Sometimes it’s love at first sight. When Janna Meyrowitz interned at a fitness magazine one summer during college, she fell hard for public relations. That simple spark inspired Meyrowitz to found Style House PR.
Meyrowitz says the thing that’s all too often forgotten in public relations is the human aspect. That’s why she and her agency focus on fostering deep connections with clients.
The WeWork FiDi member dishes on how she chose to expand her business while embodying, in true WeWork fashion, doing what she loves.
WeWork: When did you realize public relations was something you wanted to do?
Meyrowitz: I majored in American Studies and Journalism at Brandeis University, a liberal arts school in the greater Boston area. I didn’t know what PR was until I had an internship at the now-defunct Fitness magazine in New York City. I was a general editorial intern and I fielded and sorted a lot of the incoming PR materials, from standard health and wellness press releases to beauty product samples.
Being on the editorial side, I saw good and bad pitches come in, and I knew immediately that I’d be great at being on the other side. When I returned to Brandeis for my senior year I secured an internship at a PR firm on Newbury Street in Boston, and the rest is history.
WeWork: What was your initial vision for Style House PR?
Meyrowitz: My initial vision for Style House PR was to create a mutually enjoyable and exciting way for two companies to work together. Before going out on my own, I started to feel that brands saw PR as a necessary evil, like something they had to have, but it often wasn’t a positive relationship. That didn’t make any sense to me, especially in lifestyle PR, where we are clearly not saving lives.
WeWork: What challenges did you face in creating Style House PR? How do you keep yourself from burning out?
Meyrowitz: Thankfully I haven’t faced too many challenges. Over the years I have learned more about what kinds of clients make sense for us and which ones don’t, as well as when it’s ideal to start PR in the course of a new business. I also learned how to best manage client expectations for PR, which is, at times, a service that can be difficult to quantify. This is getting a lot easier with more content and commerce going digital.
WeWork: What is the most important part of branding? Any advice for new companies?
Meyrowitz: Everything you do or say is part of your own personal brand, so you need to be authentic. When you are starting your company, it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out who you want to be and what your voice should be like. It will make everything easier. So the short answer is: be yourself.
WeWork: How long have you been with WeWork and what has your experience been like here?
Meyrowitz: We moved to WeWork on June 1 at FiDi. I’ve always been someone who can do great work from anywhere—a coffee shop or my couch—so I love WeWork. There’s this quiet, creative energy that emanates through WeWork with this sense that everyone here is doing something cool and is enjoying their work. The slogan “Do What You Love” plastered throughout resonates so well with me.
I started my company because I love public relations and working with clients and the media—not because I necessarily wanted to deal with administrative logistics. WeWork removes the inflexibility that’s involved in a commercial office lease and really allows me to focus on what I love doing.
WeWork: So what are the next steps for Style House PR?
Meyrowitz: We have a lot of exciting things on the horizon with our clients, including a celebrity activation around the Emmy Awards later this year, Fashion Week participation, and new beauty product launches. At any given time we are in talks with a lot of people, brands, and companies that are looking for PR. Food, health, and wellness are client areas I’d like to develop, as well as kids fashion.
WeWork: What do you like to do outside of work?
Meyrowitz: I have a house in upstate New York on Copake Lake. Being in nature on a regular basis is very important, so I go there as often as I can. Since I love exercising, I rotate between Physique 57, Bikram yoga, and SoulCycle. I like hard workouts.
A couple years ago I really got into audio books on Audible and for the first time in a very long time, I’m reading books again on a regular basis. I also love seeing live music, cooking, and eating with family and friends, and sometimes literally doing nothing.
Photo credit: Lauren Kallen