New Beginnings

This weekend, one of my sisters and I took my mother to Savannah, GA to celebrate her birthday. While there, we went to the art studio of William Kwamena-Poh. There I purchased a limited edition of his work "Ties That Bind." I told the artist I wanted to commemorate my new business and he suggested another one of his pieces, "New Beginnings." He told us it was called that because the woman is tying her head scarf and you cannot tell where is the beginning and where is the end.

Today marks an important milestone in V. Evans Communications' short history. It was one year ago that I was laid off from my job as a news producer. I had only been at the station a little more than a year, and knew from day two that it was not a good fit, however I was bound by a two-year contract and felt trapped in a miserable company with a job that seemed to be moving backwards instead of forwards. I had the least seniority out of all the producers, and therefore the first to go. My now-former-boss said "If there's anything you need from us, just let us know." I replied, "Well, actually... Can I take some of these empty boxes so I can move to Boston?" He was surprised to say the least, but helped me cart out about a dozen boxes to my car.

A number of other people were let go from my station over the course of the month. However, I was the only one who saw this as a positive opportunity. It wasn't the end, but a new beginning. While I loved TV news, I always knew I wanted to get into public relations. But being in the midst of a recession, finding a job proved difficult.

I always had dreams of starting my own business, but as it is all too often in our lives, things get pushed back, put on the back burner. "I don't have enough money saved up." "What if I fail?" All sorts of questions and doubts pop up and keep us from fulfilling our true desires. That's exactly what kept happening to me. I kept saying "Five more years..."

Then one night I went out to dinner with some friends from high school, two of whom recently went in to business together. One of them casually mentioned how they needed to work on public relations and marketing for Adara Spa. I told them I could help them. Then came the realization that I could do this on my own and make it my own business. Thus V. Evans Communications was born.

Had my time as a news producer not have come to an abrupt end, then I probably would have never started my own business. Now I know, no matter what, I can make it. I always knew I had the skills to do this, but the fear of failure always loomed.

Less than six months later, we have clients in Boston, New York, Nashville and Atlanta and many more cities across the country. So far we've worked with clients in the beauty industry, politics, education, real estate and non-profits. And this is just the beginning.