Exploring Life & Business with Emilia Gledhill of Guarisco Group LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emilia Gledhill.

Hi Emilia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a 29-year-old Managing Partner of a boutique media relations agency, and I got here entirely by accident.

My background is actually in fashion. I grew up obsessed with clothes, earned a degree in Apparel and Textiles Technology from Kennesaw State University, and had every intention of building a career as a stylist. When I finally landed what I thought was my dream job in early 2021, it turned out to be nothing like I imagined. I was miserable.

Around that same time, my mother’s longtime Managing Director quit three weeks before my wedding, which was taking place one week before Christmas. So, while the employee thought she was giving my mom a month’s notice, it just really left her in a lurch. I quit my job that same day to help her keep things running. Neither of us thought it would turn into anything permanent.

It did.

What I didn’t fully appreciate until I was in it was how much I had absorbed growing up with a publicist for a mom. The instincts were already there. I took to the work fast, moved from assistant to Junior Account Executive within a few months, and from there to Senior Account Manager shortly after. Almost four and a half years later, I’m a 50/50 Managing Partner with a clear path to taking over the business when my mom is ready to step down.

The past year has probably been my most formative stretch yet. We completed a full company rebrand, I’ve been building out new systems and service offerings, and I’ve been doing the real work of learning how to scale a business while still running one day to day. It’s a lot to hold, but it’s also where I’ve grown the most.

I didn’t plan any of this. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything I thought I wanted.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every job comes with learning curves, and this one is no exception.

The biggest challenge over the past year or so has been figuring out how to scale the business and take it to the next level, all while managing day-to-day client work and home and family life. That balancing act is something I’m still actively navigating.

This past January, I led the company through a complete rebrand, including a new website, refreshed messaging and new logo. It was a challenging process, but it gave me real clarity on the vision for the company and where I want to take it. Around the same time, I made another change. Even though we are attached to our phones almost all the time, I decided to really protect the time between when my daughter gets home from school through the time she goes to bed. If news breaks during that time, I ask another team member to spot me so I can be fully present for my daughter during dinner/bath/bedtime.

What I keep coming back to is perspective. My mom built this company from scratch while caring for two aging parents, a sick husband, and a young child. She had a lot on her plate, and she still built something incredible. Now that we’re working together, I have the bandwidth to focus on some of the bigger-picture growth work she didn’t always have the time or space to think about. I’ve been implementing new systems to streamline operations and developing new service offerings, as well as adapt to the constantly evolving media landscape, all with the goal of taking Guarisco Group to its next chapter.

She laid an extraordinary foundation. My job now is to run with it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Guarisco Group LLC?
Guarisco Group is an Atlanta-based boutique media relations agency. We serve thought leaders, experts, and nonfiction authors across various industries by securing top-tier earned media placements in broadcast, podcast, radio, print, and digital.

A lot of people confuse PR agencies with media relations agencies. While there is overlap, media relations agencies focus exclusively on earned media: third-party credibility that amplifies your message and moves you closer to your goals, whether that’s landing a bigger book deal, commanding higher speaking fees, or driving sales and client growth. Most of our clients come to us when they’ve taken themselves as far as they can on their own. We come in as the rocket booster that brings them into national and global conversations.

What sets us apart is our founder. Before launching Guarisco Group, my mother Wendy spent 12 years at CNN, eventually becoming a Director of Guest Booking. She knows exactly how producers think and what they want, and she has spent 37 years curating the relationships to match. She has trained our entire team to think like producers too. That combination of insider knowledge and a deeply trusted media rolodex is genuinely rare in this industry.

What I’m most proud of is the reputation my mother built. She always says, “We like to sleep at night, and it’s hard to sleep if you screw people over all day.” That’s basically our company mantra. Every new contact I make who has worked with Wendy in the past has nothing but admiration for her. That’s the standard I hold myself to every day.

Our service offerings include full-service media relations, virtual and in-studio media and presentation training, press release writing and distribution, press conference planning, op-ed distribution, and a dedicated book PR division. We don’t do cookie-cutter work. Every engagement is personalized to the client’s specific coverage goals, which is also why our pricing is customized rather than one-size-fits-all.

How do you define success?
I think about success in two ways: professionally and personally.

For the company, success looks like clients who are so genuinely thrilled with their results that they never want to leave and naturally send new business our way. That kind of loyalty and word-of-mouth is the highest compliment in this industry, and it’s what we work toward every day.

On a personal level, success means showing up as my best self for my daughter and my husband. I want to work hard enough to build the life my family deserves, but not be so consumed by work that I miss actually living it with them. That balance is something I’m always actively working toward, and honestly, it’s what keeps me motivated to grow the business with intention rather than just chasing growth for growth’s sake.

At the end of the day, the two are connected. A thriving business gives me the freedom and flexibility to be more present at home. And a full, grounded personal life makes me a better leader for our team and partner to our clients. When both are firing, that’s success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://guariscogroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guariscogroup/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuariscoGroupLLC
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliagledhill/
• Twitter: https://x.com/EGledhillPR
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GuariscoGroup/videos
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@guariscogroup