Q. Lisa Lori Communications was launched in 1999. Tell us a little about you. How did you decide to start up your own agency and how large is it?

Some years before I started Lisa Lori Communications, I began my public relations career with agencies such as Ruder Finn, Edelman and Ogilvy. I moved on to the Body Shop, where I worked closely with Anita Roddick and handled field marketing. I also worked for International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), one of the world’s largest perfumeries. After IFF, I worked for Seagram, focusing on Absolut Vodka. It was a really iconic brand – it transcended its category and was more of a lifestyle than a brand. But brands such as Absolut require a lot of travel. I wanted to start a family, so I began consulting. Out of the consulting my agency bloomed. In 2000 shortly after we opened, I convinced my good friend and colleague from Absolut Vodka, Manuela Savona, to join me.

There are eight of us at the agency, now located in Greenwich, Connecticut. Over the years there’s been greater and fewer employees. In that time, I’ve also had three children, and so keeping the agency on the smaller side has been a good balance. Keeping our agency boutique-size means that Manuela and I can focus on working hand in hand with clients and offer great customer service. When I was starting out, big agencies were the best way to get experience and to get exposure to big companies. About 10 to 12 years ago that started to change and boutique agencies really started to make their mark in the marketplace. When I was still with Absolut, we interviewed boutique agencies along with bigger agencies, and were really impressed with what they offered. It was definitely the inspiration for the founding of my firm. Next year we celebrate ten years and happily ninety-nine percent of the business we do is by referral.

Q. You have an amazing client list - New York City Opera, the Princess Grace Awards Gala, Saks Fifth Avenue, Firmenich, Folonari, Santi and Melini Wines, among others. I know you work really hard, but is my perception correct that you have a great time at it? Do you think it is easier to work hard at this kind of PR than for Pharmaceuticals or IT?

A lot of it has to do with passion. Manuela is the foodie and tends to focus on food and spirits, while I work on arts, beauty and fashion. I think to be good at something you really have to love it and everyone who knows us knows that we give 110%. You do not have to convince me to go to a fashion show or Manuela to develop a menu with a chef. For us, it is bliss but it’s not all easy street. The “glamour” side of these industries attracts a lot of interest in young people who want to break into the business, but often they only see the event or project itself, and not the work that goes into the event. There’s an incredible amount of details. I can’t speak for other businesses, but I do think when young people enter into PR, they’re surprised at how hard and even tedious the work is. I believe cream rises to the top. The young people who come into the business and work hard do very well – they rise to the top.

Q. What interested me about your practice areas - Arts, Entertainment, Beauty, Publishing, Beverage – is that they define The Good Life. And then there’s the non-profit focus, which doesn’t quite seem to fit. Where’s the connection?

Philanthropy is a huge area. A few years ago, we didn’t specifically focus on this as a practice area although I deep experience in this from my work in cause marketing at The Body Shop but the extreme wealth of the last 10 years has produced enormous growth in this area. A lot of charities used to rely just on individuals or foundations, or a combination for fundraising. Now they’re relying on companies and corporations to cross market with and look to agencies such as LLC to help. City Opera hired me to develop relationships with lifestyle, fashion and media partners because I believe that as a community these audiences are predisposed to go to the arts and introducing them to opera is a natural. Personally for me, philanthropy is so gratifying to work on as well as for our firm, we have had the wonderful experience of laughing, crying and dancing with our clients and their many worthwhile causes and organizations and we hope to continue growing in this area for many years to come.

Q. Your firm’s mantra is to “live and breathe our clients’ products and projects and become an integral part of our clients’ team.” How does that work in practice?

We tend to be exclusive for companies in a particular area. For instance, if we have a fragrance company as a client, we will work exclusively with them so that there’s no conflict of interest or we can have confidentiality. Our clients appreciate and expect that from us. It makes them feel as if we are on their team. Working in small teams is also beneficial to our clients. We have a hierarchy at LLC like any firm, but we all work on all facets of the business. At client meetings, especially initial ones, the team they see is the team they will be working with. To be effective, I believe strongly that you need to be at ground level to see what works. You can be a much better adviser that way.

Q. What do you believe are the best PR Practices in general?

Identifying at the very beginning of a project what the goals and strategies are, how you’ll achieve them, and how you’ll measure success. Clients occasionally have greater expectations than what’s possible to achieve – and you have to be honest about what’s attainable. You have to work at a project to the best of your ability with the caveat that there are things you cannot control.

Q. Because of the economic downturn, it seems the PR Industry – along with many others - might have a tight year or so. What do you think?

I don’t think it will affect LLC adversely because so much of our business is referral based and companies need PR. We may have to try a little harder to get new clients. The only time I have seen a real downturn was after September 11th – I think people felt it would be disrespectful to be pushing products, and I can understand that.

Q. Lastly, because of technological innovations, the PR Industry has changed tremendously in the last 10 years or so. Do you have a concept of what the industry will look like 10 years into the future?

I don’t, I don’t think anyone really knows. I do think it will be interesting to see how blogging and Youtube ultimately affect trends long term. I do believe there is a counter trend to these “fake” relationships, “friends” that you’ve never met or seen. It’s almost as if we’re going back to closer, more intimate relationships and word of mouth will once again become the tipping point for products and services much as it was 100 years ago. The biggest question mark will be information dissemination -- when I first started in the business, we had one computer for 10 people. And now information goes to people instantly. Everything just exploded. What could possibly be next? One thing is, everyone is looking for that next tipping point – how do I make it catch on fire.