Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antonia Hall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Antonia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
Beginning my own Public Relations (PR) / Communications business was exciting, and came with an appropriate level of fear. I went into it very headstrong and naïvely, but the skills I had picked up – like copywriting, sales, marketing, and social media – provided the perfect background for the new endeavor.
It began with a company name, logo and a single client. The client hired me to garner media attention for her book. It was a small, short-term project, but it was my first client. I was determined to do my best.
PR can be a natural fit for writers, as it requires storytelling and relies heavily on word skills to stand out and be successful in a heavily saturated market. My first client was thrilled with the press release and marketing materials I created for her. Getting media attention for her book was harder, much harder than my previous marketing experience led me to believe. This was mostly because I didn’t realize how long PR coverage could take. But I didn’t let it stop me. I gave my client a few free weeks of my time and finally secured some radio interviews and an excellent book review in a magazine.
As anyone who has started a business knows, there’s much to learn right from the beginning. Mistakes will be made, and that’s part of the process. I was fortunate to have had enough experience to mitigate some potential pitfalls. However I don’t think I realized how much time and energy would be required on top of the actual workload for things like client relations, hiring other freelancers, and managing business finances. Like most artists, I enjoyed the creative time far more than the daily business logistics.
Looking back over a decade later, I would tell my younger self to trust herself more, that attempts at perfectionism are a waste of time, and that she should guard her downtime fiercely because work/life balance is essential. This can be particularly challenging when you’re the “boss”, the one responsible for everything, and especially when you have other freelancers counting on you.
Working through problems with clients came pretty easily for me because I only accepted projects I believed in. Learning how to entice a client to work with me without giving away the game plan was an art form that took years to master. I set up some company rules early on that smoothed the path of potential client issues. Rule One: I was always paid in advance. While this isn’t always possible as an artist, half up front might be a good compromise. Rule Two: I never cut my fees. However I found ways to work within people’s budgets. I feel like this rule allowed me to stay fair to all of my clientele and myself, knowing and honoring my worth, while being able to help others as my heart advised. Beyond rules, what I found most helpful was turning to other business owners to help guide my way.
Having wise trusted guides, mentors, associates, or knowledgeable friends to turn to is essential when you become a business owner. I joined a few business groups pretty soon after starting my company in order to expand my network and become a part of support communities. The connections I made in the groups proved to be invaluable, as they provided everything from contacts to new friends and associates who became mutual sounding boards over the years.
Antonia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My company grew a great deal after those first humble beginnings well over a decade ago, and I launched my personal brand midway through. In order to keep up with client needs over the years, I focused on book marketing and adding to my company offerings. From that first PR gig, my company grew to include web and brand design, social media, ghostwriting, editing, and book publishing guidance.
Six years later my business had expanded and I was finally making money writing. To ghostwrite for others took a little adjustment. But over time I was fortunate to take on writing projects that utilized my psychology background and expanded my own health and wellness knowledge base. I was doing more ghostwriting than PR, but most of my wordmaking was being published under other people’s names. I loved my job, but a part of me had been lost along the way. It was time to look more closely at my personal long term goals.
Prior to starting my business I had dedicated many years to working in the field of psychology. My Master’s degree, certified life coaching skills, and counseling hours were being utilized, but for client projects. I was fulfilling other people’s visions. Would the projects calling from deep within me ever manifest? Would the thesis I had been transforming into a book for years ever be ushered into the world?
After great contemplation, and a lot of editing and publishing help from others, I launched my first book, The Ultimate Guide to a Multi-Orgasmic Life. It won multiple awards and gained praise and attention.
AntoniaHall.com was an official brand with its own website. The brand quickly required a great deal of my time. I was soon juggling ghostwriting social media posts, blog posts and guest articles for clients, while promoting their projects and my own.
My years in PR taught me to respect a journalist’s time, and I went the extra mile to serve as a reliable resource. I took time to provide journalists with links to research backing any claims I made about dating, relationships and sexual health. I took courses to complement the requests, including a Sexual Health Educator program through the California University system.
Journalists appreciated the content I gave them, and I was soon being quoted in 20 to 30 articles every week. I gave hundreds of radio and podcast interviews. I rose early in the mornings so I could respond to journalist queries out of New York, three hours ahead of me in California. I stayed up late to get client projects done. In retrospect, adding so much to my workload wasn’t sustainable. My health became compromised, and I needed to focus on my own well-being.
By the time the pandemic hit it was time for my PR/Communications business to close. I took time for reflection and dove into practices to counter the stress that had built up over the years. My second book, The Happy Human Playbook: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind and Emotions With Joy and Pleasure, was the culmination of decades of study and embodied work.
I now focus primarily on my own writings and the consulting work that arrived as a result of my last book. I have been hired by companies and visionaries to consult as a Psychologist and Wellness Educator. Life is taking me places that exceed my dreams.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
What matters is taking chances. It’s too easy to put off our own work as artists and creatives. Worse than naysayers, we tend to get in our own heads about little details, the “what if’s” and “what will they think”. There really is something to ‘learning as you go’. Things don’t always work. You’ll never please everyone, so just launch it. I have had some failures, but I didn’t let them keep me from moving forward. Mistakes can be valuable information and are necessary for our growth.
It has always helped me to listen to my intuition. It’s a practice that requires stillness so that the inner voice can guide the way. Once I learned that skill, my intuition muscle kept growing.
Surround yourself with good people and treat them well. This is obviously as much true in business as it is in life.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
For me it was taking pride in my work and finding gifted collaborators who could take over needs outside my skill set. In time, I gained a reputation for being good at my job. My results spoke for themselves, and that instilled a confidence that helped me attract the right clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: Antoniahall.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAntoniaHall
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniahall/
- Twitter: @msantoniahall
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@antoniahall6788