Meet Susan Friedman of Friedman Marketing and Public Relations

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Friedman.

Susan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. My life in a nutshell! I grew up in St. Louis, MO and went to school in Fort Worth at Texas Christian University majoring in Fashion Merchandising. My first internship was in London working at a PR showroom for high-end fashion designers including Burberry, Edina Ronay, and Max Mara, among others. After graduation, I moved to New York City to do an externship with another showroom for luxury fashion designers including Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, and Ozbek. Mind you, externships did not pay, so I worked at The Gap at night and lived off of magazine parties and events that had free appetizers. I had hoped to work in the fashion house’s wholesale department but ended up in the public relations department as it is the most labor intensive. It was fun to prepare for Fashion Week, throw a celebrity-driven grand opening party for a new multi-million-dollar showroom (unfortunately, the same night as a Versace party . . . the drama!), and tour gorgeous collections of apparel and accessories with national magazine editors. Regrettably, despite all the glitz and glam, it was not intellectually challenging enough for me.

While in New York, I started working with Ellen Jacobs Associates, a dance public relations company. We worked with amazing dancers and dance companies including Baryshnikov, The Royal Ballet, Merce Cunningham, and many, many more. I had a formal ballet background having trained and apprenticed with the St. Louis Ballet, so this was a dream. Ellen taught me everything about public relations: how to write press releases and media alerts, media timelines, and story pitching. She engrained in my head the importance of the media, and that it is an honor and a privilege for our clients to be included in a story, not a deserved right. Thanks to Ellen, I finally understood public relations and fell in love with it.

After two years, I missed my friends, the warm weather, and more affordable living and moved back to Dallas. I worked as the marketing director of a four-clubs-in-one entertainment complex in Deep Ellum, fondly known as Club Clearview, and a pan-Asian noodle house called Liberty Noodles. Then, there was a recession in the early 2000’s. The neighborhoods were changing, the economy was sinking, and the owner declared bankruptcy. That is when I started my own company.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you? Launching and sustaining a company has been a challenging journey and growing experience. I have learned many things through trial and error and wish I would have had a mentor or business coach along the way. Three things that I have learned: 1) Trust your gut. Not all leads are good candidates for public relations, or the chemistry and expectations may not be a good fit. Listen to yourself and be able to say no. 2) Collect payment. It may seem obvious, but sometimes it is the hardest thing to do (unfortunately). 3) Public Relations is not brain surgery. It should be fun. Don’t make it difficult.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Friedman Marketing and Public Relations – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others. Friedman Marketing and Public Relations (FMPR) is a boutique public relations firm specializing in promoting lifestyle and consumer-oriented people, places, products, and events. Our firm’s strength is in media relations – finding our clients’ stories to share with the world – but we also provide community relations, event management, social media management, and internal communications.

I take pride in having a successful company for 15 years now. I am honored to have worked with many reputable and accomplished clients, some globally-renowned and others that are mom-and-pop start-ups with a dream that we help make into a reality. We have been successful in garnering numerous cover pages in newspapers, hundreds of television segments, and national media attention.

So, what’s next? Any big plans? Most recently, I launched a podcast with fellow publicist and friend Waylon Tate called Soundbites with Susan and Waylon, where we take a short extraction from our daily lives as publicists in Dallas and beyond to share with our listeners. It is part of the On-Air Media podcast network and airs live every Monday at 10am CST on Facebook @SusanandWaylon. After 15 years in business, I needed a little re-branding of my company and fresh new marketing, and it has been wonderful! Please listen or visit our web site at www.susanandwaylon.com!

When I launched FMPR, I wanted it to remain boutique where I was hands-on in every aspect. Now, I would like to mentor others, hire more employees, and grow the business. I would especially like to develop the social media department. It is amazing to see how quickly the media is changing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.friedmanpr.com
• Phone: 214.559.0122
• Email: info@friedmanpr.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedman_pr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriedmanPR/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/friedmanpr
• Other: http://susanandwaylon.com/

Image Credit:
Lead Photo: Yesi Fortuna for fashion designer, Smith II

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