We were lucky to catch up with Bob Gold recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bob, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Please tell us about starting your own firm and if you’d do anything different knowing what you know now.

For most of my adult life, I wanted to have my own company. But honestly, I was terrified. I was married, with kids, a mortgage and nanny, and a sole provider to my family.

It took the universe to merge my employer Prime Sports with Fox Sports and learn I could only stay at Fox if I accepted a demotion. So I chose freedom.

Then I started to interview for my next corporate job… Tick.. Tick… Tick.. These things take multiple interviews and loads of time. I had two weeks in early September where I had nothing to do. I went to the beach every day but all my friends were at work. What should have been a vacation was nerve-racking. Two weeks was all it took, to spur me to say, “Until I get my next corporate gig, I’m consulting. Can I help you?”

In 5 weeks, I landed 5 clients. And I had no idea how to invoice, bill, or charge, but I learned fast.

My advice to all folks who have job left a job after years of loyal service – is take small steps – consult! If you get numerous clients – you can hire others and start an agency. We tend to put the outcome at the beginning of our imaginings. Small steps empower great ones.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I think of myself as a bottle of shampoo. In the supermarket aisle there must be 50 different brands – which all do the same thing — clean your hair. But the shape of the bottle, along with its smell and brand promises on the label differentiates itself.

In our work we are no different than bottles of shampoo and as professionals we can all do similar things. After years of describing ourselves as a boutique PR agency – we now make it clear – up front, we do three things really well — Technology. Media. Telecom. The rest is from our heart.

Good PR comes from the heart, if you can care and love your clients, it will be returned many times over. And vice versa.

And all I do is try to teach that. That’s who I am.

Today, my agency has the smartest group of executives, it’s been my privilege to work with.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the early 2000’s we were growing like weeds, before too long we had 15 full time employees and a 5,000 sq. foot office.

When the recession hit in 2008, I was entirely unprepared. Our largest clients left, our biggest account retainer shrank to $5k a month. We crumbled down to 5 employees. I told my kids and wife that times were tough, and we were all going to have to significantly cut or conserve expenses. I wasn’t retired, so we would not dig into savings. All I could do was look at the monthly credit card bill, and see what other expense I could cut out.

Because I knew I was over my head on how to rebuild, how to move forward, I joined Vistage – a club of CEOs who in their “pods” of 10 – 14 members meet monthly and separately one-on-one with the group’s chair to reveal what is going well or poorly in work and in life. This was my path – it was resilient, and also cost a lot of money – but there is no greater investment we can make, then into ourselves.

I have always told my sons is that a man is measured not by how he succeeds, but how after they fall, and then pick themselves up and go forward.

Resilience is about always moving forward. Learning, improving and changing.  We work smarter, more collaboratively and got each other’s back. The work has never been better.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of my favorite lines, comes from “The Sound of Music” when the mother superior says, “When G-d closes a door, he opens a window.”

Pain is the fuel that drives change and improvement. No one likes losing a job or a client, facing debt, or feeling unappreciated.  Yes, it hurts when its not OUR decision. We all like to think we can be the masters of our fate. But the universe has its intentions for each of us – and we will get there. Just maybe not on our timeline, but make no mistake we each are where we are supposed to be.

When I was a young executive at HBO, Billionaire Bill Daniels, heard me speak at a conference and invited me to fly back from Denver with him to LA in his private jet! Can you imagine how my life might have changed on that flight. But I demurred. I had spent 6 weeks planning for   a meeting with the local cable system the next day – and dumping them for a ride with a billionaire felt unethical and selfish. Don’t you know that NOTHING came of the meeting. And I spent 7 years waking up each morning calling myself a putz!

But then, a few years later, Bill hired me to be VP of Communications for his regional sports network, Prime Ticket. And it wasn’t long before he invited me to fly Cable Tool – the name of his private jet (which by the way, hangs in Denver International Airport) along with a reporter from the LA Times to a meeting. And in that moment as I took my seat, I knew, I was always intended to ride that plane.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bobgoldpr.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobcgold/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobGoldPR
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bobgoldpr
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bobgoldinla
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPH4xZs2o3P5KRZDzlx7L3Q
• Other: https://syndeoinstitute.org/the-hauser-oral-history-project/g-listings/bob-gold/ https://www.amazon.com/Shiny-Penny-Bob-Gold/dp/194226741X

Image Credits
Photographer: Philicia Endelman ( for photo with Bob in Purple Shirt by Window)