The phone notification peeped.
Mary was preparing to return to work the next day after the New Year holidays.
She checked her phone, and there it was an SMS.
She picked up the phone and started to read the message, staring at the screen, her face betraying her disbelief.
She had just been fired through an SMS!
Thankfully, just a few days later, she found a job at a PR company.
Working there greatly increased her experience in public relations.
During this time, she noticed that many local businesses struggled with public relations and were unprepared for the new digital era that was rapidly emerging.
How did she come up with the Idea?
She started pitching digital PR ideas to her colleagues and managers, but no one else could see the shift that she saw coming.
She observed that most PR companies focused only on traditional media, leaving void the gap of digital PR.
While others dismissed the opportunity, she decided to take it herself.
One day, she called her workplace and told them, “I’m not coming back.”
That is when Mary Njoki decided to return to her village in Ngarariga, Limuru.
With a modest sum of 6,000 Kenyan Shillings (approximately $45), a laptop, and an internet modem, just 23 years old, she decided to start a PR company.
How she reached her first customers
Ngarariga was not a big town, so she started collecting business cards, and started sending them:
- Cold emails and cold calls where she pitched to help businesses with digital PR, with her first clients she started offering free PR services in exchange for testimonial letters
- She created a website and content on social media profiles for Glass House PR, which helped her reach potential clients and showcase her services.
- She leveraged networking & referrals to gain new clients.
From Free Services to First Paying Customer
When Mary started Glass House PR, she had no capital, no office, and no well-known brand name to attract big clients.
But, what she had was skill and a sharp eye for market gaps.
Understanding that she needed experience and a testimonial portfolio.
Mary began offering PR services for free to small businesses and entrepreneurs who needed brand visibility but couldn’t afford traditional PR firms.
She helped them with digital branding, social media strategies, and public relations outreach services that many businesses hadn’t fully embraced at the time.
Mary’s reputation began to grow.
One of her early clients was impressed with her work and saw the value she was bringing to their brand.
This client became her first paying customer, offering her KES 5,000 per month ($40).
While it wasn’t a large sum, it was a huge milestone, a validation that her skills were worth paying for.
She took this as a sign of progress, using the small income to reinvest in better equipment, internet access, and business branding.
Her first paying customer was just the beginning.
Satisfied with her services, the client referred her to others. This led to a chain reaction, one customer became two, two became four, and soon, Glass House PR started gaining traction.
Planning for growth
She perfectioned the process of pitching and gaining more clients.
But she understood that in order to grow her business she needed to have access to bigger clients that not only bring the big cash but help build the brand as well.
In order to grow a business, some companies scale up from small businesses to large enterprises.
GlasshousePR was no different and big companies were the target
Scaling Through High-Profile Clients
Mary Njoki’s Glass House PR digital marketing strategies, made the company known by high profile companies, specially international enterprises.
This led to collaboration with several prominent organizations, including:
- Facebook: A leading global social media platform.
- Viber: A widely used messaging and voice-over IP service.
- The Ethiopian Government: Engaging in public relations initiatives within Ethiopia.
These collaborations highlight the firm’s capacity to manage high-profile clients across various sectors.
She started offering the whole package that PR companies offer:
Public Relations
Brand Management
Digital Communication
Crisis Management
PR Training
PR 2.0 (for SMEs)
Glasshouse PR’s Brand
Mary built Glass House PR into a strong brand by aligning with major corporations.
Positioned her firm as a trusted PR agency capable of managing large-scale projects.
Successfully executing PR campaigns for these clients further solidified the brand’s credibility, attracting more corporate clients.
Personal Brand
She intensevily build and nurture to build a reputation for herself, which helped the company’s brand.
She tactically strategize her media exposition:
- Strong presence through both traditional and digital media exposure.
- Recognized as one of Africa’s Top 40 Under 40 Women Leaders
- Awarded the Young African Women Leadership Excellence Award
She launched A Billion Startups, a mentorship initiative helping young entrepreneurs with brand visibility, further expanding her influence.
Expanding beyond Kenya
The demand from large corporations extended beyond Kenya, with many seeking Glass House PR’s expertise across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Because international Corporates would not only target one country in Africa, but the whole subsaharian,
Recognizing this opportunity, Mary expanded her services regionally, establishing a presence in multiple countries.
This strategic move not only catered to existing client needs but also tapped into emerging markets, contributing to the firm’s growth and influence in the African PR landscape.
As demand grew beyond Kenya, Glass House PR expanded into Sub-Saharan Africa, responding to multinational clients who wanted PR strategies executed regionally.
- Worked with corporations expanding across Africa
- Leveraged strategic partnerships for regional influence
Through strategic partnerships, personal branding, and regional expansion, Mary positioned Glass House PR as a leading PR agency in Africa.
Revenue Growth
Being a private company, there is no public information on how much the company makes
But it’s estimate to make
$1 million+
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Thanks and happy week!
