We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andy Keown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andy below.

Alright, Andy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I believe I started my travel PR business at exactly the right time, however the world had other ideas as the Covid-19 pandemic hit three months later, shuttering virtually the entire global travel industry. So, that was certainly a setback on my path. It took me another couple of years of freelancing and eventually joining another PR agency before I found the confidence again to go back out on my own. I was about 15 years into my PR career when I first started thinking about launching my own company, and I do not think I would have been as successful if I had done it earlier. By the time I was ready, I had worked in a variety of settings both in-house and at PR agencies, so I had a well-rounded perspective on the industry and what clients need.

Andy, 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?

I have been working in PR for more than 20 years, nearly all of that in the travel industry. I had studied PR at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and was hired on at Nissan’s North American headquarters following an internship. While I love cars, I didn’t feel at home in the auto industry so took a role with Hilton Hotels in corporate communications. I didn’t set out to work in the travel industry but I very quickly realized that these were “my people” – there’s something special about people who work in the travel industry. They tend to have traveled widely themselves and have a broad understanding of how different cultures and communities can peacefully coexist.

Today, I own and manage my own travel PR company, The Keown Company, representing tourism clients. What sets me apart from many other agency owners is that I prefer to keep my client roster quite small and provide highly personalized services to a select group of clients that I strongly believe in. While I am certainly not opposed to growing my company, I know that people hire me because of, well, me – so I have to be sure that I have the bandwidth to take care of each of my clients at the level they expect. For me, PR is also much more satisfying when I have a personal connection to the brand, destination, or resort that I am representing. I don’t take a cookie cutter approach to anything as I know that every organization has different needs and different personalities to engage with. I don’t want to dominate the PR industry; I want to find meaningful work with clients that I am genuinely enthusiastic about.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I rely solely on word of mouth for growing my business. While I have a website and social media channels, of course, I would much rather be promoting literally anything else other than myself. While that may have an impact on the growth trajectory of my business, this approach has worked well for me in terms of finding like-minded people to collaborate with.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was late-diagnosed with ADHD at age 42 and it made me re-examine practically my entire life. Throughout my education and career, I had a habit of waiting until the last minute to study, write essays, or complete big work assignments. I never understood how people could just sit down and chip away at a project over multiple weeks. I needed the rush that came from the deadline to really focus and get things done. Sometimes this worked out just fine for me, and I could produce excellent – maybe even exceptional – quality work. But sometimes it did not work, and because I hadn’t taken all the proper steps to get to the finish line, I ended up buried under a mountain of last-minute work that left me feeling worthless and ashamed. It particularly frustrated a couple of bosses, which felt pretty horrible, but I just didn’t know how to do things differently. I would have great bursts of energy and productivity, where I felt like I was fully in the zone and could conquer the world. And then there were other days when I had zero energy or motivation, and gettings things done took every ounce of focus I could muster, leaving me exhausted.

I was shocked when a therapist first suggested I get tested for ADHD. Me?! Hyperactive? No way. But I was tested and scored off the charts for a certain kind of ADHD called inattentive ADHD. There are two kinds: hyperactive and inattentive, and hyperactive is the stereotypical version of the kid who can’t sit still in class and is fidgety and disruptive. That was never me, however I would frequently drift off into my head and miss what the instructor was saying or zone out during a meeting. This lack of attention was quite problematic at times, but getting diagnosed made a huge difference in both my understanding of and compassion for myself. I wasn’t lazy or careless; I cared deeply about doing a good job, I simply didn’t have the right amount of dopamine floating around my brain, and relied on the last-minute rush of anxiety to fuel my motivation. Since my diagnosis, I think about my abilities much differently. Through therapy and medication, I have worked to let go of the shame and guilt that I was carrying, and I’ve learned new tools that help me manage my workload more efficiently. Getting diagnosed was a major breakthrough and I am so grateful that it happened, even if I wish it had happened much sooner!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thekeownco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seriouslyandy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andykeown