TESTIMONIALS
“I can't say enough about my experience working with Erica Perez. Since the creation of our event and catering company, she was able to help us grow in a meaningful way and put us on a successful trajectory. Her profound knowledge of our business, her connections and her enthusiasm showed year after year in our growth and our reputation in a crowded market. I truly enjoy working with Erica and could not have chosen a better PR partner.”
~Pascal Chureau, Chef/Restaurateur, Field & Vine Events
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Erica for many years in my role as a commercial real estate editor. After one of her clients, Unico Properties, entered the Denver market, Erica made it a point to introduce me to the company’s local leadership. Since then, she always has been responsive to my needs to obtain accurate and timely information, including making Unico Properties representatives available for comment on articles. Erica is always pleasant to work with and represents her clients well!”
~Jill Jamieson-Nichols, Editor, Colorado Real Estate Journal
“In our first meeting, I told Erica that I just wanted to be on the map. My restaurant had been open for years and we had virtually no press at all. People just hadn’t heard of us and didn’t know we existed. I desperately longed to be included in press round-ups, dining lists, local articles – anything. Well, Erica blew my initial goal out of the water. Within a year, Tapalaya received two feature-length reviews from top restaurant critics, was on national TV, was included in The Oregonian’s Top 100 restaurant list and was in countless articles in numerous food publications – and that was just the beginning. Our presence and prominence in the Portland food scene spiked tremendously and Tapalaya became one of those restaurants with lines out the door. Based on the positive impact on our bottom line and our newly-created reputation, I immediately learned about the power of PR. Erica is an absolute pleasure to work with. She truly cares about her clients and is completely devoted to their success. I couldn’t give Erica a more heartfelt recommendation.”
~Chantal Angot, Former Owner of Tapalaya, Current Business Broker specializing in the sales and acquisition of restaurants and bars in the Portland area
“I’ve worked with Erica since 2002 to manage our PR strategy. Erica is the consummate professional, and it is clear she works hard to establish the needed relationships with the media that matters for our business. She is proactive in identifying opportunities for us to get our message out to our broader community. It has paid dividends too. We’ve secured new client relationships as a direct result of the extensive PR and earned media she’s sourced on our behalf. Most importantly, Erica has taken the time to get to know our needs as a company, and my needs individually. She effectively runs interference with media inquiries, ensuring that my time is used efficiently, and perhaps most critically, there are no surprises. Our relationship with Erica has developed into a true partnership, helping us grow our brand in an increasingly noisy space.”
~ Brian Pearce, Senior Vice President Real Estate Services Unico Properties
"Erica is a consummate professional and a gifted relationship-builder who instantly puts her clients at ease with her first-class level of customer service. Her remarkable interpersonal skills in working with client needs, the needs of our Board, and managing complex media relations efforts combined with her expertise in providing sage PR counsel is invaluable. She is highly-responsive to requests, she manages budgets closely and with care, and she makes our organization's mission a number one priority.”
- Susan Steward, Executive Director, BOMA Oregon
“Erica is a real media relations pro! She clearly has a passion for uncovering the gem of what makes a compelling story and she is masterful in sharing that story with the media. Since taking Erica on as my PR partner, she has done an incredible job in getting the word out about my new restaurant, Willem’s on Main, in the local Vancouver and Clark County markets as well as in the greater Portland Metro market. She really hit the right note with the local media: in print, electronic and also social media at a level I hadn’t seen since opening my first restaurant, Fratelli, in Portland in 1998! She’s honest, authentic and dedicated, and extremely motivated in getting the right information to the right outlets. She formed a great “picture” of what Willem’s on Main has become to our local media outlets, and I am thoroughly impressed!"
-- Willem Paul Klitsie, Chef/Owner, Willem’s on Main and Fratelli
“Erica is a true communications professional. Her expertise with both internal and external communications is a valuable asset to a small business like mine. She provides me with premier PR counsel, dedicated service and focused advice and attention. In fact, she makes me feel like I’m her only client. I consider her part of the ChildRoots family based on her knowledge of my business needs, goals and objectives.”
-- Christina Unga, Owner, ChildRoots Center for Young Children
"Erica has a keen sense of what makes a news story -- and, equally important, what doesn't. As a journalist I've certainly appreciated that, and I suspect her clients do as well."
-- Eric Pryne, Retired, Business Reporter, Seattle Times
“Passion, experience, expertise. What do these three things have in common? Erica Perez. I've been impressed by Erica's public relations savvy since my very first interaction with her. I was working as the editor of a food and drink magazine, and Erica contacted me about her client, a graphic designer and letterpress artist. While I was accustomed to getting pitches about restaurants and food products, I was surprised to get a pitch about an artist. But in typical Erica fashion, she was thinking outside the box: Her client's portfolio included kitchen-related art -- why not pitch a food magazine? Turns out, it was a perfect fit. Erica's instincts are always spot-on. She's a whip-smart creative thinker with an encyclopedic memory for faces, names and even bylines. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to hire her to promote any project.”
-- Danielle Centoni, Food Editor, Food Writer & Former Editor of MIX,
Portland's Food + Drink Magazine
“Erica was one of the first people in media/public relations I met when I moved to Seattle 16 years ago, when she worked for the legendary Seattle public relations man Jay Rockey. What struck me about her right away, despite her burgeoning niche in commercial real estate public relations, was her knowledge of so many different facets of the Puget Sound region. Many public relations specialists can’t see beyond their piece of the puzzle and how it fits into the bigger picture, but Erica is the exception. She has a 360-degree approach to her work, and can zero in on the “why this matters” relevancy, not only for the media, but for her clients, who especially need to understand why various audiences should pay attention to their work.
Her diverse body of work speaks to her agility: in the late 90s she was in charge of throwing one of the city’s most memorable store openings—the downtown Old Navy flagship. It was an epic and impressive party that Seattle hadn’t seen at the time and hasn’t seen much of since, featuring decade-appropriate blue martinis and appearances from pop culture icons/store spokespersons, Donna Summer and Morgan Fairchild. The party was long before social media was part of a media professional’s daily toolkit, but Twitter and Facebook would have been on fire that day.
We’ve become great friends over the years and we share a passion for the local media scene. I remain impressed with her on-going drive and commitment: she now manages her own successful PR company. Erica continues to thrive in her commercial real estate niche and she remarkably managed to get her clients in the news even during the bleakest years of the recession.
And, of special interest to me as editor of a consumer city lifestyle magazine and media properties, she has added food to her client portfolio and has become one of my go-to sources for the Portland restaurant and events scene. Erica is amazingly professional, beyond organized and creative—I can only imagine what she’ll be cooking up next!”
-- Rachel Hart, Editorial Director, Tiger Oak Publications. Seattle Magazine //
NW Home // Seattle Business // Seattle Bride // Oregon Bride //
California Wedding Day // Seattle Health // Custom publications
“Erica is a motivated, energetic communications professional of the highest order. If I was hiring someone to handle my company’s media relations and marketing communications needs, she would be the very first person I would call for help. Given her breadth of experience in the public relations agency arena, she can be counted on for knowledgeable counsel and results-oriented strategy and tactics that will move mountains for her clients. Among her many strengths are her total attentiveness to her clients’ needs and her personal commitment and attention to building her clients' brands and enhancing her clients' reputations.”
-- Art Merrick, Retired as Senior Counsel at Hill & Knowlton
"Erica Perez was recommended to me by seasoned author and journalist Laura Russell, and I could not be more pleased with her services. She is a gifted PR specialist with endless drive, superior creative thinking, and phenomenal attention to detail. She developed a strategic PR plan for both print and digital media outlets, with a particular focus on national food publications. She tailored her strategy to meet my needs and goals. Her expertise in relationship-building with target media and with local bookstores/book buyers, combined with her ability to think strategically when challenging situations arise are invaluable. Erica is a valued PR partner and I look forward to working with her on future projects."
-- Chrystal Carver, recipe-developer at www.glutenfreepalate.com and author of
Sweet & Simple Gluten-Free Baking: Irresistible Classics in 10 Ingredients or Less
I have known Erica since 2001 and she has been invaluable as my public relations and media expert for Cushman & Wakefield of Washington, now Commerce Real Estate Solutions, since 2005. She has been invaluable as my PR Consultant and I have trusted and valued her counsel since I hired her. She’s an expert media strategist on a local, regional and national level and possesses one-of-a-kind relationships with key reporters. Erica’s commitment to client service is outstanding and she is dedicated to guiding and supporting our clients to achieve their desired reputation in the marketplace. She’s creative, energetic, and responsive and I would recommend her to anyone as an excellent PR partner.”
~John Miller, Managing Director, CBRE.
Formerly Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce
Photo by Florian Klauer
“Partnering with Erica since 1998 both at Rockey Hill & Knowlton and at Perez Public Relations, we rely on her communications savvy and decades of PR & media relations expertise to provide strategy and counsel for Unico. Erica’s ability to build productive and trusted media relationships, and to shape Unico’s story by working one-to-one with reporters, is incredibly valuable. Whether it’s crafting messages, training spokespeople, or managing interviews, Erica is a consummate professional and trusted partner, who is a pleasure to work with, and consistently delivers results to help reach our business goals.”
-- Lynn Abulhosn, Senior Vice President,
Chief Administrative Officer, Unico Properties LLC