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Eileen Koch is a well-known PR executive with a client base spread all around the entertainment world. She has provided publicity and other marketing services for athletes (e.g. Floyd Mayweather Jr., Derek Fisher), restaurants (e.g. Jay Z’s 40/40 Club), actors (e.g. Jamie Foxx, David Krumholz), actresses (e.g. Milla Jovovich, Carmen Electra), dancers (e.g. Cris Judd, Liz Imperio), charities, hairstylists, hotels…You name it, and Eileen and her team ought to know how to help brand it.
Following a career as a dancer, Eileen opened Eileen Koch & Company PR in 1990. 26 years later — and now known as EKC PR — business is strong as ever for Eileen. In turn, I thought she would be a perfect interview subject for a Really Busy People column; I first encountered Eileen when setting up an interview with her client, singer Pia Zadora. Eileen’s persistence is inspiring, and her professional journey shows how some folks wind up with successful careers that they had not necessarily planned for.
For more information on Eileen and all things EKC-related, click on over to her website.
You grew up in the Bronx. What brought you out to Los Angeles?
Eileen Koch: It was never my personal choice to move out to Los Angeles, being a true New Yorker at heart. However, when I was 16-years-old, my parents decided to move out to the West Coast, as my dad needed to make a change in his life due to his job not panning out like he had hoped. Numerous family members of his lived in L.A. and he felt moving closer to them would be the answer. So there I was smack in the middle of my junior year of high school and I had to leave everyone behind. It was not easy at first, to say the least, and I actually went back “home” to New York during summers to stay with my brother and sister-in-law since I missed them like crazy!
Has your background in dance ever tied in with your PR work?
E: Definitely! It taught me how the entertainment business operates, as I had never been directly involved with the industry before becoming involved with dance. The experience of auditioning, beating out your competition and working hard to get the job, and then performing on stage and television with some of the world’s top musical artists was beyond anything I had ever dreamed of at the time. I’m still so in awe and thankful that I was able to experience all of that. The lessons I learned from my fellow dancers, choreographers and producers — as well as just from watching and being part of the creative process every day — are priceless. I have taken my past experiences and incorporated them into my daily routine since PR is very creative and competitive. All in all, I can safely say that my dancing days were the foundation for my whole professional career.
What was your first PR-related job?
E: I was retained to do PR for a very hot, celebrity-oriented restaurant in Los Angeles named Stellini’s, and soon after that I got my second opportunity to be the publicist for Cristophe Salon in Beverly Hills. I felt so honored working on these two amazing accounts.
Who was the first major client you ever had? Or at least the first client of yours who you couldn’t believe would trust you with their image?
E: I would have to say Milla Jovovich. At that time I was running my own children’s management company called 310 Talent Management, and I discovered a then 10-year-old Milla in an acting school out in the valley. Beauty and sweetness aside, she was always extremely talented and I knew immediately that I could develop her into a star. Milla and her parents quickly became family to my daughter and I, and I personally did everything for them to assist in elevating their stance in the business. I found Milla the best agents and I helped to develop her modeling and acting career.
Honestly, the business was not always super-kind to her at first, and there were ups and downs along the way which can be rough to anyone, let alone a child. However, Milla and her parents trusted me with their heart and being able to have the full support from them, and the confidence they had to allow me to work and direct their daughter’s career was very impressive. As we know, Milla eventually became one of the world’s most well-known super-models and actresses, and I am so very proud to know that I had a major hand in that.
How does your roster these days compare to when your agency first started to thrive in the 1990s?
E: Let’s just say that compared to 20+ years ago, my roster these days thankfully allows me to pay my bills with much less stress. (laughs)
What is the biggest challenge of being a publicist?
E: The biggest challenge, and I am sure most publicists would tend to agree with me on this, is the act of fulfilling the dreams of the clients. No matter what level they are at, they just want more and more, and on a continual basis, 24/7. Not easy!
Sites like TMZ and Radar are known for breaking more stories these days than any of the more “reputable” publications. At what point did you realize that there was a need to emphasize media outlets like those?
E: My daughter and I love TMZ and we know Harvey Levin personally. Many of our clients have been interviewed on TMZ Live, as well as featured on the website, and we’ve had great experiences with them. Now, depending on the specific client and the nature of the story, sites like TMZ are fabulous for breaking news and are reputable, as long as it doesn’t cross a certain boundary and point, which I admit it can at times. In my opinion though, TMZ was the first to be unique in how they broke news as no one had really ever been as honest in a way they still continue to be and I commend them for that.
What do you wish more people knew about the PR world?
E: I wish with all my heart and soul that clients truly understood and realize that all PR firms do not control the choices made by editors, bookers, producers, etc. We are the middleman trying desperately to pitch and entice these people into choosing our client for their article or segment, but alas, we do not rule the final outcome. I have learned that no matter how close you are with an editor or producer, they ultimately will do what they want and when. It is not any PR firm’s decision, otherwise we would land every opportunity we pitch for our clients every day. Our job is to persuade and convince, and I feel we do that quite well! In general, I say to everyone, please give your PR firm time as results don’t happen overnight.
A lot of publicists don’t also do marketing. When did you realize that you could do both with your agency?
E: Not only marketing, my firm also offers branding, social media, management…the works! Being an ambitious person who loves the creative process, it was natural to want to add in other services besides publicity. Many clients come to me incomplete and don’t have all the necessary tools to get properly started, either with themselves or their brand. I realized early on that in order for my staff and I to do our very best work, our client has to also be at their very best.
At this point in your career, how does new work usually come to you? Do you ever advertise, or is more of a word of mouth existence?
E: Both. However, I must say that the internet has been my best friend over the last decade. Everyone goes online looking for PR services, and it’s really incredible how many clients I retain from them just finding my website and calling me up.
E: My firm has a very broad roster and we enjoy taking on a wide variety of clientele. With an entertainment background, I of course tend to gravitate toward that industry most, as well as beauty and fashion. But in general, I feel PR is PR and the resolution of what the client ultimately wants is the same from person to person, no matter their field. I will say though that I do try to never work with arrogant people who are living in a fantasy world and think that by hiring a PR company they will become a star overnight. If that was the case, wouldn’t everyone be a star then? It is so hard to tell these people’s true character at first most of the time, as they don’t always share their true colors right away. At the beginning, everyone is always on their best behavior.
Do you have a morning routine before you get to the office?
E: Yes, I wake up early around 7-ish, even though I fall asleep around 1:30am. However, I don’t jump right up. Instead, I rest in bed and watch the local and national news while enjoying one cup of coffee to perk me up. Then I am off and running my business again.
Are there any apps or tools that you’re especially dependent upon when it comes to staying productive and on-point? Are you a Mac user?
E: I love Apple products and have never used any other brand. All of my computers, as well as my staff’s, are Macs, and of course I have an iPhone. If you can’t find me, chances are I’m hanging out at the Apple Store. No joke!
When you’re not busy with work, how do you like to spend your free time?
E: I enjoy spending my free moments with my daughter as even though she’s all grown, she still enjoys hanging out with me. We’re best friends and love to shop together and eat at wonderful restaurants.
When things are at their most stressful in the office, what’s your best way of coping?
E: Music! I just cannot live without it. Listening to songs takes me out of any stressful situation and puts me right back to when I was young and dancing my way through life.
Finally, Eileen, any last words for the kids?
E: Having an internship with boutique PR firms is the best. Smaller companies really need you and the chances of an intern winding up in a mailroom for the entire duration is slim. You can also learn in record time if you pay attention and apply yourself. If you’re lucky, you can also learn about all walks of life and people. PR is in a breed of its own and is a wonderful field to learn how to deal with the public and help find solutions for them, and yourself along the way.