All the juicy details…
Hi there, I’m Sabina Hitchen and I believe that every entrepreneur should have access to the education, tools, and strategies they need to get publicity for their business (and themselves!) successfully and confidently – and I’ve been teaching thousands of them to do just that for over a decade.
I’m what you get when a high school teacher/curriculum creator takes a chance on the Big Apple, becomes an entrepreneur and PR agency owner, and those two careers fall in love and have a business baby…
It’s my mission to empower small business owners, entrepreneurs, and experts to survive and thrive while doing what they love for a living. I do this by teaching them how to get publicity and share their message and business with the press and the world, which allows them to increase their visibility, grow their business, and ultimately, impact a bigger audience via their passion and purpose.
The cherry on top? I deliver this education with a heaping side of motivation and mental training aimed at boosting confidence and courage and growing “discomfort zone” muscles – because when you fear less and stop holding back, you’re able to promote and grow your business more!
Because here’s the thing: You can be the best at what you do, the most skilled at your industry and work harder than you care to admit, but if nobody knows your business exists none of that matters. How do you make sure they can find you? Public relations.
And here’s the other thing: We need you. The world needs you. Your future customers, clients, blog readers, social media followers – we all need what you have to offer. No job, passion, or purpose is insignificant. We need to find you so that you – and that special thing only you have to offer the world – can make our life better, happier, easier. We’re waiting to find you, and publicity is going to help us do that.
How it all began…
Business and buzz building have been in my blood since my first babysitting business was born in Battle Creek, Michigan at age 13. I marketed it with dozens of handmade posters placed in mailboxes all over my neighborhood and business was soon booming, and continued this way for years. Little did I know then, but I’d been bit by both the entrepreneurship and the publicity bug, and years later I would find my way back to both!
The teaching years…
After studying history and political science at the University of Michigan (go Blue!) I made a career decision born from a voice within me calling me to teach. You see when I finished I wasn’t totally sure what I really wanted to do with my shiny, new degree but something within me called me to teach, and not just teach anywhere, teach where they really needed teachers. The more I thought about it, the more I knew it was the right thing to do.
So I went back to school for a teaching certificate and training and one year later I found myself teaching public school in the South Side of Chicago. And I loved it. I loved giving high school students the tools to change their life. I loved empowering people with knowledge. This was my first professional discovery: I loved teaching. I knew it was more than a profession, it was my passion and purpose.
From there I added curriculum design to my resume as I began working for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where I was given the opportunity to work with fantastic teams to actually create the education curriculum while still teaching.
New students, new job, but the same truth: I still loved teaching. But here was the problem…I didn’t love teaching in a high school classroom setting.
Unsure of what to do with this new realization I embarked on my “New York Chapter” and made the leap from the Midwest to the Big Apple, where the next phase of my professional life began.
Googling Public Relations,
falling in love with public relations
Shortly after landing in New York City I had an opportunity to interview for a public relations position at a prestigious fashion company. Armed with optimism, moxie, and a weekend’s worth of Google research (“What is public relations?”) I landed the job, and before long I was lapping up everything I could about the business. Before long I went from not knowing what a press release or pitch was to knowing my second professional truth: I loved public relations. And I was pretty darn good at it.
Fast forward a year and a half and I had my own public relations agency in media capital of the world, working with small businesses and entrepreneurs, and turning unknowns into household names.
My clients were appearing everywhere from Entrepreneur Magazine and Inc., to Oprah Magazine and Teen Vogue. I was working with the Today Show, Dr. Oz, and every local station in between. From blogs to newspapers, magazines to television shows, our team was sharing products, services and experts with the press, shining a spotlight on them and watching their businesses grow because of this recognition.
The downside to this incredible PR adventure? The more I saw the power that public relations could have on a business – the more I saw how vital it was to their survival, the more I knew that there had to be a way to bring this tool to those who could not afford a publicity team. I knew that public relations skills had to be “democratized”, and I knew I was exactly the woman to do it!
A megaphone for entrepreneurs, startups & experts
Professional journeys don’t always make sense, until they do. Teacher turned publicist? I wasn’t sure at one point how that happened either, but now it’s all come together, and the result has been amazing. Not just for me, but for all those I’ve been able to reach and teach.
Over time I co-founded another business (a national entrepreneur’s community), and then in 2016 I devoted myself fully to the world of Sabina Knows, and the creation of my PR education arm, Press for Success.
My focus these days is creating self-guided and live digital education courses, classes, and tools that help business owners of all kinds reach their PR goals and dreams – and giving them the support they need to believe in themselves and those dreams in the first place.
The Ingredients you cannot leave out
You’ve heard me talk a lot about success-driven strategy and developing the skills you need to grow media relationships and get powerful publicity, but there’s one big part of what I do and believe that I want to share with you…
When you step into my classroom (digitally or in real life) I’m going to deliver action steps, I’m going to give you methods and blueprints, scripts and templates, and all the education that you can shake a stick at, but none of that will matter is you don’t take action, and I know that.
That’s why I marry everything I do on Sabina Knows and in my Press for Success offerings with a game plan not only for your business, but for your mind and heart as well. I believe that to be successful we also have to address the things every entrepreneur – even the most successful – need to deal with, things like: fear, self doubt, discomfort zones, “imposter syndrome”, analysis paralysis, and all the other obstacles that are keeping you from building a business, brand and life that you love.
If that sounds like something you’ve been looking for, there is no time like the present to begin. You’ve already completed two of the hardest steps: You’ve had the vision, you’ve begun building your business, and you’re here, which means you know in your heart that you’re ready for the next right step: building exposure and visibility for your business.
Get Started Today!
What happens now? I welcome you to join me and get started today as we develop and grow your PR strategies as well as your belief in yourself and your brand. I’ve got the perfect plan to get you going…
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PR TIPS. ACTION STEPS. MOTIVATION.
Into your Inbox. It’s FREE!
Now let’s get official for a moment…
PROFESSIONAL BIO
Sabina is an entrepreneur, speaker and media expert dedicated to educating and empowering people to lead lives rooted in passion and purpose both professionally and personally.
This role of teacher and leader seems pre-ordained as Sabina’s past career saw her teaching high school students first in the Chicago public school system and then while also designing educational curriculum for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation charter schools. Upon moving to New York City after deeming a “New York Chapter” a necessity, she began a career in public relations and within a year she branched out on her own and started a successful and respected PR and social media agency specializing in start-ups and small businesses.
In 2012 she co-founded Tin Shingle (www.TinShingle.com) an online education platform and community that reaches business owners from New York to Los Angeles, Mexico to the United Kingdom.
In 2014, inspired by her own experiences and challenges, and after watching far too many people struggle to find professional fulfillment and personal meaning in their lives, she launched Sabina Knows to offer coaching, courses, motivation and tools to help people do what they love for a living and be happier and healthier versions of themselves while doing so .
The common thread throughout Sabina’s career has been her desire to make success, professional independence and authentic happiness accessible to all she teaches and reaches.
Sabina serves as a contributing writer for AllBusiness.com and is a regularly featured media expert in outlets including USA Today, The Huffington Post, Fox Business News, ABC News, NBC News, Shape Magazine, More Magazine, Better TV and Forbes.
Sabina lives with her husband in Brooklyn, New York.