Claire Anderson

October 20, 2016

SUSAN ANDREWS
THOMPSON
The Andrews Agency, LLC

Education
Susan Andrews Thompson
studied at Middle
Tennessee State University
where she earned a degree
in public relations and
advertising. While in college
many of her professors had
firms where she was able to
observe and earn hands on
experience in the field of
PR.

Early Career

Company Beginnings

Early on in her career Susan

had the opportunity to
intern with Bill Hudson &
Associates. Her internship
then turned into an entry
level receptionist position.
Through her years with
Hudson & Associates, Susan
Andrews Thompson was
able to advance her career
through the company. By
the end of her time with that
company she had worked
her way up to being the vice
president of Bill Hudson &
Associates, mostly focusing
on the public relations side
of the company.

Susan Andrews Thompson began in the field of public

relations in her college career and then transformed her
passion for telling the public her clients stories into a
profession. After working for Bill Hudson & Associates,
Susan left the company to start her own public relations
firm. The Andrews Agency, LLC was founded in 1990 and in
1995 merged with the Ingram group giving Susan 9 other
partners in business. But in 1997 Susan took her company
independent again and since then she has had clients in a
vast range of business genres.

Claire Anderson

Favorite and Least

Favorite
When asked about her
favorite part of being a public
relations practitioner Susan
quickly responded with two
words, my team. At her
agency it is apparent that
Susans team of account
executives and vice president
aid her in making their
company what it is. She said
that they work together very
often and that is what makes
their company so unique and
also function so well. Another
one of her favorite parts is
getting to tell her clients story.
Because her clients range
from luxury automobile
retailers to bowling alley
restaurant hybrids, Susan and
her agency get to see and do
it all. She enjoys
communicating to the public
what her clients specific story
is.

October 20, 2016

Daily Life
When Susan Andrews Thompson walks into her boutique
agency every morning the first thing she does is sit down
and make a list of things to do for the week as well as each
day. She then turns to her computer to answer emails. I
could spend all day just answering emails so I try to get
through them and reply to them as quickly as possible,
Susan says about checking her emails. After that the day
takes o and can go in many dierent directions, according
to Susan. Often, she does writing assignments for dierent
clients in the morning then goes back to emails mid day. If a
crisis arrises then Susan is on it and always tackles it first,
being that it is often more pressing than daily assignments.
Afternoons can often consist of brainstorming sessions with
the rest of her team. Susan has four other people working
under her that help assist and manage accounts. On larger
projects they often come together to brainstorm ideas for

Being that Susan Andrews

Thompson is the president of
her company when asked
what her least favorite part of
her job was Susan said it is the
administrative aspect of it.
While she has to deal with
things like finance and budget
she would much rather be
doing PR and communicating
with the public.

Claire Anderson

October 20, 2016

events and such. Being that the day can go in any dierent direction Susan said that the best
word to describe any day is busy but she also agreed that it is exciting.

What is public relations?

Often times public relations is a hard
term to define. When asked to define it
Susan Andrew Thompson took a
moment for thought then continued to
say that it was a strategic means of
communicating a clients message as
accurately and engaging as possible.
She then added that it is also meant to
be extremely beneficial to both parties,
making it strategic two way
communication.
The Andrews Agency exhibits this
definition of public relations in so much
of what it does. Susan said that her
favorite part of being a PR practitioner
is getting to tell the clients story so it is
important to her tell it in a way that
benefits both the client and the publics
interested. Susan and her team work to
be prepared for their clients needs. This
includes working on projects six months
in advance so that they can build on
each other and work continuously on
their clients image as viewed by the
publics.

Advice and how to Stay

Ahead
For aspiring public relations professionals Mrs.
Andrews Thompson would recommend many
things for them to have as a basic set of skills.
The first skill that she mentioned was writing,
specifically in AP style. So much of PR is
writing and having that as a basic skill is
crucial, according to her. She says that aspiring
professionals must also be fluent in making
spread sheets and be extremely organized.
Susan said that being organized and able to
manage tasks in a timely manner is essential.
She also recommended that people be go
getters and willing to pick up the phone and
speak with people about their clients.
For the future of public relations Susan said
that being able to anticipate what will come
next is a skill that will be valuable. She also
urges aspiring professionals to explore the
expanded use of social media. As social media
grows and changes practitioners need to be able
to adapt to it and grow with it. Media,
specifically social media, influences PR heavily
and Susan said that being creative in all aspects
of PR especially social media is a new skill that
will continue to expand and a good thing to be
competent in.

Claire Anderson

October 20, 2016

Clients
At The Andrews Agency, Susan and her team handle a wide
variety of clients that allows them to practice many types of
public relations. Their clients range from luxury automobile
retailers such as Aston Martin and Bentley, to restaurants like
Palm and Five Points Pizza. They also do the PR for the
Nashville Shakespeare Festival and The Battle of Franklin Trust.
When asked how her clients compare to one another Susan
began explaining that each are dierent and want/need dierent
publicity. For example some of the luxury car retailers Susan
represents don't want their name in the paper but would rather
host a high class function that showcases their cars. Events like
these often combine other clients such as a high class bourbon
company to bring more potential consumers in. Susan also
spoke about how The Tennessean did a restaurant feature on the
5 to try that featured two of Susans clients, exhibiting the
type of publicity desired for those restaurants. Part of the job of
a PR practitioner is to represent their clients in the way they
desire and Susan does this through the before mentioned
publicity she facilitated for her clients. Her and her team work
year round to make sure that their clients are getting the
publicity and attention they want. Which as Susan explained,
means completing a variety of dierent types of tasks.
Another specific example of how The Andrews
Agency caters to each clients specific needs is for
another one of their clients, Kings The Classy
Bowling Joint. Susan explained that during a
brainstorming session her team came up with the
idea to have an event catered to couples on
Valentines Day. This would draw many people in and
boost the public image for the bowling alley. During
the interview Susan continued to emphasize the
importance of creating an image and telling the story
that the client desires while still benefiting the public
as a whole. She and he company work hard to achieve
this, as it is the essence of what public relations is.
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