Podcast Ep 266: Harris PR owner Sonia Harris Pope explains why more diversity is needed in the Irish PR industry and proves actions speak louder than words.
Like most professions in Ireland, whether it’s law, journalism, teaching, banking or medicine, the PR profession could also be tarred with claims that its practitioners tended to come from similar backgrounds, schools, regions, and even look and sound the same.
That’s a sweeping generalism, of course. However, the reality of a modern Ireland with a growing, multicultural population and a variety of issues and challenges, the business of communication touches upon every sector and segment of our lives from politics to entertainment to commerce and requires different voices and perspectives.
“So many people in our industry went to the same schools, from the same areas, had the same opportunities, and are highly privileged traditionally. We want to change that. We want to grow with Ireland, and we’re encouraging other agencies to do the same”
It also means access to the business of PR requires fewer barriers to entry.
For these reasons Sonia Harris Pope, owner of award-winning PR agency Harris PR, embarked on creating a bursary that creates a pathway for people from under-represented groups in society to train in public relations and communications.
Last year, Harris PR joined forces with the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and the Open Doors Initiative to create a place on the PRII’s Diploma in PR with a nine-month fully-paid internship.
Having taken on last year’s candidate Carolina Lucca as a full-time employee, Sonia Harris Pope spoke with ThinkBusiness about the impact of bringing better diversity into a traditional sector and her own career.
Different voices, different perspectives
“I started the agency in the middle of the recession 16 years ago,” Harris recalls. “I had a background in agency work for 10 years and spent a couple of years with the Sunday Independent [as a journalist]. At the time, I wanted to do something a little different. I felt that there was always this worry about over-servicing an account and working too closely with marketing teams, going a bit further than the PR scope. And that’s what I love doing.
“When I set up my business, that’s what I set out to do – go that little bit above and beyond to work closely with our client teams. Some of our biggest clients, blue chip PLCs, only have one person working in the marketing department, no head of comms, no anything. So we’re the boots on the ground for many companies in Ireland.”
As well as Ireland’s social transformation, the world has been engulfed by a digital transformation that began 30 years ago and has accelerated since the pandemic. With that, the business of communications professionals has had to adapt.
“Over the years, we’ve been doing more of that – looking at marketing plans, building social pages, launching Facebook pages. Over the last couple of years, we took a strategic approach, appointing a senior leadership team with strategic hires through digital and graphic design. Now we can build websites, do full digital marketing, all as an add-on. We have experts in each area of the agency so we’re servicing our clients and growing with them.
“There’s been a major shift that we’ve noticed over the last few years. We’re seeing really respected media houses creating content specifically for their digital platforms. You see the likes of The Irish Times and NewsTalk doing it really well, where journalists are creating content for TikTok and Instagram, where people are consuming their news.”
The shift to AI has the potential to upend a myriad of professions, but as Harris sees it professional communications will always require the human touch.
“There are certain things AI can do and can do really well, and there are things that it can help us with to be more efficient. But AI can never do what we do. When you look at what industries are threatened by AI, I still think there’s going to be a role for real people for a long time yet, because it’s the nuances AI can’t get, the empathy that you can’t get from a robot, essentially. And we’re a little bit more friendly to the environment as well – we only need a glass of water a day!”
Be the change you want to see
2024-2025 Harris PR Bursary recipient Carolina Lucca with Sonia Harris, Open Door Initiative CEO Jeanne McDonagh and Dr Martina Byrne
Ever the realist, Harris saw that the changing societal and technological landscape needs to reflect those changes by bringing different voices and perspectives to the table. This realisation led to her creating the bursary with the PRII and the Open Doors Initiative.
“It was something we’d been thinking about for quite a while. As we were turning 15 last July in 2024, we were thinking about what we could do to mark that. Rather than throw a cocktail party, which is really tempting, we looked at creating a legacy piece – how can we establish legacy and safeguard the future of our industry?
“I rang Dr Martina Byrne in the Public Relations Institute of Ireland and said ‘Look, I have this idea around a bursary. What do you think?’ She said they’d been doing a bursary for many years, giving a free place on the course to somebody. So we said, ‘Let’s work together. Let’s get Open Doors Ireland involved.’
“The reason behind it is that there are a lot of people in Ireland who are very talented and creative, and they’re from underrepresented backgrounds, or they don’t have the pathway to public relations. Some people don’t know it exists, or some people have come from other countries where they’re highly qualified, but maybe language is a barrier, or they need qualifications here, and they’re just getting overlooked. They’re not getting the opportunity to get that foot in the door.
“As PR professionals, we benefit hugely from diverse perspectives and experiences. Ireland is evolving – our Ireland is a more diverse and inclusive nation now than it has ever been. So the industry has to evolve with that. To not do it is actually really foolish.”
The Irish PR profession, she adds, needs to reflect a different Ireland.
“It’s logical – our job is to communicate with people, and the Ireland we’re in today is a much more multicultural Ireland than 15 or 20 years ago. The campaigns or the companies we represent will want to reach certain niches, and the key to that is understanding those niches. That means having a broader outlook.”
She points to the growth in social media and the role that TikTok influencers now play in the conversation. “That’s why we need more people – we need people who are actually following these influencers, who understand where they’re coming from. So many people in our industry went to the same schools, from the same areas, had the same opportunities, and are highly privileged traditionally. We want to change that. We want to grow with Ireland, and we’re encouraging other agencies to do the same.”
Harris explained that the bursary helps individuals who might previously have struggled to get a foot in the door of the industry but encourages businesses that might follow suit to focus on the mentorship aspect.
Carolina Lucca, a native of Brazil, joined the bursary last year and after completing her PRII exams with flying colours has been taken on by Harris PR as a full-time employee. A year later, the business has learned as much from her as she has learned from the business.
“She really is flourishing. I feel like the agency has already really benefited from her, and she has fantastic ideas. She’s just one of those really creative people. So it’s been a huge success.”
Greater diversity, Harris believes, is the future of the PR profession in Ireland. “Otherwise, I think we’re just going to end up shouting into an echo chamber. And that is not okay for our industry.”
The geopolitical landscape adds to the urgency of Harris’s message. “It’s never been more important to focus on diversity, equality and inclusion than right now. When you see what’s happening in the States, we need to push back and say not only are we embracing it, we’re supporting it fully. Come to Ireland – that’s all I can say. Come to Ireland. You’re very welcome here. Whoever it is, whoever needs that support, anybody in a marginalised community, whoever they are, it’s really important to create those pathways.”
Having a diverse team also contributes to creative edge, Harris concludes.
“Having a diverse team with different perspectives, who consume different media and have different interests – it’s like having a big family with lots of different opinions. When we’re doing brainstorms and anyone spots something that inspires them, whether it’s a TikTok video or a great campaign, we always come up with different things. It’s brilliant, and it’s the future of our industry.”
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