After eight years in public relations promoting projects such as the America’s Cup and Skyport’s new passenger terminal, Mikaela Pearman is going out on her own.

On July 1, she will devote herself fully to Mikaela Ian PR, the business she started two years ago.

“Going out on my own is nerve-racking, but exciting,” Ms Pearman said.

She started her own business at the height of the pandemic after spotting a gap in the Bermuda market.

“There are a lot of firms that offer branding, marketing and design, but public relations is none of that,” Ms Pearman said. “It is its own thing.”

Ms Pearman said when public relations is done right, it can really improve corporate impact and income.

Since starting Mikaela Ian PR she has become known for offering video and media coaching services for front-facing executives. That will continue to be an important part of the business.

She is looking for clients with values that align with hers.

“I am not necessarily putting myself in a box in terms of the clients I will work with,” she said. “But it is really important to be aligned and to believe in the company mission. I love tourism, telecommunications and hospitality.”

She started in journalism working for The Royal Gazette and The Bermuda Sun. She moved to Troncossi Public Relations in 2014.

"It was definitely a transition for me,“ she said. ”If you can write well as a journalist you can do well in PR if you are focused on writing newspaper copy, press releases and website copy but there is also the strategy side of things.“

While working at Troncossi she trained at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in London, England.

There were a few journalistic habits she had to get rid of.

“When you are a journalist working in a fast-paced newsroom speed is key,” she said. “In PR that is not the case. PR is about making sure you are getting those key messages across for the client.”

She will be running Mikaela Ian PR from home, at least in the beginning. During the pandemic she found she really enjoyed working remotely.

“In this day and age working remotely is expected and normal,” she said. “And I don’t expect that all my clients will be Bermuda-based.”

One of her challenges in launching the business is promoting herself.

“As a PR person you are always amplifying the clients,” Ms Pearman said. “So it can be difficult to do that for yourself, but you have to when you are running your own business.”

She will be offering packages rather than hourly rates.

“It won’t be a case of a client ever getting a surprise invoice because the work went over the expected time,” she said. “We also have limited launch packages available.”

She will miss working for Skyport.

“Leading the marketing and communications for such an important project was something I will always remember,” she said. “I came in a couple of months after ground had broken for the new passenger terminal.”

She still has the boots she wore when working on site.

“It was definitely challenging getting the public on board because the project was controversial from the beginning.”

She calls herself an ideas person.

“I love coming up with really fun and creative ideas for media content or events,” she said.

She used quick video spots to highlight the many Bermudians working on the airport build. She wanted to show that it was not a project that would just benefit people overseas.

”I really helped to sway public opinion in favour of the project,“ she said.

She did the same in 2015 for the America’s Cup. Many people told her they came to the event just because of her work.

mikaelaian.com