Meet John Panichella | Digital Media Specialist (Publicist, Talent Management, Editor)

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

Hi John, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I believe having a health work life balance is the key to having a thriving career and also mental clarity in your personal life. However, I think it takes time to get to the place where they can be balance. For me, I spent the early years of my career focusing on nothing but my work. In high school, I was able to create a blog that generated north of a million impressions each month while remaining a straight A student. This, however, would not have been possible without a lot of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice. I had to choose to allocate my time between friends/family, school work, and my blog. Out of those three, I chose to spend most of my time on my blog. School came easily to me, and I had a very small circle of friends. I was okay with that though because I knew I was building my foundation.

Now, after building that foundation over 12 years ago, I am situated at a place where I am able to have a much healthier work life balance. I only answer emails and calls during my work hours, I will absolutely take the day off if I need to clear my head or am just not feeling great, and weekends are my time. By creating this boundaries, I’ve actually been able to increase my work output and efficiency and am more excited than ever to grow my business and explore new opportunities. Currently, I manage a roster of anywhere between 10-15 PR clients a month, mange a recording artist, and lend my creative ability and insight to other companies, all while having a great relationship with my family and friends, and taking enough time for myself.

I love to work, and if you do too, that is great. But I’ve come to realize that some of my best ideas come to me when I am taking time for myself. I would encourage everyone to at least try to take sometime to quiet your mind, block out the noise, and just spend time doing whatever you want, whether that is meditating, reading a book, going for a walk, exercising, or just doing nothing at all. Sometimes you don’t even realize how much your mind and body need that time to decompress and just be. And who knows, maybe you’ll come up with your next big idea in that time as well.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have a difficult time classifying myself sometimes. I am an entrepreneur because I run a successful PR agency. I am a talent manager because I manage a recording artist named Dylan Bernard and in total his music has been streamed nearly 15 million times. I am a creative because all of this stemmed from my passion to write and create content. which led to me creating a blog that received millions of impressions. I am an employee because I have worked for companies like J-14, TWIST, and M where I built out a West Coast presence for these brands, and interviewed countless celebrities.

I guess, what I am getting at, is that the biggest lesson I’ve learned along the way is that you should never put yourself in a box. To this day, there are people that are confused by what I do, or people that think I should focus on one thing or another. They are wrong. For me and my story, I am doing exactly what I am meant to do. I am working on countless projects and I am extremely grateful that I get to work on what I love and wake up and go to sleep happy and fulfilled.

None of this has been easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spots in the city? I haven’t left my apartment since COVID started haha!

In all seriousness, there are a few spots in the city that I love to bring friends to. Porto’s in Burbank, CA is a must. It is a Cuban bakery that has some of my favorite food in the city. Everything is delicious. My go to order here is their chicken plate, which comes with grilled chicken breast, white rice, black beans, and platanos maduros. Of course, you have to try some of their pastries like a guava and cheese strudel or a chocolate croissant.

I think my favorite dish in LA though, is the Chinese Chicken Salad from Joan’s on Third. There is just something special about that salad and ever since my friend introduced me to it, I get it every time.

As far as places to hang out, I’m much more of a game night kind of guy, but there are always some really nice outdoor hang out areas. Going shopping on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and Sherman Oaks is always fun, of course there is the Grove and the Americana, and in NoHo there are always a ton of awesome food trucks to check out in the arts district!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who deserve credit in my story, but I could not and would not be here without the support of my parents. My parents sacrificed everything to give me a life that they did not have and they succeeded in doing so. As a kid, it went unnoticed, and now, as an adult, I cannot even begin to fathom the amount of time, work, energy, and love that they poured into me.

My parents have proven time and time again that they are resilient, passionate, and true examples of what it means to be self-made. They defied countless odds stacked against them and created a life for themselves that was not handed to them. Watching them taught me everything I know about being strong, about having will power, and most importantly, that I too could accomplish anything I set out to achieve. I was a kid with big dreams, but they never let me dreams feel too big, and they always made them seem like a possibility. That is something I am forever grateful for, and carry with me to this day.

Website: www.johnpanichella.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/johnpanichella

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-panichella-bb65ab11a/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnpanichella