C'mon, you know.

We still watch The Wizard of Oz. It’s not a user manual, yet it continues to teach us plenty while we observe in awe and scratch our heads with wonder at what is possible with the right people or person and the right plan. Flying monkeys aren’t as scary as they once were and houses do fly in bad weather. There is no place like home and you can tap your heels all you want yet you still have to go through security to get home, whatever that means. 

I'll get to the point. This letter is my Yellow Brick Road welcome to you. My website is lined with success stories, fun times, case studies and difference makers. This is an underdog-no-more story: You just found the Wizard.

Twenty years ago, I realized I had industry experts on speed dial, the right connections coast to coast. I had reviewed over 10 million press releases and thousands of communications plans during my 17 years at PR Newswire. Additionally, I had worked hand in hand with both the best and the worst PR practitioners in the world. There was no way I was south on that split. And if I were, it wouldn’t be for long. It wasn’t.

I realized that to come in like a wrecking ball and shatter some ceilings, I had to be different to be better, and vice versa. I  had  to be the Wizard of Oz, that ‘it’ person with the right contacts, relationships, and know-how. I had the grit, the gears and gadgets and, hands on, I learned by collecting counsel and embracing experiences so I could provide my own counsel and create tailored experiences. 

When I landed TGI Friday’s, I developed a system to make every restaurant seem like a stand-alone entity, distinct in how it communicated with media and other influencers. It’s called a hyperlocal service playbook (HSP) and allows me to customize and personalize all media outreach. I can turn the playbook into a megaphone or a muzzle depending on the subject and/or client. It’s not a media database used solely for email blasts; HSP is tailored to amplify and elevate that system through my personal and keen management of contacts.

Providing a business model that works is the foundation that makes derekPR different, though I understand that you need more tangible evidence to back it up.  This site notes past victories yet leans more on a pertinent promise for an even better future, perhaps ours.

Here are a few of my favorite stories that didn’t fit anywhere else on the site; perhaps one or more make a better case for my representation to elevate and amplify your business:  

• TGI Friday’s brought me on to help until they could find a bigger agency. They didn’t have to find one. I seized that opportunity to demonstrate my ability to represent a national category leader and deliver the best PR results they had ever seen.
• Applebee’s got tired of finishing second to Fridays in news coverage despite being 3x the size, so they hired me away and made me commit to an exclusive so they could have me and no one else could, then took over the top spot for news coverage for years.
• Panera didn’t send me a request for proposal (RFP). They did send one to Taylor Strategy, one of the world's top PR agencies, with 100+ employees and a floor in the Empire State Building. Taylor Strategy called me, flew me in for ideation, and they won the account. I paid for the trip just for the experience.
• HWY 55 also didn’t send me an RFP yet Taylor Strategy called me when they got theirs. Taylor, my favorite agency, passed on the recommendation, and derekPR won the account despite being the only finalist not initially considered. HWY 55 had the best PR years in its existence under derekPR.
• UFC GYM and Buzztime flew all agencies but me in for their representation consideration. I asked them to call me last, saying that if I couldn’t make the case over the phone, I would fly in to present. I didn't have to and we went directly to orientation after one call.

There is common ground in the examples above and throughout derekpr.com. All include perseverance, creativity, determination, ideas that work, and strategies that sell. I check all the boxes, yet I do not have a monopoly on those attributes. I separate and differentiate with my intangibles, winning factors that don’t always make the scorecard.

I hear, he’s ‘out there in a good way,' or 'he’s not for everyone, yet he worked perfectly for us.' I’ve heard variations of that and won’t attempt to disprove any of it. It's all true. I’ll even add to that: I like to laugh as laughter equals creativity. I am nimble, scrappy and don't consider myself overqualified for anything. 

Communication is my love language, bullet points are my hobbies, and my pet peeves are dangling modifiers and run-on sentences. I cringe when I hear "calls and emails for comments were not returned" by companies. I am more plow than penthouse, more David than Goliath. I will highlight blow-your-mind results, then casually drop the Nolan Ryan classic, “it ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

I have done it, and I can do it again with more wisdom and a better perspective than ever. I tried retiring voluntarily once, but that was short-lived. I hated it and couldn’t afford it. COVID almost caused me to quit. I wouldn’t let it. So, here I am searching for the next big idea, just like I love it.

I used to give away big ideas for free to get meetings, then tune into a commercial a month later to see my idea being used without me. I don’t do that anymore. I used to teach prospects precise PR plans to drive traffic and bolster the bottom line, and then I saw them in action without me. I don’t do that anymore.

I know ideas are just ideas until someone acts on them. I love words, yet I love action more. Putting a great idea into action for a mutually beneficial goal is what brings me professional joy. I stay excited and simultaneously relaxed, knowing that for anything thrown at me, I will find an answer and a solution.

I’ll wrap this welcome up with some words and phrases that AI can’t adequately represent about what you'll get from me: uncommon sense, zero drama, complete professionalism, return on investment, immediate impact, pain-free onboarding, colorful collaboration, cleverness, budget friendliness, smiles, enthusiasm and a different brand of intelligence. I say in jest that I am genetically incapable of failing, though I have backed that up time and time again. In reality, it's always God-given talent and God's grace.

Enough words, let’s get to work, together! I am actively seeking customized and personalized representation agreements. My playbook works, my ideas are game changers, my strategies sell, my charisma lights up any situation, and I am ready to make a difference by being different. That’s the deal, that’s how I roll; after all, I am the Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy and Toto sold separately.

WELCOME!