Welcome to the PRmoment podcast. Today we’re chatting to Laura Burch, founder and managing partner at Work & Class and Roxy Kalha, founder and managing partner at The Heard about the challenges of founding a PR agency as a women.

Laura and Roxy launched Work & Class and The Heard, in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

The final date to get your early entries in for The PRmoment Awards is Tuesday 16 December, we can't wait to see what you have done this year. 

Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here is a summary of what Roxy and Laura discussed with PRmoment founder Ben Smith:

Is it harder as a female founder in PR?

Roxy and Laura both give a shout out to The Lonely Female Founders Club.

What are the hardest parts of being a female founder?

Why does Roxy dislike the term imposter syndrome?

Who are Laura and Roxy’s female PR founder role models?

What are the biggest barriers to women launching a PR agency?

Which behaviors reduce the confidence of female employees? Described by Roxy and Laura as “death by a thousand cuts.”

What were the catalysts that made Roxy and Laura decide to launch their own businesses?

What are the variables that can help more female founders launch more PR firms?

Key points from the discussion include:

Gender Bias and Barriers:

It is generally hard to found any business, but it is harder for women due to cultural, structural, and systemic barriers. These barriers include:

Limited access to capital; women account for only two percent of VC funding annually.

Limited or unstable maternity benefits and the difficulty of returning to work after having a baby.

Caring responsibilities are more likely to fall to women than men.

Overcoming Barriers and Launching Agencies:

Both women waited until later in life to launch their businesses, in part because of family and financial considerations.

Laura Burch and Roxy Kalha discuss the intersectionality of class, noting that not coming from wealthy backgrounds made it harder to take risks because they lacked money to fall back on.

Laura Burch launched Working Class in 2024, with the idea of setting up an agency powered by working-class people to help brands connect with working-class audiences. Working Class's first client was Sky Arts. The agency is on track for a good second year, having made more fee income in the first half of the second year than the whole first year.

Roxy Kalha launched The Herd in 2023 after receiving encouragement from others, like Rachel Bell and Lee Beattie and Pam Scobbie from John Doe. The Herd has been profitable since day one, never been fired by a client, and has achieved 50% year-on-year growth. Notable clients include Waitrose and W Hotels.

Imposter Syndrome and Confidence:

Roxy and Laura agreed that the premise of imposter syndrome exists, but they disliked the term "syndrome" because it makes it sound like an illness.

They argued that this lack of confidence is a result of living in a historical "man's world" where women do not feel they have a legitimate space at the table.

Role Models:

There are many amazing female role models in public relations who are founders of successful businesses.

Laura Burch's admired female founders are: Sarah Waddington (founder of Socially Mobile and current PRCA CEO), Effie Kanyua (founder of We Are Warriors PR and the AI tool LILA), and Kamiqua Lake (founder of UK Black Comms Network and Coldr).

Roxy Cara's admired female founders are: Rachel Allison (from Axe and Saw) and Katy Powell (from Bottled Imagination) and Hope&Glory’s Jo Carr.

Improving the Industry for Female Founders:

The PR sector can be improved through more flexibility and trust in the workplace, and by giving women more opportunities in senior leadership positions.