From everyday consultations to walking alongside business growth: How to build the trust of a PR professional people say, “I want to talk to you first.”

Hello, everyone!I’m Iijima from SUNNY SIDE UP.

“PR and communications… where should we even start?”
“Could what we’re doing actually become news?”
“We have something we want to share, but we don’t know how to communicate it…”

Even if you have concerns like these, when you want to share something with the world—whether it’s a company, brand, store, or local initiative—reaching out to a PR agency right away can feel like a high hurdle.

In the midst of that, I’ve heard that my senior colleague Warashina, a PR Director in the same department, has been getting more and more calls from friends and acquaintances saying, “I’d like to ask you to handle our PR,” or “I want to consult about how we should communicate.”

It’s not simply because they are friends or acquaintances—so why is Warashina remembered as the “first person to consult”? And how does that personal trust lead to proposals and projects with SUNNY SIDE UP?

This time, Iijima—now in my first year as a PR Director—will interview her and unpack it all!

Public Relations Division / Bureau 2, Department 2, Group 1 Saki Warashina (Warashina Saki)

At university, she majored in vocal music at a music college. After graduating, she worked as an attaché de presse, primarily in fashion PR. Wanting to take on PR across a wider range of fields—including the music and art she had studied—she joined SUNNY SIDE UP as a mid-career hire in December 2020.

After joining, she has handled a wide variety of clients, including hotels, education, alcohol, art, and facilities. She is involved across the board, from planning to new business development. By engaging with industries and themes she previously had no connection to through PR, her curiosity for new worlds has expanded, and she feels that “my life has broadened through my work as well.”

In her personal life, she is known in the company as a wine lover and has now relocated to Nagano Prefecture. She works between two bases: Nagano and Tokyo. Recently, her hobby has grown into launching a “Wine Club”!

The first consultation is usually not yet “PR”

Today, Warashina receives a wide range of consultations about work and business, often sparked by friends and acquaintances. The fields she has been asked about span cosmetics, beverages, education, hospitality, jewelry, and more. The topics vary as well—from expanding awareness of a brand or service to how to bring new businesses and challenges out into the world.

However, not every case begins with a clear, concrete request such as “I want to commission a PR initiative.”

“I don’t know what to communicate or how.”
“How can we get media coverage?”
“To begin with, is what we’re doing even something PR can cover?”

She says many conversations start from consultations that are still not clearly defined.

Warashina says the first thing she values is “staying close to the other person’s concerns, without trying to immediately turn it into my own work.”

Just because someone consults you does not mean placing an order with a PR agency is necessarily the best solution. First, she organizes what the person is struggling with and what they truly need. If PR can solve it, she considers how; if not, she does not force a proposal.

Not “If you consult us, you’ll be sold to,” but “They’ll sort it out with you.”

She says that feeling leads to “When something comes up, I want to talk to you first.”

At the same time, as a PR Director, Warashina is mindful of finding the “value in a product or service” that even the person seeking advice has not yet noticed.

Even initiatives that feel ordinary to the people involved can, with a shift in perspective, carry social relevance and newsworthiness.

“Why now?”
“For whom is it valuable?”
“What changes in society can it connect with?”

By layering these questions and carefully listening all the way to what the person or brand values and the future they aim for, she translates the appeal of the business or brand into context and language that resonates with society.

Why consult “Warashina,” not the “company”? — What she values as a PR Director

Behind the consultations she receives from friends and acquaintances is not only their everyday relationship, but also Warashina’s approach to her work.

“It doesn’t feel like a hard sell—she’d think it through with me.”
“She’d understand the business and our intentions from the ground up.”
“Even if it’s not organized yet, she’d listen first.”

That sense of reassurance may be what helps people take their first step into PR.

While casual consultations from people close to you often lead to work, Warashina values not “taking anything because they’re friends,” but engaging sincerely and professionally.

At the same time, she listens to each person with the hope that “even if it doesn’t lead to work, if talking helps ease their worries even a little, that would be good.”

What PR can do, what is difficult to do right away, and what SUNNY SIDE UP can help with.

She told us that by keeping those boundaries clear and continuing to think together about what communication is truly necessary for the other person, many cases have ultimately led to working together.

And what Warashina values in PR is not simply securing media exposure.

That is,discovering the inherent value of the brand or service and translating it into words and context that resonate with society and consumers—and thinking through “why it should be communicated now” and “who it should reach for that value to expand.”.

This is what Warashina values most as a PR Director.

Even consultations that begin from personal relationships can develop into broader, more far-reaching communication by combining SUNNY SIDE UP’s media relations, planning capabilities, and team expertise cultivated over more than 40 years.

Not just “waiting for consultations”: Finding PR potential in everyday life

The starting point for Warashina’s work does not necessarily begin with the words, “I want to consult about PR.”

Sometimes, when she hears someone’s concerns in everyday conversation, she thinks, “PR might be able to help solve that.” Other times, when she feels drawn to a business, she takes the initiative herself, thinking, “It would be interesting to do PR for this company.”

One example is SANU, which she currently handles.

Warashina herself was originally drawn to SANU’s business and had a strong interest in “how to share this brand’s appeal with the world.” A friend of hers happened to be in charge of SANU’s PR, and in a casual conversation she shared ideas from a PR perspective, saying, “It would be interesting if we could develop PR like this.” Her friend responded, “We were just about to think about our communications going forward, so I’d love to talk in more detail,” and it developed into a concrete consultation. After that, SSU made a proposal, which led to the current project.

This work did not begin with the client bringing a clearly defined issue from the start; it began with her feeling the business’s appeal and wanting to expand its potential.

On the other hand, conversations with people close to her can also help her notice issues that even the person themselves does not yet see as PR.

For example, she once heard a friend in HR say, “We want to strengthen new graduate hiring, but we can’t get students to apply.”

At first glance, it is a recruitment or HR issue, but Warashina framed it as a communication challenge: “How do we deliver the company’s appeal to university students?”

By communicating the people who work there, the interesting aspects of the job, and the experiences one can gain to younger generations, you can encourage them to think, “I’d like to work at this company.” By incorporating a recruitment PR perspective, she believes it may also be possible to address the business issue of labor shortages, and she is currently moving forward with a proposal.

PR is not necessarily only about “getting a product covered by the media.”

Helping people learn about a business, increasing fans, hiring talent, creating new markets.

Thinking about everyday challenges and asking, “Isn’t there something PR can do here?” That perspective is the starting point of Warashina’s business development.

In this way, she uses her ability to build personal relationships as the entry point, while ultimately elevating it into projects that leverage SUNNY SIDE UP’s sales capabilities, proposal strength, and ability to walk alongside clients as a team. I felt that this is where Warashina’s unique strengths as a PR professional truly show.

After the interview: Becoming a PR professional who brings others along

Through this interview, we were able to see why so many consultations come to Warashina—and why they take shape as real work.

Although Warashina was born and raised in Tokyo, she has now relocated to Nagano Prefecture. She says that changing where she lives has increased her opportunities to encounter local programs and initiatives by regional companies.

What she felt anew there, she told us, was: “People still don’t fully know what PR agencies can do. We need to do ‘PR for PR.’”

“When people hear PR, many think it’s about writing press releases or pitching to the media. But in reality, we can work together from the point of organizing the issues a business or brand faces and creating points of connection with society,” Warashina said.

That is why, rather than only waiting for people who already recognize they need PR, she finds “where PR can help” within everyday conversations and concerns. I feel this perspective leads to Warashina’s flexible support that is not confined by conventional notions of PR.

Another memorable aspect of how Warashina works was her words of gratitude for the people around her. She said, “I’ve been fortunate to have a great team and great managers.”

And finally, what stayed with me most was“PR simply can’t be done alone. There are results you can’t achieve on your own.”—those words.

Even if a project begins with trust in an individual, it is because we do it as an organization that it can lead to major results. “It’s because the team is there that I am who I am today.” In the way she spoke with conviction, we caught a glimpse of the strength of the people at SUNNY SIDE UP as an organization—and the essence of what it means to be a PR professional.

Warashina’s warm desire to ease the worries of those close to her, her sincere commitment to steadily shaping that into real work, and above all, her character—never forgetting gratitude and naturally bringing others along—were deeply inspiring to me. As I continue to gain experience, I strongly feel that I, too, want to become a PR professional who carefully stays close to the voices of those in front of me and creates major results through the power of the team, just like Warashina.

Turning small triggers that begin with everyday consultations into PR that drives business growth.

Starting from trust in individuals, we will maximize the knowledge and team strength cultivated over more than 40 years and continue to walk alongside our clients’ challenges.

At SUNNY SIDE UP, we handle PR and communications for a wide range of products and services. What can be made possible through the power of communication? We welcome consultations that start from questions like that.

In addition to Warashina, we have many other professionals as well. Please feel free to reach out first—simply contact us via the “CONTACT” button below.