You make your own luck

“I didn't have a leg up. I was very fortunate to have a brain that wanted to learn. I was a natural academic, obviously, that plays a huge part. But the people I know, and the opportunities that I've got, are because I've had to go out and make that happen.

On a regular Tuesday afternoon, we had the opportunity to chat with the lovely Charlotte Tobin. She is an inspiring ordinary person who followed her gut with determination, dreamed beyond the obvious, and agreed that pineapple does NOT belong on pizza.

She is currently representing a world-famous roster of public figures and brands with her team at BellePR and dedicates part of her free time to several charity projects and social causes.

We talked about the early days, getting your foot in the door, tough decisions, motivation, and more.

The start of the journey

I've had a very normal working-class upbringing. I went to a state school where it was a bit hit-and-miss if you were going to go on to fly and do amazing things. But I love to learn, I love to listen and from there, my education became really important to progress in my life. So from school, I then went on to university and studied history and loved it. I met new people - friends, tutors, and teachers. All of that has led me to today.

I am 34. So I’m still young for having a company of eight years. I started it on my own at my kitchen table. I could just about pay my rent in London but I loved it. I took a risk. It was lonely, very lonely actually. I was on my own and I didn't know how it was gonna go by. I've worked hard and eight years on, I'm very, very happy. And there's a team of seven of us. We're based in central London in Covent Garden. It's a beautiful part of London. And I've got a brilliant roster of clients who are the most talented people in the world, literally. So I'm very honored to work with them.

You studied history and wanted to become a lawyer. Did you by that time already know about PR?

No, I didn't. No one told me about it at school. I just didn't know what it was. I would read a magazine and I wouldn't think beyond what I was reading. Obviously, there are celebrities, where you live and where I live. I didn't understand that world. You take it for granted that people are famous or people aren't. Or if you buy this jacket, why am I going into that shop and not that shop? You just live as a consumer, so no, I didn't.

Once I’d already started my legal training I took a turn to PR. I read an article in the newspaper about communications and PR. And I just thought, “Wow, I'd love to do that”. Already at university, I was the president of the History Society, I sat on all these boards and I loved it. I love being part of it. I love communicating. I love meeting people. And I love to write. I could write really well. I mean, I've got a history degree, and I had to write four essays a week. And, all of those skills combined, made me almost the perfect candidate to be a successful publicist. But I just didn't know it existed until I was in my early twenties.

Getting your foot in the door

Did you immediately make the switch to PR?

Literally immediately. I researched the best PR companies in the UK, and I literally listed them from A to Z and then called the top ones. And bizarrely it was based quite near where I lived. I begged for work experience, but they didn't want to speak to me, I'll be honest with you.

The reality is that it was a very difficult industry to get into, especially the celebrity and talent side because it's highly confidential. So you don't want people in your office that could hear and leak things. It wasn't worth it for them to have me there as a risk.

I convinced them, signed an NDA confidentiality contract, and they gave me two weeks. I went for the two weeks unpaid, and I just loved it. I loved it so much and stayed there for years until I was Head of PR. But in the beginning, I worked totally for free. I would waitress every evening. So I would be there in the day between eight and five and then I would start waitressing at six till midnight every single day. And every Saturday and Sunday I would waitress as well. I never had a day off. Luckily they then created a position for me and paid me as a full-time member of staff.

It was still a very low salary back in those days so I still waitressed just not as much, but I still had two jobs. And that was quite tough. I loved it so it wasn’t about the money but you have to live, you still have to eat and pay rent. I’ve never looked back. In the first hour, I knew I’d found my ‘calling’. It sounds so cliche but I love the buzz, I loved how fast things could change, and not everyone copes well with that. People quite like strategy and routine, but that bores me. Finally, I found a job that was so interesting.

Following your dream

“They offered me a partnership at my agency, which was amazing. I was 26, they offered me the best contract, you know, money, health care, ready-made company. But I turned it down for nothing. I turned it down for an idea.”

How was it to make that switch from working in a company to starting your own?

It was a really big decision. I was head of PR at one company and then moved to a bigger agency which was a really big move for me. It was an elevation in company, brands, and talent. It was the best career move I could have made. My bosses really encouraged me. But from there to my own company was a really big decision. They offered me a partnership at that agency which was amazing. I was 26, and they offered me the best contract, money, healthcare, and a ready-made company. But I turned it down for nothing. I turned it down for an idea. It was really difficult.

I had a lovely upbringing but I didn’t have a lot. So when at such a young age basically, you’re sorted. Here’s a contract, here’s money, here’s security. It’s very hard to turn that down. I just felt that I could do it myself and do it my way. I thought I would try it and in the worst-case scenario, I could go back if they would have me back. For me, the risks were high because it was scary but I was never beyond going back. That was an okay option for me because I loved it there.

You mentioned that there were a lot of long and lonely days. At that time you didn’t have an outlook on what to expect. How did you manage to motivate yourself during that period?

I think when you read business books or follow business accounts on Instagram or LinkedIn, a lot of entrepreneurs and startups say it was almost their divine right, intention, or intervention to start a business. For me, it wasn’t like that. I thought I could do something better and offer a more accessible service. So for me, I’m an accidental entrepreneur.

So what happened then is, I was really lonely. No one teaches you how to run a business. I went from a really big team, which I loved, to just being on my own here at my kitchen table. It was a really lonely time, and people didn't talk about it. People talk about how hungry they were and how passionate they were. Of course, I had those things too. I wanted to do it, and I’m an ambitious person. But I’m really here to keep it real. I want people to understand that if you start your own business, especially when you're on your own, that’s really tough. I didn’t have a co-founder and I didn’t have staff.

I think that you must have resilience, especially in the early days. Like you said, when you don’t know if it’s gonna work or not it’s always gonna be a risk. To be honest, I didn’t mind going back to work for someone else. I would have been absolutely fine with that. For me, I didn’t hate my job before. I loved it. They offered me a partnership and I wanted to stay there. So for me, it wasn’t like “I hated my job, I quit. I walked out and then came up with this new idea.’ It wasn’t like in a lot of business books. It was literally, this is a crossroads for me and it’s now or never to try it. And it worked. I’m sitting here talking to you today.

In and out of The Zone

“PR and communications is a lifestyle choice as well as a career choice. Every day, I’ve got new challenges which I thrive on but it’s very tough. Every day I go out of my comfort zone, there’s always a new challenge. I’m working with people, and people are multifaceted individuals, they're going to make mistakes, and they’re going to have good days and bad days.”

We are very curious to understand what The Zone means to you?

I’m a strong character so I’m always in my zone. I have to push my comfort zone every single day. It’s a difficult job. Naturally, I do like my comfort zone. I do like going home and sitting with my dogs and just doing nothing. That’s my comfort zone. I love a roast dinner and reading a book. That’s all comforting to me but I can’t just sit in that so I will have moments where I need that. I thrive off 90% of the time going outside my comfort zone, even though at the time I’m like “Why am I doing this?”, afterward I’m like “That’s why, it gives me the above.”

A lot of my clients live 100% out of their comfort zone. I do 90%. Honestly, I still need comfort, I still need those downtimes, and I still need to do what I love and what’s good for me. I’m not a superhuman. I still have days where I just want to sit on the sofa and just be me and not push my boundaries for a minute. I need that downtime too.

Advice

“Whilst literally, there are 24 hours in the day, but the reality of life is, where you are born, what your skin colour is, if you’re able-bodied or disabled, your gender.… All of those things will dramatically impact how well you do in life.

And “what is success?”. For many people, success is eating, putting a roof over your head, and being warm. My success might be winning an award or this or that but they’re very different things. I think that’s why you need to have a leveller on life and sometimes stop and realise what’s inspirational to me and you might be very different to someone else.”

Do you have any advice for our readers?

A very general tip but, you make your own luck. Again, that looks different for everyone. But having that conversation, staying a bit later at work, looking outside the obvious. A lot of very successful people that I know, in terms of business, they’ve all gone slightly over what’s normal or what they feel is achievable, and they’ve made their own luck. That could be an athlete, it could be a tv presenter, it could be an author. For a lot of my best-selling authors, it took them five years before anyone would even email them back and read their book. A lot of my athletes were not getting picked for their teams, so they had to stay late. They had to work harder at their skill until they were picked. Luck breeds luck, and fortune brings fortune. Most of my clients have that story of survival or hustle or whatever that looks like for them. So, yeah, you make your own luck.