Interview With Canvas Rebel Magazine
I was recently interviewed by Canvas Rebel Magazine. They asked about starting my business, and any advice I would give to fellow artists wanting to start a business.
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antonia Hall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Antonia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
Beginning my own Public Relations (PR) / Communications business was exciting, a dream come true, all with an appropriate level of fear. I went into it very headstrong and naïvely, but the skills I had picked up - like copywriting, sales, marketing, and social media - provided the perfect background for the new endeavor.
It began with a company name, logo and a single client. The client hired me to garner media attention for her book. It was a small, short-term project, but it was my first client, and I was determined to do my best.
PR can be a natural fit for writers, as it requires storytelling and relies heavily on word skills to stand out and be successful in a heavily saturated market. My first client was thrilled with the press release and marketing materials I created for her. Actually getting media attention for her book was harder, much harder than my previous marketing experience led me to believe, mostly because I was a newbie and didn’t realize how long garnering PR coverage could take. But I didn’t let it stop me. I gave my client a few free weeks of my time and finally secured a magazine book review and radio interviews.
As anyone who has started a business knows, there’s a lot to learn right from the start. Mistakes will be made, and that’s just part of the process. I think I was fortunate to have had enough experience to mitigate some potential pitfalls, but I don’t think I realized how much time and energy would be required on top of the actual workload for things like client relations, hiring other freelancers, and managing business finances. Like most artists, I enjoyed the creative time far more than the daily business logistics.
Looking back over a decade later, I would tell my younger self to trust herself more, that attempts at perfectionism are a waste of time, and that she should guard her downtime fiercely because work/life balance is essential. This can be particularly hard when you’re the “boss”, the one responsible for everything, and especially so when you have other freelancers counting on you.
Working through problems with clients came pretty easily for me, maybe because I only accepted projects I believed in. That said, learning how to entice a client to work with me without giving away the game plan was an art form that took years to learn. I set up some company rules early on that smoothed the path of potential client issues. I quickly built contacts and got really good at my job, so I never cut my fees and I was always paid in advance. What I found most helpful was turning to other business owners to help guide my way.
Having wise trusted guides, mentors, associates, or knowledgeable friends to turn to is essential when you become a business owner. I joined a few business groups pretty soon after starting my company in order to expand my network and become a part of support communities. The connections I made in the groups proved to be invaluable, as they provided everything from contacts to new friends and associates who became mutual sounding boards over the years.
Antonia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My company grew a great deal after those first humble beginnings well over a decade ago, and I launched my personal brand midway through. In order to keep up with client needs over the years I focused on book marketing and adding to my company client offerings. From that first PR gig, my company grew to include web and brand design, social media, ghostwriting, editing, and book publishing guidance.
Six years later my business had expanded and I was finally making money writing. To ghostwrite for others took a little adjusting to, but over time I was fortunate to take on writing projects that utilized my psychology background. In fact, I was doing more ghostwriting than PR, but most of my wordmaking was being published under other people’s names. I loved my job, but a part of me had been lost along the way, and it was time to look more closely at my personal long term goals.
This career path was not my dream job, and prior to starting my business I had dedicated many years to working in the field of psychology. Why had I worked so hard to get a Master's degree, become a certified life coach, and invested in counseling hours? Would the thesis I had been transforming into my book for years ever be ushered into the world?
After great contemplation, and a lot of editing and publishing help from others, I launched my first book, The Ultimate Guide to a Multi-Orgasmic Life. It won multiple awards and gained praise and attention. AntoniaHall.com was an official brand with its own website. The brand soon required much more of my time. I was soon juggling ghostwriting social media posts, blog posts and guest articles for clients, while promoting their projects and my own.
My years in PR taught me to respect a journalist’s time, and I went the extra mile to serve as a reliable resource. I took time to provide journalists with links to research backing any claims I made about dating, relationships and sexual health. I took courses to complement the requests, including a Sexual Health Educator program through the California University system.
Journalists appreciated the content I gave them, and I was soon being quoted in 20 to 30 articles every week. I rose earlier in the mornings so I could respond to journalist queries out of New York, three hours ahead of me in California. I stayed up late to get client projects done. In retrospect, adding so much to my workload wasn’t sustainable. My health became compromised, and I needed to focus on my own health and well-being.
By the time the pandemic hit, I already knew it was time for my PR/Communications business to close. I took time for reflection and dove into practices to counter the stress I had ignored for years.
My second book The Happy Human Playbook: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind and Emotions With Joy and Pleasure was the culmination of decades of study and embodied work.
I now focus primarily on my own writings and the consulting work that arrived as a result of my last book. I have been hired by companies and visionaries to consult as a Psychologist and Wellness Educator. I couldn’t have dreamed it better.
Other than training and knowledge, what has been most helpful for succeeding in your career?
Taking chances. Things don’t always work. I have had some failures, but I didn’t let them keep me from moving forward. Mistakes can be valuable information and are necessary for our growth.
Listening to my intuition. It helps to make time for that inner voice within to guide the way. Once I learned that skill, my intuition muscle kept growing.
Surrounding yourself with good people and treating them well. This is obviously as much true in business as it is in life.
What has been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
For me it was taking pride in my work and finding gifted collaborators who could take over where my skill set was lacking. I didn’t come from a place of competition, even when I lost clients to big PR companies. I stayed in my own lane and did my best for the client. In time, I gained a reputation for being good at my job. My results spoke for themselves, and that probably instilled a confidence that helped me attract the right clientele.
The original interview can be found here.