October 12, 2014

International Talk: Christina Rice, Founder & CEO of LuxeLife Media Inc

Christina Rice is the Founder & CEO of LuxeLife Media Inc, a PR and Marketing agency based in New York. Christina has a wealth of experience in PR & Fashion working for many high profile brands & celebrities as well as in business-starting her first at the age of 21. We were extremely fortunate to meet with Christina in New York where she shares with us how she has managed to create a reputable brand in a competitive market, her success strategies, the challenges that she has had to overcome and what it takes personally and professionally to make it to the top in PR & Marketing. 

Can you tell our readers a little about your role and LuxeLife Media?
I am the Founder & CEO of LuxeLife Media, we are a full service PR and Marketing agency based in New York. We are responsible for our clients’ brand development and securing media exposure for their projects/companies. Some of our clients include Demetria Lucas (Relationship expert, author and cast member on Blood, Sweat & Heels on US cable channel Bravo), Angela Benton (Founder & CEO of NewME Accelerator) Necole Bitchie (Celebrity Blogger), Frederick Hudson (Tech Entrepreneur, Founder/CEO of Pigeonly) and more. We also produce large scale events for New York Fashion Week, the Grammy’s, SuperBowl, and BET Awards, to name a few.
During your teenage years did you envision having a career in PR and owning your own business?
No, when I was younger I wanted to be an attorney. However, once I was in college at Tennessee State University, I decided to study Business Information Systems and Computer Science as I wanted to build databases for businesses.
You started your first business at 21, can you tell us how this happened? 
When I graduated, I realised that pursuing a career in Business Information Systems wasn’t something that I wanted to do because I just did not have a passion for the industry. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at that point. Then one day, I was out shopping in Nashville and thought of the idea to open up my own boutique. When I told my friends, they said that I should work in a retail store first to get some experience and understand the industry. However, I am the type of person that once I make up my mind to do something, I go for it!

Of course I made sure I put all the pieces in place before opening my store. I always advise people to do things your own way and do what makes you feel comfortable. You are your own person and everyone will not share the same vision as you.

I spent 8 hours in Barnes and Noble (bookstore) researching and reading about owning  a retail store and where to get my products and inventory. I made sure to find out where all the trade shows took place and what type of products and designers I wanted to carry in my store. Then 8 months later, I finally opened up my store.

It was a great learning experience and it definitely prepared me for the stage where I am at now as I learned all aspects of running a business from budgeting, managing staff, being a leader, self-motivating, marketing and in particular how to market myself.

After 3 years of running your store in Nashville, you made the brave decision to move to New York. What made you decide to take this big risk? 
At that point my store had been open for 3 years and frankly I was burned out and and I was ready to leave Nashville. I had some friends in New York who were in the music business and they encouraged me to move out there. I sold everything that I had in my store and moved to New York.

So what happened when you arrived in the Big Apple?
I stayed with those same friends for a couple of months who had an artist they were managing and I began to help out with some of the marketing for that artist. One day, my friend told me that I would make a great Publicist-however-I did not even know what a publicist did! So, I started to research the role of a Publicist and began to look for jobs in Fashion PR because I felt like it would suit my experience from running my own boutique. I am very big on research because you can find anything on the internet, whether it is a piece of information, how to do something or where to go.

I handed my CV to a few companies and was invited for an interview at a French owned clothing company, Lucien Pallet-Finet, who was based in Paris but had a store/showroom in New York. After interviewing me, they liked me and hired me to manage their PR for the North American Market. I still had no idea what I was doing! However, I figured it out along the way. I taught myself how to write my first press release by googling it! I always encourage people to be as resourceful as possible, to research, read, ask questions and learn how to teach yourself things so that you can be self-reliant. Therefore, whatever challenge that you are faced with, you would have developed the tools to figure it out.

How have you managed to keep ahead of your competition and succeed in your industry?

I read a lot – magazines, books on business and marketing so that I am aware of what is going on in my industry. Every morning, a member of my staff scours the internet for news that is relevant to our clients, either new developments in their industry, what their competitors are doing or generally for it to inspire story ideas for our clients we can pitch to the media.

What are your favourite books?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and every book ever written by Mitch Albom.

The books that I like to read are based on life principles that you can apply everyday. One of the things I am always telling my staff is actually one of the 4 Agreements- ‘Don’t take it personal’ as I know I can be quite stern!

There are some people who obviously are very negative and don’t have your best interests at heart and those are the people you should not have in your circle. However, the people that are willing to not sugar coat things are the ones you need in your life. Even if they offer constructive criticism of your work or something you have done, you have to look at it as a teachable moment for you.
If somebody is negative towards you, it is really more about them, than it is about you. Don’t take on their negative energy. Whenever someone tells me something I cannot do or generally criticises everything I do: that is not about me! It is about YOU and it is your issue alone.

Let’s move forward to today: How did you set up LuxeLife Media?
After working in high end luxury fashion PR, I decided I wanted to move into entertainment PR and work with celebrities and big brands. I had managed to build strong relationships in the industry and I was able to get a referral to a PR Firm working with actors, musicians, spirits brands and organising events. I stayed with this firm for about two years and then went back into fashion PR in-house at a clothing company called Akademiks, where I handled corporate PR for the founders and celebrity product placement (i.e. getting celebrities to wear the clothes), company events and more. It was great because I was able to have my hands in everything.

Then around 2009 when the economy was really bad, the team that brought me in was let go. I had planned to leave myself at some point months later but sooner than I expected, they let me go as well.I found myself, sitting down asking myself ‘Ok, so now what?’At that point I had built even more great relationships, so it was just the right time to start working for myself. I have always been an entrepreneur at heart and knew this is what I was supposed to be doing. I started off small-working from home in February 2010. After 18 months I realised I needed an office in the City where my whole team could be together because we had several big events during New York Fashion Week. In May 2014, we recently moved to our biggest office to date near Times Square.

Describe a day in the life of Christina Rice

6am: I usually wake up around 6am and then go to the gym. I have just started to get into the practice of meditating as it’s an opportunity for me to get all of my thoughts centred and my mind in the right direction for the day.
9:30am: I arrive at my office at around 9:30am and my morning ritual is to read the newspapers. Then as a team, the first thing that we do is read all the top stories of the day. I always tell my team that it is important for us to know what is going on around our industry. We then have a team meeting about what needs to be done for the day and brainstorm ideas and look at all our clients and what they all have going on at the moment. This all happens before 10:30am.
10:30 – 6pm: During this time, my day is a series of conference calls, meetings, correspondence with clients, pitching editors, following up with editors,brainstorming with the team etc. Lunch never happens when it’s supposed to but I normally get to it sometime mid-day.
7:00pm: I usually leave the office at around this time and if I can I try to get to a Yoga class.

Sometimes we may have events for our clients that take place in the evening. Recently we managed a swimwear launch collection for a fashion client and we just had a book release party for Demetria Lucas in two different cities. If it is a busy week then we have to put in the extra hours. One day during Fashion Week, I didn’t leave my office until 1:15am.

What has been your toughest challenge to date?

Overall just running a business is a challenge. I am constantly switching between the creative part of what we do, to actually managing the company. We spend our days thinking of these big ideas for clients, their brand messaging and a creative and unique message to relay to the media and their consumer about their products. Then I have to take all of that energy from creative side of the business and think about budgets, invoices, payroll, taxes and expenses. I have to be two different people in all aspects of the business at all times

What has been the highlight of your career? 

That happened very recently this September! It was during New York Fashion Week. We were hired to handle Front of House Management for the Serena Williams & HSN Show. Front of House production consists of managing the red carpet, guest check-in, talent wrangling, pre and post event media coverage & seating assignments etc

The highlight of the experience was having Anna Wintour attend our event! We had to liaise with her team about her arrival and I had to personally escort Ms. Wintour to her seat. To do an event during fashion week is a huge accomplishment in itself but to get someone such as Serena Williams who had just won the US Open and fashion goddess Anna Wintour to walk through the door of an event that you are managing is like a dream.

Finally, what is next for you and LuxeLife Media?
We recently went through a brand overhaul. Moving into the new office inspired me to freshen up our branding, i.e. new logo, new website, new and improved capabilities deck. I’m also moving the company into a different direction in terms of the types of clients we work with. Most recently we’ve started working with technology based companies and entrepreneurs. I am really passionate about female entrepreneurs and in particular-young African-American girls and boys learning how to code so they can have more options in their career choice. I am more drawn to programmes that offer them these opportunities.

Keep up to date with Christina follow her on twitter @CRicePR

To find out more about LuxeLife Media follow them on twitter @LuxeLifeMedia or visit their website http://www.luxelifemedia.com/

Thank you to Christina for taking the time to meet with our Founder Vanessa Sanyauke whilst in New York.