Or at least let's talk about Expose Yourself... Expose Yourself PR, that is.
Expose Yourself PR is the name of my public relations/marketing firm. What do you think of it? I thought it was clever.
I learned today that apparently some people don’t.
Today I had the humbling experience of getting canned. Rather, my company got canned but it is essentially the same thing to me. It was quite unexpected and from a client that I truly enjoyed working with. As the story goes, they are going through some organizational changes and are going to bring their PR in house. I have to admit, it was hard to stomach at first and I couldn’t help taking it personally, but ultimately, I realize that business is business! I am grateful for the time we had in getting to work with this client.
The surprise of the cancellation quickly wore off and I was happy to think about the fact that we are bringing on a new client tomorrow.
Here’s the part that didn’t wear off so quickly:
I was inadvertently copied on an email about their impending cancellation where at the end of the email chain, the executive who initiated the cancellation wrote, “And by the way, what kind of PR person would name their company: Expose Me?”
I was floored. I’m not usually speechless but this comment had my mouth agape. I felt personally insulted, hurt. I thought that people who did business with us appreciated our avante guard name. I thought it showed levity. I guess in this instance, I was wrong. To make matters worse, this comment was coming from someone I highly regarded. Someone who had, just two months ago, asked if I would ever be interested in coming on board with the company at an executive level, as an employee. That fact made it sting just a little bit more.
Ouch.
You can imagine how excited I was to go to a meeting today with this client knowing that the people in the meeting were copied on this email that I wasn’t supposed to have seen.
So you might be wondering, how did the meeting go? Let me summarize: The company that once needed help suddenly had all of the answers.
Apparently we make it look easy and I choose to take this as a compliment!
In summary, I’m not sure what kind of PR person would name their company “Expose Me” but I can tell you that the kind of PR person that names themselves “Expose Yourself PR” is one that is creative, dedicated and would stop at nothing to get their clients the exposure and recognition that they deserve. I’m moving onward – what about you?