From cutting her teeth in the Public Relations industry as an intern in a fashion PR agency to running her own PR firm in Mauritius, we admire Samantha’s thirst for knowledge and push for collaboration between communications professionals in Africa. Read her profile and enjoy her interview with us:
Samantha Seewoosurrun is the creator and co-founder of PlatformAfrica.com, a pan-African news portal which focuses on technology, FinTech and entrepreneurship in Africa, with followers from over 50 countries in Africa and over 150 countries worldwide. She is the Women in Africa Ambassador for Mauritius and founder of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) network in Mauritius. She is also head of the PR and publishing company Perpetual Motion, which supports leading market players in the technology and finance sectors in Mauritius and internationally.
How did you begin your career?
I began my PR career as an intern in a fashion PR agency in London, when I was 17 years old. My first task was to help the team prepare for a Lee Jeans product launch at a major London venue. From this first experience, I saw that the PR industry was creative, fast paced, exciting and demanding, where there was always a new challenge and something new to learn.
Since then, I have worked across many PR and communications disciplines, including government, institutional and corporate communications, as well as public affairs, across three continents.
I now run my own PR and publishing company, Perpetual Motion, in Mauritius, which has a focus on financial services, technology and FinTech. We also operate a pan-African news portal called Platform Africa which seeks to showcase what Mauritius can do for Africa and what Africa can do for the world, particularly in the areas of finance, innovation and entrepreneurship.
What are some of the key lessons you have learnt from your professional journey so far?
First of all, you need to build your resilience in times of crisis, such as the period we are living through right now. I was working in an agency at the time of the global financial crisis in 2008 and we lost many of our international clients within days, as all their funding from the markets had dried up.
Since then, I have always believed in the importance of having a diversified client portfolio, across a range of sectors, to avoid having all of your eggs in one basket. You can never know what is around the corner, as we have unfortunately seen in the case of COVID-19, which has had a significant impact on the PR and media sectors among many others.
My professional journey has also taught me about the importance of lifelong learning and training. I joined the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in 2018 as I wanted to update my skills and knowledge, given that the industry is constantly evolving.
I find it very interesting to learn about emerging fields such as AI and ethics, for example, and to look into new digital trends which are outside my immediate field of experience, where CIPR is offering online courses and developing thought leadership materials.
What changes would you like to see in the communications/PR industry?
I would like to see closer collaboration among PR professionals across Africa and internationally in order to encourage upskilling in the profession and the sharing of best practice and experience, which would be a win-win for all.
One of the things I enjoy most about engaging with African PR professionals is that they are highly motivated to improve their knowledge and skills and to make a difference in their jobs or in their communities. Since I am currently the only member of the CIPR International Committee to be based in an African country, last year I initiated a collaboration with Africa Communications Week, and we began a joint programme of webinars.
So far we have held one session on upskilling, where we introduced the CIPR and the chartership scheme, and one session on crisis communications planning, where we invited both African and international experts to share their experience. We are now planning our webinar series for this year and we will be happy to invite members of The Comms Avenue to join our sessions.
I believe that the growth of more collaborative platforms, including The Comms Avenue, will have a vital role to play in communicating a compelling African narrative. In my view, it is high time for Africa to be recognised on the world stage as the continent of dynamism and innovation, and it has the chance to leap even further ahead now while many Western economies are crippled by the pandemic.
This is where African PR communications professionals can pull together and tell the real story.
Any tips you’d like to share with younger professionals?
I am a great believer in the notion that “she who dares wins”! There are challenging and rewarding professional opportunities in the PR industry but you have to be bold and go after them as there is a lot of competition out there. With online networking it has never been easier to research people and organisations that interest you, and you can immediately connect with them on LinkedIn, for example.
You can also seek to build your personal brand, online and offline, so you can show that you are someone is passionate about what you do and interesting to connect with. At the start of your career you really have nothing to lose, so you should go for it!
Since PR is moving in an increasingly digital direction, I would say that young people starting in the industry should acquire as many digital and technical skills as possible, across video editing, SEO and social media for example, so you can really keep up to date with the latest trends and help to transform the organisation you are working in.
Finally, I would advise young professionals to think of their career from a portfolio perspective. You might not only have a single job but several, working for different agencies or as freelancers. You might have some assignments in PR but others in different fields. At a time of global crisis, some opportunities will diminish while others will emerge.
Overall, I would say learn the lessons of every professional experience, keep expanding your knowledge and skills, and remain focused on your goals, as the keys to long term success.
