Meet Pamela Stewart

We recently connected with Pamela Stewart and have shared our conversation below.

Pamela, 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?

I was the eldest daughter of German immigrant parents, and grew up primarily in Charlotte North Carolina in the 60s and 70s before moving West. In thinking about the mindset of residents, I would say there was a lot of bigotry and racism, and there was period of time when my family was targeted by bullies in the neighborhood. I was teased for being a “Nazi” by immature boys, and really had a rough time particularly in junior high school. I think it was at that time that I started to grow a thick skin and recognize bigotry and ignore the ignorant people who tried to feel powerful by belittling others. I definitely GOT my resilience from my parents, who grew up in wartime Germany, emigrated to Canada in the early 50s with no English, got an education and raised three daughters in the US. My father emphasized to we three girls how important it was to get a good eduction, not rely on a man to take care of us, be strong athletically, and challenge ourselves. This has been a guiding force for me throughout my adult life.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I was a communications major at the University of North Carolina, and sort of “fell” into public relations when I moved to LA in the early 80s. I was a “secretary” at a big PR firm and quickly realized that I was good at “storytelling” via press releases and PR content. I bounced around a bit as the firm would not promote secretaries to account management but ultimately decided to start my own freelance business in 1986 after only 3 years of working for agencies. I knew I was a good writer, a good networker and had a strong work ethic. Fast forward 40 years and my firm has survived economic crises, personal crises and the incredible morphing into the digital world and now AI. In the midst of all this, I survived a cancer diagnosis in 2011, as well as my beloved husband’s death from ALS in 2018. Right now, I am actually winding down the comms business and taking on fewer clients, and considering next steps in some endeavor that will give me purpose and still allow the freedom and flexibility to travel and not be at my desk every day. I am most excited about exploring options to engage in my coaching career, possibly getting a certification in coaching cancer patients, as I have had a recurrence after 14 years and am currently in treatment. I would like to give back to the cancer community and help people who don’t have the emotional bandwidth to handle a cancer diagnosis navigate this journey.

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?

Belief in myself and that I COULD DO IT. Looking back, I never had a plan per se. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, learning the comms business on the street. I never questioned that I had the ability to create a successful sustainable business. In terms of advice, for someone getting into the comms business as a freelancer or small firm owner is to try and specialize in an area rather than “jack of all trades.” I pivoted to the health and wellness industry in the mid 90s just as organic and natural foods were taking off in Boulder and it was wildly successful. Also, KEEP OVERHEAD LOW! I survived these 40 years by keeping my overhead low, hiring only contractors, working remotely mostly except for a short time in the 90s. Some of my peers have not survived because they simply spent more than they brought in.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Being a cancer survivor, I am very aware that I MIGHT have only a decade left, maybe less, maybe more…but I live every day in trying to find some joy and purpose, being a good “boss”, coworker, client services provider, parent, sibling and friend.

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