I love Bravo TV shows. A lot. My newest addiction is Kell on Earth because 1) I love (and work in) PR and 2) I love fashion. To bring you up to speed, Kell on Earth follows PR fashion guru Kelly Cutrone and her publicists at People’s Revolution. While some of the stuff they show is pretty cutthroat (think tears, firing people, yelling, messy desks, meltdowns), it’s reminded me of a few truths about PR:

1. Yes, we sometimes work long hours: Junior Account Exec. Stephanie Skinner puts her heart and soul in People’s Rev, pulling 11-hour days and even choosing her job over her boyfriend.  While that’s not exactly standard, there are times when a publicist must work beyond the 8:30 to 5:30. This could include being up well before sunrise to make a 6 a.m. live, in-studio interview with a client, mingling at a gala fundraiser until 10 at night, or even pulling an all-nighter to put together a killer RFP.

2. We stay together till the end: In this past Monday’s episode, Kelly yells at Skinner for allegedly sending the new girl home early and tells her that at People’s Rev they stay together till the end. I LOVED Kelly for this. It’s important to remember that working at an agency, you work on a team. For example, the accounts handled by Bailey Gardiner’s PR team each have at least two people per account.  So, we’re in it together – for the good and the bad.

3. Small firms can deliver big results: People’s Rev (at the time Kell on Earth was shooting anyway) only had a handful of publicists but delivered fantastic results for big-name clients like Agent Provocateur and Genetic Denim. Hiring a big agency isn’t necessarily the answer to success. Creative agencies, like Bailey Gardiner, may be small in terms of number of employees but are big in terms of handling national accounts and providing stellar results.

4. Well, number four isn’t really a truth about PR at all but I guess you could say it’s a rule to live by in life: Don’t shop at Walmart.