Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tonya McKenzie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tonya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I would like for my legacy to include three things: 1. Be known as a fearless fighter for the well-being and promotion of women and children.
2. Be known as an ambassador of powerful storytelling.
3. Be known as a devoted mother, wife, and friend.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

At the age of 5, I witnessed the shooting of my mother and the murder of her boyfriend. I have spent time in a federal Witness Protection Program (until the end of that criminal trial) and a prison for women with children with my mother. I was raised in a single-parent home, riddled with poverty and substance abuse. Although this is where I am from, it is not who I am. Making the decision to pave my own path and build my own identity has led me to be the Founder of Sand & Shores where we help professionals and organizations tell their stories, grow their brand awareness, and build a strong reputation.

I am passionate about building personal brands and have a reputation to support them. Living in an age where people seem to “just say” that they are experts in a field, I stand for authentic thought leadership. How do clients uniquely solve problems? How do they stand out? Even when they know, they do not always know how to message it. That is where Sand & Shores comes in.

As a communications professional, messaging matters. As much as media exposure is desired, the stories have to be told in a way that triggers emotions and action. I love helping people craft exactly what it is that they are trying to communicate to the public and their target audience in the media. Different angles of a story trigger different reactions. That is an art that I learned while working as the Associate Executive Director of the YMCA in The Bay Area. We needed to raise a lot of money to open a new facility with very little money for marketing. Public relations and media relations was the way that we achieved brand awareness to get the community and local leaders to know about the work that we were doing, tell stories about the lives affected, and get the $ 1-million donations that we needed to open the new facility.

Practicing what I preach and building my own brand has resulted in being elected the first African American woman elected to the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors, President of the NRBBA (North Redondo Beach Business Association), and City of Redondo Beach Woman of the Year. I am currently serving on my 3rd County Commission and continue to give back and lead where needed. To help others tell their story and build their brands, I host a top-100 leadership podcast, Leaders & Learners, and co-host My Morning Coffee Podcast with Gia Sneed, a retired lieutenant at Los Angeles County Sheriff Department. Leaders communicate and our platform was built to put that on display.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of clientele for Sand & Shores has been referrals and social media connections.

As an organization that promotes authenticity in branding, we do exactly that. We promote what we are actually doing, clients that we are working on, events that I am speaking at and lessons that we engage in training/teaching. Part of a brand is not just showing who you are, but making it clear who you are not. We do not promote luxe life or the glitz and glamour that many believe comes with public relations. We do not engage in entertainment culture. We heavily engage in the process of storytelling and connections from a professional standpoint. We connect everything that we do to the stories and initiatives of our clients. You get what you see.

Social media can be used to embellish and promote the image that you want others to believe that you embody. The unfortunate part of this for clients is that they will eventually learn a hard truth: public relations, communications, and leadership are a lot of writing, research, strategic connections, and messaging. The glitziness is just the cherry on top if the media placements are achieved. What we put on our platforms is educational, funny, and honest. The information is verifiable and trustworthy. When you are consistent and dependable, others will refer you, people will follow, and like-minded leaders will connect.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When a budget is cut, marketing gets cut. I had to unlearn that lesson. Early in my career, companies that I worked for would cut marketing budgets when funds were low. However, when the mortgage collapse of 2008 happened, I was a director with the Oakley Chamber of Commerce. We did an audit of the businesses that closed in the city. We spoke to owners, patrons, and community members. What we found is that many of the businesses closed, not because they had bad products or services, but because not enough people knew about them and what they offered. This was the moment that I unlearned the practice of letting the marketing budget gets cut when times are hard. It’s actually one of the last things that should get cut. If people do not know about you, know about your products, services, and how to buy from you, your business will suffer greatly.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.sandandshores.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyamckenziepr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyamckenziespeaks/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyamckenzie/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyamckenziepr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29DL9XdZwmhHms7-2HlaGQ