Feature Friday- Alanna and Natalie of Belle and Bold PR.

San Antonio natives, Alanna D'Antonio and Natalie Saldaña, are the ladies behind the boutique firm Belle and Bold Public Relations. These 20-something PR owners, have been featured as Women in PR's Publicist of the Day and since starting their firm in 2013 they have quite the growing clientele.

In this interview, the B+B PR duo talk Women in PR, career goals and even Adele!

• Brea: How did you two meet?

Alanna: We first met when I was a freshman in high school and Natalie was a junior. We were originally partnered up as freshman/junior “buddies” based on a school-wide personality test. We both went to a small private Catholic school that wanted the freshman students to have a junior “buddy” so you have someone you can reach out to for help etc.

Natalie: We kept in touch over Facebook with the annual “Happy Birthday” post. It wasn't until last Spring that I reached out to Alanna when I had started doing freelance PR and saw she was as well. We met up for coffee, caught up on what’s been going on over the past few years and decided to collaborate on a client Alanna had. 

• B: What do you like most about PR?

Alanna: When we first meet with a client and they list all of their dreams for their business and knowing we are going to help them come to fruition. We both grew up in this industry and it’s a rewarding feeling when you can turn your passion into your business.

Natalie: We truly do it for the client and feel that public relations is one of the best outlets a business can utilize. There is nothing better than word of mouth!

• B: What inspired you to start your firm, Belle and Bold PR?

Alanna: It happened on accident from our clients we were freelancing on referring us to more and more clients. It was a ripple effect and we decided to take a leap of faith and capitalized on the momentum we had going. We call ourselves “accidental” entrepreneurs because we both had
dreamed of owning our own firm one-day but didn’t realize how soon that day would come. It all happened backwards because the clients came first then the name, logo, website etc.


Natalie: Another factor that made the decision easy was that we don’t have kids or a mortgage or any huge responsibilities. If it doesn’t work out for one reason or another, we can say, “At least we tried!”

•  B: PR is such a competitive industry. What advice do you have for those recent graduates who are currently job searching?

Alanna: Intern. Intern. Intern. To be honest, I learned more about PR in my internships than I did in the classroom and for one reason only: real life experience. Intern in various departments at all differently places so you can 1-decide if you like that area/field and 2-it makes you more well-rounded. On top of PR, you should know how to do a little graphic designing or know how much ad values so you can use that as part of your pitch when selling clients on PR etc.

You cannot possibly learn all the twists and turns of PR in a textbook because every client and every campaign is unique and different. However, I still refer to my class notes and power points and I use my final capstone presentation as part of my portfolio when I show clients my work. Another piece of advice would be one I learned from Bethenny Frankel and I try to apply it everyday which is “make everything your business!” No matter what you do, give it 110% even if it is doing client clippings or unloading boxes at a client event -OWN IT!

Natalie: I definitely agree with Alanna on real-life experience! All of your work experiences will help you in life, whether they’re PR related or not. I worked in retail management for two years after I graduated and am so thankful for my time doing so. I learned a lot about running a day-to-day business, which is why I was so confident in starting Belle & Bold PR. My other advice is hustle. You always have to be willing to go out and get what you want. Make it happen! We aren’t able to have a business and keep it afloat without being proactive.

• B: How did your involvement as an undergraduate student help you as a post graduate?

Alanna: Referring to making everything your business, I got very involved in everything on campus. I was on student panels, I gave tours to prospective students along with potential business school donors, even to the point of appearing in the campus marketing material. I made everything my business and I feel that it reflected in my jobs that rippled from each one of them.

• B: What was the biggest lesson learned, to date, in your career?

Alanna: Get everything in writing! Even if you are doing work for a friend or family, always outline your work in a scope-of-work and/or contract. In the end, people are spending money and you want to make sure you avoid any potential issues in the future of your contract.

Natalie: DITTO!

• B: Name three websites you check every morning.

1. PR Daily, because we usually share their articles on our Facebook page.  
2. Twitter, because that is usually where we find the latest local and national news and doing our morning tweeting.
3. Forbes for new national stories to help us see how our clients align.

• B: I noticed you both are members of Women in PR. How has that organization helped you in your career?

Alanna: Women in PR has been a great tool for us as we are starting out. Our very first contract was through the tool kit that they provide. It helped us skip a few steps and hold us over while we had a line-up of clients, and now we are able to revisit those contracts and revise them accordingly. We have also attended their conference, which provided us a wealth of insight and knowledge into the industry.

Natalie: Women in PR has also solidified that we are doing things right and we aren't the only ones who have dealt with certain client situations. We have now been asked to speak at the next conference in Chicago this Fall, which is an awesome opportunity and compliment!

• B: For the random part of the interview, what song best describes your life right now and why?

A+N:We joke around and often sing a cover of Adele “Chasing Pavements” into “Chasing Payments.” The song goes a little like this.. “Do I give up or do I just keep chasing payments?” I think you can gather it is in regards to clients not paying on time. Album is dropping in Summer ’15.

• B: Is there a launch date set for your website? Career wise, what are your goals for 2014?

Alanna: Our website is set to launch in May! It has been a labor of love with a creative design team and we want it to be a representation and reflection of who we are and what we do.

Natalie: Our career goals are to bring a part-time employee onto our team. We have a couple of interns who have been awesome, so we want to start growing our business so they can grow with us.


Connect with the ladies of Belle and Bold PR: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

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