To help you get to know Outset better, we’d like to introduce one of the co-founders and Head of Communications, Patricia Hui. See what she has to say about Outset, the role of Communications in a business, and what to look out for in the industry, as interviewed by co-founder, Lauren.
Patricia: I’ve worked in communications, PR, and marketing for essentially my entire career and I’ve moved around companies more than a lot my peers and colleagues have. That diversity allowed me to treat every job like a big project, with each experience building on the last. I’m used to versatility and have had to think fast and build things from literally nothing. All of which I feel like are ideal skills for starting a business.
In truth, the original spark behind Outset came from you! Remember you called me and essentially said, with no fluff, “Hey I want to start a business and I want you to do it with me.”
Patricia: Exactly! From then on everything felt so natural and easy, like this was the exact thing I wanted to do with my career. It’s filled with a lot of challenges and unknowns and yet, there hasn’t been a facet of building Outset that I haven’t been able to draw on my past experiences and skill set from.
Patricia: Creativity is a huge one. Marketing and Communications get such a bad rep these days and I think it’s because it’s become so antiquated with so many platforms, KPI’s, and generic language that people forget that it’s supposed to be fun. Building stories from ideas and nailing the language and working with people to encourage a deeper narrative or challenge them is a wonderful, creative process - one that I am going to keep central to what I do.
Another value that we both resonate on is authenticity and transparency. That sounds so stuffy but it’s a really simple concept and my best experiences with coworkers, recruiters, managers, and mentors have always been rooted in authenticity. There is power in being able to know that the information and interaction you're getting is trustworthy and knowledgeable, it paves the way for better relationships and better quality of work. That’s why it’s one of the key directives of how we’re running Outset.
Patricia: Initiative and proactive communication. Taking initiative doesn’t just mean volunteering for things, it means anticipating problems and pending tasks and being the one to drive action towards handling them.
Patricia: On a larger scale, communications is integral in everything we do. It’s the basis of what we’re doing right now, sitting down and having a conversation, talking about ideas and narratives that are important to me and Outset. For a business, having a strong communications strategy is how you’re going to speak to your audience. A lot of the time, you won’t always get a two-way conversation, it’s often a one-way conversation directed at your audience and you only have one or two opportunities to start that conversation out right.
Patricia: Something I tell my creative clients all the time is let someone else do the talking so you can do the creating. Talking meaning the marketing, communications, and PR tasks. Now that doesn’t mean, “hire someone to write and strategize everything for your company”, but rather someone who is better equipped to take your key concepts and words and add some structure and a strategy for it so it makes an impression and will withstand the market changing.
Patricia: Exactly - you wouldn’t try and design your house from scratch. You’d hire an architect for it and then work together to bring your vision to life, in a medium that they are skilled at.
Patricia: Something a lot of communications and PR professionals don’t tell you is that not all campaigns are winners and you shouldn’t expect them to be. That’s where skills like adaptability and market expertise come into play.
Handling a campaign when it’s not doing as great as you’d hope also involves a bit of foresight. In the conceptualization phase, I really try and think about any risks, threats, and competitive markers that are worth keeping an eye on. Call it my crisis PR training but, preparation helps create actionable items for when campaigns lose momentum or worse. The quicker the turnaround time for action is, the better chance you have for getting it back on track.
But no matter the cause or reason for a campaign falling behind, it must require strong communication with the client, the creator, and any other parties involved.
Patricia: Now you’re getting it.
Patricia: I find AI-driven PR strategies so interesting. PR is such an intense subset of communications and marketing that seeing tools come out to help streamline things like media analysis, sentiment reporting, and personalizing pitches is so great. When I started in PR, none of that was really available and I’m excited to see the difference it makes in the field.
Another movement I’ve seen is using employees as a PR tool - I’ve worked with tons of department heads and management level executives for thought leadership opportunities and to build a brand’s narrative but now it seems like this highlighting is no longer reserved for a specific niche. Any opportunity to showcase a company’s culture and messaging through real people is always a good thing!
Patricia: Thought leadership and corporate messaging. I also find risk assessment and crisis planning to also be very exciting - it appeals to the problem solver in me.
Patricia: That it will solve all of their reputational problems and bring in exponential sales and revenue.
Patricia: It’s not impossible, but a lot of companies want to snap their fingers and get everything without investing in the disciplines or really fully understanding it.
Patricia: A strong brand vision, a confidence in their reputation and product/service, and the reassurance that their audience has everything they need to understand who you are. I always say, its not my job to make you money, it’s my job to help you write something you’ll be proud of.
