Standing for our Words

I just returned from vacation in Bluefields, a remote village in Jamaica, where I had the great fortune to meet some of the people who live there. In particular, I spent some time talking to one of the women who worked where I was staying (she is a mother of three). As I prepared to pack up the car to go to the airport, she hugged me and told me that I was the kind of mother who “stood for my words.” As a mother, it was the highest compliment anyone has given me. Admittedly, staying calm in the face of a two-year-old’s tantrum on vacation is a lot easier than dealing with it in real life. (Clearly that same mother missed my breakdown the previous week when I relied on snacks and “Finding Nemo” as a babysitter while I frantically finished my pre-vacation work.)

Nonetheless, her words have stayed with me, and got me thinking. Standing by your words is something we all value, but in PR, it takes on more importance. We are often defined as creators of “spin.” Most of the time, I just brush those comments off. But I would be lying if I said those stereotypes don’t bother me personally, because I know so many PR people who hold themselves to higher standards.

There are certainly bad stories about PR that fuel this perspective, and unfortunately, negative stories tend to outweigh the positive ones. The stakes are extremely high for PR professionals. Bloggers regularly post bad pitches and call out bad behavior by PR people, as they should. We don’t have a reasonable path of recourse that would create any sort of positive outcome for our clients or the reporters whose ear we strive to capture, so we all remain quiet, as we should. With exception of egregious situations, of course.

For me though, I chose to do PR because I believe in the power of words, and more importantly, their ability to tell a story in a powerful and memorable way. We work with entrepreneurs and CEOs who are taking big risks to start a new company, launch a new product or build a successful company for the long term. I’m passionate about the courage it takes to start, run, and grow a company. And I am grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to witness the paces, changes in direction, failures and ultimate successes in getting there.

I do PR because I believe every company should have someone who will create and stand for their words. Our clients hire us to help tell their stories to the world. We must be able to stand by our words and have the discernment to know which words and stories are powerful enough to move markets and which ones need to sit on the sidelines.