The Founder’s Role in PR: Why You Are the Strategy (Not Just the Spokesperson)
You Can’t Outsource Your Voice
Many founders think they can just hire a PR agency, hand over a check, and magically become an industry icon overnight. But here is the hard truth: you cannot outsource your voice. The founder’s role in PR is not just about being a talking head for a company; it is about being the beating heart of the strategy.
Why Founders Are the Story
We talk a lot about getting off autopilot and "disrupting the brain stem." The media doesn't care about your shiny product features or your corporate spreadsheets; they care about people. Your unique founding story, your grit, and your real-world journey are what create emotional resonance. In a landscape where everyone is just trying to sell something, a founder's raw, authentic story is the actual hook. That is the essence of a real thought leadership PR strategy.
Common Founder Mistakes
When founders struggle to get traction, it usually comes down to three main missteps:
Disengaged: They expect PR to behave like performance marketing with an immediate ROI without investing the 1 to 5 hours a week required to actually collaborate on the strategy.
Over-scripted: They sound like walking, talking press releases. The absolute best PR comes from a natural conversation from the heart. If you sound like a robot, you are giving the media "fake flowers."
Unavailable: We once worked with a client who didn’t respond for weeks. The media moves fast, and when a founder goes dark, it is really hard for the PR team to build the confidence, excitement, and momentum needed for a true partnership. A successful founder’s role in PR demands responsiveness and active participation.
Jenny Groberg in Entrepreneur Magazine because of her participation in thought leadership services.
What Great Founders do Differently
Great founders don't just sit back and wait for the magic to happen. They are deeply collaborative in the PR process. They bring fresh ideas, they provide substance and additional spokespeople for timely angles, they respond quickly, and they show up to meetings with insights into their culture and strategy that we can actively use for pitching. They embrace a true non-monetary investment and partnership mentality. This active founder’s role in PR is what separates the "okay" campaigns from the phenomenal ones.
How to Show up Effectively
I see this all the time: founders feeling completely inadequate to share their knowledge. This is especially true for women who feel like they don’t have enough knowledge or aren’t the "absolute best" in their field. But here is the reality: just being YOU is different, unique, and important enough.
Sometimes founders hide behind a whiteboard. They want more education, or they desperately want to look perfectly polished before they step in front of a camera. But in fact, the best PR is the most authentic version of you. People will be endeared to you simply because you have unique lived experiences.
On the flip side, a lot of founders are incredibly salesy, but they haven’t had any practice actually taking a stance on a certain issue. This is where CEO media training becomes absolutely critical. CEO media training helps you strip away the sales pitch and lean into your authority. Through rigorous CEO media training, you learn how to articulate your stance confidently so you aren't just pushing a product, you are leading a conversation.
Service Highlight
Thought Leadership That Actually Moves the Needle
If you are ready to take up space, stop playing small, and act like a "wolf with a crown," our thought leadership PR services are designed exactly for this. When a founder drops the script and fully commits to their thought leadership PR journey, the business impact isn't vanity, it’s results.
Look at our partnership with Jenny Groberg, CEO of BookSmarts Accounting and Bookkeeping. We teamed up for a thought leadership campaign featuring aggressive media relations, recurring TV contributorships, and guest speaking.
Because Jenny was willing to step out from behind the whiteboard and take an authentic stance, the company saw a 25% increase in overall revenue, lowered customer acquisition costs (CAC), and over 140 media placements reaching 1.7 billion people (which is the equivalent of $15.73M in ad value) without spending a single ad dollar. All of this led to a 703% organic SEO boost.
On top of that, Jenny was named 2024 CEO of the Year by Utah Business and recognized as an INC. 2024 Female Founder.
That is what happens when you stop handing out fake flowers. If you are ready to do the same, let's talk.
