We have a round of quick fire questions with owner of Clementine Communications, Clemence de Crecy about how she got to where she is today, how COVID-19 has changed her business and career advice.

What made you want to start Clementine Communications?

I graduated from law school and went straight to work for the CIVC, the Champagne Appellation, where I fell in love with the world of drinks and luxury. Ever since I was really young I’ve been very independent, always coming up with business ideas; my dad was an entrepreneur with multiple hats on and I think I always found that fascinating. When the opportunity came in 2006, I didn’t hesitate and I set up Clementine Com over a weekend. The rest is history really!

Have you always worked in the luxury PR industry? 

At the start of my career, I looked after automotive clients as well as tech. I’ve always remained within this luxury, lifestyle bubble though. I find it challenging and love that it is continually evolving. 

What has your experience been like as a female entrepreneur?

I am not a feminist but I do believe in equal chances. I have always been fair in my life when selecting the right candidate for the right job, and I’ve never been led by the sex or colour of the individual. The PR industry is a female-led industry, with 64% of its employees being women, so I may have been challenged when I started Clementine Com at the age of 26, but I don’t think it was related to gender, just a lack of experience! 

How has COVID-19 effected the business and how have you adapted?

One of the main things I have learned is the importance that our team spirit and resilience plays in how successful we are as a business. As a team, we have been speaking every morning, planning for our clients’ needs and finding new ways to innovate as an agency. Importantly, it is not always work chat at these daily ‘touch points’; we’ve found ourselves opening up to each other, discussing the challenges of lockdown and sharing our anxieties.  This pandemic and subsequent lockdown has elevated mental wellbeing to the forefront and the key for us has been to state that it is perfectly natural not to feel great during these heightened levels of uncertainty, and that we have each other’s back.  This has strengthened the bond of the team and I know they have extended this mindset outwards to our clients and contacts.  Coming through this pandemic together will breed stronger loyalty between the team, our clients and our contact base.     

As a business, we quickly moved all our events to virtual and learnt some new skills along the way!  We launched our new Podcast called Connection Privée in a matter of weeks and utilised the so called ‘downtime’ to refresh our own branding, modernising our logo and comms! As the wider population comes out of ‘hibernation’ mode, now is a great time for our clients to launch new projects and focus will quickly return back to growth.  

We’re very proud to be able to say that despite the continual restrictions on meeting face-to-face, we have managed to secure new projects during the Covid-19 crisis. 

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?

Never give up! That was from Bernard Magrez when I started my own business, and it’s always stuck with me! 

What other women inspire you?

My grandmother. She was loving, caring, dedicated and passionate. She never stopped and I will always admire her. 

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up to prepare for the day ahead?

Honestly, I look at my phone. I know it’s not healthy, but I am a workaholic, and I need to know what is happening in the news straight away. I love my job and I am so passionate about the clients we work for and the results we are getting. I invest lots of my time in training juniors and we have an amazing team at the agency; we are what we are today because of all of them, and I am forever grateful to have met so many amazing people over the years. 

What’s next for Clementine Communications?

In our new Podcast, Connection Privée, we discuss the power of networking and the importance of Human Connection. This is something so important to us at the agency and we have invited one of our PR contacts to speak to us every week on how they are coping with everything that has happened this year. The media landscape has changed a lot during this crisis so we have had to adapt and find different ways to keep in touch with our journalists- now working from home- and keep getting coverage for all our resilient clients.

Going forward, we will take on board what we’ve learned during this time and will translate these lessons into the future of Clementine Com. We will be more discerning when it comes to essential travel, and will favour virtual meetings where possible. Our focus will remain on keeping in touch with clients and industry contacts; we have enjoyed the benefits of checking in, seeing how they are doing, learning what their outlook is and sharing insights with one another. We will also maintain our new agile working policy, allowing staff the flexibility necessary to adapt to the changing environment.

__

Find Clementine Com on Instagram @clementinecommunications