As a beauty PR with over 20 years in the industry, boy have I seen change. Like an old village elder I could sit here with my pipe telling y’all how it was in the good / old days, but let’s face facts it wasn’t and isn’t all that interesting – unless you were there.
But one great big change which has kind of revolutionised the way small PR agencies are run is the advent of the internship. In the olden days people, gulp, expected to be paid for working.
All those sepia toned years ago I sure could not have worked for free, I needed the, admittedly small, pay packet to pay rent and food – how decadent of me. Today however the industry seems to be skewed towards employing juniors who can afford to work for nothing, or rather whose parents can afford for them to work for nothing. I certainly couldn’t have got a foothold on the ladder if I’d have been asked to work even a few weeks without payment, I would have shuffled off to an industry which paid.
Recently I advertised for an intern, and was inundated with girls who were wide-eyed and amazed when they found out it was a paid for post. The girl that won the post had just come from a three month unpaid internship from a very well known fashion and beauty agency, (I probably shouldn’t say their name although it is tempting….), at the end of the placement they’d asked her to stay on, for another three month unpaid placement – but she just couldn’t afford to do so.
What gets me as much as the fact girls are devaluing themselves, and the less well-off are cut out of opportunities is the freeconomy that PR agencies are exploiting – for their own gain.
I know that the directors of that PR agency are no strangers to Selfridges, they own large London homes, and enjoy all the trappings of running a successful business – and why shouldn’t they? They should enjoy every moment of their success – however, call me old fashioned but they shouldn’t be letting young women (and it is generally women in beauty PR) pay for their designer wardrobe.
If the agency can’t afford to employ juniors then change the business structure so you don’t need them. Or if the company profits are slightly depleted at the end of the year then that’s the price that comes from offering everyone who works for you a living wage.
In my opinion this exploitation is the truly ugly side of a beautiful industry and I wish more people would try and change it.
thebigbeauty.com 