebook group, the Facebook well groups, the Facebook groups are like amazing. Yeah. So, and I'm all over that and I don't even care if I'm annoying all over it because it's just
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Like, love
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I, and I feel I ch I just absolutely love it. I love the energy that's there. Everyone's supportive. It can be like super funny at times, you know, it's just great. Yeah. In fact, the funniest the funniest moments are if somebody's like, Hey, I have a problem with a client, is does this sound legit? And then other people are like, no, that's crazy. Like, it's so funny the comments after that. Yes. It's like, oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So well, it's nice to have that gut check of, okay, am I crazy? Am I the one that's crazy? And it's like, uh, no, that client sounds nuts. Run the other way. Right. And, you know, giving the group, giving us permission to make those hard choices and like yes. You know, vote for our mental health and our sanity over, you know, the promise of some income, but you know that it's just gonna make you Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It's like very iffy. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Super issue for sure. Well, tell me how you have such a unique background, you know, a trauma therapist, like how mm-hmm. has your experience and your training and background as a trauma therapist helped
Speaker 3 (05:32):
You
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Become better at being a PR professional? And obviously your niche is very aligned, but how else has it helped you as a PR pro?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So in addition to being aligned and having, I had already made a lot of contacts and was already working with individuals and basically membership groups, which opened up all of the members who needed help, which was amazing. Okay. And that's what allowed me also to be able to go full-time pretty quickly. Um, but some of the skills that I feel might be unique, and I'm not sure, is that I'm very comfortable with trauma, with things hitting the fan. Hmm. I am very, very comfortable with that. So when I've had clients and have clients now that are like, oh my gosh, this thing happened and how do we deal with it? The first thing I do is work with them. Like, let me just coach you, bring you down from it because you not having your little frontal lobe working a hundred percent and the whole rest of your brain in like fight or flight is not going to make decisions. You'll very
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, you'll make poor choices. Right. You'll make choices, poor choices from that state. So you're, you're supporting in like crisis calms situations Yes. And counseling clients to just take a beat, get them aligned with a strategy that will make them feel a bit more in control and a bit calm, more calm about the situation. So then you can proceed with like the PR side of things.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Exactly. And a lot of times when someone is in crisis, they will go right to their coping skills, usually from childhood or a past relationship that really hurt them. And all of a sudden you see all these coping strategies pop up mm-hmm. , like very not functional types of things that might, the more stress they are, the more coping strategies that arise. And as soon as I start to see those, I'm like, no, no, no, we can't have this, we can't have like dysfunctional Dave or Dawn running around while we're trying to fix things. Like you need to like get it together. So I will quickly try to work with that. And then we at, well usually at the same time I'm working on something else as I'm trying to keep them together. So yeah, that's one I would say maybe one unique thing that I can just like look at a trauma, you know, look at a coping strategy that pops up. So, um, and, and really just being patient with when people don't know what they want. Mm-hmm. , a lot of times they, they, they think they know what they want, but they really don't know what they want and being able to help talk them through it. Okay. So that's another, I don't know that it's specific to being a trauma therapist or just, you know, everybody does it, but just knowing that sometimes what people say they want is not always what they want. Mm-hmm. So kind of dive a little deeper.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah. Asking the right questions, getting to mm-hmm. The heart of the matter, the issue, like what resolution are they seeking? Um,
Speaker 3 (08:50):
And sometimes why, so, so sometimes they'll say they want a certain resolution and they'll say, well, why do you want that resolution? And then they don't know why. And I'm like, okay, well maybe that's not the resolution. Let's look at different ways. So it, it really goes, I mean, sometimes people just want lots of publicity, but they don't know why. Or they don't even have a, there's some smaller businesses that don't even have funnels set up. I mean Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I know with,
Speaker 3 (09:14):
With smaller businesses, it's like, really? Like, you gotta be kidding. So yeah, I try to, I'll I'll say, you know, like either I'll refer them or I will work with them on creating a funnel or just a, a congruent message even so.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah. Yeah. Just,
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Just like a relationship. You have to know what you want, you know?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah. A lot of us don't even know what we want
Speaker 3 (09:36):
In relationships and it changes and it changes as you get older. Right. Totally.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And be open to those changes, you know, you're gonna evolve as a person. I hope we evolve as people. I hope your partner evolves as a person and it's just picking the person that you wanna evolve with and go along on the road. Yeah. Yeah. And
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Hopefully you see that in them at some point. Like, oh, they're, they're willing to make some changes. Yeah. Just like a business, like some of the businesses I have definitely worked with some people who do not want to change anything. And I'm like, okay, well, and
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Why are
Speaker 3 (10:09):
You even scared? I can get you publicity, but like, I don't know that it's gonna do anything. Like, I could get you a little bit, but like, I don't know if this is a good idea for you right now. And they get a little insulted, but I mean
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah. But you're, but you're helping them in the long run. I mean, not everybody's ready for pr and I think that it, it makes a lot of sense. You know, we always talk about that as the very first thing we need to be doing is getting, um, information from clients about their goals and objectives. Right. So we can create a strategy that aligns with that and, and helps them meet those goals and objectives. And it's pretty clear when you talk to a client without a marketing team or just a smaller company that's like, someone mentioned PR over dinner and I want you to pr my business. And I'm like, ah, don't say pr, my, that's not a thing. Um, but you start asking the questions and you quickly realize they don't really even know what it is we do, and they don't know what they're looking for. So how can you be, how can you even measure success if you don't, if they don't know what success looks like to them? So, yeah. And a
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Lot of people are afraid of it too. Just wanna add, there's, there's definitely people that are afraid of success and even if they're in a, an organization, some of the people that I am working with, even though the organization is doing well, sometimes the person I'm speaking to has some hangups about people they work with or, you know, so I have to kind of do all of that too. Hmm. But in general, um, life is way better these days. Um, even though I
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Was gonna ask you, how has your career shift impacted your personal life, your family life? I love that you're diving into this. Let's hear it. It's so
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Amazing. Well, now I can make smoothies, which is the thing that I used to rush around. Um, I used to just like drink coffee. Well, I still do drink coffee all the time. I won't wine. I got
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Mine right here. I just like
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It. But I, I was like, I love coffee and I do drink it all day, but I used to feel like I never had time. Now I did. I, I, I did. And that was because I was juggling two careers and because I was still seeing quite a bit of clients one-on-one mm-hmm. as I was developing my courses and my programs where I could just promote them to my mailing list and, and on Instagram and have people sign up. So now about three years into my five-year plan that started working for me, I started going like, oh, like I have this, this income on the side mm-hmm. and what, what I was doing is I was just taking more one-on-one clients and then I was, I was thinking, why am I doing this? And I should mention that my husband was diagnosed with cancer and, and it's incurable cancer. Wow. So that was in 2020 or 21 I believe. So when we found that out, I was like, okay, I need to make a change. And I started slowly moving my schedule around, but really what I was doing is just juggling. Um, at the same time I was also babysitting one of my grandchildren. So I was partially babysitting, partially, and I won't say caring for my husband cuz he hasn't taken a day off of work. Like he's doing really well, doing
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Really well. Ask it sound. Yeah. He sounds like he's doing amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
He's doing really well. And, but at the same time, I still, time is a commodity that we do not have an ex you could always have more money, but you will not always have more time. And that's what his cancer taught me. So what happened for me was I just decided between that I just decided I'm done with juggling and I wanna go back to full-time the thing that I loved the most and help people, I'd rather help people that can help people rather than me being the one-on-one person.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah. Add out a greater impact the work you were doing Yes. To amplify the messages of your clients Absolutely. Was allowing them to help more people. And you get to have a greater app, uh, impact with less of your time being dedicated to that.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I can get very excited about, you know, who is a fairly well known couples therapist who does this, who does that mm-hmm. and, and I can get excited about getting them more clients, more people in their programs and things like that. Mm-hmm. now some of these clients are smaller, but some of them seem small, but they're like you, like they have a huge business and, and the products that go with some of these individuals are very big. And to know that my help or support could be creating this domino of an impact of people being healed is like amazing. So rep
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Love, love that. I love that, that you're mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
And I have way more time. Yeah. Way more time.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Wow. So, oh my gosh. Well, so my next question is about you joined the Pitch lab and you know, any wins that you've had since joining the Pitch Lab, but it sounds like Yes, we it's all wins. It's so Yeah. Where, how would you
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Categorize? Well, there's one huge win. You one huge win. So I had always, I came into it with some clients and I worked with some organizations already that were referring individuals to me. So I already had that. And through referrals, I had some clients, but I decided when I joined Pitch Lab, I'm gonna give myself a challenge and I'm going to ask one company that I absolutely love, that I absolutely believe in mm-hmm. , Hey, I'm gonna give you a discount for three months. Let me give you this discount. I wanna work with you. And, but at the end of the three months you're going, there's a contract for my regular fee. And, um, I expected them to just completely ignore me. Mm. And not only did they not ignore me, they came back with, no, we're just gonna give you your regular fee. Wow. Because
Speaker 3 (16:04):
We'll absolutely value you. Wow. And like, they, and I showed them some of my work and they, they were like, and in fact, every single day I actually have one of the pr it's a fitness, uh, it's a fitness equipment, uh, item that also helps people emotionally. So when, when I send them anything, if the owner gets back to me, it's, it's, you're a blessing. Thank you. Oh my gosh, so much. I'm like, I am so happy. And that was within, okay. So I started within two weeks. I think I was only in my third week.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Wow. Wow. Maybe
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I think I pi cause I technically started in my second week of pitch lab, like, okay, I'm gonna do this. And then I think I pitched them within a couple of days. Wow. And I thought like, okay, let me just get used to pitching and let me, let me learn how to handle, you know, maybe I need to negotiate. And for them to come back and say like, let's do it and we're gonna give you your rate. And I was like, Ugh, . Like, I shouldn't have made it bigger. But I was like,
Speaker 2 (17:13):
So I think I was so excited.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I was so excited. So that was like, that's a win. And he's already said to me, I was only going for a six month. And he was like, well, I don't want you just for six months, you're, you're a part of our team. Like, I want you, can we do a year contract? And I'm like, yes, we can. Amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
So amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
That to me is a huge win. Cause it's something that you don't have to think about. Like, I don't have to juggle it. Like I know I have this one year with this one client and he alone covers enough that if I only had him, I would be pretty happy. Oh my God.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Like, like that's, and that's way more time with my husband, way more time with my grandchildren, more time making smoothies, working out, doing whatever. Like, I feel like I, I feel like I'm 10 years younger.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
You can't see Michelle, but she is like the hottest grandma you've ever, like when she said gra I was like, um, what? Now she is so hot and beautiful and youthful and non grandmama. But, um, I have to say, like as you were telling that story, my face, nobody can see it's a podcast, but I have this huge smile from ear to ear. That's exactly what we teach as one of the foundational aspects of the agency accelerator. That feeling of, I am deeply connected to this. I can't ignore this feeling I have of like mm-hmm. , I wanna work with this company. I love the products, I love everything they're about. I'm just gonna reach out. I'm gonna offer my services at a discount. Usually the companies don't come back and say, let me just pay you more. But that's amazing. Good for you, and well, the,
Speaker 3 (18:51):
To say the guy's amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah. And like, we always try to go for those longer contracts so that you have consistent, predictable, recurring retainer revenue that allows you to build in that freedom, flexibility. If you need a team member to come in and support you, you have that built into it and you can build your agency on top of this consistent client and leverage the results you get. Like it's just win, win, win across the board. But what I will say is the passion you had for marketing that, you know, led you into pr, maybe that didn't give you the confidence that you would need to reach out blind, but the pitch lab, when you were like, I have structure, I have a foundation, I have resources, like I'm legit, let's go. Mm-hmm. . And that confidence allowed you to go and it was amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
And like, you know, that came so quickly. So it's mm-hmm. really incredible. What, you know, how I
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Didn't expect it. Yeah. Like, did not, not expect it
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Of you've been, and how you just really, you know, just grabbed, grabbed that energy and, and just said, I'm gonna build a business on top of this passion I have. And, and it
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Was, it was your pitch lab and the community. Mm-hmm. , I just felt so confident, so amazingly confident. And I would not have had that three weeks before, two weeks before. Oh my God. I would not have had that. Wow. And I'm not like a shrinking violet, but there's no way in hell I would've been like, oh, let me, I would've thought I was arrogant to write to somebody Oh. And assume that I could do these things. Like, I would've thought like, oh, there's no way. Like I am. How could I possibly do that? Hmm. But I just had the confidence and I didn't feel, I felt like I was helping. I felt like Yes, of course.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Absolutely. I felt
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Like
Speaker 3 (20:41):
I could help you. Yes. I can help you. I believe in your product. More people should be using your product. And the other thing I should mention is I, okay, so I'm mid fifties and I have taken a lot of courses and a lot of different trainings and like, I don't wanna say anything's ever a waste because I feel like everything's a learning experience. But there are some very big names out there that I have taken their courses and I've come out of it like, okay, that was lame. Like, or, or I felt like, well, maybe I kept coming out of things like going, well maybe I know, like all there is to know maybe what am I not getting? Like what is, maybe it's me. Is something not clicking? Is there something wrong with me? So I was starting to get a lot of self-doubt.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Mm. And then it was sort of, I just remember seeing your ad and I loved your brand colors. And I was like, darn, I'm gonna have to do different brand colors. Cause then it'll look like I'm popping. But I was just like, oh, I love that. Cause like even my living room is that blue. So anyway. Wow. I was just like, okay. Um, oh my God, it's great. And it's like the best color for like, on air, everything. So, um, so once I signed up, I did not, and I'm gonna tell you honestly, I did not have any kind of high expectation. I really just thought, this is a distraction that will help me. And if I get one little nugget, it will not be a waste. Mm-hmm. . And I was binging like a lunatic. Anything that you had available for free, I was binging, um, podcasts.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Like everything, I was his bing bing binging. And at one point my husband was like, or I went into the spare room and he was like, are you mad at me? And I said, no, it wasn't the weekend. And I'm like, that's, I look setting up camp in the spare room. And he was like, are you mad? Like, what's going on? And I'm like, no, I just like, need to listen. I need, I'm obsessed. I cannot fall asleep. I'm obsessed. And then like the next morning he woke up, I woke up really late and he woke up and he was like, he, he always delivers coffee bedside. Oh, so he comes in the spare room. Yeah. And he delivers coffee. And he was like at the normal, like 7:00 AM time. And I looked at him and I'm like, what are you doing in here? I just went to bed two hours ago, like I was up on, and he's like, are you sick? And I'm like, no, I was binging and I'm obsessed. And he was like, oh my god, . So anyway, it's been every single, I'm learning something every single session and me too, me too. Honestly not learn. It's like impossible to not learn. And it feels like the, um, the Facebook group, both the public and the private feel like water coolers, like Mm,
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Totally. I
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Like, I'm pretty much working alone with just a couple of contractors. So I feel like when I go in there, I'm like, oh, these are the people I kind of work with, you know? Mm-hmm. , like mm-hmm. ,
Speaker 2 (23:32):
They're your coworkers, they're your colleagues. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with that too. Oh my gosh. That is, that makes me so happy. I mean, we really try to deliver actionable, valuable, even our free content, we're like, how can we give our audience what they need when they need it? And I never want somebody to show up and be like, well that was a frigging waste of time. And and even worse. Yeah. That was a waste of money. I do feel like when you go through content and you're like, oh, okay, yeah. Like I didn't learn anything new, but I am reassured that I'm doing it the right way. Mm-hmm. , I do think there's value in that. Oh, totally. But when you're there to learn, you want new information that's gonna help you hone your skills. So it makes me so happy to hear mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
that what we've put together gives you not only the confident, you know, the skills that you need mm-hmm. to successfully run your business, but also to reach out and exactly how you set it. Like, I want more people to be exposed to your products. I love what you're all about. Mm-hmm. , I can help you. Like that's the feeling I want everyone to get and to follow that instinct to go after work that will light them up. And it's like knowing that you have these really valuable skills to offer a company and confidently say, I'm gonna deliver on the things we are, we're talking about. You know, that's what we aim for. It's like giving you the expertise and the confidence in your back pocket so that you can deliver on that. So that is just the biggest compliment you can pay is that everybody else's
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Stuff. It
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah. Wasn't great in ours. You know, you were, you come in doubtful and you're like, maybe it's just a distraction, but that we actually mm-hmm. give you something that is worth your while mm-hmm. .
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yeah. Right. That's very important to us. And, and, um, and I shouldn't mention, like, also I just wanna clear up when I said that he was like, oh no, let me give you more. It, it, we had a conversation, we had an hour long conversation and he wanted me to do a couple of other things. We kind of decided on it. So I don't want anyone else to think like, oh, well people aren't doing that with me. Like, this was a very Yeah. Specific conversation that he and I had and he wanted me to do more. So we agreed on a long-term situation. Yeah. And,
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Um, yeah, well when you have those conversations, then you can talk to the client and find out what they actually are looking for in terms of their goals and objectives, and then you can have a discussion about other services you could be offering. Right. That way,
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Obviously. And again, that was through Pitch Lab .
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah. Oh, I love it. Oh my God. I think
Speaker 3 (26:20):
It was, wait, was it the other one? There was another one that was like a little shorter. I ordered that one too. I was talking to your assistant and she was amazing and I was like, what else can I get? Basically? Oh, Miranda,
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Um, lead Commanded will help you. Yes, yes. That's anybody that's listening. Um, we have this super inexpensive little mini course. It's 40, I think it's like $47 it's called.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Yeah. It was like 47 or 49. It was like really inexpensive.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And we're just, it is very, very good at helping you niche down to find your first few clients, to give you a process for outreach to give you all of the, like,
Speaker 3 (26:59):
The
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Things you need to be thinking through. Um, and it's exceptional. And I think, I mean, I love hearing that you went through that and gave you that confidence to like cold outreach to your dream client. You know, the client that loves the work you're doing, that's paying you what you're worth for the value. You're, that's huge
Speaker 2 (27:17):
. Yeah. I mean, it, it's such a no-brainer. So if you're listening to our show and you're like, how do I just jump in and, you know, maybe I wanna get my first client, or I wanna freelance get lead to Landed, just, you know, look up Generation Academy and go to programs, it is a total no-brainer. And it's very, very good. I had somebody reach out to me on LinkedIn that was like, I went through your program and I was like, oh, agency Accelerator. And she was like, no. And she like built her entire company on , like what she learned in how to get clients and lead to Landis. So I was like, oh my God. That's incredible. Um, so I love hearing that you were able to do that. And um, I would just say, just kind of wrap up, like what advice would you give to an aspiring PR pro who might not feel confident, maybe they're nervous about transitioning into a brand new career or transitioning kind of full-time, leaving something that they're familiar with into something maybe that's a little less known to them?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Well, I would say that if you're not confident, it's probably because you don't have sort of the ammunition you need to lead the way. And so when you have the tools and the resources and the support, just like in therapy, when you have support, you excel. And I feel like, I feel like if they, if they start even with, with the smallest offering that you have, that will help them have a low risk way of experiencing something big because it's, it's low risk to, to enter, but you have such a high reward. And the only thing that's keeping me at this point from the accelerator program is that I just have so much information that I'm taking in right now, , I'm gonna go, you know what I mean? Like, I'm gonna be up 24 7. So I'm just waiting, get through that one and then I'm gonna go to Accelerator and I just assume that I'm gonna be in there forever. Like, I just assumed that that's my, like, I'm gonna consider it part of my overhead as like, this is part of my business expense, my overhead, this is my water cooler, these are my people. And, and that's it. So yeah, so I would say, just start mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
. Yeah. No, no, no. I was gonna say
Speaker 3 (29:30):
What? No, you made a face and I was wondering what that
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Well, I, well I, uh, I forgot that we didn't talk about your Billboard York during Fashion Week , that was such a Luke on a billboard. Okay. So let's wrap up with that discussion. Okay. Oh my God. That is one of those like, pinch me moments that not everybody has on their life. So
Speaker 3 (29:56):
That was so, that was so unexpected that I didn't even have what I needed. I didn't even have models ready or anything for that. So I had a quick contest to get models and photographers. Mm-hmm. But what happened was, um, I also had a, uh, skincare company for a very short time way, a lot of work and there's a lot of pe I didn't wanna reinvent the wheel anyway. I gave tons of skincare to Fashion Week. And especially there was one group that I gave quite a bit to and they had a lot of younger fashion designers and so forth. And they gifted me as a surprise. They gifted me a billboard in Fashion Week. Now, let me tell you right now, I live in the country. I am literally only dressed as I am right now cuz I have to be seen . And when I found out, and I, I love Vogue, you know, I love all of that, but it's, I'm not a fashion person.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
I will probably never have a fashion client. That's not my thing. But I could not believe that I had that. So I had a contest, excuse me, a contest then. And I got some new up and coming models and I had the billboard and um, I have some screenshots of it and somebody took a quick video of it. I didn't even go to New York to see it. But it was such an amazing thing cuz also my dad who had passed away 30 years ago, had used to say, I know my, you know what, it sounds like a big sob story, but I don't mean it to be . But, but my dad who had passed away 30 years ago, used to say he was from New York City and he used to say, oh, one day, you know, my name is gonna be open lights cuz he used to be a dancer, um, that worked with Radio City, musical Hall and so forth.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
So oh my God, he never got that. So when that happened, I felt like, oh, my dad finally got his name up. Cause I, I go by my maiden name. So I felt like, oh my God, like this is so amazing. So Oh wow. I feel like the power of publicity can change lives and Yeah. To be a part of it is just like amazing. It's the most amazing thing. So, so somebody did that for me. And so I wanna continue to like, continue to, to do those kind of things and, um, just change, change lives. So.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Wow, that was amazing. I got the chills when you mentioned Yeah. Your name up there and your dad. Yeah. Incredible. That was amazing. Oh my gosh, Michelle, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. Um, so inspiring. And one thing that we didn't mention, I mean, you did mention that you're a grandma and you mentioned you're age , but it's like we can reinvent ourselves totally anytime. It's never too late to follow your passionate. It's never, I mean we're, you know, we're not, we're not old. We're like discovering more about ourselves at all times, you know,
Speaker 3 (32:39):
And you know, there's, there's always when you're older, especially if someone is 50 plus now I know even 40 plus people think like, oh, it's too late to change. But even if you're 50 and older, you make, you decide the hours you wanna work, you decide what you wanna do, you decide the company, the companies and the brands you work with and the type of work you're doing. Yeah. So my thing is, you know, knitting groups are fun, but like PR makes money and changes lives, you know, like, you know, so, so just do what is, do something that's passionate and also keeps you around young people as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
So I don't think you're ready for the, uh, quilting circles just yet, Michelle, you have a lot more to offer and I just am so grateful that you found us. Um, I'm grateful. I'm
Speaker 3 (33:26):
So grateful. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Ad targeting that somehow found you and you said that it was an impulse purchase. Um, hopeful. Totally. Mm-hmm. , you feel like that was a, a positive, uh, impulse. Yes. Um, . So
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Great. So great.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
So yeah. Well thank you for sharing your story. Thank
Speaker 3 (33:44):
You so much. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Yeah, thank you. Thank you. So grateful for you. Thanks for all your contributions to our community too.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Thank you. I love it. Absolutely love it.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Pitching Powerhouse podcast. If you're ready to up-level your pitching skills so that you can provide stellar services to your clients, you should think about joining the Pitch Lab. Check out the link in the episode description to learn more. So the Pitch Lab is this awesome, incredible monthly membership experience where you'll get the proven formula for crafting PR pitches that actually convert and get tons of strategic, timely pitch angles so you never run out of pitch ideas again. Oh. And you also get access to incredible monthly execution plans that save you hours of time and include irresistible pitch angles that the media cannot ignore with relevant and timely strategies and topics for PR coverage during current events, holidays, monthly awareness, observances, say that fast, three times seasonal events and more. You'll be able to create PR content that makes your clients stand out even if you are new to pr. So check out the link in this episode's description to learn more. And as always, be sure to tune into next week for another incredible episode packed with the insights you need to become a pitching powerhouse.
