I was thinking about how I met Jayme Soulati. I think it was first on Mark Schaefer’s blog and then later on Mack Collier’s #BlogChat. It’s funny when you meet someone in your industry, who has the same friends as you, but you’ve never actually met. Jayme and I changed that pretty quickly…and you should too!
She began her career in Chicago (why did you leave?!) and now works and lives in Ohio. A funny tidbit about her? She was president of the Publicity Club of Chicago in the 90s. Having been president of the Chicago chapter of PRSA, I know how difficult that job is (so she deserves huge congrats!).
A few other interesting and tidbits about her?
- She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where she was president of the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (of course she was!).
- Jayme’s favorite successful media relations story took place in Abu Dhabi.
- She hails from a family of physicians and medical providers; her grandfather was northern Iran’s first surgeon and founder of a hospital that remains in business today.
- She loves tennis and used to play USTA 7.0 mixed doubles in Chicago.
- She is a recreational children’s soccer coach, although she never played organized football.
- Jayme’s first company was called Soulati Media Relations; launched in 1991.
- She won a Silver Trumpet from the PCC for an octogenarian’s walk across America.
- She successfully fought a legal battle against an Internet pirate in China and won intellectual property protection for a client’s domain name.
- She is a guest lecturer at academic institutions on the topics of social media, business, and public relations.
- She has traveled 20 countries and lived in Iran as a child for seven years.
- She speaks rusty German and rustier Farsi and is learning Spanish little by little.
She won a legal battle against a pirate? I have this vision of her with an eye patch swinging from a mast saying, “Ahoy ye pirate! You killed my father, prepare to die!” If I had any photoshop skills I would have put an eye patch on her photo above.
She’s a very interesting person (and it was an Internet pirate, not a real one), but the reason she is today’s #FollowFriday is because she’s doing something really important on her blog right now.
Yesterday’s subject is the definition of public relations and continues through a series of “What Is PR?”
If you’re in the PR industry or you work with communication professionals, it’s important for you to stop by her blog and leave your comments and perceptions – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through Jayme’s efforts and all of our networks, including discussions on Spin Sucks, we’re furthering our aspirations to change the awful perception of the industry.
So follow Jayme on Twitter, connect with her on Facebook, and subscribe to and engage with her on her blog. This is important – we need to create a unified front that then can change perceptions at national media and corporate America.