Dana Pluss Parks on Public Relations Leadership

When I was first asked to speak with a PR practitioner for my PR Leadership and Management course, Dana Pluss Parks immediately came to mind. With over 20 years of industry experience in agency settings since graduating from Syracuse University, Parks became a successful business owner in 2009 after founding DPP Communications & Coaching, a lifestyle and hospitality PR firm in Denver, CO. Many of her clients struggled during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Parks decided to use her newfound free time to return to her roots in psychology by becoming a certified leadership & professional coach. Now, in addition to offering her clients high-quality traditional and digital public relations services, she works hands-on with business leaders, applying the skills she has acquired through her certification, decades of leadership experience in the workplace, and psychological insights she learned as a human development major at SU.

Below is a short clip from our conversation when we discussed the greatest leadership lesson she’s learned from her undergraduate education, career, and recent certification training.