By Kalani Dantley
Charisse Curtis spent the first part of her career in public relations as an employee, learning vital lessons from prestigious firms across the country. She’ll spend the rest of her career as a boss, using the experiences from her past to fulfill a lifelong dream while curating her future.
Curtis, 31, coupled stints as a publicist in New York, Miami and Los Angeles with an unmitigated sense of ambition. In 2018, she founded her own firm, Milano Consulting.
The ebullient Washington D.C. native seeks only to help her clients through her personable business savvy, and already works with a variety of professional athletes, businesses and restaurants.
“In the past, my professional accolades always felt that they belonged to those agencies,” Curtis says. “So now, owning my own company I celebrate victories on behalf of my clients, for myself as the founder and also for the achievements of my employees.”
Curtis in her native Washington D.C. developed a sense of drive the city couldn’t harness and knew at 15 that she wanted more. She attended St. John’s University in New York City and walked onto the women’s basketball team, for which she played two years without a scholarship and experienced the rigors and thrills of a Division I athlete.
She quit the team though in pursuit of her professional career, and as an upperclassman secured internships with the Washington Wizards, the Rachel Ray Show and a pair of public relations firms, G.S. Schwartz Public Relations and Pollock communications.
Her internship experience prepared her for yet another move, and in 2011 she departed New York for Miami after graduating with Cum Laude honors. Curtis in Miami worked for Tara, Ink—a well-known agency at which she served clients like Chloe, H&M, De Grisogono and Art Miami. She learned the ins and outs of the field and established relationships across the country. Prompting yet another move. This time to Los Angeles.
Curtis, upon her arrival, worked as an account executive in the Hospitality and Events Division at Entertainment Fusion Group (EFG), where she had clients like Playboy, Nylon, and Keratin Complex. She also worked with some of the city’s most popular clubs and restaurants while building a sense of independence in the field. Naturally, she wanted more.
“Like many other successful publicists, after working seven years in the industry I felt that it was the right time to branch off and make an individual name for myself,” she says. “Most agencies I’ve worked at over the years, I felt like I was just an employee.”
So, Curtis parted ways with EFG and focused on establishing her personal brand. She started working alongside C. Luxe Brand Management, a lifestyle agency that specializes in custom brand solutions, public relations, strategic partnerships and corporate consulting.
With an established track record and resume to rely on, Curtis last year established Milano Consulting, marking the pinnacle of her professional career. “Taking the risk and walking away from a guaranteed salary was definitely the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” she says. “But hands down the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Curtis relies every day on the invaluable experience she aggregated while working as a corporate employee. Her previous stops provided her with a base network of clientele, and she uses the same resources—a la Cision, Celebrity Intelligence and PR Newswire—she learned at the corporate level. Albeit while working from the comfort of her own home.
She maintains an apropos balance between important, meaningful work and an exciting, fulfilling personal life—all while maintaining a singular focus: the client. “While not in an office Monday through Friday, I am very present with my clients,” she says.
Curtis helps clients in a variety of fields, including entrepreneurship, event hospitality, consumer products, and technology. “Any red-carpet appearance, I make sure I am at the start of the carpet until the very end,” she says. “Making sure interviews are guided and any event my client may need help with, I am there with my sleeves rolled up.”
Curtis says there’s never a perfect time to leave a secure, salaried corporate job. But the reward for her is well worth the risk. “Success is about creating the right situation,” she says. The sense of freedom she feels is something she thinks is worth striving for.
“While I know everyone is not fortunate to have the luxury of working from home, it has truly been a benefit for both my business life and personal life,” she says. “My boyfriend plays in the NFL and the possibility of being in a new city each year is very high.”
Though Curtis’ career allows for a flexible schedule, she says it can also be very stressful. Forbes considers public relations to be one of the most stressful careers, and Curtis certainly experiences arduous situations. But by managing her time and focusing on her clients, she minimizes stress and maximizes success on her terms.
“In order to have a successful business, you have to create a work environment that helps you flourish and helps you get into and stay in your element of creating daily,” she says.
