Things to know about PR professionals

Sarah Burgess

If you have a friend, family member, partner or spouse in the public relations profession, there are a few things that you should know about us before you judge our lifestyle. Some of this you may already know, but it hopefully will help you better understand who we are, and may help strengthen your relationship.

• We need things planned – With all of the crazy things that can happen in our day-to-day lives, we definitely need our social plans easy and laid out well in advance. You’ll probably never hear a PR professional say this again, but we like it when we don’t have to do anymore planning! When you have already established what we’re doing, where we’re going and made reservations, it gives us once less thing to worry about and will make our lives just a little bit easier so we can enjoy more time with you! 
• We are hard workers, so be flexible – Despite the fact that we need everything planned out, we may be late every once and a while. Unexpected things come up all the time. Client emergency, Internet down, unforeseen deadlines—oh my! As in any career, sometimes it seems like Murphy’s Law can dictate our lives. We never know what to expect. So if you get a call saying “I’m so sorry; I’m running late!” or “There’s no way I’ll be able to make it tonight,” just know how much we hate it. What kind of person that plans events regularly likes to break plans and what kind of adult wants to work extra at the end of a long day?
• We overanalyze everything – But really though, it’s our job. We go into an organization, take tough circumstances, reevaluate everything about the client and help make things bigger and better than they ever were. Don’t be surprised when we look into every detail of your body language, what you say and how you say it. 
• We talk…a lot - After all, we did go to school to study the field of communication. Seriously, talking things out puts us at ease. We like to get a feel for every angle of the situation and evaluate it from the inside out. Sorry if you get sick of it, but that’s just who we are. 
• We check our phones and computers…a lot – What can I say, we have to! It’s not that we think our email and social media are more important than you, I promise. Public relations is the best literal definition of a “full-time job.” Like I touched on before, we can’t predict what last-minute emergency will pop up, so we always have to be on our toes, expecting the unexpected. 
• We will win every argument – Come on. If you know anything about us, you should know by now that we are incredibly stubborn, strong-willed and much of the time, we have Type A personalities. Along with the territory of having to talk through everything, we have studied communication enough and dealt with enough people to know how to get our way. 
• We’re always put together, except when we’re not – In public relations, it is important to remain calm, cool and collected in times of stress. And generally, we do. But after hearing some of the chaos that we deal with daily, it’s understandable that we may have a meltdown every once-in-a-while. During these times, we definitely need you most. Having someone there to be proud of us and support us, even in our weak moments, means the world to us. 

Overall, the best thing you can take away from this is to be patient with us. We’re tough leaders, but at the end of the day, sometimes the pressures of our job get to us. Ultimately, we will rely on you for our strength, support and sanity. So be kind, loving and understanding, and we will do the best that we can to be the best friend, partner or spouse possible.