PR Profile | Simona Stirling, Founder and Managing Director at Gertrude Marketing

In this PR Profile interview, we delve into the life and career of Simona Stirling, Founder and Managing Director at Gertrude Marketing. 

Could you tell me about yourself and your role at Gertrude Marketing?

I'm the Founder and Managing Director at Gertrude Marketing. Gertrude is passionate about taking a 360 approach across all disciplines, from strategy, publicity, digital, creative, ads and influencers. The premise of Gertrude is to drive strong results for clients by creating campaigns that push the envelope. Hence the name Gertrude which is derived from Germanic roots that means 'strength'. 

What is your career background, and how did you get started?

Being in the industry since 2015, I get a real thrill out of brainstorming exciting ideas and executing those ideas to really get consumers talking, whether it be on social media, in a newspaper or online. I've had experience both in agency land and in-house across social media, paid ads, influencers, events, strategy and PR. 

What are some of the highlights of your career so far?

A few career highlights include: 

• Managing an event for Bydee in LA to launch their new collection which translated in sales, being their biggest month ever! 
• Securing a Daily Telegraph full-page feature for Bydee for their first-ever PR media outreach
• Little Fish Podcast TikTok videos going viral, with over 3.7M views

What advice would you give someone trying to develop their career in PR/Comms?

Relationships are everything! Take the time to get to know the journalist. Congratulate them when they get a promotion. Say happy birthday to them. Really develop that relationship because that's what is so important in achieving outstanding media coverage.

What's the most valuable lesson/advice you've learnt about work in the PR/Comms industry?

Blue sky thinking is always welcome! Big ideas that make an impact can really create cut-through, so don't shy away from those. The only way to grow is by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, so always push the envelope and do something no one else is doing.

Could you tell me a bit about a recent campaign or project you have worked on that has been particularly interesting/successful? 

Bydee recently launched their new Agapi collection and sold a bikini every 2 seconds! It was so exciting to be part of a campaign at this scale! From the PR articles to the influencer content to the photoshoot and paid ads, everything came together to achieve Bydee's biggest day in history.

What is something about your work or yourself that you think people would be surprised to learn?

Although we have 11 clients, we are a small and tight-knit team of 3 very passionate marketing individuals. The Gerty team is fully remote, however, we do love a Friday work-from-cafe day.