Today we’d like to introduce you to John Guilfoil.
Thanks for sharing your story with us John. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I worked as a reporter for the Boston Globe for six years, and I never thought I’d ever leave the newspaper until the day Mayor Thomas M. Menino tapped me on the shoulder and offered me a chance to be deputy press secretary. It was a tremendous opportunity to venture into public relations, make more money, and learn about how the largest city in New England runs.
While there, I helped handle everything from crisis management, to ribbon cuttings, to internal communications. I also worked with other City agencies and their press officers to help pitch story ideas to the local media.
Then April 15, 2013, came.
I was, standing in front of The Tannery store when a bomb went off to my right. Before I knew what had happened, a bomb went off to my left. We weren’t hurt, thankfully.
Of the three employees of the Mayor’s Press Office, one of us had just finished the marathon and the other one was out of the city on what was supposed to a day off. The weeks that followed were a whirlwind, and none of us who worked for the city saw home much. Between a presidential visit, the creation of One Fund Boston, the manhunt, Watertown, and re-opening Boylston Street, it was by far the biggest undertaking of my life.
During those weeks, I saw the actions and reactions of first responders, and I had one of the best views possible. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, doctors, nurses and more. It was a tremendously heroic few weeks in Boston.
I grew up with a firefighter for a father, and I went to college for criminal justice, so I’ve always been somewhat familiar with the work of police officers and firefighters. I’d also seen plenty of that work as a breaking news reporter at the Globe, but nothing compares to what I saw during and after the Boston Marathon attack.
Fast forward seven months and after all that work we were all laid off by the new mayor who had won election in November.
It was a very difficult time. The marathon took an emotional toll, and I had left my dream job as a staff reporter at the Globe only to be unemployed — and collecting unemployment — two years later.
I sat down in my loft in Hyde Park and start writing a business plan. My theory was that the very police officers and firefighters who I had covered as a reporter could benefit from the same “press secretaries” that not only Mayor Menino but also the Boston Police and Fire Departments have.
Today, my company performs public relations, website design/hosting, social media, training, and crisis communications services to more than 200 police and fire departments, public schools, public health agencies, and municipal governments.
More about me: https://jgpr.net/team/john-guilfoil/
2013 Boston Marathon: https://jgpr.net/2014/01/20/2013-boston-marathon-2/
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not a smooth road. I created my LLC with funds from my severance pay from the City of Boston after I was laid off post-election, and I paid my mortgage with unemployment checks until I landed my first client.
I also wasn’t particularly “good” at my first PR job. It was a bit awkward. I was a news reporter coming to work for the people who I had covered. I didn’t have any PR agency experience. I wasn’t very polished, and I wasn’t very aggressive. I learned a ton as Mayor Menino’s Deputy Press Secretary, and it was an essential stop on my way to my current career. I’m a firm believer in the positive power of failure.
Please tell us about John Guilfoil Public Relation.
With the philosophy that every police and fire department and government agency deserves effective communications and public relations on the same scale as major corporations, John Guilfoil Public Relations produces clear, concise content for our clients and responds to major news incidents for more than 200 police and fire departments, schools, government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations in six states. The company is located in Georgetown, Mass. and was founded by John Guilfoil, a former Boston Globe staff reporter who served as deputy press secretary for the late Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino during the 2013 Boston Marathon attacks and at the end of his historic run as Boston’s longest-serving mayor.
We are also about to announce our second office location in Braintree, Mass.
We have six employees.
We also maintain websites for more than 100 of our clients and have been responsible for dozens of police and fire departments turning to social media for the first time to modernize their public information efforts.
JGPR is the only company in the Northeast doing this kind of work, and we do it in an affordable and responsible way.
We help a lot of large communities, but we do some of our best work with small and mid-sized cities and towns. Those communities typically have not had the budgetary resources for press secretaries, modern websites, and public relations. We can meet any budget and we do a ton of pro bono work for communities that truly can’t afford our work but need it nonetheless.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
The first time I walked into my dad’s firehouse when he was a volunteer firefighter in Cheshire, Conn. The open-cab fire trucks and the personalities of the young and old firefighters. I’ll never forget it. Every firehouse smells the same, so every time I walk into one of my client’s firehouses, it brings me back.
My dad, now at the tail end of a nearly 40-year career as a firefighter, working as a career firefighter in East Haven, Conn., has always been a hero to me. He responded to New York on 9/11 with his crew, and his stories — which he tells with nonchalance — never cease to amaze me. I’m not surprised that my brother, Chris, followed in his footsteps five years ago and became a firefighter.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8 Prospect St.
Georgetown, MA 01833 - Website: http://jgpr.net
- Phone: 6179930003
- Email: info@jgpr.net
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/guilfoilpr
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/guilfoilpr
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/guilfoilpr
- Other: http://vimeo.com/guilfoilpr
during their Division 2 North semi-finals game in Chelmsford. The Patriots beat the Scarlet Knights, 1-0. (Wicked Local Staff Photo/John Walker)
Image Credit:
John Guilfoil Public Relations
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
