We were lucky to catch up with Charlotte Tomic recently and have shared our conversation below.

Charlotte, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

Covid opened a new door to my client base by allowing everyone to work remotely. As a result, I have had the pleasure of working with clients from across the world. We handle meetings via Zoom calls and communicate via text and e-mail primarily. Covid made working in isolation a necessity, so it wasn’t necessary to go to in-person meetings. When we had media events at venues that were having them, usually a more junior member would attend with masks and gloves, adhering to all Covid health restrictions, and luckily no one got sick.

Covid put everyone on notice that you really were all in the same boat. The virus hit people of all ages at different times during its evolution, forever looking for new hosts. Eventually, everyone will probably have Covid antibodies in their system, indicating that they developed an immunity to the virus. Then again, there could come another virus like Covid for which we don’t have a vaccine and booster shots.

One doesn’t know what the future holds. The only truth is that staying healthy is the most important thing – for employers and for those who lead them.

Charlotte, 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 started out in publishing reading manuscripts and recommending the ones I enjoyed to senior editors at the major publishing company Simon & Schuster. I found the work to be too isolating, so I gravitated to public relations where I worked at St. John’s University leading the News and Information Department for more than 20 years. From there I went into the corporate sector working for a major PR firm in New York, Golin, enjoying the teamwork and clients from all industries, including academia, beauty, consumer products, nonprofits, technology, etc.

My challenge is to get my clients in front of the press to amplify their expertise and burnish their company and brand.
Covid made it harder than ever to actually get a person on the phone, and we have had to rely on e-mail communications primarily. Social media has made news more timely, but clients still want the chance to be read or heard on national outlets.

It’s still fun for me to get a “hit” for a client, no matter how big or small they are. What sets me apart is my persistence and personality, that seems to help me get through the firewalls and actually reach producers and reporters.

One of my favorite accomplishments was serving on the board of two distinct non-profits and coordinating a life-saving solution to a problem for the mentally ill population. I worked for a nonprofit that provided residential housing for the homeless and also for the American Cancer Society. Nonprofits generally are mission-focused and are afraid to work together toward common goals, going after donations for their specific cause. In this case, I was able to get the ACS to provide mobile mammography vans for the homeless population to prevent breast cancer. The project is still in existence saving countless women from dying from breast cancer by getting screened regularly and for free.

I also served on the Tobacco Control Task Force lobbying and marketing against Big Tobacco to create smokefree workplaces, restaurants and housing. One of my proudest accomplishments was getting the administration at St. John’s to agree to create smokefree residence halls when they first opened, using economic and health reasons to convince them to do so.

In many ways, I’m still an advocate focusing on issues like reducing the stigma of mental illness, fighting hatred and anti-Semitism and supporting human and animal rights.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Starting my own consulting practice was a time when I had to pivot after moving to Florida from New York with my husband, who is a psychiatrist teaching at the University of Miami (Samuel Mowerman).

It was hard starting out in a place where I knew no one, and as it turned out most of my initial client base came from New York!
I also was able to work with a longtime consultant and partner based in New York on new business and we both worked on being rainmakers to expand the business. We work very well together and know each other for many years, so it’s almost like working with a same-sex spouse at this point!

We still work together on many projects and many of our clients have been with us for years.

I also learned real estate while living here with my husband, after having seen almost every condominium in Miami Beach before we decided where to buy. I now help others find their ideal residence within their budget and help others who want to move or downsize sell their properties. It was a new skill set, but I really enjoyed being back in school and learning a new career.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My partner is someone I knew from when I served on the Board of the American Cancer Society at the time I was the Queens Tobacco Control Task Force leader in New York. We attended conferences together and bonded, and when the time was right we decided to partner together to expand my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tomiccommunications.com; charlottetomic.ewm.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=charlottetomic%20re%2Fewm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottetomic/
• Twitter: @miamimediaguru

Image Credits
Charlotte Tomic