Meet the team is our blog series that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the people of PB Comms. In each blog we hear from a member of the team about their personal stories, their career and professional insights, and advice for those entering the industry.

Claudia Pritchitt is the director and principal at PritchittBland Communications. She has over 25 years’ public relations consulting experience in both Australia and the UK, with almost 20 years in the financial services industry. In 2003 she co-founded Pritchitt Partners, which later became PritchittBland Communications. She specialises in financial and investment strategic communications and content creation. Claudia is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA). She has a Bachelor of Arts degree (English and History) from the University of Sydney.

What made you enter the marketing and communications field?

I grew up with public relations – my father ran his own business which he started from home before expanding. So some of my earliest memories are of him on phone calls with clients or journalists, and writing media releases. As a teenage, I started working in his business as an after-school job – putting media releases into envelopes, compiling media kits, and doing media monitoring. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was essentially learning the basics of public relations. In those days (the early 1990s), a public relations degree was still in its infancy, and most people just started as a junior and learnt on the job, working their way up the ladder. It was while I was living in the UK, and looking for a permanent job, that I realised I had the skills to work in PR. I joined a small consultancy in Birmingham in 1997, and I’ve been a PR consultant ever since.

Why do you think financial services PR is important?

I’m a true believer in the importance of financial literacy. When I first started working in this role, I had very little knowledge about finance, superannuation, tax or investments. While I’m very far from an expert, I am grateful that I have learnt more about these things. PR and communications have an essential role to play in helping organisations explain these concepts to people, and encourage them to engage with things like their super.

‍What has been your biggest milestone?

I find it hard to believe I have been doing this job for 23 years! When I first started in the business that is now PB Comms, I wasn’t interested in expanding – I was happy as a one-woman band and I didn’t want the responsibility of employees. But I’m very proud of the business and the team, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s your favourite place you have travelled to?

This is such a hard question to answer. I have been to some really amazing places, and everywhere I’ve been, I want to go back to – I never seem to cross anything off my bucket list. Trips like the seeing pyramids at Giza in Egypt, cycling round Ankor Wat in Cambodia, going on safari in Botswana, sailing round the Cyclades, driving around the hills of Tuscany, or trekking to Machu Picchu in Peru, are definitely some of the highlights. But if I were to pick somewhere that I could go back to again and again, I have to say London. I love history – ask me anything about the Tudors - and London breathes history.

What’s your current obsession?

I’m currently binge-watching The West Wing, and loving it. It makes a nice change to watch a TV show with intelligent, likeable people trying to do the right thing. And CJ Cregg is my hero – not least because we share the same name.

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