Hilary Collins, MD and Founder of Big Wave PR
Hilary Collins is the founder of award-winning PR agency Big Wave PR.
The agency works with a wide range of organisations from SMEs to big brands and charities, such as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Royal British Legion and the PDSA. She is passionate about bringing brands to life with creative marcomms activity.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Big Wave PR was set-up 17 years ago to provide creative marcomms solutions to SMEs and big brands. Since that time the agency has achieved exponential growth and has walked off with top accolades. The company is most well-known for their multi-award winning campaign which challenged the Essex stereotype and for their work for the Royal British Legion, taking D-Day veterans back to where they once served to lay old ghosts to rest.
- How did you get into the industry?
Whilst studying in Cambridge I saw an ad on the window of Campus Travel, they were looking for someone to put on events and write for the student newspaper. In return they were offering free travel, I knew this job was made for me, so made sure I got it. The next couple of years were a blast and I headed off to Mexico after graduation thanks to Campus Travel. I also knew exactly what I wanted to do with my career, PR.
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
Everyone is worrying about Chat GPT and AI at the moment. I’ve found Chat GPT to be much better than I’d expected, but it’s still not really life like. So, although it can benefit some people, who may lack professional writing skills, I don’t think our roles as copywriters are dead in the water just yet.
Another challenge over recent years has been the rise in SEO, everyone pouring their marketing spend into getting their website at the top of Google rankings. It’s essential, but it doesn’t mark you out as a brand. PR is still by far the best storyteller and is one of the key ingredients to building a brand’s story and engaging with a company’s customer base. The strength of a brand will define you much more than a Google ranking.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
We have a very empowered workplace at Big Wave PR. If you have a great idea, go for it. We’re here to support and nurture, celebrate the good and be there for one another during the bad.
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I hope I just be myself. I’m a mum to three, so I think I have quite a strong caring and nurturing side. But everyone is also very aware of what needs to be done.
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
Internet connection! We’re a team that enjoy working from home, but it does require the best internet connection, so we can brainstorm daily and connect over Teams with clients and press.
But it’s creativity that sets us apart. We’re a bunch of ideas people who thrive on challenges and love coming up with new exciting ways to engage audiences and create those standout moments.
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
The past two years have been amazing for us, we’ve grown a lot during the past 24 months. We’ve cultivated a niche in awareness raising and behaviour change campaigns and it’s been really rewarding to see the results.
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
We’re looking to grow our public sector and not-for-profit arms, as well as developing our event management services.
- What are the highlights of your career so far?
As someone who was born in Essex, challenging the stereotype was a high! But it’s hard to beat seeing the impact on D-Day veterans retuning to the beaches just one last time. So many had never shared their experiences with friends and family. It was such a privilege to build awareness about this travel programme and an honour to retell their stories.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
Pressing send on an email when it wasn’t destined for that person! I check and recheck now.
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
I used to do PR for a very successful multi-million-pound overseas property company. I was keen to find out his success, he just replied: “bite off more than you can chew and keep chewing!” He’s right we do need to get out of our comfort zones, take on challenging new roles and find ways to continuously improve what we do.
