My Brilliant Career Pleasing people and making things happen
Michelle Brown is the owner of Brown’s PR
What do you do at work each day?
I set up regular meetings with my corporate retainer clients as well as with potential clients. I also set my calendar for meetings, with the various groups or organisations I am part of, including three mentorship groups (I meet my mentees once a month), the Rotary Club of Algoa Bay, the Port Elizabeth Hebrew Congregation Council meeting, Project Nelson Mandela Bay Task Team meetings and the PR and events team, and the Circle of Champions for the Businesswomen’s Association (Port Elizabeth branch).
You have been involved in PR and event management for 30 years. How has the industry changed since you started, and what has stayed pretty much the same?
The industry has changed in the digital space; we conduct more and more business online.
However, the professional conduct and face-to-face interaction that establish and maintain working relationships and networks have stayed the same. The combination of both worlds has positive results.
You run your own business — what keeps you awake at night?
What keeps me awake is when I depend on external sources or networks and have to trust that all will go according to plan. But I am always assured that my team is made up of experts in their respective fields. I also go over and over whether I have crossed every “t” and dotted every “i” because I have learnt over the years that attention to detail is key when working in the PR and event management arena.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I always wanted to organise — it’s the head girl in me! Not that I ever was head girl.
What do you find most meaningful about the work you do?
I love many aspects about my work, including:
● Listening to a client’s brief, taking it into the planning and discussion stages and then executing and seeing the positive results; and
● Spending time mentoring and seeing how the mentees develop and become more confident and empowered. This giving back is so important and so rewarding for me.
What part of your job would you like to change or not do at all?
Nothing, to be honest; I love every part of what I do. However, I am acutely aware that I need to develop my tech/digital skills.
What other work would you like to do?
Nothing else — this is my absolute best job. I have also been extremely fortunate and blessed to have worked on the 2010 Fifa World Cup at our Nelson Mandela Bay Stadi- um; I was part of the organising committee that hosted Prince Edward and Sophie of Wessex at a black-tie dinner in Port Elizabeth; and I worked on the event team for events planner-author-talkshow host (and former East London “boy”) Colin Cowie, for a two-day event with Oprah Winfrey in Santa Barbara, California.