What is a “PR Girl?”
Posted by Kerri Birtch on February 4th, 2009
Very few people know this, but PR Girlz was actually a big part of my inspiration for wanting to become a public relations professional.
I’ve been reading PR Girlz now for more than 3 years. Somehow, I found this blog even long before I had any interest in social media or blogging. I Googled “women in PR” or something to that affect. This was back when I was in my 3rd year of Journalism at Ryerson and I was pretty certain that j-skool was not for me, so I decided to look around for information about other careers that might be of interest. Long story short – here I am.
What made me think about this?
A few weeks ago I had an encounter at a workshop I attended. There were about 12-15 of us sitting in an average sized boardroom. There were communications people from all types of organizations – agencies, non-profits, large corporations and clearly, from all levels of experience. It was a fairly informal presentation, but there were still speakers at the front who, like most presenters, hope that you’ll give them your full attention. Most of the audience obliged this un-written rule; however, there were a select few at the opposite end of the table who choose not to.
Two fellow ‘PR girls’ (although I’m hesitant to call them that – you’ll see why as you read on) felt the need to carry on a side conversation throughout much of the presentation. Now, in a room that small, whispering is very distracting. So much so, that everyone around the table made efforts to turn and glare at the culprits – which they appeared not to notice.
My reason for describing this example this that this is what I consider to be a very poor ‘PR Girl.’
Here’s why: These girls were representing their agency as attendees at the event, in a public space, in the presence of other fellow agencies and PR community members. Quite frankly, their behaviour was rude and disrespectful to everyone in the room. And what they did not seem to notice, is that everyone else noticed. Everyone in that room will now have a lasting impression of what that agency is like – did I mention we were all wearing name tags with our organizations printed on them?
All this really got me thinking about what it means to be a PR Girl. Never once in my reading of this blog did I ever get a sense that what I witnessed at the workshop, was part of being a successful PR Girl. So, here is what a PR Girl is to me:
1) Classy – Now I don’t mean that we all come to work every single day dressed to the nine’s like we stepped out of a fashion magazine. I mean that we are respectable in the way we present ourselves, in the office and in the community.
2) Smart – We are not the ditzy PR girls sometimes portrayed by Hollywood. I work with people who have Master’s degrees, undergrad degrees and many years worth of experience to back it up – there are no airheads around here.
3) Respectful – A good PR girl recognizes the value of building relationships and being respectful to everyone we cross paths with. This goes for the guy asking for change outside to subway, right up to the VP of a new client.
4) Friendly – We are not entitled. We are not snotty. We were personable and friendly. A hard-ass, uppity PR girl might get results for being pushy with media, but it won’t win any brownie points on the relationship building front.
5) Strong – We are classy, smart, respectful and friendly – but don’t think that means any one is going to push us around. We know our business, we love our business and we are good at what we do. And we know it.
So those are my thoughts about what a PR Girl really is.
Did I miss anything?
Posted to Agency Life, Women in PR
February 5th, 2009 » 2:26 pm
I would like to send your blog item to our program chair at CPRS Calgary and to our website person….your comment about rude behaviour at programs is especially pertinent. You GO GIRL!
February 5th, 2009 » 6:16 pm
I completely agree with all your points, especially number 5. Being rude and disrespectful will not win people over but being respectful and friendly does not equal doormat either.
I would hope most people are aware that their own behaviour is going to reflect on the social group they belong to. For PR Girls, that might mean some people will think “all PR Girls are like that”, or “all Gen Y are like that” or “Their whole agency is like that.” Either way, I think your advice to be classy, smart, respectful, friendly and strong are key to being a successful PR Girl.
I just hope those two women read this and recognize the error of their ways. Is there a way for you to anonymously email them a link to this post?
February 5th, 2009 » 6:31 pm
Thank you for writing about what a PR Girl is! I am a student in a post-graduate PR certificate class and of the 40 students in the class only three are male, so I know a thing or two about what a PR girl is. I think your five words suit females in PR and what I see in my class. I’d love to share your list with them and see what they think about the five key words.
I especially agree with your definition of smart. Sometimes it is hard competing with the Samantha Jones stereotype. Many people wrongly assume that females get into PR because they want to mimic her life and PR fois all glitz and glam. It would be interesting to hear from a seasoned female PR practitioner to hear her thoughts on stereotypes and what she has done in her career to overcome them, if any.
Also, just one suggestion, a word to add in might be diverse. In my class alone we have a huge range of backgrounds, personalities and passions. It is amazing to be a part of a group which brings so much variety to discussions and projects. PR girls are a group of females who are dedicated to the profession but are able to bring life experiences and a variety of educational backgrounds to their workplace. A PR girl is also accepting of the diversity of her colleagues and willing to incorporate their ideas and insights into her everyday work, where possible.
Thank you for the insightful post!
February 5th, 2009 » 7:06 pm
Hi Kerri,
First off, I would like to say that I’m a fan of PR Girlz and have been following the blog for a while now. As a PR student at Humber College, I was disappointed to read about the unprofessional behaviour you witnessed at a workshop. Many lectures at Humber have focused on the importance of maintaining a positive reputation for yourself and the organization you represent. We were also taught that repairing a tarnished reputation can be one of the greatest challenges of our career.
Unfortunately, it seems as though the “PR girls” you mentioned were never taught these lessons.
February 5th, 2009 » 9:20 pm
Hi Candice,
Thanks for your comments. I toyed with a lot of ways to approach this topic. You might have noticed I didn’t mention what workshop it was, when it was, what it was about or who else was there. I decided it was better to take my own advice and be classy about it.
February 5th, 2009 » 9:25 pm
Hi Dana,
Thanks for your response. Strangely enough, I’m glad to hear that there are so many females in your class. Communications was a man’s world for a very long time, so it’s certainly nice to see that women are making their way in. Also, great to hear that there is a lot of diversity as well. In agency work we have a wide variety of clients and reflecting their diversity in the PR world is also a great step forward. If you do share this post with your classmates, I’d love to hear some of their responses – or better yet, have them swing by and leave a comment as well.
As a for a seasoned practitioner addressing the stereotypes – I’ll see if I can rope one of our ‘higher-ups’ into addressing that for you. I’d be very interested in the response as well.
-Kerri
February 5th, 2009 » 9:31 pm
Hi Natasha,
You make a great point. I can’t remember the saying, but apparently it only takes a few seconds to make a first impression, but a lot longer to change a bad one. It’s a shame these girls weren’t taught (or they were and ignored) these lessons – they rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and someday, it will probably bite them in the behind. Glad to hear that they’re reminding students the importance of professionalism.
-Kerri
February 6th, 2009 » 3:15 pm
[...] What is a PR Girl? (PR Girlz) [...]
February 7th, 2009 » 8:42 pm
Hi Kerri,
I am one of Dana’s classmates, and she sent me to check out your very interesting and insightful post.
As Dana mentioned, there is an overwhelming majority of women in our program at Humber. Each one of these women truly contradicts the typical stereotype of “pr girls”. I think the program did a fantastic job of picking such individuals–intelligent, interesting, educated, and respectful women who will contribute great things to the public relations industry. I am really honored to be in a class with, and to be learning from, a group of women who are truly passionate about the public relations industry, and who break every stereotype that has plagued our profession.
Dana mentioned the Samantha Jones stereotype, which is something I have come across too often when telling people that I am in school for public relations. These people have misunderstood the public relations industry–unable to recognize it for the important, useful and challenging field that it is. This is really unfortunate, but I have spent time with these people explaining to them the many layers of public relations, and hope that I have, in some way, changed their opinions and opened their minds.
Your definition of a pr girl is bang-on. The only other describing factor I would use is that we are business savvy. I say this because I believe that success in this field requires an understanding for and a respect of business operations. It is a difficult task to understand the internal and external operations of businesses–whether large or small–but I believe that good PR practitioners have a good understanding of all these components. This serves us well when we are representing this business (or organization), and helps us to do our job effectively.
Thanks for your interesting comment!
-Marissa
February 8th, 2009 » 5:25 am
Excellent post Kerri. But unless the people you are talking about are under 18 years of age, they are women, not girls. Moreover they are professionals. I despair that in 2009 we are still discussion gender in the workplace.
February 8th, 2009 » 10:47 pm
Your post is very insightful and I agree with the points you outlined. I too would hope for a higher level of professionalism at meetings.
However, this scenario leads me to wonder about reputations. We know that in public relations specifically, our reputation is everything. But why do we, as women, often feel that we have to constantly monitor our actions and behaviours. It would be interesting to consider what the reactions and responses might be if in the scenario posted, it was two men interrupting the meeting. Would they feel the need to justify or explain themselves? Would there be comments on a PR website posted by men saying they need to be more professional?
Thanks for sharing your experience.
February 9th, 2009 » 10:46 am
@ Shannon – Interesting point. I’m not sure I agree that as women, we often feel that we have to constantly monitor our actions and behaviours. I *think* (and hope) that men tend to do the same in terms of maintaining a professional image. But in general, I think this incident had little to do with the gender of the culprits, but had everything to do with old fashioned manners. I think we were all taught in grade school that it’s impolite to speak while others are speaking. Even if they are professional in their day to day work environment, good manners go a long way.
@ Sherrilynne – Thanks for your comment. The girl/woman discussion is certainly an interesting debate – but regardless of the name assigned, I do agree that above all, we are professionals.
@Marissa – Business-savvy is also important. You’re absolutely right that we also need to know the in’s and out’s of the clients or organization that we work for.
February 9th, 2009 » 1:24 pm
Dear Kerri
Thank you so much for sharing this story with us. I must admit, after reading it, I have a new sense of empowerment, not only as a PR girl but also as a woman in general. I’m currently a post-graduate PR student and have spent quite a bit of time reading various blogs to learn more about the industry and have always enjoyed reading what the PR Girlz have to say.
While reading this post I asked myself what I would have done in that situation. Would I say something to these girls? Would I just stare at them? And when I couldn’t quite answer the question, it made me wonder, what is the professional thing to do in this situation? Should you ask the presenter to say something? Should you just take initiative and ask them nicely to be quiet? I would love to hear your thoughts, Kerri, as to what you think the “right” thing to do is; or anyone else who has had a similar experience.
Kerri, I’m glad you were able present such a positive outlook from a bad experience. By sharing your thoughts about what a PR Girl is, you have inspired many of us ‘future PR girls’ to be respectful professionals. Not only do we have to be aware of our own reputations, we must always be aware of the reputation of PR girls in general.
February 9th, 2009 » 2:15 pm
Hi Jayne,
You raise a very interesting question – should someone have said something to these girls? Probably. I’m actually a little shocked that no one did. The people hosting the workshop were in the room and the presenters were rather strong personalities, it was slightly surprising that no one spoke up. At the same time, maybe this reflects back to a previous comment about women being concerned about their actions in public – there were not many men in the room, but if there had been, would they have been more likely to speak up? Personally, I didn’t feel it was my place to say something, given that I am an entry level PR professional and I guess maybe I didn’t want to be the one to draw attention to it. It reminds me a bit of an intro psych course I once took that talked about something called the Bystander effect. Everyone in the room thinks that someone else will say something and in the end, no one does. But you raise an interesting point and I’m wondering now why no one actually said something – perhaps it could have influenced them to behave better at the next workshop they attend.
-K
February 9th, 2009 » 4:40 pm
You bring up some very interesting points, and some insightful comments. Here is the message at the end of the day – it takes years to build a reputation and minutes to ruin one. As a female who has been in corporate PR for the past nine years, I have seen a number of people who made poor decisions and acted like “girls” instead of like professsionals. You always pay the price for poor behaviour.
That would be my one piece of advice for anyone – before you open your mouth, or exhibit any behaviour – think about what you would do if your CEO was in the room. And I have applied that to what I wear as well – do I want to sit in a meeting with the CEO wearing what I am.
Keep up the good work.
A.
February 9th, 2009 » 11:11 pm
Ignorance was the first word that came to mind when I learned of the behaviour you had to endure at your seminar. These girls obviously do not grasp what it takes to be a success in the PR industry. Some ignorance’s are understandable on the basis of a pure lack of knowledge on a topic. For example, a PR practitioner would never scrutinize an non PR individual who was unaware of social media because they were not exposed to it.
Though this does not apply to these girls. They cannot plead lack of proper etiquette knowledge to use as a scapegoat for their behaviour. Myself being a PR student know first hand how often etiquette and professionalism is drilled into our heads, it is practically the basis of everything that we do. As supposed “professionals” they would have to know the importance of respect. So this is not a case of not knowing, but a case of not caring.
In PR all we have to go by is our reputation. We only have one shot to make a name for ourselves, and that name will solely depend on our actions. Once a reputation is tarnished it is almost impossible to regain people’s trust and respect.
In an industry where first impressions matter and its all about who you know, professionalism should be a top priority to anyone who plans to achieve success. Those girls did two things wrong that day -they chose to disrespect their peers by being distracting during the seminar and even worse, they proved themselves to be distasteful, unreliable with a lack of respect for the business.
So, in response to your question of what makes a PR girl, I feel one major characteristic that should be mentioned is being ethical. Not just in how you represent your clients but also in how you behave and treat your peers. Without this crucial component we prove to be not only an embarrassment to the company in which we represent but more importantly, an embarrassment to ourselves for ruining our careers.
February 10th, 2009 » 10:35 pm
Hi Kerri,
I found your post very interesting. As for your example of the girls in the seminar, I feel as though this type of unprofessionalism could be a reoccurring problem in the PR field. Popular culture has made public relations out to be a field for ditzy valley girls who just want to party. For anyone who knows much about PR this seems ridiculous. PR is often not glamorous at all and certainly takes more than a bleached smile and a nice handbag to succeed at.
It is the Heidi Montags of the world that give PR hopefuls these false ideas. Unfortunately the result is “PR Girlz” that are only half serious about the profession and probably were not all that interested in the seminar at all. I would hope that PR programs would weed individuals like this out, but obviously that is not the case!
P.S I loved your break down of what makes a TRUE PR Girl!
Elisa
February 11th, 2009 » 11:36 pm
Samantha Jones.
That one word sums up the attitude of certain PR girls in the field to me, including the ones you encountered Kerri. But to be completely honest, before entering the PR program at Humber, I too was unclear of how knowledgeable, self-efficient and well equiped PR women are. As a girl growing up watching Sex and the City, it seemed as though PR was a flippant profession to be in, seeing as Samantha was always out to lunch, picking up men on the street or shopping for lingerie. It wasn’t until I did my research into the different college programs that I really came to understand how relevant and crucial PR is regardless of which sector you are working in.
Being in my second semester at Humber, and getting ready to enter the working world, I have to wonder how many girls are out there that are following in Sam Jones footsteps. Has pop culture created a self fulfilled prophecy?
As knowleable bright women, I propose we band together and continue to represent ourselves in a truley classic fashion, rather than allowing ignorant “PR girls” to tarnish what we work so hard for. It is our job to help educate those girls on what a great team of women they belong to, and remind them that being a PR Girl is something to be proud of.
Anyone with me?
February 15th, 2009 » 3:48 pm
Hi,
I definitely think this is a well written entry. There are so many “PR Girls” who misrepresent us in this industry and they make it hard for those of us who truly have a passion for the business. I work in Entertainment PR currently as a freelance Celebrity Publicist/Event Coordinator, but I’m looking to go into Corporate in the near future. I definitely like to see articles like this just to keep me grounded! Thanks for taking the time out to write this!
March 19th, 2009 » 1:39 pm
I am very interested in Entertainment PR. I feel I have the drive, the people skills, the smarts, and the class to take on this job. The only problem is, I have just decided this, and I’m a 3rd year psychology major. Does anyone believe I could go fourth with this career without a PR degree. I do not even believe my school has a PR program. And how would I go about starting this career without a degre???
March 19th, 2009 » 5:18 pm
Hi Krystle,
Thanks for the comment.
I actually addressed that exact issue in 2 of my posts.
http://www.prgirlz.com/index.php/2009/02/12/a-pr-girls-beginnings-part-1-how-i-got-here/
and
http://www.prgirlz.com/index.php/2009/02/12/a-pr-girls-beginnings-part-1-how-i-got-here/
I switched from psychology to marketing in my 4th year of university, and did not complete a secondary PR program and am managing quite well here!
Hope the posts answer your questions!
- Janna
March 25th, 2009 » 12:26 pm
Thank you very much!!! That was very inspiring! Where do you live and work???
March 25th, 2009 » 5:27 pm
Thanks for the comment Krystle. We’re in Toronto, Ontario. Check out the main Thornley Fallis site for more information.