Tag Archives: stephanie smirnov

Dear Flack: How to be a great assistant

Everyday People 2For the most part, everybody starts their illustrious PR career at the bottom. Whether it’s mailings, coffee runs, or dreaded clip reports, it’s more than likely that at one time or another you’ll have to participate in the art of assisting and/or interning.

Believe it or not, being a great assistant is an art form. Some assistants are masterpieces, while others are head-scratching experiments gone awry.

Look, we all know starting from the ground up can be both frustrating and challenging. You are working hard for hardly any money.  However, if you want to climb up the corporate ladder, you have to put in the time and effort to be successful. Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk: Stephanie Smirnov (Part 2)

[Editor’s Note: The below post is Part 2 of Christina’s interview with PR Mama Stephanie Smirnov. Part 1 ran on the PRBreakfastClub.com Blog on Monday.]

  1. You are not only a successful PR woman, but also well rounded in non-profit work, you write your own blog, and much more.
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Christina’s Coffee Talk: Stephanie Smirnov

Stephanie Smirnov
Stephanie Smirnov

This week I had the pleasure of getting to know more about our favorite PR Mama: Stephanie Smirnov, president of DeVries Public Relations. Stephanie relies so heavily on three gargantuan mugs of Starbucks coffee a day that her family is trained to not talk to her until she’s had the first sip. Sounds familiar. She’s a pro at wakeboarding, Wii Resort Wakeboarding that is, and relaxes in her Catskills home with her husband and son “swimming, skiing, grilling and chilling.” Stephanie listens to the best old-school funk, disco, and R&B and reads her favorite mommy blogs (The Bloggess, The Pioneer Woman, and Rock and Roll Mama to name a few) and design/trend blogs—a new favorite Design*Sponge. Okay, enough of the fun stuff. When Stephanie said she would participate for Coffee Talk, I couldn’t wait to find out how she is so successful in her career and also a great mom with a very solid family. How does one find the time for it all? And so I give you, Stephanie Smirnov . . . super mom and PR pro:

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