3 PR Philosophies from My Italian Vacation
Went for the pasta, and came back with a new outlook on how we show up for our brand, and ourselves
My husband and I have been planning an Italian vacation for more than 3 years. COVID put the plans on hold for a couple of summers, and then starting my business and buying a house became priorities over travel. We were planning our summer vacation this year when I asked, “what if we finally went to Italy?” I’m so glad that we finally made it happen, and honestly, learned that overseas travel is NOT the huge task we built it up in our heads. In fact, I would do the 12 hour trip again TOMORROW to go back and eat more of that delicious food, take in the beautiful Mediterranean and learn more from the incredible people.
It was important to me to keep my eyes, ears and heart open on this trip so I could soak in as much as possible from the Italian culture. I came home with a few key learnings and life values I want to adopt ASAP (hello apertivo), but these three philosophies I’m specifically applying to public relations for my clients and myself.
Leave room for the spontaneous: I made an itinerary for a few days of the trip, and booked some dinners that were incredible. But some of the things I planned weren’t our favorite moments from the trip. We ended up going to a vineyard in Mt. Etna that I had googled that morning, and WhatsApping with the owner led to a squeezed in private tour that was a highlight of the whole week. When we work on our PR and marketing strategy it is easy to try to plan for the full year, plotting out every month or week like its written in stone. But the most effective strategies actually respond to what is going on around us and jumping in on the current cultural conversation - something we could never really predict!
Do what feels genuine to you, and don’t mind what others are doing: One of the biggest lessons I took away from Italy was how self-assured and grounded the people were - especially the women. You could tell each of them lived their life in the best way for THEM, and didn’t pay mind to how others were doing it or “keeping up with the Jones.” In the age of social media, it is really easy to compare and try to keep up with likeminded brands or entrepreneurs. But that is how we veer off course and lose the values that made us unique. Staying true to what makes us special will bring in a tribe of people that are devoted to you and your brand.
Go all in on what you want: Passion is palpable in Italy. Whether someone owns a ceramic shop, a restaurant, drives a taxi or lives on the beach, you can tell there is true love behind everything that they do. Nothing is halfway done. I’m 100% adopting this for my life and my business, and I encourage you to do the same. What is holding you back from being completely in love with your brand? Where are you playing small when you could fling open the doors and shout out the balcony about how amazing you are? Look for opportunities to go all in on your business or brand, and take the leap.
These are my big three, but I’m taking much more of an Italian life outlook these days. If you’re curious how you can apply these to your brand, I encourage you to reach out to us at team@megandrosigliopr.com or sign up for the free Master Your Messaging course, found in our freebies library.
