Tracy Lamourie is the Founder and Managing Director of Lamourie Media Inc., a Universal Women’s Network 2020 Woman of Inspiration Winner for the Women In Media award and the author of the upcoming book GET REPPED – Build Your Brand With Effective Public and Media Relations.
FWM: You are a high-profile international award-winning publicist. How did the pandemic cause you to pivot?
The pandemic changed things hugely for us at Lamourie Media in so many ways and in other ways did not change it at all! The year before COVID hit, we were not only increasingly busy with clients across industries and across borders, but our cross-border work was literally taking me around the world. In 2019, I traveled on 8 different client projects on 9 different trips to 5 different countries on 4 continents – I was everywhere from Hollywood to Jamaica to Washington DC to the Mediterranean – so the sudden hard stop to travel alone was a shock!
In March of 2020, we had a full year of similar travel and events and VIP parties planned to complement the 15 hour work days! Initially, I lost probably 75 to 80 percent of my business – we were working on international client events, had several trips already planned including 2 weeks doing reality TV for a coming music themed show on the west coast traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles to Portland to Vegas; speaking engagements, major entertainment events I was doing international media for. Then – COVID – and all of that was suddenly over and I was stuck in my basement office at home – like everyone else I was in shock, worried. Instead of spending my normal 12 to 15 hours at my desk working suddenly here I was , staring at the screen listening to all the politicians in Canada, the US, and everywhere else, trying to figure what the heck was going on.
FWM: What lessons did you learn?
Ultimately I learned that I – and my business – can survive and thrive through even the biggest challenges – like an international pandemic! And the way that happened, was that it suddenly hit me – if I lost 80 percent of my business, then I still have 20 percent – and instead of sitting around worrying and staring at the screen – I should get back to my desk and start working on the 20 percent of work that I still had – the stuff not connected to public events and gatherings. As soon as I did that, my brain started firing up again with all kinds of strategies that ultimately were successful – even at the height of COVID, people wanted to reach out to other people – and I help them do that on a broad scale using media and publicity.
“Whether they’re a high-profile celebrity or a passionate entrepreneur or a talented creative, if I see that spark in you, I will take you on as a client.”
FWM: Tell us about your new book, GET REPPED- Build Your Brand With Effective Public and Media Relations.
I’m super excited about getting it on the shelves and into the hands of the readers that really need it. I have been doing a lot of online panels, podcasts, TV and radio guest spots. I’ve been talking primarily to audiences of entrepreneurs and executives about how to build their own brands both professional and personal and how to develop international reputations for thought leadership. All this has shown me just how necessary this book is. I find probably 80 percent of entrepreneurs especially aren’t considering using media interviews and that kind of attention – they’re familiar with advertising, but public relations and effective use of earned media and publicity is a whole different thing and it’s a real blind spot for most entrepreneurs. This truly puts them at a disadvantage when you consider that there is not a major corporation in the world that doesn’t have a Public Relations/Communications department, so that right there shows you something.
FWM: How important is building your brand at the start of your career?
It’s incredibly important ! It’s important no matter where you are in your career. Getting media attention, being interviewed on TV, radio, and podcasts, being quoted in newspapers, magazines and major industry blogs, does wonders for your reputation and your value in the marketplace. It can help you access better jobs, that corner office or a higher salary if you are on the corporate track, and if you’re an entrepreneur it is even MORE important, not only does it get you and what you do in front of more people like advertising does, it also builds your credibility helping you sell whatever it is that your company does. In 2021, the truth is if you aren’t doing the work to build your personal brand and or working with a publicist to increase your reputation for thought leadership, you absolutely are falling behind, because you can be assured that your competition is. Using earned media to elevate yourself in the marketplace elevates you above your competition, interests customers, and even, in the words of one of my happy repeat clients, “makes investors take you more seriously.”
FWM: You are known in the media around the world for your 20-year campaign that ultimately helped free an innocent man from death row. Tell us more.
In 1998 my husband Dave Parkinson and I were entry-level sales people in our twenties, and we had never thought of PR as a career! We learned of the case of Jimmy Dennis, a factually innocent man on death row in Pennsylvania who was asking for help, and we were drawn to become involved when we heard of the distressing details of the case. Ultimately we got in touch with Jimmy and when we read all the court documents and details of the case we were so disturbed, there was no question he was innocent and we felt compelled to help. That was the beginning of the Justice for Jimmy Dennis campaign – from 1998 when we got involved until 2017 when he was released it was a long journey to save his life. Now he’s an internationally acclaimed R & B artist getting major media attention for his music as well as for his compelling story – he’s been in Rolling Stone, BET, FoxSoul, New York Times, SiriusXm and so many more. I learned how to write a press release to tell the world about Jimmy Dennis, and I wouldn’t be in media work today – it was a long and winding and truly unexpected road, but it led me here. It really is a Hollywood story, and probably one day they will make one out of it. In the meantime, it would mean a lot to me if your readers check out and support the music he is making today – find him on Instagram at @jimmydennismusic
FWM: You work with major entertainment clients and small businesses. What will people notice when working with you?
Whether someone is already hugely high-profile at the height of their fame or a newbie just starting out to get some media attention – whether they’re a high- profile celebrity or a passionate entrepreneur or a talented creative, if I see that spark in you, I will take you on as a client. From the beginner to the celebrity, all my clients have value and worth and are treated exactly the same way. I’ll put the celebrity on hold if I’m already talking to someone. Every single Lamourie Media client is a star in my eyes – and its my job -and my passion – to make the world see that, too.
FWM: Please share a few success stories over the past 6-months.
This is always a hard one! Right now I have 37 clients across industries and across borders and they are all doing amazing things and we are getting amazing results for them that fire me up all the time! So really, my answer to this one changes every day depending on the work I’ve been doing the day before! Some highlights that come to mind : Discovering an amazing young 13-year old singer with a social conscience and incredible talent and helping amplify her powerful and inspiring young voice with the message, ‘Make It Right” about all the injustices of the world; my continued work with and watching the rise of Jimmy Dennis as he refinds the voice that the system stole from him for over two decades and is making beautiful music for all of us, I’m thrilled to be working as both publicist and executive producer for the international edition of Sheroes of Our Time, a successful TV series in its sixth season seen in dozens of countries across Africa working with my client TV star Anita Erksine, one of Africa’s 100 Most Inspirational Women and Ghana’s 100 Most Powerful Women and the star of a successful soap opera on the continent, I’m super excited about HiBnb , repeat clients who are taking on AirBnb for the cannabis market – since Canada legalized coast to coast in 2018, there has been a huge interest in Canadian cannabis tourism and HiBnb has been getting attention from Los Angeles to Japan and investors are taking a huge interest and I’m pretty thrilled about that one as the destigmatization of cannabis is something I have been working on for a decade. Truthfully though, ALL my projects excite me – that’s a prerequisite for me taking them on!
FWM: What do you look for in a client?
I’m lucky to have reached a point in my career where I have the luxury of taking on only projects that really resonate with me. It can be any industry, any country – as long as the person doing it is ethical and passionate about it! Bonus if there is travel involved!
FWM: You are an advocate on a myriad of worldwide issues. What causes move you the most?
I’ve always been staunchly anti-racist since I was a child – racism always seemed ridiculous and unfair when I was little and it still does today. And women’s equality and empowerment in different venues as well as the continuing struggles and systematic racism against people of color, Black and Indigenous people, people from other countries – it all comes down to fairness and equality. And this impacts all the other issues I have worked on, from support of the LGBTQ community in a local action a decade ago to my twenty-plus years of pro bono work in the criminal INjustice system.
FWM: Tell us about your upcoming TV, radio, and high-profile podcasts in the upcoming months.
More of the same! In the last ten months, I have been the guest on somewhere around 200 panels and podcasts and TV and radio guest appearances mostly talking about entrepreneurship, leadership, authenticity in business, and especially how to build your brand and reputation for thought leadership using media and publicity. And a few on my justice work and a couple on my exciting travel experiences! I’m booked for 12 more this week alone, 23 in May, and a bunch more already from June all the way to December!
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