Emma Gardner decided to set up her own agency, Aubergine, alongside PR veteran Verity Clarke in 2018, after spending eight years working as a regional and national television journalist, and several years working in PR agencies. This combined experience means she’s clocked up 20 years working in the media and PR.
The team specialises in food, tech, health and sustainability with clients including Glorious Soups, Hilltop Honey, WWF, Save the Children, London Food Tech Week and Organic September.
Aubergine was listed in Prolific North’s Top 8 Agencies to Watch for 2023.
Here, Emma shares her career history as well as hints and tips for getting into the industry…
How did you first get into your industry?
It’s a long story as I didn’t take the traditional role into PR via a PR degree then graduate role at a PR agency. My degree was in History as I love writing, then I did an MA in Television Journalism before securing freelance work at BBC local radio.
After a couple of years I then secured a high profile producing and presenting role at ABC News television in Australia, where I presented news bulletins to a national audience. I then moved to London where I worked as a freelance producer for the likes of Channel 4 News, BBC World News, BBC Radio 5Live (before it moved to Manchester) and ITV News.
I moved to the north in 2013 where I worked in the world of television documentary making, producing and shooting films for BBC’s The One Show and Inside Out with the current affairs team in Manchester. The following year, I decided to pursue a career in PR as I was looking for something that was a little more stable with slightly better working hours.
Due to my broad experience in journalism, I was lucky to secure a senior role straight away as head of content at a Leeds PR agency – and that’s where my career in PR began.
What do you love about your job?
I absolutely love the creativity of PR and having been a journalist, I really enjoy coming up with campaign ideas for our clients that I know will resonate with journalists. I also love writing and bringing my “nose for news” to any piece – whether it’s a press release, thought leadership article or blog.
One of the best things about being co-founder and director at Aubergine is working alongside my best friend. I met Verity Clarke while working as a freelance PR a few years back and it soon became clear we had really complimentary skills which really lended themselves to setting up our own agency.
We’re lucky enough to be able to choose clients that we feel a personal passion for – which is why we focus on the food, tech, health and sustainability space. We also work with a senior team of freelancers so we’re able to handpick a bespoke team for each client – meaning we can really bring unique high level expertise to any brief we’re given.
Who, or what, has inspired you in your career?
With a journalism and PR career that’s spanned 20 years so far, I’ve found a lot of inspiration from various people! My first inspiration was back in my first full time role when I was appointed breakfast news reader. He was my news editor, Daniel Bruce, and as a 22 year old just starting out and very nervous on the radio, he was incredibly patient with me – he gave me lots of training which led to me being a very confident presenter and journalist.
At Channel 4 News, I was lucky enough to work alongside some of the best journalists and newsreaders in the country, which served as a dose of daily inspiration to me. I learned so much and was really kept on my toes – it was a high pressure environment but without a doubt that it was here I really flourished as a journalist. I used to sit next to Jon Snow and type up his daily “Snow Blog” – you can’t get more inspirational than that!
My other big inspiration has of course been my business partner Verity. I’m always amazed at her tenacity and ability to win new business – not to mention her natural skills when it comes to managing clients and developing incredible PR strategies. We’re a match made in PR heaven!
What are the biggest challenges about your job?
I started my career in journalism in 2005 which was the year after Facebook was founded, so I’ve seen a huge amount of change in both the worlds of journalism and PR over the years. I think the way we get access to news, and how that’s changed so much, has been the biggest challenge to contend with.
When I started in local radio, we relied on press releases and emails from the public to get out news – as well as tip offs from local influential people. But then user generated content became huge and I remember relying heavily on Twitter while reporting on the Arab Spring for ABC News Australia and then using YouTube videos to help me edit packages for Channel 4 News.
Fast forward a few years and in the world of PR, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a huge force to be reckoned with. We know journalists are often “spammed” with content generated by AI – but we are trying to flip this on its head and see it as an opportunity. By crafting well-written journalist-driven content that has clear strategy behind it, we are managing to cut through the noise and get noticed in the inboxes of journalists.
What skills have been the most crucial to you succeeding in your career so far?
Without a doubt, I think my long career in journalism has really set me apart from other PR professionals – I have a unique behind the scenes knowledge of how busy national newsrooms work as well as a natural ability to spot a story a mile off. If a story isn’t quite working, these journalism skills also help me “spin” things to give a new fresh angle – which then, nine times out of 10, helps us get stories over the line. I’m really proud of the amount of coverage we’re able to secure for our clients.
I also think my journalism skills, coupled with Verity’s in-depth PR knowledge, help us convert new business prospects into long-term clients as there’s a real element of trust there in terms of our knowledge and expertise.
What education or training would be most useful for someone looking to follow your career path?
Before setting up Aubergine and while I was freelancing at PR agencies across Leeds, I also worked as a part time lecturer in both journalism and PR at Leeds Beckett university. I’ve seen most of those students I taught go on to secure brilliant roles at newspapers, television and radio stations as well as securing in-house PR roles or at PR agencies.
With this in mind, I think there are two ways into PR – you can either go the traditional route, which is a PR degree followed by work experience at an agency, before securing a role in the industry. Or, you can work in journalism first and then perhaps move into PR later on in life, as I did.
What advice would you have for someone looking to follow your path?
I would say that if you love writing and you’re interested in the news then you have the potential to develop a successful career in PR.
Try and absorb yourself in all the different ways there are to consume the news – as well as social media, remembering to familiarise yourself with more traditional media outlets, both digital and print. Each media outlet has a different audience and tone of voice and it’s important to tailor your media communications so that they have the best chance of success.
It’s all too easy to write and send out a “one size fits all” media release, but this is a mistake. With journalists receiving thousands of emails a day from PRs, and I know because I’ve been there, you only really have one chance to grab them. Make sure your story has the “wow” factor with a subject line that turns heads and a top line that makes them want to read on.
