August, 2026 - Brandinc PR

Brandinc PR Founder Brandi Sims Named Speaker at Confluence Carolinas 2026

Austin, TX — Brandi Sims, Ph.D., MBA, Founder & CEO of Brandinc PR, has been announced as a featured speaker at Confluence Carolinas 2026, taking place October 7-10, 2026, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Confluence is the premier annual gathering for music professionals, artists, and industry leaders across the Carolinas and the broader Southeast, drawing hundreds of executives, founders, and creatives for panels, workshops, keynotes, and live showcases.

About the Confluence Speaking Engagement

Sims joins a curated lineup of industry leaders for Confluence’s daytime conference programming, which brings together music executives, startup founders, nonprofit leaders, media, and government voices for candid conversations on the future of the industry. In 2025, the conference welcomed 290+ music industry professionals for its daytime programming and over 1,200 attendees for its evening showcases across independent Charlotte venues — with 90%+ of attendees reporting they were satisfied and likely to return.

As a strategic communications and publicity expert with 15+ years of experience, Sims brings a unique perspective to Confluence’s community of doers, dreamers, and future-makers, sharing insight on public relations, media strategy, and brand-building for artists, executives, and entertainment brands alike.

About Brandi Sims

Brandi Sims, Ph.D., MBA, is the Founder & CEO of Brandinc PR, a boutique strategic communications and digital marketing agency with clients spanning entertainment, sports, publishing, and corporate sectors across Oklahoma and Texas. Her work has secured coverage in Forbes, ESPN, ABC News, Fox News, The New Yorker, and AP News.

Sims currently chairs the PRSA Entertainment & Sports Section, serves as an advisor to the Qwoted Media Advisory Council, and is a Founding Mentor with the Impact Communications Institute. She recently earned her Ph.D. in Strategic Media Communications from Liberty University and teaches public relations and media courses at the university level. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences, including the Forbes BLK Summit, the National Black MBA Association Conference, and the PRSSA National Conference.

About Confluence Carolinas

Produced by Music Everywhere CLT, Confluence is the Carolinas’ must-attend gathering for the business of music — connecting the region’s industry leaders, artists, and innovators through daytime programming and nighttime showcases across Charlotte, N.C. Learn more at confluencecarolinas.com.

Brandinc PR is a boutique strategic communications and digital marketing agency based in Austin, TX, led by Founder & CEO Brandi Sims, Ph.D., MBA. For media inquiries or speaking engagements, contact Brandinc PR.

Title: Brandinc PR Founder Brandi Sims Named Speaker at Confluence Carolinas 2026 Meta Description: Brandi Sims, Ph.D., Founder & CEO of Brandinc PR, joins the speaker lineup at Confluence Carolinas 2026 in Charlotte, N.C., October 7-10. URL Slug: /brandi-sims-speaker-confluence-carolinas-2026

For tickets, visit: https://confluencecarolinas.com

Brandinc PR Joins the Impact Communications Institute as a Founding Mentor

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news: Brandi Sims, Founder & CEO of Brandinc PR, has officially joined the Impact Communications Institute (ICI) as a Founding Mentor.

ICI is an educational nonprofit built to equip emerging communications professionals with the practical tools, mentorship, and community they need to practice ethical, accountable, and impact-first communications. As the organization prepares to launch its new member community platform, Brandi was personally invited to join a small cohort of seasoned practitioners — the Founding Mentors — who are helping shape the tone of the community from day one.

What this means:

Brandi will host and participate in Office Hours sessions, sharing insights from 15+ years in PR, digital marketing, and strategic communications
She’ll welcome new members and offer guidance rooted in real-world entertainment, sports, and lifestyle PR experience
She’ll weigh in on questions within her areas of expertise as the community grows

“Ethical, accountable communication isn’t just a professional standard — it’s the foundation of everything we do at Brandinc PR,” said Brandi Sims. “I’m honored to help set that tone for the next generation of communicators as part of ICI’s Founding Mentor cohort.”

This recognition adds to a strong year for Brandi, who recently completed her Ph.D., joined the faculty at Huston-Tillotson University, and continues to lead Brandinc PR’s growing client roster and product offerings.

Stay tuned for more on Brandi’s work with ICI as the community platform launches.

Brandinc PR is a boutique strategic communications and digital marketing agency based in Austin, TX, specializing in entertainment and sports PR.

From Fast Food to PR Firm Owner at 26: What Whitney Lee Teaches Us About Hospitality PR, Agency Ownership & Betting on Yourself

From Fast Food to PR Firm Owner at 26: What Whitney Lee Teaches Us About Hospitality PR, Agency Ownership & Betting on Yourself

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually takes to build a successful PR agency from the ground up — with no big-city advantage, no corporate safety net, and no blueprint — Whitney Lee’s story is the one you need to hear.

Whitney is the founder of True Story PR, an award-winning hospitality and travel PR agency based in Destin, Florida. She holds both the APR and CPRC designations — the highest credentials in the public relations industry — and has been named Woman of the Year in PR four consecutive years by Scarlett Magazine. With 13 years of agency ownership under her belt, she is one of the most recognized voices in hospitality PR and a sought-after keynote speaker on earned media, brand visibility, and what it means to lead as a woman in communications.

In her recent appearance on the Brandinc PR Podcast, Whitney broke down the journey, the strategy, and the mindset that built it all.

How Hospitality PR Is Different — And Why It Demands a Specialist

Hospitality and travel PR is one of the most relationship-driven, experience-dependent niches in the communications industry. Earned media in this space isn’t just about press releases and pitches — it’s about understanding how travelers make decisions, how hotel and restaurant brands build loyalty, and how to position a property or destination in a way that converts curiosity into bookings.

Whitney built her expertise from the inside out, starting her career in hospitality operations at 16 and working her way up to Director of Marketing for the number one revenue-generating Hilton franchise in the world — where she managed a $500,000 marketing budget before the age of 26. That operational foundation is what separates her approach to hospitality PR from agencies that work in the space without ever having lived it.

What It Really Takes to Start a PR Agency From Scratch

One of the most searched questions in the communications industry is some version of “how do I start my own PR agency” — and Whitney’s answer is more honest than most people are ready for.

She walked away from a high-level corporate role at 26 and launched True Story PR in Destin, Florida — not a major media market, not a hub for agency culture, but a beach town where she had to build her reputation, her client base, and her systems entirely from the ground up. Thirteen years later, her firm is nationally recognized and her client roster spans some of the most compelling brands in hospitality and travel.

Her key insight for aspiring agency owners: sustainability comes from strategy, not speed. The PR firms that last are the ones built on repeatable processes, clear positioning, and a willingness to tell clients what they need to hear — not just what keeps them happy in the short term.

Women in PR: Leading With Credentials and Conviction

Women make up the majority of the public relations workforce, yet leadership at the agency and executive level still skews heavily toward men. Whitney Lee is a counterpoint to that reality — and an increasingly visible one.

Holding both the APR and CPRC is rare. Holding both while running a thriving independent agency, earning national recognition, and building a platform as a keynote speaker and podcast host is rarer still. Whitney’s career is a case study in what happens when women in PR decide to lead not just with talent but with credentials, conviction, and the courage to build something entirely their own.

For women navigating careers in communications — whether inside agencies, in-house teams, or building their own firms — her story offers both inspiration and a practical framework for what sustainable, recognized leadership actually looks like.

PR That Gets Brands Discovered and Keeps Them Unforgettable

Whitney’s agency philosophy centers on one core promise: helping brands get discovered and stay unforgettable. In a media landscape that is more fragmented than ever — spanning traditional earned media, digital platforms, and increasingly AI-driven search — that promise requires a communications strategy that goes deeper than press hits and social impressions.

Her approach blends earned media expertise with a clear understanding of how modern consumers and travelers discover brands, and what it takes to build the kind of trust and visibility that drives long-term growth.

About Whitney Lee

Whitney Lee, APR, CPRC, is the founder of True Story PR, an award-winning hospitality and travel PR agency based in Destin, Florida. She has been named Woman of the Year in PR four years running by Scarlett Magazine, one of 50 Women to Know in Florida, one of the Five Most Dynamic Women Leaders in the PR Industry, and a United Way 40 Under 40 honoree.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Resources and links below.

AI Before It Was Trending: What Anthony Reeves Taught Us About Brand, Creativity & Leading Ahead of the Curve

AI Before It Was Trending: What Anthony Reeves Taught Us About Brand, Creativity & Leading Ahead of the Curve

Most people discovered AI in marketing sometime around 2022. Anthony Reeves was keynoting about it in 2017.

That single fact tells you everything you need to know about how this episode of the Brandinc PR Podcast went — and why this conversation is one every brand leader, marketer, and founder needs to hear right now.

Anthony is a brand and creative executive whose career has spanned the Australian Outback, the Cannes Lions stage, and the C-suites of LVMH, Amazon, WPP, and Kohler Co. He has run Super Bowl campaigns, scaled Airbnb’s media nearly 4x during a global pandemic, helped Nike rebuild its e-commerce strategy, and led a 153-year-old American brand through one of the boldest creative stances in the industry today. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation.

1. Being Early Is Only Valuable If You Can Communicate the Vision

Anthony didn’t just see the AI shift coming — he stood on the Cannes Lions stage in 2018 and made the case for it in a room full of people who weren’t ready to hear it. His takeaway? Being ahead of the curve means nothing if you can’t bring people along with you. Communication is the bridge between vision and execution, and that is just as true inside a boardroom as it is in a brand campaign.

2. Scaling a Brand Without Losing Its Soul Is the Hardest Job in Marketing

During his time at LVMH, Anthony was tasked with scaling acquired startup houses to compete alongside the world’s biggest luxury names — without stripping away the very thing that made them worth acquiring. His approach centered on protecting brand DNA while building operational infrastructure around it. The lesson for founders and brand leaders: growth should amplify what makes you distinct, not erase it.

3. The Kohler AI Decision Was About More Than Advertising

One of the most talked-about moments in this episode was Anthony’s explanation of Kohler’s decision to refuse AI-generated people in its advertising. At a time when most brands are racing toward AI-generated content, Kohler went the other direction — and built the global infrastructure to hold that line consistently. Anthony’s point was clear: a brand stance only means something if you can operationalize it. Values without systems are just words.

4. Brand Resilience Is Built Before the Crisis Hits

From helping Nike navigate its post-Amazon e-commerce realignment to scaling Airbnb’s media during the height of the pandemic, Anthony has led through multiple high-stakes inflection points. His consistent observation across all of them is that the brands that survive uncertainty are the ones that invested in clarity — about who they are, who they serve, and what they stand for — long before things got hard.

5. Legacy Brand Building Requires a Different Kind of Patience

In a media environment that rewards virality and short-term spikes, Anthony makes the case for something slower and more deliberate — building brands that earn trust over time, show up consistently in culture, and create the kind of relevance that doesn’t evaporate when the next trend hits. That requires brand leaders who are willing to play a longer game than most organizations are comfortable with.

About Anthony Reeves

Anthony Reeves is a global brand and creative executive with experience spanning LVMH, Amazon, WPP, and Kohler Co. He delivered his first AI keynote in 2017 and spoke at Cannes Lions in 2018 on AI and brand strategy in a conversation that is still widely referenced today.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

PR That Builds Authority, Not Just Press — Lessons from Beauty Industry Leader Cris Gordon

PR That Builds Authority, Not Just Press: A Conversation with Cris Gordon

What does it take to build a brand that lasts — not just one that gets a moment of press and fades? That’s the question at the heart of this episode of the Brandinc PR Podcast, and my guest Cris Gordon has spent more than 17 years answering it in real time.

Cris is the founder of CB Communications, Chief Brand Officer and Head of MMC Beauty, and the creator of Brandidly Speaking — a media and learning platform built to transform real-world marketing experience into real-world impact. She has worked with global prestige names like Estée Lauder Companies and Sisley Paris, and she brings that same strategic rigor to the indie and founder-led beauty brands she champions today.

Breaking Into an Industry Not Built for You

As a first-generation Dominican woman and mother of four, Cris entered the beauty industry at a time when leadership rarely looked like her. Rather than conform to a system not designed for her success, she built her own — founding CB Communications in 2017 with an earned-first approach to PR and brand building that prioritized long-term relevance over short-term visibility.

Her story is a masterclass in what it means to lead from the outside in — and why diverse voices in communications aren’t just important for representation, but essential for strategy.

Earned Media Strategy That Actually Moves the Needle

One of the most important distinctions Cris makes — and one that every brand owner and communications professional needs to hear — is the difference between PR that generates press and PR that builds authority.

Press gets you a moment. Authority gets you a movement.

For beauty brands especially, where the landscape is crowded and consumer trust is everything, Cris argues that showing up in culture from the inside out is the only sustainable path. That means building community before you need it, creating messaging that resonates beyond the product, and investing in communications infrastructure that supports growth at every stage.

What Indie and Founder-Led Beauty Brands Need Right Now

The beauty industry is in a moment of major disruption — legacy brands are fighting for relevance while indie challengers are capturing cultural share at a pace that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Cris has worked on both sides of that equation, and her perspective on what separates the brands that break through from the ones that plateau is sharp, practical, and immediately applicable.

Spoiler: it almost always comes back to story, trust, and consistency.

About Cris Gordon

Cris Gordon is the founder of CB Communications, Chief Brand Officer and Head of MMC Beauty, and the lead voice of Brandidly Speaking. With 17+ years of experience across agency and in-house marketing and communications, she has worked with global and prestige brands while also advising emerging founder-led businesses at every stage of growth.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.