In this thought-provoking episode, Courtney Lukitsch, Founder and CEO of Gotham PR, shares how she has helped some of the most prestigious firms in New York, Miami, and LA to achieve extraordinary results by winning at the long game of strategic PR.
You’ll discover why one-size-fits-all PR is a myth, how the PR goals and strategies of a startup should differ from those of an established brand, and what the incredible results of your PR strategy truly can be.
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast and I am here with yet another high demand coach. And that is Miss Courtney Lukitsch. Prior to founding Gotham public relations in 2002, where she signed many accounts as the agency of record, Courtney was the Vice President of Business Development at Rubenstein public relations. She was also the Management Supervisor at pepper calm and account supervisor at technology solutions slash inter public now all of that was based in New York. And super cool, she has been honored in CEO today global as 2020 22, as among the best women in the PR industry, and also buy in 2020 by Pr news. So, Courtney, I’m so excited to dive into this because we’ve really not done much on the show in terms of PR, and from what I gather and just kind of looking over your sight and who you’ve worked with, and your LinkedIn profile, this is going to be a fantastic episode. Now, before we get into kind of the work that you do with your clients, and what you’re up to now, I’d love to just take a step back and hear your story. How is it that you got into PR, and ultimately ended up founding your own firm?
Courtney Lukitsch
Well, thank you for the introduction, the many accolades and the big leading question to kind of get into the story. I have an international background, and I started out in technology, my degrees are in international relations, media, and more recently design. So I’m one of those lifelong learners, I think that’s a big part of being a strong leader and a coach, right, is to keep your skill level really high. So having worked for global brands abroad, and then coming to IBM in New York, right, at the nascent internet 1.0. Believe it or not, I got to work with, you know, hundreds of first and category brands, companies entities, many of which made it and a lot of which did you know I’ve gone through so many cycles in the economy and throughout my work. So I think having that international background has been essential, and also being based in New York. So presently, my agency is in its I think, 21st year, and maybe 22nd, you know, time flies when you’re having fun. And we have clients in 30 countries and 30 cities across the United States, I actually have clients on every continent, because I just signed someone in India, which I’m really excited about two different very exciting companies. So I feel like we just keep expanding.
Scott Ritzheimer
Amazing, amazing. Now, you mentioned that you’ve worked with lots of brands, some have made it in some habit, if you were to just some broad strokes on what do you see as the common factors and the brands that have made it versus those that haven’t?
Courtney Lukitsch
Well, sort of putting on my reporters journalistic cap here for a moment and speaking, you know, through the voice of say, Fast Company or The Wall Street Journal, I think what we saw during the past three years, and let’s face it, you know, the pandemic kind of lasts longer than we thought it would. Many of the direct consumer brands that looked like really hot entities in the beginning have either sort of plateaued or petered out. So that again, having gone through many cycles of internet based businesses and retail, that experience taught me that, you know, the ones that made it, I think, are the ones that provided extreme value. And let’s face it, not everybody wants a kit for something delivered every day, every week or every month. So I think those early models, you know, the proof is always in not just the concept, right, but then in the traction or the viability with a large consumer audience. So at the front of our q&a, before we started this interview, we were talking about being frictionless, right. And so I think consumers today are really adept at what they do and don’t want, how they want it, how they want it delivered when they want it. And they really don’t want too many worksteps attached to it. They’re very savvy, very design savvy and very experience savvy. So that necessarily ups the game for us as marketers, right? And communicators, not least of which working with the media. So really, my job is to be an intermediary between my visionary clients who are many steps ahead often, and what’s going on in the media, and we both have the privilege of getting to see things first. But I think we also understand from a value proposition, oftentimes what is going to hit and what has been missed. Yeah. Long, long response to your short question.
Scott Ritzheimer
No it’s so good. So good. So just kind of piggybacking on that. What would you say is some of the most important work that you’re doing for your clients right now?
Courtney Lukitsch
Well, presently, and I think moving into the future, it’s regenerative design, because during the past three years, three to five years I’ll put it in that cycle. Construction as you know, housing, residential design development has come to the forefront of the US and global economy. And so we necessarily were impacted by supply chain and I’m positive use waste all these kinds of issues that people have been talking about in the quote unquote, green or sustainability space. But now we’re really having to think about adaptive reuse. You know, when you’re looking I do a lot of urban planning and big scale development with major architects all around the world. And they’re looking at repurposing office buildings for housing, or how do you optimize a lobby that’s just sitting there looking very grand, but it really doesn’t serve any purpose in the building. So these kinds of big ideas, I think, regenerative regeneration is also at the forefront of any supply chain, whether that’s food, I’m talking about regenerative wars versus regenerative design. So I think you’re gonna be hearing more and more about that. Significance of that, and its its global impact.
Scott Ritzheimer
I think a lot of visionaries. You mentioned, kind of working with visionaries who are steps ahead. A lot of visionaries, and even, you know, folks that are doing great work in organizations feel like it’s enough to do great work. And it’ll just kind of sell itself, right. It’ll just kind of communicate itself to the world. And so, is that true? And and, you know, how would you respond to that idea in general?
Courtney Lukitsch
First of all, I love this question, because I work with multi generational companies, organizations, firms, and many of these larger, more established entities have written their reputation, you know, for decades, and then they don’t understand in a world of branded content, and let’s face it, self promotion, or business promotion, b2b, b2c, whatever the category is, that they’re behind. And so the smarter ones will come to us and say, you know, how do we position reposition and almost become the startup within our, you know, 30 to 50, your company, and then some of the younger firms that come to us startups, you know, I have super successful startups that have been in business for five years, and they embrace business development from the beginning, marketing, and just this idea of being coached. Right, so. Yeah, I don’t know if I answered your question.
Scott Ritzheimer
No, that’s great. So how does I want to kind of pull these two apart? And maybe that isn’t, but is it different doing PR, with these younger startups versus these more established brands? And if so, how do you differentiate the two?
Courtney Lukitsch
100%. First of all, the more established companies tend to be rather hesitant. Sometimes they get into their own way. And then the ones who will accept the coaching and the leadership for something that they clearly don’t know very much about, and they haven’t embraced. You know, it’s, it’s a real trust relationship. And so it’s based on not only competence, and a very deep network, but also on their willingness to embrace the process, right. So we do a lot of really close work together. And then I think they’re really amazed to see the results of how one success begets another. And so I really never take for granted, you know, irrespective of what the culture or size of the company, or age of the group I’m working with is, you know, that respect level, right? So we’re invested together almost as partners to drive the business. And yeah, I have a great example of a client that we started working together six months ago, and they have accomplished more than I think any client I’ve ever had in six months, and most do in three years. So really just shows that if they give us the tools, we need to do our job, then we can really accelerate. And so I think it’s really important at this inflection point, right? In the economy, where people are saying recession and the recession, you know, you hear these whispers, we’re kind of doubling down and have actually quadrupled our business over the past three years. So Wow. Well, one, one secret I would impart is always surround yourself with experts. And I think it’s hard for sometimes people to understand who the expert is, and who somebody who is maybe overconfident is when they, you know, either align with the right party or the wrong party. So sometimes we’re dealing with that position as well.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I wanted to take a little bunny trail here. And then I want to get back to kind of some of the goals and strategies around PR and what you’re doing with folks. But you mentioned this group has gotten more out of your work than any other and it’s a common thing in the world of coaching and coaches that it’s it’s different than other professions. You know, if you buy a pair of shoes, the pair of shoes comes to you ready to go right? And, yes, you have to wear them, but the shoes are done with coaching. It’s not that way, right? With coaching and with advising, it’s coming in and you’re training it but you know, that you still have to be made. And so there’s a significant element where great coaches, yes, there’s a there’s a real responsibility on them to provide great work. But at the end of the day, what you get out of a great coach is how much you apply. So what was it about this organization that you just worked with that allowed them to it He exceeded your expectations, but to get so much out of your help?
Courtney Lukitsch
Well, I think the founder, and again, it’s an eponymous firm. So his name is on everything really made himself almost a servant of the of the initiative. And so this idea of really extreme leadership, radical candor, extreme sincerity, are all values embraced in that company. And again, I think they’re working with very high profile clients, and it shows reflected in the work and our roster, as well as it’s very high profile. And I’m not saying that hyperbolically It’s that success, and that referral begets the next because we’ve never solicited business, we never, I mean, we’ve responded to a few RFPs only because, again, they were so prestigious that we, you know, felt as though we had an obligation to respond. But in general, I do believe that those internal experts are leaders who think they may know everything, and everyone in a city like New York, or Atlanta, where you are, or even in Miami, where we opened a new office, are really astonished to find, you know, almost a few days later after meeting with us that they’re going to get a tsunami of referrals and Strategic Productivity points. So people have a preconception about PR. And probably I could have renamed us, you know, a consultancy, you know, management experts, whatever, coaching gurus, but I kind of feel like it falls under the same purview, if you’re looking at 360 ways of approaching things. And coaching is just part and parcel I think of my own elaborate collaborative style, right. And so I love working with creative people, as much as I love working with scientists. So it’s sort of like where the two meet in the middle is where we sit.
Scott Ritzheimer
That’s cool. That’s neat. Okay, so just kind of using again, this kind of dichotomy, if you will, of more traditional established brands that you’re helping kind of rejuvenate and modernize versus younger brands that are starting up. So if we take that startup space, you first five to 10 years, somewhere in there. What are the types of goals that they’re going after? That you help them achieve from a PR perspective?
Courtney Lukitsch
Well, again, I love your super articulate questions, I think they come to us chasing press, and I quickly educate them as to the proposition of really having a solid business model. The values look like how they differentiate themselves, we generate some business up front, so that we have things to promote, I think on the face of it. And again, we’re living in a culture where, you know, people are maybe watching too much reality television, they don’t understand what goes into building a solid business. And again, that kind of segues into my book, creating significance because there’s a difference between significance and success, right, building a legacy, or legacy brand or entity, whatever it is, you Not everything has to be a brand, right company, firm service, whatever it is, really is driven by something other than just being a, quote unquote, overnight success, which, frankly, doesn’t exist. You know, I mean, these days of putting out the magical press release and expecting immediate traction, are over. And so I have to kind of disabuse clients, you know, I have them come to me, Oh, can’t you just generate a release? And how much will that cost since like, we don’t do publicity, right? I mean, there’s a difference between strategy and consulting and offering a valuable coaching service, which really, we tend to have our clients stay with us for quite a long time, versus sort of this. What they used to call smile and dial, pitching things for sort of vanity sake, and that serves its purpose, you know, in in the movie industry, and television, and so forth. But we’re talking about building things at scale that are pretty impactful. Yeah, like architects, or like buildings, like the environment around us. So these are bigger, bigger goals.
Scott Ritzheimer
So there’s a number of areas that I’ve seen becoming much, much more strategic in nature, right, you see this with the financial profession in terms of, you know, CPAs, coming into the decision making circle you see with HR, right, there’s, there’s lots of folks that I work with that, you know, they used to do HR, but now it’s a much more strategic HR, they’re actually being invited to the table. And so what’s the advantage of taking a more strategic view of PR, as opposed to the Hey, we did this someone write a press release about it?
Courtney Lukitsch
Right? Well, I think it’s engaging that C level executive team, and then also bringing up the more junior people in an organization through either succession planning or promotion, whatever it is you want to call it. And if that’s a function of the HR department, if they even have one, depending on the size of the company, or if it’s more the purview of, you know, the CMO or the CFO, usually it comes to the CEO and these this is true in my experience of companies that have five or 10,000 employees. So yes, I think kind of educating that sea level executive, as you know, they’ve been doing things for a certain way for many decades. It didn’t work taught to believe necessarily that self promotion was a bad thing. So kind of turning that on its head and explaining to them that they’re allowed to strategically promote various business accomplishments is not the same thing as being somehow disingenuous.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I’d love for you to just say that again. Because I think it’s such a big point, you made the point that self this isn’t self aggrandizement, right? This isn’t you tooting your horn for the sake of your ego. Right? This is an effective communication strategy. So maybe I don’t know if it’s a story from a client who did this or just kind of the accumulation of working with them. But what’s that transformation that you see your clients going through? I don’t know. Like, can I really talk about myself to hey, here’s an effective way of communicating the value that I bring to my client.
Courtney Lukitsch
Right, well I think when we’re talking about business to business or business to consumer, I’m using some marketing terminology and journalistic tech, you know, terminology. But this is sort of the niche in which we operate. And so I think, once the client, my client starts to see that they’re growing the business, and it’s having an impact through our coaching, and, you know, related press features, but that’s not exclusively, we’re helping them build their networks and empower them and motivate and inspire them, right. So it’s sort of being the secret strength behind the scenes. In other words, we don’t have to be on the front, but we need to train our client to be comfortable being on front. And so I think that’s what you are alluding to. And so it’s a wonderful moment, when they start repeating back to me something I taught them a year or three ago, as if they’re, you know, the one who imparted it to begin with. So I know that my job is done, I pat myself on the shoulder when that happens.
Scott Ritzheimer
I love that. The other thing that you that’s been an undertone and a lot of what you’re saying and I just want to reinforce it, because it’s so true is that there’s not a silver bullet quick fixes, right? Like, when you look at the things that are really going to change organization, it’s not overnight success, is when you’re looking for a coach or an advisor or someone to come alongside and help you, you’re looking for someone who’s going to run the next leg of the journey with you at least right? This isn’t just pop in, you spit something out, but someone who’s really going to partner with you and walk with you for some time. The things that especially when you’re looking at legacy and what you’ll leave behind, those aren’t things that are created overnight, they’re created and cultivated over time. And so I love that you’ve had the opportunity to do that, that you’ve had clients who’ve understood that, because it’s such a key to success when you’re bringing in folks to help and partner along the way is if you’re just trying to bring in someone for the next few month or three months, sure you’ll get work done. But is it really creating the impact that you want?
Courtney Lukitsch
Right no, that’s the impact is it significant point to that end, even though we perform a lot of legal due diligence, you know, I myself have a coach, I have an excellent legal team, I have a coach that works with many of my creatives. And so you know, I don’t know that any one agency or or coach or consultant can fulfill all of these, you know, functions. And so I have built this tremendous network so that I can say, Okay, talk to X, Y, and Z and then come back to me. And then of course, they’re much more calm if they’re going through a crisis or, you know, lawyer has mitigated whatever concern they have having to do with the with the court system. So you know, it’s just interesting to me that the first thing people want to do is call a PR Pro and say, fix it through the press. And I mean, a lot of times it’s solved without going to the press. And that’s a solution in and of itself. I often caution clients, like, let’s keep it out of the press, let’s do the opposite of what you just came to.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, so good. Alright, so I got this question. I love to ask you to all my guests, I want to ask you to view as well. And that is this. If I were to say what is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all? What’s that one thing that you wish everybody listening today knew?
Courtney Lukitsch
kWell, it’s it’s actually advice that I got from one of my first clients. And again, this goes back a while but you know, your first job or career path isn’t your last right? And then this idea of surrounding yourself with experts. So you literally can build this positivity, reputation circle around yourself, because so many more resources exists today, certainly than did when I started my own practice. So I would just say seek out those resources. And more often than not, as I said, also working in the media, people say yes, more than they say no. So if you don’t ask, you’re not going to get a positive response. So never hesitate to ask an expert. More than likely they will happily avail themselves to give you a response.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah so good. All right. So what I’d like for you to do now I’m going to have you take off your advisor hat, your coach hat for a second, I’m going to have you put on your co founder hat and kind of jump into the ring with the rest of us and talk to us a little bit about what the next growth stage It looks like for Gotham PR, and what challenges you feel like you will have to overcome and your leadership to get there?
Courtney Lukitsch
I think it’s always scaling and talent. And I’m sure that you hear that resonate throughout pretty much every interview you do. I think as with every economic cycle, you know, as an expert marketer, I was heavily invested in, in London and New York have since expanded into Miami past few years, it’s a very hot market there for all the reasons I’ve sort of stated earlier, in this interview in Los Angeles, so you know, it’s kind of an axis. And I think being able to and already servicing those four markets has been really pivotal to our success, and I think probably will continue to be so. So I’m always in a sort of growth acceleration mindset. And so bearing that in mind, you know, I had a full client roster for 2023, we’re already booked, you know, through 2025, essentially. So, always having that strategic mindset, you know, the people who are panicking now that it’s February, or almost q2, and they haven’t generated any new leads or business, you know, some of those people are coming to me and then saying, Okay, we’re gonna have to build a whole strategic program. It’s not just sort of putting out a lot of media exclusives, we can do that. But I mean, publications won’t run until the next quarter. Anyway, that’s just the nature of the industry. So yeah, being really proactive, I think is sort of my middle name.
Scott Ritzheimer
Awesome. Now, you mentioned just briefly, and I’d love to hear a little bit more about it your your book: Creating Significance, if you could tell us a little bit more about that. And where folks can find it?
Courtney Lukitsch
Yeah, absolutely, it’s going to be we keep pushing the publication date, because my editor keeps making me rewrite sections. And we didn’t want it to be a pandemic book. And as I told you, we just experienced this huge growth spurt. So it’s largely based on client case studies. This point, I think it’s probably going to come out in Q3, but even get pushed to q4, based on, you know, there’s even a supply chain issue with books If you’ve anything in the publishing world. So I will certainly put a sort of universal link on my LinkedIn, and certainly there will be a synergistic website, and then we’re going to merge it with the Gotham PR website, just because it does mirror so many of our clients, exemplary case studies. So that’s where you can find it. And it is about really, first of all, we were really excited that the name wasn’t taken. So that was the discovery number one. And then discovery number two was just dialing back several years sort of peeling back all the layers of lessons learned and successes and where businesses were when they started with us versus where they are today. It just sort of exponential growth. It’s been really exciting as a sort of research person to delve back into my memory as to what it was like, in the beginning versus what it is like now. And actually, you get rewarded with more work. And a lot of people don’t understand that they think it probably gets easier. And in some aspects it does. But it also accelerates like, if you’re very good, you know that 10,000 Malcom Gladwell kind of rule of metric of being successful, also applies, you know, 100 fold to significance, right. So, I think we always have to keep striving for significance, not sort of implied.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, well, I can’t wait for it to come out. Now. In the meantime, working folks find more out about you in the work that you do?
Courtney Lukitsch
https://www.gothampr.com As I mentioned, are probably highest profile client roster we’ve had and some time and that’s not to diminish anything we’ve done before, but it is always exciting to start the year off with the bank. So that’s where find us.
Scott Ritzheimer
Excellent. Gotham pr.com. We’ll add it to the Episode notes. For those of you who’d like to check it out. Please, please do there’s so much great stuff there. Well, Courtney, thank you so much for being on the show. It was just an absolute pleasure having you here today. And to everyone who’s listening your time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care
Contact Courtney Lukitsch
Prior to founding Gotham Public Relations Inc in 2002 where she signed many accounts as Agency of Record (AOR), Courtney Lukitsch was Vice President of Business Development at Rubenstein Public Relations, Management Supervisor at PepperCom and Account Supervisor at Technology Solutions/Interpublic; all based in New York. She has been honored in CEO Today Global 2022 and among the ‘Best Women in the PR industry’ in 2020 by PR News.
Want to learn more about Courtney’s work at Gotham PR? Check out her website at https://www.gothampr.com
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