Jodi Amendola is founder of Amendola, an award-winning healthcare, health IT and life sciences PR and marketing agency in Scottsdale, AZ.
No one ever said starting a public relations and marketing agency would be easy. From the time my husband and I founded our agency over 20 years ago out of a spare bedroom in my mother’s condo to our recent acquisition by the Supreme Group, the PR and marketing landscape has evolved and shifted multiple times.
For example, one major challenge for integrated marketing agencies of all shapes and sizes has been the rapidly shrinking media ecosystem. A couple of decades ago, there were lots of healthcare- and health-IT-focused media outlets, giving us plenty of options whenever we looked to pitch client news.
In recent years, we’ve seen a significant decline in the number of publications and reporters covering healthcare and virtually all other industries, limiting options. To adapt, we work more closely with reporters today on content development, coming up with relevant and often edgy story angles, pitching them, and then working with reporters to gain industry perspectives from our clients’ thought leaders.
These types of challenges have reinforced the importance of personal and professional qualities that help navigate uncertainty and drive success. Among them, the following three skills and character traits stand out as essential for building and sustaining a thriving business.
The Power Of People: Networking, Empathy And Resilience
Networking
One of the most important skills for anyone building a PR and marketing agency is the ability to network effectively. It might sound obvious, but true networking goes far beyond exchanging business cards or connecting on LinkedIn. It’s about developing and nurturing relationships with clients, journalists, influencers and peers in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way.
Early in my career, I quickly realized that the strength of my agency’s network would determine the breadth of our opportunities. When you invest time in authentic connections, those relationships will often come back to support you, sometimes years later. Networking has also been critical for our talent acquisition and business development. Many of our hires and client partnerships came from a strong referral network that we cultivated over the years.
Whether you attend industry events, participate in panels or even just check in with contacts regularly, staying connected helps keep your agency visible and top-of-mind. In PR and marketing, relationships are currency, and the best way to grow your balance is through consistent, thoughtful engagement.
Empathy
Empathy is an invaluable trait in leading a successful PR and marketing agency. At its core, PR is about communication, but effective communication can’t happen without understanding and connecting with people on a deeper level. Whether I’m helping a client navigate a crisis, pitching a story to a journalist or mentoring a team member, being able to see things from their perspective makes all the difference.
I’ve found that the best communicators are those who genuinely care about the people they’re communicating with. This empathy allows you to craft messages that resonate, develop campaigns that are authentic and foster a culture of trust and respect within your team. It’s also key to managing client expectations and building long-term relationships. Clients need to know that you understand their pressures and are invested in their success. That level of emotional intelligence can’t be faked; it has to be genuine.
Empathy is something you can learn and develop. A good way to develop it is to put yourself in your client’s shoes and think about the challenges they’re facing. Likewise, you can help clients put themselves in their key stakeholders’ shoes, because the best PR creates an emotional connection as related to solving pain points. But first you have to understand them.
Resilience
Lastly, resilience is essential. The PR field is fast-paced, ever-changing and often unpredictable. You can spend weeks working on a pitch only to have it fall through at the last minute. A news cycle can shift in seconds, and with it, your entire strategy. And like any business, agencies will face their fair share of setbacks—whether it’s losing a client, missing out on a big opportunity or navigating tough economic conditions. But it’s important to learn from those experiences and bounce back stronger than ever, with renewed energy and ideas.
Resilience has kept my agency going throughout our journey. It’s what allowed us to get even better after a loss, learn from mistakes and keep innovating even when the odds were against us. I’ve learned that failure isn’t the end; it’s just part of the process. What matters is how you respond. Being able to pivot quickly, stay positive and maintain focus on your long-term goals is what separates successful leaders from the rest.
While building a PR and marketing business certainly requires tactical skills and industry knowledge, it’s the human qualities—networking, empathy and resilience—that truly make the difference. These skills and traits will not only help you survive the challenges of the PR and marketing world but also thrive in it.
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