A Business of Relationships: Catching Up with Accomplished JCOM Alumna Annie Jackson

By Lyndi Robins

Annie Jackson embodies the success that comes through becoming involved and forming relationships. 

“Public relations is a business of relationships. It’s all about who you know,” Jackson said, vice president and deputy chief of staff at Small Girls PR (SGPR).

Jackson got her start at SGPR during her senior year at Utah State University. While a presidency member of USU’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), Jackson acted as the student liaison for Mallory Blair, CEO and co-founder of Small Girls PR, when Blair visited USU to present at the Mountain West PRSSA conference. 

Blair brought two colleagues with her to speak at the conference.

“I hung out with the three of them all weekend and showed them around Utah. I took them to the Fun Park, so they could have a real Logan experience,” Jackson says.

Blair was impressed with Jackson’s work as an intern for ABC4 Good Things Utah and as Jackson drove Blair to the Salt Lake City airport following the conference, Blair offered Jackson an internship in New York City at Small Girls. 

“I had been interviewing for jobs, but hadn’t committed to anything yet,” Jackson says. “She told me, ‘We have never hired anyone, but if you would like to be our intern, we would be willing to bring you on for the summer.’”

From there, the car ride turned into a job interview and Jackson’s career began.

Jackson graduated from USU in 2012 with a degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. After graduating, she moved to New York City and started at SGPR.

Following her internship, SGPR offered Jackson a full-time job and she has been there for 11 years. Through her career at SGPR, Jackson worked through the ranks as an account executive, account supervisor and director. 

In August 2020, she became a senior director over a press and media relations team, specifically focusing on beauty and wellness clients. She has overseen big-name accounts inluding Billie, Madewell, Zappos and Chatbooks. Jackson was named to her current position in June 2022.

Because she came in as SGPR was starting out, Jackson had the opportunity to work in several departments, ultimately landing in media relations.

“Today we have three-dedicated teams. One is focused on media and press work, which is where I sit; one is focused on influencer and digital work; and one is focused on events and experiential work,” Jackson says. “I tried all those pieces and realized I was most interested in the media relations side of it.”

SGPR has grown since Jackson’s first day. The company now employees over 75 people, serves a variety of clients and has offices in New York City and Los Angeles.

“One of the things I like the most [about public relations] is the opportunity to be creative,” Jackson says. “Creativity is always a challenge, but it’s one that brings a great sense of accomplishment.”

She believes creativity is required to foster beneficial relationships in public relations and views relationships as the key to success for a publicist. 

“You need to be building a network, which can be intimidating coming out of school,” Jackson says. “One huge benefit to starting out in your career as a new publicist is there are a bunch of writers who are also starting out in their careers. Start identifying who those people are.”

Jackson urges public relations students to start building their network now by reaching out to others, even if it’s just to get to know each other. Jackson advises new publicists and journalists to learn from their colleagues and use public platforms, such as Twitter or LinkedIn, to build connections.

“Twitter is an amazing resource,” Jackson says. “If you don’t already have a Twitter account, make sure to get one and use it to start following, not just outlets, but individual writers.”

After almost 10 years in New York City, Jackson relocated to SGPR’s Los Angeles office in 2021 to build a West Coast-based media relations team. Now closer to family and with greater executive responsibilities at SGPR, she’s enjoying this next phase of her career.