Tag: Member Stories

Meet Sheila Brooks, Ph.D., Founder, President and CEO of SRB Communications

Sheila is the founder, president and CEO of SRB Communications, an advertising, marketing and PR agency based in Washington, DC. SRB Communications will be celebrating 30 years in business in June 2020.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Sheila spent nearly 13 years in television newsrooms across the country, first as an anchor, reporter and producer, and eventually as a news director and executive producer. Throughout her career, she has taught courses in journalism as a college professor, and she currently teaches multicultural marketing in the Strategic Public Relations program at the George Washington University.

In 2015, she returned to the classroom and completed a Ph.D. in Media, Culture and Communications at Howard University. Over the years she’s won numerous awards including two Emmys, the inaugural Pat Tobin Media Relations Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the 2019 NABJ Ida B. Wells Award. She was also nominated for the 2019 NAACP Image Award for literary work on publishing her first book, Lucile H. Bluford and the Kansas City Call: Activist Voice for Social Justice.

Leading SRB Communications

Over the past decade, Sheila’s job as CEO of a minority- and woman- owned business, has evolved from working “in” the business to working “on” the business. Her talented team of eight to 10 employees handle the day-to-day accounts under the leadership of No. 2, Adiya Mobley, SRB Communications’ Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Sheila enjoys closing deals and developing and executing a growth strategy for the agency.

Joining WWPR

Sheila joined WWPR to connect with some of the most talented PR professionals in the country. It also provides opportunities for her and the staff at SRB Communications to network and share new ideas.

Outside of the office

Sheila serves on the Federal City Council as a member of the Board of Trustees and as chair of the Board of Visitors for the Global School of Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University. She also serves on the advisory board of the Jim Vance Media Center at Archbishop Carroll High School. Sheila finds her many decades of serving on boards for journalism, educational and entrepreneurial organizations proves to be rewarding. She also enjoys giving back to the community and is specifically committed to sharing her experiences with young people.

Staying busy during COVID-19

Sheila generally loves to cook and entertain. Since COVID-19, she has spent more weekend time with her husband at their beach house, only an hour away in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. They social distance walk with friends, barbecue, and just enjoy the serenity of the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, during the week when she’s home in Silver Spring, Maryland, she is loving her Peloton. 

Defining the “new normal” for SRB Communications

SRB Communications has been working remotely nearly three months while continuing to provide clients superior services and value add. The company has been fortunate to work from home daily during the COVID-19 pandemic, which the team at SRB Communications realizes is a privilege many people aren’t afforded. 

Besides working from home, it has been business as usual for the most part. They have daily team and client meetings, and new business efforts keep them busy regularly. They are also excited to be celebrating their 30th year anniversary this year with a year-long roll out of campaigns to introduce to the public and their stakeholders.

Keeping up with trends in communications

Sheila can’t emphasize enough the importance of being a lifelong learner and staying ahead of the curve. Keeping up with digital trends is essential for SRB Communications to stay ahead of their competition. To do so, Sheila personally reads two books per month, and as an agency, they subscribe to several information resources. Some of those resources include following the right marketing thought-leaders and influencers, taking advantage of the many resources their partners have access to, networking with other marketers in the field through Meetups and networking sites. Lastly but most importantly, remaining agile and embracing new technology as it is introduced to the public. They also prioritize attending webinars and annual conferences like the National Association of Black Journalists, AAF-DC and ColorComm.

How the industry has changed in the past five years

In the past five years, the digital landscape has truly transformed the world, and the SRB Communications’ team now understands more than ever how important it is for their business and their lives. There have been so many advancements in the way people communicate through technology. The digital space is ever-evolving, and as marketing and communications professionals, it is our responsibility to stay abreast on the latest technologies driving the day-to-day work. 

Celebrating SRB Communications’ 30th anniversary

If you asked Sheila his time last year what they would be doing to celebrate SRB Communications’ 30 year anniversary, she never would have guessed celebrating during a global pandemic. However, here they are, celebrating … in the midst of a global pandemic.

Even though they are all quarantined and safely social distancing, they have decided to transition their celebratory efforts to the digital atmosphere. They’re excited to reintroduce the SRB brand and newly designed logo to the public. They also have a few content and storytelling campaigns rolling out across their social media channels throughout the entirety of the anniversary year. To kick off 2021, they’ll be releasing their 2021 Multicultural Marketing Trends Report outlining the latest and greatest happenings in inclusive marketing and campaigns. Make sure you follow them on social media to get the latest 30th anniversary update: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Lessons learned during this pandemic and how to stay positive

If you don’t walk away from this pandemic having learned something new, whether about yourself or about the broader community that we live in, then you’ve missed a huge growth opportunity. Sheila has learned that as a community they are stronger together. She has seen that play out even within the SRB team. She has watched the team stay resilient in the face of this pandemic and stay committed to their client’s work and the agency business. She stays positive because of her advisors and her fellow business owners that are supportive with regular phone calls, emails and texts. 

Like many fellow business owners, Sheila has also learned how to work from home. That’s not something she thought she would be able to do, but the team has done it and hasn’t skipped a beat. Sheila has faced other crises over the past 30 years in business, and through them all,  she’s learned to embrace the challenges, create opportunities, stay innovative, and most importantly, trust in her unshakeable faith. She is truly fortunate to be able to do this work with honor and a sense of responsibility at this moment in time.

Five lessons learned from 30 years of running a successful marketing and communications firm

Sheila’s passion in serving multicultural audiences has led her to a purpose that is both profitable and valuable. She can’t give up on that. The work she does is not solely for her. She’s invested in so many lives and so many have invested in her. You can’t stay in business and keep people working if you don’t make a profit. You have to keep that in mind.

Five lessons Sheila has learned in running a successful marketing and communications firm:

1. Know when to pivot the business. Stop selling what you have. Sell what the client needs.
2. Keep a customer-first mindset.
3. Obtain a bank loan or line of credit before you need it.
4. Recruit and retain the best talent.
5. Stay laser focused on your business growth plan. 

Meet May Robinson, Director of Marketing of Mission Partners

Background

May has more than a decade of experience in public relations, marketing, and event planning within both agencies and in-house for small businesses and large corporations. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Mission Partners, a woman-owned, women-led B Corporation that provides social impact strategic communications for purpose-driven organizations, including nonprofits, associations, boards and social enterprises. She leads their internal marketing strategy and works closely on the growth of leadership development events and programs to encourage people in their community to live and work through an equity lens.

Role at Mission Partners 

May is excited about her current role at Mission Partners because it’s an opportunity to merge her marketing, strategic planning, and leadership skills with causes she is passionate about. She loves working toward racial equity and encouraging clients to view their communications through an equity lens. The biggest challenge is finding the time to execute on everything the organization would like to accomplish. As PR professionals, a challenge could be “turning off” work and finding the appropriate work-life balance. As a mom of twins, May simultaneously works on growing her career and her organization.

Why WWPR

May joined WWPR because she felt the need to join a community of like-minded professionals after returning to the D.C. area after 13 years.  She wanted to continue to stay abreast of local and national PR and communications trends, seek professional development opportunities all while meeting new friends since she was “new again” to the area. She’s attended dozens of networking events throughout her career, but she found WWPR members to be immediately welcoming. She has already cultivated some genuine connections with people after attending just one event and has been referred to other useful community resources through a member. She’s excited to become more involved in WWPR in the year ahead.

Trends in PR

May keeps a pulse on trends through Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), WWPR professional development events, Social Media Marketing World Conference and LinkedIn articles. She knows there is a lot of intersection between PR, marketing, and advertising, and it’s become important for PR professionals to understand this and utilize digital marketing and social media as major tactics in their strategic planning. May started her career in traditional media relations then went to social media and digital marketing. She has seen the younger generations gain purchasing power and the way they consume messaging is important, therefore it’s important for organizations strategies to incorporate more concise content that is rich with photos and videos.

Community Involvement

May is an adjunct communications professor at her alma mater, Towson University. This role is important to her because as an undergrad, her favorite professors were those that taught from real-world, practical experiences in the field vs. those who only taught theory and from textbooks.

She plans to join Leadership Montgomery and the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence. Growing up and currently living in Montgomery County, May also plans to raise her children there.  Leadership Montgomery is an excellent organization that will help her get a deeper understanding of her local community and where she can make a big impact. As a multiracial immigrant mother of two multiracial children, she values educational equity and wants to be part of the conversations the Black and Brown Coalition is having with local legislators and Montgomery County Public Schools on their plans for racial equity.

She is a current member of the Montgomery County Parents of Multiples, so she connects with other moms to schedule playdates with her children. Raising twins has been a unique experience, so connecting with other moms of multiples on their struggles and tips has been helpful.

Favorite Things to Do

Outside of organizations, May enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, listening to podcasts, hiking, working out, trying new restaurants, traveling, going to the beach, and visiting friends and family in San Diego. For 2020, she is prioritizing self-care, family and non-work activities since she is a known workaholic. Being back in the area and “new again” she sees how much it has changed since she left. She is getting to know the area again through local family-friendly events at the Smithsonian museums, National Harbor, Pike and Rose, and the Rio. She enjoys D.C. brunches with girlfriends and exploring new restaurants. When it gets warmer, she’d love to explore more hikes around Great Falls and Rock Creek Park. Learn more about May on Mission Partner’s website and LinkedIn and be sure to welcome her back to the area.  

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Tesia Williams, Director of Communications at the Department of
Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG)

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Tesia received a BA in mass communications from Hampton University in Virginia. As an undergraduate student, she didn’t immediately know her path or major, but ultimately settled on communications because she enjoyed writing and storytelling. While interning at a non-profit and large PR firm and her positive experiences, she realized public relations was the career field for her.  After graduating, Tesia worked in communications for the Department of the Army and started writing news articles for the post newspaper and planning community relations events. Later, she went on to work at the Pentagon and was in the building on 9/11. The very next day, she was back at work responding to media inquiries from outlets around the world. Textbooks didn’t prepare her for how to deal with that level of crisis and response and there wasn’t a lot of time to think or feel. She just kept moving because the mission was so much bigger than them. 

Tesia’s desire to do something greater than herself led to multiple positions throughout the Army– telling the story of warfighters and recounting the contributions of the nation’s top engineers at the US Army Corps of Engineers. She has since transitioned from working with warfighters to health care fraud fighters in her current role as Director of Communications at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG). She loves what she does because her work touches the lives of nearly every American. Working with smart, outgoing professionals (lawyers, law enforcement officers, auditors, evaluators and executives) brings her joy. These people are dedicated to the mission of the organization, specifically protecting the health and welfare of HHS program beneficiaries. It’s hard not to get behind that mission and the best part is, she gets to do it as a team every day. Identifying new and innovative ways to explain their work and why it matters to the public can be challenging. Reports are often complex and highly technical, but impactful. Creating an interesting product when you have simplified complex information, without changing the meaning can be tough.

Joining WWPR

Tesia joined WWPR to expand her network and be of assistance to women who are just starting out in public relations. She has had a number of mentors, advisors, and cheerleaders throughout her career and believes that now is the time to pay it forward to help others in PR.

Keeping up on PR trends

Tesia reads articles published by PRSA and HBR. However, she obtains most information by reading books on human and social behavior, such as Freakonomics and The Tipping Point. She believes that when you understand the why behind one’s actions or the reason some ideas spread and others flop, you can better shape and target your message/communications products. Also, just visiting online platforms to see what’s trending (e.g. videos, graphics, etc.), helps and she steals ideas shamelessly.

In the government sector, Tesia sees more risk-taking. With so many things vying for their attention, it’s tough to join or be a part of the conversation when products are five or ten years behind the curve. Therefore, she sees a more modern approach to graphics, web design and storytelling and of course they’re not going overboard; her office is still good stewards of the taxpayer’s money. 

Serving the Community

Tesia is on the board of Shepherds Table, which provides meals, clothes and other basic services to the homeless and people in need. This organization is vital to the community and relies on the time, talent and financial support of so many donors and volunteers. She is fortunate to be in a position to assist clients and ensure programs like these endure.

Outside of the office

Tesia is a mother of three girls and a dog, who also happens to be a girl, so her husband is often the odd man out. They love to unwind after a hectic work and school week and have a movie night, dance-offs, and binge watching Nailed It. Sundae Sunday’s has become a tradition in their household and they look forward to making a mess of toppings on their favorite ice cream.

 Words to live by

Tesia was told early on her career to be flexible and have a thick skin. She has never forgotten that bit of advice and it has served her well. 

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Public Relations guru Stephanie is excited to be a WWPR member and
Co-Chair of the Professional Development group 

Background in Public Relations

Stephanie currently works at The Reis Group, a boutique public relations agency that focuses solely on health, healthcare, and social issues. She’s been with the firm for seven years since graduating from college with her degree in communications (after doing a million internships!) The most challenging part of her job is making tough decisions—whether it’s a recommendation to a client or a response to a reporter—and avoiding typos while doing everything as quickly and efficiently as possible! The most exciting part of her day is always different—it could be writing a blog about a patient’s personal health story, pitching reporters on a breaking news story, brainstorming creative ideas for a campaign launch, or securing a keynote presentation for a client’s CEO.

Becoming a WWPR Member

Stephanie joined WWPR several years ago to connect with and learn from other PR professionals. She believes WWPR is a really strong organization and the leadership has always come across as very thoughtful, well-organized, and resourceful.  She joined the professional development committee to get more involved, help out, and meet new people. She believes the saying is true, “you get out of it what you put into it”. The more involved she has become in the organization, the more valuable it has been.

Keeping up on PR trends

To keep up on the latest PR trends, Stephanie joined Michael Smart’s “Inner Circle” group, a training and coaching program for PR professionals, that focuses heavily on media relations. Listening in on his monthly webinars and reading his weekly emails helps her keep up with trends. He is always exploring new strategies or new ways to approach tried and true tactics. In addition, she attends PR events and award ceremonies, like the Platinum PR Awards Gala in NYC last month, which helps spark ideas for future campaigns.

Trends in Public Relations

Stephanie sees two trends in public relations: data and owned content.  She believes data is increasingly important for news coverage, and it’s expanding beyond customized surveys and published research. Organizations can analyze their internal data to create news nuggets. Secondly, she sees that as publications cut their news staff in half, and earned media coverage is harder to place, it’s important to pay attention to owned content and think creatively about how to break through the noise to engage your target audiences.

Favorite Things to Do

Stephanie loves FOOD and exercise. She chronicles her foodie adventures on Instagram (@DC_licious), and recently ran her first 10-mile race, the Army 10-miler. She also love ClassPass (great variety in workouts!), checking out fun events or new restaurants in the city, and traveling as much as possible (this year was her “year of the bachelorettes”).

New Role with WWPR

Stephanie is excited to dive into her new role as the Co-Chair of Professional Development with WWPR! Their committee is brainstorming events for next year, so feel free to share any ideas or suggestions! Stephanie.Wight@WWPR.org.