Women Owned Business - PR2Politics - Raven Robinson

Raven Robinson is the Founder of PR2Politics; a public relations firm that guides and assist politicians, and others in the spotlight with their public relations branding and strategy. She hails from the South Bronx, Raven isn't shy to say that she's only in competition with herself and does not forget the grounds from which she came. During our interview Raven made mention that she may have served me fries back in the day when she worked at McDonald's...Find out more about this Phenomenal Woman and her story.

What does the top look like to you? To me the top is being peaceful with yourself. You hear about many celebrities and professionals who have money and are not happy. For me the top is about being financially stable but also mentally stable as well.
What was the toughest part of starting your own business/ getting to where you are today? The toughest part of starting your business is retaining clients. We are in a generation where there is so much competition and clients have options. It is important to create innovative ways to keep your clients loyal.

What is the story about how you developed your brand? My story is really simple, I invested time, money and kept patient. I knew I wanted to do publicity for politicians, but I also knew it would take a lot of resources and time.

Knowing what you know now.. What would you tell your former self? I would tell my former self NEVER sell yourself short due experience because you learn by doing the work.

What advice would you give to young ladies coming up in your field? To anyone looking to do public relations, stay innovative and be consistent in your earning. The industry is forever changing and you have to stay consistent.

Have you ever found yourself to be in competition with Male counterparts? No, I am only in competition with myself. Monthly and quarterly, I look at myself and ask what more could I have done and better. I look at my goals and what I have accomplished and try to improve that, scale it up. I'm in competition with myself from last year, last month and last week. I'm not looking at what anyone else is doing, I'm looking at MYSELF!

Have you ever found yourself in competition with other females in the same field? No, I truly believe in women empowerment.

Why are you passionate about this particular industry/field? I am passionate because growing up in the inner city community I did not have a lot of resources and doing publicity for politicians allows me to give back to communities such as the one I grew up in. I never performed well in school, I went to public school all my life. P.S. 100. Morris High School. This enabled my negative thinking, school felt more like a hang out spot, people dressed really nice for it to be a poor neighborhood. I never had a vision. I started H.S. off bad out the gate, but because of the nature of the school, I was never held back. Fortunately, I had a mentor who was the head of Government Affairs at the Children's Aid Society. She helped me get an internship in State Senator Ruben Diaz's office. Up until that point, I thought about being a rapper or in the hood that used to be so cool to me. The moment I was exposed to something different, those thoughts dissipated. After the experience in that office, I wanted to make sure more people knew about the good work being done or the services available. Being in politics gave me a reason to want to do the right thing. The things that weren't important quickly became important because I was in a political place.
I come from humble beginnings, I used to work at McDonald's on Parkchester, I served fries to people...Politics made me LIT!

What’s been your biggest or worst failure on this journey? My biggest failure was not properly managing my time, but I have greatly improved since then. I started writing a "to do" list and put reminders in my phone. I put due dates in the day before they are due. It's like micro-managing myself and it's what helped me with my time management. Additionally, I like my free time, if you know me you know I like being out. So at some point I had to learn how to manage that, so I can have my free time. I can go to Sunday Brunch and not have to worry about that press release that I might not have gotten done yet. Micromanaging myself, holding myself accountable and accountable to my personal life is how I improved.

Luck, Chance, Plan, or blessings? My biggest blessing is being able to build my network organically. PR was a great introduction, I've created partnerships, it's made me accountable, it's the first industry I've worked in. What's new for me I want to get a role....I want to do Diversity and Inclusion for a big corporation. I wanted to help that company groom talent in inner-city schools. Or head of Community Affairs, where I can take the political connections and bring them out or do something in their district for the kids. I feel most people get jobs to later become an entrepreneur, I became an entrepreneur to get a job in the future. Doing it this way allowed me to build my name.