With over 10 years of experience in the media industry, Toronto-based publicist Amira de Vera has worked behind the scenes building buzz around some of Canada’s top talents with career highlights in music, movies and TV. But four years ago this February, Amira set her sights on her biggest and most personal publicity campaign to date — the launch of her boutique entertainment PR and management firm, Project Four Public Relations.
In this edition of Take 5, get to know Amira and her inspiring journey from employee to entrepreneur, as well as her take on why publicity should be choreographed like a slow dance.
This month, you celebrated Project Four PR’s fourth anniversary. What pushed you to take that leap of faith and become an entrepreneur?
The leap of faith came from a place of rock bottom. After leaving the small agency I worked for, I decided to try my hand at corporate PR and ended up hating it. I was also in a very toxic environment at the time. Looking back, I am so grateful for that dark period because it is what pushed me to start my own company. One freelance client turned to two, which turned to five, then at one point I was taking on over 10 clients at a time. My mom basically gave me the nudge and told me to start my own PR company. I always said that I was a great employee, but I didn’t think I had it in me to be a boss. But with the full support of my parents as well as the confidence I got from my clients, I created Project Four PR four years ago and haven’t looked back. I pinch myself every day!
What is one common misconception you see about publicity and PR, and can you set the record straight?
That results will come easy and you can expect to see them overnight. It’s such an unrealistic expectation. PR and publicity is all about reputation building. You can’t build someone’s reputation overnight. You have to lay the foundation and slowly place the bricks on top of that. Your client needs to earn the public and the media’s trust, and to do that it’s a slow dance — but a very effective one.
Every PR pro’s daily routine is vastly different, but what are a few things you make time for in your day to help you stay sane and on schedule — particularly since the start of the pandemic?
I didn’t really learn this until I entered my 30s, but my self-care routines are non-negotiable. When I was in my 20s, I had the mentality of “I will rest the day I die.” It’s such an unhealthy way of looking at your work and career. As a society, we are so conditioned to believe that if we aren’t hustling, then we are not being productive. I experienced major burnout in my late 20s and it was the most unproductive I had ever been. Yes, I was doing a lot and going, going, going, but my mental and physical health suffered as a result. Now, I set timeframes for myself. As any business owner or entrepreneur will tell you, the clock doesn’t stop unless you set those boundaries. I don’t answer any emails or calls after 6:00 PM and before 8:00 AM. I also make time to work out, meditate, go for walks and journal.
Early in your career, you took on a number of volunteer opportunities and internships. What did you do to make yourself stand out in those competitive environments?
Funny enough, the only reason I even entered the world of PR was because I met a PR professional through a volunteer opportunity, who at the time happened to be looking for an intern. She said I stood out because I went out of my way to help her out. That really is the only secret to standing out. Go the extra mile and I promise it won’t go unnoticed. Don’t be afraid to take risks and ask for more tasks and more responsibilities. Have the confidence to share your own ideas. Instead of fulfilling the minimum requirements, always strive to do more.
Can you share a piece of advice you’ve received that you wish you knew when you were starting out?
There is no such thing as a marketing emergency. My dear friend told me this once and it changed the way I handled the stress that comes along with this job. When things didn’t go right or a client was particularly unhappy, I would internalize it and take it extremely personally. When she said that phrase, it changed the way I looked at things. It wasn’t about not caring and letting the problem slip off of your shoulder. It was about realizing that this wasn’t the end of the world, and whatever challenges came up, they could be solved. It was a great shift in perspective that I wish I had adapted earlier on. It would have helped with all those sleepless nights in my early 20s!