It’s the crystal Oliversary… 15-years. As one of the Olives put it, I have a sophomore in high school. I thought that was funny and it also put things into perspective. What a fun 15 years it has been! There have been many ups and then, the last four years felt more like a rollercoaster with twists and turns, ups, downs and all the things, but we are still here. We made it through and now we are on the adventure of our industry, reclaiming the path forward, redefining what it means to do marketing and public relations. I will always love that public relations is the relationship part and that’s why I have been calling us a “Relationship Agency” most recently. As things continue to shift and change in the media and tech landscape, we have some fun puzzles to figure out, but this is the part that makes me the most excited. In the beginning, we were called “Olive PR Solutions” because it was always about creating business solutions for building powerful relationships. Now we are Olive Public Relations and I like it because I see us as more of a bridge.
There are solutions, and then there are the problems or challenges they are solving. We are the connector, the bridge between the two. Sometimes it’s lighter than that… and it might be a fun restaurant who is creatively trying to reach their audiences or a neighborhood that wants to elevate traffic in the community. Regardless, we are the connection between the two. Or rather, our ideas are the connection. It takes creativity to figure these things out and this is where we thrive.
In celebration of building bridges and connections for 15-years, I decided to pull 15 of my favorite moments.
This photo is from the very first big event we worked on, and it happens to be the first photo I have of myself post launch. I was a one-woman show and I was always behind the camera. This photo was taken at Beyond the Border in 2009. The women pictured here are the powerhouses behind the whole thing. Julie Schrager (to my right) and Ann Berchtold (in the red) were the two founders and the others were their lovely friends and volunteers. Ann later sold Beyond the Border (it’s now Art San Diego) and later joined our team as an Olive. This was also my 30th birthday. My husband was deployed with the U.S. Navy and that gave me the opportunity to work around the clock with focus and determination. On this night, we had our first big success. I remember grabbing a glass of champagne and walking outside to toast to myself. It became much more fun after I hired my first employee just one month later after crying over the piles of magazines and newspapers that I knew I could never clip alone!
That’s me proudly sitting in our first office. It was so beautiful and perfect. I had decided it was time to move the office out of my condo and I went for a run one day. Right as I turned the corner of my city block, I saw someone roll up the blinds to this unit and pop a for rent sign in the window. I knocked on the door right then and asked if it was permitted for business. And it was! The color accents on the wall perfectly matched my olive green business cards, and we moved in one week later, just in time to celebrate our first anniversary. It was kismet.
The 2nd Year Anniversary Party will always be a special memory. It was fused with all the things I love… live music, sunshine, family, friends, clients, and even my college professor, the late Dr. Glen Broom. In this first photo, I’m pictured with two of the original Olives Jordanne and Celia and Sandy Rabourne, who at the time was there representing Komen San Diego. She brought me the lovely Olive leaf tiara and a plaque for our success… we had helped them to increase their fundraising by 44% our first year working with them. I was so proud of that accomplishment. I still am.
This photo will always be a favorite and one you might have seen before. On my left, you will find the late Dr. Glen Broom and to my right my Dad. It’s hard to believe that both are no longer here, but I really loved sharing this celebration with both of them.
In this photo, we had the honor of a special visit from students from The Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania. We hosted a wonderful fundraiser for the school at the House of Blues in partnership with Feeding the Soul Foundation, featuring Jason Mraz and the Raining Janes among many other lovely musicians. One musician even went into labor that night… while on stage she began having contractions.
The whole thing was magical right from the start. Jordanne and I had stayed late in the office one day to dream up visions of things we would like to see happen. We had just written down that we wanted to host a fundraiser for IEFTZ at House of Blues and I said: “I wonder how we might secure House of Blues for something like this.” About a half hour later my office neighbor knocked on the door and said he was wondering if I knew of anyone who could fill House of Blues on a Saturday in August because he was going on tour. Magic! And so it was that easy.
This is Jordanne and I on our first deskside trip to NYC as Olives. We had sooooo much fun on that trip…. Maybe too much fun, but we launched a – now household name – brand on that trip called PMD, which has gone on to win best handheld beauty device by many publications. We had the pleasure of working with them for 13 years. Naturally, we stopped in at Magnolia’s to celebrate a victorious day. We both giggled and squirmed with joy every time we walked into another stunning office. What public relations professional doesn’t dream of visiting Vogue, InStyle, Prevention, Family Circle, and another handful or so. It was a dream media tour. Still makes me sad that desksides are no longer. I LOVED those kinds of trips to the city.
This photo always symbolized to me that we were a “legitimate business”. Still cracks me up. We were all having so much fun that we often reminded ourselves that we were up to serious stuff and we were a “legitimate business”. Everything was about how much fun we could have and therefore the success just came easy and we kept on growing. We always had to remind one another that it was serious and important, even if it was fun.
This is a fun photo of the expanded dream team in our new office on Cedar. You can see the edge of a beautiful Olive tree my mom painted and there she is in the photo alongside her painting. You can also see the late Patti Fox peeking out. She was such a champion of Olive and we miss her too. I was taken by how many friends and family members in the photos are no longer with us. So much life and time while reminiscing to find these favorite moments. Please note the baby bump… Otto was on the way… don’t worry… I toasted with water or apple cider that year.
We signed Little Italy in 2013. I had lived in Little Italy for about four years and grew my business in the neighborhood, so when we had the opportunity to pitch the board, I was beside myself with excitement and about 8 months pregnant. I actually cried during the first meeting because I got so emotional over the letter that was written to name the Piazza Della Famiglia. I remember the first time Marco LiMandri asked me to stand up and introduce myself at the State of the Neighborhood dinner that I was already nine months pregnant and terrified that I was going to have to stand up and sit back down in front of a large crowd… We now represent eight neighborhoods and it has become one of our specializations and something we are so proud of! After Little Italy, we expanded to work with San Leandro, Redwood City, Liberty Station, Modesto, Glendale, and today, we still work with Little Italy and Redwood City, but we have expanded to include Arts District Liberty Station, Cardiff 101, Downtown Chula Vista, Downtown Hayward, East Village, and Mainstreet Oceanside.
At some point we expanded the Olive office as a result of our growing team and we took over the tragically hip rooftop space where we had more fun… this was our holiday snow party. Toasting again because we were always winning and celebrating those wins. One of my early commitments was to stop and celebrate. I had a tendency to move onto the next thing too quickly. Clearly from these photos, I succeeded at changing my ways. We still had to convince ourselves that we were a “legitimate business”.
One day we got a cold call from the Bigsley Event House and they invited us to prepare a proposal for the Electric Run. We got the business and then they invited us to promote the Color Run. We hit it out of the park and one year later we were working with them in over 26 markets. It was a blast.
I love this memory. One of the Olives was out, so I got the pleasure of stepping in to this TV segment with Greg Bledsoe and Jeremy and Chantal Sicile-Kira. Here in this photo, Chantal is being interviewed by Greg about Jeremy’s stunning art. My team did a phenomenal job, and, because of this segment, the story went viral and syndicated in every major city. Jeremy’s art show sold out and he had 34 commissions. Greg even went on to win an Emmy for this segment. You can view it here. And the best part is that Chantal and Jeremy have become lifelong friends.
This was the moment we announced our new brand. I wanted to reflect our growth and professionalism, so we hired an amazing branding agency that really nailed it. I still love our logo. Thanks, BLVR.
We had the greatest of honor of working with Kerri Walsh Jennings and p1440 to launch this powerful project. When they asked how I thought they should do it, I blurted out that Kerri should go on the Today Show with the Winter Olympic Correspondents and commentate on the winter games and then announce her new legacy project. They loved it, we made one phone call, and it all came together. It obviously helped that she is the most decorated beach volleyball Olympian in history, but it was still a very proud moment for us.
Why not spend the afternoon on a Gondola cruise?
We are still having fun, so naturally our team enjoyed a lovely Gondola ride in Coronado last week. There is so much to celebrate!!! We are growing with new business opportunities and totally successful campaigns with our existing clients. After some very busy weeks, we decided to float off into the sunset and it was a blast!
That brings me to today.
These beautiful Olives greeted me at the office today with this beautiful display to commemorate today. As I arrived, I felt a tidal wave of joy remembering that all this hard work and fun is important. We have worked with 15 years of businesses and individuals and every bit of it matters. Thank you to all of you for your support because seriously, if you are still reading this right now, you totally love us or me, and for that I’m grateful. Thank you to every Olive along the way. I have learned and grown because of each of you. Olive is – because of all of you. Each of you that were part of the fun and every toast, every tear, every win, every challenge – it all mattered and still does. We worked together on things that were so much greater than any one of us alone. I’m deeply grateful.
I’m also grateful to the clients who trust us today and along the way. It has been such a joy to work alongside you.
Cheers to many more! I’m in deep gratitude.
Jenn