Vanessa Abron is a multidimensional, multi-hyphenated artist working across music, visual art, theater, and dance, and a creative strategist with more than 20 years of experience as an award-winning marketing professional. She credits her unique creative strategist perspective to merging her two passions of marketing and being an artist at heart, which is central to who she is and how she works.
A proud graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Abron would go on to earn her Bachelor of Arts from Dillard University and later her Master’s from Columbia College, all while interning at record labels including Murder Inc. Records, Atlantic Records, and Hidden Beach, and soon working in marketing with brands and companies connected to labels such as Def Jam, Bad Boy, and Virgin. After stints as an Account Executive and Media & Communications Manager at Johnson Publishing Company, she would go on to create her own company, Agency Abron, a creative direction company that specializes in events, marketing, media relations, community engagement, and content development. A few past clients include McDonald’s, Aflac, Hilton, Netflix, Com Ed, Illinois Lottery, Mercedes-Benz, AARP, and Jazz Institute of Chicago, among others.
N’DIGO recently sat down with the multi-faceted creator and executive to learn more about her background, her inspiration in the work she does, and what to expect at her upcoming Autumn Visibility Series for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
N’DIGO: In your own words, who is Vanessa Abron?
Vanessa Abron: I am someone who believes in the best of people. I am someone that people can rely upon. I approach life, work, and problem-solving thinking about possibilities and considering perspectives beyond the obvious. I think outside the box.
What are three words family and friends would use to describe you?
Authentic. Dependable. Imaginative.
As a child, what did you dream you’d do for a living?
I always saw myself as a performer. Whether I was singing, dancing, or acting, I was constantly imagining my next show. I would watch music videos and try to learn all the choreography. The funny thing is that I was also very shy. I didn’t quite understand how to reconcile being a performer with being shy, so for a long time, my dolls and stuffed animals were my primary audience. Performing was always a part of me, even when I wasn’t quite ready to share it with the world.
How did you discover your creative voice and interest in public relations?
I’ve always seen myself as an artist, but as I got older and explored ways to develop my crafts, I became interested in the business and marketing side of the music industry because I understood that those skills could help me build a career as a performer. Even when I worked at all the big labels and brands, I was continuing to study piano and voice and working through my own shyness as a performer. My creativity was always present in my professional work, but my artistic voice really revved up around 2015 when I became an independent consultant and found myself working on various projects and reconnecting with the artist community.
I began playing piano again, writing music and lyrics, and reconnecting with different parts of myself that I had once forgotten. My relationship with my niece, who is also a visual artist, specifically helped reopen the visual artist in me. The pandemic was instrumental in giving me the time and space to reflect, reconnect with this version of myself, and indulge in my artistry. While my creative voice had never disappeared, there was a period when I had forgotten that I was an artist. Rediscovering that part of myself has been an important part of my journey.
How did you begin your journey into the world of publicity?
My journey into publicity actually began as a pivot. I was building a career in the music business, but as several of my mentors began losing their jobs, I started questioning the stability of the industry. A friend suggested I give PR a try, and I took it as a sign because I remembered that a PRprofessor in college told me that I would be good at it. I initially saw it as a practical, short-term career while I figured out what I wanted to do in the arts and entertainment. Instead, public relations became my profession for many years. What started as a practical career pivot ultimately became a major part of my professional identity and gave me a foundation in strategy, communications, and creative problem-solving that I continue to draw from today.
Please tell us about your company, Agency Abron.
The vision behind Agency Abron is that, since I founded it has always been a creative organization encompassing all things creative: music, visual art, theater, public relations, marketing, branding, storytelling, messaging, identity, and experiences.
For me, creativity equals creation, and Agency Abron reflects that overall. I started Agency Abron with public relations because it was the most accessible way for me to establish visibility, gain traction, and build a business. But I always knew it was going to be more than public relations. At the time, I couldn’t bite off everything I envisioned, so I focused on what I could build first. Now I’m at a point where I’m bringing the larger vision to the forefront. I’m still fleshing out exactly how to communicate it, but Agency Abron is becoming what I envisioned from the beginning: a creative organization rooted in creation, where music, art, theater, storytelling, strategy, marketing, branding, and experiences can all live under the same roof.
What can attendees expect at your upcoming two-part Autumn Visibility Series for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners?
The Autumn Visibility Series is designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners think differently about visibility, particularly as we move into the final quarter of the year. It’s a two-part series, with each experience approaching visibility from a different angle.
“What Visibility Really Takes,” on September 24 at EOS House, is about understanding what visibility actually requiresWhat can attendees expect at your upcoming two-part Autumn Visibility Series for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners?
The Autumn Visibility Series is designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners think differently about visibility, particularly as we move into the final quarter of the year. It’s a two-part series, with each experience approaching visibility from a different angle.
“What Visibility Really Takes,” on September 24 at EOS House, is about understanding what visibility actually requires beyond simply posting on social media or putting yourself out there. We’ll talk about the strategy, consistency, relationships, and intentionality that go into becoming more visible and making that visibility meaningful.
“The Currency of Connection,” on September 26 at Beyond the Book, takes a deeper look at relationships and the role they play in building a business and creating opportunities. Visibility isn’t just about being seen. It’s also about being known, building genuine connections, and understanding how those relationships can create value over time.
Both experiences are interactive and designed to give attendees something they can actually apply to their businesses. And because I’m an artist and a creative strategist, I don’t approach these conversations as a traditional business seminar. There’s an element of conversation, storytelling, creativity, and performance woven into the experience. The bigger idea behind the series is that visibility is not just about attention. It’s about being intentional about how you show up, how you connect, and what you want people to remember about you.
Please tell us about your book, Public Relations for Influencers & Content Creators.
Public Relations for Influencers & Content Creators is a practical guide to understanding publicity and how it can be used strategically to create visibility and opportunities. While the title speaks directly to influencers and content creators, the book is really for anyone who has a story, a business, a creative practice, an area of expertise, or something they want to bring greater visibility to. One of the things I wanted to do with the book was demystify public relations. A lot of people hear “PR” and immediately think about celebrities, press releases, or getting featured in the media. I wanted people to understand what public relations actually is, how it works, and how they can use those principles to benefit themselves and their businesses.
Ultimately, I wanted to take what I’ve learned from more than 20 years in marketing and publicity and make that knowledge accessible to people who are building businesses, brands, and creative careers of their own. You don’t have to be a celebrity or have a massive following to benefit from understanding publicity. You just need to understand how to use it intentionally.
What is the biggest misconception about publicity when it comes to small businesses?
One of the biggest misconceptions is: “If I hire a PR person, I’m going to become famous, and they’re going to do all the work for me.” That’s not how it works. Public Relations is an investment. It’s also not something that necessarily produces immediate results. You can have a successful publicity campaign and secure the media opportunities you set out to achieve, and that still may not translate into instant fame or a dramatic change in your business overnight. The goal is to build meaningful, consistent visibility that supports your larger business or personal brand objectives. It’s an investment in building a reputation and a presence over time, not a three-month shortcut to becoming famous.
What’s the best advice you can give?
The best advice I can give is the same advice I was given: trust your intuition. There was a point in my life when I consistently ignored my intuition because maybe it didn’t always make logical sense. What I’ve come to understand is that intuition isn’t void of logic. It’s often about recognizing or sensing something before the logic is blatantly apparent. Once I made the decision to trust my intuition, things started working out better for me. I also think intuition is an underrated business strategy. If you look at the stories of many great business leaders, they usually describe a moment when they had a gut feeling, saw an opportunity before it was obvious, or simply knew they needed to make a particular move. For me, learning to trust that knowing has been one of the most valuable lessons in both business and life.
What is your favorite quote or affirmation?
I have a few that I return to often, but this one has really been resonating with me lately is from Iniko’s The King’s Affirmation: “I’ll be one of the greatest. That is a vow, and that is a promise.”
What’s next for Vanessa Abron and Agency Abron?
I’m very intentional about not announcing all of my next moves. Some things are better built quietly before you put them into the world. I’m continuing to expand the creative vision behind Agency Abron and explore the different ways my work as a creative strategist and artist can intersect, but I’m not going to give you the entire blueprint.
As Lil Wayne said, “Real Gs move in silence like lasagna.” So you’ll just have to follow me and see what comes up next.
For more information on Vanessa Abron and Agency Abron, please visit www.agencyabron.com and connect with her across all social media at @AgencyAbron.
