Valese Jones of Sincerely Nicole Media has represented successful Black women entrepreneurs across a wide range of industries. Want to take your brand to the next level? Look no further.
What are the most important factors in whether you decide to take on a project or client?
The most important factors in whether I decide to take a client is how seriously they take their brand. What they have already invested in it? If their expectations are realistic? How much they know about public relations? If I have the bandwidth? And, most importantly, if I actually like the person/brand I’m working with. If I don’t believe in the person/brand, I won’t give it my all and that isn’t fair to paying clients for me to take them on just for the money. I’ve also learned through experience that potential clients that have truly invested in their brands makes my job way easier.
You have represented several powerful Black women entrepreneurs. How important is it for the culture that their accomplishments are recognized?
I purposely seek out Black women to work with because I know how important it is for the next generation of Black girls to see these positive images and role models in the media. I believe if you see it you can achieve it and if you don’t see it you won’t believe it is possible. I feel like it is my duty to be a part of the change I want to see.
Tell us about some of the services you offer.
Of course, I offer the traditional PR services but in addition to that I am also a certified in Digital marketer and Event planner.
What inspired you to launch your own company as opposed to working for someone else?
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and had planned to leave corporate America by the time I was 30. It just came sooner and I left at 25. There are only a handful of Black people in the PR industry and I got tired of being the only Black face in the room. I also wanted to work with my people and knew that due to the lack of capital a lot of our businesses have, they can’t afford agency prices. That is no slight to Black businesses but, instead an indictment on the inequitable systems America has created. Working for myself gives me more leeway on how I price my services. Plus, when you look at what your agency is paying you vs what they charge clients it’s easy to chunk the deuces.
Have you ever turned down a project or client? If so, why?
Yes I have, it’s mainly been due to it not being my area of expertise and/or me and the person not meshing well. I value my peace of mind over profit, so if you or your project will disturb my peace it costs too much.
Why is media training so important these days?
Media training is so important because the media is everywhere now that everybody has a smartphone which makes it that much harder to train people. Then there is the beast that is social media and even when you are trained properly, it is hard to always regulate our emotions. One tweet or IG post can cost you your entire brand. I think the industry is doing its best to address and to adjust to the pace that the media is evolving, so we can prepare our clients as best as possible.
What advice would you offer aspiring public relation professionals?
My advice to aspiring public relation professionals is don’t take no personal and one of my favorite quotes by Winston Churchill, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”.
