It seems fitting that I launch this blog on my birthday.  Each year on the morning of June 24<sup>th</sup>, I like to take a step back and reflect.  I am 48 today and realize that I’ve spent more than half my life -- 27 years – in the field of public relations.  So, here I am pondering – how has the field shaped me as an individual and how have I shaped my work as a public relations professional to create my own “brand?”

I graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1983 with a double major in public relations and psychology.  I had always dreamed of becoming a psychologist, but could not afford to go on to graduate school.  So, I decided to put a career in psychology on hold until I had saved up enough money to go back for my Ph.D.

I then embraced public relations with all my heart and as a junior in college, became the president of the Public Relations Student Society of America.  I took on internships at a bunch of PR firms and corporations and launched an intensive job search at the beginning of my senior year. Six months before graduation, I landed my first job at a PR firm in New York City, Peter Martin Associates.  A year and two PR firms later, I had doubled my salary and began to climb the corporate ladder starting with Cushman &amp; Wakefield and then, the Kinney Shoe Corporation, where I became the Director of Public Relations.  Seven years after graduation, I started my own agency.

It's been almost 20 years since I started DDR Public Relations.  We've earned a string of awards and have built an impressive list of past and current clients including large and small businesses, nonprofits and school districts.  What I didn’t know back then and happily discovered throughout the years is that I hadn’t really put psychology on the back burner after all.   Public relations and psychology often go hand in hand.  The relationships that I have with my clients are meaningful, compassionate and central to my work.  The ability to understand and empathize is perhaps, the most important element of our business.  How else can you really get to know your clients and their target audiences?  Having the deepest awareness of who your client is, what he is looking for and where he wants to go is at the core of what we do as public relations professionals.  Just as critical is the ability to understand trends, people and where we are as a society.  It is that ability to see the world around us with x-ray vision and look way below the surface that can be the most important factor in building a successful campaign.

So, today on my birthday I am pleased to report that I'm able to enjoy both passions – public relations and psychology – and thus, have created a winning combination.  This approach is one that creates highly successful campaigns, important relationships and produces record results.