Boutique PR Agency Co-Founder Darcy Cobb Talks Start-Up, Women, and Public Relations  

When Darcy Cobb and her business partner, Aimee Yoon, founded Dotted Line Communications in 2000, they understood what was broken in the traditional public relations business model and they were committed to starting an agency that would do things differently. They established their boutique agency to address the specific needs of the tech and business clients they had been working with when they met at InterActive Public Relations, a division of Porter Novelli International. Dotted Line now has offices in Los Angeles, where Cobb is based, a New York office run by Yoon, and a Boston location run by associate partner, Denise Welch.

During our interview, Cobb answered questions rapid-fire, with the exuberant passion of a start-up CEO, not an industry veteran approaching her 16^th year with Dotted Line Communications. One could expect the rapid-fire dialogue, after all, her website mentioned that Cobb “can talk a mile a minute and think even faster,” but her excitement about her work is enough to make a person want to sign immediately on the dotted line.

Doing things Differently

Cobb and Yoon start Dotted Line when they “were pretty young,” as Cobb described and she said, “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” However, the pair recognized that what was broken in their industry was that fledglings account execs were often sent to meet with their clients’ senior level executives, to pitch ideas without having enough experience to understand the clients’ needs or the power to close the deal. Waiting for a senior level, seasoned, executive from the agency to follow up could mean a loss of valuable time in the PR world.  In contrast, the Dotted Line model pairs their senior level clients with senior level guidance and execution from day one.

While they had a clear vision for what they would offer clients and plenty of experience interacting with higher level clients, one of their early challenges, Cobb said, was they “did not have a strong sense of visibility into the behind the scenes of running a PR firm.” They also didn’t anticipate the economic downturn that began shortly after establishing DLC.

By Design

Cobb’s all-female team is composed of experienced professionals, so the client receives one-to-one expert attention.  In their business model, Cobb said, they are “your partner, not your vendor,” therefore they hire only seasoned professionals. They are a small team by design; being an all-female team was not. As they hired people, they have just stayed with very little attrition. The founders knew they wanted to keep the firm a certain size. Staying true to this vision has been one of the bigger challenges that Cobb and Yoon have faced.

Although they have a scalable model, there is a tenuous balance between supply and demand. It takes finesse to keep really great people on hand as permanent employees and, Cobb added, “they never wanted to be a group of freelancers.” Dotted Line Communications never wants to be in the position to have to either lay people off or tell a client “No.”

Keeping with the Vision

With every difficult decision, Cobb and Yoon have kept their original vision in sight so they never “become what they didn’t want to become.” Cobb said that one of their greatest successes is “still being here 16 years later” in an industry that has changed dramatically since they started in public relations. She advises other women entrepreneurs to be true to their purpose and to foster employee longevity—two things that have kept DLC on track.

Their employee longevity is one of the things of which Cobb is proudest. They have managed it, she stated, “by showing employees respect and admiration.” There’s no ruling via fear at DLC. They show their appreciation of the amazing people they hired by investing in them with team building, day trips for wine tasting, retreats and quirky office antics like the digital crown they call “the Rock star crown” worn by employees who did something great for the company.

Women Set the Tone

Don’t mistake the appreciation and admiration they show as any sort of softness. “There is a perception that women will roll quicker than men,” Cobb said with regard to the lessons that she has learned during her years at DLC. Cobb also learned how to handle people who think women can more easily be taken advantage of. She won’t apologize for asking a client for payment for her services when an account is overdue, nor will she tolerate shows of disrespect, such as showing up late for meetings. Cobb suggested women must set the rules of engagement in their businesses and stick to their guns.

The public relations world has changed dramatically since Cobb started her career. Digital journalism moves at the speed of news and there is precious little face time with media outlets or clients anymore. PR people, then, must work faster than ever before and offer a unique hook that sets them apart from the competition.

Cobb offered tips to business owners handling their own public relations:

• • • Get to know various media outlets inside and out (one of Dotted Line’s specialties) and know which segments of shows fit with your business or product.
    • Understand that you aren’t likely to get your story aired during the sports segment of a news show unless you can supply an angle that ties into sports.
    • Avoid blanket approaches like press releases that only work in certain instances, again, due to the high speed nature of media today.
    • Refrain from trying to piggyback on tragedies for PR gain; no one wants to appear to be the ambulance chaser in the wake of a horrific event.

When it is time to hire a professional public relations firm for your company, Cobb suggested:

• • • Ask for suggestions from other entrepreneurs so you can find the most qualified, proven professionals.
    • Talk to several professionals with experience to see which agency will be the best partner to you.

Although the reality of owning her own agency differs from the perception she had when she started and led her in the early days to occasionally think, “This is a lot of stress for a young person to handle,” Cobb seems to have little room for regrets or things she would do differently. A day in her life now includes juggling the enthusiastic energy of three children under age 6 with managing her firm. Even at what must be a frenetic pace, Cobb balances on the advice she gives all women in business, “Be true to your purpose.”