After several years out of the industry, I recently came across two interesting articles on TRPWL, and needed to add my voice to the fray.
The first was an article regarding Publicist Erika Icon and her constant bullying campaign against those she doesn’t like, or those she feels threatened by. Unfortunately, I can attest to this bullying as I was an attempted victim myself.
During my almost 2 years in the industry, I served as a (novice) publicist for what I truly believe to be one of the greatest companies in the entire business.
Through my role for them, I was able to work alongside a number of the top PR specialists and companies within the industry. Most, like Lainie Speiser, Brian Gross, etc. were absolutely incredible to work with, and I gained a great deal of knowledge and insight from them. My experience with Ms. Icon, however, was not quite as pleasant.
I had the opportunity to work with Erika on several projects and at first the relationship was great, but it quickly soured when she became aware that I was associated with someone on her target list.
As a newly single mother at the time, I was trying desperately to make ends meet as I went out into the world on my own for the first time. I was making decent money with my company – but children are expensive and I needed to supplement my income. I approached my management team and received approval to freelance on the side, so long as my name wasn’t attached to anything. I immediately began ghostwriting for another wonderful acquaintance I made within the industry, and it was the ideal situation for me at the time.
During a discussion with Erika one night, I openly shared with her that I was working with this company, and that was the end of everything. While she didn’t directly threaten me on the call, she did warn me I wasn’t going to like what would happen if people found out and basically gave me an ultimatum demanding I stop working with the other PR rep.
My experience with the other rep was nothing but stellar and I simply wasn’t willing to give up the work or the great friendship I built. When it became clear to her where my allegiances lie, she approached my main company and told them about my freelancing in an attempt to have me fired. Fortunately, they were supportive of me, especially since they approved my freelancing to begin with, and I was able to keep my job and continue putting food in my child’s mouth. But the sheer vindictiveness of trying to have a single mother lose all of her income and take away my ability to support my son, simply because she didn’t like the person I was working with personally, was nothing short of astonishing.
The second TRPWL article I mentioned earlier in this piece can be found here:
The man mentioned in the article, Bosco, was the rep I was freelancing for. And I can vouch that every single positive thing said about him is 100% true.
While working with him, he did EVERYTHING possible to make sure I was taken care of. He paid me for my work in advance and when I was having trouble, he would advance my pay and put it toward items I’d write for him in the future. He was ALWAYS there for me when I needed help, and I saw he did the same for so many others – even when it turned around and backfired on him.
In his dealings with his clients, he was nothing but professional and helpful. I saw him in action and know he helped many of them the same way he did for me. Even when he was struggling himself.
I cannot praise Bosco highly enough, nor put into words how kind and giving he is. I will second the main theme of that article and say that anything negative written about Bosco is nothing but made up nonsense from someone with an agenda. I trust the man implicitly. And so should you.
