Former Royal Gazette reporter Nadia Laws has branched out on her own with a new copywriting and PR firm.

Ms Laws will launch her new business, The Media Maven, next month with the aim of targeting smaller businesses and charities.

And she has already had a stream of enquiries from people interested in working with her to boost the profile of their organisations.

“I will be using my writing and journalism experience to help people with basic news writing, newsletters, press releases and social media content,” she said.

Ms Laws wrote for The Royal Gazette under her maiden name Arandjelovic. She left the newspaper in March and spent some time volunteering with Christian charity Word of Life at a school in Uganda, then travelling to South Africa, Israel and Jordan.

The former Lifestyle reporter, 29, started her career at The Royal Gazette as a summer intern aged 18 and became a full-time staff member seven years ago.

She will continue to supply stories for the religion section of The Royal Gazette on a freelance basis.

Ms Laws had considered other employment options when she returned home in June, but decided to take the plunge and launch her own business instead.

“There are a lot of challenges being an entrepreneur — you need to market and get your name out there so you have a steady stream of clients.

“The people that are interested in working with me know my name from the newspaper and I thought if that’s what’s coming in my direction, I might as well go for it.

“Right now, I’m getting e-mails from potential clients and arranging interviews.

“I hope, because I’m working for myself, I can choose clients with similar interests and a passion for giving back.”

“And hopefully I can help them get the word out to the broader community and help them advance their cause.”

She added: “Non-profits, most of them, wouldn’t be able to hire an expensive PR firm, so by keeping my costs as low as possible, I can create a niche for myself.”

Ms Laws said the seed for the new business was planted after lunch with a friend two years ago.

“She said she thought I would be good at doing PR work, non-profit specifically. I didn’t take her seriously, which is funny because that is where I am right now.”

In her final year at The Royal Gazette, Ms Laws added to her qualifications with a year-long part-time course to qualify as a member of the internationally-respected UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Ms Laws said: “My training at the Gazette means I can help people identify strong stories. I will also be offering a public relations service.”

She added: “One of the words I would use to describe myself is free-spirited and for me it was really tough sitting in an office working 50 weeks a year, nine to five.

“I wanted more freedom and independence, but more importantly, a deeper sense of purpose.”

Ms Laws, whose website can be found at www.mediamavenbda.com, can be contacted at nadia@mediamavenbda.com or by phone at 518-1202.