We recently connected with Amy Jackson and have shared our conversation below.

Amy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

When I had my first child I started interviewing women who had started companies or grown their careers while raising young children. Writing their stories inspired me to start my own journey about 3 years later after a cross-country pandemic move to the vibrant Austin startup scene and feeling like Goldilocks turning down startup job opportunities that didn’t quite fit.

I received encouragement from my husband, family members and a new friend in my neighborhood that ended up being my first client (Love Talla) to take the leap. One of the first things I did was build the brand identity, starting with the name TaleSplash, representing my love for helping emerging brands “make a splash” by telling their founder stories and my childhood obsession with whales and the ocean.

Once my website, social channels and first clients were squared away, I began the transition out of my corporate job. It was hard to say goodbye to people that I had worked with and developed friendships with for more than a decade, but I was overwhelmed with the support.

In fact, most of my first clients were people that I had previously worked with as a vendor or colleague that had moved on to other companies, and women I had written about for my blog, BestfortheMoment.com.

Once I was able to put my full attention towards my business, TaleSplash was off to the races!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my PR career in the food industry, which gave me the opportunity to challenge “brand” perceptions early on. One of my favorite experiences was working with the US Potato Board during the Atkins low-carb diet era. Building off a nutrition label educational campaign, we sponsored the creation of a “Healthy” MR. POTATO HEAD balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and even hosted a Healthy MR. POTATO “HEADquarters” in NYC’s Chelsea Market. Not only did I get an amazing opportunity to manage a large-scale, multi-week event, I also landed my first business section cover story in The New York Times.

After I was tasked with building out a blog for my agency’s local team of “foodies,” I started to take interest in the emerging fields of social media and content creation. That led me to San Francisco, where I worked with tech startups like Mint.com, Bebo and LivingSocial. All of which gave me opportunities to continue to work with consumer and lifestyle reporters, but on behalf of emerging tech brands.

The intersection of tech and lifestyle has stayed with me throughout my career, including my 8 years building the TripIt brand in the travel space. After helping SAP evolve its procurement and spend management brands, I left to start TaleSplash rooted in the idea that I could help both B2B and B2C brands tell their stories. This combination is relatively unique in Austin and the PR industry, since many agencies specialize in one or the other.

My team embraces the role of technology in PR as well. We use many of the same software tools that our tech clients use to run their businesses, and we have additional capabilities beyond media relations, bringing decades of experience in brand reputation, messaging and storytelling, SEO, social and content creation. In some cases, our clients bring us on as an extension of their team when they don’t have their own marketers or have vacancies on their teams.

I’m proud of our ability to move and adapt quickly to the constantly changing news cycle and balance the needs of journalists looking for sources for their stories with our clients’ business goals. We are always watching what’s going in the world, what journalists are writing about, and shaping our guidance and execution accordingly.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

While I was working for SAP Concur, I built TripIt’s PR program from scratch and learned to embrace media coverage as something to be celebrated internally. We used to send weekly coverage emails to everyone on the TripIt team, including SAP Concur’s leadership. What may have felt like a tedious weekly task for some was one of the best ways for me and my team to get visibility among a group of executives that would eventually move on to start their own companies.

Despite different roles across brand and PR, I continued to be someone that people would ask about PR or recruit for PR advice or roles later on. This was an important lesson in brand feedback – pay attention to what people associate you with and you can build an entire company offering the service you’re most recognized for. And always take the call!

I also connected with everyone I worked with and met through partnerships or events on LinkedIn. Joining a conference call with people you’ve never met? Look them up on LinkedIn so you know who you’re speaking with and then connect if it feels right. I did this for years and now have a large network of hundreds of colleagues I worked with for more than a decade.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I’m a big fan of books by self-made women that just happened to have reality shows while becoming mothers–Bethenny Frankel being my favorite that I still follow to this day. In the early aughts I also enjoyed Kelly Cutrone’s book and reality show about fashion PR, and Giuliana & Bill Rancic’s journey becoming parents while building their careers and homes that also eventually landed them in Austin.

The launch of TaleSplash coincided with the release of Rebecca Minkoff’s book “Fearless” and I got to see her speak in Austin at an event hosted for female founders by the Female Founder Collective along with Camila Alves McConaughey who blew me away with her own entrepreneurial stories.

I continue to be inspired by women who are building businesses while raising children, including those who reach their stride later in life like Martha Stewart who started Martha Stewart Living at 50 years old, and JLo who slayed the Super Bowl Halftime show just shy of her own half century mark.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://talesplash.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesplash/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talesplash/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaleSplash

Image Credits
Kelly Power Photography