Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine M. Rothman.
Katherine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began working in public relations following a foray in the music business. I left the music industry because I felt that it was too much of a “boy’s club.” The PR industry has always been more female friendly. I worked in music PR and then I transitioned to PR for television shows. The job that really helped me on my path to owning my own business was working for a medical PR firm. In this company, the owner really gave me a chance to shine at 24 years old. Medical PR at that time was a new niche of the business. I told the owner of the company that I wanted to travel throughout The United States to pro-actively search for new clients. Pretty soon I found myself in almost every major city meeting with plastic surgeons, dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and others. Within a year, I tripled the roster size of this agency. After staying with this firm for several years, I decided to go out on my own at the age of 28. I opened my PR firm, KMR Communications in 1998, first as a medical public relations firm and shortly thereafter expanded to include beauty, fitness and fashion clients. By the time I was 30 in the year 2000, I had 20 employees and dozens and dozens of clients nationwide. I am proud to say we are still in business and thriving 20 years later.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One of the struggles was being such a young business owner and dealing with both clients and employees who sometimes were a great deal older. Being young and a woman, one has to really prove that you have the “chops” and deserve to be where you are.
Another challenge was the recession that began in 2008. PR is a discretionary expense so some individuals and companies eliminated it all together and others decreased their monthly budgets. At that time, we were in the same boat as everyone else. I knew if we could economize internally and continue to do the best work possible, that we could weather the storm. Doing so meant raising the bar in terms of our client media results and going above and beyond to surpass client expectations.
Another challenge has been the proliferation of beauty/medical PR firms that exist now. In the first few years of KMR Communications, we had somewhat of a monopoly on this niche of the business. Now that there is stiff competition with both boutique and large firms, we really have to rely on our vast industry experience and knowledge to keep pace and surpass the competition. I like to think this makes us better as a whole. We have to keep current, constantly broaden our knowledge base and figure out how we can provide more value added benefit for our clients.
Please tell us about KMR Communications.
KMR Communications is a boutique PR firm in Miami Beach. The firm was started by CEO Katherine Rothman in 1998 in New York City. We specialize in PR nationwide and worldwide for clients in the arenas of beauty, health and fitness. The firm was based in New York City until 2012 when we moved to Miami Beach just off of Lincoln Rd. KMR Communications was one of the pioneers in public relations for those in aesthetic medicine such as dermatology, plastic surgery, and medi-spas. We were also early providers of PR for skincare, haircare, fitness products and services, and medi-spas. As a company we are very proud of our “firsts” in the industry. We were the first to throw a “Botox Party” which was covered by CNN at the time. We introduced the fat melting technique Mesotherapy to the United States with our client Dr. Marion Shapiro, We represented the Hairmax Laser Comb, a first ever at home device approved by the FDA to regrow hair for men and women. We were the longtime PR agency of record for the fitness franchise “The Bar Method” which is a favorite of celebrities, and we represented Bosley Hair Restoration which is the world’s largest hair restoration company.
We were also very honored to produce a launch party for a yoga music DVD “Lokah” the Ivy Ceiling” where we had Sting and Russell Simmons as our guests in addition to “The Real Housewives of New York City” cast. The event was featured on an episode of that show. Another highlight was when KMR CEO Katherine Rothman was interviewed for a segment on “CBS News Sunday Morning” to address the topic of doctors and public relations. She appeared in the segment alongside the cast of TV’s “The Doctors” and famed dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone. Recently, KMR was named “one of the top three beauty PR firms in the nation” by http://www.everything-pr.com.
What sets our business apart?
What sets KMR apart from other firms of its kind is our specific industry experience with beauty/health/medical clients, our in depth knowledge of these sectors, and the personal attention we give to each and every client. As the CEO, Katherine Rothman is totally hands on with every account.
Is Miami a good place to be for business?
Miami is a burgeoning city. It is a good place to “get your feet wet.” If one is doing hospitality PR i.e. for restaurants and hotels, this is an ideal city. If you seek a different niche of PR such as tech, investor relations or celebrity PR, Miami only has a limited number of PR firms that one can choose from. Miami is growing by leaps and bounds each year from both a cultural perspective and in terms of infrastructure. There are places we have now that were non-existent 3 or more years ago such as Brickell City Center, the fabulous retail stores of the design district, and all of the amazing restaurants in Wynwood. I think all that Miami needs is time to become everything it can be. If businesses here hire more “home grown talent” instead of turning to New York or Los Angeles, that will help individuals living in Miami to thrive financially, it will keep the talent pool here, and help our overall local economy. Almost all of my staff, both interns and account executives have been students or alumni of University of Miami and I have been really pleased with these KMR team members and the way U of M has prepared them for this field.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1688 Meridian Avenue
Suite 700
Miami Beach. Florida - Website: www.kmrcommunications.com
- Phone: 305 771-2425
- Email: info@kmrpr.com
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