Getting Started

I have been dabbling in Public Relations since I was in college. While I was majoring in chemistry, I was interning in Public Relations. When I was pursuing a PhD in physical chemistry and biochemistry, I was volunteering as a Public Relations advisor to my sorority. And when I realized I didn't want to be a chemist and was feeling a little lost professionally, I all but fell into a Public Relations career. 


Now I am about to complete a Master's degree in Public Relations from IUPUI, pursuing my second career, and feeling both content and challenged every day. 


When I moved from chemistry to PR, one thing that I was a little excited about was the idea that no one was going to look at me and say "you do what?!?!" when we talked about my career. What I didn't know was I was entering a profession that quite possibly every person in the world thinks they understand.


What I have learned in the past five years is that there are a lot of misconceptions about what PR is. I think my favorite misnomer so far came from a friend. Her husband was recently promoted into a senior leadership position for a regional health network. As she was talking about the expectations the network had of her husband (and her) as public figures she said: "and we have to do PR every day. We can't wear sweatpants when we go to WalMart anymore."


Wait. What? 


OK, that's a bit ridiculous. 
The goal of this blog is to help facilitate an understanding of PR is and what PR is not and to foster conversations around the definitions of Public Relations. 


I will be posting periodically about topics and trends currently being discussed in the PR community. If you want to hear my thoughts more frequently, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@hollyeherbert). 


I look forward to sharing with and learning from you. After all, I'm all about relationships.