Feb 27, 2017

Thanks to the journalistic foundations Jennifer Maloney learned at Langara College, she is able to thrive in the new age of PR.

Maloney is the founder and CEO of Brix Media Co., a Vancouver PR firm focused on connecting companies with “media influencers” whom Maloney describes as individuals who can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions through content on social media.

The work that Maloney does requires a lot of problem solving, but that’s exactly the kind of environment she thrives in. “I’m constantly learning, I’m constantly creating and I also get to be strategic,” she said.

After spending her first professional years writing for newspapers, changes in the industry made Maloney think about her place moving forward. That’s when she decided to join the PR industry. Instead of going out and finding stories, she could select the stories that would go out.

Her first roles in PR allowed her to learn more about business, and kick started her passion for brands that were creating positive change. In 2015, she opened Brix Media Co. and focused her entire work on “social values and social innovations.”

“We work with a wide range of industries but a lot of them have at the centre of them some core value, that we think is benefiting society,” she said.

With content from social media as the focus, Maloney works with her team to create experiences to reach the social influencers whom she hopes will pass the message to their followers. In return, they’ll hopefully buy into the brand or product being advertised.

“From identifying a news story and understanding what was relevant to how to ask the right interview questions… We think about these things in a journalism stance, but with PR they’re all very relatable. The field I am in today, it’s all about capturing attention of media, or influencers, or the public.”

This profile is part of a new project -  Langara Chats: Alumni to Alumni stories. Profile and video produced by Journalism graduate, Bryan McGovern.

In 2017, Jennifer was recognized by Business in Vancouver on their 40 under 40 list.