Meet Jo Swani of The Moxie Agency

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jo Swani.

Jo, please share your story with us. How did you get to whefre you are today?
I’ve always loved writing, crafting stories from the time I was a little girl, and I thought I was going to be a writer. In college, I studied creative writing and math. I struggled with which major to pursue and ended up, thanks to the advice of my dad, to major in math and be a ‘big fish in a little sea,’ as there were only seven math majors and uncountable English majors. That positioned me upon graduation to grab a financial job at a small investment advisory firm in Boston. While I enjoyed learning the industry and living the young professional life in Boston’s exciting Financial District in my early 20s, I knew it wasn’t for me.

After a few years, I took the leap and decided to take a year off to travel. One of the best decisions of my life. A few friends and I backpacked through Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand for just under a year. My world was expanded in ways I could have never imagined.

When I returned, I knew I was ready for something new. My best friend was the editor of a major Boston publication at the time and was the first to say to me – have you ever considered Public Relations? She said she worked with plenty of publicists and could see me being really good at it. At the same time, a woman who was looking to expand her culinary PR firm was referred to me, and I went in for an interview, sort of on a whim. We ended up hitting it off immediately, and this amazing woman, Nancy Civetta, became my mentor and dear friend. At Civetta Comunicazioni, we represented exciting chefs and culinary events and organizations like Gordon Hamersley, Chris Schlesinger, the Spinazzola Foundation, the Boston DineAround (now Restaurant Week) and Chefs Collaborative. I learned everything on the job.

Around the five-year mark, I was ready for my next challenge. Two PR colleagues and I were going out to dinner once a month to discuss the industry. At one of these dinners, I’ll never forget, we turned to each other and asked – why don’t we start our own company? It was exhilarating. We merged our culinary, lifestyle, hospitality and beauty PR backgrounds and launched The Moxie Agency in January 2008.

Has it been a smooth road?
Launching a company is never easy. Keeping it going for a decade is even harder. We certainly had our ups and downs, though I must say it has been a fairly smooth road! We launched with a lot of excitement. We had some amazing clients lined up right from the start – The Liberty Hotel, The Charles Hotel, Louis Vuitton, Cynthia Rowley, Daniela Corte and Hudson were some of our clients in our first year. Once Moxie’s strong reputation was built, we relied on the good word of clients, colleagues and media to lead to the next piece of business. My partners and I navigated major life changes together along the way. Those were bumps in the road for sure, but nothing that stopped this crazy momentum. Through it all, I vowed to only work with clients I respected and was truly excited by, and that’s what has kept Moxie vital through the changing landscape.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Moxie Agency story. Tell us more about the business.
The Moxie Agency is a boutique lifestyle PR company that specializes in bringing standout brands and individuals to the forefront of the Boston lifestyle scene. Moxie launches cool local brands right here in our backyard and also helps national and international brands navigate their entry into the Boston market. Moxie’s personal touch, media relationships and work ethic are what sets it apart.

I’m very proud of The Moxie Agency’s clients. I like to think my clients are businesses that people truly want to hear about. I’m so proud of the success stories. I have a great sense of pride when I hear a client I worked with years ago is kicking ass now. I love hitting it out of the park. I take a lot of personal pride when a client is like, wow, this was above and beyond what we expected!

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
With the influx of lifestyle and culinary businesses launching left and right, the PR industry here in Boston is more vital than ever before. You need to have your story heard among all the chatter. You need to have a strategy for your opening to set you apart from the pack. And you need your story to continue to be told well past opening to survive.

One thing my colleagues and I are navigating currently is the uptick of social media influencers and online outlets and determining which are vital to our clients. We have to stay on top of who’s out there in a much bigger way than what was required ten years ago.

The immediacy in the industry is going to continue to explode. Back in the day I remember spending weeks on a beautifully composed press kit, printed up all nice and tied with a bow. We used to fax our press releases! Now it’s how quick can you get me this. You have to work fast. Keep it tight. But you can’t lose the heart. Don’t lose the story. Because that’s the most important part.

Contact Info:

• Address: 535 Albany Street, 5th Floor
  Boston, MA 02118
• Website: http://www.themoxieagency.com/
• Phone: 857.205.1989
• Email: info@themoxieagency.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMoxieAgency/

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