Catalyst Media Factory

By Lisa Howard

Today's PR Means Taking A Holistic Approach

NOT LONG AGO, “MEDIA RELATIONS” MEANT NEWSPAPERS, TV AND RADIO. IT STILL MEANS THOSE THINGS – RADIO IN PARTICULAR HAS EXPERIENCED A RESURGENCE – BUT NOW “MEDIA” ALSO MEANS DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS, POD-CASTS, SOCIAL MEDIA, NEWSLETTERS, EVENTS AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT INVOLVES COMMUNICATION IN SOME WAY.

“My husband is a code developer, and he talks about full-stack develop-ers who can do everything. Nowadays I say that we’ve become a full-stack PR agency,” says Jennifer Foster, founder and president of Catalyst Media Factory. Along with booking talent on shows and helping clients maintain their websites, Jennifer and her team write and produce radio scripts, help their clients create podcasts and handle their their collateral design. They even do online advertising and geofencing. As Jennifer (mildly) puts it, “PR people today have to know an incredible amount of stuff.”

Although you’d never guess it, Jennifer’s first degree was in micro-biology – she initially wanted to be a doctor and did viral research at the University of Michigan. But she soon changed her trajectory and went back for another degree, this time in communications. One PR writing class, and she was hooked. After having worked retail through college and getting plenty of experiences in sales, she interned with a PR agency in Metro Detroit and stayed there for 13 years, working her way up to senior vice president.

IN 2016, SHE LEFT TO START CATALYST. Now her agency works with a variety of individual and municipal clients, from promoting films and retail stores to getting the word out about city-wide events like Arts, Beats & Eats in Royal Oak and the Street Art Fest in Berkley. Jennifer characterizes her work as a blend of building relationships, meeting a wide range of people in a wide range of industries and spreading the word about clients in an all-encompassing way.

Ironically, though, despite the need for PR professionals to always be meeting and greeting people, Jennifer says that the best kind of PR firm goes unnoticed to everyone but the client. “We’re like a ninja – we’re behind the scenes and making things happen, and then we put all it out there so that owners can shine the best light on their business.”

www.catalystmediafactory.com | jennifer@catalystmediafactory.com | 313.462.0808