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In fact, most of the time, the answer is ‘I have no idea, it just sort of happened.’
In honour of this year’s PR Day, here are the stories of how the NM team ended up in a career in PR:
They say journalism and PR are two sides of the same coin – so after plying my trade as a sports journalist and after covering Euro 2020(1), I decided it was time for a change. I still wanted to use my communication skills, and I remained passionate about writing – but I needed a new challenge after dedicating over a decade of my life to one discipline.
I started out working in B2C PR, trying to land clients in regional and national media from print to broadcast. Since joining Nielsen McAllister I’ve transferred my skills over to the B2B world – which is largely the same, more similarities than differences.
To paraphrase the mighty Withnail himself… I ended up in PR by mistake! My ambition was always to work in the film industry in some capacity, but after graduating I took a temporary role in the Communications Department of an NHS Trust, which proved to be the foundation of my career.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself back looking for a PR job in the hometown I swore I’d never return to – long story, but if you’ve ever met me, you’ve probably heard it. I approached various PR agencies for a job and Bob took pity on me.
And here I still am – although my service at Nielsen McAllister hasn’t been continuous.
PS I eventually succeeded in my film ambitions, too.
As the exception that proves the rule, I actually studied PR at University!
Well…I initially studied marketing until I realised that Public Relations was what I thought marketing was. I made the switch and the rest they say, is history.
I was lucky enough to join Nielsen McAllister immediately after graduating and have been here for five and half years now (with a brief stint in China to break things up).
After I dropped out of Law school (yawn) I wasn’t sure what to do with my life. I contemplated my options for a while, and with no definitive choice I came across a Buzzfeed quiz about finding your ‘dream career.’
It told me to try marketing, so I did. And my apprenticeship placement landed me at NM, surrounded by PR and comms gurus. It worked out well in the end!
I joined NM in 2020 – just as the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping across the globe. I’d been a journalist for regional newspapers and magazines for more than 30 years, but decided it was time to pivot into PR and comms. I am now a senior consultant here and head up our Project Derby work at the agency.
In a way, public relations and journalism are similar and I have certainly found it beneficial to have experience of working in both. PR is fast paced and exciting – and I’m lucky that I get to write about interesting people and interesting things!
Words have been my life for a very long time, and I love being part of our PR team in Derby. Considering a move to the ‘dark side?’ Don’t be afraid to switch from journalist to PR – it’s a rewarding career and loads of fun…. Happy PR Day!
1982 was not a great year for graduate recruitment and I ended up doing a job that I really disliked. A year or so later, I started going out with a girl who was training to be a careers adviser. After enduring weeks of me moaning about how I hated my job, she finally snapped and asked me what I wanted to do instead. There then followed an impromptu careers interview sitting in Highgate Park in London, after which she looked in her careers bible and came up with PR as a possible outlet for my skills and interests.
Once I’d found out what PR actually was, I quit my job, took a six-month CAM Foundation course, and then started applying to PR agencies. There were not many graduate trainee schemes in those days, so for all my educational qualifications, including an English degree, I got my first job because I could type!
I’ve always loved writing and storytelling, which led me to study Journalism at university. During my course, I took a PR module and thought, “I quite like this!” But after graduation, I was still unsure about what I wanted to do but like most students, needed cash. So, I moved to Derby and ended up in a terrible, stressful sales job (basically glorified cold calling). I worked from home on ridiculously long shifts and didn’t see anyone at all. Needless to say, I hated every second of it.
I started asking my journo graduate friends for advice, and they told me PR was great. One of them gave me the details of a PR recruiter, who connected me with NM. I graduated in June and by September, I had joined NM 😊
I can remember chatting with SK about ABBA during my interview, and the rest is history!
Sooner or later, I knew PR would catch up with me. It was inevitable. By 2005, I had worked in the media for more than 10 years, going from reporter to editor-in-chief of magazines. After the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, for political reasons, investors closed the publication I was heading, and I was left without my favourite job. Then I thought it was a sign and the right time to apply my skills in PR, because a journalist and a PR person are like a needle and thread. The same analyses and planning, the same text delivery schedules, the same interviews with top managers, only in PR you could study the company from the inside, wrap it in a beautiful package and present it to journalists.
That’s how I found myself in a B2C communications agency, which I had previously worked with as a client. The ability to interview and correctly convey key messages to the target audience came in handy, and the clients were interesting – a brandy producer, a hotel business, a manufacturer of insulation materials, etc. My department’s task was to cover their activities on television and in the national print media, acting as an outsourced press service.
Nielsen McAllister, whose clients are amazing in the scope of their goals and businesses, is a diverse B2B world that, for the most part, is as similar to B2C as Ryan Reynolds is to Ryan Gosling. And I’m glad to be a part of this world.
I was bored with college and was recommended by my tutor to explore apprenticeships, specifically in the digital field. So far it has been a great decision and I have developed my PR skills too, which is a bonus!
I stumbled into a career in PR after writing for my university newspaper. Turns out, snooping around for juicy campus gossip was excellent training for crafting compelling content!
After University, marketing became a focus for my career as I took on the lofty role of sales and marketing assistant as a graduate trainee for the Bunzl group. Initially, PR was just a small part of the B2B marketing mix I was involved with. However, it became increasingly more important as my jobs changed over the next 20 years, particularly after I had been introduced to a certain agency called Nielsen McAllister.
Bob and the team showed me what PR could do as part of an integrated marketing campaign, and so when my career moved away from being a client, I happily jumped over the fence and became part of a PR team. Poacher turned game keeper, or is it the other way round? Either way PR is now how I find myself describing my job and career to others.
After spending many years in B2C PR, Alona's switch to the B2B model of Nielsen McAllister was an opportunity to understand how they differ.
Nielsen McAllister has announced a new change of ownership, as founder Bob Bushby hands over the reins of the business to fellow directors Simon Wildash and Simon Kinnear.