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As a part of the Morning Lazziness collection highlighting empowering ladies who’re making a outstanding impression with their concepts, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sophie Attwood.
Sophie Attwood is a globally acknowledged communications skilled, printed writer, and founding father of SA Communications, an award-winning PR company specializing within the well being, magnificence, and wellness industries. With over a decade of expertise and a deep ardour for genuine storytelling, Sophie is thought for crafting strategic, impactful campaigns that elevate manufacturers to new heights.
Since launching SA Communications in 2017, Sophie has constructed a standout portfolio of trailblazing shoppers, together with Harvey Nichols, Wild, St. Tropez, P.Louise, Motiva, Morpheus8, and Bausch + Lomb. Her distinctive strategy fuses creativity with business perception, serving to each international manufacturers and medical consultants join with their audiences in significant, credible methods.
An advocate for integrity and innovation in communications, Sophie’s thought management extends past PR. She is the writer of “Stunning PR,” a go-to information for contemporary model storytelling, and the host of The PR Clinic podcast, the place she shares skilled insights with fellow trade leaders.
On this candid dialog, Sophie shares her journey, insights, and the methods which have helped her construct a results-driven enterprise and empower different entrepreneurs to do the identical.
What impressed you to start out your individual PR company, and the way did you get your first consumer?
I launched SA Communications from my kitchen desk with no funding, a self-built web site, and a agency perception that I might supply one thing totally different. I’d spent years working in-house main a world communications crew, and I knew I might deliver components of this strategy to storytelling to an company involvement. In the end, I wished to steer with coronary heart and technique…not PR spin, smoke and mirrors. My first consumer got here by word-of-mouth, and we’ve grown utterly organically ever since by suggestion solely. We’re now a crew of 20 and dealing with shoppers on a global scale – with places of work in each the UK and the USA.
What distinctive challenges have you ever confronted as a girl entrepreneur within the PR world, and the way did you overcome them?
Being a girl in enterprise is a continuing juggle and what I can solely describe as a battle. You carry the psychological load, you’re the primary one the college calls with an issue, and also you’re anticipated to be each tender and powerful, abruptly. I’ve had males attempt to intimidate me, discuss over me, or worse. I’ve been underestimated extra occasions than I can depend however after a number of years, I realized to let that gas me. I didn’t shout louder. I simply constructed louder. I centered on delivering outcomes that couldn’t be ignored, and constructing an company tradition rooted in empathy, intelligence, and impression. I suppose that’s what’s made SA Communications one of many UK’s most trusted magnificence PR companies at this time.
How do you keep forward of traits in an trade that’s always evolving with media and know-how?
For me, we’re not chasing traits, we’re writing tales. As a result of we stay and breathe this trade, what others see as traits, we expertise as what I can solely describe as intuition. We’re immersed in magnificence, wellness, and aesthetics each single day – so shifts in media, tech, and client behaviour aren’t issues we react to; they’re issues we anticipate, form, and sometimes begin.
What’s your go-to technique for constructing sturdy, lasting relationships with shoppers and the press?
Folks do enterprise with folks. Actual relationships aren’t transactional. We pay attention first, ship constantly, and keep relentlessly curious. Most of our shoppers have been with us for years – we presently have a 98% consumer retention charge which we’re actually pleased with – and most of our press relationships span a decade or extra. That stage of belief is earned, not assumed – and it actually doesn’t come from sending a load of media releases to an inventory of individuals and crossing your fingers.
Are you able to share a marketing campaign or media second you’re particularly pleased with—and why it stands out?
There are such a lot of I might point out. We’ve modified laws and we’ve carried out insurance policies that are nonetheless impacting folks at this time. I like if you work with a challenger model and also you see them come out on prime – for example, Wild has been a retained consumer with SA for a number of years now – and we’re supported them by big progress, to a £200m acquisition from Unilever. We’re pleased with the outcomes we’ve achieved, however we’re extra proud to be telling tales that basically do matter to assist manufacturers who’re actually making a distinction.
Which platforms or techniques have been simplest for rising your individual model visibility?
LinkedIn is so vital. I deal with it like a digital diary and it’s actually helped to construct a steadfast group on-line. PR protection too in fact has been instrumental inside this – options inside Forbes by to accolades with Administration In the present day’s 35 beneath 35 have solely acted as belief markers for potential shoppers.
What function has mentorship performed in your journey, and the way do you pay it ahead to others within the trade?
I wouldn’t be the place I’m with out the few individuals who championed me early on. The primary CEO I labored for believed in me. He’d have me write his speeches for occasions and thru that I nearly realized the voice wanted inside management. Now, I pay it ahead and it’s in all probability one of many issues that basically offers me that fireside in my stomach. It’s one factor succeeding – however it will be a fairly lonely place for those who didn’t take an unimaginable crew with you on the best way up.
How do you deal with high-pressure conditions or crises, whether or not for a consumer or your individual enterprise?
I all the time say: talk shortly, truthfully, and with function. Whether or not it’s a model status challenge or a pivot in enterprise path, staying calm and clear is what earns long-term respect.
What’s one piece of recommendation you’d give to ladies coming into the PR or communications trade at this time?
Don’t wait to be given a seat on the desk, my goodness, construct your individual. The most effective concepts don’t come from the loudest individual within the room, both – so don’t let that intimidate you. Lead with worth, not quantity and also you’ll go far.
What are the 5 stuff you consider are important to beat self-doubt and construct confidence on this discipline?
- Know your impression: Monitor your wins – even the small ones. They’ll construct up quicker than you suppose.
- Don’t over-identify with failure: See it as suggestions, not truth.
- Construct a values-led group: Encompass your self with individuals who mirror your future.
- Say sure earlier than you’re prepared: Then develop into the function. That’s how I gained my first international consumer. Emma Grede lately stated in an interview ‘I obtained to the place I obtained to as a result of I’ve the audacity of a person’ – which I feel is completely true.
- Create proof, not perfection: Perfectionism is worry in disguise. Give attention to progress as a substitute.
Is there a quote, mantra, or philosophy that guides your decision-making and management as a magnificence entrepreneur?
“Construct one thing you’re proud to be remembered for” That’s been my guiding gentle – particularly within the early days after I needed to self-motivate by each late evening juggling a new child and a brand new enterprise.
In the event you might encourage a motion that will deliver essentially the most quantity of fine for the best variety of folks, what would that be?
I’d love extra folks to actually concentrate on sincere storytelling in enterprise. In a world the place filters, hype, and fast-growth tradition typically masks the truth, I need extra founders – particularly ladies – to really feel secure sharing the reality behind the success.
How can our readers additional observe your work on-line?
You could find me on LinkedIn or go to SA Communications to discover the way it’s serving to magnificence, wellness, and aesthetics manufacturers get talked about and keep remembered.
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