Work Friends Member Spotlight: Samantha Slaven
Hey folks, I’m excited to put the spotlight on Work Friends member and beauty PR maven Samantha Slaven. Here’s a bit more about her in her own words.
Samantha Slaven
Founder of Samantha Slaven Publicity
“We specialize in beauty, skincare/haircare and medical aesthetic brands and experts, with a focus on media, influencer, and celebrity relations, partnerships and events.”
What’s your background and specialty?
I started my career as a consumer magazine editor where I covered everything from fashion to theater, but as I was based in LA and knew I didn’t want to move to NY full-time to pursue magazine journalism. I pivoted to work as a copywriter for brands including Gap Inc. and Procter & Gamble. I learned so much from these incredible marketing teams—I always say I got my MBA in marketing at Procter—and also watched as the PR for some of our brands pitched copy I’d written to various magazine editors. A lightbulb went off at that moment, when I was like, “I think I could do that.”
I’ve had Samantha Slaven publicity for 21 years. We specialize in beauty, skincare/haircare and medical aesthetic brands and experts, with a focus on media, influencer, and celebrity relations, partnerships and events.
How/why did you choose beauty as your niche?
Earlier in my PR career I was more focused on fashion, but I always had a few beauty clients. During the pandemic, I started to focus more heavily on beauty and wellness, and loved it, as I didn’t care what celebs or influencers were wearing anymore!
I started moving things more in this direction with the new clients I’d onboard, and repped a top medical aesthetics brand for five years. That expertise and those connections led to me to developing a niche in skincare, medical aesthetics, and haircare brands—and now I’m completely obsessed!
What’s something unexpected you’ve learned about yourself through freelancing or consulting?
My agency was born from my freelancing. When I was writing full-time for Procter, I was also freelance writing for a variety of clients, working on web and marketing copy, etc. One day I asked a freelance client—a new indie spa—if they’d like me to pitch them to some beauty media and InStyle ended up doing a little story. It was so fun! So from there I started working to sign pure PR clients, and eventually got so busy I realized I needed an office, and an accountant, etc.—thus my agency was born.
What’s a pivotal moment in your career that shaped where you are today?
Signing my first purely PR client back in the day—a high-end clothing boutique on what was then super-trendy Robertson Blvd in LA. They had tons of celebs who shopped there, and I’d share their hauls with all the fashion and celeb outlets, which helped me develop meaningful relationships and become more established.
If you could snap your fingers and instantly master any new skill, what would it be and why?
To clone myself?
How do you stay creative and avoid burnout, especially when juggling multiple projects?
I’ve had my agency for more than 20 years—and was a magazine editor and copywriter for 10 years prior to that—but somehow I’ve avoided burnout. I think it’s because I’ve been able to pivot to suit my personal interests (for example, I had some parenting clients when my son was young, etc), I truly love what I do, I vet my clients and team carefully, and I’m genuinely and personally interested in my clients’ genres.
I learn something new almost every day from my brilliant dermatologist and plastic surgeon clients which keeps things fun, fresh and interesting. I’m also very fortunate to work from home—which I’ve been doing since before covid—and allows me a great life balance. I need to be busy, multi-tasking and using my brain, otherwise I’d go crazy.
Who’s your dream client?
An amazing facial plastic surgeon who wants to comp me a facelift in exchange for PR services. :)
How do you define success in your career? Has that evolved or changed over the years?
Monetary success is always a factor, but so is the satisfaction of repping some of the best brands in the industry, and working at the top of my capabilities. While it used to be more about the hustle and building my business—trying to outpace myself, earn more every year, hire the cool girls, and build a bigger book of clients—now it’s more about servicing a smaller, vetted group of high-profile clients. And leveraging my experience, network, and know-how to create meaningful and fruitful partnerships with hand-picked accounts.
What have you gained from being a part of Work Friends?
So far I’ve been turned on to an event that might be a great fit for one of my founders, and feel like I have a great resource when I or one of my clients need a source, expert and freelancer.
What’s your most-repurchased beauty item?
It’s a multi-way tie. I’m obsessed with Plated’s Intense Serum, SkinMedica’s HA5 Serum, and Alastin Hydratint. And Epres Healthy Hair Conditioner works on smoothing my frizzy, wavy hair like nothing else!
Get in touch with Samantha
It's fun to be Work Friends
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It's fun to be Work Friends 〰️
If you’re interested in joining Work Friends, you can find more information here. And if you’d like an introduction to Samantha or any member of the Work Friends community, send me a note.