Agency Overview
Proper is a full service public relations firm with offices in New York and Nashville. We established Proper with the hopes of creating a new model for PR and marketing. Of course, we’re full service and, yes, we build brands. But we also understand that our clients’ goals, personalities, customers, and budgets all vary greatly and so should their campaigns. To this end, we tackle every project from a unique perspective.
While securing stories in top-tier media outlets is at the heart of all of our campaigns, our services and expertise extend well beyond that. We’ve done everything from serving gelato samples in Central Park and outfitting hundreds of NYC bike messengers in a client’s brand to assembling street teams in the heart of Nashville to promote an independent film premiere. Throughout all of this, we are always on the lookout for potential additional revenue streams for our clients’ products and services.
Our Approach
We immerse ourselves in our clients’ businesses and embrace the lifestyles associated with their brands. We do this so we can accurately tell their stories, but also to identify the more obscure and often newsworthy angles that lie beneath the bigger story of what’s new. We’re diligent in finding these angles because our clients are sometimes so close to their businesses that they may miss them. And we work hard to translate that understanding into media coverage in order to sustain the exposure once the initial impressions are made.
The Team
Pam Manela, Partner
Photo by Yve Assad
With more than 18 years of experience promoting brands in a wide variety of industries–including design, restaurants, hotels, travel, new products, and beauty–Pam has been the creative force behind a number of innovative and successful campaigns. As Vice President, Consumer Lifestyle at Clifford Public Relations in NY, she led a team that created and implemented marketing and PR campaigns for a broad range of brands including the Italian Government Tourist Board and OpenTable.com.
Her experience in event marketing ranges from the grand opening of Old Navy’s flagship store in Manhattan—three days of high-profile, celebrity-filled parties—to curated dinners for media at the home of art collector/gallery owner Marianne Boesky for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Italy and Central Mediterranean.
A recent émigré to Nashville, the NYC native has quickly adapted to the slower and distinctly hospitable pace of her new hometown. Pam occasionally downloads pilates videos, needs to re-watch The Wire, and has a potentially ruinous passion for vintage clothing.
Rose Mary Gorman, Partner
Photo by Yve Assad
Before co-founding Proper, Rose Mary worked as a freelance PR professional in Nashville, TN. With a focus on arts/culture, Rose Mary has provided a full range of PR services to small businesses, self-employed individuals (artists, artisans, authors), and nonprofit organizations. Whether creating a strategic approach to bolster brand recognition, working an event to maximize positive media exposure, or identifying and securing beneficial sponsorship opportunities, Rose Mary employs a customized approach when designing and implementing a client’s campaign.
Rose Mary began her career at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (Atlanta, GA), and worked as the PR Manager for the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, a flagship destination in Nashville. With a background in art history, she realized an ideal nexus for her talents at these organizations. Rose Mary successfully launched author Constance Gee’s memoir with a variety of feature coverage and special events; promoted and marketed the Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville, using mainstream and niche media coverage to create maximum visibility for the event; and served as the long-term PR representative for the historic Belcourt Theatre, elevating and solidifying its brand identity as a vital arts organization. Over the years, Rose Mary’s clients have regularly appeared in such outlets as the Tennessean, Nashville Scene, NFocus, Style Blueprint, Nashville Arts, and Nashville Lifestyles.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and a Nashville resident for more than a decade, Rose Mary is most happy with her family, friends and pets. She appreciates a well-made latte, beautifully crafted jewelry and the occasional adventure.