Meet Edna Sims

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Edna Sims a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Edna , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Resilience comes from within. It’s how you have handled your personal journey situations.
It’s the ability to “bounce back” from difficult experiences. And not only bounce back, but
to learn from your circumstances and come out a better person. Thus, I turn within and think about how to keep moving forward.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I own ESP Public Relations, a public relations and marketing firm based in
Los Angeles. We have clients worldwide.

We are a full-service public relations firm that provides story
placement with worldwide media outlets. We specialize in awareness campaigns,
crisis management, marketing, strategic communications, and more.

We are unique because we serve all markets, including multicultural markets, urban markets, faith-based markets, entertainment (TV, films, and music), and authors, corporate and non-profit organizations in every category.

ESP has developed a reputation for high-level red carpet coverage, media,
social media, celebrity contacts, and forging alliances between clients and
other entities to achieve greater synergy of the target goals, as with the
collaboration between the Ford Motor Company Fund and the GRAMMY
Foundation. I am proud to be the first African-American publicist for The
Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Directors. This non-profit has a rich
history and an esteemed membership of television innovators. For over 40
years, The Caucus has provided an opportunity for the best and the brightest
talent to network and voice the ‘creative conscience’ of the Television industry.

One of our assets is our creativity and problem-solving. Most PR firms do
one thing well, such as getting their clients to red-carpet events, editorial
placements, event planning, coordination, and implementation of red-
carpet, or crisis public relations, but we do all things fabulously.

Performing crisis public relations is exciting, as when strategies are planned
and executed to make our clients look favorable. An example of a
challenging case was a prominent client’s daughter who was murdered in
NYC during her birthday party. She was found dead on a freeway over-
passed, with drugs in her purse, and she was pregnant. Our job was to clean
up her image and make her look like an innocent victim. As a result, we did
that exceptionally well, and she is now honored with a non-profit
organization in her name that helps other victims.

My company is proud that we obtain large-name individuals and
corporations. We are known to receive the same results or better because we
underpromise and overdeliver.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful on my journey are,
patience, organization, and kindness. Patience, because things take time. Organization, because you must have all your ducks in a row. Lastly, kindness, because you can catch more flies with honey.

If you are early on your journey, remember to listen more than you talk, and look at what’s going on in the background.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth in the past 12 months is patience. Patience is the key to success.
Doubt and worry are a waste of time.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made