We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justine D’Addio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justine below.

Justine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

One of my first and most successful client stories was a design startup founded by twenty-something micro-influencer, Sravya Attaluri. Sravya reached out to me on Linkedin in early 2021 to explore a PR partnership and, after hearing her story, I knew we’d make a great fit.

As a new business owner and growing Instagram influencer based in Hong Kong, Sravya was looking to build media authority as a mental health artist and activist globally with an emphasis on the US, UK & Hong Kong markets. Our main objectives were increasing global brand awareness and positioning Sravya as a rising artist and activist to watch in the mental health and social impact spaces. Another goal was to illustrate Sravya’s business savvy and creative agency, Hello Colour’s growth throughout the pandemic.

Our strategy aimed to highlight Sravya’s primary artwork themes: mental health, feminism and representation as well as her personal experience as a South Asian millennial artist dealing with mental health challenges herself. This unique combination of personal experiences was actively communicated to journalists through strategic pitch angle development, targeted proactive pitching and reactive media moments on social media.

We worked together over the course of a year, garnering 30 quality media placements in outlets like Fast Company, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Vogue, Self Magazine, Campaign Asia, Stylist Magazine, Washington Post, and were shared more than 16 thousand times on social media.

Sravya’s mental health and activism thought leadership was regularly featured in national publications. She was named to Talking Influence’s 2021 Top 50 list of key players and change-makers within the influencer marketing industry. Additionally, her 2021 press mentions were instrumental in her pitch deck for the prestigious UK Innovator Visa which she was awarded in November 2021. In 2022, Hello Colour was named an honoree in Fast Company’s list of most innovative marketing campaigns of the year.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

In 2015, I applied to a social media coordinator position via Craigslist ad and was hired at a local makeup company. It was the early days of influencer marketing, and my team grew the brand’s Instagram to nearly one million followers by collaborating with up-and-coming beauty influencers who are now moguls in their own right. After a couple of years, I was hired as an account manager a PR agency where I was introduced to a variety of industries and the emerging startup scene in Tampa, FL.

Over the next four years, I implemented communications strategies as an account executive for a variety of clients including startup accelerator Tampa Bay Wave. The experience introduced me the world of startups, and I was inspired to highlight their stories and ideas through media placements. PR can be a game changer for startups who are looking to gain market credibility, attract investor funding and recruit top talent.

After experiencing some national PR success for a few local startups, I knew I could serve more founders by launching my own agency. In early 2021, I founded Hyde Park PR which specializes in modern visibility strategies such as media relations and thought leadership to build real online influence. We’ve already built a reputation for securing top-tier national placements that deliver massive visibility, garnering over 13 billion media impressions, $513 million ad value and 16,000 social shares for clients in our first year in business. Today, Hyde Park PR represents clients globally with virtual offices in Tampa and San Francisco.

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

There’s so much potential in the pivot and they’re some of my favorite stories. At the start of 2021, I made a hard pivot from PR employee to PR agency owner. I often give a disclaimer when telling this story (especially to other aspiring agency owners) that I did it the “wrong way” because I didn’t give myself any real lead time between leaving my previous job and starting my new business. There’s a lot of privilege in skipping over the experimentation phase of testing the entrepreneurial waters while still employed elsewhere, however, there is also a certain confidence you have to adopt when diving right in because you’re in “sink or swim” mode.

I signed my first client within 30 days with very minimal business development or self-promotion and it seemed a little too good to be true at first. The imposter syndrome eventually came in waves, but I stayed focus on networking and social media marketing in order to build up a healthy client pipeline. I have to give credit to the Tampa startup community for validating my decision to start my own business by offering referrals and becoming clients themselves. Their support is what helped to define my PR for startups niche.

The drawback to my plan was that I didn’t have a ton of leverage when pricing my services, so I had to start small and slowly build upon it. Two years later, I’ve built up my client portfolio and case studies to command market value pricing for my niche.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to unlearn so many things since starting my business so it’s hard just to choose one. The myth that everyone has it all figured out is a big one. I had always viewed business owners as these all-knowing figures who knew something I didn’t to be running such successful businesses, but as soon as I started speaking to some of these founders, I quickly learned this wasn’t the case. The truth is that we’re all doing the best we can each day and the education never stops.

I was also always someone who preferred working in a silo of my own making. This was easy to fall into when I had the support of a boss and agency team behind me. However, I quickly had to adjust this behavior and challenge myself to network with other PR professionals to ensure I was continuously updated on industry trends and best practices. Running a remote company can be naturally isolating unless you intentionally create moments for engagement with others whether that be your internal team or making time to catch up with colleagues. You never know who can seed your next business idea or introduce you to your next big client.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hydeparkpr.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinedaddio/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinedaddio/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/justinedaddio

Image Credits
Hyde Park PR