The Possession of Impatience

Impatience is something that I suffer from.  Since I was a child it seems I've been trying to get to the next level without really fully engulfing what the present moment means or is attempting to show me.  I started reading at the age of three (3).  The book was The Little Engine That Could, what I remember most from reading that book was "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can!" which led to the certainty of "I know I can!".  I loved it!  Everything I put my focus on - whether it was school work, my family's drama's, my friendships or my dreams, I knew I could! I COULD CHANGE things because I KNOW I CAN!  Riiiiiiggggghhhhhttttt.... #GoodLuckWithThat!

Sigh, that leads to a condition called Impatience.  I've been told by everyone who knows and loves me that I am impatient and that life really is moving at the pace it's supposed to...not sure I ever believed that, but OK.

A conversation with a dear client this weekend led me to have a 'moment' with myself when she asked me to be patient with her and the speed at which she'd like to move her brand along.  When she requested my patience, it resonated so deeply within me that I thought about it every chance I got in quiet moments and was really able to be a friend to myself and agree that she was right.  From the moment the words left her mouth, I agreed - what's the big hurry?

I have been driving myself like a slave-driver. Never-ending, non-stop, won't-stop-can't-stop force to get it done in every sense of the word.  But really, what's the big rush for?  Hasn't life shown me over and over again that things happen in the time designated for them to happen?  Exhale.  Relax. Relate and release.

I swear, I totally have the BEST clients in the world!  They appreciate me and value the service my company provides and totally get that we live and breathe SUCCESS simply because I KNOW that I AM. So, Impatience, shut up, sit down and chill!  I am no longer being possessed by you. My new accessory is called p-p-p-patience...and we're getting to know each other very well!

My Moment in the Spotlight - USA TODAY!!!

My job is to put others onto the forefront , constantly seeking opportunities where they can showcase their talents to the people that need them most.

Well today I had MY moment and I want to thank Ms. Arienne Thompson for thinking of me when considering the myriad of PR pros to reach out to for her article on deadline. And there you have it, MUAH was quoted in Today's USA Today check it out here!

And The Beat Goes On....

Wow, life right now feels like a nice mix of the kind of excitement you get when you strap on your seatbelt in anticipation of a roller coaster ride that's sure to give you a range of emotions from exhilaration to trepidation, fear and relief - a beautiful mess! Guess what, I love it! It means, I'M ALIVE!  (giggles).

Well, there's much to share as our clients are LIVING and BREATHING their PASSIONS for serving others and sharing their natural God-given talents with the world! Very exciting watching these brand-makers SOAR!

Parenting Expert, Dr. Bisa

Thursday was such a day of celebration with our Parenting Expert, Dr. Bisa's debut on Essence.com (courtesy of Blogger Extraordinaire, Afrobella)! Congrats Dr. Bisa!  She looked so beautiful in her "Natural Hair" story, Essence.com's line up of natural hair stories featuring beautiful, dynamic and inspiring women!  Then the weekend continued with client, Renee Knorr at a power meeting with other magnificent women as we discussed the latest in celebrity golf, fashion and lifestyle. Quite exciting as we 'name-dropped' celebs you'd only see on Oprah's couch - OW! Then it was on to Matchmaker Ming Gregory of Color Blind International to prepare for NATIONAL!!!! (sighing here....A. Little. Bit. Stressed.)

Client, Tia R. Ervin of Milestone Occasions kicked-off her signature "Mom & Me" Bridal Luncheon at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead with a nice and intimate crowd of mothers and daughters getting ready for the biggest day in their lives.  It was very beautiful, inviting and fun! Ms. Tia R. Ervin knows her stuff!  I understand why she was named The Knot's 2010 Wedding Planner of the Year and why Lifetime's Get Married featured her thrice! We were joined by Ms. Talking with Tami as our media guest, I think she had fun, check out her write-up.

Beautiful Lighting courtesy of Toni McDaniel of Floral Couture

Tia R. Ervin w/"Foxy" - Courtesy of Talking w/Tami

Then it was off to the event of the night, courtesy of Art of Facts PR and Myliek where client Sakiri Vodka and Renee Knorr had the opportunity to be dreamy and dapper at the 'Wedding Soiree' held at the beautiful and swanky Ventanas in Downtown Atlanta - breathtaking view of the city!  It was a book signing with authors, celebrity wedding planners Gail & Hester.  It was SO CHIC! Renee was a very gorgeous Bride and her beautiful spirit was the icing on the cake!  Sakiri Vodka was the exclusive Vodka for the evening that had 3 bars - 2 downstairs (one rooftop) and one upstairs.  Myleik, GREAT JOB!

Model, Renee Knorr & Tamika (T.Morrison Agency CEO)

Beautiful Spring-like night on the rooftop at Ventanas-ATL

Renee Knorr, Gorgeous Bride @ "Wedding Soiree"

And then there goes that beat!  The fire bell rang n the form of my vibrating Blackberry way too many times and (oh so very loudly)! Then and I was in PR 'damage control' mode and OFF as I dashed from the fab soiree like Cinderella to rescue a client in need.  A. Day. In the Life.....Of....P....R.... Love it!

Trying Not to Run on Empty While Serving the Globe

Monday's have a way of 'tricking' me.  I was able to schedule a block of time for me and a client to be strategic, plan and predict the possible outcomes of a major PR opportunity with a national outlet.  We were at one of my favorite places - drinking coffee, reading through magazines and looking at trends.  I love that kind of stuff! Once we were about 2 hours in and my phone was mysteriously quiet - I knew I had reason to be concerned.  Thing is, the problem didn't immediately reveal itself.  Nope, it waited to hit me today at 3:30am!

Up until that point, I felt pretty accomplished - I had tons to do (that's normal), but it all felt manageable...or so I always think.  Then I checked my BB (Blackberry) and realized two press releases I sent over had way too many grammactical errors, so up I go to my laptop....no biggie...it's ONLY 3:30am...right? Well, that was just the beginning!

I did go back to sleep after putting in 2 hours and was awakened by a reporter calling to track my client down facing a slight PR crisis and from that point on, it was meeting, after meeting, after meeting, after meeting, that my head almost started spinning because literally with each new meeting I was speaking weddings, style, fashion and golf, contracts, press releases, media relation updates and scheduling more meetings, sending over proposals and contracts, and.....you get my point!  Wooo Sah!  I do love what I do though.  I am grateful brands and clients trust me to lead the way to putting them in front of their audiences. My clients are passionate about their gifts and talents and I am passionate about their gifts and talents too and feel very privileged to be chosen to work alongside them in the greatness being created.  I just have to remember, I'm no good to them if I don't take time to fill my own tank. Even in the midst of deadlines and meetings, there has to be reflection time to realize how blessed I am to live my dream doing what I was born to do, inhaling and exhaling of the beauty around me and a pause to get my thoughts together so I'm the best ME on the J-O-B!

In the spirit of taking a moment to reflect, here's some great news coming from Renee Knorr, Fashion & Beauty expert who serves as the Fashion & Beauty director for the ultra-mod 19th Hole Magazine as they prepare for their "Colours of Golf Global Model Search"!  Pass the word!

It's called "Synergy"

Synergy - in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.  Read it again and allow it to sink in...


I'm realizing when things happen effortlessly without coercion, long, drawn out conversations and unnecessary negotiations it is DIVINELY orchestrated or synergistic.  That's what life has been like at T.MORRISON Agency since our re-launch in January and boy, does it feel like cloud 9!
It also pays to properly utilize resources and relationships!  As a publicist that eats, sleeps and breathes PR, I learn more and more each day about relationships, resources and the powerful tool of connecting - that's one of the major components of success!


Because of the above, a woman I had the privilege of working with also happens to blog for Essence.com.  I know what her interests are and it just so happen that parenting expert and T.MORRISON Agency client, Dr. Bisa was a perfect fit, so we're looking forward to having Dr. Bisa's Q&A featured soon!


Also, we're gearing up for some exciting events and began our media relations campaign on a couple of them and started getting calls back from media outlets - I'm working on securing a TV feature for the client. I'm telling you, THIS is what I live for and on the flip-side, I had to reach out to a media outlet interested in a client's PR crisis and I'm telling you, wisdom is of the essence here!  Learning quite a lot on this side of the PR-coin!


So then it was off to some 'synergistic' connections with my newly hired business consultant with a specialty in IP (Intellectual Property) law and man, did she SCHOOL ME! *thanking God & Angels now!* on how to strategically move forward protecting all my assets to continue my win/win. This woman has IT!  We were meeting at a cute lounge called the Cupcake Lounge in Grant Park (pics below), the atmosphere is sexy and the Red Velvet cupcakes - OMG, I must have DIED and went to angel cake heaven, seriously!  Taj is sweet and treated us very well!

Today, was another day of effortless synergy from a powerful meeting with Producer, Ashia & Host, October Rose at Friday Girl TV to exchange and brainstorm over great ideas with all of our clients to digging into the voicemails with callbacks. Giving praises and honor to WHOM it all belongs to!  I am truly living life like it's golden and it feels wonderful to grow with tastemakers with a purpose and an understanding of how to bring great energy and passion to the table that naturally creates SYNERGY!

Making the "Love Day" Count

Today was an exceptional day, not to mention, it was Valentine's Day!  It was definitely a day of great celebrations and I had the pleasure of staring it off with breakfast at J. Christopher's in Vinings with a client facing a PR crisis situation and his attorney.  I am having fun figuring this media maze out and trying to 'outsmart' the cat! (smdh at the media on this one!)

Then it was off to the studios of CW 69's 'Focus Atlanta' a local program that focuses on the local taste-makers that makes Atlantans proud.  Parenting Expert, Dr. Bisa was the special guest to talk about the 2nd edition of her national credited preschool curriculum, WINGS.  Host, Keisha Lancelin seemed to be taken in by the interesting information Dr. Bisa had to offer about the early learning stages of kids birth - 5 and the importance of parents honing in on those skills that will ultimately set their child up to be successes in the classroom and with their peers.  The segment will air February 27, 2011 on CW69 (channel 10 in Atlanta) at Noon. A very engaging and hot topic of the moment - especially with Tiger Mom and all. I loved all the excitement - LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Then we ended the day with a special client/friend lunch at Papadeaux mmmmm, mmmmmm good!  Dr. Bisa and I both had the scrumptious Louisiana Seafood Gumbo and I had fried oysters. What a treat!

Today was definitely a day of celebrating collaborative work - I love what I do! #PR! #PR! #PR!

The day ended in several follow-up phone calls to my assistant, other clients and now, it's on to the next episode of what's sure to be equally exciting for us! We got that #T.MORRISON Agency #Swag!

We wish all clients: Colorblind International, Ming Gregory, Imagery Films, Fashion & Beauty Expert, Renee Knorr, TANKOH, Dr. Bisa, Royal Cosmetic Surgery, Sakiri Vodka and those yet to come, (you know who you are!!) a very HAPPY Valentine's Day!

T.MORRISON Agency On the Media Scene for the Chinese New Year with client Sakiri Vodka

T.MORRISON Agency had a great time representing client, Sath Nop/SAKIRI Vodka at the 19th Hole Magazine Chinese New Year Fusion19 Event where the New Times Culture Center/Shen Yun Performing Arts Center was the benefit of the evening.  Other clients in attendance were: Renee Knorr, Fashion & Beauty Director of the 19th Hole Magazine, Royal Cosmetic Surgery, and POSH Boutique. Special thanks to It's Arkeedah, Friday Girl TV, 411 The Show & Haute Travels for covering the event for our clients!

It was truly a great start to the new year of the RABBIT!  More pictures of the event can be viewed here: http://atlanta.metromix.com/events/essay_photo_gallery/chinese-new-year-2011/2439417/content

Tiger Tales – A Lesson in Crisis PR

Tiger Tales – A Lesson in Crisis PR

February 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment

by Tamika Morrison

Tiger Woods emerged from obscurity on Friday, February 19th at 11am ET to finally deliver a statement about his allegations of infidelity. For three months he allowed the media and his 10+ mistresses to speculate, assume, and address us, the public – the mogul brand that he was and the disintegrating PR mess that he’s become. Many a publicist wondered where in the hell was his PR team when he needed them?

The Tiger Woods PR story is a lesson in PR crisis management because it was a disaster from the start. How in all of Hades can an athlete like Tiger Woods logically explain how he crashed his luxury car into a tree in his own neighborhood, traveling at less than 30mph at 2:30am if he’s not drunk, fighting or running for his life? Let’s examine a few of these bloopers.

Unfortunately for Tiger, Hades can’t help him on this one. It’s obvious from the looks and sounds of things, there’s more going on than meets the eye (note: the details of the accident scene, the 911 call, the cancelled appointments with the Florida Highway Patrol, etc.) Tiger’s PR team let too much time pass before issuing a real statement. In fact, we’re technically still waiting on one to be released. This is lesson #1 – act quickly. It seems as if his lawyer has been acting as his publicist with all the silence going on. Attorneys will tell you to keep quiet or else incriminate yourself. But in this case, that wasn’t the right approach. I’m not here to ‘knock’ his PR people when they’re already down,  it’s not like PR pros go around asking for crisis situations to manage. But when a crisis arise, there’s no time to waste. Kevin Sullivan a PR veteran and ex-White House Communications director under former-President George W. Bush says it very plainly, “Tell it first, tell it yourself and tell it all. That is the tried and true formula for handling a messy public relations crisis in the smoothest possible way.”

Well as it turned out, there was nothing smooth about this mess. Before it was all said and done, there were 10 mistresses and counting that came forth with stories of scandal and infidelity. Even saying that, I’m not sure it would have been easy for Tiger to tell it all, but he should have told it first and in a timely manner. Being timely minimizes the rumor-mill from spinning out-of-control with allegations that make it harder to counter the truth. Who’s to say these 10+ women are really telling the truth, from the facts of the situation only two women seem to have credible stories. Again, if a timely message addressing the media was issued on the grounds of his infidelity, maybe things could have gone a little smoother?

In a Crisis situation you have to be quick and nimble, two elements the Woods PR team failed at terribly. A statement addressing his condition should have been released with thanks to his fans for the care and concern, he should have strategically planned a meeting with the Florida Highway Patrol (all the cancellations made things worse) and issued a gag order until his PR team had enough time to address the salacious matter, but not too long. It’s easy to say what should have been done when you’re not the one dealing with it, but I believe Tiger’s PR crisis is a textbook case to examine and learn from. In crisis, you must act quickly, logically and in a manner that keeps the brand intact.

Only time will tell the final outcome of this “Tale of the Tiger” and whether his marriage and image can be saved. He’s not only a text book case for PR pros, but a grave example to the rich and powerful that they too are subject to the laws of the land just as everyone else. As we say, “What’s done in the dark will come to the light.”

A very difficult situation for Tiger and his brand indeed.

The PR Saga: Featuring Chris Brown & Rhianna

As a publicist, I often wonder about my fellow publicists – specifically Chris & Rhianna's publicists as they try to figure out how to manage this crisis PR situation. I can only imagine it's daunting at best, but a statement of "She's doing well, thanks for asking" is not really saying anything.

The media is now saying they are back together, that she is pregnant, that Chris really doesn't want her, that she's 'head-over-hills in love' ...blah, blah, blah....can we get some real truth from the sources? I'm just saying...

The public wants to know what's really going on – hey, they are in the PUBLIC'S EYE and LOVE the attention when it's making them lots of money. I say, since you're profiting on my attention when it works for you, then I at least need a decent answer as to what's going on.

Not only that, here's a chance to really shine in the face of tremendous adversity as a publicist. Some things I would do are:

• Seek out an "exclusive" with a few trusted sources in print, TV or radio
  
• Put out an official blog and let the fans know that you know they are concerned omitting twitter and Facebook as sources
  
• Have an answer for media speculation - quickly
  
• Make some phone calls to organizations, businesses, etc. and work to partner by being a voice of reason, an advocate, etc. to soften the blow
  
• Last but not least, keep it moving the best way you can with your head held high
  

When you're in the public eye, it's hard to deal with a private situation publicly, let alone in actual privacy when no one seems to understand you need time and space to come to grips with things.

Nonetheless, they are someone's clients, but they are also people.

Fellow publicists, what do you think? How would you handle such a crisis?