A Gerringong raised business woman has set the PR world on fire.
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Creating a system for medium to small businesses that is the first of its kind in Australia, Grace Garrick is using her talents to help small, local businesses... but how did she do it?
Ms Garrick knew from a very early age she wanted to be involved in business as she was always great at it.
As a child in Gerringong, Grace would critique her parents businesses, offering advice on things they could be doing better.
"I used to give business advice to my parents at such a young age," Ms Garrick said.
"They probably didn't like it but hey, at least I was showing interest!"
Having thrived in business during her HSC, Grace took her talents to the University of Wollongong, where she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and Business Management.
Ms Garrick said she started university with an interest in business, but was not entirely sure where she wanted to use her skills.
It wasn't until she completed a communications subject that the light bulb finally turned on - she wanted to work in public relations.
"I still remember me making the realisation at the university and messaging my mum saying 'I've done it, I know what I want to do!'", she said.
While still living in Gerringong, Ms Garrick earned an internship within the PR industry, waking up at 5am two days a week to travel to Sydney, where she would work until 8.30pm before travelling home to Gerringong.
Eventually, she was offered a job at the firm, where she worked until she was 24.
"It got to a point where I stopped growing at this business," she said.
"I started thinking, where do I go now, what do I do?"
Ms Garrick's entrepreneurial mindset kicked in, she handed in her four weeks notice so she could begin a new chapter and tackle a new challenge.
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It wasn't until she was at a night club in Double Bay where she ran into well known fashion designer Lillian Khallouf who knew Ms Garrick from her previous work.
"Lillian Khallouf knew me from my previous work in the PR industry and asked if I could help her," Ms Garrick said.
"I said of course and from there, I began freelancing using my skills I learnt at university and my old PR firm."
After freelancing with Lillian Khallouf, all the pieces of the puzzle were laid out and at just 24 years old, Ms Garrick started her very own PR firm, 'MVMNT'.
The firm has been running for 3 years and with her sister firm, 'No Boundaries', the two companies both run by Ms Garrick hold around 40+ clients.
Some of the clients are retained, meaning they have signed contracts with Ms Garrick for her to be their exclusive PR representative, while others come and go as they need to.
PR is not cheap however and the model is only set up for large established businesses.
"It's hard for medium to small businesses who need PR representation to receive it when the current PR model is simply too expensive for them to consider," Ms Garrick said.
This is the reason why Ms Garrick through her PR firm 'No Boundaries' has officially launched a new system aimed at helping small to medium businesses, 'Pay-as-you-go PR'.
The Pay-as-you-go PR model works as an online shop, with small business picking through a variety of services, ranging from press releases to events.
Businesses will select which service they require, add it to a cart and purchase with a one off payment.
"As far as we're aware, there are no other PR firms doing this in Australia," Ms Garrick said.
"Australia is filled with small to medium businesses who need PR representation."
Before the four week old Pay-as-you-go PR service was implemented, Ms Garrick did offer E-Books which would teach small businesses how to promote their services themselves, however she said it wasn't a full time solution and something needed to be done.
"I came from a small costal town and I will always fight to make life easier for small businesses," she said.
The new system is still in its early stages of life, however Ms Garrick is already seeing levels of success.
"It has blown my mind," she said.
"It's already done better than MVMNT did when it first started."
Now, at 27 years old, Ms Garrick is planning to continue to grow her PR businesses and the Pay-as-you-go model into the future.
"The biggest piece of advice I can give any young women or men who want to get involved in business is just do it," she said.
"Jump off that cliff and build the plane as you fall; if you work hard enough at it, it will always work out."