E118 - Lessons from Melinda Jackson: Why Nobody Hears Your Brilliant Ideas (And How to Fix That)

Ever wondered why some ideas capture attention while others fall flat? The secret might not be what you're saying, but how you're telling your story.

Meet Melinda Jackson, a PR powerhouse whose journey from small-town North Carolina to Emmy and Grammy award-winning campaigns exemplifies what's possible when grit meets strategy. With just $500 in her pocket, Melinda drove to Los Angeles, built her career through unpaid internships and relentless networking, and eventually founded her own successful PR firm after experiencing burnout.

Her approach strips PR down to its essence: it's about people, not press releases. The way you relate to your audience—whether through media interviews, podcast appearances, or collaborations—builds the trust and credibility that no flashy campaign can manufacture. As Melinda wisely points out, journalists don't want your product; they want your story. Why did you start? What problem were you solving? The founder's journey often provides the hook that secures coverage and connects with audiences.

For entrepreneurs struggling with clarity, connection, and consistency, Melinda offers practical wisdom: start local before scaling. Pitch to community outlets hungry for stories, collaborate with neighboring businesses, and build momentum that snowballs into bigger opportunities. Her DIY-first approach empowers creators to take control of their narrative without breaking the bank.

Ready to transform how you position yourself? Try Melinda's challenge: post once on LinkedIn (instantly putting you in the top 1% of users) and reach out to one podcast (giving you 30 minutes in someone's ear instead of 30 seconds). Remember, standing out isn't about being the loudest—it's about being the most authentic in how you show up.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Question of the Week
• 2:25 Melinda Jackson's Inspiring Journey
• 3:14 PR is About People
• 4:09 Story Matters More Than Product
• 5:24 Start Local, Then Scale
• 6:33 The Entrepreneur's Challenge
• 7:44 Host's Personal Experience
• 11:21 Weekly Challenge and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:55

What's going on and welcome back to a Friday recap episode. So the question of the week is what if the key to getting noticed in today's noisy world wasn't about shouting louder but about telling your story better? That was the big lesson I took from my conversation with Melinda Jackson, a PR expert with over 15 years of experience, grammy and Emmy award-winning campaigns under her belt, and the founder of Melinda Jackson PR. Melinda's story is one of true grit and resilience. She grew up in a small farm town in North Carolina, packed her car with $500 and moved all the way to LA with no job and no safety net. Through unpaid internships, side hustles and relentless networking, she broke into the entertainment industry, working on award-winning campaigns and building connections across music, television and beyond. But burnout something many of us know all too well eventually forced her to reset. She returned to North Carolina, built her own firm and now helps clients around the world, position themselves as thought leaders and tell the kind of stories that get actual attention.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Now the three takeaways from the conversation that I want you guys to remember, number one being that PR is about people and not press releases. Melinda simplified PR beautifully in our conversation. She pointed out how it's, how you relate to the public. That could be media interviews, podcasts, guesting, collaborations or brand partnerships. It's not just getting in Forbes, it's about building trust and credibility. So, for yourself and your own projects, I want you to kind of ask yourself how are you currently showing up to the public and is the story people hearing, the one that you actually want people to be hearing? So, like the one that you're telling, is that really what you want people to be hearing?

Speaker 1: 4:15

And number two takeaway was story is greater than product. Journalists and audiences don't just want your product, they want your story behind it. Why did you start this project? What problems did you face that inspired your solution? Melinda reminded us that the founder's story is often the hook that gets coverage. So if someone asked you right now why you started your business, your project side hustle, would your answer make them lean in or would it make them tune out?

Speaker 1: 4:56

I think way too many times, with different projects and ideas that we get that we genuinely think are awesome and would be a huge success, and once we go out to actually creating it or setting hitting the market, a lot of people don't really understand because they don't hear the whole why behind it. So it's really important to kind of hone in on this and if you're not 100% like something is better than nothing. You can't just go out there and say, hey, buy this, buy this, buy this, unless they actually need it 100%. Your story is what's going to make people know you and trust you and get you 80% of the way already to buying whatever it is. Your project is that you're building.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Number three Start local, then scale. You don't need a big PR firm to get started. Belinda's advice was pretty clear. She said pitch to your local media first. Local stations and papers are always hungry for stories and that momentum snowballs into bigger opportunities. She even encourages clients to try to DIY PR before hiring her. So what's one local outlet you could reach out to this week to share your work, event or story? I'll take this one even a little bit further too.

Speaker 1: 6:24

What other businesses do you frequently go to that you can also collaborate with? A lot of times, restaurants and small businesses in your town also have social media and their own following. Why not look to go collaborate? See what it would cost to kind of put together a small event and get some people together. Bring your friends, bring your family, do a little bit of marketing on social media and just try to have a fun time. Capture as much content as you can while you're there and share it on social media. Make sure you tag the other businesses as well. This worked really well for me in the past with different organizations to kind of collaborate, to work together and to cross-pollinate each other's audiences, and it can work for you too. So there's a lot of things. Where do you go to frequently? Just why don't you start there and see how that feels? But back to the conversation.

Speaker 1: 7:19

This conversation with Melinda especially hit home because it reminded me of a lot of the challenges entrepreneurs face in personal development Lack of clarity, lack of connection, especially a lack of consistency. Everybody talks about getting honed in, getting clear on what you're doing and how you need to connect more with more people and the importance of consistency, but not a lot of people have these things dialed in Most of the time. Other entrepreneurs and side hustlers and solopreneurs even struggle to even identify the problem that they solve. They are super isolated, even though you're connected 24-7 with social media and whatnot. And yeah, consistency is good for like a week or two and then it falls off. But listen if your message isn't clear and your audience can't connect to who you are or your project, and if you're not consistent, momentum dies. Then you got to start over and you got to go up that hill again.

Speaker 1: 8:15

The conversation with Melinda also reminded me of especially the earlier days of building prime performance coaching. The hardest part wasn't the content, it was learning how to position myself so people could actually hear what I had to offer. It was tough. I didn't know. It took me a while to figure it out, coming from strength and conditioning realm and knowing that there was more to what I wanted to be coaching and teaching than just squats and deadlifts. It was difficult. I didn't want to leave the identity that I created and wasn't really sure what I was kind of stepping into. But once I got clear, started connecting with more like-minded individuals and consistently showing up with my content, my marketing and even just sharing my message. People started coming left and right, shooting me emails, dms, et cetera to see if they'd be a good fit for coaching.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So if you've been hiding behind your brand and wondering why things aren't clicking, take Melinda's advice if you can fit anything you want to tell your story, start small and lean into powerful relationships and down the road. If you feel like Melinda is something that you're interested in discovering or finding out more information, you can find her at MelindaJacksonPRcom. She offers consulting calls where she'll literally build you a pitch, media list and talking points so you can start right away, same day. And then here's my challenge to you this week away, same day. And then here's my challenge to you this week Post once on LinkedIn, reach out to one podcast. As Monda said, linkedin posts put you in the top 1%, and podcast puts you in someone else's ear for 30 minutes instead of 30 seconds, because at the end of the day, remember, it's not always about being the loudest, it's about being the most authentic in the way that you show up.