What Roxy Jacenko learnt at the top as the ‘PR Queen’ walks away from Sweaty Betty

‘PR Queen’ Roxy Jacenko has called time on her long reign at Sweaty Betty, the leading public relations company she founded nearly two decades ago, with the 42-year-old saying it was time to bid goodbye to the 9-5 and focus on her brands.

Jacenko started the agency when she was just 24 years old, describing herself as “desperate to succeed” with “no university degree, a half-finished TAFE course, four months’ PR experience and a small office with a fax machine and cordless phone”.

She went on to represent more than 70 clients including Peugeot, Coles Supermarkets, and Harris Scarfe, as well as star (and place runner up) in the third season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, and even sign a deal for her own semi-scripted reality television show called The Sweat Box (it was cancelled after the pilot).

Jacenko’s debut semi-fiction book, Strictly Confidential: A Jazzy Lou Novel made waves in the industry in 2012 amid its revealing exposé of public relations and fashion, while a sequel called The Rumour Mill: A Jazzy Lou Novel came next.

“Fast forward to today and I have weathered storms one could only assume you would see on a miniseries and heck, I think I’ve done it with gusto. But now it’s time for me to hang my PR shoes up (and no they were never stilettos they were trainers — why? Cause you can’t run in them) and say goodbye to my working life as I know it,” she said.

“I’m proud — I feel like I earned that title I’ve been labelled ‘PR Queen’ and at the same time, I have tears because wow what a f***ing ride it’s been!”

Jacenko tells SmartCompany that the high point of her 18 years as the monarch of Sweaty Betty and, for many years, as the category leader in Australian PR, was actually yesterday when she hung up her crown for good.

“Stepping down at the peak, I’m proud that I have changed the game and am able to now focus my energies on other opportunities,” Jacenko said.

Jacenko will be building her own brands (children’s store Pixie’s Pix and candle seller XRJCelebrations) while managing social media influencers in fashion, beauty, fitness and more at her new project, talent management company The Ministry Of Talent.

In addition, her daughter Pixie — who is 10 years old — has launched two businesses: Pixie’s Bows, a hair company, and more recently, Pixie’s Fidgets (a toy company) which made more than $200,000 within its first month of operation.

Jacenko joked that Pixie, who has the same entrepreneurial spirit as her mum, could probably retire at 15 years old, all things considered.

But it was youthly aspiration paired with dogged determinedness that got Jacenko to the top of her highly populated field of PR. When asked what Jacenko would tell herself at 24, the first thing that sprung to mind is “failure is not an option”.

“Just because that’s how they do it, it doesn’t mean you follow,” she added.

“Do it differently and make people want to know more.

“The world didn’t need another PR girl who wanted to replicate what was already being done.”

And even though things look a lot different now in the PR world than when Jacenko was making her mark in the early 2000s, she says the winning approach remains the exact same — nurturing human relationships with real-world connections.

“When I started, there was no digital media, it was all traditional — print, TV, radio — it forced people to pick up the phone and communicate to get that story up,” she said.

“You had to hustle, you had to be hungry and you were only as good as your black book. It was a joy, you built relationships and you got in front of people.”

Now that social media leads the charge for most brand strategies — which does make local products and services accessible the world over — Jacenko says the industry can be “less hungry” for building bonds.

“I think the most important thing for PRs to remember is that traditional PR is not dead and there is still plenty of room to nurture those relationships,” she said.

“Not just relying on sending product services out to influencers and think that will create a loved and adored brand.”

So what does it take to create a loved and adored brand? For those coming in Jacenko’s wake, or PR experts looking to tap into a little of her star power, she channels Kim Kardashian when she says: “Get ready to work.”

“Buckle up, it’s been a long, hard and challenging journey, I have been the first to arrive, the last to leave, worked seven days a week for the past 18 years and I can assure you if you want what I have and have achieved you need to be willing to sacrifice everything,” she said.

“There have been the highest highs and the lowest lows — be willing to have an open door policy to everyone and everything that comes to you.”

Her last piece of advice? Summon your inner Richard Branson when one feels in over one’s head, Jacenko says.

“If you don’t know how to do it, say yes and work it out after!”