Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Vallbona.
Marisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated with a degree in Journalism/PR with minors in Spanish and French from the University of Texas at Austin and from there went on to work at a PR firm for a year until the heat was too much to bear and my then husband and I moved to San Diego. Arriving in San Diego in 1988 with no jobs could have been scary, but we were both determined and within one month, he ended up working in management at an upscale Coronado hotel and I landed a job working in PR for America’s Cup yacht racing. I loved it!
I fell into owning my PR firm when I was laid off from the agency I worked for 29 years ago (1990) when I had my oldest son. I was on maternity leave and the firm partners called me to come in for a “sorry but we’re downsizing” chat a few days before I was scheduled to come back to work. I didn’t want anything like that to happen to me ever again, so I struck out on my own. I started with local clients that included a restaurant, architect, hospitals, physicians and medical clinics, and within four years landed a contract to represent 7-Eleven with PR throughout San Diego and Imperial County.
The work with 7-Eleven introduced me to other consultants on the campaign throughout the U.S. running PR firms the same size as mine. Because we were working on the same campaigns for the client over many years, we developed a close working relationship and spent a lot of time brainstorming and sharing ideas. By 2000, which was 10 years after starting my firm, three of us from the 7-Eleven business — Solveig Raftery in Las Vegas, Barb Harris in Phoenix and I — got together and created a network called PRConsultants Group that now, 20 years later, is more than 50 members strong in every major market in the U.S. including Puerto Rico as well as in Toronto, Canada.
The founding of PRConsultants Group led to media attention because, at the time, networks comprising major PR firms were normal whereas networks of independent firms were unusual. As a result, we received a lot of media coverage for being innovative, including the cover story of Inc Magazine’s September 2001 issue and we were featured as a complete chapter in the book Alpha Dogs, How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack, by Donna Fenn. Our network has worked with world-renowned brands and won four PRSA Silver Anvil awards, the Oscars of our industry, including a Silver Anvil Best of Show, which we won as a team working with Citizen Relations for launching XM Satellite Radio.
While building my business, I’ve been actively involved in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), which is my industry’s professional association, serving on a local and national level. I first joined the San Diego chapter and then was elected to the local board of directors, eventually moving on to serve as chair of the Universal Accreditation Board, which oversees accreditation in our industry. From there, I was elected to serve on the PRSA national board of directors for five years, which I enjoyed immensely until I decided to take my board meetings on my surfboard in the ocean surrounded by the peaceful beauty of seals and dolphins.
I had been introduced to surfing by my clients, Hansen Surfboards and Maui Surf Academi, a few years prior and rarely had time to practice or improve. Perpetually stuck at a beginner level because of business travel, I recently decided it was time to schedule and take as seriously my ocean “board meetings” as I used to take my professional board meetings. Although the water is freezing during dawn patrol surf sessions, the immense joy I get from spending time with my surf sisters and pushing myself to new goals is so worth it. I’ve also found it makes me a better rounded PR professional because I get to work in the morning with a relaxed, creative and enthusiastic mind.
The biggest surprise of all and a lesson I wish I had learned decades ago, is that because you have to be completely aware of everything and at the moment while surfing to avoid danger, it has taught me to be present in every moment and area of my life. That, above all else, makes me a better professional, mother, friend and human overall. Surfing was also the recent motivation for me to start a YouTube channel of inspirational videos encouraging others to “Live Inspired.” View it here: http://www.youtube.com/MarisaVallbona1
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being an entrepreneur is never a smooth road. Many who are not business owners think we have it made because we call our shots and decide our hours, but they don’t realize it comes with great sacrifice. For me, the biggest struggle until now was feeling torn between motherhood and my business. Back then it wasn’t cool to have your baby at your side while working. Although I sometimes had my babies with me at my desk, after they were a few months old, I was blessed to have a full-time nanny taking care of them while I worked. As they got older, I made sure to be at all their school events, swim meets and water polo games, but admit I was exhausted much of the time.
A single mom for years, I often felt as if I was unable to be 100 percent present with my two sons or my business because it was a lot to handle alone. When I was with one, I was thinking of the other and vice versa. Now my sons are adults and on their own and I find it remarkable that they are so well adjusted. They often tell me that seeing me work so hard while they were little has been a significant influence on them and it has inspired their strong work ethic. While I worried so much that I wasn’t giving them my best, I was. I was influencing them to be their best.
I haven’t failed my life’s most important project after all: my sons.
Please tell us about your business.
Our tagline is Get Noticed. That’s what we do. We get people, companies, brands and services noticed, whether it’s in the news, social media, websites or speaking engagements. We do strategic planning, crisis communications, media relations (publicity), branding, new product launches, grand openings, writing, and speaker training. We have offices in La Jolla, Calif. and Houston.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I used to define success as my net worth. Now I find the older I get the more my measure of success changes. Today I define it as the feeling of contentment within myself in all areas of my life: family, career, personal, physical, and spiritual. If I can feel a deep sense of well being, peace and contentment within myself in all these areas, then I am truly successful. By that definition, I have achieved it. I am successful.
Contact Info:
- Address: 888 Prospect St. Suite 200, La Jolla, CA 92037
- Website: www.cimincpr.com
- Phone: 858-467-7990
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvallbona
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.vallbona
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mvallbona
- Other: http://www.youtube.com/MarisaVallbona1
Image Credit:
Photo descriptions:
1. Dawn patrol surf session with good friend Janis Sandlin. Marisa Vallbona, right, laughing with surfboard.
2. Marisa Vallbona lying on Beverly Hills sidewalk to get a good angle for social media photos. Anything to get that good shot! — Photo by Nick Reid
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
