Longtime publicist Pristina Alford this spring branched off and launched her own agency, where she aims to set “a new standard” for brand strategy and elevation.

Alford & Co. Public Relations is starting off as a remote operation with the hope of setting up shop in Hollywood and also the East Coast. Alford said her long-term goal is to foster a healthy professional space to offer her employees the opportunities, mentorship and support she lacked in her own career.

“I want to break that cycle for individuals and emerging publicists working in the space and come up with ways to refresh what PR looks like,” she said. “In my career, I’ve seen how much an environment, where you feel safe and like your coworkers, how much that makes a difference in your growth as a professional and the creativity of the team.

A publicist for 15-plus years, Alford emerged to start her own company after clocking in time at the local outpost of DKC. Her clients included automakers like BMW, performers such as Snoop Dogg and Saweetie and athletes like Nigel Sylvester.

Focusing on culture and fostering diversity

With Alford & Co., Alford said she wants to focus on lifestyle- and culture-adjacent brands and people, which she sees as a major intersection for most other lines of business.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been a generalist. I think that’s where people start until you figure out what you want to do,” Alford explained. “Culture touches everything. Culture is currency. What I take pride in is doing a good job and being able to work in these spaces; these spaces are all connected in some way.”

Alford – whose family is Filipino, Black and Japanese – said in creating her own agency, she will avoid situations all too familiar to her: being the only minority employee in the room, being tasked with helping the company’s image issues, having higher ups dismiss her ideas. At DKC, she helped spearhead its cultural division, which specifically brings related brands to millennial and Gen Z audiences.

“It’s been my mission to create these spaces at the agencies I’ve worked at, creating a space at the table where you don’t have to be a senior person to be there,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of great ideas come from junior staff. Clients want to be tapped into the cultural youth. Growing up and navigating through my career, it hasn’t always been like that.”