Real Beauty with FD
Real Beauty with FD
Season 4 Real Beauty with FD: Obsessing over E!'s Fashion Police & Manifesting PR Dream, to splitting time between LA & NY to starting her own PR Company featuring Juliana Martins CEO & Founder of Eleven 11 Media Relations
Featuring Juliana Martins PR CEO & Founder Eleven 11 Media Relations and Host of @behindthemediapodcast
hit me up at @choosandfashiondoos
Welcome to this week's episode of feel beauty with FD. Today, I'm speaking with Giuliani Martins, and I am super pumped for this conversation. This girl is incredible. And I loved talking with her incredible lady that started her PR company and all the challenges going through COVID, and building her brand and organization. So I hope you enjoy this conversation. I also just want to give a shout out to my awesome girlfriends. We just got back from a girl's trip to Orlando. So we went to. Disney world and unit first soul. we cram this into three full days. So my voice is sadly hurting today was hard going back to work. Thankfully I was working from home. But I just want to say if anyone is debating going on a girls trip, or they're trying to justify time with the, with your girlfriends, I highly recommend it because this is what life's all about. You only live once. And also no judgment. Luna is four years old. I promise we will take her to Disney world when she's a little bit bigger, but trust me. Going there. Without kids and being an adult. Oh, my God, the magic was real. So anyway, let's get back to this conversation. I hope you enjoy it.
Juliana:Hey, how's it going? I'm good. How are you? Sorry. I'm literally a hot mess. I just, this is how I am 90% of the time.
francene:So trust me, I totally understand that this is like one of my days off this year and I went to the cinema and, um, I'm exactly the same, so you're good, but you look great and your skin is glowing.
Juliana:Thank you. So as your, where are you located? Are you said you're in central. I'm in Houston.
francene:Oh, nice. Yeah. So, behind me, you can see the dress that I'm wearing tonight for Houston fashion week, which I'm so excited about.
Juliana:I love that. Wait, that's going to be so fun.
francene:Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. This is like my first official, um, like fashion show. So I'm just going to pretend like it's Paris.
Juliana:Why not?
francene:Well, Hey, thank you so much for giving me some of your time. I'm so pumped about this interview.
Juliana:I'm excited to let me just make sure like my sound okay. And everything for you.
francene:Perfect. I can see you have a professional mic, which I'm really impressed with.
Juliana:I do. I do. I just want to make sure, like, it's going to work on your end. Okay, cool. Um, yeah. It's like. Yeah,
francene:that's great. So welcome to real beauty with FD at place where we discuss what beauty means to us, whether it's a product that sells out every second around the world, or it's a cult classic to discussing body positivity, to building incredible brands, we're here to find your little black dress in skincare makeup. More importantly promoting. Within your own skin and owning it. Each episode, I'm bringing in a new personality to discuss all things, beauty and touch them. They're inspiring stories. So this week I'm so excited. We have Juliana Martens who is the founder of 11, 11 media relations. so Hey, welcome.
Juliana:Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here and chatting with you. Obviously love beauty, so I'm so excited to dive right in.
francene:Great. Um, we'll we will look forward to heaps of beauty tips and recommendations from you. So, um, tell me a little bit about your background, cause I know you studied, um, PR media, um, social media. Um, how did you get into this part of the industry?
Juliana:Yeah, of course. So I always knew I wanted to be in entertainment and in some sorts it was actually super funny growing up. I was obsessed with III news and fashion police, what not to wear. And so Juliana random. Was like my idol and my name's also Juliana. So my dream one day was to take over her role and just see the other Juliana's souping in right next to her. And I love that. Right? Like the, the Juliana square dude that you knew is run down. Um, so that was, that was always my dream. And I went to school for communications and New York thinking that that was going to lead me in that direction. I was taking classes and my friend at the time, she got this internship at a public relations agency and, and she kept trying to recruit me for this public relations intern. And I just kept telling her, no, I was like, no, I want to be on TV. Like, that's not what I want to do. And, and kept pushing back on her a little bit until finally, like, I think it was in my junior year. I was like, I should probably get an internship. Why don't I give this PR thing a try. I never really thought anything of it or knew what it really was at first and started interning at this agency in New York. And we did a lot of beauty and aesthetics work and, um, wellness and ended up loving it. So I just kind of stumbled into PR and did that for four years, um, at a large agency or at a smaller agency. And then I moved to a large agency for about eight months. And then during COVID I started. My company, 11, 11 media relations. It's kind of like a lifestyle agency. We have brands, we have, um, we have people and I am my own boss now and still doing PR loving every second of it. And that's kind of how I stumbled into it. That
francene:is so bad ass. Um, and before I kind of ask you, you know, what kind of led you to start your own business? Um, you currently live in California, right?
Juliana:Yes. So my friends make fun of me because I am that girl. That's like, I'm, bi-coastal everyone knows that girl. And you're like, okay, like we get it places. So I am that girl. My I'm right now in Los Angeles. This is where my residence is, but my company is based in New York and my family still lives there. So I do have an apartment, a room there and I'm back and forth at least once or twice a week.
francene:Oh, my God, New York is one of my favorite places. Like it is just great. I'm obsessed with sex and states. I feel like New York is just like a dream, um, to me, but how do you find like the contrast in not just stem, you know, kind of people and just surroundings, but like fashion and beauty, like it's so different. New York and LA,
Juliana:right? Oh my gosh. When you said that, Honestly, the first thing I thought of was like outward beauty is such a contrast. Like I feel like in New York, it's definitely. Just more natural and more laid back with fashion and beauty and here in LA, I just, I think it's a joke to myself. Like you can show up to Nobu and wear sweat pants and in New York, if you showed up to Nobu and wore sweatpants, like you are absolutely out of there. So it's like the fashion here. I feel like it's more laid back and yeah. The beauty in New York is more laid back, but here they definitely obviously seem to like up up the cosmetics. You see? Definitely. I feel like more makeup than you would in New York.
francene:Yeah. I definitely feel New York is very effortless, but just so classic. Um, there's just something about like, I love nothing more than just people watching in New York and.
Juliana:It's amazing. When's the last time you were
francene:there? Um, so we actually used to go, me and my husband every Christmas, like we moved to I'm originally from Scotland. So we moved here like seven and a half years ago. Um, so because our family aren't here, we would go every year, New York and I loved it, but we haven't been since. I mean pre COVID. Um, so I'm dying to go back, dying to go back and I'm dying to go shopping.
Juliana:You said Scotland. And the first thing I thought of I'm watching Outlander. So I'm like, Jamie,
francene:do you know? I've never seen it, but so many of my friends are like, how have you never watched that program? I need to, it's on my list. It's the
Juliana:best place. Yeah, but it's not fashion but necessary.
francene:Um, so what, um, what was it that made you start your own brand, your own company, and how was that kind of taking that leap of faith, especially during COVID it's been a tough couple of
Juliana:years. Absolutely. It definitely has. Um, I'm not sure if this is a great thing, but I. Have a little trouble with authority. I guess I just have always liked being a creative and doing my own thing and kind of setting my own path. And of course I can follow direction and I'm respectful, but I always just had these crazy ideas and I would just want to run with them. And I had these different outlooks on how to do something. And I'm always like thinking outside the box. And so if you're in a corporation, like it's really hard, it's obviously very structured and you don't really know. As much as that freedom and flexibility in your day-to-day. And I'm also the type of person I can be sitting on the beach in Cabo, and I can present the same quality of work as I would sitting in an office. So it's like, why not have kind of that quality of life? And so during COVID, obviously we all just got hit with this, this time to really like, look introspectively and look outwardly and just kind of reassess our lives. And I. I just knew that I didn't want to be sitting on a, behind a desk all day, like coming back from this life so short, like you don't know what's going to happen and there's so much to experience and explore and. So having the flexibility to do that was super attractive to me. And then on the more like logistical side, um, while I was working at my old agency, obviously COVID happened. And all these agencies that paid for large agencies at the time couldn't afford large agencies, but they still had a need and want for PR. And so someone like me can swoop in and I can do it for. A lesser cost and price, which is still a very good price for me as one person and has a smaller team now, but it's not as heavy of a lift for them. And so I saw a need for these kinds of smaller brands and actual people that needed PR, but just couldn't afford a huge agency. And so I broke up. I kind of did both at the same time just to make sure I wasn't like diving into this universe without having any clients. So it was kind of testing out the waters and, and doing some stuff on the side. And so when I did leave, I felt in a good place with, um, with what I had and I felt like I could see you just have to have that trust in yourself. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. You, you have that gut feeling and. If it's feeling good, go for it and follow that
francene:energy. Oh my gosh. A hundred percent. And to your point, life's too short. And I think, I mean, I saw so many of my friends, you know, leave their roles or change positions or apply for different positions or do something completely different because I think it made us all take that step back and be like, what are we doing with our lives? Is this what we want to do. Do we want to go back to the office? Does this make sense? Um, and I think it's great what you did, but it's interesting how, um, I think I would be similar, like to just test the war and just make sure, okay, is this the right thing? Am I kind of set up, am I ready for this? Um, but I've spoken to so many people that they just, they like quit one day and they're like, all right, we'll just figure it out. And it just makes me anxious. I'm like, oh God, I couldn't do that at all. It's like,
Juliana:whatever works for you, but I wanted to make sure there was a safety net,
francene:for sure. Especially when you need to pay rent. Right.
Juliana:All the
francene:away. So your clients range from like alcohol beverage industries to physicians, to CEOs of like beauty and accessory brands, you know, high profile media personalities. Um, so I know an and certainly my scale of things is like tiny. When I look at how I look at Instagram and content and branding, um, but so much work goes into these companies and what you bring to the table. So what is your kind of strategy and thought process? Talking with different brands and people, individuals.
Juliana:That's a good question. Um, there are so many different brands and people like you just said, and so that can seem overwhelming to somebody and it definitely is a lot. Um, but I think the most important thing is just being really, really detail oriented and setting that time to stay organized. So I have a casual notebook where I just draw things down the day of during the day when I'm thinking. I also have a planner where I write things down and write them in the dates. Also write them in the note section, same things I might write on the notebook, but more structured. And then I have calendar invite. If it's none of my calendar, I will completely forget it. So I think having this organization is so, so, so important to toggle back and forth. And I know for a fact, like if I pitch one client today, I'm not going to annoy those same editors, probably the rest of the week. And so then tomorrow is going to be another set of editors. I just have these clients that are in different buckets. So I set aside different times every day to work on them or try to mesh them together. Like I have a restaurant, a tequila company that tequila company is sold in the restaurants. So sometimes I can kind of pitch them together. And so that takes care of two clients that day. Um, but also having staff. So I am expanding, which is so fun and so awesome. And I now have. About three people working with me, I say about, because I have a fourth one who is just kind of there that helps out with certain projects. And so also just learning how to delegate and train those people to take on tasks as well. Obviously I'm touching every piece of my business and super, super involved in it, but for the more research based stuff, having somebody there to really help pull the. There helped you be able to give quality strategic time to all of the other clients as
francene:well. Yeah, that's awesome. Congratulations on the growth. Um, how do you find. You know, as you've built this brand and you know, it's your baby it's, um, you know, so important. How have you found kind of taking on people and being able to delegate? Cause I can imagine that's hard. Right. And especially to your point of like how you thought about like authority, like you want the flexibility, like you want to be able to go off and do things like how do you find that now being the boss.
Juliana:That is such a good question as well. And it's something that I'm definitely working on. Obviously it's slow and steady really. I've had help for about six months now, and I'm just now starting to actually. Really loop people in on emails. Cause I just, I held it so close to me. And it's hard not to, it's hard not to, but even if you are an entrepreneur and have your own business, there is no, I, if you want to grow, like there's no IMT team, you need a team, you need these people to help take you to the next level. And I want to be putting the best workout. I want to be taken to the next level. I want to keep my current clients happy. And I'm also interested in expanding if it's the right opportunity. And so. Do everything yourself that kind of would contradict everything I was saying in the beginning, why I got into this it's to have that freedom and flexibility, but also still be able to do what I want and be passionate and, and do PR and media work for these awesome people and clients. Yeah. So having a team supporting that and also being there alongside that journey, it just kind of like a breather now, like I know right now that somebody is handling this while I'm on this call and so nothing's falling through the cracks and it's just, it's just really nice.
francene:Yeah. I'm sure it makes a huge difference. Um, So I'm a big advocate for networking. Um, so I work in a corporate role. I used to work in sales. Like I know how important it is to kind of mingle and make sure you maintain those relationships. And I know that this is probably a big part of your role, especially in PR, right? You never know where your next client's coming from and you know, the person you're speaking next to on a plane when you're flying back to New York, you never know it could be them. Right. Um, so can you share some tips on how. Other people can best utilize and build their own network.
Juliana:Absolutely. And you're totally right. You never know when you're going to meet somebody I'm thankfully have never had everyone's like, how do you, what's your lead generation? I've never looked for clients. They've all come from networking and referrals. So networking is huge. I I'll list out a few of my favorite NEC networking tips. They might seem a little straightforward, but you'd be surprised how many people may struggle with these. It's kind of like something you have to learn and be mindful of until it's just natural to you. But the very first thing for me is being authentic and every interaction people can tell, if you're looking to just gain something from the conversation, of course, Um, something else that is super straightforward, but remembering a person's name or like something subtle that they maybe shared with you earlier. Like maybe they have a daughter in college and you loop back to that. And the end of the conversation, like, oh, like, so nice to meet you. Like wishing your daughter, look at Harvard, you know, wherever it is, it just shows that you were listening and engaged and people obviously love when you remember things about them. If. Yeah. Um, making eye contact, don't be on your phone. It shows that you're interested and you're engaged and present and really value their time and company. I also think never asking for anything. So like, like a publicist publicists have this stigma of just like wanting, wanting, wanting, or being sharks, or just don't ask for anything. Just make that connection. If you have it in your mind that they could be cool for something down along the line, like, keep it in your mind. Now it's not the time you just met them. It's not appropriate. There's going to be a time that it will come up if it's, if it's authentic and if it's supposed to happen. And then the last thing that I really think is important is just follow up after meeting people, whether it's connecting right there and getting their info, or maybe reaching them out, reaching out to them on social media or LinkedIn after just saying. Hey, it was really nice to meet you. I enjoyed our conversation. Um, we should get coffee or just, just, you know, a piece of the conversation. However, whatever that call to action is followup is just reach back out. If you thought it was a meaningful connection that you wanted.
francene:Yeah, those are great, great tips. And I think the main one for sure is, um, don't ask for something there and then it's always patients, right? Like I think relationships evolve. And again, I've met certainly in sales, the amount of people, um, that I've kind of worked with and they're like, oh, that person's not helpful. You know, there's no point in maintaining a relationship and you're like, you never know. You literally never know what's going to happen. Personnel professionally, you just don't know. Um, but I think those were great. Great tips. Thank you
Juliana:for sharing. I don't know if people are interested in getting NPR, the media world, especially with celebrities or high profile, people do not ask for anything and don't take your phone out. Like, I won't even take my phone remotely out if I'm meeting a celebrity or somebody, I want them to feel comfortable that I'm not trying to take pictures with them. I don't even want to do like a swipe by of them in my story casually and sneaky. Just like, keep the phone in your pocket. Be there, be present. And people will notice it.
francene:I know, I can't even imagine how, um, you know, how they must feel when they're meeting with people and they get asked, Hey, do you mind if I take a quick picture or I don't know, like, they must feel like such an object sometimes. Like, all you care about is, Hey, I just want to post this on social media. I don't really care about like you as a person. I just want to say that I've like met you.
Juliana:It's the weirdest thing on earth. I have a lot of friends that are on the bachelor and one of my good ones, his name's Connor, and we're always out in LA. And I just get so shocked. Cause like, this is my friend now I don't even see him like that. And all sitting down somewhere and some girl will like come up basically like plop on his lap and they're like, I love you. I love, can we take the deck? And I'm just like, what is going on? Like, you know, like if you really were interested and for me an actual. Connection or professional, anything with this person, like say, hi, like have a conversation. Like you think fan girling is going to practically
francene:anywhere never happened, but especially for you, like the people that are with them, you're probably like, Hey Giuliani, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming and interrupting our dinner so hard. Oh my gosh. I'm sure you see that all the time, especially in PR. Oh my God
Juliana:all the time. And it's so funny or they're like, who are you? Like, who's this girl it's just so weird.
Join me next week as we continue this conversation with Giuliani. Thanks for listening.