Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lori Donofrio-galley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lori, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

In August 2020, while walking our family’s bonded pair of senior rescue dogs in the neighborhood, I made a decision with absolute conviction: “I will launch a PR consulting business in early 2021!” The challenges of the pandemic year had pushed my years-long drive towards entrepreneurship to the forefront.

Equally influential was seeing my 60th birthday, then, less than seven months away. “How do I want to spend the next years of my career before retiring?” I asked myself. The answer was clear. I wanted to realize a compensation that matched my talent and my professional and financial goals, while serving as a resource for growth for start-ups, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. I knew the timing was right post-pandemic to partner with clients to raise or restore their visibility, using my tested methodology. The demand for PR was particularly strong at the time and projected to grow, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For 23 years as a nonprofit executive, I had catalyzed a personal passion to leverage connections and cultivate resources, using innovative strategies, to raise the visibility of an organization. The nuanced public relations strategies that I had employed to build nonprofit capacity could be applied to businesses to achieve parallel successes. My success as a nonprofit leader was attributed, in part, to my entrepreneurial spirit, which was sparked by two strong mentors, both educators, who broadened my leadership perspectives. Executive roles in the nonprofit sector were served well by my first 15 years of professional experience as a writer, editor, researcher, and adjunct instructor in the Humanities. Experience had honed my analytical abilities, strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, resourcefulness, and client advocacy.

In the six years before launching The Right Angle Strategic Storytelling, LLC, I served as the Executive Director of a small regional chamber in northeastern PA. Every week, I was exposed to savvy business minds, immersed in the daily wins and losses of entrepreneurs, and coached by small business members. More than half of our chamber members were solo entrepreneurs or small business owners with no more than 4-5 employees. Through conversation, relationship-building, program development, and access to many local, state, and national resources for developing and funding small businesses, I was instilled with knowledge that would largely inform my entrepreneurial mindset later.

Several months ahead of the launch of The Right Angle, and to ease the transition from full-time employee to small business owner, I hired a holistic mindset coach for 12 weeks. The process was a course in self-study guided by an expert coach. I made significant shifts in perspective designed to further develop my leadership skills and improve future successes in engaging and influencing leads, prospects, and clients. I worked through pricing strategy, client engagement, discovery, and workflow, and sales funnels. Furthermore, my coach, a partner, would redirect me, at times, to overcome longstanding patterns or fears and hold me accountable to my business goals.

Similarly, now, as a PR Strategist, I partner with business or nonprofit clients as their advocate who will help advance their business goals with my results-oriented PR strategies.

Lori, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Making your business or nonprofit organization visible through strategic storytelling that elevates brand identity and reveals the human identity behind the brand to attract and engage clientele or supporters is the mission of The Right Angle Strategic Storytelling, LLC.

For 23 years as a nonprofit executive, I have catalyzed a personal passion to leverage connections and cultivate resources, using innovative strategies, to raise the visibility of an organization. The nuanced public relations strategies, tactics, and tools that I have employed to build nonprofit capacity can be applied to businesses to achieve parallel successes. Before assuming leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, I gained professional experience as a writer, editor, researcher, and adjunct instructor. In April 2021, as a PR Consultant, I launched The Right Angle Strategic Storytelling to provide strategic PR services to small or start-up service-based businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The Right Angle Strategic Storytelling recommends a tested approach that relies on the skills of investigative journalism. Working methodically with a client in Phase I, I exercise my skills as an interviewer and researcher to understand the client’s story and goals and to assess the multimedia presence of a business, business owner, or nonprofit organization. Next, I prepare and deliver an assessment report with recommendations.
In Phase II, I will design a custom PR Plan with PR strategies that align with the client’s business-development priorities or nonprofit development planning goals. The Phase I assessment also informs the client’s next steps. Storytelling angles will be uncovered, magnified, and then woven throughout recommended tactics, tools, and messaging, also known as angles, in order to implement Phase III. A media kit, including a pitch or face sheet, and press releases is part of early implementation.

What follow are actual reasons why business and nonprofit clients have sought my PR consulting. These statements represent typical pain points:

 “I cannot figure out how to do PR on my own.”
 “I am looking for ways to promote my business, my book, my specialty…”
 “I want to attract more business. I need a PR Guru.”
 “I think my business services are a best-kept secret, and I want to change that!”
 “How do we engage our “fans” or “stakeholders” to tell our story?”
 “One of my weakest areas is the right way to promote myself.”
 “Not sure how to find my audience and grow my sales.”
 “I see my professional peers on TV and in the newspapers. How can I achieve that kind of visibility?”
 “I would like to figure out a way to improve my business narrative and get some news coverage.”
 “I want to get the word out about what I do and make new connections.”
 “I want to become the Face of My Business.”
 “We need PR strategy to advance our Development Plan and fundraising goals.”

The Right Angle is your Partner in uncovering a compelling story that resonates with your target audiences to communicate your value for growth! Creating compelling storytelling campaigns to communicate the value of client services and demonstrate the expertise of the Face Behind the Brand is what we do!

Remember, when practiced over time, strategic PR will influence growth. Partnering with The Right Angle Strategic Storytelling will grow your business or nonprofit, including attracting earned media, strategic partnerships, recognition, speaking engagements, publishing, funding, and donor, volunteer, or client engagement. We partner with the client to bring the resources and then promote those successes.

Where investigative reporting meets creative PR strategy, that’s where you’ll find the right angle!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

In 2020, when I began mapping out my business idea for strategic PR services and developing my business plan, I was working full time. Consequently, I shared my next steps with some of my business friends as a strategy to find prospective clients. One of these business owners contracted me as a freelancer to partner in both business-development and public relations activities. This strategy landed me my first client, eased me into learning client logistics, and earned me a monthly income for seven months ahead of my launch. The client continued working with me after I launched my business. My freelance income earned me the initial capital I needed for startup costs, including insurance, website, graphic design, marketing, and technology. Family members who were experts in some of these areas allowed me to realize some significant discounts.

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

As a startup, your greatest assets are your network and your authority. Both of these assets will build your reputation within your market and industry. Over 23 years as a nonprofit executive, my contributions to any of the four 501c3 organizations with whom I was employed required me to network and grow a pool of resources, including but not limited to community volunteers, donors, funders, strategic partners, board members, association members, media outlets, and other stakeholders. Engaging the community and actively building relationships through the years produced valuable contacts that I carried into my business to influence my own growth, as well as to benefit my clients. Countless relationships led directly or through referrals to speaking engagements, interviews in print, on tv or radio, and on podcasts, and even grantmaking opportunities.

My credentials, which positioned me for my professional experience, then positioned me to network on a large scale. The genuine connections fostered with so many people grew my authority in public relations, marketing, sales, and organizational development. My professional and personal reputations emerging from my work within the nonprofit sector absolutely transferred to my relationships with small business owners. From the first week of my business launch, I began to acquire new clients, all of whom were connections from various stages of my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rightangle.us.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loridonofriogalley/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourRtAngle
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-donofrio-galley/
• Twitter: https://x.com/YourRtAngle
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSweVUFmUTtUMRqy3ThsuDQ

Image Credits

Heike Martin Photography (all photos)
Emma E. Donofrio-Galley (logos)