Brutal Truth about Modern PR | Lindsey Walker | Music and Business Talk | Bankedoutt Radio Show

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How do you satisfy your creativeness, your creativity?

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Oh my gosh. I learned that you have to make sure

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that you have processes in place. I step away

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from my business for, you know, three months,

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six months, and I have someone I pull them in

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to run it. They have everything that they need,

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all of everything documented on how we do things,

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why we do things. All right, y 'all, welcome

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back to the show. Today's guest is someone who

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has redefined what it means to be unstoppable

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in both business and life. She is the CEO and

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lead publicist of Walker and Associates Media

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Group, where she has spent over a decade architecting

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the narratives for global powerhouses like BET,

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Interscope Records, and National Geographic.

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But while she was still busy landing her clients

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in Ford and New York Times, she was simultaneously

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fighting the battle of her life. As a stage four

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cancer survivor, she didn't just keep the lights

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on during recovery. She scaled her agency into

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a powerhouse, proving that a business built on

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right systems can survive even the darkest of

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storms. She is the author of Thriving Through

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the Storm, the host of the Lindsay Walker Show.

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and leading voice for creators who want to turn

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their personal triumph into a profitable brand.

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Please welcome the woman who teaches us that

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your story isn't just what we've been through,

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it's your greatest competitive advantage, Ms.

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Lindsey A. Walker. Welcome to the show, ma 'am.

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Thank you for having me. I appreciate the warm

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introduction. Well, you know, accomplishments

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deserve to be, you know, uh recognized and people

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should get their flowers as you know saying they're

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earning them so i've always uh believe it i did

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have um uh a real quick you know zane question

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just to throw you off a little bit yeah um so

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you have stated at least that's what has been

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uh you know publicized as you know you said that

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most people shouldn't hire a publicist yet uh

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why is it the first thing that you tell creators

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who are ready to give you their money Because

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you have to understand that it's a process and

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it's not an overnight thing, right? So you may

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have a little bit of budget, but if you haven't

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gotten your back -end systems together, so do

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you have your website? If we're talking specifically,

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you know, indie artists, do you have your website?

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Is all your music on Spotify? Do you have a couple

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of YouTube videos? Do you have your EPK together?

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Like those are some of the things that you need

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before you just... to me and say, hey, I want

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to work with you. And then what are you giving

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me to work with? I have to have something to

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work with other than your amazing talent and

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your amazing artistry and creativity and all

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those things. I have to have something to send

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over to my journalists, friends, editors, all

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of the above. I definitely get that. So you started,

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I believe, was it back in 2012? I did. I did.

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I started in 2012. Was that right after you graduated

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from school at Jackson State? Yes. Yep. I started

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everything about three months after graduation.

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So you was just determined to be an entrepreneur

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right out the gate. Well, you know what it honestly

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it wasn't like in my plan I had applied for like

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hundreds of jobs didn't get any callbacks those

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that I did weren't necessarily in my field and

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after a while I was just like, okay I've done

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enough internships. I know what I'm doing Let

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me just figure this out. And so that's how I

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started my company. Growth isn't always about

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adding. After 20 years in the game, I've learned

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it's actually about subtracting. You are totally

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correct. So last year when we did the interview,

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I had like a circle of 10 people, literally that

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I was depending on for support, comfort, you

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know, pouring to me, praying to me, you know,

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share my work. And then that circle is now a

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circle of three. You're right. So I started getting

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off the people that I know was not for me. fake

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supporting me and like acting like they really

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loved me but they was really behind my back talking

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very very dirty about me and so i just started

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just sniffing i just started cutting my cord

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down and i was about this small that's not a

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loss that's the infrastructure upgrade i use

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for bank that radio show in chapter two of my

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manual if they can't pass the 24 -hour test they

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don't get equity i'll put the exact sandbox test

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to use build your sovereign empire today How

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did you land your first client? Actually on Twitter.

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Twitter was like, I landed my first three clients

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on Twitter. I did. So it just came naturally

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to you because you've seen, based off of the

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footage and stuff like that, I've seen more of

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an extrovert. I'm actually an introvert. I'm

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actually really, really, I am. I'm really introverted.

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But when it comes to my agency and like what

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I'm passionate about, my friend has a running

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joke. She's like, the business you and the personal

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you are totally different. Like, it just brings

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out something else. Yeah, I'm actually really

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introverted though, if I'm not doing something

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related to, you know, a client or business or

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agency. Yeah. So when you acquire those first

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couple clients How did that make you feel in

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was it in the industry that you you know would

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have wanted it to be? Yeah, um, I was excited.

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I was excited about all of it. So my firstly

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clients I landed two authors I'm originally from

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st. Louis so I landed two local authors as clients

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and then I also had a Celebrity videographer

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he had done some work with Ashanti He was like

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her top videographer. And so yeah, I was like

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really excited about what I had because it was

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fresh It was new it was exciting and I wasn't

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really thinking about anything other than like,

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how can I just get clients and build up my portfolio?

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And that's exactly what I did. So how long were

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their campaigns? I worked with them for at least

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about six months, I want to say. Maybe some I

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did like three, but I think majority of everybody

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I did like six months. Were the expectations

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of what they wanted from you? Did they match

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what you could deliver? Well, I would say so.

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I mean, the first placement that we got for the

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celebrity choreographer was Vibe Magazine. That

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was one of my very first national placements

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ever first media placements ever. So I was like

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super excited. I was like, yes, right because

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it was a really big win. And yeah, even the author

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clients that I had like he went on to we did

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a virtual blog tour. This is when blog talk radio

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was like a really, really big thing. So he did

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like a bunch of shows on there. And then he also

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landed a television appearance at our local news

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station. So I would say so. Yeah, that's where

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I started as far as podcasting on Blog Salt.

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Yeah, yeah. I was able to build up a platform

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from there and then just kept elevating things

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in nature. So I definitely understand that. So

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as you're, you know, going through your transitioning,

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your business, you're growing it. What were some

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of the things that you were running into that

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were like, you know, cause hiccups or things

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that people Because I remember seeing a video

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of real expectations and expectations that clients

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should have when it comes to hiring for PR. Yeah,

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I would say the biggest thing for me, like remember,

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because of how I started, I was just kind of

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like fresh. I was new. I was excited. But at

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the same time, I wasn't thinking like an entrepreneur.

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I was thinking like a service provider. And those

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are two different things. So I was great at being

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a service provider, but I had to learn, you know,

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the back end systems, invoicing, how to make

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sure that invoices got paid on time, like all

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of those things. I was just kind of like learning

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as I go. it on that side and then on the client

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side. I would say definitely like sometimes clients

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think that when they hire a publicist like okay

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you hire me today it's Oprah tomorrow or is this

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is 50 tomorrow or it's complex or you know breakfast

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club and that is not always the case like you

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have to be patient and sometimes people feel

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like you know if you're giving me a monthly retainer

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then that automatically means that like I'm at

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your beck and call and that's not the case I

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had to learn boundaries I had to learn systems

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and learn how to educate while I I was working

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on these accounts and while I had these clients.

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Do you think the reason I ask this is so like,

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when I put in perspective of like just business

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in general, when people start businesses, right?

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What people are complaining about now and what

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I've seen on threads and on these other social

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media platforms is the same thing people were

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talking about 20 years ago with business. It's

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a particular thing that you get into and because

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people can get into it over the course of time

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and build up those experiences. It's not anything

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where those experiences will be taken away from

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newer people. You see what I'm saying? So like

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when people jump into business and become like

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a entrepreneur and be the sole nor they think

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that, oh, you know, everything's all it'll like,

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you know, happen fast or something I didn't understand

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about like the slow grind of it, the buildup.

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Yeah, there's always going to be something that's

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going to come up in the bigger you get. Yeah,

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actually the more problems that you start to

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experience because now you're experiencing problems

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at a higher level. Did you get that as well?

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Yeah, I mean, I would say so. Definitely. You

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know, as the business grew, of course, there's

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always that. wow, you kind of get this feeling

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like, oh, like I'm doing something, I made it.

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And then when you feel like you've made it, then

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you hit another wall to your point. And it's

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like, let's figure out something all over again.

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And then no one really tells you that it comes

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with ebbs and flows. Like you can have an entire

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team today and then you look up and the team's

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gone. It's just you again. And you're trying

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to figure out what happened. You got to pick

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up pieces and you still have to serve clients

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and do all the things. So yeah, it's definitely

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a roller coaster and definitely something that

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a lot of people don't necessarily share, especially

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in today's society. We have social media. Everybody

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wants to share, share their highlight reels,

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but they don't want to share. Well, yeah, you

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saw me post this, but girl, this is what it really

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looked like. Or, you know, hey, you saw me post

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this, but you know, this is what really happened

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behind the scenes. What would you say would be

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an average campaign that if someone comes to

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you as a new client they would need to sign up

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for and be dedicated to before they start even

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seeing some type of results? Yeah, so see like

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full results, I always tell folks at least six

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months to a year. We can get placement in like

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three or six months, but to really see the full

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traction of the campaign, you need to be prepared

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for that six month mark to a year mark to really

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start to see the traction and the visibility

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really turn into leverage that you can utilize

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for, you know, your business, your products,

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your services and, you know, know, all the things.

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When it comes to, you know, your PR firm, what

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lane would you consider yourself in now? Do you

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consider yourself as a boutique PR service provider

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or are you more like global or how do you see

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it? Yeah, well, I mean, I would say a little

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bit of both, right? Because we are a boutique

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agency and the fact that we pride ourselves on

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being able to have, for now, very, very hands

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-on, one -on -one approaches. If someone comes

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to me, I'm the point person that's dealing with

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the strategy. We have all the meetings, all the

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things. However, we also have associates that

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will pull in, depending on the scope of the contract,

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the work that we need to get done, all the things.

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And we've also worked with brands that are outside

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of the U .S. So we've worked with brands that

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are in the U .K. We've worked with brands that

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are in Canada. So, you know, we're like a global

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boutique agency. I like how you say that, a global

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boutique agency. How often do you get to like

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assess your own business? Like when you look

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at it compared to others, do you get much time

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to do that or are you in the daily entrapments

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of always, you know, producing services? No,

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I actually Every month, I'm like, okay, where

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are we? Where do I want to be? What are the numbers?

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Like, I didn't use to look at that. I just used

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to look at like, oh, we have clients. We're doing

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great. It's like, no, that's no longer the metric.

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That's no longer the standard. Now I want to

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know, you know, One, did we hit our goals? Because

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of course, everybody has their own personal revenue

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goal that they want to reach. So one, if I reach

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that, we're doing great, right? If the numbers

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are going up and down, I compare them to the

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previous quarter. I compare them to the previous

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year. I pay attention to those things because

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that's necessary in order for you to really scale

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and grow and know where you are headed. You have

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to know where you are right now and also what

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you've done previously too. Do you know what

00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:57.570
your weaknesses are as an organization? Yes.

00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.950
So you've done your own like SWOT analysis where

00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:03.429
you know your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,

00:14:04.870 --> 00:14:06.889
and threats. Absolutely. That's what's up. I

00:14:06.889 --> 00:14:09.110
like that. How do you, when you look at all that

00:14:09.110 --> 00:14:11.649
information, what does it reveal to you? How

00:14:11.649 --> 00:14:14.669
do you see it? That is a really great question.

00:14:16.420 --> 00:14:19.360
I've learned not to like internalize it. So it's

00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:23.000
not personal to me. It's just the business. But

00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.080
also I do have to take a look at myself and say,

00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:29.879
okay, well, what could I have done inside of

00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.879
the business to produce a greater result? Or

00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.120
am I doing all that I can in XYZ area? It's definitely,

00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.320
especially with everything that's going on right

00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:43.559
now, politically, culturally and the economy,

00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.769
all the things. If you have been in business

00:14:46.769 --> 00:14:50.870
for, you know, I would say even the past five

00:14:50.870 --> 00:14:54.649
years to a decade plus, you're doing well. I

00:14:54.649 --> 00:14:56.769
don't care what the numbers look like. If you're

00:14:56.769 --> 00:14:58.389
still getting calls and you're still getting

00:14:58.389 --> 00:15:01.850
clients, that's a win, right? That is a win because

00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:06.429
now more than ever, everyone is looking at not

00:15:06.429 --> 00:15:08.990
only their bottom line, but they're looking more

00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:12.929
so at how they're spending. what they're spending.

00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:15.970
And so, you know, you always have to kind of

00:15:15.970 --> 00:15:17.570
give yourself that pep talk, but then it's also

00:15:17.570 --> 00:15:20.009
like, okay, I know that we could go harder here,

00:15:20.250 --> 00:15:22.090
or I know that I want to be here, so what are

00:15:22.090 --> 00:15:25.509
we doing to get to that place? Yeah, I definitely

00:15:25.509 --> 00:15:28.070
agree with that because especially like a economic

00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:31.029
downturn marketing agencies PR firms They always

00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:33.090
get looked upon as like, okay, we're gonna start

00:15:33.090 --> 00:15:36.470
cutting from there. Yeah the first to go I felt

00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:38.830
that because you know marketing agencies on my

00:15:38.830 --> 00:15:42.950
end So I know what that's like, but it's very

00:15:42.950 --> 00:15:46.529
interesting though because I tell people like

00:15:46.529 --> 00:15:50.049
let's say during the pandemic, right? Mm -hmm

00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:53.149
when people were cutting their ad spending Coca

00:15:53.149 --> 00:15:56.250
-Cola lost five years worth of market share because

00:15:56.250 --> 00:15:59.009
they started scaling back and they realized that

00:15:59.009 --> 00:16:01.769
after the mistake, Procter & Gamble doubled down

00:16:01.769 --> 00:16:03.850
and ended up increasing their bottom line by

00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:09.629
20%. And I read other books where the case studies

00:16:09.629 --> 00:16:13.070
have shown that even during a downturn in the

00:16:13.070 --> 00:16:15.129
economy of your marketing budget, by the time

00:16:15.129 --> 00:16:17.929
it starts to recover back, you'll not only exponentially

00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:20.990
increase your market share, but your revenue.

00:16:21.309 --> 00:16:23.870
will be there as well and you can scale back

00:16:23.870 --> 00:16:26.289
a little bit when everybody else is dumping more

00:16:26.289 --> 00:16:28.409
into their advertising because you've already

00:16:28.409 --> 00:16:31.830
solidified your brand, your message, the meaning,

00:16:32.250 --> 00:16:35.330
promo, all of it within the consumer marketplace

00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:38.649
and everyone else is trying to fight you for

00:16:38.649 --> 00:16:41.409
that and having to dump in money just to get

00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:47.350
a small piece of it. Very true. So you experienced

00:16:47.350 --> 00:16:51.960
you know saying with how people perceived PR.

00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:54.340
How do they see it now? Has it changed over the

00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:58.220
last 10 years? Do people see it as a necessity

00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:01.340
within your organization, whether it be a multi

00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:04.200
-tiered organization or individuals who are looking

00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:06.059
to build a brand? And like you said, even with

00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:10.480
artists, do they see PR as a necessary viable

00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.319
asset now, or are they still looking at it around

00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:18.180
the same? I think it's around the same. I think

00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:20.539
that there are some people that see the value

00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:23.859
in having, you know, certain narratives being

00:17:23.859 --> 00:17:25.920
in place. I'll tell you one thing, even those

00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.440
that don't see the value when they get into a

00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.440
bind, when the media is talking bad about them

00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:33.339
and they don't know how to control it, publicists

00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:34.799
are the first people that they reach out to.

00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.119
Everybody wants to be reactive, but no one really

00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:40.960
wants to be proactive, right? Sometimes it's

00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.559
one of those things where people don't see a

00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:47.380
need until they're uh necks are already up against

00:17:47.380 --> 00:17:51.140
the water right and so yeah i would say that

00:17:51.140 --> 00:17:53.559
those that value it value it and it's the same

00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:56.759
as it was 10 years ago um social media has definitely

00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.359
played a part some people feel like oh i have

00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:01.380
this following your following still doesn't mean

00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:04.319
that much to a journalist when it comes to the

00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.220
story that they have to produce for the publication

00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:12.000
that they're writing for or you know the producer

00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:20.130
um that they are hosting a show for. How do you

00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:25.069
see new industry participants, like up -and -coming

00:18:25.069 --> 00:18:31.369
PR personnel, are they attacking it from the

00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:34.509
same standpoint, or not really attacking it,

00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:38.190
but pursuing it from the same vantage point of

00:18:38.190 --> 00:18:42.920
it is journalism mixed in within it along with

00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:46.019
the marketing and, you know, making sure that

00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:50.339
the brand is on point or they, you know, not

00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:55.619
as as they should be. With different things I've

00:18:55.619 --> 00:19:01.099
seen in certain industry sectors, it doesn't

00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:04.259
seem like the new players are doing their due

00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:10.539
diligence. Go ahead. Yeah, I think that it just

00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:12.680
depends, right? You're always gonna have people

00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:15.819
that are just hungry. Like, that are just, I

00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:19.700
mean, hungry at the gate. I'm gonna go figure

00:19:19.700 --> 00:19:21.819
out how I can eat. I'm gonna figure out how everybody

00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:23.900
else can eat. Like, you always have those people

00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:25.640
that are hungry, that are gonna figure it out.

00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:27.839
You always then have people that look at the

00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:29.680
glitz and the glam of it. And if that's how they

00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:32.279
can get into the industry, that's how they're

00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:34.400
gonna get into it. I feel like PR is one of those

00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.730
things where... it's either in you or it's not.

00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:40.690
You're either cut out for the industry or you're

00:19:40.690 --> 00:19:47.410
not. And that's proven through how you face certain

00:19:47.410 --> 00:19:51.730
things in the industry. I know people that were

00:19:51.730 --> 00:19:55.609
coming alongside me in the industry that now

00:19:55.609 --> 00:19:59.099
they... went to go do other things because stuff

00:19:59.099 --> 00:20:01.200
didn't pan out the way that they thought or you

00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.539
know it takes a lot to be in industries like

00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:06.519
ours and marketing and in PR and it also takes

00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:10.619
a lot to be an entrepreneur so you know. you

00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:13.720
either figure it out or things happening in your

00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:15.279
life to where you need to figure something else

00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:18.660
out. But I would say like as far as new people

00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:20.700
coming into the industry are concerned, like

00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:25.339
now there are so many tools and so many resources

00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.079
as it relates to PR, as it relates to journalism,

00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.319
as it relates to marketing. That's like they're

00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.759
just soaking up the knowledge versus like, you

00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:37.279
know, when I was coming along, Twitter was new,

00:20:37.579 --> 00:20:40.190
Instagram, you know, wasn't even heard of for

00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:42.349
the first couple of years. And so we were just

00:20:42.349 --> 00:20:45.450
kind of figuring it out and networking and doing

00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:49.089
what we could do. Social media definitely played

00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:53.150
a big part for me in terms of like some of the

00:20:53.150 --> 00:20:54.849
relationships that I've built and like all the

00:20:54.849 --> 00:21:01.630
things. But now there's way more resources. And

00:21:01.630 --> 00:21:04.630
again, those that want to get in the industry,

00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:09.339
For me, I had to really go and seek out a mentor

00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:11.980
and a business coach, but now you can go on TikTok,

00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:13.980
you can search publicists and there's somebody

00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:15.539
that's going to tell you how they did what they

00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.140
did. Same thing with if you go on YouTube, Google,

00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:21.619
all those things. And so they're kind of at a

00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:23.640
really, really great advantage when it comes

00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:27.539
to information and how things should go. Yeah,

00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:30.380
I definitely agree with people are at a great

00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:32.720
advantage with information, but I think there's

00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.250
a missing component to that as far as do they

00:21:35.250 --> 00:21:37.190
really know how to apply that information well

00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:38.990
yeah that's true all right that was part one

00:21:38.990 --> 00:21:42.410
with lindsay i got a part two coming up make

00:21:42.410 --> 00:21:46.789
sure y 'all stay subscribed and for anyone who

00:21:46.789 --> 00:21:49.970
wants exclusives that i am putting out you can

00:21:49.970 --> 00:21:53.650
head over to apple podcasts and subscribe with

00:21:53.650 --> 00:21:56.390
the founders then bank that radio show music

00:21:56.390 --> 00:21:57.309
and business talk