Newly launched South African PR book looks back at 30 years of spinning
Public Relations (PR) veteran, Samantha Hogg, owner of storytelling PR gurus GinjaNinja, has launched Making Hotdogs: A Quirky Guide to Building a Career in PR and Making Life F’N Awesome, a not so normal (read: average) business book. A passion project over the last two years, Hogg speaks of her notable experience in the PR tech sector and building her own business over the past 19 years. She also touches on some of her more significant personal challenges, making her journey, and story, a heartfelt obstacle hurdling read for anyone looking for motivation or inspiration.
“The book looks back to the early 90s until present day covering significant advances in the profession and tech sector alike. I felt inspired to put pen to paper, so to speak, because my career has not followed a traditional route and I wanted to share a message of inspiration for those like me, while also paying homage to the incredible profession that being a PR consultant is for so many of us.”
Hogg says that PR is often undervalued and misunderstood, which is ironic, as this is how she often feels about herself too. In the book, she discusses her childhood, and how at 15-years-old she started her entrepreneurial journey, and why PR was such a good fit for her even though it was never planned.
“2021 marked my 30th year in PR, and the 18th birthday of GinjaNinja. Despite the many trials experienced, both personal and professional, the business is doing well and on a solid growth trajectory. And to think I was only 19-years-old when it all began,” says Hogg.
She says it would have been too easy to write a traditional ‘how-to’ guide for PR as a job, but there’s nothing traditional about her story, her career, or what it’s really like to be in the industry.
Hogg says that as much as it is a guide, it is also an intimate look at her life, and what it’s taken to get to get to where she is now. “It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, but it has certainly been worth it. No matter how wild the stories may be, I have also put together my most coveted tips for succeeding in PR. And maybe a few bloopers too.”
Making Hotdogs launched on Thursday, 3 March at the Richmond Studio Café and is currently available here, and in bookstores including Bargain Books, Worsdworth, Adam’s, Readers Warehouse, and Exclusive Books.
Arthur Goldstuck, tech trends writer and speaker, owner of World Wide Worx, and publisher of Gadget magazine, says that he met Hogg in 1995 when she first started working in the tech sector: “She was one of a pioneering crop of a new breed of PR person: they were partners in exploring the unfolding technology revolution, so much more than just sources of press releases. As a result, my professional relationship with Sam has been enduring, and always highly valued.”