Welcome to Chaloner’s 101 series! Soon-to-be/new grads can read these articles and gain insights into some of their workplace options in the world of communications from industry veterans.

For our first article, we’re taking a look at agency life. We recently interviewed Adrienne Petz, Partner at Trident GMG. Trident is a premier corporate, strategic and risk advisory communications firm specializing in: litigation, investigations, and crisis communications; crisis and issues preparation, response, and management; strategic and policy communications; media relations; stakeholder solutions; reputation management; and public affairs. We’ve helped Trident find talent in the past, including Adrienne. 

Adrienne’s Career Journey

Adrienne started her career interning on Capitol Hill. She wound up working with the communications director, and that’s how she got started. She was hired to continue working for the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology after graduating from American University. After about two years, which included a promotion to Deputy Communications Director, she moved to Edelman. When she joined Edelman in 1998, it wasn’t the big name it is now. Originally, she was supposed to work on technology policy, but after a client shuffle, Adrienne ended up moving to another group. Her first client was Microsoft, which was involved with a legendary antitrust fight with the federal government. That was the start of litigation communications for Adrienne. 

When she got to Edelman, there was no formal crisis communications practice. She learned on the job. During her years at the firm, she did different things, but she always returned to crisis communications. She thought their crisis communications practice would be improved if they could formalize their process, and eventually, the firm did. 

Reflecting on her career, Adrienne said, “So much in a career is happenstance and circumstance. You couldn’t plan the way your career goes. You have to take a shot. You have to try things. If you never try, you’ll always fail.” Whether you’re great at something or not, you’re going to learn and grow from the experience.

Why Work at an Agency?

“You really get to learn from the ground up,” Adrienne said. “You get a front row seat with top clients. You’re watching things happen and learning how they are happening.” 

An agency environment gives you insights about how communications is a business. You learn how the agency makes money, your role in its growth, and how revenue generation is its engine.

Another benefit of agency life is that it enables variety in your work. Even when assigned to a specific group, you work with a range of clients. For example, someone working in the technology practice at a firm could be spanning fintech, healthtech, edtech, etc. “You may do the same thing twice, but you’re doing something different every day,” Adrienne said. At a small agency, you’ll likely have even more variety in your clients than at a larger agency. 

Agency life gives you the opportunity to look at options and figure out the path for where you want to go.

What Makes a Great Junior Staffer? 

Adrienne looks for people who are curious, want to learn, and don’t think they know everything. Someone who is eager, willing, and able to put in the hard work will succeed in an agency environment. As a junior staffer, some work can feel repetitive and be a little boring. A good boss will keep you interested enough to grow, but it’s up to you to ask a lot of questions and learn how things work. Being adaptable and open to change are also important. 

In crisis communications, creating connection with the client team you’re working closest with is vital. As Adrienne put it, “Crisis is a practice where you see someone on their worst day, every day.”

Adrienne noted that red flags in job candidates are those who think they know everything or aren’t team players. “If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re not going to learn,” Adrienne said. No matter your level, but especially as a junior staffer, you need to be open to taking direction and learning and growing as a team. Lone wolves have a limited lifespan at an agency. “You can get along for a certain amount of time and then you can’t advance further.” 

Advice for New Agency Staff

The major thing? “Fail a lot and be ok with it,” Adrienne said. She was scared to fail, but some of her biggest fails have been her best learning experiences and catapults to something different. If you’re not failing, you’re not taking risks. “If I had to go back and tell myself something at 22, it would be that.”

The other thing Adrienne wishes she knew going in? “Don’t take things personally. Agencies are businesses,” Adrienne said. A lot of people go into communications wanting to make change. It’s important to remember that, at the end of the day, an agency is a business with a goal of making money. You can’t take things personally, and you need to figure out where you fit in the business and learn what you can. 

The Value of the Agency Experience 

It’s important for those new to agencies to understand that, regardless of an agency’s size, its goal is to generate revenue. Contributing to the business is a key to success. 

One of the best things about agency life is that you’re going to be surrounded by people who are passionate about communications. “It really does hone your craft,” which makes it a great place for people fresh out of school. “It gives you this immersion into what PR is,” Adrienne said. Being immersed in PR and communications and surrounded by people who have the same interest and passion gives you a lot of opportunities to learn and grow. And an agency can be a launch point to a lot of different careers in communications. “To build a toolbox, you first need to learn about all the tools you’re putting into it.”

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Houde is a Project Manager at Chaloner. After graduating from Guilford College where they majored in English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and minored in communications, Elizabeth started their career in New York City in publishing as an editorial coordinator.