Our People of Journey Further series is capturing the personality behind our team across the agency. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t speak to Beth, a legacy member of Journey Further who’s been with us for over 8 years and has even led the move to take the agency stateside to New York. Today she leads PR across key client accounts and represents the agency on stages including brightonSEO, MozCon and SMX.
Gosh, that was a long time ago! I was the 22nd person at the agency and now we have 200! There wasn’t enough room for us in the current office (our beautiful HQ was still being built) so the organic team were in a co-working space about 10 minutes away. It was fun, as people would come over and work with us (Jimmy, who leads our talent team was a frequent visitor - probably for the delicious free coffee!). We would spend every Friday afternoon in the office with the wider team and go to the pub afterwards,
We were very scrappy, and I look at some of our pitch decks now and cringe, but we won business quickly and we hired 8 people within the first 12 months just into PR alone. One of my fondest memories was pitching for Burton Biscuits and making a huge wall of Wagon Wheels in the office. The Paid Media team were like ‘is this what PR teams do all day?!’ but they were appreciative of all the free biscuits (and we won!).
I’d always wanted to live abroad and Robin had always been open about his ambition to launch a US office, but I never fully considered it would be ME going over.
Matt and Robin spent time in NYC and identified that the biggest opportunity for Journey Further was digital PR in the US. Robin said he wanted a director to move over with him to help set it up - so I said ‘well I guess that needs to be me then doesn’t it!’. My husband immediately said yes and we went for it.
The move took forever, I initially hoped to move in the space of a month - and go across in September 2022. How naive!! The visa process was long and arduous but a year later, September 2023, I got the green light. In the interim I travelled back and forth a lot, as we made our first US PR hire in August 2022, Domenica, to lead our Digital PR offering in the US. Similarly to the UK, our proposition really resonated and we grew quick. By the time I moved over we already had several employees and clients in the US.
Managing the time-difference while I was in the UK was tough at times but it was worth it. The US market is very different to the UK and it has been a huge learning curve. I always believed that having an in-market team is crucial to success and based on our results and client retention - this is definitely true.
We started as a Digital PR team and quickly expanded into SEO, Paid and Influencer too, which is really exciting to have US experts across multiple channels working together, with the support from our UK counterparts.
From a product perspective, our PR offering has evolved to be Discovery-led vs. Google-led, which is really exciting. We create strategies that drive overall discoverability across multiple channels, and are less-focused on the traditional SERPs.
Our team is based more remotely than initially expected. In order to bring on the best talent, we’ve hired people outside of New York. We have a great team based in our NYC office, and our remote team is also amazing. The benefit is that every state is different; there are cultural differences across the whole of America and having such a diverse team therefore really helps us understand the nuances of our clients’ target audiences.
How many brands were still buying links and focused on link volume!
The main difference is the size of the two countries. In Leeds, I’d regularly hop on a train or drive to a client’s office for a meeting. In NYC, if I want to visit some of our biggest clients, I have to take a 6-hour flight to the West Coast. So, we have to find ways to build relationships and connections online, while being selective over the moments where we meet in person.
Time is money and, in the US, there is an even bigger focus on efficiency and getting direct to the point. I love the honesty and the open conversation that takes place as it allows us all to move in the right direction.
One thing I've learned never to ask is ‘hey, are you ok?’ as this can be seen as quite jarring - always to stick to a simple ‘how are you’.
That it’s all about links and building Google rankings. Digital PR is such a powerful tool, that, when used correctly, can help influence the whole discovery system.
AI search draws on everything that's already been written and said about your brand, from editorial coverage and reviews to forums and social media. Your digital footprint is what gets synthesised into a recommendation. And in this new era, there's nowhere to hide if you've got bad press or bad reviews.
Ranking high on Google was always the number one goal. In 2026, it isn't anymore. The goal is to be chosen, because visibility on its own is meaningless.
PR influences whether a brand is chosen through the positive signals it generates and the fame it drives - which is essential for machine understanding and ultimately, a brand’s discovery. It’s no longer just about generating online coverage, securing interviews on podcasts, getting featured in Substack’s and newsletters are all platforms that fuel LLMs and drive visibility.
When I was a junior PR executive, I regularly worked 10+ hour days, I’d check emails during my vacation and never allowed myself to fully rest. This was stupid and while being so committed helped me get to the position I now am in, it isn’t something I ever want my team to do.
Since starting the PR team at Journey Further I have been very strict on myself, and others, at the importance of deleting Slack and emails off my phone and fully switching off while your out of office is on! It has been a game changer for my wellbeing and probably why I am still married, to be honest! I know as a leader I need to lead by example and this has helped me make better decisions.
Back yourself. I wasn’t even 30 when I founded the digital PR team and I was surrounded by many senior and more experienced people. I struggled with imposter syndrome to start with, and I wish I had been as confident and vocal as I am now.
I would have read the most amazing book - ‘Playing Big’ by Tara Mohr a lot sooner than I did. I interviewed Tara for our International Women’s Day event, one of my proudest moments as I was able to amplify her message across the whole agency.
You’ve worked at Journey Further for over 8 years now… what do you remember about your first few months here and what was the agency like back then?
Gosh, that was a long time ago! I was the 22nd person at the agency and now we have 200! There wasn’t enough room for us in the current office (our beautiful HQ was still being built) so the organic team were in a co-working space about 10 minutes away. It was fun, as people would come over and work with us (Jimmy, who leads our talent team was a frequent visitor - probably for the delicious free coffee!). We would spend every Friday afternoon in the office with the wider team and go to the pub afterwards,
We were very scrappy, and I look at some of our pitch decks now and cringe, but we won business quickly and we hired 8 people within the first 12 months just into PR alone. One of my fondest memories was pitching for Burton Biscuits and making a huge wall of Wagon Wheels in the office. The Paid Media team were like ‘is this what PR teams do all day?!’ but they were appreciative of all the free biscuits (and we won!).
Did you ever think you’d end up taking the Journey Further PR offering across the Atlantic, and how was that move?
I’d always wanted to live abroad and Robin had always been open about his ambition to launch a US office, but I never fully considered it would be ME going over.
Matt and Robin spent time in NYC and identified that the biggest opportunity for Journey Further was digital PR in the US. Robin said he wanted a director to move over with him to help set it up - so I said ‘well I guess that needs to be me then doesn’t it!’. My husband immediately said yes and we went for it.
The move took forever, I initially hoped to move in the space of a month - and go across in September 2022. How naive!! The visa process was long and arduous but a year later, September 2023, I got the green light. In the interim I travelled back and forth a lot, as we made our first US PR hire in August 2022, Domenica, to lead our Digital PR offering in the US. Similarly to the UK, our proposition really resonated and we grew quick. By the time I moved over we already had several employees and clients in the US.
Managing the time-difference while I was in the UK was tough at times but it was worth it. The US market is very different to the UK and it has been a huge learning curve. I always believed that having an in-market team is crucial to success and based on our results and client retention - this is definitely true.
How has the US offering evolved since you first arrived? Has it become something different from what you originally imagined?
We started as a Digital PR team and quickly expanded into SEO, Paid and Influencer too, which is really exciting to have US experts across multiple channels working together, with the support from our UK counterparts.
From a product perspective, our PR offering has evolved to be Discovery-led vs. Google-led, which is really exciting. We create strategies that drive overall discoverability across multiple channels, and are less-focused on the traditional SERPs.
Our team is based more remotely than initially expected. In order to bring on the best talent, we’ve hired people outside of New York. We have a great team based in our NYC office, and our remote team is also amazing. The benefit is that every state is different; there are cultural differences across the whole of America and having such a diverse team therefore really helps us understand the nuances of our clients’ target audiences.
What’s something about Digital PR in the US that surprised you?
How many brands were still buying links and focused on link volume!
What’s the biggest cultural difference you've noticed between working in Leeds and New York?
The main difference is the size of the two countries. In Leeds, I’d regularly hop on a train or drive to a client’s office for a meeting. In NYC, if I want to visit some of our biggest clients, I have to take a 6-hour flight to the West Coast. So, we have to find ways to build relationships and connections online, while being selective over the moments where we meet in person.
Time is money and, in the US, there is an even bigger focus on efficiency and getting direct to the point. I love the honesty and the open conversation that takes place as it allows us all to move in the right direction.
One thing I've learned never to ask is ‘hey, are you ok?’ as this can be seen as quite jarring - always to stick to a simple ‘how are you’.
What's one misconception people have about Digital PR?
That it’s all about links and building Google rankings. Digital PR is such a powerful tool, that, when used correctly, can help influence the whole discovery system.
AI search draws on everything that's already been written and said about your brand, from editorial coverage and reviews to forums and social media. Your digital footprint is what gets synthesised into a recommendation. And in this new era, there's nowhere to hide if you've got bad press or bad reviews.
Ranking high on Google was always the number one goal. In 2026, it isn't anymore. The goal is to be chosen, because visibility on its own is meaningless.
PR influences whether a brand is chosen through the positive signals it generates and the fame it drives - which is essential for machine understanding and ultimately, a brand’s discovery. It’s no longer just about generating online coverage, securing interviews on podcasts, getting featured in Substack’s and newsletters are all platforms that fuel LLMs and drive visibility.
What's something you've changed your mind about since starting your career?
When I was a junior PR executive, I regularly worked 10+ hour days, I’d check emails during my vacation and never allowed myself to fully rest. This was stupid and while being so committed helped me get to the position I now am in, it isn’t something I ever want my team to do.
Since starting the PR team at Journey Further I have been very strict on myself, and others, at the importance of deleting Slack and emails off my phone and fully switching off while your out of office is on! It has been a game changer for my wellbeing and probably why I am still married, to be honest! I know as a leader I need to lead by example and this has helped me make better decisions.
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Back yourself. I wasn’t even 30 when I founded the digital PR team and I was surrounded by many senior and more experienced people. I struggled with imposter syndrome to start with, and I wish I had been as confident and vocal as I am now.
I would have read the most amazing book - ‘Playing Big’ by Tara Mohr a lot sooner than I did. I interviewed Tara for our International Women’s Day event, one of my proudest moments as I was able to amplify her message across the whole agency.
Written by
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