This week’s episode covers PR in the arts. From working as Press Director of the Metropolitan Opera, to serving as Assistant Director of Public Relations and External Communications for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rebecca Kim details her journey in the arts and what every budding PR professional should know about working for some of the most iconic names in the industry.
imPRessions Season 2 Episode #21 Transcript
Jenn: Hi, Kalli.
Kalli: Hi, Jenn.
Jenn: So you know that I’m a big theater nerd, right?
Kalli: I do. It’s one of the things I love about you.
Jenn: uh huh. And today I’m really excited because we have a very special guest. She has worked for Lincoln Center. She’s worked for the Met Opera and Boston Ballet. Amazing. I’m really excited to talk to her. She is really vibrant. She has a lot of experience. And you know me, I could talk about the arts all day long. Oh.
Kalli: That’s amazing. I cannot wait to talk to her. She sounds completely, completely amazing.
Jenn: Yeah, and I think it’ll be a little bit of a nice change to talk to somebody who does PR in an industry that is fun. You know, people go to the theater to kind of, like, let loose and forget about their jobs and their day-to-day life. But there’s still a lot of like back-end marketing and back-end PR stuff that has to happen in order for you to sit in the audience and really enjoy a show. There’s so much that goes into it. So I think it’s going to be really, really interesting for us to learn a little bit more about her. Her life and her day-to-day in the PR world when the arts.
Kalli: Yeah, it’s one of the things I’ve missed during Covid was being able to. Go see shows. So I’ve been trying to go see as many as I can. And I’m excited to hear more about the back end, because that’s with all the things I’ve worked on, one I have not yet explored. So I’m really excited about this one.
Jenn: Absolutely. Let’s get into it.
Kalli: While many industries require you to be an expert in one industry. Today, we’re exploring how a public relations career can span multiple industries and the unique advantages that come with this broad experience. Rebecca Kim, a seasoned media strategist with nearly 20 years of communications experience in both the nonprofit and corporate sector, has successfully worked across various fields, including the arts, and will share how her diverse background shapes Her approach to PR. Hi Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us today.
Rebecca: Hi, Kalli. Hi, Jennifer. We’re so glad to be on, and thank you for that amazing introduction. It makes me sound like I’ve done so much.
Kalli: Of course, you have. You have a ton of experience.
Jenn: Yes, you have. I’m really so excited to chat with you today. You know, as Kalli mentioned in the intro, you have a pretty extensive background in public relations. You’ve done a lot. So this is really exciting for us to talk to you. I think the first question I want to ask you is, what inspired you to pursue a public relations career? You know, it has spanned multiple industries, particularly in the arts, which I was a theater geek. I absolutely love anything theater, anything opera, anything Broadway, anything music. So I’d love to know, like, how did you fall into this?
Rebecca: So it’s actually kind of an amazing, well, amazing story, but really, it started with an internship with the Boston Ballet. When I was in undergrad attending Boston College, I knew it was my junior year. I needed to get some internships, and in my mailroom, there was this flyer that said, The Boston Ballet is looking for interns. And I honestly just thought, like, what the heck? Why not? And that was the first time I learned, truly, that you could work in the arts without being a performer, a pianist, a singer, or a painter. I always thought that’s what you had to do, but there is a whole team of people behind the scenes that brings all of this to life and markets and things like that. So that was really my first foray into PR slash marketing in the arts. And then from there, I really have to say like it was truly curiosity. From there, I wanted to see what else is out there. So, that Boston Ballet internship led me to my first full-time job as a press assistant with American Ballet Theater. I spent five years there touring with the dancers and the company and getting to travel yearly to Washington, D.C., Miami, L.A., Chicago, and even doing international tours. But then, after five years there, I thought to myself, what do I want to do next? What does PR look like? And I really wanted to see what did PR look like in the mainstream world in consumer lifestyle slash corporate. So that led me to Foot Locker, where I did PR, social media campaigns and influencer campaigns for all the various brands. From there, I went back and forth, probably because of my unsaturated curiosity. If I was on one side, I always wanted to know what was on the other side. So, if I was in-house, I wanted to know what an agency was. And so fast forward almost 20 years. That’s what my career has been, and I couldn’t be more thankful for all the experiences that I’ve had because I’ve seen so many different sides of what PR and, I’m going to say, marketing and social media all really look like in so many different capacities.
Kalli: That’s so amazing. And, you know, you’re very lucky to have had all these different experiences and be able to move back and forth, you know. Can you share a little bit about how you make that flow and how you adapt your PR strategies when moving between different industries? Because obviously, just from the companies that you mentioned, you have somebody that’s shopping at Foot Locker and isn’t necessarily interested in the ballet, like, you know, wondering how you move between those, particularly within the arts.
Rebecca: Yep. And that is also, I mean, it’s really cool when you think about it. You’re like, oh my gosh. But at the end of the day, a PR person’s job is to pitch a compelling story for said journalists and, in turn, the general media. So I think if you keep that in mind, it is so transferable. If you just know sort of what’s the story that you’re trying to tell. When you talk about Foot Locker and the consumer work that I did, I’m sure everyone’s heard the term like North Star, like knowing your target audience and the more detailed of a picture you have, the better you’ll reach that person. So, during my time at Foot Locker, one of the examples I can share is that we were doing kind of a reassessment of the Lady Foot Locker brand because, at the time, there was growing competition from other brands like Lululemon and Athleta, and things like that. And we really wanted to figure out, you know, what does Lady Foot Locker mean? And for so many people, it meant, like your mom’s shoe store, that she maybe took you to buy your first sneaker when you were in, like, junior high school, high school. So it’s kind of like, how do we change that brand image? And so For something like that. You know, you really think about who that target customer is and what you want to do. And then how does your messaging and things like that all sort of spread from there? And I think I took that same thought process wherever I went, including in the nonprofit and arts world. Then in the nonprofit world, I kind of kept that North Star thinking with me. And I think one of the best examples I can give is that Jazz at Lincoln Center, the organization’s mission statement at the time, was to enrich, entertain, and educate. So, I take that approach with my work, especially on nonprofit arts. And so when you’re trying to enrich, I think of it as my target audience, is your fill-in-the-blank. Ballet, jazz, opera, and classical music experts. Right. So these are people who know more than I do because they’ve lived and breathed all of it. So when I approach them, I sort of think, what can I share that is new information for these folks? So, something like statistics is great here. I remember when we put together a sort of press release for Madame Butterfly. Madame Butterfly has been done everywhere as an opera. Everyone’s very familiar with the story, but one of the things we put in there is that it’s been performed over 900 times at the Met Opera, and the composer himself attended the performance in 1907. So, like things like that, they may know it, but sometimes they just need that kind of refresher. So that’s how I approach enriching. In terms of entertaining, I think of people like my friends and family, people who may have sort of heard of it but never really had a chance to experience it, and don’t really know what the deal is. So that’s when you tell stories about interesting people, like an opera singer who was a club DJ in his 20s before he moved to, I don’t know, Italy or something and became an opera singer. It’s a true story. Or things like collaborations between the opera and HBO’s The Gilded Age because the most recent season was all about this war between old and new money and the opera houses, and the Metropolitan Opera House is a main character in that season. And then the last thing is educating, which is so important, especially in nonprofit work, and really telling the story of the work that you do. So things like your archives or scholarships or education programs or all of those sorts of things are the things that I’ll try to get out and share more of.
Jenn: I love that, and yeah, it’s so diverse what you’ve done, you know, from Foot Locker to Lincoln Center, it’s just like it’s absolutely amazing. And I want to ask a little bit just about in terms of the art, just going back to that, you work with a lot of artists. You work with the Boston Ballet Theater, Lincoln Center, and the Met Opera. As we talked about, there are a lot of different artists and a lot of collaborative processes that come with that. As you just mentioned, there’s like, you know, a former DJ, right, that turned opera singer. So there’s a lot of personal visions there. Probably, they want to ensure that their brand or their message is communicated effectively. How do you work both doing the PR for the brand? Right. Say The Met, for example, but also ensure that the brand of the artist also has that integrity behind it.
Rebecca: That’s a great question. And the way I approach, I approach how to talk or promote these artists is really no different from how you may work with any sort of company spokesperson or CEO. You start by doing the research, getting to know them, getting to understand what they do. The unique thing about being in a performing arts space is you get to see these artists in action, which I think is really cool. So at any given time, I can pop down into a rehearsal studio, poke my head in, and see what’s happening, you know? And that’s when I think you get to see something a bit more beyond what’s just on paper or on a resume. So you get to see directors who like to open every rehearsal. Even with people, if I poke my head in at the wrong time, they’ll pull me into the circle. And I don’t want to be a part of that circle. But they’re kind of like, hey, how are you feeling today? There are lots of, like, really cool things that directors do to create a certain atmosphere in the rehearsal room. Or choreographers like Camille Brown, who starts every rehearsal with like a movement exercise. And again, she pulls in whoever’s in the room. So, like, if you’re a stagehand, the guy is there just to help with props, and she makes eye contact with you. He will be pulled in. So it’s kind of cool to see that. And those are all the things that will inform how you will promote that artist. The artists are also savvy. They know how to do this, and they know that, you know. Ultimately, the goal is to promote their work with the Met Opera. Jazz at Lincoln Center, things like that. And they’ll want to promote it themselves because they want to make sure that their production is a success. So, it is truly a collaborative process. And once you gain their trust and you build a rapport, you do the regular things like media training or providing speaking points and prepping them ahead of interviews to make sure that you’re all aligned in terms of what the major talking points are for the interview that you’re doing, or for the story that you want to tell.
Kalli: You know, just working with so many different creatives, it’s not something that we always get to do. Sometimes you’re working with somebody who’s very technical or, you know, all different types of brands. And so that being said, you’ve worked in art, you’ve worked in consumer, you know, you’ve worked in all these different fields. How do you establish your credibility with clients or employers across these different industries and in all of these worlds?
Rebecca: It’s a great question. In terms of establishing my track record, I think my experience at an agency is really a great example of how I’ve measured my success. In my previous agencies, I’ve brought in nonprofit arts and culture clients while still working with corporate clients and medical clients, the hospital sector, all these things, and being able to keep all those balls up in the air and juggling all the different kinds of PR work and objectives that all the clients had, is something that I think is a success, you know, speaks to my successful track record. And as I said earlier, really, the PR function, no matter who the client is or who you’re representing, is still the same. You’re trying to tell a compelling story for all these different people. So if you keep if you stay focused on that, you’ll be able to find success wherever. And even my varied experience, I’m able to pull out, I believe, nuggets from anything. Something I truly believe if something interests me or interests you or whatever. n the process of all of this, there’s something that you can pull out that can make this an interesting story.
Jenn: Absolutely. And with this particular topic, this particular episode, what I love about it, and a lot of our listeners are new in their PR careers. They’re in college or maybe their entry-level. A lot of them want to go to a specific sector. So for instance, I am a board member for PRSSA, and I have a couple of mentees there that specifically are very into fashion and beauty and really want to focus PR on that. But there are people who want to go into PR for the arts especially. I think that they think it’s very fun and thrilling and, you know, there’s a way to kind of see like live action on stage and sort of be part of something, you know, that’s very beautiful and very compelling. What just for those listeners, because I know that there they’re out there. What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced when you entered the arts industry? How did you overcome it? Do you have any sort of feedback or advice for those, you know, looking into this particular career path?
Rebecca: Absolutely. And you’re right, there are challenges, especially the further along you get in your career. And I think that’s something that I faced in many different ways. I would say the first thing to do is, of course, as anyone does. Do your research. No one is expecting you to be an expert in it unless you position yourself that way. I remember my boss, who I recently had coffee with, then director of press at American Ballet Theatre when I was a press assistant. Honestly, apart from my one week of ballet class, I might have done when I was five, I really didn’t take any ballet. I watched it, but I wasn’t an expert by any means. And she would tell me when I’m talking to reporters. Listen. Absorb. Be open to it. No one is expecting you to be the expert and then ask smart questions. And I take that with me no matter where I go. And again, it’s like the arts or any other industry that I’ve worked in. I had a client that was a hospital in New York City. What do I know about the inner workings of a hospital? But you go in there, and you do the research, and you put in your time, and that’s when you really get to learn and absorb those things. And for Jennifer, going back to your question about those who are interested in going into the arts or potentially making a career out of this, go experience and see as much as you can. And that’s really the way I learned about this. I can say my first live theater experience was when I was in elementary school. My teachers at the time were, like, very committed to fostering an appreciation of the arts, and that was the first time I went to go see a Broadway show. It was, you know, seats were up in the rafters. I think it was literally the last row of the theater. But that has clearly stayed with me. My parents told me that all the time, they were like, that show you enter in the fourth grade is probably what has molded your career. So go and experience all those things and see a lot. And the other thing I’ll say is a lot of arts and culture organizations are non-profits and they are always looking for help, so check out their websites. A lot of them have great internship programs, so check those out. That’s a great way to dip your toe in the water and see what it’s all like. And also don’t hesitate to reach out to a lot of these people in positions that you’re interested in. The way I first learned about this, as I shared, is, you know, getting an internship with the Boston Ballet. But after I graduated, I came back home to New York, and I didn’t have a full-time job. So I reached out to the then director of press at the Metropolitan Opera, and she gave me an informational interview just to be like, hey, this is how it all goes. And this is, you know, just broad overview, but I remember how valuable that conversation was. So those would be my tips on how to check it out and try to see if there’s something you can do there.
Kalli: That’s really great advice. And I think, you know, people really should take more advantage of talking to the people that are in their positions that they want to be in and in the industries they want to be in to really get a sense of what it’s really like. You know, it’s different. There are some schools that have professors who are still working professionals. So, that might be a little different. But, a lot of times, you need to take that opportunity to just really talk to someone who’s in the weeds. Speaking of, you know, being in the weeds, I know, as amazing as this all sounds, I’m sure that there are some crises that you have to deal with, especially when you’re dealing with, you know, so many different things, whether it’s the artists or audience in the buildings and all those things. Can you share an example of how you’ve managed a crisis in the arts sector? And, you know, if there are any unique considerations that are involved in that compared to a crisis in other industries?
Rebecca: And this is also a very fun part of the job. The, I’ll say, performing arts sector, More specifically, is live entertainment. It’s very similar to a concert or anything that’s happened. You know, you’ve got audience members in your house, in your theater, thousands of them every night often. And so that means there are so many possibilities for crises. So that can be what if somebody what if somebody gets sick. What if, you know… there’s literally so many different things. So this is constantly something that’s on our minds. And so one of the examples I can give is recently, in the last two years when I was with the Metropolitan Opera, one of our big elevators that is backstage and necessary to do some of these giant scene changes in one of our biggest operas, it broke during rehearsal at around 4 p.m., and that performance was set to go on stage at 7 p.m., and we didn’t know if we were going to be able to get this production up. So there were a lot of conversations. Do we cancel it? What do we do? How do we? And, of course, if you’re canceling something, that means you’ve got to do refunds. It was just a lot of things. And Turandot is one of the most popular operas because it’s this opulent, giant thing with hundreds of people on stage. And basically, the decision was made that we would do a concert version of this opera. So whatever set was on stage was going to be on stage. The elevator was not fixed in time, but the way we positioned it was, this is the first time ever that it turned out to be staged as a concert on the Metropolitan Opera stage. And I was there that night. I was there all day, but it was truly a special experience. You got to see singers in an unadulterated way where it was just them on stage and the music is so beautiful, so it’s not for everyone. But there was something special about this historic night that started as what one can see as a crisis. So I think that’s one example. Something else I can give is that it’s really unique to be in New York City in such a recognizable venue. So Metropolitan Opera is on the Lincoln Center campus, and that’s such a, you know, I think a lot of tourists, when they think of New York, think of that as a destination. So, something else that happened during one of our operas was we had climate protesters drop banners and interrupt a performance during a performance, and that also made headlines. And it was something crazy, and no one knew what was happening until we knew what was happening. And, you know, things like that. You just need to be prepared for moments like that. And you just, you know, all you can do is make sure you’re communicating both internally and externally and coordinating with law enforcement and making sure all of that is happening. And that’s something else we haven’t touched on. You know, PR, I think in many places, particularly in houses, also internal comms, as much as we think of it as like reporters and, you know, media outlets, stuff like that. So being able to coordinate internally as well as externally is another part of the job. But those are the two things that come to mind most recently.
Jenn: Well, I guess that just as a testament to the saying, the show must go on, right?
And that’s just what happens in live, live TV, live anything. You know, I mean, you always run into the potential of something not going the way it should go. I mean, it’s bound to happen. And I think that, you know, your examples of how, you know, you dealt with that crisis was pretty spot on. And, you know, probably most of the audience was none the wiser anyway. So that all worked out. But yeah, I saw in the news that the climate protesters did that during a performance. Yeah, exactly. You know, you just expect the unexpected, I guess.
Rebecca: I have a few grays from that evening.
Jenn: Never a dull moment. So, last thing on my end. Just because of everything we’ve discussed, it’s very niche. How, as an expert in the industry, aside from working in the arts, you know, you’ve worked in other industries. You have a lot of experience in wearing different hats and whatnot. How do you make yourself stand out as an expert in the arts?
Rebecca: I would say the key to this, especially in the arts, will be to show how nimble you are and how you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and really be a go-getter. The reason why I say that is, particularly in the nonprofit arts, teams are smaller, and budgets are tighter. It’s, you know, the nature of nonprofits. And so being able to wear so many hats is also something that will help you move up in this career. Being able to speak to all sides and also keeping a finger on the pulse on what’s happening in the outside world beyond just your, you know, what’s happening in the arts. I think that’s really important. One of the challenges that the nonprofit arts, world arts, and culture world is facing is declining audiences. And that is because, you know, tastes have changed. Education around these sorts of art forms has changed. So, in that sense coverage of the arts is getting smaller and smaller. I’m seeing, you know, newspapers around the country, they no longer have a classical music dance. Right? Or anyone covering this anymore. It’s now falling into more generalist reporters. That’s just one example that I can give. So, for someone who’s looking to move up and be successful in this, being able to show that you have your finger on the pulse and that you can share this message to a broader audience beyond just your quote-unquote nerds, is one of the ways that you can really show that you will be a valuable asset to that team. And the other thing I’m sure Kalli and Jennifer, you guys are seeing this too, is the lines are blurring more and more between PR and social and marketing and advertising. So, being able to also show that you have an understanding of all those things will also help you. And as I said, because marketing teams in nonprofit organizations in the arts are smaller, so if you can wear all these different hats, that will also make you a very valuable member of that team.
Kalli: Before we wrap up, I was wondering if you could share a success story where you know your experience across all these different industries allowed you to know all those hats and gave you a unique advantage in a PR campaign.
Rebecca: Oh, I’ve been thinking about this, and there are so many different ways that I could approach this. I think namely one of my great one of my proudest work recently during my time with the opera is we worked on an opera called champion, and this is by Terence Blanchard. That composer bridged, first off, my musical knowledge. So jazz and opera, and then the subject matter of that opera was about a real-life boxer who was closeted and bisexual at the time. I think back in the 60s or 70s, when it was still very homophobic and it tells a story about this boxer, this champion boxer with this secret life that he couldn’t share. But the star singer was an opera singer who lost, I think, over 100 pounds to truly get into boxing shape and to really represent what it looked like on stage to be a boxer. And I remember as he was prepping, he was going to the gym at 5 a.m. and he wanted to have a six-pack by the time he got on stage to really show what it meant to be a boxer. Both of these, I would say these spokespeople, was where I was able to truly shine. So in my past, I had worked with Men’s Health and GQ and outlets like that from my Foot Locker work. And then, of course, I worked with jazz outlets and more general music outlets, sort of general music writers. And so I was able to really successfully go back to all those folks and be able to highlight the opera singers’ health side in all these health and fitness magazines, and then be also able to highlight Terence Blanchard and his incredible success and getting him onto CNN to speak with Christiane Amanpour. So that opera, I think, really encompassed everything that I’ve done so far, and all the various connections that I was able to make and the different stories that you can tell that reach all those audiences. Of course, the opera people knew that this was a new opera that was coming to the stage for the first time at The Met, but then I was able to reach other, more general media audiences. Maybe those folks who read GQ never really thought of opera as something so physical or didn’t know the story about a boxer or jazz folks who had never been to the opera before. So that campaign comes to mind in terms of something I’m really proud of working on.
Kalli: That’s amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. And, you know, for everything that you’ve shared with us today, to our listeners, we hope that you’ve gained valuable insights into the power of versatility in a PR career and how broad experiences can really and truly uniquely influence work in the arts and beyond. Rebecca’s journey has shown us that adaptability in a wide range of skill sets could open up new possibilities and enhance creativity in PR. Rebecca, thank you again so much for joining us today. And for our listeners, if you’ve enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe. Leave a review. Share it with others. Tell everyone you know who you think it might be helpful for. And stay tuned for more conversations that explore the intersection of creativity, communication, and career growth. Until next time.
