Brand Rescue: Public Relations Unfiltered

Can you work with competing clients without crossing a line? Whitney tackles one of the questions agency owners hear time and time again: whether representing competitors is a conflict of interest. Working with competing brands doesn’t have to mean turning away business. Whitney gets into the tricky conversations that come with serving a small market, and why the right client boundaries can actually create more room for growth. She also reveals what happens when you stop treating every potential client like a deal you can’t afford to lose, and how being willing to walk away can change the entire conversation. It’s a reminder that building a stronger agency isn’t just about winning new business. It’s about knowing what’s worth saying yes to.

Giving a journalist an exclusive could land you a big story. It could also cost you a dozen others.In this Q&A episode, Whitney gets candid about when media exclusivity makes sense, why giving one outlet first dibs isn’t always worth the trade-off, and how a little early access can go a long way in building stronger journalist relationships. She also unpacks a common PR pitfall that can quietly derail media coverage before a story ever makes it to publication.From protecting media relationships to making smarter calls about timing, Whitney shares what PR pros should consider before handing over the exclusive.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedIn

How do you become the PR pro clients can’t afford to lose? Whitney Lee is getting into what it really takes to stand out, earn your seat at the table, and make sure your value goes beyond a never-ending to-do list. She breaks down the client red flags worth paying attention to, why setting expectations early can save you major headaches, and how to shift from being the person who checks off tasks to the expert clients trust to guide the big picture. Plus, she gets into why not every client deserves a yes. Because being unfirable isn’t about doing more work. It’s about bringing more to the relationship.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedIn

If every PR client needs something different, how do you build an agency that can actually scale? That’s the question Whitney found herself wrestling with after years of intentionally avoiding traditional packages.In this episode, Whitney takes you behind the scenes of how True Story tackled that problem: creating a framework for the team without turning the agency into a one-size-fits-all machine. She shares what happened when she brought in an outside expert to challenge the way they were doing things, rethink their processes, and automate the parts of the business that didn’t need to be reinvented every time.It’s a behind-the-scenes look at building systems that make an agency easier to run, without losing the customization that makes PR different from a one-size-fits-all service.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedInx1s1ND6kjxbBBElSxwS2

Packages sound simple: give clients a few options, let them pick what they need, and make the sales process easier. So why has Whitney spent years running an agency without them?In this episode, Whitney gets into the age-old agency debate around packages and why they can create more problems than they solve. She breaks down why PR agencies need to look beyond a list of deliverables, what clients are really paying for, and why letting a client prescribe their own marketing strategy can get you into trouble.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedIn