‘PR is hugely powerful in assisting law firms to build a trusted brand’

Name: Natalie Rodgers 
Job title and company: Managing director 
Location: Sheffield 
Time in PR: 22 years 

What does your current role involve?  
As managing director of Scala, my focus is to oversee the creation and delivery of PR and marketing campaigns for our clients. Keeping abreast of topical issues and identifying PR opportunities is an important part of this, as well as maintaining and developing relationships with journalists and editors. 

In recent years, my role has increasingly become more management and training focused, helping to grow this team from just myself to the seven strong we are now. 

What do you love most about working in public relations? 
To describe it in one word: satisfying. It is fast paced, demanding, and requires a level of meticulous detail that is not just an expectation but a necessity. I find working on longer-term campaigns that impact social policy or influence legal policies particularly rewarding. Much of our PR work involves supporting individuals affected by failures in medical care or whose experiences involve social injustice. 

Getting to see a law firm on the news alongside a family grateful for the coverage to highlight what has happened to them is a good day’s work. PR is hugely powerful in assisting law firms to build a trusted brand for the work they do. 

What's been the highlight of your career so far?  
The work we have done to expose the Nottingham Maternity Scandal is by far a career highlight. In 2017, we started working with the initial whistleblowing couple, Dr Jack and Sarah Hawkins, and their legal team after the preventable death of their baby, Harriet. I have been working arm-in-arm with them ever since, as well as other affected families. What started with one family has evolved into an independent review into the scandal involving over 2000 dead or harmed babies and mothers. 

How long have you been a member and what made you join?  
I first became a member of CIPR back in 2016. I joined to develop my knowledge of the sector and share my own experience with others. It is a vast network of individuals and knowledge that is extremely valuable. Even as an experienced PR professional, there is always something to learn. 

How does the CIPR support your career?  
CIPR has been an invaluable resource over the past few years. Getting to read about and connect with other professionals in this market has been worth its weight in gold. The quality of content produced by CIPR is bar none, continually teaching and sharing insights and developments across the industry. 

Best piece of career advice you’ve been given?  
“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” - Dead Poets Society 

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