Think about what you do for a living. Now, think about what you enjoy doing in your spare time. How do they compare? How are they different? While I don’t expect to be able to make a living watching episodes of The Office or playing Wii bowling, I do see ways that I have integrated public relations skills into my personal life.

For Example…
Everyone reacts differently to loss. What do I do? I do PR. When my grandfather passed away in 2008, I knew the local papers would want to cover it. Why? He was famous. No, I wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid (a term we use for clients that are unable to look at their businesses objectively). He had entrepreneurship running through his veins and always aimed BIG. And since I'm a good public relations person, I compiled a list of fun facts to support my story. He founded the largest restaurant in the world at the time, and to this day, his Aristocrat travel trailer business is still the largest selling RV line ever. He was one of four owners of the Ford Trimotor airplane (one hangs in the Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC) which was featured in the film Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom. And I was right about the press being interested. Both the San Jose Mercury News and the Morgan Hill Times covered the story, and I was excited to see that my grandfather’s feature was larger than the article about the passing of the Baskin Robbin’s founder.

When my grandmother passed away last week, I had the same reaction. She was the famous “Flying Lady” of Morgan Hill… who wouldn’t be interested in that story? I went as far as sing a song to the reporter that my grandmother used to sing to me. the Morgan Hill Times covered the announcement the Friday before her funeral service online, then in the print version today.

I think it’s important to find a way to harness the skills we learn in the workplace, and apply them in a positive way to our everyday life (and vice versa). I was successful with promoting my family for two reasons:

1) because I love them, and
2) I have the skills to do so.

In PR it’s important to have a version of BOTH key points to successfully promote a company. One must have the drive in addition to the skills. What do you think?