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Behind the Headlines with Justin Meise

Buttonwood’s own Justin Meise talks shop in an exclusive Q&A with Gorkana Group on what motivated him to launch his own PR firm, Buttonwood Communications Group.

Meise’s advice for others wanting to start a career in PR is to “be hungry, humble and smart.”

The breakdown of this sage advice:

Hungry – Have passion, have ambition. Have a personality. Employers and clients want to know that you have goals and the work ethic to achieve them.

Humble – Ego that propels you to work hard and take calculated risks is essential, but no one wants to work with an entitled millennial any more than a blowhard senior manager. Think Socratic wisdom (paraphrased with liberties): the more you know, the more you learn you don’t know.

Smart – Success in PR requires critical thinking not just spitting out lots of facts. Can you connect the dots across parts of an organization or a set of topics to provide thoughtful recommendations or ideas? Think higher cognitive functioning in Bloom’s taxonomy: analyze, evaluate, synthesize, create.

View Meise’s full Q&A HERE