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For more than eight years, the statewide publicity and strategic counsel C.Pharr & Company provided has helped us grow our business throughout Texas.
~ Chris Peck,
VP Texas Division
McCarthy
- C. Pharr & Company has been invaluable to Warrior Group. Their expert and dedicated communications support has helped Warrior Group gain visibility that will positively impact our bottom line.
~ Gail Warrior-Lawrence
Warrior Group
- CPC has been a great strategic PR partner as we launched 'auto insurance by/buy-the-mile' in Texas and beyond.
~ Chris Gay, CEO
MileMeter
- Cynthia Pharr Lee is one of the 25 most influential business women in Dallas.
~ Dallas Business Journal
July 2008 - In a number of crisis situations, my executive teams have trusted C. Pharr & Company for sound communications counsel and implementation.
~ Ken Cichocki
Chief Financial Officer - They are as adept and creative when it comes to social media as they are with traditional media. We saw results on both fronts within the first 90 days.
~ Jim O’Gara,
President and Founder
OnMessage
- Every PR initiative we've done together has begun with insightful strategy and yielded results that have built Westmount’s leadership profile, locally and nationally.
~ Cliff Booth, CEO
Westmount Realty Capital
- The CPC team has been an invaluable asset for our ad agency, producing unique and effective PR solutions for retail clients of The Hall Agency.
~ John Hall, President
The Hall Agency
December
23, 2009 - Real Estate Bisnow
A MERRY CHRISTMAS > Read
full story...
October 2, 2009 - Reprinted with the permission of the Dallas Morning News
Texas Women Ventures Fund helps female entrepreneurs
DeSoto entrepreneur Gail Warrior-Lawrence is a poster child for investment in businesses led by women.
In 2007, the Texas Women Ventures Fund lent $1 million to the Warrior Group, the construction firm she co-founded and leads. She repaid the money in March and now is becoming an investor to help other female entrepreneurs.
"I'm always about paying it forward, if I can turn it around and do the same thing for someone else," Warrior-Lawrence said. She is investing an undisclosed amount in a $5 million sidecar fund being raised for use along with the Texas Women Ventures Fund's initial $5 million.
"It's on point with our mission to grow women-led businesses, to grow women business investors and to prove to the marketplace you can make money investing in women," said Cynthia Pharr Lee, co-founder of the Richardson-based investment firm along with Whitney Johns Martin, Valerie Freeman and Carol Nichols.
"We've completed the cycle with Gail and the Warrior group."
April
9, 2009 - Reprinted with the permission of the Dallas Morning
News
By buying out firm, PR exec avoided starting agency from scratch
Starting up a business in a down economy doesn't spell doom or suggest you're crazy. Cynthia Pharr Lee, president and owner of a Dallas-area public relations company, took the risk in similar times, in the 1980s, and succeeded. Today her business is thriving, and she's also co-founded the Texas Women Ventures Fund. Here's her story:
BUSINESS: C. Pharr & Co., Addison
DESCRIPTION: Business-oriented PR and marketing communications firm, handling marketing plans, reputation management, media strategy, brand management and strategic communications
PROBLEM FACED: After working in the public relations field for others, I was itching to start my own agency just as the mid-1980s downturn squashed commercial real estate and several other sectors I had specialized in.
I was determined not to poach clients from my employer. I wondered whether I should wait for a stronger economy before launching.
WHAT WAS AT STAKE: If I failed going out on my own, I would have lost an income stream and benefits my family counted on and most of my savings. I also risked giving up a hard-won position as a leader in the PR business and having to start at the bottom, scrapping to win small clients.
SOLUTION: Rather than starting a business from scratch, I networked with several outstanding senior PR agency owners just to see if anyone might be looking for a leadership transition. Especially, were they interested in a younger partner to buy them out?
After several unproductive discussions, I finally learned that one of my most respected mentors was in exactly that situation. We negotiated a buyout that gave her the financial and management exit she wanted in several years and provided me an outstanding platform from which to grow C. Pharr & Co.
I was excited about doing my own thing, and my team and I tripled the business in the first year. Fast growth continued for several years. So I was able to complete the purchase and restore my savings from the agency's earnings.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: By starting with a few accounts, people, offices and computers, I was able to launch my agency from an established business rather than from scratch. That made us more competitive and ready to grow rapidly. Especially in the challenging environment, it was also a huge relief to be able to achieve financial stability fairly quickly.
To contact Cynthia Pharr Lee, call 972-931-7576, e-mail Cynthia@pharrpr.com or visit www.pharrpr.com.