The Allure Of A Social And Promotional Education

The public relations and publicist communities consist of a rare and unique breed of professionals often undaunted by transient client populations and activities reliant on others [press] to determine their wins, losses, and longevity in the industry.

By all accounts, the art of selling one’s voice and brand isn’t for the faint of heart. Yet, communication degrees are some of the most popular, leading to professional tracks for college graduates worldwide.

It is easy to see the appeal of an industry that, if navigated well, pits professionals among the elite in just about any industry. The public sees the results adorned with flashbulbs, red carpets, pearly whites, and cover stories. For a college student deciding between a communications or social media marketing degree and a more traditional choice, it is easy to see the industry's inherent attraction for Gen-Z, whose lives have been displayed and driven on social media.

Behind the glossy magazine covers and Instagram posts, you’ll find scar tissue affixed to industry professionals that can quickly build up over reporter delays, stories in need of context, and missed opportunities to secure an industry win for a very demanding yet polished clientele.

For the professional in need of communications work and brand representation, it would be easy to assume that Gen-Z would be the best prepared to support the current and diverse needs of the accomplished and elite. But on the other hand, engaging with legacy communication professionals provides a gritty and savvy counterpunch to the crosswinds of digital natives who assume quick and public client wins equate to career longevity and success.

Jessica Meisels, the founder of FingerPrint Communications in Los Angeles, zips from coast to coast, representing the who’s who of corporate and entertainment clientele. As a publicist and communications professional, she is unafraid of a battle or two to cross the finish line.

This reporter spent nine months tracking the woman whose steely yet engaging and intensely loyal personality drives her mission. Meisels has experienced the industry highs of working with the likes of the Kardashians, Airbnb, CIROC, Hard Rock Hotel, Virgin America, and Formula 1 racing teams, among others, over the last two decades. Like countless entrepreneurs, she has also dealt with professional challenges that still see her chomping at the bit even after surviving a standing eight count following her firm’s ownership structure reset.

All Hands on Deck

In the hands of economic levers unkind to corporate bottom lines, marketing and communications are often first in line at the professional guillotine. The average communications client stays with their representation for three years, so it is fair to conclude that those brave enough to hang a shingle must be battle tested. Those communications professionals who migrate to corporate Chief Marketing Officer roles have seen their respective tenures drop from an average of 40 months to 25 months.

Sometimes the wave of opportunity creates a forced choice for communications professionals.

Meisels’ early career tracks back to the reality TV boom of the early 2000s. She bounced from the heart of L.A. to the valley, supporting a little-known family with a convoluted last name. She lived a social life depicted in Vince Vaughn’s cult classic, Swingers, and quickly built a name for herself as the one to launch people and brands.

At the time, The Kardashians might have been a fluke or a cultural phenomenon destined from the stars above, but either way, Meisels quickly accelerated her reputation.

“I am not sure we knew what we were all experiencing with Kim and the entire family back then,” she recalls. “We all worked incredibly hard to capture market share, representing a new land of opportunity. Personal brand work turned to merchandise and on and on.”

The relationship with the first family of reality TV shifted from an all-hands-on-deck to a passing gaze these days, but the lessons run front and center for Meisels today.

“The early years gave me an honorary doctorate in the fast and furious nature of communications and brand management. I am not sure I could have scripted a better sandbox to learn and play in, but I am grateful for the people and experiences that have shaped my perspective today,” says Meisels.

Influence Matters

The first time this reporter met Meisels was through Zoom following an interview with her client and Hall of Fame songwriter Jermaine Dupri. The next time, it was to interview the ageless and iconic host and alum of Saved By The Bell, Mario Lopez.

Lopez was gracious and clearly a veteran of spot interviews. Meisels peered into the camera she shared with Lopez and took command of the process like a General on the battlefield. While jarring at first, I quickly leaned into the professional groove of a publicist who knew what she wanted, both for the interview and for managing her celebrity client. The interview soon approached the preset deadline, and Meisels swooped in to bookend the discussion with the deftness and decisiveness of a savvy comms veteran.

The experience, from a first-person account, was distressing at first but, upon reflection, represented a professional who wasn’t in ‘it’ for the glitz but rather the result.

“I am all about the big picture with my clients. I have to manage the experience and the opportunity for the present moment and those we can’t yet forecast,” says Meisels.

Meisels approach balances the management of the client, the reporter, and the roles each play in the triangle of storytelling. As an editorial aside – this is not the typical experience for reporters.

Early career communications professionals can attempt to crowbar a reporter into story angles that are self-serving, promotional, and ultimately interesting to a small subset of readers. However, Meisels learned early on that the influence of a client runs parallel to the impact a respectable relationship with the press can have on future efforts.

“If you prepare your client to have an informative and engaging discussion with the press and research the desired publication and reporter, you minimize the risk of souring two relationships. The one with your client and the other with the reporter who is often a gatekeeper to your success,” explains Meisels.

Social Winds

The tools the communication industry utilizes continue to evolve with clients’ expectations that comms firms maintain a one-step-ahead mentality to their respective brand management. The task can be daunting, turning classic communication professionals steeped in traditional outreach blueprints (print and digital publications) into pseudo-social media experts on the best of days.

Meisels looks to her team at Fingerprint Communications to stay abreast of social communication fads and trends to maintain currency with the audience and her clientele.

“Communications could be tabbed the branding industry.” Meisels continues, “Everybody wants to get their value proposition woven into multiple tracks or platforms so that their audiences and buyers connect with them over the long haul. It used to be considered a client ‘win’ to get an interview or article mentioned in a tier-1 publication. Now that expectation spreads to engagement metrics through a portfolio of social accounts.”

Relationships Are Personal and Professional

Fast forward to Meisels' work with the Williams Racing team for Formula 1. The explosion of interest in Formula 1, state-side, could be considered incalculable, and it was a relationship from years prior that landed the dream client for her firm.

“A dear friend and former colleague began working with Williams and reached out saying, ‘Let’s collaborate!’” she exclaims.

The delicate balance between the press and those pushing the press can sometimes become brutally transient and transactional. Meisels believes that aspiring communication professionals should spend as much time understanding relationship dynamics as they do outlets, readership, and social media tactics.

“If I reflect on the last twenty years of my career, it is clear that most of the success my clients and firm have experienced links directly back to relationships, not media pitches. Therefore, it is crucially important to understand the needs of everyone involved in disseminating one’s brand and content. Reporters need to be treated professionally, and clients need to be educated on the triangle of opportunity that can support a valid and rich storytelling experience.”

An Education in Caregiving

Who would blame Meisels if she purely and directionally dictated her professional perspectives and requests toward reporters, clients, and her team? She has worked with celebrities across multiple genres and has been a who’s who for two decades. However, the last nine months have revealed to this reporter that Meisels might be slightly anxious that if she gave up her gritty, ‘in the weeds’ approach, she’d lose her edge.

Whether she is working the phones, farming a new crop of storyteller relationships, or being a mom to her two children, it’s clear from the digital landscape of Zoom and in-person experiences that she truly is an entrepreneur. A female entrepreneur who dares to have it all. It isn’t about bylines and publications for Meisels. Her firm is her family, which includes her clients and those in the press she works with as collaborators to pen stories of innovation and inspiration.

The next time you find yourself on a bi-coastal flight from New York to Los Angeles, check the passenger to your right and left. You might just find yourself sitting next to Meisels. Feel free to interrupt because you could be her future client or inspiration for what happens once the wheels touch down.

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.