Women on a Mission: The Story of PDPR Marketing and Creative
Getting it done.
On any given day, you’ll find sisters Briana Cicchelli and Annika Launay in their Milton PDPR Marketing and Creative office, keeping an eye on their restaurant, Fromage [The Cow], or juggling babies, school pick-ups and home renovations.
Business partners and best friends, Briana and Annika describe their busy life as a beautiful adventure. Their hard work is also driven by a desire to build a great future for themselves and their daughters.
The sisters were private-school educated and from a stable, loving home. At the age of 30, personal tragedy meant that Briana suddenly found herself with two mortgages, a toddler and no way of paying for the lifestyle she had come to know.
“I’ve always worked, but to effectively triple your salary overnight is a challenge,” says Briana. “It has taken three very hard years to build back some semblance of normality. Becoming independently financially-sound has been a huge learning curve.”
The PDPR Marketing and Creative team has come a long way in a short space of time. They believe their success is largely due to a series of carefully-calculated business decisions and an ability to trust each other implicitly.
“Annika is detail-oriented and procedural, while I look at the big picture,” Briana says. “We make a seamless, highly-effective team.”
When it comes to establishing a work-life balance, the working mums see it as constantly making a choice.
“I feel torn when other little girls are playing dress-ups and mine has set up her own office and is pretending to write emails to clients,” Briana tells us.
“Annika is still finding her feet as a new mother, but we are in this together and we help each other out when we need to.”
Marketing is a competitive field, but the driven duo does have some advice for young women who are considering work in the industry.
“Work hard and stay humble,” Briana says firmly. The hard-working mother says that to get ahead in any business, you need to be prepared to put in the hours with enthusiasm and tenacity.
“You need to be considerably strong yet always act with empathy,” Briana explains. “Always keep one eye on the ball while also looking constantly towards the future.”
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