Fifteen Years In
Editor’s note: Skin Script typically explores the intersection of beauty, pharma, and the business of influence. This week, I’m stepping slightly outside that lane. Same industry. Same lens. Different
I got my first PR job in 2010 at a boutique firm in Philadelphia.
It wasn’t permanent. More like a seasonal assist. A local shopping mall needed holiday press, and the agency needed extra hands.
Still, it was something.
By Dave Z - Flickr: CITY HALL PHILADELPHIA, CC BY 2.0
The world was clawing its way out of the Great Recession. Full-time roles weren’t abundant. The staff was kind, the office was in a good part of town, and the pay felt respectable for a kid in his early twenties who was still very green.
That temporary role set the stage for everything that followed.
I realized I loved earned media — the strategy of it, the chase of it, the small adrenaline hit when something landed. I thought, “maybe I can actually make a living doing this?”
I did.
I also learned some things the hard way.
You’ll Meet Jerks. Try Not to Internalize It.
This is easier said than done.
Early in your career, authority feels absolute. A hostile manager can feel like a verdict on your competence. A public dressing-down can feel permanent.
It’s not.
If there’s one pattern I’ve observed over time, it’s this: sustained poor behavior has a half-life. Tyrants burn through goodwill. Their networks shrink. Clients eventually notice who was actually doing the work — especially after that person leaves.
When behavior crosses into something more serious, document it. Save emails. Keep timelines. The technology to protect yourself is far better now than it was in 2010.
But emotionally? Don’t let someone else’s insecurity become your identity.
Peers Aren’t Always Allies
No one says this part out loud.
Budgets tighten. Headcount freezes. Leadership rewards visibility as often as substance. In that environment, competition sharpens.
That off-the-record conversation over drinks? It sometimes has a strange way of resurfacing.
Get promoted ahead of your peers and the temperature in the room can change. Leave for a new role and suddenly you “weren’t that great anyway.”
It stings the first time.
Then you realize something useful: careers are long. Reputations compound. And most short-term pettiness ages poorly. You don’t need to win every room. You need to outlast it.
The Industry Changes. You Have To Change With It.
In 2010, a strong week for that suburban mall meant:
An online feature in Philadelphia magazine
A segment on the evening news
A post from a well-trafficked Mommy Blogger
That was the ecosystem.
Today? The ecosystem is fragmented and fluid.
TikTok walk-throughs. Instagram Stories. YouTube tours. Influencer embeds. Podcasts. Substacks. Reporters building independent platforms outside legacy outlets.
In pharma, I still pick up the phone when Reuters or The Wall Street Journal calls. That muscle memory never leaves you. But earned media is no longer a single lane. It’s an interconnected system. If you stop learning, your skill set calcifies quickly.
The fundamentals remain. The channels don’t.
No Regrets. A Few Corrections.
Am I wholly innocent in my career? Of course not.
I’ve written off people and projects too quickly. Stayed quiet when speaking up might have changed something. Been less gracious than I could have been when someone needed help.
And when things genuinely felt wrong, I didn’t always exit as quickly as I should have.
Time gives you clarity. It doesn’t give you do-overs.
And Yet, Here We Are
Fifteen years in, I still feel a small thrill when a story lands.
When a reporter I’ve been cultivating for months finally bites.
When a crisis that could have gone sideways doesn’t — because groundwork was laid before anyone was panicking.
That’s the quiet part people outside communications don’t see. The invisible preparation. The slow credibility-building. The steady maintenance of trust.
There’s no final placement. No last crisis. No moment where you’ve officially “made it.” Just the ongoing work of staying curious, staying honest, and knowing when to hold your ground — and when to let something go.
For the Gen Zers Starting Out
If you’re taking a seasonal agency gig, covering someone’s maternity leave, or cold-emailing editors at 11 p.m., here’s what I’ll say:
It will be messier than the job descriptions suggest.
Org charts lie.
Culture decks lie a little more.
But if you stay humble enough to keep learning — and secure enough not to take every bad interaction personally — you’ll find your footing.
I’m turning 40 this June, and I’m still finding mine.
And maybe that’s the point.