January 22, 2023 • 44 mins
On today’s episode of Creative Space, we have the pleasure of chatting with Kate Marlys, the powerhouse behind the celebrated Philadelphia public relations firm, Philly PR Girl. Since 2013, she’s grown her company from a successful special events blog to the full service PR firm it is today, built on a foundation of networking, relationship building, and an unmatched passion for the city of Philadelphia. Kate has been honored as a 2021 Power Player by Philadelphia Style Magazine, A Who’s Next in Communications Award by Billy Penn, and an ‘I Am Born to Make History’ Award by Influencing Action. On top of all of this, Kate also launched a second business, Photo Pop Philly in 2018 and in 2023, she celebrates 10 years of Philly PR Girl.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode, including the organic beginnings of Philly PR Girl and how Kate was completely self taught, having never taken a PR course in college. We also talk about overcoming imposter syndrome, the fear that everyone experiences before taking a leap of faith into entrepreneurship, and how influencers are changing the media landscape
SHOW NOTES:
0:00—Introduction
1:30—How we first met
2:22—Twitter chats and ‘On the Stoop’ in South Philly
3:10—Kate’s early inspirations, live music, and Jimmy Buffet
5:30—On never taking a PR class and being self taught
7:00—The beginnings of Philly PR Girl
8:40—Leaving a secure job to work for herself
10:00—People see the success and not the sacrifice
11:30—Seven years of Turkey Tailgate
12:07—Caffeine reduction segue
12:45—Coming up with the Philly PR Girl name
15:00—Kate’s definition of creativity
16:15—Creativity in public relations
17:47—How to decide if a project (or client) is right for you
18:59—How Kate stays balanced running her own business
20:03—Overcoming imposter syndrome
22:00—Even the fun stuff is hard work
23:43—How influencers are changing the media landscape
28:25—The key to figuring out what’s next
29:00—Underscores in TikTok handles
29:56—Kate’s top three Philly PR Girl moments so far
32:45—Getting to work with Philly sports teams
33:16—Advice for entrepreneurs starting from scratch
34:42—How Kate is celebrating her 10-year anniversary
36:08—The importance of celebrating your successes
37:45—What’s next for Kate
BONUS:
38:30—Launching Photo Pop Philly and the magic of collaboration
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennifer Logue (00:10):
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode
of creative space, a Podcastwhere we explore, learn and grow
in creativity together. I'm yourhost Jennifer Logue and today we
have the pleasure of chattingwith Kate Marley's, the
powerhouse behind the celebratedPhiladelphia public relations
firm Philly PR girl. Since 2013.
She's grown her company, fromthe successful special events
(00:35):
blog to the full service PR firmit is today, built on a
foundation of networking,relationship building, and might
I add positive vibes and anunmatched passion for the city
of Philadelphia. Kate has beenhonored as a 2021 power player
by Philadelphia Style magazine,a who's next and communications
(00:56):
award by Billy Penn. And an I amborn to make history award by
influencing action. On top ofall of this, Kate has also
launched a second business photopop Philly in 2018. And in 2023,
she celebrates 10 yearsaffiliate PR girl, Welcome to
(01:16):
Creative Space, Kate.
Kate Marlys (01:20):
Thank you. That was quite an intro. I'm totally
blushing. Like,
Jennifer Logue (01:26):
I was like, wow, you've accomplished so much over
the last 10 years. It'sincredible.
Kate Marlys (01:32):
It's crazy. It feels longer than 10 years, you
know, but at the same time, itfeels like just yesterday. I met
you probably year one of mestarting Philly PR girl. So
you've, you've seen my journey?
Oh my gosh, I
Jennifer Logue (01:45):
think how do we first meet? Was it Twitter?
Kate Marlys (01:50):
It probably was because I always make a joke
that Twitter launched mycompany. Because, you know, I
started off as a blog, you know,our, we were like the OG
bloggers, which I reallyhonestly think the the OG
bloggers like us like that waslike the influencers of back in
the day. And to promote my blog,I got a Twitter account. I knew
(02:14):
nothing about social media. So Istarted connecting with a lot of
people on Twitter, and I thinkthat's when we met.
Jennifer Logue (02:21):
Yeah, I think you asked me to be part of a
Twitter chat. Yeah, I thought itwas the coolest thing. And like,
wow, look, good idea. Yeah, itwas really fun.
Kate Marlys (02:34):
I should bring them back. I haven't done a Philly PR
girl Twitter chat in a while,but I love doing them. But
actually, during the pandemic welaunched on the stoop, which was
like Instagram, you know, kindalike a Instagram like live. And
I just sat on my stoop because Ihad nowhere to go. Know that on
(02:54):
my stoop in South Philly. And ina way, that's like the new you
know, the new Twitter chat.
Jennifer Logue (03:01):
Oh, my gosh, keeping that filly brand alive.
So even in the pandemic gotrepresented.
Kate Marlys (03:08):
Exactly.
Jennifer Logue (03:09):
So let's go way back, Kate. I love to learn
about people's early life, theirbeginnings. Who inspired you
when you you were growing up?
And what did you want to be whenyou were a kid?
Kate Marlys (03:26):
That's a it's a hard question. Honestly, I
really think my mom inspired me.
She was raising three kids. Andyou know, my dad worked a lot.
And I saw how hard she worked.
And she, you know, went back towork and started a career when
(03:47):
we were older. So I always kindof looked up to her and still
do. I have a lot of dream job.
You know, when I was younger, Ilove love, love the music
industry. And I actually startedmy internship was at a venue, I
worked at a radio station. Incollege, I was the president of
like, our concert planning, youknow, association. So I think my
(04:09):
dream job, I always say was tobe the tour manager for Jimmy
Buffet. Because I couldn't Icouldn't think of anything more
fun than that. But in general, Ialways saw myself going on tour
with a band.
Jennifer Logue (04:28):
Cool. I didn't know about your musical
beginnings.
Kate Marlys (04:30):
Yeah, yeah. I you know, I love music and I still
do I love I think it's the liveaspect of it, you know, get
planning events and doing what Ido now. There's nothing like
going into like a major musicvenue for me like I get chills.
I did like a behind the scenestour of the grand old Opry one
time and I was like, Oh, I lovethis. You know, so yeah, that
(04:54):
was kind of where I got mystart.
Jennifer Logue (04:56):
Cool. This inspired you and the events that
you put on now. in Philly. Okay,yeah, beyond.
Kate Marlys (05:01):
Yeah, 100% it always has, I always like to
when I throw an event to pick areally cool venue, I always try
to look for something that justopened that people have never
been to. Because then it givesthem like, yeah, they might want
to come to this event. But theyalso might want to check out
this venue. So it gives themextra incentive to calm. And
I've always done that for 10years.
Jennifer Logue (05:24):
It's a really cool idea. Do you remember the
first thing you ever created? Asa kid? It could be anything.
Kate Marlys (05:32):
Oh. I loved writing. So for me, you know,
writing is a creative aspect.
But like when I was like, young,young, I was a Girl Scout. So we
used to create a lot of stuff.
Jennifer Logue (05:49):
Oh my gosh, okay.
Kate Marlys (05:53):
But yeah, writing definitely goes hand in hand
with creativity. And what what Ido today? For sure.
Jennifer Logue (06:01):
Awesome. And what did you study in college,
Kate Marlys (06:04):
I was a marketing major while business business
with a concentration inmarketing. Fun fact, I never
took a PR class. And I went backbecause I used to tell people
that like, I'm completely selftaught. So I think was last year
I went back and I was like, I'mgonna pull my transcript
transcript from college and makesure I'm telling the truth when
(06:27):
they say I never took the artclass, and I haven't I hadn't.
So I'm completely self taught.
But I, you know, it's funny,because I was a business major,
but I never thought I would owna business. Yeah. Here I am. 10
years later, sorry. That's Coco.
Coco doesn't like when I'm, youknow, the center of attention.
We want to be the center ofattention.
Jennifer Logue (06:48):
Hey, if she wants to be me interview, she's
welcome.
Kate Marlys (06:52):
I mean, I only took her to doggy daycare today to
run around. So she chose Oregonthis interview, but there's
Coco. So next
Jennifer Logue (07:00):
question. When did you know you wanted to start
your own public relations firm?
Kate Marlys (07:06):
Oh, that's a really interesting question. And it
goes into my background. BecauseI didn't know. I started a blog.
And I named it really a PR girl.
And it was never my master planto turn that into a firm. I say
like, it was happening to mewhether I wanted it to happen or
not. I started this blog startedthrough a networking event. You
(07:29):
I'm sure came to many of them.
And I loved it. I loved bringingpeople together and connecting
people. And it was one of myvery first networking events.
Someone came up to me and wantedto hire me to run the red carpet
for their event. Like, Well, Ido event planning with
(07:50):
nonprofits. You know, like, Iguess I could do a little PR and
figure it out. So I said yes.
And it was the very first NewYear's Eve party at Lincoln
Financial Field, it was a hugeevent. I had no idea what I was
doing. completely figured it outall by myself. And after that
event was kind of like that wasNew Year's Eve. So this time, 10
(08:14):
years ago, wow, I was getting myLLC because I was about to run
my first event, you know, bymyself. So after that, I kind of
just thought, well, I could dothis, you know, like, part time
I had a million other jobs and alot going on. And then and then
(08:35):
it just became more than parttime.
Jennifer Logue (08:41):
Yeah. When did you always work for yourself? Or
did you transition into owningyour own dog?
Kate Marlys (08:50):
I transitioned, it was really scary, too. Because
now as the executive director ofnonprofits, so I had a very good
job, a good salary of 401 Khealth insurance. And I lived by
myself, you know, at the time Ihad a condo and I thought what
am I doing, like if I leave thisvery secure job and go work for
(09:12):
myself? Scary, you know, I wassingle and I thought there's no
one to look back to. But I kindof thought like, Alright, I'm
gonna give it a try. And thenyou know, see what happened.
It's funny. I don't tell toomany people this but I'll tell
you, I left. And then a monthlater I almost chickened out.
(09:33):
Well, I kind of did chickenedout. I took another job. Yeah,
like, oh, we'll do Philly, PRgirl on the side. You know, I
still love it. And then, likeabout two months after that, I
was like, What am I doing? Like,I know this was the right move.
So I almost like, in a way I wassecond guessing my decision. But
I talked myself out of it. And Iwas like I know this is the
(09:54):
right thing for me.
Jennifer Logue (09:56):
Thank you for sharing that because I feel like
we We all see the results. Wedon't see the fear like that the
right before you take that stepof faith into what you know
you're supposed to be doing,even though it's scary, like
most people don't take thatstep. They just stay where it's
(10:16):
safe. And it's so much couldhave happened. Had they taken a
nap? So
Kate Marlys (10:23):
yeah, and I think people see like, Oh, I do have a
very successful business now.
And they see that they don'trealize that the 10 years that
came to be that this, you know,and there was many scary moments
in the beginning, for sure. ButI loved it so much that and I
still do that I knew no matterwhat, I'm gonna make this work.
Jennifer Logue (10:46):
Yes, you're so passionate what you do, like
you're in your zone. And it'sjust you were born to do this.
Kate Marlys (10:54):
It's crazy.
Because, you know, I think Ireally was born to do this,
like, even looking back, like inhigh school. I was the person
that like, threw parties all thetime. Not because I was like,
you know, the cool girl throwingparties because I love to plan
things. Yeah. And I love to bethat planner, and that up and
then clean up, you know, allthat stuff that goes into hand
(11:15):
in hand, like what I do today.
Jennifer Logue (11:21):
It's like, even your turkey tailgate that you do
every year. You know, it's justpart of you.
Kate Marlys (11:28):
It's crazy, you know, a little fun tailgate
event that myself and O'Harahome team created. We wanted to
do like a tailgate event forcharity. And here we are seven
years later, like it's crazy. Wehave 400 people at this last
one. Cool. I was donated. Ithink it was close to $5,000 The
Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Jennifer Logue (11:48):
Oh beautiful.
Kate Marlys (11:51):
Any signature events that Philly PR girl does
does have a charitable componentto it. That's really important
to me giving back so that'sthat's an event that I'm really
proud of.
Jennifer Logue (12:01):
Yes, no every time like at least these Eagle
seasons. I've decided now's thetime. I'm giving up while I'm
reducing my caffeine intake.
Yeah, I mean, not.
Kate Marlys (12:17):
You're drinking tea. I'm thinking to myself, is
it caffeinated? Or not? Like Idon't even know what I'm
drinking it anyway.
Jennifer Logue (12:25):
I'm mean. It's a crazy idea. Anyway, here I am.
So if Eagles Lord evil, Jen getget it straight. Oh my gosh, I
am from Philadelphia. People.
Don't think about it. Me. Okay.
So do you remember the day yougot the idea? For Philly PR
(12:46):
girl? Just the name the blog.
The website? Was there like alightbulb moment for you?
Kate Marlys (12:56):
I was sitting at my desk Oh, Coco. Yeah, I was
sitting at my desk at mynonprofit job. And I wanted to
do something more creative, morefun. And I think honestly, like
(13:20):
myself, and my coworker justcame up with it. You know,
Philly PR girl. Oh, that's kindalike me. You know, I'm out and
about. I wasn't in PR at thetime. So I don't even know like
to be honest with you like why Icalled the blog, silly PR girl.
best decision I've ever made100% I remember a couple years
(13:42):
into my career. Mike Jerrick.
Fox 29 said, what us markdecision naming your company's
silly PR girl. And for someoneso like, celebrated in the
industry to say that to me. Itis. So but yeah, so that's just
honestly sitting at sitting atmy desk. I was really like,
burnt out at my full time job atthe time. And I just thought
(14:05):
this fun, creative outlet blog,you know, back in the day, that
was like new bloggers, you know.
So I thought, Okay, I'll createthis blog. I'll write about
events and what's happening inthe city of Philadelphia, I was
that person that all my friendsand my family would ask what's
going on in the city thisweekend? You know, where's a
(14:28):
good place to go for mybachelorette party or my
birthday. So that was literallywhy I created the blog. To this
day, we have a blog that comesout every single Monday, called
This Week in Philly. I call itlike the backbone of the brand,
because that blog post has beendone every Monday since I
(14:49):
started the company 10 yearsago. Incredible. Yeah, and it
takes a lot of work. It's morethan me. Now I have a team. But
I always tell the person workingon that blog like this is my
baby like Guy love this blog. Iread it, you know, I want to
know what's going on in the citythat I love so much. That's kind
of how it all got started.
Jennifer Logue (15:08):
Oh, that's so cool. I didn't know that story.
Yeah. So I asked this questionof every guest, because it's
creative space, you know? Yeah,we're exploring creativity from
every possible angle. How do youdefine creativity?
Kate Marlys (15:29):
I think it's really about creating something from
scratch. So it's starting fromnothing. Starting from a very
small idea, and building it tosomething that, you know, you
could create in your wildestdreams, right. So maybe you
don't know what it is, in thebeginning. Maybe you're not sure
(15:51):
where this idea is going. Butstarting from nothing is kind of
Jennifer Logue (15:55):
kind of where I think it starts. Yeah, blank
page.
Kate Marlys (15:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
It could be anything, it couldbe a paper, it could be an
event. It could be a pressrelease. You know, for me,
anyway. Yeah.
Jennifer Logue (16:10):
I mean, I think it's the backbone of our lives.
Yeah, it extends beyond everydefinition. It's just like, it's
the juice of life, you know,like how we live our lives? And
how we touched on this a littlebit, but how does creativity
come into play? When you'rerunning Philly PR girl.
Kate Marlys (16:32):
So much of it, you have to be creative, there's so
much writing in public relationsthat I think a lot of people
don't realize or don't know. Andevery writing piece that we do
is completely different. Sopress releases, usually very
fact driven, but also creative,right? The pitch to media has to
(16:55):
be more entertaining, the blogneeds to be written in a
completely different way thanthe press release. So it's
really just, you know,creativity in PR is this huge,
it's like everything that we do.
And even without, you know, thewriting part of it, if you move
over to what else we do, whichis events in digital media, that
is a whole nother level ofcreativity, right there, you
(17:18):
know, planning an event, comingup with an idea executing the
idea. And then also, the socialmedia and digital media is a
huge part of our brand and ourcompany now. And I think that
that is, you know, of course, awhole nother level, you know,
creating the content, coming upwith the ideas, writing and
producing, you know, producingthe content. So it's definitely
(17:41):
a lot of creativity and PR.
Jennifer Logue (17:45):
So this is something I wanted to ask you,
you do so much, you have so manyprojects going on? How do you
decide the project is right foryou?
Kate Marlys (17:57):
That's a great question. You have to, you know,
when you're taking on a clientor a project, you have to really
think about like, is itsomething I'm passionate about?
Am I going to enjoy this,because it comes through like
people can, people can readright through that. In a way
publicists are, like, they'repromoting, you know, whatever,
(18:21):
it is a business a person. Soit's kind of sales like we're
selling them. And I feel like ifwe don't believe in what we're
talking about, or what we're,you know, selling, it's not,
we're not going to do the job.
So for me, I really only workwith businesses that I either
connect with, or admire, or havesome sort of passion for
(18:45):
connection with, you know, whichis a lot of the nonprofit's that
I've worked with over the years,you know, I'm connected with
them in some way, shape, orform.
Jennifer Logue (18:56):
How do you stay balanced with running your
business? And it's just a lot ofhats to wear and even with a
team?
Kate Marlys (19:04):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot. I have a great support
system. You know, my mom'sbasically my therapist. And so
it was my best friend. But Ialso find time for myself, and
self care and travel. Becausewhen I travel is when I can
really disconnect. Yeah, sothat's something that I've
(19:28):
always done. And I'm doing alot, you know, in the next
probably the last two years I'vedone a lot to kind of slow down
a little bit but firstly, thelast year but coming up, I plan
to travel more
Jennifer Logue (19:44):
cool. Any places on your list?
Kate Marlys (19:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna I think I'm gonna go to Ireland.
Very nice. Yeah, my bucket list.
So I think that's happening.
Summer 2023 will say thanks.
Jennifer Logue (20:00):
citing I love Ireland, oh my gosh, it's been a
while but love, love, love 10years affiliate PR girl, it's
such an accomplishment. It's socool. It's really been a joy
seeing you grow and seeing thecompany grow and go strong all
this time. What has been thegreatest challenge you've had to
(20:21):
overcome in building Philippe?
Er girl?
Kate Marlys (20:26):
Wow, greatest challenge. Let's say, I would
say, you know, finding that worklife balance, like we were just
talking about has not been easyfor me. I'm very open about it.
Whenever people ask me aboutthat, when I'm doing like
speaking engagements, I alwaysmake a good joke. Like, can you
ask the experts? Because I don'thave the best advice because I,
(20:50):
you know, I know what I'm goodat. I know what I'm not good at.
So I think I think that has beenmy challenge. And calming. Or
getting over the impostersyndrome, which a lot of people
talk about, you know, a lot ofentrepreneurs and business
owners talk about that, like, belike, Wait, am I really
successful? Am I doing a goodjob, you know, like, it's a
(21:12):
weird concept to wrap your headaround that, you know, you
you're so in it. And you'reworking, working, working,
sometimes you have to take astep back. And really kind of
think about, like, what, whatyour peers are saying, and you
know, what your clients aresaying if they're happy and
taking that step back andlooking at the big picture.
Jennifer Logue (21:35):
And that's where support system comes into play
to to remind you that theoutside of yourself,
Kate Marlys (21:43):
yeah, but when it's people that you're close with,
you're like, well, they got tosay that they're my friends or
you know, like, so sometimes,you know, it is nice to hear it
from someone else. Like, oh,wow, like, that's true.
Jennifer Logue (21:59):
That's awesome.
What has been your greatestaccomplishment? So far? I
Kate Marlys (22:05):
say, can I say making it to 10 years? Because
honestly, and my wildest dreams,I never thought I would be doing
this this long. I actually justwhen I started the blog 10 years
ago, okay, ah, don't quit thisafter like six months, that'll
be embarrassing. Because I thinkI was starting a lot. I always
(22:27):
have like, a lot of ideas, as alot of entrepreneurs do. Still,
artists. Yeah, exactly. You'vedone a lot in your life too. So
I always have a lot of ideas.
And I and you know, I always didback then as well. So my goal
was to just not start Philly PRgirl and quit. You know, so the
fact that I'm here 10 yearslater, and there is no quitting
(22:48):
and site and there's no stoppingthis insight like that. 100% is
my greatest accomplishment.
Jennifer Logue (22:56):
You've created a whole like vibe around Philly PR
girl. Like there's an energy toit. It has like a life. It's a
living, breathing brand. Youknow,
Kate Marlys (23:06):
it's funny, people are always like, you guys look
like it's so much fun onInstagram. And I'm like we do
like we do. We do have fun. Butdon't get me wrong, and myself.
And my team worked very hard.
And even creating reels anddoing funny tiktoks Like that
someone had to come up with thatconcept and write the scripts
(23:27):
and figure out you know, who'sgonna tape it, who's going to be
in it, all that stuff, even thefun stuff is hard work.
Jennifer Logue (23:36):
Now, on that note of social media, I have to
ask you, how have you seen themedia landscape, the
entertainment landscape evolveover the last 10 years? Because
we started out in the beginning,blogging was a big thing. But
now we're like in this tick tockworld. And, you know, from your
(23:57):
perspective, how have thingsevolved?
Kate Marlys (24:00):
Oh, wow, it's changed so much. We're in a huge
change right now to that I thinka lot of people don't even
realize like, influencers arechanging the landscape of
everything that we do. You know,I do some media buying as well.
And the other day, I'm like,right, I'm doing this influencer
buying and I have a lot ofclients that want to work with
influencers. So again, like thatwasn't a thing when I started,
(24:26):
you know, them charging was nota thing. Now they are charging
for almost every single postwhich is totally warranted and
deserved, depending on thecontent and you know, what
they're what they're doing. So,adding influencer marketing into
my core services for my PR firm,was something I had to do in the
(24:47):
last two years. There wasn't athing back in the day, that's
for sure. So as far as yourquestion goes, like, what's
changing everything is tick tockis a huge part of what we do. Of
course, you know, when it comesto PR TV, print radio, still the
biggest thing that you can do,and we can get our clients, but
(25:09):
this digital landscape hasreally created a whole new level
of our work and our creativityand coming up with like, really
authentic campaigns and ideasfor our clients.
Jennifer Logue (25:22):
Yeah, it's just there's so many influencers now,
it's, it's a full time job tokeep up with everyone, you know,
you go to different social mediachannel, and it's like, oh, my
gosh, like, this person is like,huge, and I never heard of them
until now.
Kate Marlys (25:37):
No, there is so many. And you know, it's crazy.
Like, they could be like alittle micro influencer and just
as influential as a big one, thebig one, unless you know what
you're looking for. They couldhave bought those followers, you
know, and they might not be asinfluential. So we do like a
really good job at like, kind ofdoing our research before we
(25:59):
decide who to work with. Andthat's why we end up working
with a lot of the sameinfluencers over and over,
because once they produce goodresults for our client of ours,
I have that, like, knowledge.
And now I can pass that on toother clients, like I know,
their reels are seen. And I knowthat that reel that went out
that went viral, brought peopleto a small business in
(26:22):
Philadelphia, from DC fromVirginia, this is like a true
story. This, you know, newbusiness opened, probably 2021
The reel went viral from aninfluencer that we brought in,
and she had customers come toher business from all over. Why
because of that, because thatInstagram real and that Tiktok
that's incredible
Jennifer Logue (26:45):
to for the city, to have that power has opened
doors to people from all over.
And it's like, it's just someonehas the audience. Yeah. And it's
a powerful, you're right. It'sincredible. And it's definitely
changed things over the years.
Like, you know, there's so muchmore than like reading a story
(27:09):
now. Or, like, now you work withinfluencers to like,
Kate Marlys (27:13):
you, they're creating, like short videos,
like commercials for your brand.
So a lot of influencers, I thinkget like a bad rap. And then
they don't people don't realizethat they think they're just
going out there taking you know,cute pictures. You know, the
ones that do it full time. It'sway more work than I think any
of us even realize.
Jennifer Logue (27:33):
They're like little agencies unto themselves.
Yes.
Kate Marlys (27:36):
Yeah. And they have managers. It's funny whenever we
have, we work with someonethat's like, Oh, can you now go
to my manager? I'm like, oh, no,no, your rates gonna be so much
higher than it was before. Wow.
And I'm not sure that my clientcan afford you anymore. I mean,
I'm lucky because I do havegreat relationships with
influencers in the city andbeyond. So I know that they give
(27:59):
me good deals, but they knowthat it comes back to them
because I will work with themover and over and over.
Jennifer Logue (28:07):
Yeah. Well, it's important to have relationships
for everything. Yeah,
Kate Marlys (28:11):
absolutely.
Jennifer Logue (28:13):
That's so interesting. Thank you for
sharing that. I was wondering,I'm like that would be
interesting question to askKate. Because she's been in this
for the last 10 years. And justthe evolution has been
incredible. Do you see anythingthat's coming up next. In terms
of social media, like do youhave any addictions, something
coming
Kate Marlys (28:31):
up next, if you want to know what's coming up
next, just figure just go lookand see what the high schoolers
are on. It usually starts athigh school, then goes to
college, then it'll come to anadult. It's crazy. Like I'll be
like, Oh, I'm not getting onthat app. And next year now.
There I am on Snapchat, learningit for my clients, you know,
(28:56):
there I am on Instagram.
Jennifer Logue (28:58):
I made a mistake with tick tock I didn't grab my
handle on time. I was like I'mnot doing tick tock No, I just
can't I can't do it. And I waslike, this is one channel I can
skip right now I have anunderscore like the underscore
but you know,
Kate Marlys (29:17):
I do do I have an underscore for Philly PR girl
and it's always it always usedto drive me crazy because the
the person who took like justPhilly PR girl with no
underscores doesn't post you'renot using it just give it to me.
Jennifer Logue (29:34):
The girl who has mine doesn't post anything and
they started it like before Imean, like a long time ago. I
think what it was still ticktock was something else support
that singing up.
Kate Marlys (29:48):
Oh, yeah. There's always something out there.
Jennifer Logue (29:51):
So what have been for you the top three
highlights of the last 10 yearsaffiliate PR girl and like mad
Take moments you're like, yeah.
Kate Marlys (30:02):
Oh my god, that's so hard because I could like I
can't even tell you top threefrom from this year. But I would
say like to generalize it alittle bit, I would say the
first highlight would be helpinglaunch women owned businesses.
Meaning I have really workedwith so many amazing women
(30:24):
entrepreneurs over the years. Soit you know, I was thinking
about it, like, your one Iworked with Hope Chest and the
bronze B. And they both like wonBest to Philly. And I was like,
This is crazy. Like, I can'tbelieve I'm working with such
amazing businesses and womenthat work so hard. And to this
day, I'm still working with likeDaniel Massey, at the woman's
(30:46):
collective. I helped launchsugar bar in Rittenhouse last
year, and she won best affiliatetoo. And it was like these women
like are getting the recognitionthey deserve. And I see what
goes on behind the scenes forthem to get that and for them to
launch the business in general.
So it's really cool. The womenon business part I think is is
(31:08):
really big for for me anddefinitely always a highlight.
But I would say the second onewould be again, kind of
generalizing it, working withnonprofits that I love. And the
one that I always kind of giveas an example is because it
means a lot to me is theNational MS Society. So my
grandmother has MS. And an eventwas created. And I was brought
(31:34):
on very early on in the creationcalled Preakness of the piazza.
And Preakness ran for six yearsand all the money went back to
the MS Society. And that was anevent that I you know, people
still mentioned that to me allthe time. We did the PR, we did
some of the planning, and we didthe social media. So we really
(31:54):
helped spread the word aboutwhat an awesome and fun event
that was, but also got to raisea lot of money for the animal
society. Because that one wassomething that was totally a
highlight for me six years in arow. Lastly, I think I'm
starting to work more recently,or last couple years with like
(32:19):
professional athletes andprofessional organization. And
I'm such a sports sports fan.
This is like crazy for me liketo this day. The fact that like,
right now I work with HassanRedick from the Philadelphia
Eagles, like working with anelite player was always a dream
(32:40):
of mine. Last year I worked thisyear, yeah, this year, I worked
with the Philadelphia Union andtheir foundation and help with
their gala. And that was justagain, so amazing working with
you know them and I've donethings here and there with, with
(33:00):
honestly, every single team, theSixers, the flyers, and you know
the Phillies. Throughout theyears, you know, SmartLook of
the small campaigns are helpinginvite people to an event. So
working with the professionalteams has been really exciting.
Oh,
Jennifer Logue (33:15):
that's awesome.
So what advice would you give toan entrepreneur starting from
scratch,
Kate Marlys (33:23):
on entrepreneurs reading I would say to
entrepreneurs, be be ready. Andwhat I mean by that is be ready
for anything that can come yourway. So be ready to work hard,
be ready to succeed, be ready tofail. Because you can fail and
(33:49):
then later on you can succeedyou know, you just really never
know. And make sure you'repassionate about what you're
doing your life and your career.
And I think that if you aregoing to be doing this full
time, you should have somepassion about it. You know,
that's kind of what I say aboutmy clients. I mean, I'm
(34:11):
obviously passionate about PRPhiladelphia and like the love
of of what I do and the love ofmy city. But I'm also passionate
about my clients for sure.
Jennifer Logue (34:24):
That's really important because the passion.
That's what keeps you goingforward. Oh yeah. Despite
challenges and setbacks, youknow, because you don't have
that passion. It's going to beeasy to like, you know, give up.
Kate Marlys (34:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Jennifer Logue (34:42):
So, how are you celebrating your 10 year
anniversary? Do you know yet? Isthat top secret?
Kate Marlys (34:49):
You know me? I have? I've known for like two
years when I'm going to hugeparty. Lovely a huge party you
will be getting an invite It'sliterally going to be the party
in Philadelphia in 2023. Listen,I love I'm all about celebrating
successes, right? And it couldbe the smallest thing, or the
(35:13):
biggest thing. It could besomeone answering my email. It
could be my, one of my coworkers booking press. You know,
it could be a successful event,or my clients writing a nice
email about one of my girls,right? Like, it could be
anything we always try tocelebrate. So celebrating 10
(35:34):
years, I've known I was going todo this for a while we're
renting out to the winery. Yeah,which is actually a client, and
they're amazing. And I've just ahuge fan of the venue, and wine.
I do like my glass of wine everyonce in a while. So we're
running it out. And we'recelebrating with our clients and
(35:56):
some media friends that youknow, I've worked with over the
years. The list is very, verylong. It's kind of hard, but I'm
excited for it. And, again, nomatter what you do, you should
you should be celebrating yoursuccesses.
Jennifer Logue (36:13):
Oh my gosh, that is something else I need to put
on my wall somewhere. I thinksome people are better at it
than others.
Kate Marlys (36:22):
I know you and I know you're right. You do you
need to.
Jennifer Logue (36:27):
Yeah, it's um, because there's a tendency
sometimes to be more selfcritical, versus the celebrating
like little wins. And like, youknow, and that mindset shift is
so important. If you're nomatter what you're creating,
like, oh, whether it's abusiness or so that's, I really
(36:48):
what you said really spoke to meabout celebrating every success.
Kate Marlys (36:52):
You shut and listen, don't get me wrong,
like, in the back of my mind, Ialways think you know, oh, are
people gonna say like, Who doesshe think she is? Or this party?
No, I know, some I'm someone whoI worked very hard to get where
I'm at. And not only that myteam has to. So like we they
deserve to celebrate as well.
Yeah. And my you know, and beingable to say thank you to my
(37:13):
clients that I've worked with,and helped me get to where I'm
at over the last 10 years. LikeI could cry thinking about that.
I probably will cry. Yeah, thefact that told everyone that's
helping the planet. Do not letme say a speech. Because I am an
ugly crier, and there will beno, there will be no speeches
from Kay Marley's No, no, no. Nospeeches.
Jennifer Logue (37:38):
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, it's so exciting. I'm
looking forward. Oh, my gosh.
And what's next for you? And theexciting and 2023?
Kate Marlys (37:50):
Yeah, I think that, you know, I've always grown very
organically. I've never wantedto be this, like, huge PR firm
with like, hundreds of peopleworking for me now like, deserve
organic growth. So I think thatwe will continue to grow. I
(38:10):
think 2023 will probablycontinue to grow a little bit
faster. I have some things inthe works that I'm you know,
hopefully pan out. We havegotten some really exciting and
big clients for the next year.
That of course, I can't announceyet. But I'm just, I'm just
excited. We're in a really goodplace right now.
Jennifer Logue (38:31):
When you decided to launch a little pup silly.
How did that come about?
Kate Marlys (38:37):
So great question.
So photo pop was just kind oflike how Philly PR girl like a
happy accident of the creativeoutlet for me. So I went to LA
in 2017 2018. Actually 2017 AndI went to a place called happy
place. And I was like this isreally cool. Like Philly has
(39:00):
nothing like this. I wasn'tgoing to you know, steal someone
else's idea. I wanted to make itmine and very silly. So we
created, you know,Philadelphia's first
interactive, like, pop up museumbasically, and supporting local
artists, and was really also thecore principle of photo pop. So
(39:22):
we worked with, I think thatfirst exhibit was about 12 to 15
artists, where they would comein, and I curated the space and
came up with a theme and theywould create the art. And then
what I would do was because I doPR for a living, getting all the
presses. The artists would dothe press with me. And their
(39:46):
name, you know, really becameknown. Some were already really
well known. We worked with thesepig lips, which is I'm a huge
fan of hers. The fact that shesaid yes to that incredible
story first exhibit was wascrazy. And some were just, you
know, new and I wanted to I wasa fan of them. And I believed in
(40:06):
them and I wanted to give themthe chance. So Photoshop was
probably one of the mostcreative projects I've done. We
had three exhibits. The last oneended in the very, very
beginning of 2020 and January5 2020. And I think some people
think we ended up because of thepandemic, but it was time we
(40:26):
did. Our first exhibit was red,white, and blue. Our second
exhibit was sweet paradise. Andthen our third was winter
wonderland. And it was so muchfun. And I loved it so much, and
I missed it a lot. But runningtwo businesses is a little out
of order.
Jennifer Logue (40:47):
Yeah, how did you do that?
Kate Marlys (40:50):
I'm not well, because I wasn't sleeping. What
about self care? Like, I wasn'tnecessarily taking the best care
of myself. But it was my fault.
Because I loved it. I wanted tobe a photo pop every night and
like, see everyone come in andget excited. And, you know,
thank God, I had great supportsystem at Philly PR girl. And
that photo pop. I had, you know,Andrew, who ran photo pop for
(41:14):
me, like when I was not there.
And he really helped me, youknow, see the vision and get get
really creative with it. Nowhe's running virtual reality at
NYU, like how Oh, yeah. And he,you know, as someone that, you
(41:35):
know, I like bouncing ideas offof people. And I like getting
creative, you know, with peoplein a group setting. Yes. And I
think that's important. Youknow, some people are more solo.
But for me, I love tocollaborate.
Jennifer Logue (41:49):
Collaboration is essential. You know, that's,
that's something I've learned inadvertising in the last few
years, like the best ideas comefrom, and even songwriting, like
my best songs have been cowrites and advertising these
campaigns, like, it's a productof a bunch of really brilliant
people coming together. And thatmagic sauce that is it singular,
(42:13):
it happens when you're bouncingideas off of each other.
Kate Marlys (42:16):
I love it. I totally agree. And I think
that's why photo pop wassuccessful. And why we made what
your name is, because it wasn'tjust me. It was collaborating
with the amazing, talentedartists that are here in
Philadelphia.
Jennifer Logue (42:30):
Yeah, and you guys created such an experience,
like on social media, likepeople had so much fun. Yeah,
going to the exhibits and stuff.
And
Kate Marlys (42:39):
yeah, now there's, there's a couple here in Philly.
But I can successfully say thatwe were the first and that's
pretty cool. Yes.
Jennifer Logue (42:49):
You were the first Oh my god. So Well, Kate,
thank you so much for taking thetime to chat with me in creative
space. This is really apleasure.
Kate Marlys (43:03):
I just have to say, I'm just so proud of you. And
I'm so excited that you're doingthis podcast. I have always been
a fan of you and your work. AndI probably tell you this about
you know, from your songwritingdays to rock on Philly to
everything that you've donerunning at Metro like, you know
that I followed your career. Soit's an honor to be asked to be
(43:26):
on this podcast.
Jennifer Logue (43:27):
Kate that means a lot. Now I'm blushing now. Oh
my gosh, no. I'm blushing.
Kate Marlys (43:32):
You made me blush at the beginning. I will make
you blush. So yes, yes.
Jennifer Logue (43:36):
It comes full circle. We we couldn't have
written this better. Yeah. Formore on Kate's visit Philly PR
girl.com and follow Philly PRgirl on social media. And thank
you so much for tuning in andgrowing in creativity with us.
I'd love to know what youthought of today's episode. What
(43:56):
you found most interesting whatyou found most helpful. You can
reach out to me on social mediaat Jennifer Logue or leave
review for creative space onApple podcasts so more people
can discover it. I appreciateyou so much for being here in
the beginning stages of this. Myname is Jennifer Logue and
thanks for listening to thisepisode of creative space. Until
next time,
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode
of creative space, a Podcastwhere we explore, learn and grow
in creativity together. I'm yourhost Jennifer Logue and today we
have the pleasure of chattingwith Kate Marley's, the
powerhouse behind the celebratedPhiladelphia public relations
firm Philly PR girl. Since 2013.
She's grown her company, fromthe successful special events
(00:35):
blog to the full service PR firmit is today, built on a
foundation of networking,relationship building, and might
I add positive vibes and anunmatched passion for the city
of Philadelphia. Kate has beenhonored as a 2021 power player
by Philadelphia Style magazine,a who's next and communications
(00:56):
award by Billy Penn. And an I amborn to make history award by
influencing action. On top ofall of this, Kate has also
launched a second business photopop Philly in 2018. And in 2023,
she celebrates 10 yearsaffiliate PR girl, Welcome to
(01:16):
Creative Space, Kate.
Kate Marlys (01:20):
Thank you. That was quite an intro. I'm totally
blushing. Like,
Jennifer Logue (01:26):
I was like, wow, you've accomplished so much over
the last 10 years. It'sincredible.
Kate Marlys (01:32):
It's crazy. It feels longer than 10 years, you
know, but at the same time, itfeels like just yesterday. I met
you probably year one of mestarting Philly PR girl. So
you've, you've seen my journey?
Oh my gosh, I
Jennifer Logue (01:45):
think how do we first meet? Was it Twitter?
Kate Marlys (01:50):
It probably was because I always make a joke
that Twitter launched mycompany. Because, you know, I
started off as a blog, you know,our, we were like the OG
bloggers, which I reallyhonestly think the the OG
bloggers like us like that waslike the influencers of back in
the day. And to promote my blog,I got a Twitter account. I knew
(02:14):
nothing about social media. So Istarted connecting with a lot of
people on Twitter, and I thinkthat's when we met.
Jennifer Logue (02:21):
Yeah, I think you asked me to be part of a
Twitter chat. Yeah, I thought itwas the coolest thing. And like,
wow, look, good idea. Yeah, itwas really fun.
Kate Marlys (02:34):
I should bring them back. I haven't done a Philly PR
girl Twitter chat in a while,but I love doing them. But
actually, during the pandemic welaunched on the stoop, which was
like Instagram, you know, kindalike a Instagram like live. And
I just sat on my stoop because Ihad nowhere to go. Know that on
(02:54):
my stoop in South Philly. And ina way, that's like the new you
know, the new Twitter chat.
Jennifer Logue (03:01):
Oh, my gosh, keeping that filly brand alive.
So even in the pandemic gotrepresented.
Kate Marlys (03:08):
Exactly.
Jennifer Logue (03:09):
So let's go way back, Kate. I love to learn
about people's early life, theirbeginnings. Who inspired you
when you you were growing up?
And what did you want to be whenyou were a kid?
Kate Marlys (03:26):
That's a it's a hard question. Honestly, I
really think my mom inspired me.
She was raising three kids. Andyou know, my dad worked a lot.
And I saw how hard she worked.
And she, you know, went back towork and started a career when
(03:47):
we were older. So I always kindof looked up to her and still
do. I have a lot of dream job.
You know, when I was younger, Ilove love, love the music
industry. And I actually startedmy internship was at a venue, I
worked at a radio station. Incollege, I was the president of
like, our concert planning, youknow, association. So I think my
(04:09):
dream job, I always say was tobe the tour manager for Jimmy
Buffet. Because I couldn't Icouldn't think of anything more
fun than that. But in general, Ialways saw myself going on tour
with a band.
Jennifer Logue (04:28):
Cool. I didn't know about your musical
beginnings.
Kate Marlys (04:30):
Yeah, yeah. I you know, I love music and I still
do I love I think it's the liveaspect of it, you know, get
planning events and doing what Ido now. There's nothing like
going into like a major musicvenue for me like I get chills.
I did like a behind the scenestour of the grand old Opry one
time and I was like, Oh, I lovethis. You know, so yeah, that
(04:54):
was kind of where I got mystart.
Jennifer Logue (04:56):
Cool. This inspired you and the events that
you put on now. in Philly. Okay,yeah, beyond.
Kate Marlys (05:01):
Yeah, 100% it always has, I always like to
when I throw an event to pick areally cool venue, I always try
to look for something that justopened that people have never
been to. Because then it givesthem like, yeah, they might want
to come to this event. But theyalso might want to check out
this venue. So it gives themextra incentive to calm. And
I've always done that for 10years.
Jennifer Logue (05:24):
It's a really cool idea. Do you remember the
first thing you ever created? Asa kid? It could be anything.
Kate Marlys (05:32):
Oh. I loved writing. So for me, you know,
writing is a creative aspect.
But like when I was like, young,young, I was a Girl Scout. So we
used to create a lot of stuff.
Jennifer Logue (05:49):
Oh my gosh, okay.
Kate Marlys (05:53):
But yeah, writing definitely goes hand in hand
with creativity. And what what Ido today? For sure.
Jennifer Logue (06:01):
Awesome. And what did you study in college,
Kate Marlys (06:04):
I was a marketing major while business business
with a concentration inmarketing. Fun fact, I never
took a PR class. And I went backbecause I used to tell people
that like, I'm completely selftaught. So I think was last year
I went back and I was like, I'mgonna pull my transcript
transcript from college and makesure I'm telling the truth when
(06:27):
they say I never took the artclass, and I haven't I hadn't.
So I'm completely self taught.
But I, you know, it's funny,because I was a business major,
but I never thought I would owna business. Yeah. Here I am. 10
years later, sorry. That's Coco.
Coco doesn't like when I'm, youknow, the center of attention.
We want to be the center ofattention.
Jennifer Logue (06:48):
Hey, if she wants to be me interview, she's
welcome.
Kate Marlys (06:52):
I mean, I only took her to doggy daycare today to
run around. So she chose Oregonthis interview, but there's
Coco. So next
Jennifer Logue (07:00):
question. When did you know you wanted to start
your own public relations firm?
Kate Marlys (07:06):
Oh, that's a really interesting question. And it
goes into my background. BecauseI didn't know. I started a blog.
And I named it really a PR girl.
And it was never my master planto turn that into a firm. I say
like, it was happening to mewhether I wanted it to happen or
not. I started this blog startedthrough a networking event. You
(07:29):
I'm sure came to many of them.
And I loved it. I loved bringingpeople together and connecting
people. And it was one of myvery first networking events.
Someone came up to me and wantedto hire me to run the red carpet
for their event. Like, Well, Ido event planning with
(07:50):
nonprofits. You know, like, Iguess I could do a little PR and
figure it out. So I said yes.
And it was the very first NewYear's Eve party at Lincoln
Financial Field, it was a hugeevent. I had no idea what I was
doing. completely figured it outall by myself. And after that
event was kind of like that wasNew Year's Eve. So this time, 10
(08:14):
years ago, wow, I was getting myLLC because I was about to run
my first event, you know, bymyself. So after that, I kind of
just thought, well, I could dothis, you know, like, part time
I had a million other jobs and alot going on. And then and then
(08:35):
it just became more than parttime.
Jennifer Logue (08:41):
Yeah. When did you always work for yourself? Or
did you transition into owningyour own dog?
Kate Marlys (08:50):
I transitioned, it was really scary, too. Because
now as the executive director ofnonprofits, so I had a very good
job, a good salary of 401 Khealth insurance. And I lived by
myself, you know, at the time Ihad a condo and I thought what
am I doing, like if I leave thisvery secure job and go work for
(09:12):
myself? Scary, you know, I wassingle and I thought there's no
one to look back to. But I kindof thought like, Alright, I'm
gonna give it a try. And thenyou know, see what happened.
It's funny. I don't tell toomany people this but I'll tell
you, I left. And then a monthlater I almost chickened out.
(09:33):
Well, I kind of did chickenedout. I took another job. Yeah,
like, oh, we'll do Philly, PRgirl on the side. You know, I
still love it. And then, likeabout two months after that, I
was like, What am I doing? Like,I know this was the right move.
So I almost like, in a way I wassecond guessing my decision. But
I talked myself out of it. And Iwas like I know this is the
(09:54):
right thing for me.
Jennifer Logue (09:56):
Thank you for sharing that because I feel like
we We all see the results. Wedon't see the fear like that the
right before you take that stepof faith into what you know
you're supposed to be doing,even though it's scary, like
most people don't take thatstep. They just stay where it's
(10:16):
safe. And it's so much couldhave happened. Had they taken a
nap? So
Kate Marlys (10:23):
yeah, and I think people see like, Oh, I do have a
very successful business now.
And they see that they don'trealize that the 10 years that
came to be that this, you know,and there was many scary moments
in the beginning, for sure. ButI loved it so much that and I
still do that I knew no matterwhat, I'm gonna make this work.
Jennifer Logue (10:46):
Yes, you're so passionate what you do, like
you're in your zone. And it'sjust you were born to do this.
Kate Marlys (10:54):
It's crazy.
Because, you know, I think Ireally was born to do this,
like, even looking back, like inhigh school. I was the person
that like, threw parties all thetime. Not because I was like,
you know, the cool girl throwingparties because I love to plan
things. Yeah. And I love to bethat planner, and that up and
then clean up, you know, allthat stuff that goes into hand
(11:15):
in hand, like what I do today.
Jennifer Logue (11:21):
It's like, even your turkey tailgate that you do
every year. You know, it's justpart of you.
Kate Marlys (11:28):
It's crazy, you know, a little fun tailgate
event that myself and O'Harahome team created. We wanted to
do like a tailgate event forcharity. And here we are seven
years later, like it's crazy. Wehave 400 people at this last
one. Cool. I was donated. Ithink it was close to $5,000 The
Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Jennifer Logue (11:48):
Oh beautiful.
Kate Marlys (11:51):
Any signature events that Philly PR girl does
does have a charitable componentto it. That's really important
to me giving back so that'sthat's an event that I'm really
proud of.
Jennifer Logue (12:01):
Yes, no every time like at least these Eagle
seasons. I've decided now's thetime. I'm giving up while I'm
reducing my caffeine intake.
Yeah, I mean, not.
Kate Marlys (12:17):
You're drinking tea. I'm thinking to myself, is
it caffeinated? Or not? Like Idon't even know what I'm
drinking it anyway.
Jennifer Logue (12:25):
I'm mean. It's a crazy idea. Anyway, here I am.
So if Eagles Lord evil, Jen getget it straight. Oh my gosh, I
am from Philadelphia. People.
Don't think about it. Me. Okay.
So do you remember the day yougot the idea? For Philly PR
(12:46):
girl? Just the name the blog.
The website? Was there like alightbulb moment for you?
Kate Marlys (12:56):
I was sitting at my desk Oh, Coco. Yeah, I was
sitting at my desk at mynonprofit job. And I wanted to
do something more creative, morefun. And I think honestly, like
(13:20):
myself, and my coworker justcame up with it. You know,
Philly PR girl. Oh, that's kindalike me. You know, I'm out and
about. I wasn't in PR at thetime. So I don't even know like
to be honest with you like why Icalled the blog, silly PR girl.
best decision I've ever made100% I remember a couple years
(13:42):
into my career. Mike Jerrick.
Fox 29 said, what us markdecision naming your company's
silly PR girl. And for someoneso like, celebrated in the
industry to say that to me. Itis. So but yeah, so that's just
honestly sitting at sitting atmy desk. I was really like,
burnt out at my full time job atthe time. And I just thought
(14:05):
this fun, creative outlet blog,you know, back in the day, that
was like new bloggers, you know.
So I thought, Okay, I'll createthis blog. I'll write about
events and what's happening inthe city of Philadelphia, I was
that person that all my friendsand my family would ask what's
going on in the city thisweekend? You know, where's a
(14:28):
good place to go for mybachelorette party or my
birthday. So that was literallywhy I created the blog. To this
day, we have a blog that comesout every single Monday, called
This Week in Philly. I call itlike the backbone of the brand,
because that blog post has beendone every Monday since I
(14:49):
started the company 10 yearsago. Incredible. Yeah, and it
takes a lot of work. It's morethan me. Now I have a team. But
I always tell the person workingon that blog like this is my
baby like Guy love this blog. Iread it, you know, I want to
know what's going on in the citythat I love so much. That's kind
of how it all got started.
Jennifer Logue (15:08):
Oh, that's so cool. I didn't know that story.
Yeah. So I asked this questionof every guest, because it's
creative space, you know? Yeah,we're exploring creativity from
every possible angle. How do youdefine creativity?
Kate Marlys (15:29):
I think it's really about creating something from
scratch. So it's starting fromnothing. Starting from a very
small idea, and building it tosomething that, you know, you
could create in your wildestdreams, right. So maybe you
don't know what it is, in thebeginning. Maybe you're not sure
(15:51):
where this idea is going. Butstarting from nothing is kind of
Jennifer Logue (15:55):
kind of where I think it starts. Yeah, blank
page.
Kate Marlys (15:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
It could be anything, it couldbe a paper, it could be an
event. It could be a pressrelease. You know, for me,
anyway. Yeah.
Jennifer Logue (16:10):
I mean, I think it's the backbone of our lives.
Yeah, it extends beyond everydefinition. It's just like, it's
the juice of life, you know,like how we live our lives? And
how we touched on this a littlebit, but how does creativity
come into play? When you'rerunning Philly PR girl.
Kate Marlys (16:32):
So much of it, you have to be creative, there's so
much writing in public relationsthat I think a lot of people
don't realize or don't know. Andevery writing piece that we do
is completely different. Sopress releases, usually very
fact driven, but also creative,right? The pitch to media has to
(16:55):
be more entertaining, the blogneeds to be written in a
completely different way thanthe press release. So it's
really just, you know,creativity in PR is this huge,
it's like everything that we do.
And even without, you know, thewriting part of it, if you move
over to what else we do, whichis events in digital media, that
is a whole nother level ofcreativity, right there, you
(17:18):
know, planning an event, comingup with an idea executing the
idea. And then also, the socialmedia and digital media is a
huge part of our brand and ourcompany now. And I think that
that is, you know, of course, awhole nother level, you know,
creating the content, coming upwith the ideas, writing and
producing, you know, producingthe content. So it's definitely
(17:41):
a lot of creativity and PR.
Jennifer Logue (17:45):
So this is something I wanted to ask you,
you do so much, you have so manyprojects going on? How do you
decide the project is right foryou?
Kate Marlys (17:57):
That's a great question. You have to, you know,
when you're taking on a clientor a project, you have to really
think about like, is itsomething I'm passionate about?
Am I going to enjoy this,because it comes through like
people can, people can readright through that. In a way
publicists are, like, they'repromoting, you know, whatever,
(18:21):
it is a business a person. Soit's kind of sales like we're
selling them. And I feel like ifwe don't believe in what we're
talking about, or what we're,you know, selling, it's not,
we're not going to do the job.
So for me, I really only workwith businesses that I either
connect with, or admire, or havesome sort of passion for
(18:45):
connection with, you know, whichis a lot of the nonprofit's that
I've worked with over the years,you know, I'm connected with
them in some way, shape, orform.
Jennifer Logue (18:56):
How do you stay balanced with running your
business? And it's just a lot ofhats to wear and even with a
team?
Kate Marlys (19:04):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot. I have a great support
system. You know, my mom'sbasically my therapist. And so
it was my best friend. But Ialso find time for myself, and
self care and travel. Becausewhen I travel is when I can
really disconnect. Yeah, sothat's something that I've
(19:28):
always done. And I'm doing alot, you know, in the next
probably the last two years I'vedone a lot to kind of slow down
a little bit but firstly, thelast year but coming up, I plan
to travel more
Jennifer Logue (19:44):
cool. Any places on your list?
Kate Marlys (19:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna I think I'm gonna go to Ireland.
Very nice. Yeah, my bucket list.
So I think that's happening.
Summer 2023 will say thanks.
Jennifer Logue (20:00):
citing I love Ireland, oh my gosh, it's been a
while but love, love, love 10years affiliate PR girl, it's
such an accomplishment. It's socool. It's really been a joy
seeing you grow and seeing thecompany grow and go strong all
this time. What has been thegreatest challenge you've had to
(20:21):
overcome in building Philippe?
Er girl?
Kate Marlys (20:26):
Wow, greatest challenge. Let's say, I would
say, you know, finding that worklife balance, like we were just
talking about has not been easyfor me. I'm very open about it.
Whenever people ask me aboutthat, when I'm doing like
speaking engagements, I alwaysmake a good joke. Like, can you
ask the experts? Because I don'thave the best advice because I,
(20:50):
you know, I know what I'm goodat. I know what I'm not good at.
So I think I think that has beenmy challenge. And calming. Or
getting over the impostersyndrome, which a lot of people
talk about, you know, a lot ofentrepreneurs and business
owners talk about that, like, belike, Wait, am I really
successful? Am I doing a goodjob, you know, like, it's a
(21:12):
weird concept to wrap your headaround that, you know, you
you're so in it. And you'reworking, working, working,
sometimes you have to take astep back. And really kind of
think about, like, what, whatyour peers are saying, and you
know, what your clients aresaying if they're happy and
taking that step back andlooking at the big picture.
Jennifer Logue (21:35):
And that's where support system comes into play
to to remind you that theoutside of yourself,
Kate Marlys (21:43):
yeah, but when it's people that you're close with,
you're like, well, they got tosay that they're my friends or
you know, like, so sometimes,you know, it is nice to hear it
from someone else. Like, oh,wow, like, that's true.
Jennifer Logue (21:59):
That's awesome.
What has been your greatestaccomplishment? So far? I
Kate Marlys (22:05):
say, can I say making it to 10 years? Because
honestly, and my wildest dreams,I never thought I would be doing
this this long. I actually justwhen I started the blog 10 years
ago, okay, ah, don't quit thisafter like six months, that'll
be embarrassing. Because I thinkI was starting a lot. I always
(22:27):
have like, a lot of ideas, as alot of entrepreneurs do. Still,
artists. Yeah, exactly. You'vedone a lot in your life too. So
I always have a lot of ideas.
And I and you know, I always didback then as well. So my goal
was to just not start Philly PRgirl and quit. You know, so the
fact that I'm here 10 yearslater, and there is no quitting
(22:48):
and site and there's no stoppingthis insight like that. 100% is
my greatest accomplishment.
Jennifer Logue (22:56):
You've created a whole like vibe around Philly PR
girl. Like there's an energy toit. It has like a life. It's a
living, breathing brand. Youknow,
Kate Marlys (23:06):
it's funny, people are always like, you guys look
like it's so much fun onInstagram. And I'm like we do
like we do. We do have fun. Butdon't get me wrong, and myself.
And my team worked very hard.
And even creating reels anddoing funny tiktoks Like that
someone had to come up with thatconcept and write the scripts
(23:27):
and figure out you know, who'sgonna tape it, who's going to be
in it, all that stuff, even thefun stuff is hard work.
Jennifer Logue (23:36):
Now, on that note of social media, I have to
ask you, how have you seen themedia landscape, the
entertainment landscape evolveover the last 10 years? Because
we started out in the beginning,blogging was a big thing. But
now we're like in this tick tockworld. And, you know, from your
(23:57):
perspective, how have thingsevolved?
Kate Marlys (24:00):
Oh, wow, it's changed so much. We're in a huge
change right now to that I thinka lot of people don't even
realize like, influencers arechanging the landscape of
everything that we do. You know,I do some media buying as well.
And the other day, I'm like,right, I'm doing this influencer
buying and I have a lot ofclients that want to work with
influencers. So again, like thatwasn't a thing when I started,
(24:26):
you know, them charging was nota thing. Now they are charging
for almost every single postwhich is totally warranted and
deserved, depending on thecontent and you know, what
they're what they're doing. So,adding influencer marketing into
my core services for my PR firm,was something I had to do in the
(24:47):
last two years. There wasn't athing back in the day, that's
for sure. So as far as yourquestion goes, like, what's
changing everything is tick tockis a huge part of what we do. Of
course, you know, when it comesto PR TV, print radio, still the
biggest thing that you can do,and we can get our clients, but
(25:09):
this digital landscape hasreally created a whole new level
of our work and our creativityand coming up with like, really
authentic campaigns and ideasfor our clients.
Jennifer Logue (25:22):
Yeah, it's just there's so many influencers now,
it's, it's a full time job tokeep up with everyone, you know,
you go to different social mediachannel, and it's like, oh, my
gosh, like, this person is like,huge, and I never heard of them
until now.
Kate Marlys (25:37):
No, there is so many. And you know, it's crazy.
Like, they could be like alittle micro influencer and just
as influential as a big one, thebig one, unless you know what
you're looking for. They couldhave bought those followers, you
know, and they might not be asinfluential. So we do like a
really good job at like, kind ofdoing our research before we
(25:59):
decide who to work with. Andthat's why we end up working
with a lot of the sameinfluencers over and over,
because once they produce goodresults for our client of ours,
I have that, like, knowledge.
And now I can pass that on toother clients, like I know,
their reels are seen. And I knowthat that reel that went out
that went viral, brought peopleto a small business in
(26:22):
Philadelphia, from DC fromVirginia, this is like a true
story. This, you know, newbusiness opened, probably 2021
The reel went viral from aninfluencer that we brought in,
and she had customers come toher business from all over. Why
because of that, because thatInstagram real and that Tiktok
that's incredible
Jennifer Logue (26:45):
to for the city, to have that power has opened
doors to people from all over.
And it's like, it's just someonehas the audience. Yeah. And it's
a powerful, you're right. It'sincredible. And it's definitely
changed things over the years.
Like, you know, there's so muchmore than like reading a story
(27:09):
now. Or, like, now you work withinfluencers to like,
Kate Marlys (27:13):
you, they're creating, like short videos,
like commercials for your brand.
So a lot of influencers, I thinkget like a bad rap. And then
they don't people don't realizethat they think they're just
going out there taking you know,cute pictures. You know, the
ones that do it full time. It'sway more work than I think any
of us even realize.
Jennifer Logue (27:33):
They're like little agencies unto themselves.
Yes.
Kate Marlys (27:36):
Yeah. And they have managers. It's funny whenever we
have, we work with someonethat's like, Oh, can you now go
to my manager? I'm like, oh, no,no, your rates gonna be so much
higher than it was before. Wow.
And I'm not sure that my clientcan afford you anymore. I mean,
I'm lucky because I do havegreat relationships with
influencers in the city andbeyond. So I know that they give
(27:59):
me good deals, but they knowthat it comes back to them
because I will work with themover and over and over.
Jennifer Logue (28:07):
Yeah. Well, it's important to have relationships
for everything. Yeah,
Kate Marlys (28:11):
absolutely.
Jennifer Logue (28:13):
That's so interesting. Thank you for
sharing that. I was wondering,I'm like that would be
interesting question to askKate. Because she's been in this
for the last 10 years. And justthe evolution has been
incredible. Do you see anythingthat's coming up next. In terms
of social media, like do youhave any addictions, something
coming
Kate Marlys (28:31):
up next, if you want to know what's coming up
next, just figure just go lookand see what the high schoolers
are on. It usually starts athigh school, then goes to
college, then it'll come to anadult. It's crazy. Like I'll be
like, Oh, I'm not getting onthat app. And next year now.
There I am on Snapchat, learningit for my clients, you know,
(28:56):
there I am on Instagram.
Jennifer Logue (28:58):
I made a mistake with tick tock I didn't grab my
handle on time. I was like I'mnot doing tick tock No, I just
can't I can't do it. And I waslike, this is one channel I can
skip right now I have anunderscore like the underscore
but you know,
Kate Marlys (29:17):
I do do I have an underscore for Philly PR girl
and it's always it always usedto drive me crazy because the
the person who took like justPhilly PR girl with no
underscores doesn't post you'renot using it just give it to me.
Jennifer Logue (29:34):
The girl who has mine doesn't post anything and
they started it like before Imean, like a long time ago. I
think what it was still ticktock was something else support
that singing up.
Kate Marlys (29:48):
Oh, yeah. There's always something out there.
Jennifer Logue (29:51):
So what have been for you the top three
highlights of the last 10 yearsaffiliate PR girl and like mad
Take moments you're like, yeah.
Kate Marlys (30:02):
Oh my god, that's so hard because I could like I
can't even tell you top threefrom from this year. But I would
say like to generalize it alittle bit, I would say the
first highlight would be helpinglaunch women owned businesses.
Meaning I have really workedwith so many amazing women
(30:24):
entrepreneurs over the years. Soit you know, I was thinking
about it, like, your one Iworked with Hope Chest and the
bronze B. And they both like wonBest to Philly. And I was like,
This is crazy. Like, I can'tbelieve I'm working with such
amazing businesses and womenthat work so hard. And to this
day, I'm still working with likeDaniel Massey, at the woman's
(30:46):
collective. I helped launchsugar bar in Rittenhouse last
year, and she won best affiliatetoo. And it was like these women
like are getting the recognitionthey deserve. And I see what
goes on behind the scenes forthem to get that and for them to
launch the business in general.
So it's really cool. The womenon business part I think is is
(31:08):
really big for for me anddefinitely always a highlight.
But I would say the second onewould be again, kind of
generalizing it, working withnonprofits that I love. And the
one that I always kind of giveas an example is because it
means a lot to me is theNational MS Society. So my
grandmother has MS. And an eventwas created. And I was brought
(31:34):
on very early on in the creationcalled Preakness of the piazza.
And Preakness ran for six yearsand all the money went back to
the MS Society. And that was anevent that I you know, people
still mentioned that to me allthe time. We did the PR, we did
some of the planning, and we didthe social media. So we really
(31:54):
helped spread the word aboutwhat an awesome and fun event
that was, but also got to raisea lot of money for the animal
society. Because that one wassomething that was totally a
highlight for me six years in arow. Lastly, I think I'm
starting to work more recently,or last couple years with like
(32:19):
professional athletes andprofessional organization. And
I'm such a sports sports fan.
This is like crazy for me liketo this day. The fact that like,
right now I work with HassanRedick from the Philadelphia
Eagles, like working with anelite player was always a dream
(32:40):
of mine. Last year I worked thisyear, yeah, this year, I worked
with the Philadelphia Union andtheir foundation and help with
their gala. And that was justagain, so amazing working with
you know them and I've donethings here and there with, with
(33:00):
honestly, every single team, theSixers, the flyers, and you know
the Phillies. Throughout theyears, you know, SmartLook of
the small campaigns are helpinginvite people to an event. So
working with the professionalteams has been really exciting.
Oh,
Jennifer Logue (33:15):
that's awesome.
So what advice would you give toan entrepreneur starting from
scratch,
Kate Marlys (33:23):
on entrepreneurs reading I would say to
entrepreneurs, be be ready. Andwhat I mean by that is be ready
for anything that can come yourway. So be ready to work hard,
be ready to succeed, be ready tofail. Because you can fail and
(33:49):
then later on you can succeedyou know, you just really never
know. And make sure you'repassionate about what you're
doing your life and your career.
And I think that if you aregoing to be doing this full
time, you should have somepassion about it. You know,
that's kind of what I say aboutmy clients. I mean, I'm
(34:11):
obviously passionate about PRPhiladelphia and like the love
of of what I do and the love ofmy city. But I'm also passionate
about my clients for sure.
Jennifer Logue (34:24):
That's really important because the passion.
That's what keeps you goingforward. Oh yeah. Despite
challenges and setbacks, youknow, because you don't have
that passion. It's going to beeasy to like, you know, give up.
Kate Marlys (34:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Jennifer Logue (34:42):
So, how are you celebrating your 10 year
anniversary? Do you know yet? Isthat top secret?
Kate Marlys (34:49):
You know me? I have? I've known for like two
years when I'm going to hugeparty. Lovely a huge party you
will be getting an invite It'sliterally going to be the party
in Philadelphia in 2023. Listen,I love I'm all about celebrating
successes, right? And it couldbe the smallest thing, or the
(35:13):
biggest thing. It could besomeone answering my email. It
could be my, one of my coworkers booking press. You know,
it could be a successful event,or my clients writing a nice
email about one of my girls,right? Like, it could be
anything we always try tocelebrate. So celebrating 10
(35:34):
years, I've known I was going todo this for a while we're
renting out to the winery. Yeah,which is actually a client, and
they're amazing. And I've just ahuge fan of the venue, and wine.
I do like my glass of wine everyonce in a while. So we're
running it out. And we'recelebrating with our clients and
(35:56):
some media friends that youknow, I've worked with over the
years. The list is very, verylong. It's kind of hard, but I'm
excited for it. And, again, nomatter what you do, you should
you should be celebrating yoursuccesses.
Jennifer Logue (36:13):
Oh my gosh, that is something else I need to put
on my wall somewhere. I thinksome people are better at it
than others.
Kate Marlys (36:22):
I know you and I know you're right. You do you
need to.
Jennifer Logue (36:27):
Yeah, it's um, because there's a tendency
sometimes to be more selfcritical, versus the celebrating
like little wins. And like, youknow, and that mindset shift is
so important. If you're nomatter what you're creating,
like, oh, whether it's abusiness or so that's, I really
(36:48):
what you said really spoke to meabout celebrating every success.
Kate Marlys (36:52):
You shut and listen, don't get me wrong,
like, in the back of my mind, Ialways think you know, oh, are
people gonna say like, Who doesshe think she is? Or this party?
No, I know, some I'm someone whoI worked very hard to get where
I'm at. And not only that myteam has to. So like we they
deserve to celebrate as well.
Yeah. And my you know, and beingable to say thank you to my
(37:13):
clients that I've worked with,and helped me get to where I'm
at over the last 10 years. LikeI could cry thinking about that.
I probably will cry. Yeah, thefact that told everyone that's
helping the planet. Do not letme say a speech. Because I am an
ugly crier, and there will beno, there will be no speeches
from Kay Marley's No, no, no. Nospeeches.
Jennifer Logue (37:38):
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, it's so exciting. I'm
looking forward. Oh, my gosh.
And what's next for you? And theexciting and 2023?
Kate Marlys (37:50):
Yeah, I think that, you know, I've always grown very
organically. I've never wantedto be this, like, huge PR firm
with like, hundreds of peopleworking for me now like, deserve
organic growth. So I think thatwe will continue to grow. I
(38:10):
think 2023 will probablycontinue to grow a little bit
faster. I have some things inthe works that I'm you know,
hopefully pan out. We havegotten some really exciting and
big clients for the next year.
That of course, I can't announceyet. But I'm just, I'm just
excited. We're in a really goodplace right now.
Jennifer Logue (38:31):
When you decided to launch a little pup silly.
How did that come about?
Kate Marlys (38:37):
So great question.
So photo pop was just kind oflike how Philly PR girl like a
happy accident of the creativeoutlet for me. So I went to LA
in 2017 2018. Actually 2017 AndI went to a place called happy
place. And I was like this isreally cool. Like Philly has
(39:00):
nothing like this. I wasn'tgoing to you know, steal someone
else's idea. I wanted to make itmine and very silly. So we
created, you know,Philadelphia's first
interactive, like, pop up museumbasically, and supporting local
artists, and was really also thecore principle of photo pop. So
(39:22):
we worked with, I think thatfirst exhibit was about 12 to 15
artists, where they would comein, and I curated the space and
came up with a theme and theywould create the art. And then
what I would do was because I doPR for a living, getting all the
presses. The artists would dothe press with me. And their
(39:46):
name, you know, really becameknown. Some were already really
well known. We worked with thesepig lips, which is I'm a huge
fan of hers. The fact that shesaid yes to that incredible
story first exhibit was wascrazy. And some were just, you
know, new and I wanted to I wasa fan of them. And I believed in
(40:06):
them and I wanted to give themthe chance. So Photoshop was
probably one of the mostcreative projects I've done. We
had three exhibits. The last oneended in the very, very
beginning of 2020 and January5 2020. And I think some people
think we ended up because of thepandemic, but it was time we
(40:26):
did. Our first exhibit was red,white, and blue. Our second
exhibit was sweet paradise. Andthen our third was winter
wonderland. And it was so muchfun. And I loved it so much, and
I missed it a lot. But runningtwo businesses is a little out
of order.
Jennifer Logue (40:47):
Yeah, how did you do that?
Kate Marlys (40:50):
I'm not well, because I wasn't sleeping. What
about self care? Like, I wasn'tnecessarily taking the best care
of myself. But it was my fault.
Because I loved it. I wanted tobe a photo pop every night and
like, see everyone come in andget excited. And, you know,
thank God, I had great supportsystem at Philly PR girl. And
that photo pop. I had, you know,Andrew, who ran photo pop for
(41:14):
me, like when I was not there.
And he really helped me, youknow, see the vision and get get
really creative with it. Nowhe's running virtual reality at
NYU, like how Oh, yeah. And he,you know, as someone that, you
(41:35):
know, I like bouncing ideas offof people. And I like getting
creative, you know, with peoplein a group setting. Yes. And I
think that's important. Youknow, some people are more solo.
But for me, I love tocollaborate.
Jennifer Logue (41:49):
Collaboration is essential. You know, that's,
that's something I've learned inadvertising in the last few
years, like the best ideas comefrom, and even songwriting, like
my best songs have been cowrites and advertising these
campaigns, like, it's a productof a bunch of really brilliant
people coming together. And thatmagic sauce that is it singular,
(42:13):
it happens when you're bouncingideas off of each other.
Kate Marlys (42:16):
I love it. I totally agree. And I think
that's why photo pop wassuccessful. And why we made what
your name is, because it wasn'tjust me. It was collaborating
with the amazing, talentedartists that are here in
Philadelphia.
Jennifer Logue (42:30):
Yeah, and you guys created such an experience,
like on social media, likepeople had so much fun. Yeah,
going to the exhibits and stuff.
And
Kate Marlys (42:39):
yeah, now there's, there's a couple here in Philly.
But I can successfully say thatwe were the first and that's
pretty cool. Yes.
Jennifer Logue (42:49):
You were the first Oh my god. So Well, Kate,
thank you so much for taking thetime to chat with me in creative
space. This is really apleasure.
Kate Marlys (43:03):
I just have to say, I'm just so proud of you. And
I'm so excited that you're doingthis podcast. I have always been
a fan of you and your work. AndI probably tell you this about
you know, from your songwritingdays to rock on Philly to
everything that you've donerunning at Metro like, you know
that I followed your career. Soit's an honor to be asked to be
(43:26):
on this podcast.
Jennifer Logue (43:27):
Kate that means a lot. Now I'm blushing now. Oh
my gosh, no. I'm blushing.
Kate Marlys (43:32):
You made me blush at the beginning. I will make
you blush. So yes, yes.
Jennifer Logue (43:36):
It comes full circle. We we couldn't have
written this better. Yeah. Formore on Kate's visit Philly PR
girl.com and follow Philly PRgirl on social media. And thank
you so much for tuning in andgrowing in creativity with us.
I'd love to know what youthought of today's episode. What
(43:56):
you found most interesting whatyou found most helpful. You can
reach out to me on social mediaat Jennifer Logue or leave
review for creative space onApple podcasts so more people
can discover it. I appreciateyou so much for being here in
the beginning stages of this. Myname is Jennifer Logue and
thanks for listening to thisepisode of creative space. Until
next time,
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