We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adrienne Dorsey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrienne, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

The biggest trends I’m seeing in public relations is branching out into affiliate programs and social selling. Many digital publications require brands to be a part of an affiliate network like ShareASale to even be considered for coverage in impactful media, like holiday gift guides or top 10 lists. There are more commerce writers covering and reviewing brands on affiliate networks – you’ve probably seen these stories, like “These were the most comfortable shoes ever for visiting Disneyland.”

I’m also having brands requesting services that dip into the marketing side – TikTok shops, social selling on live, etc.

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 founded Magnolia Public Relations back in 2006 as a way to connect brands to the media. I was just out of graduate school and had previously worked at a Hollywood PR agency that focused more on women’s fashion brands – dressing celebrities for red carpet appearances and special events. I quickly found my own niche in fashion, family/kids, and lifestyle brands and the success of those first clients helped build my boutique agency that serves lifestyle brands worldwide.

I wanted to shine a light on talented, deserving businesses and put them on a level playing field with the major brands. It’s always rewarding to see a newly emerging brand that we work with land earned media/press alongside the big brands with unlimited resources. As a writer, uncovering and telling a brand’s origin story is my passion.

Some of my career highlights are securing press on the Today Show, In Style, Parents, CNN Underscored, USA Today, the cover of Girls’ Life, Business Insider, People, Verywell Family, and countless others. It was also an honor to be asked to speak on a panel for Playtime, an international trade show for children’s brands, in New York City last year.

For services, we offer media relations, traditional and new media public relations, influencer relations, product placement, social media, trade show support, content writing, thought leadership, and more. We work with newly launching and established brands in the fashion, family, and lifestyle niche, as well as experts in their respective fields.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Like many businesses during the height of the pandemic, we had to adjust to the times. I distinctly remember a spring fashion segment for a major New York City television show was already taped but never made it to air – first postponed and later scrapped due to the looming pandemic. The media wasn’t covering stories about formalwear or frivolity. We shifted to positioning our brands for more “cozy at home” stories, how to foster connection despite social distancing, and started working on more business, expert-oriented pitches for our clients.

In the summer of 2020, we started working with a talented stylist who was looking to launch her virtual style coaching business. With her expertise and poise, we positioned her as a go-to expert for the media for fashion and lifestyle-oriented stories. I pitched her for a feature in Business Insider and they quickly picked up the story – a day in the life of a Bay Area single mom as she launched her style business during Covid. More major media mentions followed, from advising on what to wear for a Zoom job interview to how to stylishly wear a housedress – and soon we officially had a new service offering: public relations for experts.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been many times over the years where I’ve had to have resilience. As a female founder of a small agency, you can often feel taken advantage of or shortchanged. Shifting your mindset and exercising kind yet firm boundaries is key. Many issues can also be prevented by setting expectations from the start.

Several years ago, a client was impatient and did not understand the long game of PR. They wanted results immediately, without taking media lead times into consideration. They decided to withhold payment for the final month of service. It was pretty disheartening to deal with a rude and abusive client who didn’t realize the process of public relations and how earned media is never guaranteed. A few weeks later, they were featured in a major publication and apologized to me. The damage was already done, but it was an important lesson to set expectations from the start and confirm the client “gets” PR so a situation like this won’t happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.magnoliapr.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/magnolia_pr
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/magnoliapublicrelations
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennedorsey/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/magnoliapr