Female Founders: Samantha Flynn On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Position Your Process as Your Product: There will be a sea of competition in any industry that you wade into, but no one will approach the work the way that you do. Your unique perspective shapes the way that you approach working with clients to achieve desired results. If you can clearly communicate your process, you’ll be able to find clients that operate in the same manner that you do.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Flynn, Founder of Junipr Public Relations
Samantha Flynn has nearly 15 years of experience leading strategic and executable public relations initiatives across a variety of verticals including: hospitality, travel and tourism, CPG products, food and beverage, non-profit, automotive, sustainable energy, beauty, corporate social responsibility, cannabis, beer and technology. With experience in leading large teams and working independently, Samantha graduated from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a Master of Science in Public Relations in 2009.
Junipr Public Relations is the culmination of Samantha’s career to date — created with a vision to bring strategic and meaningful support to both brand and agencies — Junipr Public Relations eliminates pain points of the communication process and delivers impactful results to clients that are both well-versed and new to the public relations process.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Public Relations was an industry that I backed to, coincidentally. When I was selecting a major in college, I knew that I wanted to focus on communications but wasn’t exactly sure which avenue of the field I was most interested in. With some great discussions with career counselors and several internships, I made the decision to obtain my advanced degree — a Master of Science in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University — immediately after completing my undergraduate studies.
From there, I moved to Chicago, as it’s a top market for PR and began my journey. Having worked for boutique PR firms, in house with global CPG brands and as the lead of the PR practice in an integrated marketing firm in the city, I was able to work on clients across industries while sharpening my skills and growing my knowledge.
This eventually led me to desiring the challenge of creating an agency — Junipr Public Relations. The firm is the tangible expression of my passionate vision of combining strategic public relations activations with stellar clients to produce meaningful work. We want to do smart work for nice people and we are confident in our ability to serve clients to meet their needs against anyone in the industry.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
The most interesting thing that has happened is that I’ve really developed a better understanding of just how expansive and supportive my network is. It has truly been so rewarding to reconnect with former classmates, colleagues, professors, vendors and employees and stay tuned into the amazing occurrences that are happening every day in the industry. When you are working with in a 9–5 grind, you miss a lot of the development and progressions that are happening in your network.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake for me is thinking that I would be working less as a business owner! I find that I am working about the same — or a little bit more — but it’s so much more rewarding because everything I do is to build my agency’s brand and reputation among clients, vendors and peers. I’ve learned that when I’m working for myself and I’m free to create my vision, it truly doesn’t feel like work but rather an investment in my future and the steps necessary to create the career path and life that I desire.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
It may sound cliché, but my parents have worked to give me every opportunity necessary to be successful in this life, so they are the first ones that I’m grateful to for my success. When it comes to my business in general, I am beyond thankful for every single woman who has encourage me and taken the time out of their schedules and lives to process questions I have, to be a sounding board for big decisions and to celebrate the big wins with me. I have many more close female mentors, colleagues and confidants than ever before and I attribute that to the warrior mentality of being in the trenches together and understanding the overall goal which is to create a better workforce for women.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
To start a business, you must be able to advocate for yourself, your boundaries, your pay and your people and it takes some time to develop your voice and be non-apologetic about running your company the way that you envision.
While workplaces have made some progress in terms of developing equitable opportunities for women, there is still a long way to go when it comes to truly creating the resources and environments for women to succeed. It has been very well-documented that women are paid less than men for the same jobs, are more often passed over for promotions and are met with disdain when discussing career advancement opportunities and raises.
Add in the fact that most women handle the majority of at home responsibilities and there becomes a perfect storm of factors that lead to Imposter Syndrome, which is very well-documented affects women more than men.
Society is still structured in a way that unintentionally discourages strong female leaders — many women in the work force never have the opportunity to engage in conversations about business ownership or assisted with resources to build their own companies. I believe the more that we see successful women founded companies, there will be a rise in the overall collective confidence of women in the workforce to be able to carve out their own paths and experience the freedom of business ownership.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
There are a lot of things that can be done by individuals, society and the government to help women succeed in the workplace and encourage them to overcome the obstacles of business ownership.
On an individual level — Encouragement. Encouragement. Encouragement. There’s a lot of power in the idea that “if you can see her, you can be her”. Many women don’t even know that they could be business owners until someone speaks into their life about the possibilities. Women business owners can share their experiences and collective knowledge with other women, including family members, friends and colleagues. Being open about experiences — the highs and the lows, as well as sharing resources is invaluable.
On a society level — workplaces across the country can be more friendly to women in general. This includes clear criteria for advancement, a willingness to pay equally and a sincere look at the unconscious and conscious biases that exist in the workplace. Too many companies still have all male leadership teams or speak negatively about women that make the same decisions that their male counterparts do when it comes to stewarding their careers.
There can also be a larger celebration of family which includes paid maternity leave (not short-term disability that many workplaces have), nursing mothers’ rooms and schedule flexibility. In the workplace men can take time off without expanding on the “why,” and many use flex time to entertain clients. However, women are often asked to explain why they are taking time off and looked at negatively if the reason is tied to a family obligation. Until the closed-door boys club practices change, it will be an uphill battle for women.
The government can continue to pass impactful Federal policy to enact meaningful change, as well as increase funding opportunities for women-owned businesses. What many people don’t realize is equity in the workplace is still in its infancy. It’s only been since President Clinton’s first term in the early 90s that employers have been required to keep a woman’s job for her during maternity leave. Women have only been able to hold credit cards on their own without a male co-signer since the 70s. To put this in perspective, these milestones have occurred during the lifespan of Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. However, the current group at the peak of their career right now determining policy is Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers — this is a major disconnect.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
More women should become founders because the more voices to contribute to the collective business and social consciousness the better. Much like in our personal lives, women should not be subject to major decisions that affect their livelihood, earning potential or ability to start a business, without having a seat at the table to advocate for themselves.
You have never seen in the history of the world, a council of women make broad, sweeping policy decisions that affect men. However, you often see councils of men make decisions for women and this inhibits women and women’s interests, whether there is the intention to or not. Because men cannot understand the lived experience of a woman, they will always fail to consider what is most important for progress. The more women that are founders the greater our ability to enact the change we wish to see on a personal, professional and societal level.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
The biggest myth about being a founder is that you must be extremely well funded and have a perfect plan to get started. I had neither of these things when I started Junipr Public Relations but what I did have was faith in myself and a willingness to try.
To be clear, you cannot be cavalier about your finances, and you must have vision and an idea of how you are going to navigate — including resource availability, rates, collateral needs etc. I often say that the flower blooms and bees are attracted to it, not the other way around. Significant funding, resources and opportunities come against what you’ve built — if you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Tenacity and flexibility are the two most important traits for being a founder. To be a founder, you must be willing to eat rejection for breakfast, because you truly reap what you sow. Every conversation may not result in immediate work but viewing networking as the groundwork for future opportunities is key. You belong in any room that you are in, but you have to be willing to stay persistent in the pursuit of getting in the room and not taking no for an answer.
Flexibility is also essential — because simply put, as a business owner, you don’t know what you don’t know. You must anticipate that there will be challenges and mistakes you didn’t even know to account for, as well as a willingness to pivot if the opportunity arises. My number one perspective I look at when taking short-term work or onboarding is: will this help me achieve my long-term goals? And in the case that it doesn’t, I don’t take the work, even if it pays well. You must be willing to sacrifice the short-term for the long term.
I do not think everyone is cut out to be a founder. Many people like established process and a moderate amount of responsibility. Taking the founder route is challenging because at the end of the day you are the one solely responsible for every aspect of your professional life and truly, it is not for everyone.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Position Your Process as Your Product: There will be a sea of competition in any industry that you wade into, but no one will approach the work the way that you do. Your unique perspective shapes the way that you approach working with clients to achieve desired results. If you can clearly communicate your process, you’ll be able to find clients that operate in the same manner that you do.
- Strong Boundaries: One of the best parts of being a business owner is the ability to control your working experience including your services offered, rates, hours worked, clients and employees. As a business owner, it’s easy to always be working. Sitting down to carve out clear boundaries regarding schedule, finances and work policies is essential. While there may be a rare instance in which you may take a smaller job or work a weekend, if you do not respect your boundaries, no one will. Additionally, respect of your communicated boundaries is a great litmus test when evaluating partners.
- Tenacity: Being a founder, you are a jack of all trades — at least at the beginning. This requires a tenacity to lean into the things you don’t know and can learn, as well as the ability to identify resources that can help you in areas that might be too complex. You must be hungry to track down new business and welcome all the rejection that comes. You must be tenacious and wiling to eat rejection for breakfast to be successful. I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to the taste of rejection or a missed opportunity, but I don’t let it break my stride and can quickly apply learnings to navigate for the future.
- Use Your Voice: Being a founder — you are your own advocate. Full stop. There is no one else that shares in the responsibility of your business or your livelihood. Therefore, you must be comfortable using your voice to get what you want and deserve. Many times, women apologize for small things that they are not responsible for: a rescheduled meeting, a change in client direction or for following up on the status of a late payment, while they let the major things — rates, responsibilities, and contract terms — slide. You must be able to advocate for yourself not just with clients but with vendors as well. If you aren’t getting the level of service necessary from your accountant, IT rep, production vendor or others, you must be willing to engage in these conversations unapologetically to ensure professional. At the end of the day, you cannot pass off the responsibility of any part of your business to anyone else, so you must be willing and able to use your voice to ensure your business is as you envision it to be.
- Confidence: Many women struggle with confidence resulting in a decreased ability to charge their worth, honor their boundaries and displease others. The key to battling imposter syndrome is confidence and the good news is that confidence is something that can be learned and fostered through intention. Simply put, it’s impossible to be a founder of a business and please everyone — if you were able to do that, you would not be running your own business. I am fully aware that I am not always the cheapest and that my work process does not always align with potential clients. I am also aware that because I’m a woman, the work force has much stronger reaction of displeasure when I refuse to roll over and accept work with conditions that are not favorable to me. I’m able to manifest peace in these decisions as I am confident in the future I envision for myself and this confidence is regularly confirmed as I continue to grow my roster of clients that are happy to pay my rate and honor my boundaries. We cannot do our best work if we do not cultivate the best conditions for ourselves. Having confidence to let go what isn’t for you is a game changer.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I choose to work with people — employees, clients and vendors that share my heart for an equitable future and I am not afraid to end a client relationship if this is misaligned. As a founder, sometimes you are caught in determining if the financial component outweighs the misalignment and I have not compromised on my values or ethics in this role.
I donate 10% of my gross profits to various organizations that are close to my heart and further the mission of an equitable future.
I have also carved out time to connect with those at all levels of the entrepreneurial journey to share and absorb wisdom.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would love to inspire a movement that truly advocates for the intersectional concerns of women in the workplace. One woman at the table is not enough and it’s actually a disservice to women, as it positions them as the scape goat and person that is responsible for advocating and educating men which does not put them in a favorable position. I’d love a movement that holds companies accountable and shows true representation at every level, long term without a fear of changing the status quo.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have a conversation with Dana Massie and Tony Khan of All Elite Wrestling. I’ve been following the company since its inception and am so impressed by their ability to truly create a superior product that has everyone excited, while also living out shared values of kindness, diversity, equity and inclusion. Dana has done an amazing job of marketing since before the company even existed and is redefining what the fan experience looks like, while Tony Khan is setting the standard for this generation of employers, rooted in enthusiasm, knowledge and a people-first approach.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Samantha Flynn On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.