CC Plus PR Firm: Delivering high impact campaigns across all communication spectrums
Whenever we work on a project with the value of our nation, we get an automatic energy boost. We become even more dedicated to our work and the quality of our output sees a dramatic increase in innovation and creativity. This is always the case with Lamia Kamel, CEO of Corporate Communication Plus (CC Plus) PR Firm,Founder of Narrative Summit, and an Egyptian hoping for a proud nation brand for her country.
CC Plus is a full-fledged multi-disciplinary communications and PR firm operating in local and regional markets, delivering on clients’ brand reputation as well as providing strategic thinking and delivering high impact campaigns across all communication spectrums. It blends proven public relations’ methodologies with cutting edge press relations, events management, and digital media to craft strategic programs that give clients winning and measurable results. It has been providing PR counsel to a variety of clients across all commercial and non-commercial fields for almost 15 years.
Lamia Kamel founded Narrative Summit in 2016. Its aim was to become the first international platform for nation branding and instigating the message of leadership and growth. The goal of the Summit is to promote Egypt’s story in a progressive manner, through carefully selecting high-profile and prominent lineup of speakers who present their inspiring experiences that contribute to forming the brand of Egypt. It attempts to establish this positive image through strategic partnerships with international institutions, UN bodies, embassies and media.
EXPOSURE TO VAST OPPORTUNITIES
Shedding light on the factors that have helped Lamia get to where she is today, it is clear that her upbringing and education played a huge role. They are what gave her the base and work ethic which provided her with the right exposure to exciting opportunities. However, those factors can only get you so far; what pushed her was the determination to never settle for a certain level of success. “It is dangerous to believe that you have reached the height of success and then stop. You have to fight against the temptation to stop pursuing more endeavors. That is a trait that I have been nurturing myself throughout my journey. Everyone I meet teaches me something new and it is my team that enables my visions to materialize,” she says.
It is the zeal to constantly innovate and create that drives an entrepreneur; the drive to not settle for doing the same thing every day without working to perfect it and achieve something more. It is this attitude is thatprompted Lamia to start her own business.
Giving us a look at some of her success habits, she includes: waking up early, listening to good music, reading a lot, walking, good conversations with interesting people, and having a spiritual side that helps you find your purpose and continue to grow.
Apart from her drive to succeed, there are certain milestones that really transformed her company as well. The 2011 revolution brought economic stagnation and many challenges. That experience prompted the company to take a political shift and become more involved in that sphere. That was also the year that the firm first joined social media. In 2015, once the country had become more stable, they took a step back from politics and returned to focusing on corporate PR. They began building a more focused, professional team and hired a GM to handle the operational side in 2017 so that Lamia could focus on the strategic side of things. This allowed her to really set her sights on the vision and goals of the company.
“Perhaps our most important moment was when we hit our ten-year milestone in 2016 and founded Narrative Summit, our nation branding initiative, which is huge part of our purpose as company”, she comments. It is clear that one of the most important things for Lamia is to constantly illustratethe purpose and strategy behind her company’s work.
THE HUMBLER YOU ARE THE MORE CORAGEOUS YOU BECOME
Touching upon her leadership abilities, she says that the most important thing for her is to constantly show the purpose and strategy behind their work “It is easy for people to feel that their work is not very essential or feel a lack of inspiration and that is where I come in to play my role of showing the magnitude of what we do as a company and how integral each person is to our success”, she asserts. She tries to communicate her vision as much as she can to people at all the levels of the company in order to keep them invested in the vision.
The firm believes in encouraging creative ideas within the organization. To this end, Lamia is always willing to listento the team’s ideas and opinions and she is willing to adjust and change things based on the feedback she gets. Continuity and agility are achieved by staying young and relevant so she always encourages the younger team to give their input. “Listening to the younger generation is what helps you stay abreast of the latest trends,” she adds.Lamianever stops learning;“You cannot assume that you have reached your potential and become comfortable where you are. Always be a humble learner. The humbler you are the more courage you have to undertake new ventures and learn as you go along,” she asserts.
However, for women entrepreneurs, mattersare not always that simple. We live in a traditional society that places huge social burdens on women and, especially, in the case of a working mother. “Achieving the balance between work and personal life is the most difficult task that a woman can have. Due to this, women have developed the great skill of multitasking. The key to achieving this balance is good time management and acknowledging that the family does come first,” she says.These are the principles that Lamia lives by as a working mother.
Whenever she faces a challenge, she looks to other leaders for advice and encouragement. She looks at what great leaders have done before her and it inspires her to face whatever difficulty she is in. She constantly reads about people who go through great hardships and do not let that stop them from making an impact in their work. She also takes advantage of the advice of the people around her and learns from their experiences.
DON’T COMPETE WITH ANYONE
When she was younger, Lamia tell us that she had wanted to become an actress because she found character study fascinating. She would enjoy reading the scripts and creating and analyzing different personas. “This passion has also helped me in my career to read people in order to profile and campaign for them efficiently. I also wanted to be a writer so both these passions greatly influenced me in my PR career,” she expresses.
As a closing to our interview, Lamia shares a valuable piece of advice with us:“You are not in competition with anyone. Being successful, glamorous, and rich is all people see when they look ata famous person but there is so much going on behind the scenes for people to achieve success. There isso much effort, pain, and time invested into achieving great things. So do not compare yourself to others, but rather, find your own purpose and continue tochallenge yourself until you achieve it.”