We recently connected with Jennifer Gooding and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer , thanks for joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

With less than $100 in my bank account, I had to make the choice to forever burn my relationship with the most important business reporters in town, or lie for my then boss who didn’t want to help them for purely selfish reasons (and that also harmed the company we were both working for.) When I explained this helped no one, and that this would forever ruin my career in town if I did what she was asking, she said the choice was mine. I was fired without cause hours later, and it was the best “bad” thing that ever happened to me. I am still working with these reporters over a decade later, and they have covered dozens of positive stories for my clients. ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR REPUTATION, especially with the media. Never burn the media for the sake of one bad client or boss who likely won’t be in your life by the end of the year. I would have never been able to build a PR firm and have great connections if I’d had been bullied into a bad decision. Always make the choice that nets long-term gains, even if you’re in a tight bind like I was. My reputation enabled me to start my own firm within three weeks of being fired.

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

Tell us about your business / brand

Q. How I got into my career…
A. I started my career in PR at just 21 years old. I was attending college full time in L.A., and working part time at a pet adoption center for the SPCA, when they informed me that a full-time position was available to take over their failing adoption center. I had to give up my free ride to school in order to take the position. I did, and I saved the pet adoption center through doing grass-roots PR before I ever really even knew what that meant. In my two years running it, I adopted out over 300 dogs and cats into good homes. They then gave me a job in PR, which I did for two years before returning to school.
I’ve always viewed PR and working with the media as the greatest opportunity to affect change beyond your immediate circle of influence. To this day I continue to give back and volunteer my PR skills for worthy organizations.

Q. What I’m most proud of…
Most people say PR is hard to measure. While I know where that sentiment comes from, I argue that an established professional should have some hard numbers to share. Mine are what I’m most proud of.

A. 1. I took DJI drones from their first million in sales to their first BILLION in sales on PR alone – they were doing NO social media, advertising or SEO back then. The media articles my former partner and I got for them resulted the explosion of the drone giant we all now know, who was last valued at $18B.
I handled all of their PR, globally, for years.

2. At the start of this year (2024) I represented a publicly traded company who needed to share their side of the story on something. By doing so, that same day they had their highest trading day ever, providing vital runway for the company.

Being able to directly impact companies is all that matters. I always say “don’t do PR for the sake of just doing PR” – know what the end business goal is, and work backwards from there. Sometimes that means staying silent. Sometimes that means doing a different kind of media campaign. A good PR person is smart, with a solid understanding of how businesses work overall, far outside just the role of marketing!

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I have over 22 years of public relations and business development experience, representing some of the largest household names in the world – including DJI drones and John Paul DeJoria.

I started my business in Los Angeles and am now in NYC.  I have gotten full-length feature articles and other extensive media coverage in sought-after outlets including Bloomberg TV, BBC, CNN, The Economist, Entrepreneur, INC., Fast Co., Financial Times of London, Forbes, Fortune, Smart Money, 60 Minutes, TechCrunch, TIME, The Today Show, and The Wall Street Journal.

Eleven of my 22 years of PR experience has been spent positioning companies to achieve their first or next round of funding or acquisition. The entire team has a strong foundation of understanding how Investor Relations are inextricably tied to Public Relations.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What sets me apart the most from most PR professionals is that I turn down well over half the business requests I get because PR is not right for the client at that time. Instead of just collecting some fast cash, I always do what is right for the client. An hour speaking with me saves my average client tens of thousands minimum from making costly mistakes, launching too soon, hiring a team before they’re ready, or getting their message wrong.

Most of my consults are spent coaching clients on what they can do to prepare themselves for effective PR — because of this approach, I’ve remained referral only for over 15 years. I have never once solicited new business or paid a dime in advertising.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

All of my clients have come from referrals from other clients, across all levels – from the top/ a CEO all the way to a marketing intern I was coaching.
Business owners ask other business owners for referrals, and marketing professionals often switch companies, and can be a big asset in terms of suggesting to their new boss that they hire you.
I have always treated every single person I work with – not just the CEO – with respect and kindness, and tried to set them up for success. People can tell when you’re genuine and care. I’m still getting referrals from people I have not spoken with in YEARS, which goes to show that the adage “people may forget what you say, but they never forget how you made them feel” really pays off.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://narwhalmediagroup.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarwhalMediaGroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/narwhal-media-group
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennGooding