Interview with the Founders of empath worldwide on Creating and Building Community Through the Power of Media & PR

Meet the team that is doing good, spreading creativity, and sharing a global mission…meet empath worldwide.

empath worldwide recently launched this past August with a plan to change the way organizations receive PR & Marketing agency help during a time of crisis. It is unfortunate, but true, that most have felt the pressures and disadvantages of the COVID pandemic, and as a result have been struggling to make ends meet in their businesses and projects. That’s where Geneve Lau and Maya Malekian come in. These two Boston University students came together with a vision and a passion for communication and designed a company that would serve as a new way for connecting small businesses and nonprofits with aspiring creatives to engage in meaningful conversations across virtual and global communities. As the world dove online, so did they. As the world needed to recover, they came to aid. The ew motto? “We overcame so you can overcome.”

We had a chance to interview the founders to hear more about the vision and story behind the development of ew. Their team has now grown to 13 coming from all parts of the world, and of course they’re not stopping there. Offering a diverse set of services such as media relations, social media, branding, and event planning (which includes virtual event production), they are able to best define themselves for their clients and all of their media-related needs and wants. The big twist? It’s all pro bono...meaning all for good. That truly shows the love for their work and the desire to help ebuild communities.

No doubt, the world faced adversity, but it will be the young, dynamic, and collaborative minds that will help reshape the future and define the new normal. As the team says themselves, they’re “creating synergy between creatives and organizations to turn aspirations into action.” Taking action together to transform what set us back is how we will get through all of this, and that’s what Channel Sounds and DETOUR believe in as well. We can create new pathways, new channels, and new detours to get us back on track , but now the unique and innovative version.

Backgrounds on the Founders:

Geneve is originally from Boise, Idaho who is studying Public Relations at Boston University. She has previously worked in integrated marketing at Her Campus Media, digital media at Thropic, and Public Relations at double e public relations. On campus, she welcomes new students as a Dean's host for the College of Communication. Geneve has a specialty in social media/influencer strategy and copywriting. She enjoys spending time outside hiking, practicing yoga, and reading. Her favorite book finished this summer is Normal People by Sally Rooney (now a Hulu/BBC show!).

Maya grew up in a multicultural home of artists, in the entertainment capital of the world, which has instrumentally shaped who Maya is today. From recording American Idol audition tapes in her living room at the age of 3 to reporting live from Maine’s 2018 gubernatorial headquarters, and professionally dancing, life has always been about performing. She likes to quote Shakespeare, “all the world’s a stage.” She sees the stage as the way we artistically and strategically craft our stories to convey a little more of us, and as the way we unapologetically and authentically define, empower, and perform our own narratives. It is because of this mindset that she decided to pursue a career in public relations and journalism and has experienced the field through various PR internships in the entertainment industry and extracurriculars in broadcast journalism.

ew’s core values are: engagement, mobility, passion, adaptability, tenacity, and honesty.

Here is our interview:

Channel Sounds [CS]: What inspired Empath Worldwide?

Geneve Lau [G]: “empath worldwide was inspired by the PRC Agency Ready Certification program, and in particular, the first session back in the beginning of June with BCW Global CEO Jim Joseph. He talked about the importance of empathy in communications, especially in a world like today. In this session, Maya noticed that the chat box was exploding with aspiring PR professionals engaging with one another, and saw so many talented individuals with skills to offer. At the same time, she saw that small businesses and nonprofits have had to scale back on their communications efforts amidst the pandemic, but their involvement in engaging conversations in their community is arguably more important now than ever. She reached out to me with her idea of bridging this gap, a pro bono communications agency that would help these small businesses and nonprofits.” 

[CS]: How did you build your team?

[G]: “We first started with our core leadership team, who included a lot of people that we interacted with during class or extracurriculars at BU. The nice thing about BU COM is that we are all very supportive of one another, there isn’t a competitive culture, and everyone was all in because they too were very passionate about empath. The core leadership team then reached out to people we believed would be great to join the team as Creatives, who volunteer their skills to work for empath and create the work for our clients. After we launched, we opened the application link to the world and we accept applications on a rolling basis.” 

[CS]: What projects have you worked on so far?

[G]: “Currently, we are working with 14 clients. You can see them all on our website- empathworldwide.com. We are in the beginning phases of completing audits on our clients to best assess the scope of work for how we would meet their objectives.” 

[CS]: What has it been like starting a company in the middle of a pandemic?

[G]: “The pandemic has been an instigator for us to try something new that we would have never considered. Maya and I never saw ourselves back in our respective hometowns, but with the circumstances, we knew we couldn’t just sit around wait for the next big opportunity.” 

[CS]: What are the company goals for the rest of the year?

[G]: “We want to obviously grow empath more on the creatives side, and we also want to create incredible work for our clients and also ensuring longevity for the organization. Although we were born out of a covid era, we want to sustain beyond that, when the pandemic is over.” 

[CS]: How do you use Empath Worldwide to channel your own self-expression?

[G]: “I can’t speak for Maya, but for myself, I have always been innately entrepreneurial. I was involved in a lot of design thinking, thinking outside the box, and innovation in my high school years. Since coming to college, I haven’t really found a place where I can bridge that with my career in PR. I would say this is exactly my opportunity to do that. empath is kind of like a startup, and I have learned SO much in the past month from the ops side.” 

[CS]: What advice would you give to recent graduates trying to get started on a company or project of their own during a time like now?

[G]: “Even if it seems impossible at first, you can do it. Trust me, I had those exact thoughts when Maya first reached out to me about empath, but I’m so glad I took the leap of faith.”

———————————-

Be sure to follow them online via Instagram and their website.