Lynne Golodner loves what she does, so much so she shrank her boutique public relations firms so she could grow it.
The founder and chief creative officer of
Your People had grown the PR agency from her kitchen table in 2007 to a growing staff in an office in Southfield in recent years. Then she shrank it back down so it could easily fit on her kitchen table again.
"I really love the work," Golodner says. "When you get too big you are managing the business instead of generating content and focusing on the relationships."
Going smaller proved to have a number of benefits. Golodner got more time to focus on doing actual PR work and Your People grew stronger. The company still has a team of five people, but they are independent contractors now, and the company's headquarters is on Golodner's kitchen table in her Huntington Woods home. Revenue is up 25 percent and is expected to make a similar jump next year.
"We have been more efficient and more focused," Golodner says.
Golodner started Your People with the idea that every business and organization needs PR work, that everyone needs some help telling their story. Shrinking Your People helped Golodner get back to that with her clientele.
The agency also started offering products for small businesses that don’t need or can't afford a PR agency on a full-time retainer. Those products include everything from editing services to writing marketing plans for the clients to implement. To Golodner it’s fun helping empower more people to tell their stories to bigger audiences.
"It's really exciting to see our clients take these steps on their own," Golodner says. "It's great to hand it off to someone else."
Source: Lynne Golodner, founder & chief creative officer of Your People
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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