By Darren Gilbert

Four years after graduating from Boston Media House with a National Diploma in Public Relations and a head full of dreams, Gounden is riding on a wave of success at Lloyd Orr. Reading that, you’d be surprised to note that she had never intended to make PR her career. In fact, she had never even planned to follow a creative career in the first place.

Instead it was all about law. Fortunately, she quickly realised that it wasn’t for her, a fact which she’d be more than happy to admit. “I studied law for a year and I absolutely hated it,” agrees Gounden. However, she didn’t simply turn to PR in response. Rather, it was via a path that so many other PR professionals take – journalism.

“My mom started working at Primedia Broadcasting and at about the same time I started at Boston Media House and I had the idea of majoring in journalism,” says Gounden. “I was also introduced to Yusuf Abramjee who would send me to every department so that I could get to know each aspect of the media.” It was essentially a trial run to help her decide where she fitted in in the media. However, instead of giving her confidence in her decision to study journalism, it provided the opposite.

For Gounden, it proved to her that journalism wasn’t going to be her thing either. Happily for her, the exercise wasn’t completely wasted as while moving inbetween departments, she found her niche in one of them: PR. This in turn influenced her studies and subconsciously she began to listen to Hsieh’s words. One only needs to listen to the way that she talks about the industry to confirm her passion: “Everything about PR is exciting, even the manic days and demanding clients.”

She continues: “I love getting up in the mornings because I know that I’m going to be spending my day doing what I love and enjoy.” Reading that, you get the idea that her career has given her more highlights than lowlights. And it’s true. In fact, according to her, her whole career has been a highlight. “When I started out, I wanted to experience different aspects of lifestyle PR.” So far, she’s managed to do just that. “I learnt about radio at YFM, went into fashion at House of Busby, and now I am in travel at Lloyd Orr.”

Now, this all seems very fantasy-like in that it appears to be indicating one thing: getting to where you want to be career wise is easy. That, of course, is far from the truth. If you want to find success, passion can only take you so far. The rest of the way is paved with hard work. Gounden agrees: “Success comes down to drive and determination. You have to tell yourself that you want to grow. You want to move and do things. Maybe go places where people haven’t been before.”

This viewpoint on success is even more significant for an industry such as PR where no one (or at least the ambitious ones) sleeps. Now, I’m not meaning literally here but rather on principle. Unfortunately, it does mean that you are very likely to become a workaholic. But as Gounden, points out, it’s necessary; you have to be a person who sends out emails at nine o’clock at night because brands never sleep. She has never had a problem with this. Neither has she had any issues in transitioning between different aspects of lifestyle PR. And she believes it’s all down to Boston Media House.

“Boston Media House has given me the skills that I need to adapt to any environment,” says Gounden. “Also, the great thing about Boston is the lecturers are also professionals in their field. For example, Claire Jackson, my PR lecturer is the owner of a successful Public Relations company and she was able to give us first-hand information about what PR really is.” And they don’t sugarcoat it either. You’ll quickly find out that it’s not an industry where you can get away with the bare minimum.

“PR teaches you very quickly how to run in heels,” says Gounden. “If someone were to ask me for advice I’d say that planning and time management are the two most important things of any publicist’s day.” Add to that a sound knowledge of the theory of PR and practical experience, and you have a strong foundation.

Having said that, it needs to be noted that with PR, you have to push yourself. There is no such thing as ‘I’m not doing that because it’s not my job’. It’s a principle that Gounden certainly lives by. After all, her job is to go the extra mile for her clients. However, it’s more than that. Gounden’s success is a direct result of the passion that she has shown for the industry. It’s also a passion that will see her push the boundaries and pave the way for everyone else to follow. I can’t wait to see what she does.