Penny Bridge: The Pilot Episode

Thank you for visiting my website and for taking an interest in what I’ve built and am continuing to refine – Penny Bridge Communications.

When I began my career more than a decade ago, there were serious questions about what the future might hold for the PR industry. The media as a business found itself in a great deal of secular flux that was greatly exacerbated by a punishing recession. Well-intentioned friends occasionally quizzed me about whether PR was indeed a growth industry that I should be aligning myself with long-term.

And it’s not that I didn’t harbor those same concerns – I just knew I was a liberal arts major who absolutely couldn’t do math or science, and that my best chance to succeed was with words and grit.

Luckily, it’s worked out. The concerns weren’t borne out and today PR is a growth industry. There’s a lot to how things got here that fascinates me, and I do plan to write about that soon within a separate post. What’s quite evident, however, is that brands recognize the need for strong PR practitioners now more than at any other time in my career at all stages in a company’s evolution and to serve a variety of different means.

Choosing to go out on my own wasn’t something I ever thought I’d do. I never aspired to be an entrepreneur, but thanks to the help of a trusted advisor, I saw a worthwhile opportunity late last year to take my experience to earlier-stage brands who wish they could find that kicka** freelancer from top agency life. That’s where Penny Bridge came about.

I believe strongly in the value of finding the right kicka** freelancer, just as I believe comparative advantage delivers the best value for clients and the least anguish for folks like me. For any freelancer, time is the scarcest resource of all, and that’s best solved for through comparative advantage, or specialization. My specialty is B2B PR, and by being independent, I maintain full autonomy to focus my projects on my specialty while teaming up with other likeminded independents when additional capabilities are needed.

That’s the core of what Penny Bridge is about – energy and strong competency on what I’m best at in a way that’s deeply personal and bespoke, with full honesty and a steady Rolodex for whenever a client needs something else. That way, everyone gets the best result, and I get to truly feel good about the work I do. It’s an exciting time for me and also for the industry, and ten years in, I couldn’t be happier with this path.

With Penny Bridge, I’m now on month six, but now that my website is live, it feels like day one again. Thanks for being part of that ride and please be in touch.