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

Marjie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’ve been a global public relations executive for more than 30 years, 24 of those with a specialty in medical public relations. I like medical pr because the work cuts across political and cultural lines to serve all people, no matter their faith, community or geography.

A few years ago, I got the feeling that I could do something more to contribute to society. Writing a book crossed my mind. But then, I thought: “Write a book about what?” I had no idea. I just felt in my gut, that I was about to embark on a new path to help others and on a bigger scale.

During a random conversation in the living room with my older daughter (I have three, now grown children – boy, girl, girl – 27, 24, 19), she said, “Mom, you made mistakes, but overall, I think you got it right. I think you should write a book that will help the next generation of working moms with the work-family balance challenge based on your experience and expertise.”

When I got over the pleasant shock of my daughter’s endorsement, I thought to myself: “What exactly was IT that I had gotten right?” When I looked back, I understood that I had unknowingly used my professional skills as a pr executive to raise my kids and it had worked. I also understood that I had always worn one hat, rather than multiple hats, no matter with whom I was in company, and brought my full self to whatever I was doing, to the benefit of those around me, at work and at home.

Following the spontaneous, yet insightful advice of my daughter, I’m now on a mission to pay decades of public relations industry, executive and what I call, PR Parenting hindsight forward to the next generation of parents, mentors, and entrepreneurs, to help make their paths that much smoother.

You know the expression: “If I knew then, what I know now”? Well, now you do because you now have my playbook in The Power of PR Parenting (Muse Literary, April 2023). I truly hope this helps readers and listeners (the kids and I narrated the audiobook) to more easily solve daily problems, some previously unsolvable, as well as prepare for the expected and the unexpected.

Thanks to my daughter, I believe I have found a way to help make the world a better place, present day and with luck, for future generations.

Marjie , 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?

My career began as a television journalist, first on-air, and later as a US, major-market TV producer.

Then came the first major twist and turn. I returned to university to earn a Master’s Degree in International Relations, which led to my first job in public relations as the media liaison for the Consulate General of Israel to New England in 1993.

Yes, that was thirty years ago. Since then, there has been a LOT of water under the bridge and several twists and turns.

In 1995, I moved to Israel to work in the Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel before slipping back into the PR world, not much later, as the director of international media at a small boutique pr firm, then at the second largest private pr firm in the world at the time, and for the last 24 years, as the managing director at my own firm, Must Have Communications, specializing in medical public relations.

In 2023, the biggest professional twist of all to date turned me in a completely new direction — that of an author (The Power of PR Parenting: How to raise confident, resilient and successful children using public relations strategies) and THE Power of PR Speaker. I’m the only one who talks about how to use public relations practices to solve personal, parenting and professional problems.

My goal is to help parents, mentors and entrepreneurs discover their own PR superpowers and leverage them to solve everyday problems, some previously unsolvable, and smooth their path to success, however they define success. And YES, everyone has PR superpowers. If you communicate with anyone during the course of the day, you have pr skills.

I am very proud that the book and the application of its strategies, practices and tactics are helping people to solve a multitude of challenges, easily and efficiently. That’s the good news about PR Parenting and PR for Leadership, it’s not hard or heavy lifting. It’s simply achieving your goals by looking at things in a new way.

I am most proud, however, of my three, now grown children, their courage, their fortitude and the kind, loving people they are, always wanting to help. It is for these reasons that they agreed for me to share our family stories in The Power of PR Parenting, a 25-retrospective, and to talk about the same experiences in my various presentations worldwide.

Our collective mission is to pay it forward to the next generation, to make everyone’s lives a little easier and the world a better place.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My love affair with resilience started early on, though, one of my favorite stories occurred during my second semester, freshman year at Boston University.

It was January 1983. Michael Dukakis had just won his second term as governor of Massachusetts. and I got a very ambitious and far fetch “itch” to interview the governor and have my story published on the front page of the university’s newspaper, The Daily Free Press. No one took me seriously, but I decided to go for it anyway. Why not?

I somehow managed to get the land line telephone number of the governor’s press secretary. Mind you, these were the days before mobile phones, emails, laptops, the internet and caller ID.

I called her, identified myself and my interest, and then of course, got a “no”. It was a VERY short call.

I called again the next week, around the same time. Again: “No”.

Well, this went on weekly for the next three months to the point that the press secretary recognized my voice and over time we developed a nice rapport. You see, I was having fun with the process, maintained a cheery disposition and didn’t let the continuous rejections get in the way.

Then finally, in late March/early April 1983, during one of my weekly check ins, rather than the usual, “sorry, no time”, she replied: “You’ve been so nicely persistent, I’m going to give you 15 minutes with the governor.”

SURPRISE!
SCORE!!!!
YAY!!!

The lesson: though sometimes things work out quickly and easily (I really like those times!), most worthwhile initiatives are marathons rather than sprints. You just need to roll with it, believe in yourself and be willing to go the distance.

Easier said than done? Believe me, I know, and I remind myself of this lesson regularly until today, more than 40 years later, to help me achieve whatever my current “itch” is. :)

BTW: you can read about the rest of my Governor Dukakis story and the other important lessons learned from this experience in The Power of PR Parenting.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn taking things too personally.

Growing up, I took everything into my heart and spent a great deal of time feeling badly about the aggressive actions or negative words of others.
This continued through my young adulthood.

Though no one feels good about sharp or stinging words or actions, during my early days as a public relations executive, where there always seemed to be a crisis to deal with, I began to unlearn my habit of taking things personally.

This is when I began to try to filter through the drama or negativity of any situation to understand the core message/s being shared and to figure how I could help. This served me thereafter in both my professional and personal life, including as a parent. In the The Power of PR Parenting, I joke around about always keeping a pair of “imaginary filtering ear plugs” around. I promise you, though, they really do come in handy!

This new was of thinking also helped me to receive information previously deemed criticism, as mere feedback, even if not delivered constructively.

This is why when I ask today: “What did you like? And, what did you dislike?” I ask with a genuine interest to learn. And whatever the “feedback”, to use it to do better the next time. I no longer take any of it personally or into my heart. Afterall, it’s just one person’s opinion. Take what serves you and leave the rest.

We are all only human and making mistakes come with that. And guess, what, that’s ok.

If we aren’t winning, we’re learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://prfor.life/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marjiehadad/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marjie.shankenhadad
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjie-hadad-65337a7/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarjieHadad
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PRParenting/videos
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@marjiehadad