Women-Owned Business Series: Amore from Apples & Oranges Public Relations

Welcome back to our Women-Owned Business Series! We’re happy to introduce Amore from Apples & Oranges Public Relations! Read on about Amore’s journey into award-winning entrepreneurship below.

First, tell us about your business and anything special we should know about it or you.

Apples & Oranges Public Relations is a publicity and events boutique agency for emerging brands and subject-matter experts who want to leverage the power of PR, to grow their companies and impact millions with their message. After being downsized from a corporate position in the design & build industry, I went from being unemployed to an award-winning business owner.

Why do you feel a connection to your work?

After ten years of owning my agency, I have decided to leverage my expertise to companies with big goals. I decided to re-position myself and my company in the PR industry a year ago. We now focus on emerging brands looking to incorporate PR into their long-term growth strategy that leads to expansion, going public, or owning their market.

As a business owner, community is everything. In what ways do you serve your community and how has your community served you?

I serve my community by sharing my expertise with small businesses that want to transform their businesses. I contribute to panel discussions and non-profit organizations by providing minimal services such as press releases to help them announce their events and new company developments. I have also shared insights at organizations such as WIBO and Rutgers University.

What advice would you give to young women who want to start a small business?

Find organizations that do what you want to do and learn from them. Become a student of your industry or area of expertise. Seek out mentors. When given the opportunity, be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Become a resource for your industry. Make a plan! Nothing works without it. Imagine getting on a plane and the pilot has no flight plan or idea of your destination. You will not get there. The same applies in all areas of life, especially in business.

What women inspire you and why?

My grandmother. She gave birth to 12 children, including my mother, during the 1930s to mid-’40s in the Caribbean Island of Antigua. They did not have much. Her devotion to her family enabled my grandfather to build their home, own land, and provide for his children and others in the neighborhood. Why does she inspire me? Because she is the epitome of why foundation and structure are essential in society.

What do you think are the most significant challenges for women business owners or women in leadership positions?

For women-owned businesses, I would say the biggest challenge is not asking for it is what we want. For example: not requesting equal value in business engagement, such as undercharging services, not putting agreements and terms and conditions in place, etc. As a result, most small business remains stagnated. I would say that maintaining leadership and staying in that position is the main challenge for women.

Amore was the recipient of the 2020 Stevie Award for Women in Business and an alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and the Columbia Community Business Program (CCBP). She was also the new Gala chair for the 2023 New York Association of Black Journalists (NYABJ) Juneteenth Gala event. Learn more about her company here!