In Black America; The Terrie Williams Agency

A From the Longhorn Radio Network, the University of Texas at Austin, this is In Black America. So first of all, I believe that it's my calling to practice public relations. It was a very easy transition for me.

I just decided that it was something that I needed to do. I wanted to make this career change. The social work profession was very draining and the other fact is that there is not a lot of money in social work and I decided that I wanted to make a lot of money in this lifetime as much as I could, as legally as I could, and it wasn't going to be in social work. I just saw the communications field as a viable alternative and I started just doing a lot of volunteer work so that I could get some hands-on experience. It took me a few years to pretty much have tunnel vision about what it was I was trying to do. One thing just led to the other but it was a lot of hard work and perseverance and getting out, meeting people, setting the stage for people getting to know who I was and what I could do. Miss Terry M. Williams, president of the Terry Williams Agency, a public relations and communications company based in New York City.

Founded in 1988, the Terry Williams Agency specialized in publicity and public relations and event planning for entertainment, sports and corporate clients. The Clients Our Company represents includes Eddie Murphy, Miles Davis, Anita Baker, New Edition, Jackie Jonah Cursey, Essence Communications and Corporated, Avery Brooks and Don Lewis just to name a few. The Terry Williams Agency is composed of a team of public relations professionals who primary goal is to serve as the client's needs in quickly changing times and circumstances. I'm John L. Hanson Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. This week, Miss Terry M. Williams, president of the Terry Williams Agency, in Black America. It's working with a client to introduce that person or that product to the public and

enhance the image of that person or resurrect an image, create an image. That's what public relations is doing. Securing a third party talk about the positive attributes of your client as opposed to advertising when the individual or the company themselves take out some space in a magazine or on television or on radio and says, we're great, we do X, Y and Z. Public relations involves having someone else to say positive things about you. Since 1988, the Terry Williams Agency has been telling positive things about some of those nation's biggest personalities in film, sports, music, television and corporate America. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Miss Williams holds a BA degree in Psychology and Sociology from Brandeis University and a Masters degree from Columbia University.

In December of 1986, Miss Williams was named Vice President, Director of Corporate Communication for Eston Communications and Corporated. She was the youngest and the only second woman to achieve such recognition in the 16-year-old corporation. Miss Williams has worked in the Public Relations Department of a New York City radio station. In February of 1980, she was hired as the Administrator for the newly formed Black Filmmakers Foundation. The following year, Miss Williams was named the first Executive Director of the Black Own Communications Alliance. In January of 1982, she assumed the position of Executive Director of the World Institute of Black Communications. In the short time that Miss Williams has owned her own company, the Terry Williams Agency has developed a reputation of providing quality population service. The reputation of the Terry Williams Agency is built on uncompromising attention to detail, sensitivity to today's trends and a relentless work ethic.

The agency's expertise include personal public relations, special events, management, and commercial endorsements. I recently spoke with Miss Williams concerning her career and the Terry Williams Agency. I worked at, I was a medical social worker at New York Hospital. I practiced counseling terminally ill patients and their families, patients who high-risk women who were pregnant and who were at risk because they were addicted to drugs or had some other kind of health problem of some kind, and that's what I did. Was it difficult making a transition from social work until onto public relations? Well, not really because I, first of all, I believe that it's my calling to practice public relations. It was a very easy transition for me, just decided that it was something that I needed

to do. I wanted to make this career change. The social work profession was very draining and the other fact is that there is not a lot of money in social work and I decided that I wanted to make a lot of money in this lifetime as much as I could as legally as I could and it wasn't going to be in social work and I just saw, you know, the communications field is a viable alternative and I started just doing a lot of volunteer work so that I could get some hands-on experience. It took me a few years to pretty much have tunnel vision about what it was I was trying to do and one thing just led to the other but it was a lot, a lot of hard work and perseverance and getting out, meeting people, setting the stage for people getting to know who I was and what I could do and that was essentially it. Okay.

A lot of your clients are people of color. When we say public relations, is there a difference when your clients or the people that you're trying to promote or project a positive image are of color when we say public relations? No, there's no difference in terminology. Public relations is, public relations, it's working with a client to introduce that person or that product to the public, enhance the image of that person or resurrect an image, create an image. That's what public relations is doing, securing a third party, talk about the positive attributes of your client. As opposed to advertising when the individual or the company themselves take out some space in a magazine or on television or on radio and says, we're great, we do x, y and z. Public relations involves having someone else to say positive things about you.

Why don't you think you would be good in public relations? Well, I think that I'm able to zero in on the project, the individual, whether it's an individual or a program and determine what the most newsworthy aspects are of that person's story. And I know how to do that. I know how to package it so that it is of interest to an editor or producer. I think that's probably what made me realize that I would be able to do very well in the field. In addition to the fact that I very much enjoy meeting people and working with people, and I think that I'm able to articulate pretty clearly what the issues are. And also just that I have a lot of drive and determination and I don't like to take

no for an answer because you have, there's a lot of competition out there for that air time and for that space in a magazine or a newspaper. And I've got to figure out what it is that makes my client special so that I can convince that reporter or that writer to do my story. And he's got to feel pretty passionate about what it is you represent so that you can go back in there and say, well, wait a minute, maybe have you maybe looked at it this way. Correct. When you decided to leave social work, you went to work for WWI radio and then you got acquainted with essence. Could you tell me how those two steps brought to you, brought you to where you are now? Well, when I was at WWL, I worked during vacation days and, excuse me, sick days from work in the evening, basically wanted to use whatever free time that I could to help put this radio

program together. It was a once a week call and show on Sundays and I helped to decide on what topics we were going to discuss. I helped develop questions, I booked the guests, then I would come in to the radio station on Sundays and it was a live call and show. And I would greet the guests and make sure that they were okay. And basically set the stage for the host to do her show and I screened the calls when they came in. It was just an excellent opportunity for me to learn about current events, who the boomers and shakers were, who those individuals were, who were shaping the news. And it just set the stage for me to meet a lot of people and talk with a lot of people and just learn everything that I could. In one step led to the other, I just learned a lot from that particular experience at WWL.

I did that when I was actually working at New York Hospital. From there I went to work full-time with an organization called the Black Filmmaker Foundation. And I was the first program administrator of that organization. The purpose of the organization is really to assist independent filmmakers and video artists in getting their works produced and distribute it. When did you initially set up the Terry Williams Agency? In February of 88. Communication is a difficult feel with very few minorities as you know. How do you feel you can help alleviate this problem within your particular surroundings? Well, I'm very, very, very committed to pass on the knowledge that I have been blessed to receive. There were many, many people who took the time out to help me get where I am today. And in fact, there are many people in my life now who are helping me to get to the next

level. This is the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life and there are some incredibly supportive people around me. And I used to feel guilty when I took up people's time until I realized that the way to repay that kindness is to pass it on. But even though I left the field of social work, I give back every day of my life. I do a lot of career counseling. I do a lot of speaking at colleges and high schools. And anytime anybody has a question about the public relations field or needs information articles, they can find that just a wealth of experience here, either from me or my staff. And that's how, you know, I'm just, if it's, I'm very, very committed to see that our numbers in the public relations field increase. The roster that you currently represent is very impressive, Eddie Murphy in films, Jackie

Joanna Cursey in sports. You have essence communication in finals corporate, RevLine, the Sony Corporation of America, musicians, needed baker, Miles Davis, Don Cornelius production, new addition, Cheryl Lynn, television, Avery Brooks, and Don Harris with a different world. How do you go about selecting or trying to convince new or old clients to stay with the Terry Williams agency? First new clients and actually joining up with you. I guess by servicing them properly, trying to keep one step ahead of them is probably a good way to go, anticipating their needs before they actually realize that they're there, you know, if I was trying to see if I could think of an example, but just maybe hearing

about something that just recently, their Marvin Gaye, there's a highwood walk of fame, you know, a great deal talked about this lately that he was denied a star on the highwood walk of fame. And I happen to know Eddie Murphy owns two paintings from the artist Ernie Barnes that were Marvin Gaye's that belonged to Marvin Gaye, and I knew he had a special feeling about him. So when I first learned about it, I thought that he might want to send a letter in support of Marvin, and, excuse me, so we prepared a letter and I said, is this something that you might like to do or these which your thoughts are, and he thought that it was perfect. The letter was typed on his letter head and he signed it and it was sent to the committee, and we'll see what kind of an impact it makes.

I know that it caught the attention of one of the music publications, Black Radio Exclusive and it's running it in his letter on the publisher's page. Those are the kinds of things that we do that will, you know, let the client know that there's something special about being with the agency. Is it a help or hindrance when you have such big name stars at the agency? No clients or prospective clients think, well, he has this person, so she won't spend that much of time attending to my account. Yes, there are both positives. What could conceivably be considered negative. Yes, I have heard all of that that I am too busy or that we're too busy to handle anyone else if we have an Anita Baker and a Miles Davis and Eddie Murphy. There's also the question about whether or not we are really good at generating publicity when we represent clients who pretty much anything they do is news.

Is news, okay. But yeah, I mean, those are just- How do you answer that? Well, I mean, I just, the proof is in the pudding, I will show them news clips that we've generated on artists who are not as well-known. We were responsible for the campaign that brought a group called Take Six to the Attention of the American Public. We started out with them and they, you know, they didn't have a name. Correct. So I would show them examples of work that we have done that shows that we're able to generate publicity. And it's just, you know, as I said, the proof is in the pudding and you have to just give us a shot. And to- I guess your example is the best thing. I mean, the only thing I can do is just, you know, if you're not pleased after X amount of time, then, you know, we can go our separate ways, but to at least give us an opportunity and see what it is we can do.

And you'll see how attentive we are. We just signed Joseph Phillips, who is the newest member of the Cosby Show. He plays Lisa Bonay's husband. Correct. And that was a, you know, a concern. If it's something that comes up time and time again, the plus side is that because of the visibility of certain people that we represent, we hear about everything that's going on around the country because everyone wants these individuals. So there's an incredible synergy going on. We hear about something and one of the more visible clients are not, if they're not interested in, if they are asked, we get a letter asking for the participation of Say Eddie Murphy. And it's something that he's not interested in or doesn't have the time to do. We're able to plug in other clients. So it works very, very well to our advantage. Because I was going to ask you, besides going out and seeking new talent, is there a word of mouth type of system or word of mouth? Word of mouth.

Yeah. Okay. I have had to, we really had to do very little solicitation that has come to us. Are there any other black women, such as yourself, that are, I would say, big time public relation agencies? I would, well, there are, yes, there are other, there is a woman by the name of Sheila Eldridge who has a firm in Los Angeles, or keep communications. No, I'm familiar with Pat Tobin. I was just getting ready to make it. Okay. Yeah, those are two names who come to mind immediately, and an assistant named by the name of Alberta Roads in New York, the company, called Roads in Company, who specialize in entertainment. We're a little bit, you know, we diversify in terms of, we were in sports, we're not just entertainment. Those, the other women that I mentioned, specialize in entertainment, we're entertainment, sports and corporate clients, we represent the new owners of the Denver Nuggets, first black

men to own a professional sports franchise, and, you know, Jackie is running a cursory, so we do, we run the gamut. Okay. How do you prepare a client in order to sell them on a particular, as vertusman company, or to become a spokesman for a particular product or search? Well, I would take a look at what it is, what it is, a company, what kind of a product, a company is trying to sell, and look at what the qualities are of that product that could be matched with the qualities or what it is, the philosophy that our particular client is about. We just try to look for common, common goals or common attributes and, and try to make that connection there and just bring, and then highlight those four company that you'd like to see your client associated with.

Would you ever suggest to a client, a product or service that person has never used or refuses to use? Okay, you're away from the social work field, but you're still active in career counseling. Is that something that's part of giving something back? Very much so, very, very much so, it's just, I think it's a responsibility, those of us who are blessed have to pass it on, if we don't, who is going to do it, so it's very much a part of my being. Is there a particular formula or information that you want to know about that person or group of persons who you're going to represent as their public relations specialist that makes your job easier or make your job become more complete because you have these different

elements about them to work with? Well, I think it's very helpful to know what kinds of, I guess, personal interests, the person hobbies and that kind of thing. One of the things that we did with Willie Starger, who is a 1988 baseball Hall of Famer, in terms of zeroing in on things that he did and his, I'm sorry, on the personal side of his life, was that many people don't know that he has been a member of the International Wine Society for 20 years and is also a gourmet cook. In terms of trying to develop his life after baseball, which because for many athletes a very difficult transition after you've played on the corridor on the field, then lights go down and it's like, what do I do next? We were able to secure a story on him in the New York Times that played up his knowledge

of fine wine and cooking. From there we were able to parlay that into him becoming a regular contributor, a wine contributor to a new magazine called, it's a new publication called Prost and basic purpose of it is to talk about, I guess, drinking fine, drinking fine wines and the extolling virtues of drinking and moderation, essentially. And because of his knowledge of wine he's going to be doing a monthly column, so he's a contributing editor and he's going to be doing some cooking seminars, some wine seminars has recently been asked to join the Board of Directors at the Culinary Institute of America and all that came about as a result of the direction we wanted to take, list after listening to some of his personal interests.

So you can do a lot once you determine those things. Okay, you're a very busy young lady, you're also single, are there any plans for a serious relationship in the future if I may ask? Series relationship for about a year now. Okay. Yeah, I met the man that I think is the one for me and it's something that I had looked forward to, great that I really had devoted a tremendous amount of my life to my career and getting it off the ground. There are some people who could do both at the same time, I wasn't one of them. I could not have met Mr. Wright and accomplished the things that I did. I could not have done that. But he's recently joined the company and it's a tremendous asset to me on a personal level and on a professional level, you know. Uh-huh. Are there any immediate future plans for the expansion of the agency? I certainly look to expand and we do have an office in Los Angeles and we're doing okay.

You mentioned at the front part of the interview, there were people who were of special assistance to you and getting you to where you are now. Could you mention some of those people that you thought played an integral part in your development? I guess there's like too many to even, I can't even... You don't want to leave anyone out. I've been so blessed. Okay. I just, you know, my parents, my mother lives about a half hour from me but she comes down like every other week to do my laundry. She knows that I don't have time to do it. You know, my father is an entrepreneur. He started a trucking business a number of years ago. My family has just been incredibly supportive. I just, I couldn't begin to tell you. I just have been so fortunate. Okay.

I really have. Living in New York City most of the time but I'm quite sure you have an opportunity to go out and visit your clients. In your opinion, decide the drug academic going on in our community, the state of Black America. Do you think we can overcome this, the Black on Black crime or the crack problem that we have in our major cities and rural towns? I don't know, you know, John, it's, I, I, anyone's told me that I was very, very idealistic because I believe that it's possible for us to make a difference in one another's lives. But I, there's a part of me that says that it could never really, that there's certain things that we could never really do. There's certain things that will never change because human nature is what it is.

But I just, I really do like to think that we could begin to make a difference on one of his lives and have some impact on, on the drug epidemic and the Black on Black crime. But then again, there are some forces that are greater than we, you know, make those things seem almost impossible to achieve. I understand. Terry, in our last minute, what advice would you have for young African American men and women who may be anticipating on venturing in a career into public relations? Well, whether in the field of public relations or whatever field one chooses, just to be to absolutely be determined about what it is that, that one wants to do, to never, ever take no foreign answer, that if you believe passionately in whatever it is that you want

to do, that you can do it, and no one said that it's not going to be, I mean, it's going to test you. You're going to feel like throwing your hands up sometimes and saying, I can't do it. But the fact of the matter is if you have an unshakable faith in the creator and you lead a righteous life and you treat people the way that you would like to be treated, I just think they're good things come to you. Miss Terry M. Williams, President of the Terry Williams Agency. If you have a question or comment about this program, write us. Remember views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or the University of Texas at Austin, until we have the pleasure again for production assistant Betty Rodriguez and technical producer Cliff Hargrove. I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. Please join us again next week. Cassette copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in black

America cassettes, Longhorn Radio Network, Communication Building V, UT Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, that's in black America cassettes, Longhorn Radio Network, Communication Building V, UT Austin, Austin, Texas 78712. From the Center for Telecommunication Services, the University of Texas at Austin, this is the Longhorn Radio Network. I'm John Hanson, join me this week on in black America. But it was a lot, a lot of hard work and perseverance and getting out, meeting people, setting the stage for people getting to know who I was and what I could do.

Miss Terry M. Williams, President of the Terry Williams Agency, this week on in black America.