How does your usual day look like?

I think everyone working in PR knows that no two days are the same. But Mondays are the most consistent ones for me - I usually wake up around 7am and check the news while having breakfast. I work mostly remotely and, this is a luxury after years of commuting into the office and having a coffee instead of breakfast after a long morning commute.

I then take care of urgent journalist and client correspondence before my first meetings of the day, which start at 10am and finish a little after 1 pm.  Lunch follows quickly and more client work depending on what I have going that week. My clients are mostly in Europe, but I also work a little with US publications. 

It could involve pitching journalists under embargo, crafting content for VC newsletters, ghostwriting articles for fintech clients, or planning and posting social media posts. This is a welcome reprise after I have spent the first half of the day on Zoom calls. 

I try to finish work around 6pm and follow it with an obligatory walk / podcast listening or a workout to unwind from the day. I feel that actually walking away from your desk makes the separation from work a little more tangible when working from home. I have a home office, but the lines are often blurred. 

Dinner is around 7-8pm when I also get to catch up with my husband and perhaps watch a favourite TV show together. Then it’s “me” time - catch up with reading and news and prepare for the next day. 

What are the things you like the most about your job?

I think the best feeling in the world when you are a PR professional is landing a good story in a good publication. Looking back at some of the key moments I had with clients, I felt I was doing a good job when, after a high-profile TV interview, the founder checked in with me to see if he touched on the key company messages. He only had 4 minutes in a tough interview; English is not his mother tongue, and we did a lot of media training beforehand - which paid off!

What are some of the skills you utilise the most in your day-to-day?

Pacing myself. I am quite an impatient person, so I often have to pace myself. I think diplomacy is the best skill you can have when working in PR - it’s all about reputation. It’s also important to have good writing skills and a sense of what makes a good story. 

What was one of your happiest days in your career and why?

I think there were quite a few key moments, but I became a little more jaded as time went by. We all do in PR. One of my early memories of working in tech PR was when I managed to get my early-stage startup covered by TechCrunch. That was back when the late Steve O’Hear was still working for them, and he always had a nose for a good story. This was particularly special for me as the founders of the said company were developers and not super keen on PR - after the TechCrunch article, things changed quite a bit in the company’s attitude towards it and for the investors.

What has been your greatest challenge on your career path and how did you overcome it?

I think every expat will tell you that moving to a new country and starting over is challenging, to say the least. I moved to the UK from Romania and had to reinvent myself and start over. 

After this, every challenge that came my way on the work front had a solution.

What is something you had to learn to become better at your job?

We are pretty action-oriented and straightforward in Eastern Europe - this is the management style. The UK is completely different -  people prefer a more indirect approach when giving and offering feedback as well as a more hands-off management style. I had to learn this quickly. 

How did you get to become a PR Director?

I worked in the Romanian Parliament as my first job during University, while I was studying Political Science and International Relations. I was fascinated by the European Union and I also did a paid internship in Brussels on political campaigning. I learnt a lot about communications and interacted with peers from all the other EU member states - it was an eye-opening experience for me.

I returned to Romania and worked on EU-funded and international telecommunications projects for the Romanian Ministry of Communications. I even represented Romania in Geneva at the International Telecommunications Union Congress. I was only 22 at the time. But things did not feel the same after Brussels - I knew my future was outside Romania. So, I moved to the UK in 2011, where the PR industry was thriving. 

I worked in telecommunications PR and moved to non-profit PR and FMCG until I finally found my niche in tech PR. I realised pretty quickly after moving to the UK that I had to start over as my Romanian experience was not really acknowledged, so while working in my first jobs, I completed my PR Diploma with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. This has helped a lot with honing my skills and career. I believe more PR people should specialise so we can actually get our profession recognised as important as a lawyer, accountant and so on. 

What are the top three pieces of advice you would give to other women aiming to achieve long-term success in their careers?

1. Never give up. 

2. If you are called “assertive”, “aggressive”, “pushy”, “bossy” keep going. It means you are doing the right thing.

3. Build a professional network. It will pay off.

Professional networking for women matters because…

it empowers women to connect and support each other's professional growth.