CorpComms Magazine

When Jolie Hunt, global head of public relations at Thomson Reuters Markets, was just 14 years old, she met the owner of a local car dealership who regularly advertised on television. The adverts, she told him bluntly, were rubbish; he needed her services. One week later, she filmed three new advertisements, earning $80. A holiday job in the dealership's customer service department ensued, but the following year Hunt wanted to earn real money. Without a driving licence or any knowledge of engines, the owner recruited her as a sales person. On her first day, Hunt sold three cars and started earning commission of $2,500 a week.

'It was just dumb luck,' she says disparagingly. But while Hunt may want to attribute her success - she has held three major communications roles by the age of 32 - to arbitrary good fortune, hard work and persistence have also played a role. She is not a person to be deterred, as many journalists and potential contacts find to their cost. 'I ring people, say Would you like to meet? They say No. I say Fine, how about Tuesday?,' she laughs. They usually succumb.

Growing up in New York, Hunt always knew she wanted to work in communications, but only homed in on PR after reading a brochure for Boston University. 'I dismissed advertising because I wasn't creative enough and journalism because I wasn't a great writer, but then I saw PR and thought What's that?,' she recalls. 'But the irony is that this role requires strong writing skills and lots of creativity.'

She made her mark at university, organising a conference involving 1,100 attendees in her first year - 'I knew responsibility at a fairly young age; I just wanted to be involved' - and, by the time of her graduation, had five job offers, including one from Goldman Sachs. They wanted a five-year commitment - 'who at the age of 20 would agree to such a thing?' - so Hunt joined Putnam Investments.

It was a staid Wall Street fund manager and no place for a thrusting career woman keen to change the world. 'They were like But we've done it this way for 130 years,' she laughs. 'I wanted more. I wanted to contribute to change.'Her opportunity came with the arrival of Lionel Barber as US bureau chief of the Financial Times, which was trying to break into the American market and take on the Wall Street Journal on its own turf.

Profile building

Hunt joined the Pink 'Un in 2002 as public relations director for the Americas. 'I said I just need a lunch budget. I don't mind flying coach to Hong Kong but I need the money for entertainment,' she says. 'I really got Lionel, and I helped him find his voice. It was a genuine partnership. It is a fallacy that you have to play safe to be good. I pride myself that I have an opinion and that I create a presence. I'm not everybody's cup of tea, but I don't need to be.'

Hunt worked hard to build the FT's profile in America, ringing broadcast media outlets to offer journalists as experts on the subject of the day and exploiting speaking opportunities for Barber. On learning that local media banned their newspapers appearing on screen, she worked with a product placement agency to get lead characters in popular television series, such as Boston Legal or films such as Wimbledon, reading the Financial Times, creating back pages or headlines to suit the storyline.

She adds: 'Then you'd get someone saying What the hell were we doing in Gilmore Girls [a comedy about a single mother]? and I'd think, You guys just don't get it!.' (Eagle eyed readers should look out for Thomson Reuters' forthcoming appearances on the big screen.)

When Barber was appointed editor and transferred back to London, many (including him) expected Hunt to follow. She declined, needing a new challenge. 'I had fallen in love with New York and didn't want to move to London,' she explains. 'And Lionel and I were leaving the FT in the US in much better shape than when we had found it.'

She joined IBM, in a newly created role of global director of corporate and business affairs, for the chance to work with Jon Iwata, who is viewed as one of America's leading corporate communicators. 'He is really at the top of the game,' says Hunt. 'He is strong and thoughtful and has an amazing mind. It was a big brand and there was lots to do.'

But there was also a complex bureaucracy to manoeuvre through, which Hunt, used to access to the top and swift decisions, found frustrating. 'I left because I couldn't get enough done. I don't regret it for a moment,' she says. 'But I think people in big companies get too caught up in internal trappings, so somebody gets appointed to Band C and gets an office of 10 cubic feet and artwork on the wall. I was just not interested in all that.'

Starting out

On the point of joining another organisation, the consultant searching for the role at Thomson Reuters contacted her. Hunt was reluctant, but met Devin Wenig, chief executive of markets, which employs 30,000 people, because he could meet her in New York and she was just about to set off for a holiday in Colorado. He offered her the job within ten minutes. 'It's not often am I rendered speechless,' she says. 'But this feels like a big small company. You can call anyone and get a phone call back. There are no barriers to getting things down and that is the environment in which the best ideas come to me. Plus, we've got a lot of good stories to tell.'

On joining an organisation Hunt spends time getting to know division heads, managers and other key individuals. 'I say to them I am representing you and the company, what do you require? It becomes an adventure. You collect people,' she says. Over the past year, Hunt spent just 109 days in Thomson Reuters' Canary Wharf headquarters. 'I have never shied away from travel, but it is not the schedule for everyone,' she says, reeling off the locations where she visits. As a result, she knew Hiro Muramoto, the Reuters cameraman killed in the recent Bangkok protests. 'I had a base line relationship which helped. People know the difference,' she explains. 'I called the next of kin. I am very involved and I like to be involved. I want to be part of it, but I don't need to do everything. I love to support my team. I love to feel that I am now on the other side, giving people their first break or opportunities.' Dumb luck, huh? Or just hard work?

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