At Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, we’ve set our sights on redefining public relations. While so much has changed over the last four decades, at NST one thing has remained constant – each of our agency leaders, past and present, have been at the forefront of redefining the role of public relations. In celebration of the agency’s 47th anniversary, we’re highlighting our current leaders who continue to push the status quo of what is considered “traditional PR.”
Teresa Siles walked through the doors of Nuffer, Smith, Tucker as an intern 19 years ago. Today, she’s president and partner. Her journey up the company ladder is certainly a testament to her ambition and talent, but it also gives us a glimpse into the kind of place NST is. It’s the kind of place a driven young professional is given the opportunities to grow and learn the trade under the mentorship of some of the best and brightest in the industry. The kind of place that is perfect to start or grow your career. The kind of place someone would love working at for nearly two decades and still feeling challenged and fulfilled in their work daily.
In her early years, Teresa recalls volunteering for any and all client work she could get her hands on. She was eager to learn the ins and outs of the PR industry and threw herself into her clients’ industries as well. Her explorative nature drove her to ask questions and look at client problems in new ways to find fresh solutions. Through her hunger for experience, she built her knowledge of the San Diego community and honed her PR skills with clients like Chicken of the Sea, San Diego Union-Tribune and Dairy Council of California.
Kerry Tucker, chief strategic counsel at NST, worked closely with Teresa from the start of her career and notes her natural PR instincts and abilities. “Teresa has established herself as a thought leader in the public relations field, and she’s just getting started,” said Kerry. “Her yearn for new knowledge and desire to make a difference is boundless. You can expect big things from her for decades to come.”
Less concerned with the way things “have always been done,” Teresa is instead laser-focused on the best way to do things to drive desired results. Her big picture thinking and results-oriented, solutions-focused approach has earned the respect of her clients and colleagues alike. “One of the things that really fuels her personally about the work she does every day is finding new solutions,” says Price Adams, executive vice president and partner at NST. “Exploration is engrained in her personality.”
Teresa’s passion for exploration and desire to redefine PR is most evident in her role as the leader of the agency’s strategic planning practice, where she pushes beyond the role of traditional public relations to help organizations think strategically about where they are, where they want to be and how to get there. Over the last decade or so, Teresa has evolved the strategic planning process to reflect the changing business environment and clients’ needs. As part of this, she introduced the concept of “social purpose” – an organization’s end benefit to people or society – into NST’s strategic planning approach. More recently, she refined the process to allow for organizational agility under a strategic framework.
Teresa also oversees the development of Food Foresight, an annual trends intelligence process for the agri-food chain developed in partnership with the California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research at the University of California, Davis. Through the annual process, Teresa and team analyze reams of data and solicits the support of a broad-based panel of experts to identify emerging trends that could have significant impact in the food and agriculture space. The resulting report provides stakeholders in agriculture and food products insights into emerging issues and trends shaping their world.
Internally at NST, Teresa models the level of engagement, thinking and high-quality work she expects from her team and stands true to our values – the principals she helped refine and that guide our day-to-day work and decision making at the agency. Her ambition to break the mold is contagious and her hands-on leadership touches every single team member, from interns to her leadership partners.
If you are interested in learning more about NST’s commitment to redefining PR and the people making it happen, contact us today!