We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carla Williams Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Carla thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Allow me to take you back to March 2020.

I think we can all remember those days right? I always joke and say March 2020 had ‘about a thousand days’ because everything moved so slowly….the world was in turmoil and no one knew what was going to happen. The pandemic placed the world on standstill and we had no idea what the future held.

Like many other businesses, I had to deal with clients canceling; Being in the industry my whole life it’s pretty standard that marketing budgets are the first to cut when things go south with a business but this time it was different. I literally lost four clients in a day because, as I mentioned between the pandemic news, quarantines, and lockdowns it felt like the end of the world.

The company was, quite literally, in crisis mode. My mindset definitely shifted and I was resolute in my decision to NOT give up so I leaned in on what I knew best……PR.

I bet on myself for the first time in a long time.
Here’s how I turned things around. I made up my mind to step out of my comfort zone to show up everywhere.
No exaggeration, I lost count of about forty media features/interviews within a one-month period.

I spoke to mompreneurs who were struggling with productivity because they were now working from home while homeschooling. I used my experience to help them cope with the challenges;

I spoke to entrepreneurs who didn’t know how to pivot to this ‘new normal’ and gave practical advice on how to stay afloat;

I spoke to solopreneurs who were literally now in crisis mode and gave them the strategies to manage that crisis and tips on how to turn that negative into a positive for their business;

I reached out to some of my entrepreneurial friends who were struggling and helped them show up as well by booking features and interviews so that they could share their knowledge with a whole new audience; I was on a mission to save EVERYBODY and I did.

My hard work paid off because after working so hard for so long, 2020 was the year I was awarded Best Promotions Company and Courageous Marketing Leader, plus I was named one of the top 100 Marketers to Follow. Fast forward I am now recognized as the top Publicist in my industry, been seen in Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine, and have gone on to win Publicist of the Year…….twice!!

Carla , 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 just always knew that I wanted to get into the field. Even at a young age, I was always in awe of creative executions and how absolutely brilliant one must be to convince someone to buy something from just a few words and an image.

As time went on, my passion grew and it landed me to work with some of the most prestigious advertising companies with global brands. It was there I learned that there was so much that went into the final product and I was finally part of the strategic process. I realized that there was so much brainstorming and creativity that went into a single campaign and, working in media, I had the single most important job of getting that creativity out to the right people. I also learned that there must be a plan of action in place in case things don’t go according to plan.

Fast forward, now I have my own company, where I manage the reputation of brand owners to ensure that they get seen, heard, and paid internationally. You see, visibility is great but knowing how to manage and quickly respond to negativity is crucial in order to turn things around because left unmanaged, bad publicity can wreak havoc on a brand and negatively affect the brand’s reputation, and by extension the bottom line.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a business owner, you absolutely need to expect the unexpected and prepare as much as possible. During times of uncertainty, we need to move quickly because the longer we take to make decisions the more damage can be done to your brand’s reputation. It’s always good to have a ‘Plan B’ for all your campaigns.

For me personally, there was a time when I had to manage my own crisis.
Back in 2019 my country was devastated by flooding just before a major launch. Money had been spent but there was no way it would have been appropriate to launch.

I quickly pivoted from ‘sales & launching’ to ‘public relations & goodwill’, and helped by bringing awareness to the persons who were most affected. I gave back where I could and offered rewards to persons who helped during the crisis.

It not only helped my community but it helped others know about who I was and how I could help.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One of my most significant memories of that time was when I worked on the Coca-Cola account and there was a time a major promotion was on the verge of being cancelled. Even though we invested a lot in paid ads, people just didn’t seem interested.

Now this was the pre-social media era where the only way to connect with audiences was through the use of traditional media. I said to myself, this promotion is geared towards young persons, and at the time there were two up-and-coming urban radio stations who would love nothing more than to be associated with an international brand, so I did two things:

1) Negotiated to have their announcers discuss the promotion during their usual morning show banter every day for the duration of the campaign;

2) Sent all the relevant information to their news department to be played during their entertainment news which was rotated on average three times per day for the duration

BOTH FOR FREE!!!!!!

Now I should add here that I was brand new to the company and did not run these ideas past anyone. Not my manager, not the client, no one………and if things went south it could have cost me my job, but my instincts paid off.
It wasn’t long before sales skyrocketed and the promotion was a success; so much so that we had two other identical and successful promotions thereafter.

Even though I was pretty young in the marketing game, I knew publicity was the answer. Paid ads are great, but somehow, PR makes things more ‘real’….more truthful. Even for a brand like Coca-Cola, people needed that trust factor that only PR could give.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.carlimedia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlicommunications/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlicommunications/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlicommunications/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@carlicommunications