Five minutes with Greer
What led you into PR and communications?
I studied a Bachelor of Business in Journalism. As a child, I wanted to follow the footsteps of Jana Wendt and even covered my school books with her photos. As well as doing stints in rural and regional newsrooms, I worked at ABC Radio and ABC Online in Brisbane where I got the chance to be mentored by one of my teen idols Carolyn Tucker, who calmed my “star-struck” nerves with her kindness and generosity. But these periods in newsrooms were peppered with spending time working in in-house and agency PR and corporate communications roles. There’s no better training ground for PR and communications than in a newsroom, but I definitely think working in PR and communications allows me to get the “best use” from my brain as I can utilise my business brain alongside my news sense.
Did your childhood shape what you do today?
Growing up as the middle child with two brothers either side, I had more chance of surviving childhood with diplomacy than muscle. I’m not sure if people are born with a predisposition toward emotional intelligence, or if it is something that’s acquired, but it’s a quality I’ve always had, even before I knew the name for it. This is definitely something I bring to my work. It provides an antenna to understand people, distil their ideas and stories, but also predict behaviour and prepare subjects for interviews.
How did being a journalist help you in your comms career?
Having worked in newsrooms, I know instinctively which stories have legs and which stories will end up in the bin. The way I approach PR is very much from a journalistic lens. I always conduct interviews, undertake research and explore multiple angles. Rather than being an annoying “PR” person hassling a journo with a fluffy story, I really aim to be an extra resource for them. I particularly enjoy creating “visual” opportunities for TV stories.
Is there an area within PR or comms that you particularly love?
My genuine interest in people and business, means that I am particularly skilled at finding the “story” while linking back to a strategic vision. I do a lot of work within the internal communications space, but also with strategy, media campaigns, branding, creative direction, video production, social media, as well as any other aspect of communication businesses require for success. I have run workshops for internal communication teams on news writing and for thought leaders on preparing for interviews. If you need a workshop tailored to your needs, hit me up – I love this stuff!
If you weren’t in communications, where would you be?
I think I’d most likely work in psychology or film – either acting or directing. But they’re still fields where people and their stories are the primary focus, so I guess I’m in the right space!
What have been some of your career highlights?
Since launching Forward Communications in 2002, I’ve been lucky to work with some of Australia’s top companies. I maintain confidentiality around the work I’ve done for them, but if you look at some of my case studies, I’ve documented some of the projects.
I also founded (2015) and exited (2017) a company in the vegan beauty space where I got to experience the full spectrum of running an e-commerce and traditional retail business. I worked on the concepts and formulations for five years and introduced a business partner just before launching. Before I exited, the company made it into the Oscar Red Carpet Style Lounge giftbags, achieved national retail distribution throughout Australia, secured distribution in US stores Nordstrom and Dermstore and in Canada’s prestigious Hudson’s Bay. We also had achieved a strong social media following, partly helped by the fact that Australian fashion label Spell Designs stocked our range and gifted it to their inner influencer circle.
Also, when I was working in-house at Griffith University very early in my career, one of the university’s KPI’s was centred around improving the profile of the Health Group and the Gold Coast campus. I was responsible for the communications functions for both of these areas and developed a consistent PR campaign that profiled students, academics, researchers and events. I developed such great rapport with the local media that there were times TV stations would just send a camera crew and leave me to conduct interviews. The campaign won a national award for public service communication campaigns. It’s a long time ago, but I still feel proud of achieving this at such a young age. I have maintained my connection with the university throughout the years and returned for a six-month in-house stint to help launch the medical and dentistry school. Forward Communications has also produced the content for a quarterly publication for the Health Group, covering stories ranging from Indigenous Australian graduate success stories to the latest in medical research breakthroughs.
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