Company: Trust Relations, Williams, AZ
Company Description: Founded in 2019, Trust Relations is a fully remote strategic communications firm that designs custom “dream teams” from a national network of the industry’s best practitioners. "Trust Relations" is a term coined by President and Founder April White to replace public relations with a model that emphasizes authentic actions, values, and goodwill with supportive proof points and creative activations.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Innovative Woman of the Year - Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
 Nomination Title: April White, Founder & President
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 194 words used.
April White has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications. Prior to founding her own agency, White represented Fortune 100 companies and marquee brands including MasterCard Worldwide, MetLife International, Sotheby’s International Realty, Hyatt, Rosetta Stone, Petco, American Standard, The Dannon Company, YellowTail Wines, Sealed Air, and eMusic, as well as startup companies including Beekeeper, Softomotive (acquired by Microsoft), NEXT Trucking, Richr, Wilbur, Picnic Tax and Suzy.
The former award-winning journalist started her career as a solo PR practitioner in 2013. Eventually, in 2019, she coined the term “Trust Relations,” which led to her building the first fully remote communications agency of the same name.
White received her B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from Iowa State University and her M.A. in Strategic Communications from Columbia University. She is an official TEDx speaker and ongoing contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Newsweek. White regularly serves as a mentor, judge, and professional advisor for various PR and startup industry awards programs and accelerators. She is also a three-time podcast host on “Trust Relations: The Podcast,” “The PR Wine Down” and “Hype Busters: Real Talk on Strategic Communications with Chris and April.”
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Under White’s leadership, Trust Relations doubled in size and revenue for the third consecutive year since its founding in 2019. In the past year, she welcomed partnerships with notable brands including Gregorys Coffee, Fox Logistics, Xeneta, and Reflect.
In Spring 2022, White became an official TEDx speaker and was invited to present her compelling theory that people and companies can leverage the power of self-reflection to overcome increasing division and judgment in society today. White was also accepted as a national mentor for SEED SPOT and OneValley Startup, hosted the 2022 Glorium Technologies Startup CTO Summit, and was invited to judge the Go Global World 2022 Pitch to Investors event for startup founders.
In April 2022, White launched “Trust Relations: The Podcast,” covering advice and commentary on the trends and topics that define integrated communications in the digital age. She also co-hosts two other original podcasts, including “The PR Wine Down” and “Hype Busters,” both of which debuted within the last two years.
White expanded the agency’s full-time employee benefits this year to support its growing national team of PR professionals and international marketing and business operations. With new integrated marketing solutions for the digital era, White introduced services such as branding, design, and SEO. White also established a proprietary brand assessment tool, the Trust Analysis. Now, every client receives a comprehensive assessment to define their brand message and ensure all strategic communications campaigns work toward their broader brand objectives.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 166 words used.
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The Trust Relations three-year anniversary video includes statistics and metrics to illustrate White’s success as an entrepreneur and leader in PR. The video includes an overview of recent client wins, White’s professional milestones and the PR results generated by her unique agency model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMawwmVXxbg
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White’s TEDx Talk, “Is Living United Worth the Fight?” delves into her personal journey of self-reflection, which ultimately yielded her professional approach to authentic storytelling. The talk details her personal story at the heart of the agency’s mission to create authentic brand connections that can stand up to scrutiny and generate meaningful results. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss5aVbqZHDw
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White’s author portfolio includes a collection of her published work for leading business and communications outlets, including Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Newsweek: https://trustrelations.agency/author-archives/april-white/
- White co-hosts three original industry-focused podcasts, highlighting her expertise in PR, integrated marketing, and strategic communications. These podcasts can be found here, and on most major streaming platforms: https://trustrelations.agency/our-podcasts/
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
White believes the traditional PR model is broken—and she isn’t the first to call for an industry reckoning. Valerie Schlitt redefined networking for the digital era by founding LinkedIn. Eric Yuan saw the potential in virtual conferencing and created Zoom. Melanie Perkins democratized design with Canva. Ida Tarbell led the muckrakers’ charge to reform journalism at the turn of the 20th century. Likewise, White is on a mission to reinvent PR.
“Trust Relations” is White’s new-age approach to PR. It reimagines the industry for an increasingly skeptical public, with a commitment to communicating clients' authentic actions, values, and goodwill. White believes that to earn the trust of the public, PR practitioners must ensure clients’ storytelling and storydoing are one and the same.
White realized the power of a completely virtual workforce when she founded her agency. With a first-mover advantage, White preempted the digital shift that eventually resulted from the COVID crisis, and has since created a diverse global network of industry-leading practitioners.
She curates each “dream team” with the specialities required to promote a brand’s 360-degree story. This breaks with the traditional agency model and leverages each team member’s strengths and experience so they can thrive professionally and better serve clients.
White’s unique, scalable pricing model calculates clients’ budgets through a points system. Each tactic—bylined articles, media outreach, and more—carries its own point value. The result is full transparency, as retainers are calculated by the total sum of points a client chooses based on its current priorities.
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