Trailblazers and leaders: Alishia Chitolie
Alishia Chitolie | Director | Stir PR
How did you get into Marketing & Comms?
Sex & the City. Just kidding…
Samantha Jones certainly piqued my interest, but I had a brilliant Placement & Careers Advisor at Brunel University who put PR on my radar. I quite fancied Marketing or Advertising, but after a short conversation around my skills and motivations, PR felt like the best fit for me.
After graduating, I started to explore PR agencies across London, reviewing the work they did and immersing myself in the media. I volunteered at a school to keep me busy whilst I applied for jobs and internships. One day, I got talking to a teacher over lunch who by chance had a daughter - Lauren - who worked at a PR agency. I asked her to put us in touch, emailed my CV, and secured a 3-month internship. It turned into a permanent job as a Junior Account Executive and I ended up staying there for nearly four years!
What does an average day look like?
No day is really the same, but that’s one of the reasons I love my job. I spend about 50% of my time on Stir as a business; working with Polly (our MD) and the rest of the Senior Leadership Team to make sure everyone is happy, productive, challenged, and that we as a Business are PR'ing ourselves too. New Business plays a large part of my day-to-day too. One of my strengths is building Brand Strategies, so I spend a lot of time reading, questioning, researching, and re-reading briefs to devise the best strategy for Clients. The other 50% is then working closely with Clients directly and their account teams at Stir, to deliver clever, creative, award-winning work.
What advice keeps you going in challenging times?
Always follow your gut. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working in comms?
That I would never be able to drink a beer or cider again without thinking about Premiumisation, Low and No, or Big Night In! On the more serious side, I wish I’d had a better understanding of just how many opportunities there are in Comms - specialist agencies, bigger, smaller, London, regionally, or in-house.
Looking back, I stayed in a lot of toxic environments that I should have left earlier, but imposter syndrome and fear of losing a “dream job” in PR held me back. It’s important at every stage in your career to make sure you’re happy, challenged, and supported, and take time to look after yourself, as Comms is incredible but it’s also hard work. Even today, I have just come back from a three-month sabbatical as I felt tired post-pandemic and wanted to take a break. Stir supported me, and that just further confirms for me that I’m in the right place.
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
It's not a personal achievement, but a collective one - winning Best Small Agency in the UK Agency Awards last year. Stir has always been a strong PR agency, but when Polly joined, we wanted to turn it into an award-winning one. Over the past four years, we’ve worked on Stir’s proposition and to change up the work we’re known for. We wanted to deliver creative, emotionally-driven PR campaigns that inspire consumers and drive actual results for Clients. This award win wasn’t our first in the past four years, but it feels like a special one and recognition of this vision is being realised. More to come in 2023!
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing the comms/marketing/influencer industry today?
The cost of living crisis will have a huge impact this year and will be one of the biggest challenges facing the whole industry. Many agencies have already seen Clients start to reduce Marketing budget for 2023, and there is every chance that this will continue as the year progresses. Consumers will broadly reduce spending on going out, travel, and non-essential goods, so it’s important to consider how and why this may affect Clients as well as being sensitive to your core audience and their mood too. Brand loyalty and empathy are never more important than in times of difficulty.
Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?
There are loads. But last year I saw a fun PR campaign by the charity Relate which created condoms disguised as seed packets. It was called “The Hornicultural Society” and it was so well executed. It’s not just because it’s punny, but it was actually born from the insight that there was a rise in STIs amongst those over +65s. Truthfully, I don’t know how well it performed results-wise, but I thought it was clever and one of those PR ideas that raised a wry smile.
What’s the key skill you think a successful PR/comms/marketing pro requires?
The key skill is relationship-building. And I don't mean that you have to be super confident or an extrovert out networking with strangers every night. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great too. But it's often about nurturing relationships in the simplest of ways - remembering people's names and their interests, building connections outside of the work you’re doing together, and understanding what they like and what they don’t. PR whether you're at entry level or MD is all about relationships, with journalists, potential clients, potential hires, or existing clients and staff too. I found my way into PR because of asking questions and getting to know someone, and it’s a skill that’s never failed me yet.
