Why the best PR agencies should think like chefs
PR is reactive by nature. You’re always on, always responding, always chasing the next thing. Which makes it very easy to stay in the work and never step back from it.
We try to force ourselves to do the opposite.
Twice per year, the Story Shop team downs its pens, steps away from client work, leaves the comfortable nest of the Social Hub and goes a bit woo-woo.
Each year’s activity is based around a theme:
A trip to Lost Shore to learn to surf because, after our most impactful year yet, we needed to learn how to ride that wave.
Music lessons at Kelvinside Academy, during which we split into two “bands” and learned to play Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, because of the importance of rhythm within an agency.
Laser quest as we needed to remind ourselves of one of our core values: joy. And also because it was time to celebrate our fourth birthday.
Bouldering as we shouldn’t be afraid to climb a little higher.
You may love that type of thing, in which case we’re looking to speak to prospective storytellers so get in touch with Dannii@wearestoryshop.com, or you may find it insufferable.
But we like it, so we’ll keep shoehorning lessons into fun team building activities for as long as Story Shop exists.
A few Fridays ago, after resetting with some yoga and visualisation with our friends at the Kali Collective, we made a trip to Gordon Ramsay’s favourite restaurant in Glasgow, Ox and Finch.
Part of the Scoop group, we’ve been proudly working with the team behind Ox and Finch for just over a year. Our relationship with them is a good reminder of why we’re not sector specific. When you get close to great businesses, you start to see the same patterns, regardless of industry, and there are so many opportunities to learn.
Scoop has raised the bar of food and drink in Glasgow. They’ve done that by holding higher standards, building a dream team, looking after people, never cutting corners and thinking long term.
We have an incredible opportunity to get inside businesses like theirs and understand what makes them tick. Not only do we get to tell that story, we get to learn from them too.
So for our most recent away day, it was a no-brainer to go a bit deeper.
We spent the afternoon downstairs in the beautiful surroundings of Ox and Finch’s private dining room, where we had the chance to hear from its head chef Craig Nelson. Here are some of our top takeaways:
“Get as much feedback as you possibly can”: We get feedback ad hoc but we have not systemised it. They have, so they’re learning and iterating every single day.
“It would be boring if it was easy”: There are probably easier ways to earn a living than being a chef, or working in PR, but it’s interesting. When it’s hard, you learn and you get better. That’s a big part of it.
“You get out what you put in”: If you think of all the people you look up to, they’ve probably worked hard. There is a correction needed from the toxic working practices of the early noughties, but to really thrive, you still have to put the work in.
“Be firm to be fair”: That can be with clients or colleagues. Avoiding being firm and honest just kicks problems down the road and makes them worse.
“It’s not the guests’ fault that someone has called in sick”: This spoke to our value of fairness. If someone’s paying you to do a job, you have to find a way to deliver on everything you promised, regardless of the circumstances.
“It would be weird to do anything less than great”: This really spoke to why Ox and Finch is where it is. Many places that have been around as long as they have sink into mediocrity, but they have continually pushed to be better. That’s why it’s still leading the way in Glasgow’s food scene after all these years. It’s what we try to do every day in our own way.
And so much more. The themes - persistence, honesty, standards - are relevant far beyond the kitchen.
In our newsroom at The Social Hub, we’ll be doubling down on these themes.
Thanks to Craig for teaching us so much, to Scoop for inspiring us every day and to the whole Ox and Finch team for a tremendous day and an incredible meal.
Back to work.