Founder’s Story

Allow us to reintroduce ourselves...

We're French Press PR — a boutique public relations and visibility strategy agency. Our work focuses on amplifying the voices of social impact startups, visionary founders, womxn and BIPOC entrepreneurs. In January 2021, we became an official agency — but the journey began long before then.

Here is our founder, Candice Smith's story:

The Story

When I became an entrepreneur, I knew that I'd have to go for broke to succeed. I didn't expect to actually go broke.

The story of French Press PR begins at a personal rock bottom in February 2020, when the overhead of my second business that needed to scale resulted in $6.73 in the bank and thousands in debt. But what I'd lost in profits, I'd gained in an uncovered skillset and renewed sense of purpose. During this venture I’d secured over a hundred press mentions and features on my own. So I pivoted.

French Press PR approaches public relations from a scrappy, entrepreneurial perspective — because I've been there and done it. I've lived the hustle. I've bootstrapped, invested my entire life savings into a business idea. I've gone for broke (actually gone broke) and rebuilt from the ground up. I've felt the desperation, the obsession, and the elation. It is not easy.

My prior company had helped me develop talents I hadn’t realized I had - my intuitive ability to secure media features, help develop brand stories and amplify the voices of innovative and impactful leaders. I reached out to contacts in my networks, and within a couple of weeks I had signed my first four clients.

I didn’t expect to fall in love with PR, but I have been enamored by the tangible impact, the incredible clients and an awe of my own resilience. I decided I wanted to support entrepreneurs like myself, founders who envision the world as a better place… and then hustle to make it happen. After working as a solo strategist for a few months, I was joined by Neha Gandhi as an associate publicist in the summer of 2020, and in January 2021 French Press PR was born.

The Name

Growing up, I actually spent nearly all of my weekends at a local bookstore café with my dad. As soon as we'd get there, I'd run and grab a stack of the books with the most interesting covers. We would sit for hours reading, often until they closed. As I got older, I started bringing my homework, and my dad and I would sit for hours talking about my future and college admissions. I got my first job as a barista in high school and wrote all of my college essays at a café — and, strangely enough, I actually got my college acceptance email from Harvard while we were at that same café. I continued to write and study at coffeeshops throughout college, and started my first business while sitting at a café. I suppose, to me, the coffeeshop has transcended a treasured childhood tradition - now, it represents a space of creative potential.

The Vision

At French Press PR, we strive to recreate that magic of an intimate, collaborative coffeehouse for our clients. For us, a great visibility strategy is like great coffee - it takes craft, expertise, and a bit of patience. It isn't just about sending out emails and press releases, it's about thoughtfully cultivating a rich brand story to resonate with your target audience and nurturing relationships with key influencers and media who will fall in love with your brand. We support visionary founders with social impact startups in the lifestyle, sustainable fashion, and wellness e-commerce and tech industries - with a special focus on womxn and BIPOC entrepreneurs.

~ Candice Smith, Founder & CEO of French Press PR