Being the CEO of your own company is something many people dream about. You have to have determination, discipline, and plenty of experience to ensure that your company will take off. Luckily, Jennifer Abshire had exactly that when she started Abshire Public Relations in 2000 making it a successful PR firm and loving every step of the way.

Jennifer was the executive director for Savannah’s Olympic Committee for four years leading up to the 1996 Olympic Yachting Event held in Savannah. This led her to gain many new connections on top of the connections she already had from previous work experience. Someone told her she should start her own PR firm and at first she thought she was fine with the projects she already had, but she was told if she started her own firm she would immediately have clients and it would take off. Without spending much time debating it, she took a leap of faith and started Abshire PR. She didn’t have to spend much time planning because she already had a good client base and it didn’t take much money for her to start, so it made perfect sense for her to start her own firm.

When Jennifer first started Abshire PR she was confident, but still not exactly sure where to begin. She did know what she wanted though, and she surrounded herself with really intelligent people who were able to help her along the way. Jennifer says running a PR firm is not just a one-man job, but a complete team effort. That mind set is so important when starting your own business if you want it to be successful.

If you ask Jennifer what some of the best thing are about being the CEO of her own PR firm, she will say the people. She absolutely loves all the cool and different clients she has been able to work with over the years. She will say all the press and social media side of public relations is cool, but what she really loves about her job is just being able to help people with anything they need. Although Jennifer loves her job, like with any job there will be some difficulties you run into. When she first started her business in 2000, looking back she feels she gave out too much advice and that she undersold herself by giving so much of her time to clients, not realizing how much costs were adding up, and then undercharging the clients. However, it didn’t take her long to figure out a good balance to keep her clients and herself happy.

Abshire PR started out as a Savannah-based firm, but over the years it has grown into a state-wide firm. In just the past year Abshire PR has grown 30% which is incredible. Jennifer loves that Abshire PR has extended past the Chatham County line where she is able to travel all over the state of Georgia. As of right now, our eager and fearless leader has no plans to expand much past the state line… or open up any new firms. She’s happy with where she and APR are at, and always knows there’s room for improvement!