Ruth Furman discusses resilience, success and luck in Bold Journey interview
In a recent interview with online publication Bold Journey, Ruth Furman talked about staying resilient in more than two decades of business. Bold Journey operates with the mission to create conversations around personal and professional challenges with the hope of inspiring others to live boldly.
The interview started with Furman sharing how she transitioned into public relations shortly after graduating college. The Midwest native saw herself as a life-long journalist, but was drawn to the entrepreneurial nature of Las Vegas when she relocated there in the late 1990s. That let to an opportunity to start her own PR firm in 2001, and she seized it. Her key to success over the years has been her relentless work ethic, which is driven less by profit and more by utilizing her genuine outgoing nature to connect meaningfully with others.
“My relentlessness isn’t just about striving for business success; instead it’s more tied to establishing and cultivating relationships,” she said. “I’m genuinely curious about other people’s lives, so I ask a lot of questions. People share their stories with me, and that’s how I’m able to find new clients.”
Furman says she still keeps a journalist’s mindset and cherishes her media relationships.
“I work very hard to match up my clients’ subject matter expertise to what is relevant and newsworthy right now,” she added. “To me, It’s all about great content that is useful for audiences. Through the years, I have been able to create incredible stories for clients in retail, home improvement, real estate, construction, health care, fitness, entertainment and more.”
Overcoming challenges
Furman admits that her greatest strength (work ethic) is also a weakness. Because of it, she’s prone to overwork and overcommitting to projects. She has learned to prioritize work-life balance over the years, hiring freelancers and delegating tasks to help her avoid overworking.
Handling rejection has also been a challenge for Furman. In the past, she would take clients leaving personally. Over time, she has seen them come and go, then come back. She eventually recognized that these ups and downs are simply the “natural flow of people needing PR services for a period of time.” Years of experience has trained her to be more comfortable with navigating these very common shifts in her field.
Adding SEO PR
During COVID, Furman made the decision to create her SEO PR division. Demand for the service wasn’t hard to find. In fact, it came to her naturally, when on Zoom networking meetings people started requesting media exposure opportunities to assist them with their website SEO.
SEO PR has helped her business grow significantly. With the service, marketing teams leverage her clients’ media placements to create digital assets used to improve SEO, and “amplify their brand and grow their business.” Through these experiences, Furman has also learned the power of aligning marketing and PR more closely.
“I never realized how much as PR professionals we sometimes silo ourselves from marketing teams when we really shouldn’t,” she noted.
The role of luck
Furman also shared a unique view on the subject of luck. Above all, she sees herself as fortunate to have schedule flexibility in her career. Because of it, she could be with her mother in the months before she passed away.
“Most people wouldn’t count their mother passing after a painful cancer battle as luck, but I do. I miss her everyday. She was one of my greatest heroes, a true empath that taught me how to love and appreciate the people I have in my life,” Furman said. “I was fortunate to have a team of freelancers willing to step in for me so that I could continue to run my business while tending to this personal matter.”
Another example of luck occurred more recently, when her brother, Joel, who has Down syndrome, suffered a stroke while Furman was on a road trip with him. She found him the medical attention he needed when her gut told her something in his behavior seemed off. After he was stabilized, she also helped find him the rehabilitation resources he needed, all while continuing to run her business.
“He inspires me with his determination to overcome some of his new physical challenges, and I’m able to make decisions about his care and continue being a helpful big sister,” she added. “Again, without my business structure, I would have missed out on so many important moments in life, memories that add tremendous value to my life that go beyond business success.”
