Home PR business allows family first

Morgan Vanderwall, moved to Maricopa seven years ago, two days after her honeymoon.

Having just graduated from Purdue with a degree in psychology, she didn’t expect to become an entrepreneur and run her own public relations firm, Vanderwall PR.

But that’s exactly what happened. After first arriving in Maricopa, Vanderwall said she “hopped around from job to job.”

Her various stints included an internship with a graphic design group and working as a receptionist.

But professional happiness and fulfillment didn’t come until she set up her public relations firm and started working from home, putting her dual minors of mass communication and graphic design to use.

Now, Vanderwall said she enjoys being her own boss while simultaneously raising her two children: Harper, 2,  and Hudson, 4.

“I love working for myself,” Vanderwall said. “I love the flexibility.”

That flexibility, however, does exist with a schedule to ensure family time.

At 8:30 a.m. she drops the kids off to school, which gives her a chance to work until she picks them up at 3:30 p.m.

“Then I make dinner and watch TV and play until they go to bed at 7,” Vanderwall said.

After that, Vanderwall usually goes back to work.

“So at times I’ll be doing social media, or touching up on some writing for the day, but I usually am working,” Vanderwall said of her evenings. “My clients know I’m usually working at night so I’ll respond because my kids are in bed.”

Her long and full days are appreciated by her clients.

“She does an amazing job,” said Dawn Farver, founder of Girls Looking Cute, a small business that sells kid-sized mannequins to help young girls get dressed in the morning. “She just goes beyond a regular PR person. She’s a multi-tasker and she always gets the job done.”

Farver said that, in addition to providing standard promotional materials such as fliers and business cards, Vanderwall has helped her to organize and plan promotional events.

Also helpful is the fact that many of her clients’ representatives, including Farver and Scott Pace of the North Pole Experience — Flagstaff home of Santa’s workshop — are family oriented. 

“My clients are so amazing,” Vanderwall said. “They all have kids themselves, so they don’t even blink an eye if I bring my kids to a meeting with me. I just bring some crayons and the kids sit on the floor next to me during the meeting.”

And Vanderwall’s husband, Shawn, is a big help as well.

“We’re definitely dual parenting,” Vanderwall said. “If he wasn’t able to be as flexible, then I wouldn’t be able to do what I do.”

Still though, it can be a challenge.

In addition to running her business and being a mom, Vanderwall is also a frequent guest on 12NEWS, Arizona Midday show Coffee Talk and sits on the board of the Ahwatukee Children’s Theatre.

“The difficulty lies in early television segments and late night events,” Vanderwall said.

However, being her own boss means Vanderwall is able to adjust her business based on her personal needs to some extent.