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Nickie Robinson launched GoodGirlPR, a full-service branding, public relations, and event planning firm, in 2008 and brought her experience and knowledge in economics and law in order to help companies and professionals succeed through the power of media. She founded the company all while working full time, enjoying exciting shifts and changes in her career—including working on Wall Street—hosting networking events that she self-funded, launching events initiatives, and building relationships with professionals across industries.


A lot has changed for Robinson since the days of traditional wins of getting clients mentioned in publications and innovating in the events space. Today, her company has expanded from its beginnings and headquarters in New York to having a presence in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles, and boasts a client roster that includes Porshe, entertainment lawyer Keisha Perry Walker, and many more.

We caught up with Robinson about transitioning into a long-term sustainable career she loves, going full-time into self-employment, and where she sees the PR industry going.

​xoNecole: You’ve been in public relations for more than a decade. What has kept you passionate about continuing within the industry and staying challenged?

Nickie Robinson: I think PR taught me a lot about emotional intelligence and just building relationships. And in any business, relationships are really important. I think that I fed off the energy of a lot of my contacts, just seeing the things that we can build and launch over the years, whether it be an independent company that’s launching, looking to get off the ground, or an established company that’s looking for more exposure. So I think it’s really the people that keep me going.

​xoN: Where do you see the PR space going in terms of trends—the wide-open opportunities for you today with your brand?

NR: I think that PR is going to transform into more brand partnership opportunities rather than just press and media coverage. I think, ultimately, a lot of clients just want to get things done and get checks cut rather than be in the media, so to speak.

The whole brand partnership realm is definitely going to take off.

I think that AI is making it easier for certain people to get things done. For example, as a publicist, a person might hire me to write a press release. But in the alternative, the client might say to themselves, "I could write this myself. I can use AI. I don’t need her." So it’s replacing human capital in a lot of ways, temporarily. You know, you don’t want to post the same content on different sites. It’s not good for SEO and it’s not good for Google spiders, but I think the learning curve for that hasn’t quite hit yet and that people will eventually come back to humans doing a lot of the work.

​xoN: What are your most important deciding factors when choosing clients?

NR: Good product or brand. Energy. You want to work with someone who has good energy and is reasonable. And I care about money, but I don’t. Like, if I believe in a person, I don’t necessarily charge my full retainer, but I think, like, me just believing in what they do.

It ultimately boils down to whether you like working with the person.

Courtesy of Nickie Robinson/GoodGirlPR

xoN: ​Yes, definitely. You have to believe in a person or brand in order to represent them, right?

NR: Absolutely. And energy is important. You’re going to be interacting with this person sometimes more than once on a weekly basis, and you want to get along with a person and be able to collaborate with them, to uplift their brand. And their help to uplift our brand, too. I [am] really collaborative, not necessarily a one-sided situation.

xoN: ​I know the pandemic was rough… We’re still feeling the effects three years later. What are a few lessons you learned in navigating the aftermath of the pandemic?

NR: I was working at [a major publishing company], and I pitched virtual events to senior management. That’s why a lot of their events were virtual. In the pandemic, I really tried to think outside the box. I knew that the company needed [events] to thrive, right? If they [didn’t] have them, I might not have [had] a job. I pitched virtual events, and it ended up working out. … Now, they do a lot of their events hybrid.

I was getting two checks from that company during COVID and running my business. The pandemic didn’t really hit me so hard because I’ve always realized the importance of having multiple streams of revenue and not depending on one thing because you never know when that one thing isn’t going to work anymore.

​xoN: What advice would you give other women who want to transition into or start their careers in PR?

NR: I was able to transition into PR from the study of law due to my writing skills. They’ve evolved since doing PR. Writing a policy or procedure for a corporate bank or a legal memorandum is different from writing a press release, right? [So it’s ideal] to have the ability to write and take criticism and grow. Communication skills [are important] as well. As you know, working in media, everybody has different personalities, so you have to be able to resonate with different types of people in the most effective way.

My third and final word of advice is that it’s not an overnight process. I feel like I’m just starting to feel the results of all my hard work. I didn’t sleep for almost a decade, working a full-time job to fuel this business and then ultimately one day not being able to have to work for anyone anymore—it took time.

You have to be willing to be consistent and do the work.

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Featured image courtesy of Nickie Robinson/GoodGirlPR

 

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