Young Entrepreneur Interview: Ilana Jacqueline on Starting Her Own PR Firm
Written by Puneet Lakhi Thursday, May 31 2012
The PR firm founder talks about her struggles and her eventual success
Ilana Jacqueline is the CEO and Chief Publicist of About Time Public Relations. About Time PR aids businesses in exposing their best qualities to media outlets all over the United States. Her clients can be seen in major newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio, and more! She uses her innate skills as a professional copywriter to help companies shape their brands identity, create brand loyalty and invite customers into an interactive relationship. She lives and works in Palm Beach County, FL.
Q. How old were you when you started out on your first entrepreneurial venture?
A. I was fourteen when I published my first article. I wanted to be a journalist so it felt like the start of my career. I was 18 when I started my first media company and I was 20 when I started working as a publicist.
Q. How did you get the idea/inspiration for your company? When did you decide this is what you want to do?
A. The company was always a transitory project. It started by housing my websites—including Today’s Teen Online (a national online magazine by and for teenagers) and Materniteens (A teen and crisis pregnancy resource). Then it transitioned into my current focus, About Time Public Relations. Working with Today’s Teen meant receiving upwards of 100 pitches a day from publicists all over the country. I was able to learn by example what makes a good pitch and what goes straight into the spam folder
Q· How did you turn your idea into a reality?. How did you get the capital neccessary to start up and how did you get your company up and running and how much did it cost?
A. The cost of my business was $7.99 for a domain name and 168 hours of my time per week. This was time spent watching web and graphic design tutorials, posting ads for volunteers and training them to pick up the slack. I started building media lists and creating editorial hours, knocking on doors and interviewing people in the business who could share a little insight with a curious 18 year old.
I won’t include the cost of tuition because nothing I learned in college was even remotely useful when it came to running my business. It’s a bitter pill for some graduates to swallow, but the truth is that in my fields (Public Relations and Journalism) you might as well throw out the rule book. The person with the most experience wins. I published my first article at fourteen and took on my first PR client at 19. You can bet my portfolio trumped any new graduate out on the scene.
The truth is that while it might not take money to run a start-up, it will mean sacrifices and it will mean relying on people who you may not want to rely on. I lived with my parents much longer than most of my friends did—which was frustrating, but in the end it was worth it to take the time to get myself situated in the business.
Q. What challenges did you face in the first year of starting your business?
A. I knew my age was going to be an issue from the start. Who is going to trust a 20-year-old with their national public relations campaign? I figured the only way to show my clients that I could serve them was to serve myself first. Focusing on my first two websites for teens, I started pitching myself and my company to ever local media outlet across South Florida. Within two days I had two TV interviews and a feature in a major local luxury magazine branding me as “Wonder Girl.”
Another issue I ran into was finding clients who were seriously interested in my services and mistakenly looking for them in the wrong places. My first tip to young professional women looking to find business: do not attend professional networking meetings at night. Where some professionals might see you as a little girl in the conference room, other professionals have even less respect for a young girl handing out business cards in a cocktail dress. While you might not intend to be perceived that way, you probably will be. It can be a sleazy situation, so save yourself the drama and stick to lunch meetings.
Lastly, PR involves a lot of cold calling. Get used to announcing yourself like the Queen of England and prepare to say pretty much anything to get on the line with the people who can actually help you.
Q. What were you afraid of when starting out and how did you overcome this fear?
A. I was afraid of not being able to come through for a client, of making grand promises and not delivering. It probably took me about five clients to realize that I did actually know what I was doing.
Q. How did you get others to take you seriously as a young entrepreneur?
A. If you’re young—dress professional. Have business cards. Have a great website that showcases your success. If you don’t know specific business etiquette for a certain situation ask other professionals who might know, then act as professional and as kind as possible.
Collect what is owed to you. Be firm and send your invoices out on time.
Q. What was your strategy to market your business and build your client list?
A. I used two strategies to start. One was professional networking groups. I checked out a bunch! From leads groups to chamber meetings, I even found a great young professional’s group. I also had a lot of success just through word of mouth. In just two months I went from five clients to about fifteen.
Q. What is your current revenue like and how has it grown since the inception? Are you able to fully support yourself with your business?
A. I’m proud to say that I am able to fully support myself with my business. This wasn’t something that happened overnight and growing it further may take just as long, but continuing to work at it each day helps it to grow.
I’m 22-years-old. I have my own car, apartment, buy my own groceries, fill my gas tank every week and support my pampered poodle and Target addiction.
Q. What is the most challenging aspect of running a service business and what's the most fun and rewarding?
A. The challenge would be figuring out how much time and energy a client will require during an initial consultation. My job entails investigating every aspect of the business to sniff out any potential PR problems and recommend what we can create a campaign around. If a client doesn’t tell me everything and I project a price far beneath what they actually need—it can become a tricky situation to renegotiate finances.
The most fun and rewarding part would be when any of my clients get a great story. I love being there when clients are being interviewed for a piece or seeing it out on newsstands or in waiting rooms! Their success is my success so it’s easy to be excited over each and every one!
Q. What aspect of your background or education has been most helpful to your experience as an entrepreneur?
A. My mother used to run professional networking groups when I was younger. She used to have me walk around the room with hors d'ouvres for the attendees and she made me get my first business card when I was ten years old. Today she’s one of the top producers at Lifetime TV’s daily talk show “The Balancing Act.” She continues to help me build my business knowledge day in and day out. I feel very lucky to have her as a role model for my career.
Q. What have you learned that you wish you knew when you were starting up your business?
A. Don’t wait till the last minute to figure out your taxes. Don’t think you can help everyone in every situation. Sign a contract before you start to work. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even to people who might one day be your competition.
Q. What overall advice would you offer young entrepreneurs who are looking to emulate your success with creating a service/marketing agency?
A. Celebrate every small success. There will be a lot of bumps in the road, probably some unexpected expenses and a lot of sacrifice both in time and energy. Always act bigger than you are—sure, you may be a one person business for a long time, but sometimes you’ve got to fake it till you make it.
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