Meet Genevieve Haines | Communications Agency Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Genevieve Haines and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Genevieve, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Teamwork, 100 percent. Through my communications firm I partner with creative directors, graphic designers and other specialists. I also partner with my clients. With creative projects there are lots of competing voices and ideas, and often you can’t find solutions without listening deeply to the experts and the clients. Asking lots of questions throughout the creative process maximizes the value of the talent and expertise each person brings to the project. That’s the real value of teamwork.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
How do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?

Early in my career I was thinking about quitting and taking a different job, but I was worried about the risk. Someone told me, “I’d be more worried if you didn’t have the confidence to quit!” That turned my perspective around. Settling for something out of fear is a choice as well. That’s the mentality I try to bring to questions about risk in my work and life now.

Where are you from and how did your background and upbringing impact who you are today?

I grew up in a small town in Washington but in college I interned at the White House. I was in Presidential Email, which was a brand new department. That early introduction put me on the path to working at the intersection of communications and technology. They say things change completely every 8-10 years and if you can sense when the change is coming, you can get ahead. That certainly was true with the internet. The trick is recognizing the next one – probably artificial intelligence!

What value or principle matters most to you? Why?

Be trustworthy. I want people to know that if I say I’m going to do something, I’ll do it. And that creative partners can know that I have their backs. I’m not perfect, but I do strive for that.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

My first job was at a big agency. The office manager called me late on a Friday night to ask me to check on something in the building. I asked her why she called me and she said, “You’re usually there.” For me it made sense to work long hours right out of school to learn the business. Once I was more established and my daughter was born, I made room for more work-life balance. When I started my company, it was back to long hours.

What’s the end goal? Where do you want to be professionally by the end of your career?

I work with people I admire in a creative field that’s constantly changing. I’d love to keep doing that for the rest of my life. It would be great to continue giving back to the community as well. I volunteer with Aviva Family & Children’s Services and helped them open new transitional housing for women and their young children experiencing homelessness. There’s no better feeling than that.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

I’d describe my work as creative problem solving. The problem might be something big – a crisis or a question like “How do we help clients market themselves?” – or something small, like which social media scheduling tool to use. I’m lucky to put creative problem-solving skills to work for clients. Since most of my clients are organizations making the world a better place, that makes the work meaningful.

Tell us about a book you read and why you like it/what impact it had on you.

“Getting to Yes” by Fisher and Ury is a classic for their negotiating strategies. In the creative process, working toward win-win solutions helps with buy-in. If people don’t feel like they’ve been heard, a great idea can end up killed or quietly shoved into the back of a desk drawer. But giving in on every point will result in watered-down creative – all compromise and no meaning. Negotiation can help with buy-in and mean the difference between the success or failure of a campaign.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love eating, so most of my tour would be about food. We’d start with dinner at my favorite place in the city – Redbird in downtown Los Angeles. Since it is in a former cathedral, the environment is breath-taking, and the food and service are unparalleled. There’s amazing live theater in the city, so after dinner we’d go to Dynasty Typewriter next to MacArthur Park for comedy or Upright Citizens Brigade in Hollywood for improv. In the morning, we’d have an informal but decadent breakfast like pastries at Doubting Thomas or Maison Matho.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I worked at an amazing public relations agency right out of college, focusing on environmental and public health campaigns, and some fun stuff like Kellogg. I even got to place Spider-Man Pop-Tarts on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”! The agency was the greatest apprenticeship imaginable. I encourage anyone who wants to go into communications and marketing to go to an agency first. I wouldn’t have been able to start my own communications consultancy without my colleagues and mentors at the agency teaching me the trade.

Website: www.hainesco.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genhaines/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevievehaines/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GenevieveHaines