The Perfect Launch: a journey from unemployment to small business owner

March 14, 2010  |  Today's Headlines

I’ve been told by fellow bloggers that every so often, to be a true blogger, you have to get personal. Today, Portfolio PR Group launched as a resource for our tech community and it seemed like a good time to tell the story behind 101to87.

Here is the CliffsNotes and PC version.

101to87 came to me while I was standing in the unemployment line one year ago today.  I was new on the Tech Valley scene and had worked locally but unsuccessfully for only a short time. Not only was I out of a job, my husband was too. Between the bills and loathing, we faced some of our darkest hours.

I kept thinking I could kick myself for leaving a remote position offered by my former employer SHIFT not to mention rethinking that move across country altogether which seemed like such a good idea BEFORE the recession.

Having just arrived in Tech Valley, we nearly packed up and left multiple times. And the idea of heading back to brunches at Elite Café and cruising up 101 to Napa started to sound really good again.

Then we got a break – my husband got a job and I got a freelance gig.

Then the freelance gig landed into a full time, but flexible job allowing me to immerse myself in the Northeast tech scene more and more. A bustling and lucrative consulting practice was born, I couldn’t have been happier.

In May the referrals kicked in. Then in June it kicked in again. Then inbound PR requests from local technology companies poured in at a rate I couldn’t manage or even think of taking. So I started to refer business to other contractors I knew.

Start-up? Me?

Throughout the past decade of working with start-ups, I’ve seen my fair share of business plans. I knew the odds of success and I knew the toll it took on families.

Forget start-ups, agencies were rough too. What did Forbes write about the life of a technology PR person? One of the five crappiest jobs out there.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my agency days, but locally I knew things had to be different.

I started to think about the PR landscape here in Tech Valley and the Northeast. Unlike the specialized tech agencies in Silicon Valley, there isn’t a dedicated resource here for our tech companies to get the visibility they need.

I knew whatever I ended up doing past consulting didn’t have to be big, but it has to be the best.

Today we transform into an agency model that prides itself on transparency and results.   We’re joined by some really great PR talent and are operating like any other start-up – practicing sustainability from recycled tech to toilet paper, an occasional micro-brew in the fridge, coffee round the clock and jeans in the workplace, our brainstorms are legendary and our whiteboards are filled.

We’re joined by great clients and great partners.  And most of all, we’re thankful for the few readers we’ve gathered over the past few months.

Moving forward, 101to87 will be operated by the team at Portfolio PR Group. This blog’s mission is meant to be an unbiased look at technology, a consolidated source of technology news and best practices in promoting a tech brand through PR. Sure, we may deviate every so often, but that’s the goal.

And of course, if you’re in the unemployment line like I was, if you love tech and understand the process of PR, give us a shout because we’re hiring.