Our CEO and Founder, Aquila Mendez-Valdez was recently featured on The Brand Collaborative Podcast, talking all about public relations, her franchising model and brand strategy. Be sure to listen!
Overview
In this recent episode, Aquila Mendez-Valdez, CEO and Owner of Haute in Texas, and Zahra Cruzan, Brand Strategist, sit down to talk PR! With a career marked by dynamic growth and global recognition, Aquila shares her journey and success as they delve into her insights on entrepreneurship, navigating the PR landscape, and the launch of Haute in Network Agencies—a franchise model aimed at empowering women to own their agencies. Aquila’s commitment extends beyond business, as she actively serves on various non-profit boards. Listen in to explore Aquila’s inspiring journey, her role as a wife and mother, and the wisdom she imparts from her experiences, all while residing in the vibrant city of San Antonio, Texas.
Key Points
- “I think it’s important when you are a small agency to have an attitude of being very collaborative and understanding that you may not be the agency that does everything.”
- “You got to give it some time, you got to really try it, you got to be willing to give it a solid go. And then you can say whether or not it’s working.”
- “But I think the most important thing to remember is that your PR efforts should be supplementing all your other marketing efforts, it shouldn’t be the one and only thing you’re banking on.”
- “I don’t know any mom that works that is not constantly kind of going back and forth between feeling guilty about not being the best mom or guilty about not being the best CEO or employee or whatever your role is. But I think for me, the biggest thing that I always go back to is the quote I’m from Nora Ephron, where she talks about, everybody’s juggling a lot of balls. But you have to get to the point where you understand which balls are rubber and which ones are glass. And that was a big moment for me when I realized, it’s not the end of the world to say, I’m shutting my computer off. And I think the fact that women uniquely struggle with that is indicative of why we get crap done but it’s also a good recipe for burning yourself out. We are all juggling that, you are not alone to be struggling in that realm, but you can do it, you will absolutely thrive. And it is not something to feel guilty about to fulfill both your professional self and your parent self.”
