Tell us about you:
I empower my clients to communicate their messages with clarity, power and poise, no matter the channel or business scenario. I offer all the leaders I work with a knack for taking esoteric or challenging issues and topics and reframing them for strategic success.

Over the past 27 years, Amber has become one of Australia’s most agile communications professionals, known for her ability to devise and implement successful strategies across all forms of communications. She has worked in Australia, Asia, USA, UK and Europe, and has a deep understanding of complex geopolitical landscapes and can leverage her connections globally.

Amber spring-boarded her career as an award-winning TV and print business journalist turned media commentator, public relations director, and sought-after crisis communications consultant. She has been engaged by scores of SMEs and household name organisations including Capital.com, AMP, Deloitte, NSW Department of Customer Service, Chartered Accountants Australia, Pinnacle Investments, PwC, Finity, Westfield, Sephora, Westpac, eBay, and Stryker.  

Hundreds of well-known CEOS, business leaders and senior spokespersons have engaged Amber to help bolster their PR strategies, refine their presentation style, improve stakeholder relations and sharpen their crisis communications for the immediate and longer terms.  

Describe your biz in a sentence
Bespoke Co. deliver custom PR and communication solutions for small, medium and large organisations, helping them refine and succinctly convey their message.

Tell us how your business came to be
Left a “dream” job I had come to loathe in late 2007, and then started some media relations freelancing for some summer holiday income. The rest is history! I launched my original business, Bespoke Communications (now Bespoke Co.), in 2007 with a single client and $1,000 in the bank.

My goal? Fast-forward 16 years and I’ve become one of Australia’s most agile consultant in both traditional and digital media, public relations, crisis communications and the personal brand communications space.

What has been one of your best business calls/decisions to date?
To become a licensed media trainer and have the backing of a network of others who have the same standards of training. Not everyone can switch from reporter to trainer – it is new skill set.

If you could re-do / change something about your biz - what would it be?
Don’t be swayed by everyone who seems smart and sparkly and wants to work with you or for you. Be cautious but remain open-minded but always be kind.

What’s something raw & unfiltered you’ve been through / never told anyone about your business or motherhood?
I never wanted to be a mum in my 20s. It was not something I was wedded to and always thought of my career as my baby. It was a shock to my system to find out how challenging the ‘juggle’ was even after a global journalism and corporate PR career with all the demands of that, and when I had my first son at age 33 I had a micro business start up, I suffered from post-natal anxiety and it was very hard going. Now I love my boys and understand they chose me. I am richer for it.

Your daily motto?
“Every day is a chance for new beginnings.”

What are three things you could help other members with?  

1. Media relations

2. Podcast launching and scaling via Podcast Course: Idea To Launch in 4 Weeks (mykajabi.com)

3. Media and presentation skills training  

What’s one thing you know that will benefit our audience?
Let them know! PR is not about likes on socials, sales targets and brand awareness – it’s about connecting at a human level. That story telling thing is really the key.

What projects are coming up next?
My first ESG4PR tool is due to launch soon! We designed it to help smaller businesses measure their ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals and milestones easily and for a clearer sense of purpose for their stakeholders inside and outside their organisation.

How do you maintain your motivation?
I work in clear 90 day plans and goal setting. Nothing else has worked for me as well as that hack I learned in 2015.

What has been one of your best business calls/decisions to date?
To sell a larger agency I helped build in 2011 (and then be able to buy a house in Sydney) and then recalibrate to a simpler business model with more flexibility that allowed me to have a second child and be more present, healthy and centred.  

What is something about running your business that you wish you had been told sooner?
Money is important or you don’t have a business (it is a hobby) but you need to love what you do first. Cliché in a way but true.  

What’s the best part of being part of the Mums & Co community?
The solid community and having on tap some amazing humans to lean into and support and be supported by. We all need access to other mums doing the business thing too.

How has Mums & Co helped you?
It has given me a network that inspires and teaches me more than I could on my own.

Is there anything else you would like to share?
Being an agile and empathetic communicator is the way you can find your voice and become more than your CV.

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