Mary Crawford,
Managing Director, The Right Angle.
My story is about leaving and coming home; leaving Donegal in the late 1990’s to experience new frontiers and pursue my dream of a career in PR, and then returning home 15 years later to set up a business.
I have over 20 years’ experience in marketing and PR in Dublin and the northwest. I started my career in Murray Consultants, one of Ireland’s oldest and most established PR companies, cutting my teeth on campaigns for leading brands including Ryanair, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Independent News and Media.
It was a busy agency and a baptism of fire; I learned how to multi-task and stay in the job. Working with Ryanair taught me to be brave and showed me how to get results in the most effective and cost-efficient way. Organising gala events with high profile guest-speakers, including President Bill Clinton, taught me the importance of attention to detail in the extreme. It was fast-paced, and I had the PR bug. However, the bug for traveling was stronger, so I left to experience the world with my boyfriend (now husband), and we embarked on a year-long trip of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and North America. We never looked back.
Learning & Growing
Celebrating 10 meaningful years.
Upon returning to Ireland, I spent a wonderful ten years in Elevate PR, growing the agency from its beginnings to a team of 16 people. Highlights included launching PSP for PlayStation with John Rocha, managing the Hennessy Gold Cup and Hennessy Literary Awards, launching hotels for Hilton and Conrad Hotels and Resorts, organising IMMA’s Summer Parties and showcasing upcoming Irish musicians at Electric Picnic with The Nokia Trend Lab. We organised and hosted events and press trips for leading brands from Hennessy to TK Maxx, the Swatch Group, the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year and the Nokia Young Fashion Designer Awards. We co-ordinated media visits to Chateau de Bagnolet for Hennessy and Nokia World in Barcelona.
We worked with some great people, implementing brand ambassador programmes like Elle McPherson for Santé, Jamelia for Reebok, Bob Geldof for Dublin Contemporary and Jerry Hall for TK Maxx. My personal highlight was meeting the late Seamus Heaney as part of the IMMA celebrations for his 70th birthday. And all the while, we navigated and oversaw the move of PR into social media, with the rise of video and content as king, and the resulting 24/7 news cycle.
It was a brilliant ten years.
A new way of living
Career, bikes & hens.
I learned two important skills during these years: how to be organised and how to write well for business, regardless of what channel you are writing for. I also developed excellent relationships with national media, across all titles and sectors, which continue to serve me well. However, I am originally from Donegal, and like the travel bug, the pull of northern shores was equally strong, so when we started our family, my husband Conall and I made the decision to move home. This was in 2012 before remote working was even a thing, and PR was still a city job! I wanted to live and raise our family in Donegal and while I loved my career in PR, I dreamt of coastal living and brainstorming bike rides down country lanes; of space to roam and (one-day!) owning chickens. I wasn’t sure how to combine the work I loved with the life I wanted to lead, but I knew it could be done – and so began The Right Angle. To their eternal credit, my friends and former colleagues in Elevate PR sent a lot of work my way, and still do; their support was key in the formative years of the business and very much appreciated.
The Right Angle may be based in Donegal, but we never let geography get in the way of great results. Our clients regularly feature in national media from The Irish Times to Ireland AM, and we are always exploring new ways to collaborate with online creatives across a range of clients and sectors. And while we may have been ahead of the curve on remote working, we are now in great company with so many creatives from all over the world choosing to work and build their businesses in Donegal. And yes, I got my hens – ten of them – and they are a joy!