10 Amazing Women Leaders to Watch 2022
The Silicon Review
Nicole Rodrigues, CEO and Founder of NRPR Group, Inc, is a Fierce Woman Leader, Carving a Niche
“I set out on a mission to elevate how public relations is done in the modern era, without throwing out the central ideas of what made PR so powerful for businesses in the past.”
Nicole Rodrigues is a recognized public relations expert, digital and social media marketing pro with over 21 years of experience under her belt. In her tenure, she has developed and successfully executed strategic campaigns for some of the biggest names in business, including Yahoo!, Dolby, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony PlayStation, Hulu, M-GO, Toon Hero, Demand Media, Heal, MOBITV, and the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders.
NRPR Group is an award-winning, exclusive public relations and marketing machine serving game changers and disruptors around the world. It’s based in Beverly Hills, CA.
In 2017, Nicole launched NRPR Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program: Make It Happen, which blossomed into her second venture — Young Dreamers Foundation. Young Dreamers is Nicole’s answer to the next generation in need of positive role models they can admire (industry leaders, celebrities, athletes, etc.) and the tools necessary to help them move forward through any of life’s ups and downs. Her goal is to help foster a community of emotionally intelligent young leaders who will spark a positive ripple effect as they enter the professional world.
Nicole has repeatedly been celebrated as an innovative leader in her industry, most recently as a Stevie Award winner for Communications, Investor Relations, or PR Executive of the Year. She was also awarded PR Daily’s ‘PR Professional of the Year’ Award (2019), Bulldog Reporter’s ‘Stars of PR — PR Professional Who Makes a Difference’ Award (2018), a Gold Award for ‘Public or Media Relations Professional of the Year’ in Bulldog Reporter's ‘Stars of PR,’ and PR News’ Top 50 Game Changers in Public Relations (2017). These awards are confirmation of her mission to meaningfully disrupt how public relations is done in the modern era.
Nicole is also the author of ‘Beverly Hills Boss,’ a business and life skills book aimed at helping others, like herself, who dream of leading despite any humble beginnings or obstacles.
The Silicon Review reached out to Nicole Rodrigues for her comments about how she plans to take NRPR Group to greater heights. Below is an excerpt.
“When I founded NRPR in 2014, I did so to fill a void in the industry that wasn't being addressed and to meaningfully disrupt the industry I love so dearly — in both practice and representation. I had a promising position at my previous company but I wasn't satisfied with just doing PR the way it's been done for years. Rather, I wanted to contribute my 14 years of insight, combining a traditional PR perspective with a newfound understanding of the emerging digital trends that were quickly reshaping the industry into a new set of practices that could keep up with the ever-changing media landscape. I set out on a mission to elevate how public relations is conducted, without throwing out the central ideas of what made PR so powerful for businesses in the past.”
“I started the company to become the cornerstone for a new standard of practice: a firm that embodies the best of the tradition and adapts to the times to give clients more than surface-level PR success.”
When asked about who inspired her to be ‘An Amazing Woman Leader,’ Ms. Rodrigues passionately spoke about her mother.
“I look up to my mother. She was my first mentor and to this day, she remains a huge source of inspiration. She raised six of us alone yet never wavered in her fierce work ethic or determination to thrive. She never let being a mother stand in the way of pushing for what she wanted. She’s been a business owner since I was a young girl, and she passed her enthusiasm and positivity to me. Seeing her ability to conquer her career goals, while raising a family all on her own instilled a work ethic and determination in me to start my own company from scratch while never compromising on my motherhood and commitment to raising my now college-aged daughter.”
Strategic Prowess Stimulates Client Retention Rate
The PR industry is evolving due to technology, economics, and new media. Due to changes in media habits and media companies facing strained resources, journalists are forced to juggle coverage beats; and many must submit 10 stories per week while hunting down their information. They also need to promote their content on personal social media pages, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They are drawn to Clubhouse and TikTok as information sources and to build their brands and audiences. PR pros must follow media contacts and may reach out to journalists through DMs, comments, etc. Everyone is looking to create the next Clubhouse, TikTok or Snapchat. Savvy PR pros must keep an eye out for what’s next and how best to use the new media.
While the PR industry will continue to evolve and NRPR Group will move with it, there is no replacement for the power of PR — storytelling, human understanding, and genuine relationships.
NRPR Group is not a social media agency per se, but it certainly understands how social media platforms work and executes relevant plans to use these platforms to drive more eyeballs to its secured coverage to meet client expectations. With that said, it added NRPR Business Productions (Biz Pro™) to help start-ups create the necessary foundational blocks needed to be taken seriously as a business.
“At NRPR, we work hard to build and maintain the trust of clients and media based on adherence to our core values. This includes integrity, commitment, transparency, and ethical behavior. Our tagline at NRPR Group is ‘committed to publicity, powered by purpose.’ Our clients understand that our primary purpose is to develop messaging that accurately conveys their story, will resonate with influencers and will result in positive publicity.”
“Importantly, we never take shortcuts and will always go the extra mile in everything we do, which is evident in our high-quality output and the results we deliver. Our purpose and core values must align with our clients’ vision. Once we sign a new client, we become an extension of their internal marketing and sales teams. We build their trust by listening closely to their needs, taking that understanding to work with relevant media and garner valuable coverage — often exceeding agreed-upon business goals.”
NRPR serves a diverse array of trailblazing businesses from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies within the consumer tech, FinTech, HealthTech, sports, entertainment, enterprise software, mobile, and consumer products industries. The NRPR team consists of storytellers, strategists, writers, and PR professionals who go beyond the standard practices of traditional public relations.
“We work closely with clients to better understand how they’re disrupting their respective industries and we inherit that passion to be able to communicate their story. We strengthen our clients on media relations, hone in on areas of thought leadership, and strategically build their messaging to position their brand as a champion in their field. We at NRPR have increased our service portfolio with new divisions that expand the scope of what's possible with PR to meet additional client needs.”
Moreover, NRPR Productions, located at NRPR’s headquarters in Beverly Hills, specializes in the creation of branded content, commercials, corporate videos, and YouTube series. As noted above, NRPR Business Pro (Biz Pro™) offers clients full concept-to-opening launch support, ranging from legal entity creation to brand identity and design. NRPR is the only PR firm to close this gap between business development and brand positioning.
“NRPR is a top workplace because I created a challenging, empowering, and fun organization where staff, clients, and media are satisfied in a constant, synergetic reinforcing feedback loop. It’s vital that team members are happy and motivated to keep improving their skills and understanding of how PR works, which as I mentioned before, is a constantly evolving industry.”