We were lucky to catch up with Ilissa Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ilissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

As a proven executive, leader and founder of my own company, I have grappled with the question of what it takes to be successful, and how I got to where I am today? I always knew I wanted to be knowledgeable in my professional career, however, I didn’t know how complex our psyches are, which impact drivers for success.

Thirteen years ago I founded my company, iMiller Public Relations. At the time, I was a 49% owner in a PR company and my partner, overnight, decided that they didn’t want me to be in the business. As a result, I was promoted to be CEO of my own company. Unbeknownst to me, that fateful day propelled my company and expertise to the stratosphere – I am forever grateful.

To succeed, I had to have blind faith because I had no idea what I was doing.

Looking back, here are three key steps that led to my success:

– I read voraciously with the goal to be one of the smartest people in each room I was in (first as a marketing person, product lead, business development and ultimately a PR executive). By marrying knowledge of facts, history, process, with emotional intelligence, I was able to navigate challenging situations from a centered point of truth.

– I had to be responsive, professional, courteous and helpful, regardless of how I felt that day or if I liked or disliked a person. It was always business, and never personal. Unless someone asked for my opinion, my responses were focused on facts and details to address the requested need. When that consistency became apparent, so too was the interest in my opinions. I earned trust and respect – and treasure that every day.

– Upholding my word was key. Integrity is everything. If I said something, I did it. If I was unable, I shared that too. I managed expectations, and focused on under-promising and over-delivering which resulted in an exceptional interaction with nearly anyone I encountered – and always with a smile.

Perhaps, at the core of it all, I am an “at your service” kind of person. I value helping people in many ways – both personally and professionally – and if my lessons or knowledge can help another person achieve their goals, that results in immense gratitude within me and brings me joy.

Ilissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a PR executive for the global digital infrastructure industry, I am honored to have helped bring data connectivity to the world over the past 25+ years. I have had a front seat for the advent of the internet since 1996, the year the Telecommunications Act passed, opening up competition for long distance telephone companies. This spurred innovation and investment – inspired by the MERIT and the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet) – which was the forerunner of today’s internet. Network investment spawned and the small consultancy I worked for was instrumental in helping to raise money for these startups. We launched subsea cable systems (AC-1); helped raise money for nationwide networks (LCI); and supported strategic business deals with companies that laid the foundation enabling and inspiring the global connected networks and computer systems that we use for nearly everything we do today.

Being able to join an industry at its birth and to be one of the instrumental players in making it a reality for nearly everyone to engage with is one of the most rewarding opportunities any individual can have. Here are some highlights of my career:

In 2000 I began to work at Band-X, the bandwidth exchange. I had seen the company’s co-founder, Richard Elliott present at a seminar and was in awe of the innovative business model. When the company launched its operations in the U.S. I called the CEO directly (not Richard), and asked for a job. He hired me after I convinced him of what I could do (marketing and business development). And I did it. When the company sold four years later, I was the Director of IP Services responsible for sales and marketing. We were profitable (if not barely).

In 2004 I went to work for Telstra, the Australian incumbent operator, from New York. Supporting the global team, I was a product manager responsible for VoIP, MPLS, IPL services and then partnerships. Being a product owner, with P&L responsibility, was a challenging and rewarding experience. Shaping a service, integrating it through sales, operations, support, billing, etc. was extremely rewarding.

After Telstra, I went to Telx, the interconnection company – now Digital Realty, a global data center REIT. I was hired to the management team where I ran marketing communications. This job made me realize that I wanted to work with and help as many companies as possible.. The colocation company focused on helping companies interconnect networks to facilitate and exchange data traffic – keeping data moving. Helping companies “connect” both literally and figuratively, through education, content and general person-to-person networking was a craft that not only was I good at, but I loved doing it.

I then joined a single-person owned PR firm to help them grow their business, and I did. I was rewarded with three things: 1) Partnership – achieving 49% ownership in a company; 2) The lesson of how to protect oneself in business; and 3) the promotion to becoming the CEO of my own company.

As the CEO of iMiller Public Relations, I lead a team and provide PR strategic advisory services to global companies that build and operate subsea systems, data centers, networks, broadband services companies, WiFi and more. The stories of iMPR clients continue to be written. We have launched companies that have been acquired, merged and invested in. We have brought new terminology to the industry – introducing the concept of Edge Data Centers for a client, before the term was clearly defined (our job was to define it!). We have unveiled new business models, reshaping the global digital landscape with mass-scale data center developments and so much more. I think most importantly, we have worked with and advised hundreds of extremely smart and successful people doing incredible and remarkable things. I’ve done press conferences with mayors, have had clients on TV (and been on cable news myself); I have relationships with journalists and analysts helping them get to the sources they need – including WSJ, NYT, Bloomberg and more.

The curveball of my career was the two-terms I served on the Board of Trustees in my Village. As an elected official for my community, I learned more than I ever anticipated. These are the dark horse lessons that I never knew I needed. First, let me thank anyone and everyone who has ever served in public office. It is one of the hardest jobs anyone could take on. Second, having an inside seat to how municipalities and government systems work has been incredibly helpful for me and subsequently for my clients.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Many people have a pandemic story, here’s mine. I was unhappy in my marriage and began to explore a separation, even signing a lease for an apartment to move in on March 28, 2020. When the pandemic shut down everything around me by mid-March that year I decided to cancel my lease and stay home to give it one last try. By July I had found another apartment and moved out.

While navigating a broken marriage, I was also challenged in my business. Clients canceled contracts, the economy was uncertain and I had to make personnel changes. At one point I had to cut salaries by 25% to meet payroll. It lasted three weeks. At the time, I didn’t know how long the cut would last and the confusion and lack of understanding of the enormous challenge I was navigating took its toll on me. PPP loans were a savior to the business. I was able to then figure out what I needed to do for the business. I made holistic changes to my team, reshaping and approaching hires differently. In essence, while my marriage was collapsing, I also intentionally blew up my company (to say it nicely).

If I am honest, I am still working through those changes. And to be even more honest, I am still learning about many things and ways  to operate, structure, lead and manage a team of dispersed virtual personnel. As long as I lead a team, I will always be learning, growing, stretching and feeling uncomfortable at times. It is in the discomfort that the deepest lessons I learn are realized.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

For all of the trials and tribulations, I believe that honesty and transparency have been the traits that have helped me earn and retain trust in clients. As a result, the best source of new clients are industry colleagues and friends, existing and former clients, and former employees. Those companies and individuals that see and know our work understand the capabilities, knowledge and services we offer. They proactively come to us to leverage our “magic” to help them realize their goals. Public Relations is an important service, and when done well, translates into rabid fans – because everyone can see the results of what we do, and they’ll want those results too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.imillerpr.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilissamiller/
• Twitter: @ilissanyc @imillerpr