SL Communications

Our Mission

Today’s world looks a lot different than it did three years ago. SL Communications is a forward-thinking agency born during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were built to support organizations that are forging a different path, disrupting legacy industries, and changing the world for the better.

Our team is built to scale with yours. Whether you are looking for a fractional VP of Communications, building or scaling your current communications program, or positioning your executive team as thought leaders, our approach focuses first and foremost on your story. We strive to act as a true extension of your team, diving deep into our clients’ brands and creating a strategic communications plan that drives a company’s business goals. Whether it’s e commerce, hospitality, food, logistics or an emerging vertical, SL Communications’ approach to public relations focuses first and foremost on finding effective and efficient ways to insert your story into the media.

We like to work with companies that understand the power of data sharing, see the value in providing access to leadership and believe in the power of communications to support their goals. We are highly connected to the media and the influential audiences that our clients wish to reach and are ready to help you navigate the landscape.

SL Communications Cutting Edge Communications For Cutting Edge Companies Mission Img

About Stephanie

With over a dozen years of experience in PR and communications in-house and both at agencies, Stephanie is focused on positioning organizations for success through impactful communications. She has B2B, B2C, and personal branding communications experience in the technology, logistics, hospitality, CPG and financial industries at a global level and across multiple time zones. She also has experience managing communications and marketing teams as well as managing multinational communications programs.

A strong writer, Stephanie is a content creation and content marketing expert and has strong relationships with top-tier business and trade reporters that cover the venture capital, technology and entrepreneurial media space. Other experience includes deep knowledge in the food, hospitality, nutrition and food science industries.

She currently resides in Denver with her husband and daughter and enjoys live music, hiking, camping and cooking.

SL Communications Cutting Edge Communications For Cutting Edge Companies About Img

What We Do

STRATEGY & MESSAGING

Foundational Brand Development
External & Internal Messaging
Strategy & Counsel
Competitive Analysis
Crisis Plan Development
Core Value Development

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR Strategy & Execution
Press Releases
Media Relations & Outreach
Media Training
Product Launches
Trade Show/Conference
Support
Monitoring & Measurement

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Executive Visibility
Speech Writing
Award Research & Submission
Speaking Opportunities
Research & Application
Issues Communications
Sustainability & Social Impact
Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

CONTENT MARKETING

Content Strategy & Production
Media Kits
White Papers
Bylined Articles
Case Studies
Blog Posts
LinkedIn

Fractional VP of Communications

Not all companies need or have the budget for a full-time senior communications leader. In this role, Stephanie serves as an extension to your team to create or adapt the current messaging, develop a robust communications strategy, and drive the execution of the plan. Having an experienced communications leader can help companies looking to grow or revamp their public image and ensure they are communicating with all stakeholders (internal and external), at the fraction of the cost of a full time VP.

Unlike an agency partner, a fractional VP of Communications works closely with company leadership and functions as an in-house representative for all things communication. They work closely with company leadership and the marketing team to develop an integrated program that progresses the company’s financial and communication goals.

Since a fractional VP isn’t a full-time employee, I can focus on specific tasks and projects without needing to contend with the tedious day-to-day meetings that often limit output.

Industries

Robotics & Manufacturing

FinTech

Travel & Hospitality

Saas

Food & Beverage

eCommerce & Retail

Logistics & Supply Chain

Sustainability

Finance

Experience

Startup Unicorns: ShipBob and SpotOn
Clients with Exits: ClearMetal, acquired by Project44
Venture Capital Firms: Palm Drive Capital, Jungle, Unlock VP
Startups: ShipBob, SpotOn, ClearMetal, AxleHire, WARP, Grip, GreyOrange
Brand Names: McDonalds, Radisson Hotel Group, Tate & Lyle, Diageo, CH Robinson

Testimonials

I’ve now worked with Stephanie as the Co-Founder and CEO across two different companies and several side businesses and have leaned on her to help build communications programs from foundational messaging to public awareness. She’s consulted on WARP from a PR and content perspective since before we came out of stealth mode and has played an integral part to helping grow our brand. She’s always happy to jump in and help with whatever we throw her way when it comes to communications including scripting, thought leadership, social media, and more.

Daniel Sokolovsky

Co-Founder and CEO, WARP

Since meeting Stephanie several years ago, I have functioned as the CMO for several different startups and each time we’ve had a press release or announcement I’ve tapped Stephanie to help with the PR. She’s helped successfully announce funding, executive hires, and new services/products with desired results. I’ve also enjoyed helping advise and mentor Stephanie as she grows in her communications career.

Steve LePedis,

CMO

Stephanie has stepped in on several different client projects including blog posts, eBook and white page development, crisis communications plans, and more for Standing Partnership. She’s always completed projects on time and added value through her experience in service- oriented businesses, lightening our load here when we’ve been overwhelmed. She’s a strong writer, very responsive, and easy to work with.

Julie Steininger

COO and Senior Vice President, Standing Partnership

Stephanie has been our go-to senior U.S. media advisor whenever we’ve had clients here in the APAC region with desire to enter to the U.S. market. She’s helped advise on a number of different accounts, specializing in venture capital and startups and has strong media relationships which have helped our clients succeed in getting the awareness they desire. She has strong media relationships across the board and has always been pleasant to work with.

Mel Chua

U.S. Growth and Senior Lead, Redhill

I was the first marketing department hire at AxleHire. At the same time, Stephanie was brought on to build and execute an aggressive PR plan. Stephanie started from scratch, as AxleHire had never had PR before. In just weeks, she developed a strong integrated marketing and communications plan that was designed to help meet the Company’s revenue and public awareness goals in 2021. In two quarters, we went from having zero press or any earned media to reporters coming to us for our SME's thought leadership on trends in the logistics, eCommerce, and technology industry press. Her hard work in PR was the reason we beat our closest competitor in SOV (Shave of Voice). Stephanie is easy to work with, attentive, and hard- working, and she gets the job done quarter after quarter. If I were to have the opportunity again, I would hire her without question.

Marie Martin

Director of Marketing, AxleHire

Current and Past Clients

Case Studies

A MEDIA INTRODUCTION

Overview/Challenge:AxleHire, a last-mile logistics start-up engaged SL Communications to raise awareness of their company in the media and support their marketing and sales team. This was the first time the company had implemented any external communications and was looking for a team with experience in the logistics technology space. AxleHire wanted to raise their profile among their competitors in the media and gain a larger share of voice in order to build their sales pipeline and meet fundraising goals.

Solution: SL Communications built a strategic communications program from the ground-up including media relations support, content marketing strategy and executive visibility.

Results:

Share of voice in the media between AxleHire and its competitors increased from 17% in 2020 to 42% in 2021
Earned media coverage increased from 23 articles in 2020 to 87 articles in 2021
Coverage was included in top-tier business publications such as Business Insider, Fortune, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Geek Wire and Forbes
AxleHire received coverage in top-tier logistics and eCommerce trade publications such as FreightWaves, Multichannel Merchant, Journal of Commerce, Transport Topics, American Journal of Transportation, SupplyChainBrain and DC Velocity

CONCRETE BUSINESS OUTCOME

Overview/Challenge: ClearMetal, a logistics and supply chain data analytics startup, secured a $15 million Series A-1 funding round backed by Eclipse Ventures. The team wanted to use the announcement to both reintroduce their company and launch their Continuous Delivery Experience (CDX) platform in the light of a new category in the global freight transportation space. By securing top-tier press coverage, ClearMetal hoped to drive traffic to their website, increase search engine optimization and generate new customer leads.

Solution: Develop a story that would raise awareness around the new product category of CDX and share how the funding would enable the further development of ClearMetal’s CDX Platform which enables an “Amazon-like” digital experience for customers.
In advance of announcing the funding, the team worked closely with ClearMetal leadership and investors to determine high priority outlets read by customers that would make the biggest impact. Given the dual nature of the release, the team determined that an exclusive story with a Wall Street Journal reporter would be able to tell a deeper story about the CDX category in addition to the funding.

On the day of the announcement the press release was widely shared with both top-tier business and trade outlets covering VC, logistics, retail, ecommerce and technology as well as local San Francisco media contacts.

Results: Efforts resulted in a feature story by Wall Street Journal leading to over 11 million impressions in earned media coverage including additional pick-up from Fortune, Axios, FreightWaves, Venture Capital Journal and a segment on Cheddar TV. The news coverage brought better awareness to ClearMetal both as a company and the CDX Category and helped build new media relationships for ClearMetal leadership.

Business outcomes resulting from media coverage included the following:

Daily users on ClearMetal website spiked 10Xs from January to February
ClearMetal’s website daily pageviews increased from 336 to 2,241 visits from January to February
The team saw a 50% increase in both users and sessions quarter over quarter from Q4 to Q1
Sales response based on media coverage resulted in over $1 Million in pipeline revenue

ANNOUNCING FUNDING

Overview/Challenge: ShipBob secured a $40 million Series C funding round led by Menlo Ventures. This news also corresponded with ShipBob’s announcement of their first warehouse expansion in Chicago. The team wanted to use the announcement as a way of gaining attention from potential customers, help secure future investors and recruit new talent.

Solution: Ahead of the announcement, the team conducted story mining sessions with leadership at ShipBob and Menlo Ventures and identified four top-tier outlets to provide an early view, warehouse tours and interview opportunities to meet all audience needs and raise ShipBob’s chance of securing high impact coverage that told a deeper story beyond just the funding. The day of the announcement, the team leveraged the participation of well-known investors in the funding round to garner additional interest.

Results: Efforts resulted in four exclusive articles with Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago as well as nearly 25 additional pieces of coverage in a variety of outlets including Fortune, Chicago Inno, WGN Radio (Chicago’s top news radio station), Ecommerce Times and Axios. The press release was picked up by 217 publications and news websites. The story also led to 10 interview requests with ShipBob’s founders which resulted in several articles in trade press.

On the day of the Series C announcement, ShipBob’s website saw an increase in unique viewers and traffic. The articles brought awareness and interest to ShipBob as an up-and-coming technology and logistics company and generated new ecommerce customers and partnerships.

cutting edge communications for cutting edge companies