February 1, 2012

A lifelong love affair with fashion led Jordan Landes-Brenman and Kelly Kepner to leverage their dual backgrounds in public relations to launch Haute House PR & Marketing in July of 2009.

After several years of working in public relations, overseeing thirty-five brands, Jordan learned the ropes and contributed to the growth of the firm. Jordan’s professional career took a turn when she decided (along with business partner, Kelly Kepner) to launch an independent fashion PR agency.

Learn how Jordan and Kelly built a successful pr agency — garnering high-profile editorial and celebrity placements in the most coveted fashion and beauty media outlets and why passion is essential for success.

How We Got Started:

After several years of working at Chanel and a local boutique PR agency, I (Jordan Landes-Brenman) teamed up with my former co-worker, Kelly Kepner, to launch our California-based fashion PR agency – Haute House PR & Marketing.

With combined experience in product placement, public relations, entertainment marketing, celebrity outreach and event planning we decided to leverage our talents. We started with a budget of $2,000; which paid for two laptops and two printers.

Fast forward to 2012 and our agency now garners client placements in hundreds of media outlets including; Glamour, Marie Claire, InStyle, Lucky, Teen Vogue, ELLE, DailyCandy.com, Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, OK!, and People Stylewatch Magazine … to name a few.

Our client’s brands can be found on A-list celebrities including Heidi Klum, Taylor Swift, Gisele Bundchen, Nicole Richie, Rachel Bilson, Halle Berry, January Jones, Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Kate Hudson, and more.

Best Success Story:

Landing twelve clients within our first five months in business, and launching a successful business at the height of the recession in 2009.

Biggest Startup Challenge:

Deciding to launch our company during a tough economic climate was risky. Most brands had no public relations and marketing budgets … and those that did had been burned by former PR firms in the past.

It took time to remind people of the value of our services, and how PR exposure translates directly into sales if leveraged correctly. We also had to prove ourselves to potential clients through garnering impressive results.

We ultimately had to overcome stigmas associated with being a young and new company. Despite these challenges we proved to our clients that we could in fact ‘deliver.’

#1 Tip for Entrepreneurs:

You have to be passionate about your industry, and also realize that your business needs to constantly evolve and adapt to survive. As someone who is personally and professionally interested in the fashion industry, it seeps into every part of my life. I’ve landed some of our largest clients just from being passionate about a brand while shopping, or while out talking to friends about clothing.

People can “smell” passion, and success will organically happen for you as long as you work incredibly hard, keep yourself educated on your field and are nice to everyone.

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