Today’s Women’s Day Special interview is with Joan Kataike, a Public Relations and Events Management industry expert with over seven years of experience. She is an experienced and self-driven publicist who has planned and executed several projects related to PR and events management. Discover much more about Joan through the interview we had with her.

Connect with Joan: Linkedin

There are few female entrepreneurs in Uganda, which may be due to several factors that fail them. When starting Atii & Kati Limited, what hardships did you face?

I really never faced any challenges starting Atii & Kati Limited because I was young, hopeful and did not have any idea about what I was getting myself into, after resigning from a well-paying job to start a Company. At that time, starting a company was exciting for me and all I needed was a laptop and my brains to do clients’ work.

Starting a business is hard and even confusing, what indicators did you get that made you realize that it was time to start your own firm?

I realized that I had been doing the same thing for all three companies I had worked for, where I had risen through the ranks very fast at a young age. I was running Public Relations campaigns right after school with minimal supervision. which prompted me to take the bull by its horns and start a company. As well, I had always wanted to execute PR differently from what other companies were doing in the market. With my own company, I could do Public Relations the best way I knew how.

Is Public Relations important or just a mere waste of a company’s resources?

Everything one does or says communicates and therefore presents Public Relations as a crucial element of individuals, businesses, NGO’s and public offices. How you eat is PR, how you dress up is PR, how you laugh is PR, what media write about you is PR, how you talk about yourself is PR. Yet for a company, how it treats its clients, employees, shareholders, community members is all PR. PR is around us every day and therefore should be managed well to ensure that what you want people to think of you is actually what they perceive or think of you.

In brief, who is Joan Kataike?

Joan has seven years’ experience in the Public Relations and Events Management industry. She is an experienced and self-driven publicist who has planned and executed numerous projects related to PR and events management thereby immensely contributing to the desired (positive) corporate and brand image for clients served.

I started out as a PR Executive at Media Group Limited, moved to Mediage PR as PR Executive and was promoted to PR Manager in less than one year. I then moved to QG Saatchi & Saatchi as PR & Events Coordinator and then Lowe Scanad Uganda as PR Manager, from where I quit to start Atii & Kati Limited.

I have done work with CHOGM in Uganda, African Leaders Malaria Alliance at the AU Summit in Uganda, Bank of Africa, Huawei, United Against Malaria, Young Empowered and Health, Health Communication Partnership, New Day bookshop, Uganda Cricket Association, Uganda Breweries Limited brands, Save the Children in Uganda, Barclays Bank, Emirates, Hima Cement, AAR, Equity Bank, Coca-Cola and many others.

What’s the worst job you have done?

I’ve had to think about this for long and clearly, I don’t have a clear good example of a bad job done. However, at every engagement with a client, there are lessons learnt especially while implementing PR-related activities. I usually learn not to repeat the same mistakes again on the next project.

Tell us about Atii & Kati Limited

Atii & Kati Limited is an indigenous Public Relations & Events Firm established and registered in Uganda. We manage individual, corporate and small and medium businesses’ Public Relations and Events Management. We handle publicity and media relations, reputation management, crisis management, and the latest addition being social media that is taking over Uganda’s communication fraternity.

What are your women’s day remarks

There is nothing impossible for God on this planet. Just start with what you have and remember to be patient, persistent and focused, you’ll achieve anything. Always remember to invest your profits back into the company to enable it to grow fast. As well, stop questioning your desires to become an entrepreneur in any, otherwise you’ll never start. Just start anyhow. You’ll somehow figure it out along the way and through experience, you’ll build a reputation in that particular business.

We would love to here from you,drop us all your comments and inquiries via [email protected] , request for an interview ([email protected]) or advertise with us, send your inquiry to [email protected] and we will get back to instantly.

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