Half a decade of juggling flaming balls (and loving it)

Fair Communications turns five years old this month. A Covid baby you might assume, but you’d be wrong. I agonised for years before I took the terrifying leap to start my own business. I finally found the confidence in January 2020. 

I tentatively told a friendly journalist, who I thought would laugh at me, but he was only very encouraging. In fact, I spent most of that January and February meeting pretty much everyone I knew to sound out the level of hilarity they might have at the idea. No one laughed. Not a single one. They all thought it was a great idea. So, I earnestly created some business cards, read Starting a Business for Dummies (because my university business degree apparently wasn’t sufficient!), and then, we got locked down.

The grand plan, shared with EVERYONE, was that I would launch in May. Having wrapped up a maternity cover contract at UKTV and laid the foundation of my impending business launch. And as the world ground to a standstill in March, I found myself in a tricky spot. I’d literally told everyone, so I couldn’t NOT go ahead. May rolled around and I announced the launch to the world. Everyone across my network was incredibly supportive and I quickly snagged a few clients - and then a contract at BT.

It turns out that, in fact, a global pandemic is an excellent time to launch a PR business, because well, there’s literally nothing else to do. Other than go for one government approved walk a day, and perhaps bake bread and clean out your sock drawer. 

First post shared on LinkedIn!

Juggling all the balls

I thought I’d been a hard worker up until that point, but I have never worked so hard with such a steep leaning curve as I did during 2020. Every day, every evening, every weekend it was work, work, work. 

Running your own business is tough. Many people blazing-the-trail ahead of me told me as much. But it’s incredibly TOUGH. Like white-knuckle-rollercoaster-hang-on-for-dear-life TOUGH. I have learnt a huge amount about my resilience and adaptability. I only work with genuinely lovely people which has been an incredibly refreshing change. I can skive off here and there without a boss breathing down my neck. And I have a level of flexibility and freedom I'd previously only ever dreamt about. 

Even so, it’s still one of the hardest things to do - not because it’s difficult per se - but because there are so many balls to juggle at once. Hot-flaming-will-combust-any-minute-burn-your-eyebrows-off balls. Good juggling skills are essential. At one point I had three different calendars and email addresses. Like I said, juggling skills, among others, are essential in entrepreneurship.

Sure, but what can you do for me? 

Someone recently asked me what they’d get by working with me. Twenty years PR experience across some of the biggest consumer and corporate businesses globally. Strategic approaches to connect with your prospective and existing clients. Top notch media relations. Creative ideas tailored to your business. Corporate reputation handled carefully and considerately. C-suite level guidance and expertise. Experienced, senior, responsive, real-time cost-efficient PR consultancy and support - without forking out for a full time salary commitment. And above all a collaborative approach that feels like an extension of your team. All to help raise awareness of you, your company and unique selling point to contribute to your wider marketing and sales goals, business growth and revenue. And a pretty darn good juggler to boot! 

Looking ahead, I hope the next five years brings more lovely clients, work and opportunities to learn and grow. AI is going to transform the way we work and live - and I don’t think the world will look quite like it does today. Keeping our human-ness core to our work is the key to success. It’s going to be an interesting few years ahead. 

Finally, I am incredibly grateful to every single person who has supported this endeavour. Clients, journalists, friends, collaborators, colleagues and every person who’s recommended Fair Communications. It’s appreciated, valued and very much the beating heart of the business. Thank you - and happy 5th birthday to Fair Communications!

Victoria Fairclough is a PR & Communications Consultant at Fair Communications. For more information, please visit: www.faircommunications.co.uk