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With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest amidst the election, I was responsible for crafting key messaging for several restaurant and hotel clients to share via social media, with verbiage reflected in internal and media communications to navigate rising crisis such as employees testing positive for COVID-19 and audiences demanding social justice action.
Following this experience, I presented a Crisis Communication Strategy to Future Front Texas, an organization committed to providing support to women and LGBTQ+ creatives.
9 out of 10 times, a positive test came during non-business hours – meaning I had to be prepared at all times to craft a statement and alert my PR counterpart to begin monitoring press
To prepare, I worked with my client and CEO to prepare and approve a templated statement that was then edited for proper context
Monitored community engagements and incoming questions, often having to respond to panicked guests about possible contact and navigating next steps.
2020 also brought civil unrest – with the most engaged audiences demanding action from their favorite brands. Silence was often seen as a statement in itself and I was responsible for advising clients on a response that wouldn’t be received as performative or tone-deaf.
Tatsu-Ya had the most outspoken audience who would flood our feed with comments demanding action – however it was also important to the owner that our response wasn’t a result of being pressured from our audience to do so, but a genuine plan of action.
Worked closely with the team to create a profit sharing day across restaurants to benefit the ACLU and NAACP, creating a roll out plan for messaging and follow-up announcement for accountability.
Approached by Future Front Texas to give a talk to its members who are largely minority business owners
Shared step-by-step plan for addressing crisis scenarios, providing written examples of statements, messaging roll-out strategy, and community response plan.