The Communications Role for Non-Profits and Small Businesses with Zondra Victor-Johnson

Welcome Zondra Victor-Johnson, to PRSay – the podcast of the Houston PRSA Chapter.

In this episode, Zondra shares about The Communications Role for Non-Profits and Small Businesses.

Zondra is a Communications Specialist residing in Houston, TX. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Media Production from the University of Houston and a Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University. Zondra has ten years of experience writing about arts, culture, and several other topics. She also has experience in video production, audio production, and social media management.

Connect with Zondra at:
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter: @freshmediablog
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@freshmedia713

Learn more about the PRSA Houston Chapter, our events and opportunities at www.prsahouston.org.

PRSay is brought to you by Veronica V. Sopher, Public Relations.

Transcript

Veronica Sopher: 0:01

Hello, and welcome to PRSay this is the award-winning official podcast of the Houston chapter, of the Public Relations Society of America. And I'm your host, Veronica V. Sofer, I have the pleasure of bringing to you, our audience, some of our amazing members here in the Houston chapter of PRSA. Because we know how important it is in the communication space to be networking and staying connected with our peers. So I have another amazing guest that I'm going to introduce you to in just a minute. But before that, I'm going to take care of some housekeeping. If you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe, we don't want you to miss any episodes of PRSA. And if you are watching on Facebook, or YouTube, drop us some comments, and my guest and I will be sure to connect. So with that I'm going to bring on our guest today, one of our amazing members. Zondra Victor-Johnson, welcome to PRSay.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 0:53

Hi, thank you for having me.

Veronica Sopher: 0:55

You bet I'm so excited about today's conversation. And before we start diving in and telling folks where you are at and some of the work that you're doing, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into communications in the first place.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 1:09

Okay, so I've pretty much always had better communication in some way, shape, or form. I went to college for communications with a specialization in media production. So I was learning how to make films or TV and things like that. And during that time is when I started working with nonprofits. It started with organizations on campus I was involved in. And then I got a work-study type of internship with shape community center out here in Houston. And I also got to work for PBS. So I was doing different kinds of things back then. And then I just kind of throughout my career, I think I just attracted you to small businesses or nonprofits while I was away. Either I was led to work with them, or, you know, they wanted to work with me because of my track record and the work I had been doing.

Veronica Sopher: 2:16

So that's awesome. And that's great. And I think you're right, sometimes your career finds you, you may have a path of where you think it's going. And then all of a sudden, your clientele finds you. And then all of a sudden you become an expert in that space. And so I love that, that you just kind of followed what what you felt called to do.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 2:37

Yeah, I feel like that's the easiest way to do it. Because I I did try to venture out into other industries to work in communications. And it was just, I don't know, it's like a lot of work and competitive and they make you jump through hoops. Sometimes it's like, it's it's a Sharky chart world.

Veronica Sopher: 2:58

Yeah. It absolutely can be Yeah, and if that's not where your heart is, or your passion is, and it's probably not where you're supposed to be anyway. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Well tell us Zondra, what are you doing right now? Where are you at? And tell us a little bit about the type of work that you do. I always love talking to our nonprofit friends and small businesses that you support because they're the challenges are so different, but the rewards are just as great if not greater.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 3:27

Right. So currently I work at a local Church in Houston. As a communication specialist. It's a fairly, I wouldn't say it's a mega church, but it's like a medium-large type of church. And so with that comes like a pretty large administrative staff and support staff. And the way our team is broken up into which this was pretty new for me, because I'm used to being like a one-person department. Yeah, but yeah, but I feel like in this church, they're organized so well. So I'm the communication specialist. And then we have a graphic designer. And then we have the Director of Communications. And then they have the media manager, and assistant, as well. We're technically like communications media department. But we all have our roles, and we are cross-trained on certain things, so we can help each other out when needed. So it's pretty cool. I'm just like me, this is what I've been looking for, such as working in like the nonprofit world, or if you're working with like startups and small businesses, so you have to view that one man department and that can be pretty difficult even just to like, get organized with the work you're trying to doing. Much less communicate what needs to be done to like the rest of the team?

Veronica Sopher: 5:04

Yeah, yeah, no, that's so true. And you end up having to be, know a little bit about everything. And so it all falls on one person. But when you've got a team, you can cross train and support each other. And that really changes changes the dynamic. And tell us a little bit about some of the challenges that come with supporting a small business other than being a one man shop, there's got to be other things you have to take into consideration.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 5:32

Right, so let's see, there are okay, so that being a small business is a big challenge. In general, just like trying to keep your business afloat, and all that. So I feel like in the perspective of owner, it's fair trying to figure out how to a trust people and be where to allocate your money to Oh, yeah, matters. Because I've worked with businesses that have spent money on things that were just like, to me, it was like, Okay, this is clearly going to be like beneficial, at least in the long run. Or, or if I, if I would, I remember one case where I, I was trying to communicate my marketing ideas for the business. And they were like, oh, okay, yeah, we could try that. And then whenever I was, started to form a plan, like plans would change. And then, you know, eventually, that would just, it would just go away. Yeah. And later on down the line, they go and spend like, way more money on this consultant to do the same thing that I was supposed to do. And then I was just like, we literally talked about this. I felt lost. If this was a this was a e-commerce business. So yeah, I was like, I don't understand you. Yeah, I mean, I'd have way less money. Yeah. Like the newsletter, I would say, SEO for the Web site. I was just like, this is all you needed, right here, what I was trying to give you, then you go out here. And that can be pretty difficult when you hire outside, right? Consulting for marketing, the prices can be pretty steep. And it's like if you're a startup, small business nonprofit, like you don't have, you know, always have like a big budget. So it's like you have less, I guess, financial room to like, less room to waste your finances?

Veronica Sopher: 8:03

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And that's true. Because some, especially in the nonprofit space, there's accountability to your donors, and the reporting. And in a small business, you know, the owner is probably trying to draw a salary from that business, too. So buttons are a little more limited than when you might work in oil and gas or technology or healthcare. Maybe

Unknown: 8:23

Exactly. Yeah. That's so true. What,

Veronica Sopher: 8:27

What are some of the benefits? Would you say, though, of working in the nonprofit, because there's, there's a whole group of members in particular in our chapter who do have very successful careers in nonprofits, and I am always fascinated by their responses to that question.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 8:44

I feel like the, I guess the most rewarding is the end goal seeing because necessarily, you don't always have like, client clients. But you're the people you serve. It's like a It's a way to serve people. And you can see your impact on their lives. You can see how working together on this team or this project directly benefits the people who organizations try to serve the mission. You can see it coming to life. I feel like that's really rewarding. I feel like also with working in that space, you get to meet people like and form closer relationships with them. Yeah. Especially with like executive staff. From executive staff all the way down to like interns and volunteers. I feel like you have a lot more collaborative moments to where you'll all be like pulling from each other trying to accomplish your goal. And I feel like that's the beautiful thing about working with you a smaller organization, whether it be a large organization, but still nonprofit, I feel like you still can get that kind of relationship with the staff too. So I feel like those are

Veronica Sopher: 10:15

Those are great. Those are great benefits. Yeah, I think that's fantastic. Zondra tell us how people can connect with you. Because I know we have a lot of members in the nonprofit space. And I always want people to, if they can't meet in person, at least connect virtually so that you have a circle of peers that you can connect with, ask questions about, share resources with. And I know we've got members who are right in your space, who would love to connect, how can they reach you?

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 10:43

I would say, go ahead and send me a DM on LinkedIn. Yeah, it's, I mean, it's my whole name on there. But you can look up Zondra V and my LinkedIn will pop up. It's pretty thorough. You can see the different projects I've worked on. I say it's a pretty good CV, if you're trying to get to know me.

Veronica Sopher: 11:05

Oh, that's awesome. I love that. That's why LinkedIn is my favorite platform for connections.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 11:12

It has a lot of like all projects I've worked on, whether it be like freelance consulting, or like different types of businesses I've worked with young, I answer my idea. And so

Veronica Sopher: 11:28

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, I will make sure to put the link inside the show notes. So if anyone wants to connect, they can easily do that Zondra, it was so great to have you on the podcast and to learn a little bit more. And I hope that you get get a chance to meet more of our members in person and that they get a chance to meet you.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 11:46

I know. I hope so too.

Veronica Sopher: 11:48

Yay. Awesome. Well, you have a great rest of your week.

Zondra Victor-Johnson: 11:51

Thank you. You too. You bet.

Veronica Sopher: 11:53

All right, guys, that was Andrea, make sure you connect. Her information will be in the show notes. So she wants you to send her a DM on LinkedIn. That's the best way to get to know her. And let's make sure that our chapter is really supporting one another when we can so make sure you reach out and connect. So with that, I'm going to wrap up this episode by reminding you to hit subscribe if you're listening on the podcast, and if you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us some comments and Zondra and I will be sure to connect with you. We will catch you next time.