Mother’s Day is upon us and here at Hunter PR, it’s a baby boom. In the last two months, we celebrated the birth of three baby boys and in the process three professional women have taken on the new role of “working mothers.”

And while we welcomed three women to ranks of working moms, the public relations industry recently lost one of its first working moms, Jean Schoonover, the former CEO of D-A-Y Public Relations, and beloved sister to the founder of Hunter Public Relations, Barbara Hunter. 

Jean passed away in early April at the age of 90.  A remarkable woman, Jean, in partnership with Barbara, became the first woman and mother to own and operate a public relations firm in the United States. This “sister act” (as they were called when they were named to BusinessWeek’s list of 100 most powerful women in business) achieved success in the early days of the public relations industry which in the 1950’s and 1960’s was an era dominated by men with wives who did not work outside the home.

At Jean’s memorial service, there were many remarks made by her business associates about her acumen, smarts and determination as a CEO of a major public relations firm. All of these comments were very accurate as I was fortunate enough to work with Jean first at D-A-Y, and again when she served as a consultant to Hunter PR in the 1990s.

But what touched me the most were the remarks given by Jean’s children and grandchildren. They spoke of Jean’s important role –that of their mother and family patriarch.  Even though Jean worked day and night in service to her clients, supervised several offices and dozens of employees and traveled the world for business, Jean was first and foremost a loving and attentive mother.  At home she was mom – a woman who displayed intelligence, contentment, confidence, resourcefulness, caring and concern.

Jean Way Schoonover with children, Katherine, Daniel and James.

As a public relations agency owner myself and mother of three children, I often experience the guilt that comes from having a career rather than being a career mom. And, around Mother’s Day, I wonder if I am really worthy of receiving the same accolades as mothers who make a career of being home to nurture and care for her children every day.

However, after being reminded of Jean’s success as a mother of three, I learned that the example you set for your children with your professional life can be as powerful as the time you spend with them.  Jean’s life and legacy shows that success for working mothers in PR can come as a result of how you lead and grow in your professional life, not in spite of it.

To all the working moms in the public relations field (and especially the three new moms here at Hunter Public Relations): Happy Mother’s Day.  Let us hope that we all achieve the same professional and personal success as one of the greatest mothers in and of the agency business, Jean Way Schoonover. 

Welcome to the Hunter Public Relations Blog!

This year, our agency celebrates its 20th anniversary and if I have learned one thing working here for twenty years, it’s that the staff at Hunter Public Relations is far more than a talented group of public relations practitioners. “Hunters” (as we call staffers at Hunter PR) seem to over-index in their personal interests of all things quirky and curious. And, what’s more, they love to share these interests with all of us.

Here’s a few examples…. Danny Palestine has a fascination with omelets and has created a blog (http://killeromelets.wordpress.com) where he proclaims the excellence of the egg in dozens of outstanding recipes. In this photo we captured Danny making his “Hunter PR Omelet” with crumbled Gardenburgers, a dash of Tabasco, a teaspoon of Grey Poupon and a topping of Cheez-It cracker crumbs. Alex Conway also loves to cook and has created a blog called “Conway in the Kitchen,” which chronicles her valiant quest to produce gourmet cuisine in her Manhattan studio apartment. It’s no surprise that with what we do professionally (represent food and beverage clients), many of our employees love to share their love of food, but there are others that seem to take quirky to the next level.  

Take Nancy Fishgold, for instance. Nancy used her tweeting skills to connect with her first “love,” the brothers band, Hanson. After months of following the group’s tweets, Nancy connected directly with the pop star brothers, and arranged a meeting with the band here in our offices to discuss possible partnerships with one of our clients. It was the ultimate fusion of the personal and professional for Nancy. And then there’s Michael Lamp, who expresses his affection for award shows – the Oscars, Emmy’s, VMA’s – via award show night “microblogging parties” during which he instantly shares his witty commentary with his Twitter followers. 

With so many of our staffers plugged in and sharing their passions through different social media channels, we figured it was time to aggregate all these interests into our own Hunter PR Blog. That way, instead of searching all over cyberspace to learn about omelets, gourmet cooking, award shows and Hanson, you can get it all in one place.

Here in the coming weeks, you can expect to read posts from Jason Winocour, who is fascinated with all that’s happening in the social media space and Amanda Brokaw, who loves to follow NYC restaurant openings (especially those that are toddler-friendly). And then there's Amy Coles, who will alert you to the best cupcake shops in Manhattan and Vanessa Polk, who will tell you which Manhattan bartender is serving up the hottest “off-the-menu” cocktail. You’ll get it all here at the Hunter PR Blog.

And in the end, I hope you enjoy getting to know the personal side of these “Hunters” as much as I have. Enjoy!

Grace