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A PR career can look glamorous from the outside, but the real story is usually built out of sharp pivots, hard boundaries, and a lot of grit. Our founder and CEO, Cheryl Snapp Conner, unpacks how a love of writing turned into a front-row seat in tech, then into a 20-year run building communications for startups and growth companies.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify

Episode Summary

Recorded at the Board of Advisors Q2 event near Dallas, host Hugo Jimenez sits down with Cheryl for a candid look at the decisions behind a 20-year agency — the leap that started it, the partnership that nearly ended it, and the model SnappConner PR runs on today. Key takeaways:

• The leap pays, but only after the mindset shifts. Leaving a corporate role tripled Cheryl’s income overnight — and she is clear that the change in thinking came first, not the money.
• Partnerships are the biggest accelerator and the biggest threat. Walking through a painful share buyout, Cheryl returns to the line her attorney gave her that still holds up: “There is no contract on earth that is stronger than human nature.”
• Collaboration became her leadership brand. Early exposure to toxic dynamics shaped how she protects her team today and how she designs a better path for the people who work with her.
• The agency model has changed. SnappConner PR now operates as a fractional communications team supporting a small number of key accounts, taking equity stakes that change the economics well beyond hourly PR work.
• Remote leadership and succession go together. The pandemic made distributed leadership workable across Boise and Utah, and succession planning is built around the people who helped build the business.