PR Pros: Lisa Hildebrandt Of A.wordsmith On The 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A Public Relations Pro

An Interview With Kristen Shea

Be a voracious reader. Spend the first half of every day soaking up the top global headlines and news stories that pertain to your client’s industries. When you consistently keep your finger on the pulse of current events, trends, happenings, and movers and shakers at prominent publications/podcasts/broadcast stations, you can identify opportunities for your client to insert a unique opinion/stance on important issues, and propose opportunistic story angles to ensure they’re included in broader trend pieces and industry conversations.

Have you seen the show Flack? Ever think of pursuing a real-life career in PR? What does it take to succeed in PR? What are the different forms of Public Relations? Do you have to have a college degree in PR? How can you create a highly lucrative career in PR? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A Public Relations Pro” we are talking to successful publicists and Public Relations pros, who can share stories and insights from their experiences.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lisa Hildebrandt.

Lisa Hildebrandt is the vice president of A.wordsmith, a boutique communications agency in Portland, Oregon that has been titled one of the top firms in the area consecutively for the past four years. She has more than 16 years of strategic communications experience building brands, engaging audiences and driving impactful storytelling results for some of the world’s most iconic companies. Lisa’s career trajectory has been guided by her ability to get to the core of a client’s needs, pull together the right teams and resources, guide mission-critical campaigns to success and empower others to succeed.

Thank you so much for your time! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Since childhood, I’ve had a deep passion for theater, creative writing and storytelling. I’ve always felt most alive when writing imaginative storylines, playing make believe, getting into character and bringing theatrical productions to life — whether onstage or in my living room. Yes, I was a real ham! This passion for the emotional connection of story, coupled with a genuine interest in human psychology, extended into my high school years. I had amazing teachers, guidance counselors and coaches, including an influential theater teacher who shaped who I am today in many ways — she taught me how to step into my power, project my voice with confidence, have courage in my convictions, dream big and dare greatly. Together with my parents, these mentors guided and inspired me to pursue a degree in communications from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University. After all, communicators are storytellers at their core. Yet instead of taking center stage as the leading character, I was intrigued with being behind the scenes, helping clients define their business origin/evolution and human-interest stories, find their authentic voice, translate complex topics into easily digestible narratives and develop messaging that generates response and genuinely moves the needle. Every brand has a distinct story to tell, and I feel fortunate to lend my passion for storytelling and brand-building to uncover the anchor narratives, emotions and services that bring the value of an organization to life for the audiences that matter most.

Can you share the most interesting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?

Early in my career at a global PR agency, I quickly learned to roll with the punches, adapt to unpredictable (and sometimes hilarious) circumstances, and as they say in Project Runway — “Make it Work.” For instance, when leading corporate communications strategies for one of the most iconic technology brands, and coordinating media interviews with senior executives to support major product launches, crisis communications and reviewer engagements, I was committed to delivering “client delight” at all times. And sometimes ‘delight’ fell far outside the confines of my job description. One of the most memorable examples of this was during a multi-day media workshop. A journalist traveling from oversees unfortunately lost their luggage in transit, and given my penchant for delivering delight, I was asked to go shopping for clothes, toiletries, cell phone and laptop chargers and even underwear so they had everything they needed to be comfortable for the next few days. Yep, I took delight to a whole new level! But it paid off in spades, as that willingness to go the extra mile resulted in a meaningful new media relationship, a series of positive stories and a very grateful client. There’s never a dull moment in PR and there’s more than a few unforgettable memories that stick out in my mind — from finding a new venue for a press dinner two hours before it was slated to start, talking clients off the ledge during high stakes crisis situations, or having an emergency kit on hand so executives could be camera ready at a moment’s notice (breath mints, band aids, hair gel, safety pins, etc.). Through all these experiences, I learned to intimately understand what was keeping clients up at night, their personal and dietary preferences, and anything else they might need so I could pivot accordingly and set their minds at ease.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was about a year into my first role, I accidentally sent an extremely detailed media briefing document to a reporter instead of my client — they had the same first name. Thankfully, I caught the mistake immediately and the message recall function saved my bacon, but my palms were sweaty and I think I stopped breathing momentarily. To this day, I always leave the ‘to’ line empty until right before sending a message. In a fast-paced, deadline-driven industry, it’s imperative to not get swept away in the busy and dedicate an extra five minutes to triple check everything before hitting send. It could prevent a potentially embarrassing or career threatening situation. While that was certainly a valuable lesson, one of the funniest (and most painful) early career mistakes I ever made was failing to wear the proper footwear to a three-day conference at the Moscone Center — which as everyone knows, is a massive space. I thought I’d be fashion forward in my 4-inch heels while escorting clients from the keynote to their scheduled media and customer interviews. Beauty is pain, right! Let’s just say, by the end of the three days, I was walking with a slight limp, both of my toes were bruised and bleeding, I had multiple blisters and had to use second skin bandages for months after to recover. Don’t be like me and underestimate the importance of functional and comfortable footwear. You’ll thank me later.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

For the past two years, starting with the pandemic and most recently with the great resignation, we’ve seen a steady and significant uptick in branding, messaging and strategic planning requests. As part of that, I’ve had the opportunity to craft messaging for 7+ clients in the hospitality, nonprofit, education, technology, healthcare and consumer sections. At a time when organizations have a heightened appetite for guidance around their brand, identity and positioning, this messaging has served as a foundation for all internal and external language around their brand promise, key messages, guiding principles, elevator pitch, heritage, company values and services impact in a compelling and emotive way. From there, I’ve created exhaustive, go-forward communications strategies that outline recommendations for ways to leverage PR for greater impact — including media relations, branding, marketing and thought-ware content creation, social media, internal communications, sensitive or crisis communications, website copy development and/or refinement, speaking and awards. This has led to exciting opportunities to expand into new areas of strategic capability, including stepping in to serve as an organization’s acting chief marketing officer, or depending on their budget constraints, guiding them with the tools needed to execute on the proposed strategies internally. It feels so rewarding to identify a new market need, tap into our core strengths, and be the source of a solution.

You are a successful leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

• Tenacity. A tenacious drive to start with yes, leave no stone unturned, explore all possibilities, take risks to achieve greater rewards, and take initiative to volunteer for projects that feel uncertain or scary. This requires connecting the dots across the business with a constant eye on client objectives, and exceeding expectations with precision, thoroughness and excellence. For instance, a few years into my career, I was asked to design, define and execute a multi-day, multi-city, relationship-building media tour for a Vice President of a leading technology company. Had I done anything like that before? Nope! It was a tall order, but I felt the fear and pushed forward anyway. I resisted the urge to say “I can’t” and instead said, “absolutely, I haven’t had experience with that before, so I’d value your guidance along the way, but I’m excited to dive in! Thank you for the opportunity.” That tour never ended up happening due to the VP’s incredibly busy schedule, but I secured interest from 10+ top-tier technology publications. I think back on this lesson whenever I’m asked to define a new process or initiative. Start with yes, you might surprise yourself! So, make that call to a new business lead, prospective customer or reporter even if your palms are sweating, speak up in the meeting even if you don’t have all the pertinent facts, and share your ideas and recommendations even if you aren’t 100% confident they won’t fall flat. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If something doesn’t go perfectly to plan, train your brain to look for the gift. You might learn something new, unearth new opportunities, and gain greater insight into what you can improve for next time.
• Compassion. Throughout my career, compassion has always been a core tenant of my leadership style, yet the pandemic definitely promoted it to the frontlines. I charged ahead with heart and head, and put greater emphasis on leaning into understanding what clients and employees are thinking, feeling and experiencing — both personally and professionally. What’s going on in their lives that might be influencing their decision making, performance or ability to focus? What internal pressures are they under? What support do they need that they may not have needed previously? What messages resonate and inspire? What processes would they like to see put in place? And how can I, as a leader, make their lives easier?
• Courage. Have courage in your convictions, do what’s right over what’s easy, lead others and provide direction, even when it might not be the most popular opinion. As a leader, you must balance the big ideas with the tough calls — always keeping the best interests of your people and purpose in mind. This is hard as it might ruffle some feathers at times, but it’s important to never lose sight of your why.

For the benefit of our readers, can you help articulate what the different forms of PR are?

This is one of the things I love most about public relations. It spans a wide array of activities, depending on the industry and audience. A few examples include:

• Corporate communications. Internal and external communications strategies centered on organizational news, M&A, strategic partnerships, product/service announcements, new investments, fiscal earnings announcements, leadership transitions, analyst reports, etc. Corporate communications activities and initiatives also include messaging, branding, and materials creation related to learning and development, talent acquisition, corporate social responsibility, DEI, leadership/culture and customer satisfaction, etc.
• Media relations. Building relationships, trust and transparency with journalists, broadcasters, bloggers and influencers to secure media coverage.
• Branding. The visible elements, such as design, logo and messaging, form a perceived image of a brand in a consumer’s mind. It includes what — and how — is said about a brand.
• Thought leadership. Showcases the expertise of thought leaders, innovators and forward-thinking individuals in their respective fields who are willing to share divergent perspectives and stake their claim as experts via whitepapers, blogs, contributed articles, etc.
• Marketing. This includes lead generation, brochures, sales enablement materials, case studies, newsletters, eBooks and website copy.
• Social media. Engaging with audiences on key social media channels (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Medium) by developing and managing an organic strategy that ensures consistency in cadence, aesthetics and content, in alignment with corporate positioning guidelines.
• Crisis management. Communications to navigate a product recall, corporate scandal, social media disaster, or any issue that presents a long term and detrimental threat to your brand or reputation.
• Public affairs. Building relationships with politicians, government entities, and trade associations to influence legislation and create radical change.
• Community relations. Influencing and shaping an organization’s reputation in the local community.

Where should a young person considering a career in PR start their education? Should they get a degree in communications? A degree in journalism? Can you explain what you mean?

I think this largely depends on the structure of the communications program — there’s no one size fits all solution. For instance, at Washington State, when you major in communications, after taking introductory courses for the first two years (this includes classes in communications theory, marketing, PR, broadcast and print journalism, and business), you can determine your emphasis — whether that be PR, journalism, advertising, or something else entirely. So regardless of what emphasis you choose to pursue, you’re empowered with the foundational knowledge and the holistic educational experience needed to pinpoint your passions and chart the path forward. That said, if the University structures their communications program differently, I’d recommend taking a few journalism, marketing and business classes to complement your PR courses and ultimately set yourself up for success after graduation.

Can you share some tips on great networking?

Do your research before a networking event so you have a strong pulse on the attendees (their interests, backgrounds, achievements, etc.), and based on your insights gleaned, spark authentic conversation. Discover and establish rapport over shared objectives, passions or challenges. As you’re building your network, focus on how you can help others, not how others can help you. Remember to be authentically you. And finally, follow-through. Keep the connection alive by sending notes of congratulations for significant milestones (e.g., birthdays, promotions, career changes, business expansions, authoring a book, etc.), showing interest in new business ventures, and sharing something of value at every touchpoint.

Lead generation is one of the most important aspects of any business. Can you share some of the strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Make connections, have a strong referral network, be responsive if someone reaches out, stick to your guns and core competencies, find your niche and specialty instead of trying to do it all perfectly. Remember that clients are inspired and influenced by ideas, people and trust.

Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “5 Things You Need to Create A Highly Successful Career as A Public Relations Pro” and why.

• Define your career path. Create actionable, specific, realistic and measurable goals. Every year, set your intention, define how you what to show up, and determine what capabilities you need to acquire. From there, create a plan to accomplish your dreams, design a workback that breaks your goals into smaller milestones, and commit it to memory. For example, my dad always advised me to think about my career trajectory as a journey, with metaphorical metals you need to achieve or boxes you need to check before moving onto the next level. These represent the competencies you need to master to advance to the next stage of your career (e.g., leadership, management, strategic thinking, gravitas, top tier media relationships, etc.). These checkpoints can evolve throughout your career, yet the most important thing is to ensure every decision you make is aligned with your end goal in mind. You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you’re going.
• Be a voracious reader. Spend the first half of every day soaking up the top global headlines and news stories that pertain to your client’s industries. When you consistently keep your finger on the pulse of current events, trends, happenings, and movers and shakers at prominent publications/podcasts/broadcast stations, you can identify opportunities for your client to insert a unique opinion/stance on important issues, and propose opportunistic story angles to ensure they’re included in broader trend pieces and industry conversations.
• Adopt an adaptable, growth mindset. I’m a passionate believer that anything is possible with enough tenacity, patience, reverse engineering and creativity. The future belongs to those with adaptability in their DNA and change as their expectation. So, train your brain to find new connections, crack new codes, embrace new ways of working, and consider new ideas that might have been overlooked otherwise. This sometimes means starting before you’re ready and navigating uncharted waters and ambiguous situations — which can be challenging for the type-A, data-driven perfectionists out there (myself included!). All forward progress begins with a brave decision, so ignore the voice in your head that says you’re not ready yet. Get your skin in the game and value growth and learning over comfort and certainty.
• Find your niche, make your mark. Determine the specialized skill that makes you shine! In other words, what’s your superpower? Maybe you’re a media relations maven. Maybe you excel at writing compelling prose that inspires the skeptics and captures hearts and minds. Maybe you’re magic at social media strategy or beautiful, awe-inspiring design. Maybe you’re the best at client delight. Take some time to identify what that is for you, and invest in developing it!
• Invest in relationships. Make it a mission to ensure people — from clients, coworkers, managers, mentors and reporters — know that you’re wholeheartedly invested in their success. From notes of appreciation to recognize a colleague that went the extra mile; rewarding someone with a shiny gold star for stellar performance; bringing something valuable, creative or unexpected to every client engagement (whether that’s an exciting new story opportunity or their favorite sweet treat to help them survive a crazy week); emailing a reporter to share how you thought their recent story was intriguing (without pitching them something in return); or sending flowers to a manager or mentor to thank them for imparting invaluable wisdom. PR is a relationships business, so it’s important (and so rewarding) to cultivate meaningful, life-changing connections.
• And remember, you can’t empty the ocean every night. One of the most insightful words of advice a mentor has imparted upon me was “you can’t empty the ocean every night.” In the highly-competitive, fast-paced and deadline-driven PR industry, it can be easy to try to accomplish every single task on your to-do list before hanging up your hat at night. But it’s nearly impossible to check ALL the boxes every day. Believe me, I’ve tried. There will ALWAYS be something else to do to stay three steps ahead of clients, and the rapidly evolving media, industry and competitive landscape. Instead, distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s important, do what’s creative and strategic over what’s expedient, stay curious and open to new ways of working, and then prioritize accordingly.

Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’m deeply passionate about animal rescue and advocacy, so my mission would be to start a sanctuary to save all the dogs in Ukraine and other war-torn countries (or really any furry friends in need). I’d also spearhead the kindness campaign. If we could all show a bit more grace, compassion, understanding, and respect, the world would truly be a better, more beautiful place. So, in a world where anyone can find the dirt in something or someone, be the one who finds the gold.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.