Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat Johnson.
Hi Kat, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a publicist and a communicator, and the path to get here took many turns. I spent a good few years as a young adult wondering about what “career” would suit me. In my teens, I felt a pressure to know… something, which I realize is a privilege unto its own. I was ambivalent. Follow a path that brings me joy based on my talents and interests or follow the practical path that would lead to a successful career and a 401k. During a seven years on again, off again relationship with college, I worked in the restaurant industry, the soap industry, the move management industry, and had more odd jobs than I can remember. I married an Irish “J-1-er” who worked at the same Irish pub in Midtown, Atlanta. I traveled. I spent seven weeks in a 2003 Camery with four friends as we drove to and through 20+ U.S. cities. I felt the pain and loss of losing loved ones, I felt the excitement of welcoming new people into my life. I struggled with my identity, shed old belief systems, started therapy, had hard conversations with my family, came to love new family, moved to Ireland, then to New York.
Somewhere along the way, I graduated from Georgia State University and got my first job in PR at 360 Media, Inc. where I worked on exciting accounts like Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, Netherworld, and Krog Street Market. I cut my teeth in PR opening hotels and restaurants, hosting big events and marketing the best of Atlanta before landing a job at Grey in NYC in 2017. The scope of my knowledge and experience, and especially my confidence, would explode over the next 3 years while working on global campaigns for household name brands.
When I moved home to Atlanta on Leap Day 2020, and the world went into lockdown twelve days later. After a departure from Grey and some soul searching, I started my own PR practice as a freelancer! I wanted to work with organizations and people making the world a better place, and I believed in my ability to communicate their story effectively if I was personally aligned with their values. If I believed in their story and saw value in sharing it with others. So that’s where I started, and that’s where I am today! I run a small purpose-centered communications business that specializes in media relations, thought leadership and visibility, PR consultancy, strategic communications, influencer and social media marketing, and strategic partnerships.
The uncertainty and questions I held as a young adult just look like curiosity to me now, and little did I know then curiosity is a prerequisite for communications work and the foundation for storytelling.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Working independently has been a huge adjustment. I love working with people and cherish the gift that comes with collaboration, from problem-solving and sharpening ideas and strategies to voicing industry concerns and giving and receiving validation or feedback. I am a pack animal so solopreneurship has been hard. In the absence of an in-house team though, I have learned to lean more on my clients for collaboration and there is a closeness there that I never had while working at agencies. It’s such a joy to be my authentic self and I’m reassured knowing I provide something unique to them and to the world. My network of friends in the industry and friends who have their own businesses has been empowering and enlightening, and I’m grateful for their transparency too!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about KJPR?
With PR know-how and media landscape expertise, KJPR offers communications strategies grounded in brand purpose, impact, and authentic storytelling with a focus on culture, sustainability, hospitality, and food. As the founder of KJPR, I work right alongside clients as an extension of their team to help tell their story and build greater awareness for their brand.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I have no advice. Only my own experience and my values, which have helped me navigate business and life. Here are a few beliefs I hold and that I remind myself of often in business:
– A rising tide lifts all boats
– Certitude is not the goal
– Regular honesty around discomfort and dissatisfaction is worth it, especially in the long run
– Realness over professionalism every day of the week… if possible
– If I got it all done today, I wouldn’t have a job to do tomorrow (that’s a tip from my mom!)
– “WIP” applies to more than just a deck
– When in doubt, create a deck
– Conflict and intimacy are intrinsically linked
– Curiosity and abundance always
– Stories have power. Stories connect us.
– Prioritizing joy is imperative
– Nothing is personal/It’s rarely about me when it comes to client work
And if you can, invest in a good office chair!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.katjohnsonpr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbarbjohnson/
