Claudia Patton
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Recognized for her entrepreneurial spirit, Patton was named by Atlanta Magazine as one of the city’s “Women Making a Mark.” She has been active with the United Way, served as American Cancer Society’s Atlanta City Unit President, is an alumna of Leadership Atlanta and served on the Northside Hospital Foundation Board. The Ohio University graduate is currently a board member and communication chair for The Piedmont Park Conservancy and National Public Radio/TV (WABE/ WPBA).
As a 10-year cancer survivor, Claudia is active in breast cancer advocacy and with her husband, Rex, was featured in the 2009 Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk national advertising campaign.
Womenetics: You are known for your tremendous energy, your entrepreneurial spirit and your curiosity. Where does this come from?
Claudia Patton: My father died when I was 10-months-old, and I shared a bedroom with my mother. And I watched my mother – who never remarried -- get up at five o’clock every morning and walk to the bus stop and go to work at U.S. Steel, where she was in marketing. She was available to me and inspiring to me, and there was never really a question as to what kind of woman I would be.
Womenetics: Have you taken many professional risks in your career?
Patton: I definitely think I am a risk-taker. I was raised during a time when I thought I could only be a nurse, a secretary or a teacher, so I became a teacher. While I was teaching I also started working in the music business – for promoters and bands - which was a risk, a shift. I was able to apply what I knew about writing and about expressing something, and I think my first real risk was saying to my principal, “I’m not coming back.”
My next shift was into business. I began working for the Fox Theater (in Atlanta) helping out in a volunteer manner, and all of a sudden it became a real job. Then there were more and more clients, and it just started rolling. I had a partner at that time – and we each put in $500 to fund the business, which was certainly a risk for us. We grew to a point where we were recognized as the largest PR firm in the Southeast, independent firm. And when you get on the map - on the Atlanta Business Chronicle list, and they list your revenues - that’s when you get noticed by the firms that wanted to put a stake in the Southeast.
Then I was at this point where my clients wanted to grow internationally and how was I going to do this for them, with them? I needed a partner, and that’s when Edelman came in. Within those first few years of partnering with Edelman, we had clients like UPS and Georgia Pacific – and we went from number 14 in the market to number one in not too long a period of time.
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Patton: I remember our receptionist came to me with the letters of our logo from The Headline Group with tears coming down her face on the day after we made the deal, and I didn’t feel that way at all. She asked, “What do you want to do with these letters?” And I said, “Toss ’em.” We were shifting and growing. The potential that we would have with this large enterprise - the resources as it relates to research and location and reputation and thought leadership – was just outstanding, and you want to embrace it.
A few months before we finalized the deal with Edelman, we had a meeting with our whole staff, and I asked them specifically, “If we were part of a larger enterprise, what would you want for your own career, for your clients and for the community?”
There were about 12 different things they would ask for. They said they would ask for the worldwide leadership, colleagues around the world, lifelong learning opportunities… And we made this list, and then when we made the announcement, the only thing I needed to do was take that list on the flip chart – I still have it – and we were able to check off each of the items because that’s what the marriage with Edelman was going to provide them. The president of our U.S. region was there, and our staff gave him a standing ovation, and it has turned out to be quite the match.
Womenetics: You find yourself with literally 4,500 employees in 60 cities, and how do you approach or serve that many constituencies?
Patton: Our CEO Richard Edelman certainly gives the direction on our planning. He is a visionary not just for our company but for the public relations industry. One program we are launching right now is our Global Mobility Program.
As a global enterprise, it is imperative that each of our employees has a global mindset - whether they are sitting at their desk or whether they are working for a client traveling around the world. So we put together a policy to make that system seamless. Part of our efforts includes the Fellows Program where we send young employees, rising stars from our developed countries to the emerging economies and from emerging to developed economies. You can’t just have bricks and mortar around the world and expect people to understand other cultures and be able to help their clients grow globally.
Womenetics: How is working at Edelman different?
Patton: Edelman is an independent, family-owned firm, and that means we report to our stakeholders, which are our clients. Another difference is that you are expected to put forward some of your best thinking for your client, and you are able to take calculated risks. A lot of people who have been entrepreneurs or have an entrepreneurial bent are very drawn to our company. There is more of an openness and definitely a responsibility to innovate.
Womenetics: Can you tell us about the Edelman Escape program?
Patton: This is a program where employees have the opportunity to write a story about how they would like to take some time off - usually it is about a week at the company’s expense - to go some place in the world and make a change. This change can enhance their personal or professional growth.
For example, in our office there is a young woman who went to Warsaw last year to work on community projects that were very important to her, and she wrote a beautiful story. The only requirement is that when you return, we ask that you tell us about your experience; show us your video. It gives everyone a reminder of what we can be doing, how we can use our skills in the world at large. We also have sabbaticals - five, 10, 15 years. I had a five-week sabbatical where I went to India, Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal. It is so enriching. It’s great.
Womenetics: Can you share something that you are proud of that you’ve had a hand in creating at Edelman?
Patton: Something that I am really proud of that I played a small part in are our learning programs. We have online modules that have been developed for all of our employees around the world, everything from digital learning to public engagement to transmedia storytelling modules. I am proud of the response we have gotten from people around the world. I hear, “This is just like every day I am going to school.”
You know you never end. It’s never done. You are always, “Great, what’s next? What’s next?” And what’s next is the learning. We are finding that a lot of the people who are coming into the company are very, very hungry. It’s exciting to try and keep ahead of them and find out how we can learn together.
Womenetics: You have tremendous energy. How do you maintain the pace, the curiosity and the intensity?
Patton: Getting this promotion at 60 is such an honor, and I am so grateful that I work for a company that is always stimulating me. My boss always has his hand at my back gently pushing me right to what’s next – and then pausing, evaluating, praising, adjusting as needed, and that kind of process really inspires me and stimulates me and stretches me. So I am very grateful for that. That’s from the company side.
I am also married to a man who is a total creative – a musician and a writer – who likes to have a lot of fun and teaches me a lot of the creative side, the music side, and it keeps me very fascinated with that part of my world as well.
Also, the young people I am surrounded by every single day, whether it is on the phone or by Skype or in the office - to be able to affect someone’s career and the way they look at our company or our industry and to match up their best qualities with what our client’s needs are - that is such a gift. That really buoys you up.
Womenetics: If you have just 30 minutes to yourself, what do you do?
Patton: Yoga. I like to work out. I like to be still. That’s what I enjoy.
Here are more stories about women making strides within their organizations:
Persistence Paid Off for 20 Years
Walmart Taps Three Women to Lead
Janece Shaffer, senior editor of Womenetics, is also an award-winning, professionally produced playwright. Her plays have been produced in theatres across the country including the Asolo Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, and Taproot Theatre. She also has more than two decades of experience in the communications field and has held communications positions at Emory University, The NAMES Project Foundation/AIDS Memorial Quilt and the Alliance Theatre. Shaffer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in communications from Georgia State University.
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