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Celebrity Publicist Jordyn Palos Talks 3-Day Startups and ‘Doing Things My Way’

Meet celebrity publicist Jordyn Palos, the founder behind one of the hottest PR firms to emerge in the entertainment business.


Last Update: August 4, 2015

Celebrity publicist Jordyn Palos us the founder of Persona PR, a boutique public relations firm with offices in Beverly Hills and New York City. In 2010, Palos launched her full-service PR firm to  provide branding, media training, event publicity, marketing and representation to accomplished actors and entertainers. Today, Persona PR has grown into a powerhouse public relations firm.

“The bulk of our business is entertainment public relations,” says Palos. “We also deal with brand and lifestyle clients, which include medical professionals, businesses, and beauty experts. We [also represent] award-winning talent costume designers, but the bulk of our business is talent, so we do public relations services for those types of clients.”

 

“I was like, ‘I’m going out on my own’ and then I did it. It was crazy.”

 

Persona PR has served celebrity clientele such as Tia Mowry, Debby Ryan, Jonathan Kite, and Adrian Holmes. Today, they represent a select group of award-winning, accomplished actors from film, television, and theater alongside below-the-line talent, musicians, and films in their Entertainment Division.

Persona PR’s growing Branded Lifestyle Division includes: athletes, medical professionals, New York Times bestselling authors, corporations, award-winning production companies, lifestyle experts and fashion clientele. But what’s most interesting is that Palos created her PR firm in 2010, and all in one weekend. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Palos figured she would “and could” build her PR firm in three.

After “deciding on a Thursday” to launch out on her own, and cutting ties with her former employer the next day, Palos launched Persona PR and never looked back. “I was like, ‘I’m going out on my own’ and then I did it. It was crazy,” Palos recalls.

Learn how Jordyn Palos launched her PR firm in three days and why she believes entrepreneurs should never get too comfortable.

 

Company: Persona PR
Founders: Jordyn Palos
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
Industry: Public Relations
Startup Year: 2010
Startup Costs: Undisclosed

 

How I Got Started

I never knew I wanted to be a publicist; I kind of fell into it. I was a senior in college at Cal State University in Northridge, CA and I was majoring in electronic media management in their CTVA (Cinema and Television Arts) Department. I needed an internship to graduate so I went on to Craigslist and I looked for something that was close to my house, and I found a PR firm. So I took the internship and I worked part-time there, and I was also serving tables at the time. I loved it and I was good at it, so I felt like I had finally found something I could do with my life.

I interned for this company for a while, probably a year or [so], I was serving tables on the side and I also took a job at Ashley Furniture as a marketing associate to make ends meet. Later, [the PR firm hired] me full-time, and that’s how I got started [in public relations]. I fell into it. I upheld that business with my old boss; I was there there for four and a half years. After that, I felt like my own company was something I wanted to do, and needed to do. I wanted to do things my way. So I quit and started Persona.

Branching out on my own was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. It was something I thought about a lot actually. I made the decision on a Thursday and did it on Friday.

I was like, “I’m going out on my own” and then I did it. It was crazy. I had to call all of my clients, call all of their representatives, managers, agents, and lawyers and let them know that I was quitting [that day] and  starting my own company; are you with me? It was a Jerry Maguire-type thing; it was crazy. I was literally sick all weekend and so stressed out.

I had to launch the company within three days because by Monday I needed my clients to know that they were safe and had a place that was secure. I had my company website launched within three days and my email set up that [same] weekend.

I just had to get it done quick because there’s no lag time when you have clients that are actively paying and actively doing press to not have a company that’s established. So I had the logo, website and email all up and running within three days of quitting my job.

 

Best Success Story

There’s so much that’s been accomplished. And it’s not just about what we do, but we really work as a team with managers, agents and their lawyers.

Recently, two clients of ours were featured on national magazine covers; Debby Ryan on the cover of Girl’s Life and Tia Mowry, n the cover of Essence magazine. Those are huge accomplishments for the company.

Any time that we have a part of making dreams come true for clients, it’s a huge success story for us. I have clients who have New York Time Bestselling books; we work with Brandi Glanville, who is a New York Times Bestselling author, and The Buried Life, who are also New York Times Bestselling authors.

Any time that we have a part of making dreams come true for clients, it’s a huge success story for us. It’s hard to pinpoint just one though because I could get something really small and consider that a success story (like, one page in some big magazine). The client may not be an A-Lister but we feel secure and good in that placement. It’s exciting; booking this night show, or booking [a client] on Conan or booking [another client] on these huge shows. It’s a big deal for them and for us.

 

Startup Challenges

The biggest challenge I faced was [figuring out] the right time was to grow. I think that you have to be smart when you’re growing a business; you don’t want to expand too quickly and you don’t want your overhead to be too much money because that’s a scary thing in this economy.

It’s still a challenge for me to this day because our company is still growing. We’ve only been around for three years. But knowing when to hire employees, knowing when to expand your office space, knowing when to pay for an extra service; that’s definitely the biggest challenge.

 

Entrepreneurship Tips

Never get too comfortable. When you think you’re having a great year and you’re rocking it, something may happen. You need to always be prepared. Always have money in the bank; don’t spend too much. You always want to be a little scared.

Stay connected with Persona PR on Twitter.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

 

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