We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kendra Riley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendra, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope my legacy will be how I was able to utilize my company, skills and experience in order to help families like ours whose children have also dealt with life-threatening illnesses. When I started my PR agency I thought that would be my purpose in life, so to speak, but now – having two of our three children face a terminal illness where only one could get treatment because she was not yet symptomatic – I realize that my career was merely part of my larger purpose, which was to help other families like ours who are in need, and don’t have access to easily garnering media attention, to raise awareness and funds so their children can also have a chance at a normal life.

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

I founded Dawning Public Relations in Phoenix in 2013 with a focus on helping brands elevate their exposure through comprehensive communications campaigns – including everyone from the small independent business owner to nationwide brands with storefronts from coast to coast. Originally from Valparaiso, Indiana and a graduate of the University of Arizona, I have been practicing PR, marketing, community relations and social media in Arizona for nearly 20 years now.

We have the pleasure of working with a wide variety of clients – from restaurants, hotels, toy stores, vineyards and wine festivals, to non-profits, online education, law firms, asphalt companies, financial firms, you name it. And while my experience in the communications field is very well-rounded we focus on what we do best, which is getting our clients local, national and sometimes international media coverage, as well as managing all aspects of their social media presence.

One thing that differentiates Dawning PR from other agencies is I started my company with a goal of being a work-at-home-Mom; I wanted to have that flexibility of being able to work but also spend as much time as I could with my family. And because of that, I only hire WAHMs with as much, or more, experience than myself so that I’m helping like-minded women build the lives they want while also allowing my clients to have access to the best resources in the business (as opposed to landing the client and then handing them off to a junior account executive or someone lower on the totem pole, as many larger PR agencies will do).

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

First and foremost, delivering what I promise our clients. Referrals have the been the number source of growing our business so it’s always important to make them happy with the results of our hard work. Another thing is being involved, which could be anything from one-on-one lunch meetings or happy hours to my weekly meeting with a group of 100+ other local business owners called the Executives Association of Greater Phoenix or being on the committee for the American Heart Association of Arizona’s Phoenix Heart Ball where I regularly work with 100+ other women to raise funds for this important cause. And lastly, being available and reliable. Clients want to know you will answer when they call and friends/colleagues want to know they can trust and rely on you when they need you.

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

In the spring/summer of 2020, at the height of the global pandemic, two of our three daughters were diagnosed with an extremely rare terminal illness called Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD). While there was nothing we could do for our older daughter who was already symptomatic, there was fortunately a chance to save our youngest daughter Keira’s life in the form of experimental gene therapy treatment only available in Milan, Italy. So we had to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to move our family to Italy for five months to accomplish this – and we only had one month to do so.

While coordinating all of this with the doctors in Milan, as well as the Italian Embassy, I also had to figure out how to continue managing my growing business. I needed to give more responsibility to the team I had and hire more contractors as needs arose. It was undoubtedly the most chaotic time in my life (and business) but we made it work. And now, we’re back home in Arizona where my business has continued to grow and our daughter Keira is doing well, developing normally and showing no symptoms of this disease.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dawningpr.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mrskendrariley
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawningPR
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendrariley/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/kendradawning
• Other: www.rileysroad.com

Image Credits
Diana Lopez, Sedona WineFest, Dawning PR, CureMLD,