Lorraine Thelian, senior partner and director of the Washington, D.C., office of Ketchum Public Relations, has been recognized for helping grow Ketchum's revenues in the D.C. office to a projected $16 million in 1998 from $3.8 million in 1991, making it the second-largest Ketchum office behind New York. Thelian expected to be a school teacher, but her first job out of college - as an entry-level assistant in a small agency - led her into PR. In this exclusive interview at her office on Connecticut Avenue in the heart of the nation's capital, Thelian shares her views on PR, client loyalty and being a woman in communications.
PRN: As a top-level executive in PR, what are the big day-to-day issues for the business?
Thelian: We [Ketchum's senior managers] troubleshoot a lot. For instance, our upper-level executives are brought in when the client's expectations aren't being met. But we are monitoring clients' expectations on an ongoing basis anyway. Part of the way Ketchum operates requires surveying clients every year and following up. We started that three or four years ago and we talk to those clients individually. So my job certainly requires maintaining close contact, but not necessarily doing the day-to-day work... At Ketchum, we think and talk a lot about client loyalty versus client satisfaction.
PRN: What's the difference?
Thelian: Satisfaction is rational, intellectual; loyalty is emotional. Clients, if they're loyal, won't go looking at different agencies even when other agencies get in front of them. And once in a while if you do something that may not be perfect, they give you permission, in a way, to make a mistake and then make up for it. If they're loyal, they really are committed to the partnership.
One client that I think wouldn't mind if I cite them here is Dow. Dow Chemical [DOW] has been a client for 25 years and that, in itself, defines loyalty.
PRN: You initially wanted to be a teacher - when did you realize you wanted to remain in PR?
Thelian: I figured out that I really wasn't going to be a good teacher, so I took an administrative job in a small agency. I thought, as most women did in those days, that I would get married and then have kids. And, of course, my husband would take care of me for ever after, but it doesn't quite work that way.
Later I decided maybe I better start thinking about this as a career and not just a little serendipitous foray.... I just started watching what the "professionals" were doing and I thought, 'I can do this.'
PRN: It's ironic, because I'm asking you to provide guidance as a role model, but you fell into this, so it forces the question: Are successful careers always managed or is some of it timing?
Thelian: I think it's always a combination. It's a combination of general direction, what you're motivated by, and trying to focus on personal growth, moving from point to point by learning what you need to move on to the next task.
I enjoy PR because it provides constant learning experiences and challenges. It's so interesting now, we're working with Visa, so we're into the e-commerce; we're working on technology accounts; and we work extensively in healthcare, all areas with extreme growth.
PRN: How do you define career ambition?
Thelian: Someone who really enjoys their job and has a passion for their job so you continue to move on and learn and grow and be challenged so you can get to the next place. Public relations is a great job for people who bore easily, especially for people on the agency side where you typically are exposed to many different clients and issues at the same time.
PRN: How many of them do you think have that passion?
Thelian: A lot of them. We're always asking how we can be the agency that can give them enough - to the ones that we really want to grow and develop - to work with Ketchum for 27 years, like I have.
The challenge is: Can we give them enough opportunities to keep them and to keep them loyal? We've lost very few people to agencies through the last 10 years...We do lose people to our clients, but we can rarely can compete with what they're offering [when a communicator is recruited for an executive position in a major company], especially in healthcare and technology.
PRN: Did you ever consider leaving?
Thelian: I only came close once to leaving [Ketchum]. I was managing a pharmaceutical account and they started pursuing me. They were offering me a high-level job with significantly more money.
I got so close, but in the end John Paluszek, who was my boss at the time, said, 'Okay, Lorraine, what do I need to do to talk you out of this?' And I said, 'I don't know because no matter what money you say you can give me or whatever, they're ready to come back with more of this or that.' And he looked at me and said: 'Where's your gut?'... he knew me so well: he knew I was an agency person.
PRN: Is it a challenge being a woman in your position and trying to balance it all?
Thelian: I don't have any children and that makes some difference. I do think it would be more of a challenge if I had a family, so it's a little bit hard to judge. But we have women who have families and they do juggle it....PR is a business with a lot of women in it.
The good news for me now, different even than five years ago, is that now we're a 120-person office. And we have fantastic senior people. Someone asked me just a couple weeks ago, 'Doesn't it get more stressful?' And I said, 'No, it actually gets less stressful' - because you have great people under you. When we were small, I was running the office and was the primary person on some of the major accounts. And I was really juggling the business, administrative and client service aspects - and you try to do all of them. Now, my biggest role is making sure we have the best people.
Resume Extras
- Born: Jan. 13, 1948
- First Job: Administrative Assistant, Basford PR
- First PR Job: Account Executive, Paluszek & Leslie Associates
- Best Career Advice: "Work hard, always challenge yourself to learn and be a little patient."
- Philosophy on hiring talent: Hire people who fit and embrace the culture.