Meet Shannon Wilkinson

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

Hi Shannon, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism results from positive expectations, and the belief that anything is achievable with persistence and an action plan. If you believe you will fail, you will.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I grew up on Hilton Head Island, S.C. and began freelance-writing for local newspapers and magazines while on a sabbatical from art school. Eventually, I moved to New York City, graduating from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Communications Design.

While job hunting (and after getting jobs in the Public Affairs department in a major museum and then an arts PR firm), I freelanced for a variety of organizations in New York. After a few years, I had so many opportunities I gave notice at my PR job and went out on my own as a cultural PR consultant. I grew that business to a six-figure one over a period of years from referrals.

Eventually my business exclusively promoted clients online. When you Googled some of our clients, pages were filled with the content we had created. I didn’t know it then, but a new industry doing just that had just started. It was called online reputation management.

In 2008, a client recommended me to a Wall Street firm that had reputation issues on Google. Within 3 months, my work had greatly improved their online image. The fee I charged was triple what my arts PR services charged.
Soon afterward I began getting referred to large financial firms by that firm. Within a year, I landed a major contract from one. It unnerved me to walk away from the original business I had spent years building, but my marketing coach said, “It is keeping you from bigger opportunities.” So, I exited my PR firm and incorporated Reputation Communications.

I began writing a blog to educate people about online reputation management, which attracted media coverage (and clients). That led to me becoming a regular commentator for a Wall Street Journal column then published on crisis management.

My business has since served law firms, FinTech, VCs, Silicon Valley firms, philanthropists, VIPs, and many others. Some of the team from my first business continue to work for me.

In recent years, I have also built up a side practice as an expert reputation witness and am engaged by law firms on behalf of clients facing defamation lawsuits, typically in the $25 M – $200 Million range. It is stimulating work and on the forefront of legal issues.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Writing provided me with a marketable skill, and developing a side career as a freelancer enabled me to gain skills in negotiating, billing and delivering results. I encourage everyone early in their journey to market a skill they have and that they enjoy doing, whether it is as a freelancer or as an intern (if that will provide you with a portfolio and contacts that can help you build your career and opportunities).

Confidence resulted from having that marketable skill, and fueled my steps in promoting it, which led to my first and then my second company.

Goal setting was essential in achieving entrepreneurial success. Writing down your goals and visualizing what the attainment of them will look and feel like, sets positive expectations that you will manifest them.

For everyone starting out, starting small, with weekly, monthly and annual goals, helps keep you focused. It’s OK if you don’t know how you will reach them. Just try it. It works!

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Three people have been instrumental in my success. The first was my marketing coach, Mike Blumenfeld. He coaches entrepreneurs who are open to exploring new and different alternatives to grow their businesses profitably, and is the Entrepreneur in Residence at New York University’s Stern Berkley Center Innovation Lab. He has been influential in all aspects of my business.

Dr. Sandi Webster was my mentor for several months through a National Association of Women Business Owners program and is now on my company’s Advisory Board. She advises women entrepreneurs and is a public speaker as well.

Julia Pimsleur is a business coach, mindset expert, speaker and best-selling author. She is the founder of Million Dollar Women, a New York City-based social venture, which has helped thousands of women entrepreneurs across the US and Canada to scale up their businesses, and the author of a book by the same name. I took her Million Dollar Women course. It streamlined all of my business processes and increased its profitability.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://reputation-communications.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonwilkinsonnyc/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/reputationnews

Image Credits

Kellie McCann (for head shot)