Creative Stories #1: on hyping yourself with Lucy Werner
Lucy is an author, PR expert, and the queen of DIY PR for solopreneurs.
Hello, and welcome back to Creative After Hours. The following is the first edition of “Creative Stories” — a new interview series featuring people doing cool, creative shit. I hope you enjoy it!
Meet , the creator of — a global top 50 Business Substack. Lucy helps solopreneurs through DIY PR strategies, workshops, and her “collaboration corner” — a place to find outlets looking for guests and vice versa.
We talk about:
✅ Why and how Lucy transitioned from a PR agency owner to a small business hype woman.
✅ Common misconceptions about PR and how solopreneurs can overcome them.
✅ Lucy’s top tips for building a personal brand.
✅ Finding work-life balance.
And much more!
Dive in now. ⤵️
Alexis Damen (AD): Can you share the story behind the creation of Hype Yourself? What motivated you to transition from running a PR agency to developing a DIY platform for small businesses?
Lucy Werner (LW): I always wanted to help good people doing cool things and making the world a better place get out there. I only knew the agency model, so I replicated what I knew. My business mentor was encouraging me to scale and sell. Along the way, I wanted to upskill in PR and couldn’t find a PR book actually written by someone from the PR industry. It was mostly men and journalists.
I used the book as my springboard to teach and show others how to do it for themselves. I even walked my talk and used myself as a case study. It takes time to establish a business and I couldn’t afford the pay cut to rebuild from scratch again so only recently has that transition been 100% from agency to DIY.
AD: Your book, "Hype Yourself," has been successful! What was the writing process like, and how did you decide which PR strategies to include?
LW: I had to include a detailed chapter breakdown in my book proposal. I went even further and had a spreadsheet of each sub-section, so I knew how many words I needed to write for each and who I wanted to invite to be part of it. I started writing on a Friday so I knew I had my client work finished but quickly switched to Monday morning first thing as that was when I had the most energy.
I have a similar format for putting an overall PR strategy together and then tried to include as many tactics as possible from that umbrella. I’m a big advocate of one-size fits no-one so I repeated that message throughout.
AD: How do you see the role of PR evolving for small businesses and solopreneurs in today's digital landscape?
LW: PR is more than just getting press for your business. It is everything you do to raise your profile in public. In the digital landscape, we all have a digital footprint and a personal brand. There is a real opportunity for small businesses and solopreneurs to learn this craft and stand out. You can borrow big business strategy and do it in a more personable and agile way.
AD: What are some common misconceptions small business owners have about PR, and how does your platform help address these?
LW: That PR is writing a press release and sending it out to a long list of contacts. That you can cut and paste the same pitch to multiple people. That you have to pay to be featured in a list, to speak, or to get your product placed.
I deliberately teach a live learning experience once a month to dispel these myths. And try to repeat the messages of what PR is across socials, newsletters, and when I speak live.
AD: What are the unique PR challenges solopreneurs face compared to larger businesses, and what are some creative ways to overcome these?
LW: It’s a new skill set to learn rather than a department to outsource to. My biggest tip would be to record yourself telling your friend about your product or business and what you do for work. PR isn’t rocket science but it does take practice. The more you refine how you explain what you do and how it helps others, the easier you will find pitching yourself for PR opportunities.
AD: What are your top 3 tips for building a personal brand?
LW:
Stick to your values not your ego: Don’t just partner with someone (a business or individual) because they have a big following, make sure they are really aligned with your values
Everything starts with a story: Don’t start with talking about your product or service, start with your story.
Go where the opportunities are: I love to share ways of journalists looking for stories, podcasts looking for speakers, and newsletters looking for writers. The best time-saving tip and method to increase your success with pitching is to start with the people looking rather than starting cold.
AD: With the increasing importance of social media, how do you advise businesses to balance traditional PR methods with new digital strategies?
LW: What are your business goals? If you want to change what people see when searching for your product or service then a digital strategy could work harder for you than appearing on TV or print media. The latter is great for kudos and brand-building but is not always a sales generator.
Collaborating with someone who might have a nano following on social media might actually work harder for you if it is a direct audience match.
AD: What advice would you give someone just starting in PR, whether they want to work in an agency or manage PR for their own business?
LW: You need to love to read the news, study media trends, and be reactive. The media landscape can be hard, so you have to train yourself to filter out the negative breaking news and search for the columns and sections that can work for you or your clients. Learn about all the different types of PR opportunities out there: news, listicles, features, real-life/opinion, property, business, interview, soft news, event listings, reviews, columnists, it goes on and on.
AD: How do you stay current with the latest trends and changes in the PR industry, and how do you integrate these insights into your work with Hype Yourself?
LW: I still read the news and magazines every day, it’s the first scroll I do in the morning and last thing at night. I even have breaking news alerts on my phone which is a habit from when I ran the agency but I still find it important in informing my work today.
I also follow a lot of PR talent both a lot older than me and a lot younger than me, a mix of both founders and employees to see their hot takes on what is going on in the industry and the wider world.
Before we go…
AD: What’s your go-to business (or PR-related) book?
LW: If you are starting, Brand Yourself, the book I co-authored with the co-founder of my children, and if you want to get out there, Hype Yourself.
AD: What are you currently curious about?
LW: Learning French, adventurous play with my children, discovering new forest walks with my dog Arlo, writing for the joy and not sharing, micro-adventures, and the eternal path to try and quiet my mind.
AD: If you had an afternoon to create freely with no distractions or limitations, what do you think would come of it?
LW: Funny, you should ask that. Everything I’ve been doing in my agency in the last ten years has enabled me to do that now. So I guess the answer is lots of writing.
AD: What’s the most creative PR strategy you’ve seen or executed yourself?
LW: I can’t pick one. I like timely reactions to the news. Otherwise known as newsjacking. MeanMail is a great card brand for hijacking the news with topical card choices that match her brand tone of voice.
AD: How do you overcome creative blocks or challenges?
LW: Take time out. Which is always the hardest thing to do when you are already fighting for time. At the moment, I’m into micro-adventures. I’m trying to find small pockets to escape. For example, last week I started work at 11:00 after finishing an early morning visit to an aqua park on my local lake.
I’ve also paid for the AllTrails app and trying to find new places to explore with my dog.
AD: What’s your top tip for balancing work and life as a solopreneur and mother?
LW: Write down a list of what you ‘need’ to do and what you ‘want’ to do. Focus on the needs in the pocket of time you have.
AD: What’s your #1 top tip for aspiring solopreneurs?
LW: Be careful who you take advice from, are they living a life you want?
About Lucy
Lucy Werner is the founder of HypeYourself.com, an education platform to help build your brand and get it out there. She also runs a Top 50 business newsletter on Substack.
Lucy has taught hundreds of entrepreneurs through workshops, resources, and courses for creative spaces like The Futur, Bayes Business School, Courier magazine, and the University of Arts London. Lucy has over 20 years of communications experience and has written two bestselling books, Hype Yourself and Brand Yourself. She has been listed in Alt Marketing Power 100, The Dots Risings Stars and Start Up Magazine Female Founders to Watch.
She is a global Adobe Express ambassador and Domestika instructor and writes about self-promotion & creative living for her Substack publication with 8k subscribers.
Lucy’s links:
Thank you so much for having me - I really appreciate the guest slot as first. I've watched enough episodes of RuPaul's roast challenges to know that first is a tough slot so I hope I do you proud.
Great interview Alexis 👍 Loved learning more about one of my favourite people on Substack! 🥰