Trailblazers and leaders: Evadney Campbell MBE

Evadney Campbell MBE | Co-Founder, Shiloh PR

How did you get to where you are today?

It felt like a natural transition from journalism. I worked for the BBC as a Broadcast Journalist for a number of years. When I decided to take redundancy to set up on my own, public relations was the natural move, given it was something I had been doing unofficially for a number of years. I also had a number of contacts in the media, both grassroots Black media outlets as well as mainstream media. As a journalist, I also had a good understanding of what stories the media was interested in and how to ensure it was written in such a manner that it would be more likely to get coverage.

What does an average day look like?

This is difficult as there is no 'average' day for me. Generally speaking, I spend the morning going through all my emails, responding and sending out emails. If we're working on a specific project, there may be press releases to write and share with our clients for their approval or speaking to media contacts etc. This can take hours as we will use a number of different methods to reach the media - personalising emails to selected journalists, using not only emails but several different social platforms through which to reach them.

This is perhaps the best part of the job, the fact that there are no two days the same. As a SME, you're responsible for every aspect of the business which means, one day you could be carrying out admin for your business, and in the same time, your evenings could be networking with some incredible people, hoping to make some useful contacts. I truly love the freedom, flexibility and sense of purpose I feel each day.

What advice keeps you going in challenging times?

Focus on your 'Why'. What was your driver for doing this job? What was the thing about it which made you want to take the leap? Is this still the case? Accept that there will always be challenges, the thing is to stay the course. Just take it one day at a time. Remember "This too will pass".

What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working in comms?

How long it would take to be financially free. LOL. The one thing for me though on this part of my journey is I wished I had started years ago. I am so proud of the number of people of colour I meet who are embarking on this journey. This was not the case when I began in the media some decades ago and even since embarking on my public relations journey ten years ago.

What’s your greatest achievement to date?

This is a difficult one as I would always say it's my children. I was a teenage mother yet, thank God, I have two amazing children both of whom have made me extremely proud of their achievements. With regard to professional achievement, again really hard to say but, maybe being awarded an MBE for my charitable work within the community comes pretty high.

Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?

Wow, lots of campaigns I wished we had worked on. The one I wish we had been involved with though the most is working on the promotion for the current musical 'Get up Stand Up' the theatrical production based on the life of Jamaican reggae artist Bob Marley. The other campaign which we would have loved was the Dove & C4 Afro hair campaign - Hair Power, me and my afro. I know that is two but, they really did spike my interest and mild jealousy - LOL.

What’s the key skill you think a successful business owner requires?

Tenacity. You really have to have staying power because you will be faced by challenges which will push you to want to give up. Please hold on to the saying 'success could be just round the corner'. I'm always fearful that the day I give up will be the day that large contract drops into my lap.

Make sure it is something you'd enjoy doing even if you didn't get paid for doing it.

Never stop learning.

Network with people you can learn from, who will support and encourage you when the going gets tough. I think having 'Champions' who will promote you when you're not in the room is also invaluable. Unfortunately, as Black people, we do not often have these champions who are able to open doors for us but we keep building that network.

Have integrity and always be honest and give your best to all your clients.