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The chance to spend more time sailing and escape Auckland traffic snarl ups has prompted Jackie
Russell to move her public relations business from Howick to Warkworth.
“We’re really keen yachties, and we have spent many times anchored around the Mahurangi area,” Jackie says.
She will soon be located at Snells Beach, which will give her husband the chance to enjoy tinkering with the couple’s boat following his retirement, while she concentrates on building up Chatterbox PR with new local clients, together with associate Nikki Howard.
That effort will be helped by a broad range of experiences in a variety of communications roles. She says those experiences taught her how to fine tune a client’s message for maximum impact, whether it be delivered in print, on a website, or via social media or video.
Jackie started out as a brand manager after securing a business degree in marketing. Later, she acquired a Diploma in Journalism and worked for seven years as a news and features writer for the Howick and Pakuranga Times.
That experience gave her an insight into what media are looking for in a story and helps her to steer clients away from content that is purely promotional.
“If a business is doing something amazing, I can see the news angle in it,” she says.
Jackie has also worked as a communications manager for a charitable trust connected with the Kidz
First Children’s Hospital, which gave her a deep understanding of how to build an organisation’s reputation via its website and through social media.
says Chatterbox PR may especially appeal to businesses who want a marketing or communications professional, but not on a full-time basis.
She says Chatterbox PR is very much about doing the actual work for the client rather than telling the client how it should be done.
“If you are a boat manufacturer, for example, your specialist skill is manufacturing boats, not writing blogs or social media posts. We get that,” she says.
Jackie says it’s tremendously satisfying to tell a client’s story well, creating a win for the client and their customers.
