We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nina Flowers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nina below.
Nina, 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?
Growing up in New York, you learn quickly how to navigate and adapt to different situations and environments. When Frank said if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, he wasn’t lying. There’s a certain innate savviness and scrappiness that comes with being a New York City kid. I remember when one of my PR heroes – Ken Sunshine – told me that I reminded him of himself because I was a scrappy New York kid – which to me was the highest form of compliment. Additionally, I had an extremely supportive mother and grandmother who instilled in me very early on not to be deterred if things don’t go my way initially and to find a way to solve a problem and not dwell. To this day, I operate from the place of no doesn’t always mean something can’t happen. It just means I might have to find a different way to make it happen or to keep pushing.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a Communications and Public Relations professional with over 23 years’ experience in the fields of the arts and entertainment as well the non-profit sector. Through my work as an independent consultant and a well-respected public relations practitioner, I lead institutions and individuals growing their brands toward integrating communications best practices into their day-to-day operations. I offer my clients a holistic approach to developing communication strategies that are both effective and efficient – providing superior communications and public relations counsel as well as spearheading successful national PR campaigns.
This year actually marks my 5th anniversary in business for myself and I am incredibly proud of the work I have done in that time. I have had the great fortune to work with an impressive roster of illustrious performing arts organizations, artists and major entertainment-focused brands including: dance icon Savion Glover; legendary artist and producer Teddy Riley; Audio Mack and Burna Boy for the Burna Boy Comics activation; EBONY Magazine’s relaunch and the EBONY Power 100 Awards in 2021; the Juneteenth NY Festival 2022; Harlem Parade; Emil Wilbekin’s Native Son; the Give Her FlowHers Awards Gala; Captivate Marketing Group; the 2019 Juneteenth Celebration at Carnegie Hall; off-Broadway’s renowned Signature Theater; special curations for the Essence Music Festival including Teddy Riley & Friends: New Jack Swing Experience featuring Guy, SWV, Tank, Ginuwine, Timbaland, Teyana Taylor, Keith Sweat and Pharrell Williams and the Estelle Afrobeat and Reggae Link Ups featuring Wayne Wonder, Spice, Shaggy and Sister Nancy. Additionally, I have spearheaded the communications for some of the most prominent, Black-led performing arts institutions in the country including The Billie Holiday Theatre (which recently received the National Medal of Arts from President Biden) and 651 ARTS.
One of the major highlights over the last five years was leading the PR campaign for New York City’s first Black Lives Matter Mural in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – which The Billie co-organized following the murder of George Floyd. The painting of the mural was done over a weekend in June, 2020 and famously included the names of Black people who have been killed by racially-motivated violence in this country – from Emmett Till in 1955 to Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta in 2020. To mark the occasion, we did a paint kick-off to include Reverend Al Sharpton, Spike Lee, NYS Attorney General Leticia James as well as other elected officials ( I was even able to pitch in at points!) The mural was covered nationally and is definitely one of the highlights of my career.
I also had a special “Mama, I Made It” moment when I worked on the PR campaign for the Juneteenth NY Festival in 2022. I coordinated the organization ringing the Closing Bell in recognition of Juneteenth that year (I was also included in the group and we made it to the big screen in Times Square)!
Prior to founding Flowers PR Agency, I led public relations and communications for the legendary Apollo Theater for 13 years. During my tenure at The Apollo, I developed and oversaw the communications and press strategy for the institution and all of its major events and initiatives including: the Apollo’s 75th and 80th Anniversary campaign; the Theater’s high profile annual Spring Gala, the unveiling of the Theater’s facade and renovations; and the public memorials of James Brown and Michael Jackson. I also established the Apollo’s Walk of Fame and created, produced and managed all of its induction ceremonies including those for Prince, Louis Armstrong, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers, Billie Holiday, and Richard Pryor.
I have landed coverage in major print, radio, broadcast and online outlets – including the Today Show, Vogue, Good Morning America, The New York Times, BBC, NPR, CBS Sunday Morning, Billboard, Associated Press and CNN. I have also been featured in a variety of publications including Rolling Out, Essence, Amsterdam News and on MTV.com and have participated as a speaker at several conferences and seminars. I hold an M.B.A in Marketing Management from Long Island University.
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 skill of communication – oral and written. One of my strongest qualities is writing. It often feels as if this is becoming a lost art and, as a PR professional, it is so important that we are able to best convey our clients’ vision.
Critical thinking/Assessing/ Getting Full Context – This is such an important thing to develop especially in this age of information when it is so easy to get overstimulated and desensitized. We’re getting so much information thrown at us and so quickly that it becomes hard not to just read a headline or glimpse an article without reading the full story or doing your own research. One of the primary things I am big on is doing my own research – fully. It helps on so many fronts especially in decision-making. I apply this both in business and in my personal life.
Trusting Your Gut – There have been so many situations where I’ve said I should have trusted my gut or listened to that voice in my head. As I have gotten older, I’ve learned that trusting your gut is really about learning to trust yourself. I always try to go with what authentically feels right to me. I think this is such an important quality in business AND in life.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
I just recently lost my mom so I’ve been reflecting on this a lot actually. There are so many things that my mom did for me. Primarily, she believed in me and encouraged me with words and with actions. I grew up in the Projects in Harlem and I was always the straight A student (I mean, I would get a B and get upset) and I loved to read voraciously. My mom would often take me downtown to the Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue in Manhattan to pick out some books and then to restaurants throughout the city ( a different one each time). We went to museums, plays, etc. Harlem and the greater New York itself are epicenters of culture and she took advantage of that and exposed me to so much culture very early on. We went everywhere. And I think because of that, it made me become more balanced in appreciating where I was from but also wanting to experience the world and, ultimately, it made me dream bigger!
The other thing I would say is that my mom also allowed me to be me. She knew I was a good kid and she trusted me in many ways to have input in my future. As an example, when I was considering high schools, I made up my mind that I wanted to go to boarding school (because that is where the smartest kids went in my mind as my direct competition in Eighth Grade was going to a boarding school). My mom wasn’t a big fan of the idea at first but she did the research and she went with me on all of the visits until we found the right one ( not too far of course) that she was also comfortable with. It ended up being one of the best decisions and I always felt supported by mom throughout that process.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msflowersnina/
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/nina-flowers-37373b7
Image Credits
Nasdaq Photos – Courtesy of Nasdaq
