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

Hi Camille Cintrón, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I have been working as a public and media relations specialist in the performing arts for over 15 years—basically the entirety of my career. But it wasn’t until about four years ago, in 2019, that I began my journey as an independent consultant. Up until then, I had dabbled on side projects while holding a full-time position within an arts venue or institution. Back then, that seemed to me like the only way to go! A full-time job provides salary, benefits, and a level of security that we’re trained to seek after college or graduate school. I was happy in most of those jobs, and they allowed me to develop a wonderful community of friends and colleagues. However, I often felt constrained by the culture and stunted in my job growth.

In 2018, my husband was a offered a work opportunity that relocated us from Washington, D.C. to Honolulu, Hawaii. Because of this move, I had to leave my in-house position in the D.C. area and look for new work in a new city. I didn’t have a professional network in Hawaii, which meant that I was starting a search from scratch and with little knowledge of the job market there. Adding to that the fact that I specialize in PR for arts and culture organizations, it made for a very narrow pool of options. I ended up being unemployed for the first time in my adult life, and I was desperate to figure out where to go from there.

During those few months of unemployment, I pushed myself to continue applying for jobs while networking and trying to meet as many people as possible in my new community. I joined several groups for young professionals, including the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, and began attending their mixers and events. I also reached out to several communications professionals working in the arts sector to ask for their advice. This led to some freelance work, for which I was extremely grateful, and one of those organizations eventually created a position to bring me on board full-time.

As luck would have it, my husband’s career would take us back to the mainland just six months later and I would be facing a similar scenario in yet another new city. This time, I felt more confident about my ability to tackle the job search and develop a network… but I also started to wonder if freelancing/consulting would be a better fit for our reality and lifestyle. I had come to enjoy the flexibility of working independently, as well as the variety of projects and interactions with different clients.

Upon announcing our impending move via social media, I was fortunate to be offered contract opportunities by two colleagues/mentors, which put me in a better place to start over than the previous year. From there, I began reconnecting with former employers and letting folks know about my availability to take on consulting/contract work. I was truly surprised by the amount of colleagues and friends who were interested in finding ways for us to work together and who wanted to help by recommending me to those in their networks. Their encouragement and support made me feel like I could tackle a solo venture, but I still thought that I would go back to having an in-house job once our lives were a bit more settled.

In many ways, the onset of the pandemic was what changed that mindset for me. While several of my colleagues were (sadly) losing their jobs and their only sources of income, I was hanging on by providing niche services and being able to cobble together enough projects to earn a living. It was during this period, between 2020-2021, that I decided to officially start calling myself an independent consultant and to seriously invest in my business as a long-term career path.

Camille Cintrón, 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 am a public relations and communications consultant, working with artists, cultural organizations, and small businesses in the arts. My background is in classical music, so most of the organizations with whom I collaborate tend to be in the music space. However, I’ve also worked with dance and theater companies as well as in visual arts—I love all forms of artistic expression!

In my current work, I specialize in providing media relations and press management services. This has been a “sweet spot” to develop my business and grow my client portfolio. However, I most enjoy broader projects that involve strategizing around communications and content creation, grassroots marketing, partnership development, and community relations.

I studied classical music and trained to become a professional oboist. Up until graduate school, my goal was to find work as an orchestral musician. In the middle of my Master’s in Music Performance, I started feeling like “performance” wasn’t the right path for me anymore and decided to explore other options. I learned about the field of arts administration from my orchestra conductor, who encouraged me to meet with the head of that department in our school. At that person’s advice, I volunteered to help at the local symphony orchestra, so I could get a sense of what goes on behind the scenes and in the office of an arts organization. From that (positive) experience, I decided to pursue a second Master’s degree in Arts Administration.

Over the course of that degree, I tried to gain as much experience as possible through internships and part-time jobs. The majority of those opportunities happened to be in public relations and marketing, which gradually became my specialty. I naturally gravitated towards PR because it matches my personality—I enjoy cultivating relationships and connecting people.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

It sounds obvious, but it’s been both my former employers and my current clients. I’ve left all former positions in good terms and have stayed in touch with most of my former bosses. I have found that continuing to foster those relationships, both at professional and personal levels, has been key to my success. They think of me when they need an extra set of hands on a project, and also recommend me to others who are looking for help. Similarly my currents clients have been wonderful about keeping me on for as long as they can, as well as recommending me to individuals and organizations in their sphere. I’d add that another source of clients has been the work itself. I’ve had many folks reach out to me because they follow X organization and have been impressed by the results I delivered for them. It all comes down to being a good collaborator and doing your best work, of course, but building and keeping professional relationships over time has been crucial for me.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I’m very communicative and create time for regular touchpoints—this can be as simple as scheduling recurring check-ins and/or reporting on my progress regularly. I also embed myself in the culture of the organization as much as possible by having a presence at events and gatherings. I find these are easy yet productive ways of making my clients feel supported.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.camillecdevlin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camiletapr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camiletapr/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/camiletapr

Image Credits
For headshot only: Traci Medlock