Independent public relations professionals Shuna Boyd of BoydPR and Christine Kardashian of Dash PR celebrate their business anniversaries today.
BoydPR and Dash PR both launched boutique public relations consultancies on April Fools Day. Today, BoydPR is commemorating a milestone 15 years in business and Dash PR has conquered three years after taking the plunge as an independent in 2008. Prior to establishing their respective businesses, Boyd was general manager at a large IT public relations firm and Kardashian had a long term role in-house with a global technology vendor before stints at agency level.
Specialising in technology public relations, Boyd’s primary expertise is in business technology and Kardashian’s in consumer and lifestyle. The pair, who are friends, describe themselves as “vertically challenged, independent public relations powerhouses”.
They have both been nominated as finalists for Best PR Professional at the IT Journalism Awards where they met in 2009. A new award category introduced that year, it is now known as the Best Media Relations award which Boyd won the following year. Boyd is also a finalist in this year’s awards, to be announced on 8 April.
Boyd said: “Fifteen years is a huge achievement for me personally and professionally. When I established BoydPR in 1996, my aim was to get back to ‘doing PR’ rather than running the business. Now I am able to execute PR strategies as well as managing my business, so I get the best of both worlds. Working as a sole practitioner offers freedom of lifestyle, more balanced working hours and I get to decide which clients to work with, so each day is fun.”
Kardashian adds: “Setting up my own business had been a long-time desire and it was just a matter of picking the right time. It has now been three years since I officially launched Dash PR and I am just as ambitious in driving the business. There have been long hours but by choice – when it is your own ‘baby’ you do it because you want to. Most importantly, flexibility is the key as it allows me to balance work and leisure.”
The companies’ anniversaries commemorate marked success over the years with highlights such as growing the profile of AVG from a little known security vendor to one of the top three most recognised security brands in Australia, as well as launching Asus’ revolutionary Eee PC and introducing the ViewSonic ViewPad media tablet to the Australian and New Zealand markets.
